#it didn't feel out of place in the novel but is extremely questionable in a movie

[bpdpenguin]

i don't want to pour too much love onto tgf movie bc it's genuinely a bad adaptation and fails as a film on its own but kitsey saying she and theo are "almost exactly like people" is one of the greatest lines of all time. i love the scriptwriting in general idk whose decision it was to piece the timeline together in a very confusing way? but i imagine it was a producer early on who was like we need to remind people that ans*l elg*rt is the star. anyway the SCRIPT pairs scenes together that are SO JUICY and the adaptation of the ending is v interesting i don't understand how the director was homophobic bc everyone else got the assignment.

[storiesforallfandoms]

i'd find you in any life ~ eric; a quiet place day one

word count: 3614

request?: no

description: in which two idiots in love find their way back to each other after the end of the world

pairing: eric x female!reader

warnings: swearing, use of y/n, spoilers for aqpdo, mentions of death, mentions of the quiet place aliens, end of the world type beat

masterlist (one, two, three)

Day One

The little bell over the door chimed to signal the first customer she'd seen in nearly an hour. She stifled an eye roll and bookmarked her novel, only to find it was her favorite customer.

"Hey Eric!"

Eric smiled at her. She was glad to be leaning against the counter because his smile never failed to make her weak in the knees.

"Working hard, or hardly working?" Eric asked, mirroring her leaning position across from her.

"Oh, very clearly working hard," she responded, gesturing to her book. "I'm almost finished my book."

"Very hard work indeed."

(Y/N) chuckled. "Want your usual?"

"Of course. And one of those delicious looking chocolate chip muffins."

(Y/N) playfully salted and went to make Eric's usual coffee order.

Eric had been coming to the coffee shop (Y/N) worked at for months now. He had came in first one morning before one of his classes, in a rush and asking her to make him anything with caffeine as quickly as she could. She quickly made him a coffee and he threw a $20 bill at her, telling her to keep the change. He came back the next day to thank her, and to tell her it was the best coffee he ever had. She made him another and insisted it was on the house.

It was the start of Eric being a regular customer, as well as being the start of his and (Y/N)'s friendship.

Eric watched her work to make his coffee. "You know, one of these days I'll figure out what you do to make such good coffee."

She smiled at him over her shoulder. "It's just coffee! I don't even do anything special with it."

"But it's the best coffee I've had! I can't even make coffee this good."

"I make it with love."

She quickly turned away to pretend she was making his coffee. Really, she was trying to hide the look of embarrassment on her face. The second the words had left her mouth, she regretted it.

Of course (Y/N) had a crush on Eric. You'd be crazy not to. On a surface level, he was extremely handsome. He had the biggest, brownest eyes she had ever seen, the prettiest face, and a smile that made her feel like she was flying. Not to mention that British accent of his, which was way too easy to fall for. And then she got to know him and she found herself falling even deeper in love with his personality. He was the sweetest person she had ever met. She'd be crazy not to develop feelings for him.

The question then, she knew, was why did she never tell Eric how she felt about him?

As kind as Eric was, and as much as she considered him a friend, she knew they weren't meant to be together. Eric was in New York to go to law school. He was going to be a big lawyer, make lots of money and be successful. (Y/N), on the other hand, was in her 20s working in a coffee shop, with no prospects for the future. She didn't know what she wanted in life, but she knew Eric likely wouldn't be a part of it. It was best for him, even if it hurt her.

She poured his coffee into a take away cup and bagged the muffin he asked for. She could barely look at him as she rang in his order. He was looking at her with those big, brown eyes. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to form a coherent sentence if she did.

"Are you on your way to class?" she asked as she took his payment.

"Not for another hour and a half," he replied. "Had to come down to get my coffee first, and was hoping you weren't too busy so I could hang out for a bit."

(Y/N) couldn't fight the smile on her face. "I guess I won't kick you out for loitering."

"As long as I don't get you in trouble."

She scoffed. "Please, you're a paying customer. There's nothing my manager can get upset about. Not that he ever shows up anyways."

Eric paid for his order, and as (Y/N) was getting his change he pulled another $20 bill from his wallet and put it into the tip jar next to the register. (Y/N)'s eyes widened. She grabbed the bill and tried to give it back to Eric.

"That's your tip," he said.

"It's too much, Eric! Just give me your change!"

He shook his head. "You deserve it. I told you, you make the best coffee I've ever had. Not to mention the coffee comes with a side of friendship with a wonderful person."

She tried not to let her smile falter at the word "friends". She knew that's all they were. It was her choice to keep her secrets a secret.

Eric hung around long enough to eat his muffin and drink about half of his coffee. It wasn't until another customer finally came in that they both realized the time and he had to go. (Y/N) said goodbye and Eric promised to come back again the next day. She smiled at him before turning her attention back to her new customer.

Soon, the shop was empty again and (Y/N) found herself missing Eric's presence. Despite being friends, they had yet to exchange phone numbers. Eric had found (Y/N) on social media and asked her if it was okay for him to follow and message her, which of course she said yes. They had messaged back and forth on there, but there was something more intimate about asking for his phone number. Maybe she was just overthinking that. They were already friends, they already spoke outside of when he came to the shop. What harm was there in asking for his number to text whenever they wanted to, and not just when they had internet?

That's it, she thought. I'll do it tomorrow.

(Y/N) was content with her decision, smiling to herself as she was cleaning the coffee machine, when she heard a commotion outside. Through the shop window she could see a crowd forming. She stepped up to the window to see everyone looking at the sky. She followed their gazes to see streaks of light falling from the sky. She thought it was a meteor shower at first, but there was something about it that made her feel off. Like it wasn't just a few space rocks passing over Earth.

She noticed one beam of light was coming closer. Not exactly at her specifically, but close enough for it to be concerning. The crowd in front of the shop suddenly started to move, some of them in a panicked manner. (Y/N) backed away from the window, planning to take cover however she could, but she was too late. There was the sound of an impact a few streets over, followed by rumbling of an aftershock that eventually reached the shop. The last thing (Y/N) remembered was the shop windows exploding and her being thrown back, hitting her head on a nearby table and knocking her out.

~~~~~~

Day 89

"There's a boat coming!"

Eric didn't usually care much to see who was arriving at the island. He was always glad to know that other people had heard and figured out Henri's code to get to safety, but he knew that whoever was coming was not someone for him. He had lost everyone during those first few days - his parents (not that it was ever confirmed, but he knew the likeliness was slim and he'd never get a real confirmation he was sure), Sam.

(Y/N).

There was no reason for him to go watch as new survivors were welcomed to the island, like so many of the others did.

But that day, he was sat outside in the sun eating with Frodo when the call came. Frodo's ears had perked up and, before Eric could stop him, the black and white feline had taken off towards the beach. Eric swore under his breath and got up to follow.

"Even the damn cat is a noisy bugger," Eric muttered to himself.

There was already a small crowd huddled to watch as the small boat coasted onto the island. Henri and a few others were already there, pulling the boat to shore and helping the small handful of survivors off. He was speaking to the first person who had gotten off, a man who shared the same expression that everyone did when they first got there - terror. The confusion and fear of Henri speaking always got to them first, and often times people wouldn't believe Henri when he said that the aliens couldn't reach them because they couldn't survive the water.

Eric was looking for Frodo more than he was paying attention to whoever was getting off the boat. The cat was moving around the people in his way so smoothly, meanwhile Eric had to bump and push his way past everyone, mumbling an apology as he went.

Frodo suddenly ran towards the boat as another person got off. Eric broke through the crowd and chased after Frodo, an apology already on the tip of his tongue for whoever Frodo had ran up to. But the words died before they could come out as he watched the person scoops Frodo up in her arms and look for whoever owned him, her eyes locking on Eric immediately.

"Eric?"

"(Y/N)?"

He was moving before he realized it, his arms around (Y/N) to pull her into a hug. Tears were forming in his eyes as he held her, making sure that she was actually real and not a figment of his imagination.

Frodo grumbled, breaking them apart. He jumped down from (Y/N)'s arms and sat looking between them.

"Is he yours?" she asked.

"Technically yes. He belonged to someone else before, but..." He stopped, the familiar ache in his chest from whenever he thought about Sam. "But he's mine, now."

(Y/N) nodded. She seemed to understand. They had all gone through the same hell, all lost someone. It was hard not to understand.

"Bring her up," Henri said, suddenly appearing next to the two of them. That's when Eric realized that everyone was making their way back to the community. "Unless you both want to keep standing here all day."

Eric shook his head. "No, sorry. (Y/N), come with me."

(Y/N) was shocked upon seeing the community of houses and people, as most survivors are. They were so used to the wreckage that the aliens caused, and all the fear that drove so many into silence, that seeing all these well built houses, and seeing people talking and living without fear, was foreign.

"When was the last time you ate anything?" Eric asked (Y/N). "Or showered? Or had water?"

"A long time," (Y/N) responded to all three questions.

Eric nodded. "I have my own place. Frodo and I were just having lunch, and there's plenty to share. I have a working shower, drinkable water."

"That all sounds perfect," she said. "Lead the way."

Eric showed her to his place. He gave her towels and told her he'd find her clean clothes from one of the other ladies in town. He tried not to linger as she stepped into the bathroom and let the shower run. She'd think he was crazy if she caught him there, debating on going into the shower with her, but it was the only thing on his mind in this moment. Well, besides the desire to kiss her senseless and never let her go again.

Eric had mourned (Y/N). Even before he met Sam and had to mourn her as well, he mourned the coffee shop girl who had became such a good friend to him; who he had loved and never told. When the invasion first started, Eric's first thought wasn't his own survival, but about if (Y/N) had gotten to safety. He had left her in the coffee shop just moments prior, and someone had been with her then, but did that person stay? Did more people come? Was there anyone there to protect her, to get her out? Had she figured out too late that the aliens were attracted to sound?

When he got on the boat to come to the island, he looked at every other survivor that was there with him. He asked around if anyone knew (Y/N), if they knew whether she was there. When they got to the island, he looked at the others who had gotten there first. She was nowhere to be seen, and no one knew of her. He had to come to terms with the fact that she was probably dead, and that made him wish he was, too.

He regretted never telling (Y/N) how he felt. He thought he had lost his chance forever, and that thought haunted him every day. He could hardly believe that she was actually here, that she had survived.

One of his neighbors was gracious enough to give him clothes for (Y/N). He left them outside the bathroom door for her, then went back outside to continue eating. He had gotten the extra food he had planned to put away as leftovers and brought it out for (Y/N) to eat, as well as gotten her a glass of water. Frodo had taken his position hunched over a can of cat food again, eating away as if he were the one who was starved.

(Y/N) came out a few minutes later, her wet hair clinging to her and looking more refreshed. She still looked exhausted, but he knew how long it would take to really get any rest after what she had experienced.

She sat down next to him and picked up the food he had waiting for her.

"Thank you," she said.

"Of course," he responded. "You served me for quite some time. I think it's only fair I finally repay the favor."

She smiled, and he was brought back to every time he visited her coffee shop and was able to make her smile at something he said. It had always been such an accomplishment to him.

They ate in silence for some time. (Y/N) tried to savor the food, but she was so hungry that she couldn't help but scarf so much of it down so quickly. Eric couldn't help but watch her. He was still terrified that she'd suddenly disappear and he'd realize this was all just a dream.

"I can't believe you're here," he said before he could stop himself.

(Y/N) looked up at him. "I can't believe you're here. I thought..."

"Me too."

She moved her plate aside and turned her body so that she was facing him. "What happened that day?"

"I was in the tube - the subway - and suddenly there was all this shaking and rumbling. A pipe or something burst eventually and suddenly the whole place was flooded. I was sure I was a goner, until I managed to get to a stairwell that led up into New York. That's where I first met this guy - " Eric reached over to pat Frodo. " - and I followed him to his owner. She...she's the reason I'm here."

"Did she...?"

Eric swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "She was sick. She told me she made peace with her mortality and was okay with the sacrifice so that Frodo and I could survive."

(Y/N) reached out to place her hand on Eric's. He moved it so that their fingers intertwined. If this had been months ago, he would've been more focused on the fact that he was finally holding (Y/N)'s hand.

"She sounds like a good person," (Y/N) said. "I wish I could've met her."

"Me too," Eric said. "What about you? What happened to you that day?"

"Well, I was at the coffee shop, as you know, and suddenly these...things...I guess the eggs? I don't know, but I watched them fall from the sky. One of them landed a few streets over from the shop and the aftershocks blew the windows out and knocked me out. When I came to, I had been rescued by Stephen, he's the one who got off the boat first. He found anyone who was still alive and brought us to this building to hide us away. He told us to keep quiet, that it was the only way for us to survive. He kept going out and searching for other survivors, or for any resources to keep us alive."

"He didn't take you to the boats?"

She shook her head. "He tried, but there was an attack when we were all trying to get there. We kind of dispersed and all ended up back in the same building. A lot of us didn't make it, and by the time we tried to get out again the boats were gone. We had no idea where they were going, or how to get there since every boat had been taken from the dock it seemed. We settled in to try and fend for ourselves, which we did until we happened to hear a song looping over the radio."

"Beyond the Sea," Eric said. "It was Henri's idea. It was a code to get more survivors to come to safety."

"It worked. It just took some time for us to follow it."

"But you're here now." Eric squeezed her hand. "God, I'm so glad you're here. I thought...I spent every day thinking about you."

"I thought about you a lot, too." There were tears in her eyes now, too. "When I woke up, the first thing I thought was worrying where you were. I wanted so badly for you to have been someone that Stephen saved, and then so much time passed and I thought..."

Eric nodded. "Me too. I really thought you were gone."

It may not have been the most tactful way to do it, but emotions were running high and Eric's brain wasn't particularly working right. He took hold of her face and pulled her to him, pressing his lips against hers. It wasn't the best kiss in the world, he would admit. Because he caught (Y/N) off guard, it was more teeth than lips, and he could taste the saltiness of their mixed tears on her lips.

When she pulled away almost immediately, Eric felt embarrassment wash over him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have done that without asking first."

To his surprise, (Y/N) moved their plates out of their way before climbing onto Eric's lap. She leaned in slower, giving him more time to register that they were going to kiss again. When her lips touched his this time, it was soft and gentle, but still needy. Like they were both making up for so much lost time, which, he guessed, they were.

They were only interrupted this time by someone yelling, "Hey! There's kids out here! Get a room!"

(Y/N) pulled away, giggling a little as she rested her forehead against Eric's.

"So, it was okay that I kissed you?" he asked.

"I would think me kissing you back was enough of an answer," she said. "But yes, it was very much okay."

"I've wanted to do that since the day after we met."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "The day after?"

"Well yeah. The day we met I was in such a hurry that I didn't have time to really register the fact that a beautiful woman was making me coffee."

"See, that's so funny, because I also wanted to kiss you the day we met, and every day after when you came in for coffee."

"Wait, really?" Her smile was shyer now as she nodded her head. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Well, you were going to school to be a lawyer and you had everything going for you. I was just the girl in a coffee shop who didn't know what she was doing with her life. I thought...I thought it would be better for you if we didn't date, so that you could find someone with the same ambitions as you."

"I'm not saying this now because the world as ended, but fuck me being a lawyer. I didn't care if you were working at a coffee shop, or going to school like I was, or if you were just some homeless person on the side of the road. I loved you for who you were. I still love you for who you are."

(Y/N) was speechless. It was the words she had been longing to hear for so long, even after the world went to shit. She was convinced she was dreaming, or having some sort of alien induced hallucination. She made a mental note to pinch herself later, because if this was a dream she didn't want to wake up any time soon.

"I love you, too."

They went to kiss again, but Frodo meowed and nudged Eric's leg. He chuckled as he reached down to pet the cat. "I guess we shouldn't just be making out in broad daylight after already being yelled at once."

"I suppose not," (Y/N) said. "You know, I am awfully tired still. You should take me in to see your bed."

Eric grinned at her. "I like the way you think."

[kanencrow]

A Short Conversation - Shauna Shipman | One Shot

Summary: It was a common occurrence for you to wait for Shauna to get done with practice. By the time she’s all showered and ready to go, she finds you at your usual spot in the library, reading a book that you find yourself struggling to comprehend.

Warnings: Swearing.

A/N: All characters are 18+ by default. Here's another little piece of writing that I made a while back. It's nothing too long or extreme, just a short conversation between you and Shauna about books.

Word Count: 1700+

"You know she was only forty-one when she died?"

The chair beside you pulled out from its original position with a quiet squeak, interrupting the quiet atmosphere that the library had always been naturally consumed in, and with a tinge of endearment sparking inside of your chest at the familiar voice that hit your ears, the corner of your lip curled up into a miniscule smirk. You knew she was referring to the author of the book you were reading: Jane Austen. You knew to leave it to a certain brown-eyed bookworm to know all the lore behind someone or something she was fixated on.

"I... didn't know that," you eventually muttered, answering the open-ended question with a tone of appreciative understanding, before you internally pinpointed your spot in the book that you had rented for the evening and casually shifted your gaze to meet a pair of brown irises. The same pair that you had grown to lose yourself within every time you stared into them, "Hey, Shaunie," you murmured, keeping your volume low, just so Mrs. Fletcher wouldn't hear you and scold you again for 'being too loud,' according to her bat-like hearing.

With the way Shauna's slightly damp hair was still in a messy ponytail and she was sporting a slight blush on her cheeks, it wasn't difficult to detect that she had just come back from practice, which was why you had been sitting inside of the library after hours in the first place. She always took a shower in the locker room after every skirmish Coach Ben pushed onto her and the rest of the team that chose to stick around, and that made the time it took for her to meet up longer, but you didn't necessarily mind it. 

You remembered asking her once upon a time, inquiring why, and she stated how she didn't want to 'stink up her car,' as if her body odor was enough to act as some sort of encapsulating aroma that would linger, if it became trapped in the space of her fun-sized SUV. You and she both knew that her internalized fear couldn't realistically happen, but it was a valid argument nonetheless, and one you didn't feel the need to debate. Besides, you had been far more focused on the way her eyes shined happily in that moment, and how the dimples in her cheeks showed themselves to you like a personal gift, so it wasn't as though you were completely invested in the topic.

Kind of like now.

It felt like you had been staring at Shauna for an eternity, before you blinked back into reality and noticed that she had settled down from her quiet bout of amusement and nodded down towards the book that you had since rested against your thigh. "I see you're reading something different." Your thumb acted as the bookmark, with the way it nestled under the weight of all the pages you previously read. It was no longer an interest to you, however, because she was present, and so it wasn't difficult to hear her when she eventually spoke up again, as she leaned closer to you and scrutinized the paperback cover of the novel. 

"Mansfield Park?" she hummed out, a questioning tone to her voice, as her eyebrows rose in wonder. She was reading the name of the title, you mentally knew, deep down... somewhere inside of your distracted brain. Though even then, you found yourself unable to comprehend what she was referring to, which must have been apparent on her pallid features, the moment she raised her brown eyes up to meet yours and sent you a knowing expression. "How are you liking it so far?"

You felt awfully pathetic for lacking a basic attention-span when it came to her, though you were thankful you managed to answer her question without much of a hitch, when your eyes slightly widened, and you shifted your head down to stare at the cover of the book. "It's... interesting, to say the least," you admitted, before you pursed your lips and lifted your gaze to meet her own once more, which showed a clear emotion of intention and genuine interest towards what you had to say. 

It made you feel warm inside, even if you knew that the true reason as to why she was asking you about the story you were reading wasn't one without intention. "It's about this woman, named Fanny Price," you told her, explaining what you learned of the novel throughout the short span of time you had spent skimming through the pages, "she was sent to live with her asshole of an uncle, but I guess she's... making the most of it by delving into different romantic endeavors with the people around the town?"

You weren't entirely sure if you were understanding what you were reading. Then again, your ignorance made sense, considering you hadn't put in a valiant effort to figure out the plotline and writing style that was Jane Austen: one of Shauna Shipman's favorite authors. So, your tone was accurate when it came to conveying your confusion, and it caused the brunette to let out an amused huff, before she shook her head and promptly grabbed the paperback out of your hand with a gentleness that made you tolerant in letting it happen.

You watched her as she stared down at it for a few moments, delicate fingers tracing over the art on the paper cover. "Be honest," she started, her brown hues locking firmly with yours while she spoke and propped her brow up knowingly, "you're only reading this because I teased you the other day for consuming only horror books."

"It's not my fault I like suspenseful stuff," you hushed out, slumping your shoulders, as you attempted to defend your affinity towards horror novels. It only encouraged a teasing smile to grow on Shauna's lips, and with how close she sat next to you, it wasn't difficult to detect the subtle quiver in them. "Don't laugh at me again," you immediately uttered, upon noticing her poor attempt at hiding her amusement, and when the curve of her mouth heightened into a closed grin, you rolled your eyes and glanced away from her to mindlessly stare at Mrs. Fletcher, who sat at the library's front desk and typed away angrily at the blocky computer in front of her. 

"Maybe I'd like it more if I could actually relate to it," you defended quietly, before you shifted your focus back towards the bookworm and tilted your head to the side. "I wouldn't say I'm the type of demographic that would organically read something like Mansfield Park," you paused and sent her an apologetic stare, "no offense."

She didn't seem offended by your words, though. She only hummed in silent understanding, before she leaned forward and set the book down onto the wooden surface of the table in front of the two of you. "That's why I've never read this one," she told you, as you watched her slide her hand away from the cover and slowly settle back into the uncomfortable backing of the wooden chair. Your eyebrow rose in ignorance, clearly not grasping what she was attempting to imply by her vague comment, but you lacked the brain power to directly inquire. 

Especially when she moved her head to look at you and sent you a lopsided smile, "Pride and Prejudice is good," she admitted, which piqued your interest, "and if you like poetry, there is Emily Dickinson." She shrugged, giving you different ideas, but you found yourself mindlessly shaking your head, set in your ways, before you lifted your arm and rested your elbow over the top of your seat, as you grasped the wrist that limply hung down with the fingers of your other hand.

You stared at Shauna silently, and when her own gaze remained unwavering from your own, as she admired your features and the color of your eyes, you felt the corners of your lips lift up into a loving smile. There was something oddly domestic about sitting in the library with someone you had an unlabeled, but undeniably intimate relationship with. You understood her, and she understood you, and it was nice, and it was comfortable... and it didn't make you feel like you had to act like someone you weren't. 

You had always been a recluse, someone who didn't often like to converse with people, and although she pulled you out of your shell – if only slightly – she didn't attempt to change you. You didn't try to change her, either. You liked her for who she was. Both bad and good. Maybe that wasn't something two supposed 'best friends' were supposed to feel towards one another, but you and her did anyway, and it felt natural and fine. You didn't see a problem with it, and neither did she.

It only encouraged you to speak up, and you allowed your words to float into the air without any sort of restraint, or care on how they may have come across to her own ears. "I'll just write a book," you mumbled softly after a moment, as your eyes flickered down to her mouth, using your pause to admire the person before you, "about us." You twisted your lips in contemplation, "That's something I'd read."

Shauna let out a quiet giggle at your words, but it wasn't done in a way to make fun of you. If anything, she agreed, and you smiled brighter when she inevitably nodded her head in affirmation and nudged her knee against your own affectionately. "We'll do it together," she told you, “once we get out of this town.” 

You huffed softly, feeling endeared at her tone of determination, as well as her desire to hightail it out of Wiskayok, and you bowed your chin in agreement, all while you felt your heart flutter in your chest. "Deal," you hummed out. You sent her a soft smile in that same moment, and there was a certain air of affection that consumed the atmosphere between the two of you, as you thoughtfully stared into her brown eyes.

And just like earlier, you found yourself getting lost in them.

As always, if you guys have any ideas for another one shot or headcanon or whatever, let me know! I'm in need of some ideas!

[clouduru-chan]

Well I decided to write something about some yanderes, well I'm kind of new to this, so sorry for any mistakes, well in the Brazilian yandere community, we usually write headcanons of some characters, as well as realizing that there were no headcanons for some characters here on Tumblr, I decided to write a little about them.

Yandere reacting to reader who cosplays

Monika

- Well, you have only been dating a short time, and she knew that you loved to watch anime, series and Doramas, read some manga and light novels or play some video games, and since you know her well, you call her to watch something that involves romance;

- But something caught you off guard, when you simply showed up at the meeting with the cosplay of a romance anime you like to watch with your girlfriend;

- You did it because it might please your beautiful girlfriend;

- you cosplayed Kaguya Shinomiya from Kaguya Sama wa kokurasetai;

- Well you just wanted to surprise her, and Monika rather liked that, and with that she pours sweet kisses all over your face, and you turn into a blushing mess;

- You get a little clumsy around your girlfriend, so you don't get into the role of Kaguya too much;

- Monika loves how Kaguya Sama's school uniform dress looks perfect on you;

- Well you have been doing character cosplays for quite a while now, so it would be nice if your girlfriend knew about it;

- Well Monika realized at first that this was not the first cosplay, as it was very well done;

- When you stopped being embarrassed by the situation, you decided to act like the character you had cosplayed;

- Monika laughed a lot at your performances, because you were able to get perfectly into the role of the character;

- She loved the work you did just for her, you had so much love and dedication to it, she feels sweet, she will one day repay that;

Ayano Aishi

- She was waiting for you outside your room, but out of nowhere she feels caught, she feels your hands on her thighs and back, you had picked her up;

- This yandere turned extremely red when you did this, and when she looked at you, you were in costume;

- You were cosplaying Yuji Itadori from Jujutsu kaisen;

- The two of you kind of decided to hang out together at the comic con, to tell you the truth, you were the one who urged her to go to the event;

- At the event, you were holding hands the whole time;

- Ayano wasn't in cosplay, since she didn't see much point in it, but so that people wouldn't look down on her for not wearing something from pop culture, you lent her your Attack on Titan freedom wings sweatshirt;

- Ayano was extremely happy and flushed with this gesture, it will be a little difficult for her to return the sweatshirt to you, as she will place it on her altar with other of her belongings;

- At the event, many people came up to you to compliment the cosplay, but until one person came up, making a reference to the anime:

" What is your type of woman"

Ayano grimaced at that, why ask such a personal and stupid question?

She hadn't understood the reference, so you got into character.

"My kind of woman? My kind of woman is tall and big-butt, just like my girlfriend Ayano Aishi! He then points to the dark-haired girl.

Congratulations you have made this yandere extremely clueless.

Alan Orion

- Alan had arranged for you to go out into the forest, since he had a surprise for you;

- But you had an appointment, so you told him you were going to be a little late, of course he was annoyed by this, what was more important than him?!;

- Well you had to go to an anime event that was going to be held at the gym, a lot of people who like pop culture went there, so obviously to show your work, so you went in cosplay;

- The cosplayer you did was Rem from Re: Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu;

- After the event, you were in a hurry to go see your boyfriend, because you knew he had been upset with you for changing the appointment time;

- By this time you hadn't even taken off the accessories you were wearing to make the cosplay, so you go straight into the forest to see that man;

- When you arrived, Alan was sitting with his back to you, and as soon as you approached him, your boyfriend's heterochromatic eyes sparkled with admiration; he thought you were late just to get ready like that just for him;

- Well, his intention when he called you was to fuck you hard in the forest, to get you addicted to his cock, but seeing you dressed like that made him hard right away;

- You kind of won't feel your legs for a week anymore;

Sunny day Jack

- Jack was wondering why you were taking so long in the room;

- He was intrigued in what you were doing, as this ghost was curious of what your Sunshine was doing, so he opened the door to your room;

- When he was going to ask how you were, he looked at you, you were wearing strange clothes, wearing a pink wig and contact lenses of the same color, as well as a well-made makeup over your face, making you look very effeminate;

- You jumped when he saw you cosplaying Astolfo from Fate: Apocrypha;

- Well, you decided to step into the role of the character, just to tease Jack for breaking into your room;

"Oh! So you are my master?! Then I will introduce myself! For it is very important to speak my real name! So, my name is Astolfo! One of the twelve paladins of Charles Magno! It's a pleasure" you played the role of getting all excited, quickly approaching the blue-haired man.

" What about yours?" You had a huge smile on your face, you had really gotten into character, Jack was impressed, even though he didn't understand the reference he quite liked it, especially the master part.

- Jack picks you up and puts you on the bed, he would give you lots of love, because as you said, he was your master;

[enihk-writes]

Question, are you okay with writing about yandere? Bcs if yes, I genuinely need ur thoughts on CM as one :3

So, I've been reading the novel (ngl, the manhwa's pace is concerning) and I have begun to notice how determined and obsessive of a person he can be—per se in helping the sect to grow, killing the demon cult members, etc. How loyal and faithful he is—to the sect and his sahyung, specifically. How easily attached is he to the right person—like with the new mount hua sect, the gang ofc. And many more, JUST, like, I had the realization how much potential he has as a yandere and it got me tweaking (ofc, I do not mean to downplay CM's character just like that, he is an amazing guy with flaws, and charm, pls don't come at me)

If not, then please ignore this ask, thank you for listening to my rant <333

(!!) this is a reader self-insert discussion

nah because you got me tweaking as well like this guy has the ingredients to be a classic yandere,, i think everyone's favourite hc is that jang ilso is an extremely possessive yandere and cm is kinda like that except that he's got more "social awareness" courtesy to chung mun which makes him reel in his unsavoury behaviours...

i imagine that he's always been very protective over what he deemed as his — his family, his home, his friends and if there were anything that came along to threaten that normalcy, he would never just stand by to let it happen.

which might have lead to him being so casually cruel with the ones he deem as the "outsider" or the ones who would not help his people. i.e. the demonic cult, the sapa, the other sects and organisations that watched mount hua fall...

when a man who's already this obsessive on the daily towards his platonic relationships, can you imagine how it's going to be like when he falls in love with someone???

in my canon, cm and tb definitely fell for each other like idk abt yall but their old man yaoi was so real to me.... and cm stuck by tb's side alot even though cm never really confirmed nor denied his feelings for tb, because he kept thinking that they still had so much time left until they didn't...

(x reader) content beyond this point

in his 2nd life, he went about determined to never fall in love with anyone ever again but when he does inevitably fall for someone new, cm decided that he won't make the same mistake twice. he doesn't waste his time and lets you know right then that he likes you. whether or not you accept his confession doesn't matter — he would still treat you the same like everyone else. except that i think that he's going to be so much harder on you compared to the rest during training.

his logic here is:

train you to be the strongest you can be > higher chance of survival > can stay by his side for a much longer time

he won't be kind, he won't coddle you either and it's to the point where if you and him were together, you'd begin to wonder if he even likes you at all.

the one time you asked him to take it easy on you, that you were almost at your limit for the day... and he said no... and it pissed you off so much that all the frustration piling up quietly within your heart poured out through tears and you asked if he's ever loved you.

cm is stunned, but only for a moment before he says that he does; so stop being ridiculous and pull yourself together.

none of that soothed you so you ask him why he's so mean to you? and cm finally snapped, you're not making sense to him — he thinks that what he's doing is the best thing he could do for you, and if you can't keep up, maybe you should quit being a disciple and just live as a civilian. and because you can't fight anymore he should move you in with him. you two could play house as much as you wanted in a place that only he knew about, under his watchful eye you would never get hurt and you both would get what you both want... is this the life you are asking him to give you?

what were you supposed to say to that? if that was his way of showing his love for you, then it wasn't the type of love you'd want. you had to get away somehow... but we're talking about one of the strongest swordsman in the jiangshu... how were you?

you tried, to your credit, like a fish in a net — but cm is smart, he figures out what you need and always strives to fulfill them all, that way you can't say you're leaving him because he can't give you what you want.

in the end, you'll be so tired out that you let him do whatever he desires, much to cm's delight. the experience had taught him how to be more considerate towards his lover, and he thanks you with unwanted kisses in a show of unfiltered affection.

finally... finally you were going to stay here with him for good.

[todorokies]

megumi reminds me so much of autumn . . . the leaves turning frail and crunchy, the outdoor air carrying a cold breeze that shakes wind chimes, the days fall short whereas the nights stills longer, warm maroon coloured sweaters, vanilla and apple scents follows in bakeries and candle shops . . .

this time of year cast a lovely veil over megumi’s life which temporarily reliefs him of his duties as a sorcerer. he chooses his spare time wisely and doesn’t take it for granted, since you occupy most of his thoughts its only warranted he spends his lazy saturdays with you by his side.

the first saturday of october, you both visit a secondhand book store after grabbing tea at a cozy cafe. megumi buys a agatha christie novel, the murder at the vicarage, you on the other hand buy a r.l stine goosebumps book. he sighs with a soft smile of his face, “typical…” he mutters to himself.

the second saturday of october, you, yuji, and nobara somehow grouped megumi into playing with an ouija board.

after countless attempts of asking questions to the actual thin air, the planchette moves to the ‘yes’ side of the board after you and nobara jokingly asked: ‘does someone haunt the dorm room in the male east wing?’

the room was soon filled with screams of terror . . . needless to say you spent the night in your boyfriend’s dorm cuddled up in his arms.

the third saturday of october consists of going into tokyo for a street festival. traditional snacks, candy apples, cinnamon rolls and the smell of caramel wafts throughout the street. going hand in hand manoeuvring through the large crowd while looking at the cool vendors and displays and occasionally saying, “look 'gumi let's check this one out!”

with the fourth and final saturday of october, you currently reside in the commoner kitchen sitting on top of the counter watching megumi use halloween-themed cookie cutters on pre-made dough. the plan for tonight was to stay in and watch hocus pocus, after some time you break the comfortable silence.

"so... since when do you like halloween?" a small smirk plays on his lips, "who said i didn't?"

“you just don’t seem like the type, you know?” you take a neatly rolled up piece of cookie dough off the baking sheet to prop it in your mouth, “if i didn’t know you well enough, i’d probably think your favourite holiday was something boring like new year’s.”

he snickers at your claim but covers it up with a fake dry cough not wanting to give you that full satisfaction.

he ends up choosing to ignore your comment, “there’s a lot of things to do around the fall time that entertains me. that’s all.” you teasingly wiggle your eyebrows, clearly fascinated by this new discovery.

“did you ever dress up for halloween?”

“gojo used to dress me and tsumiki up all the time when we were little. one year we went as oompa loompas and he dressed as willy wonka.” his eyebrow slightly twitches in annoyance by the faint memory.

you hold in your laughter mainly to protect megumi’s ego and make a mental note to ask gojo for proof with pictures later.

“i’m glad you wanna spend this month with me it seems like it means a lot to you.” you blurt out suddenly while fondly smiling at him as you softly trace over his chuckles with your finger.

his breath gets stuck in his throat and he can practically feel the blush climbing from his neck up to his face. you always seem to do this to him; make him awestruck and flustered like an idiot with a freshly new crush. but in hindsight, he doesn’t think the puppy love phase will ever end, at least not for him, you still make his stomach flip and tumble after many months together.

contrary to popular belief, megumi believes that the month of love doesn’t take place in february, but in the month of october. where the orange, yellow, and red is a far more appealing set of colours than pink and white.

reblogs & feedback is extremely appreciated !! <3 a/n: in honor of it being september

[thelunarfairy]

Hello! I recently read the novel or game Narisokonai Snow White by Aida and Iro and well it seemed curious to me that she also had twins in that story hehe, although I feel that in some way the story, attitude and way of being of Estelio and Rasphards are similar to Amane and Tsukasa, in a way I feel that way, what do you think? one was destined to be the happy twin and the other was not, in Narisokonai Snow White, Estelio was the twin destined to be happy and in TBHK Tsukasa too, Rasphard was the twin destined to not be happy and in TBHK Amane also had the same destiny, at least I think so I thought this because in the red house arc when the twins were 4 years old it is seen that Amane was a very sick boy and could not get out of bed while Tsukasa was a very healthy and imactive boy, Amane was going to die, Tsukasa was going to die. to live, in chapter 78 it is said that Amane was not going to last long, that he would die within a month.

In the case of Estelio and Rasphard it was a little different, they had different roles to fulfill, Rasphard was educated by his grandfather to be a scholar and Estelio educated by his grandmother to serve Princess Neige, Estelio was the one everyone loved while Rasphard He was not loved at all, Estelio would live a happy life, Rasphard an unhappy life.

In chapter 81 it is discovered that Amane had a kind of envy of Tsukasa just like Rasphard did of Estelio, they wanted something that they lacked, on Amane's part he wanted health and energy. from Tsukasa and on Rasphard's part he wanted all the attention, care and love that they gave to Estelio, Tsukasa and Amane have a serious communication problem as do Rasphard and Estelio, consequently the younger twins think that the older twins do not love them/ They hate, or reject and vice versa. Well, it's a small parallel that I found, maybe I'm wrong haha, I would like to know what you think about this, and also if you think that the relationship that Nene and Amane/Tsukasa have is similar to that of Neige and Estelio/Rasphard? Another question I have is um well…Do you think Tsukasa has fallen in love with Nene like Rasphard has with Neige? At one point I thought like this, maybe this isn't like that and I'm getting ideas haha, I found it curious that the first time Tsukasa met Nene is something similar to the first meeting of Neige and Rasphard Rasphard had met Neige after going out to the yard to gather herbs, Rasphard suddenly felt someone grab him by her waist, and say "There you are! She was so worried!" no one had hugged him before, so it was a strange feeling, he thought it was his grandfather, father or brother but they had no reason to touch him, then he realized it was a girl, he didn't know who she was, she complained that there was promised to make her a wreath of flowers, Rasphard, despite being an educated child and buried in books, could not speak, a girl had never spoken to him before, she called him Estelio (his brother had gotten sick, that's why he confused them) that's when it happened. He realized that it was Neige, with whom his brother had fun, instead of telling the truth he lied saying that he had been cured with a strange medicine that had changed his eyes to a golden color, they played a lot, during which time the boy had He felt extreme happiness that was not compared to reading any book. After finding it, his grandfather took him away from her. At that moment, a different feeling was born. He had fallen in love.

Now in the meeting between Nene and Tsukasa something similar happens, after Nene and Kou entered the red house and arrived at the place where they believed there was a child, after hearing some noises and asking some strange questions and Nene answered they opened the door , someone similar to Hanako came out from behind the door after this Nene reacts compulsively and hugs him, then says "I got you!" There you can see Tsukasa's reaction, he doesn't speak, he stays still, he looks surprised, maybe I even feel that he likes me, his eyes shine, you can even see those things, those little stars and circles that appear when a character likes or He is excited, at that moment I felt bad for Tsukasa, I thought that after being alone for so long for who knows how long being a type of bait to attract people to "the thing" under the house, looking forward to happy families, missing the his, the affection of his mother, father and…his brother, seeing people/families being murdered (?), it is not known how much "the thing" influenced Tsukasa, I do not doubt that it was not a good influence, but later After spending so much time alone witnessing terrible things, someone hugged him, willingly (I think it's cute that Nene carries him a lot, he likes physical contact) and that person wanted to help him get out of there and be able to reunite with his family, with His brother, even that girl knows him, she loves her brother like him, they really are similar. What do you think about this? I'm so sorry to ask so much! I hope you see it!

Hello Hello! hahahaha wow, I loved it!!

Well, I'll confess that I didn't follow the Novel's story, because I couldn't find it anywhere and the way to find out more about it was quite complicated.

I know a few things about the story Narisokonai Snow White, and yes, there are these parallels. In fact, I believe that Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun is a collection of all of Aidairo's works. There are some extras that fit with some characters. Like the extra that has a character like Sakura who has a clumsy guardian and she can hit him from time to time.

Just like the one shot that has Akane and Aoi, in a different context than the canon. And of course, we can't forget Dear My Living Dead, where most people who know it fear that Nene and Amane's story will reflect on Lily and Karuto's story. Given the similarity not only in appearance, but in the situation that surrounds them.

So, it won't be the same, but Aidairo likes to take advantage of previous ideas, it would be predictable for her to repeat the endings, but nothing prevents the development from being similar.

Comparing the Yugi twins with the Narisokonai twins is something valid and I'll confess that I've seen a lot of people talking about it. And well, Aidairo is confirming the comparisons in some details.

Like the visceral and unfair relationship between the twins and about them and the world, about a brother who suffers for crumbs and another who reigns in full greatness, and of course, the girl, who came to bring a significant change in the paradigm.

Comparisons are inevitable, but don't delve too deeply into the concept. Because, if it were to create the same story, there would be no need for reproduction.

Tsukasa is the boy who chooses loneliness, sacrifice, Amane would be reason enough for him to decide to sacrifice himself for a wish, just so he could be happy. Tsukasa doesn't care about himself, even though he wants to be loved, he doesn't care about the love of others besides Amane.

At least for now.

Amane has this difficulty in saying how he feels, he made Tsukasa feel the way he is, and after a long time without receiving affection, Tsukasa is surprised by Nene, the girl who hugged him without fear, after so long.

But, let's also think about how Amane is also unloved. His eyes also lit up when he heard from Nene that she really liked him as a friend.

In this case, we are dealing with two brothers who are not loved, one does not feel loved because he believes that his older brother hates him, and the other does not believe that he deserves to be loved, because of the past.

Nene isn't here to save Tsukasa, or Amane, she's here to save both of them.

Still, we have the similarities with the novel, you see, the details are there, but as a creative author, JSHK will follow her own rules.

[touchlikethesun]

Hello, SVSSS fan! Can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from SVSSS? And why you loved them? Also, your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Thanks 🤩

hello anon <3333 thank you for such a lovely question i love talking about svsss so much (i am so annoying to my irl friends about svsss omg)

SO basically i am quite basic but for fav characters...

luo binghe <3 my bpd king <3 i love binghe so much it is genuinely concerning. a huge part of it come from how relatable i find him, so many times while i was reading the novels he would put words to things i had been feeling but hadn't been able to find the words or wasn't brave enough to say out loud. it is probably more concerning that i relate to that little ball of trauma but it is what it is... relatablity aside, i just also think he is such a.... precious person... i love his intensity, i love that he's a bit of a liar and a bit manipulative, i love how intelligent he is, and i love his resiliency. i wish he didn't HAVE to be resilient, i really want only good things for bingbing but i still think his strength is admirable. also his hair. he has really nice hair. and his glowing eyes. that is also a very nice quality of his. i could go on but. i will spare you...

airplane-bro, the lunatic that he is - i've said it before but airplane is the reason why i picked up svsss in the first place, i find the idea of an author trapped in their own novel just infinitely fascinating, the metaness of it, literally the metaphysical-ness of it, and i so badly wanted to see what airplane's character would be like. and then i met him. pathetic wet hamster of a man that he is. i think of all the crazy svsss characters, airplane might actually be the craziest. which kinda makes sense bc all the other characters contain part of airplane's craziness, but airplane the man himself has it all in one. of all the characters, he probably makes me laugh the most, he's just so irreverent, and the tired "over it" millennial energy is so strong with him. and then i do have a soft spot for characters that don't even realise just how strong they are, like sqh considers himself a coward, but i think he's one of the most fearless characters in the novel. anyways. i do reread the airplane extras extremely frequently.

shen..... yuan..... i had to think about this because i really like shen jiu as well and honestly for me it is a bit hard to separate them in my mind because shen jiu has such an impact on shen yuan's life as shen qingqiu, he is the definition of haunting the narrative. however ultimately, when i do separate them, i do like shen yuan's character just ever so slightly more. i do really love shen yuan as well, for as much as he frustrates me when i am reading the novel (boy let the harem thing goooooo ffs), i hold him as similarly precious as i do binghe <3 i think he is such a fundamentally good person, and similar to airplane, he really genuinely does not realise how unique he is and how much he is loved and valued by those around him. i love feeling how deeply he feels across the text, even tho he refuses to admit it out loud, i love how bitchy and bratty he gets when he's actually comfortable around someone, and i love how much he actually loves pidw (he does okay) and how excited he gets every time he meets a new character or monster, i just think it's incredibly cute. he's also insane. and if you can't tell i love insane men. (in fiction)

to round out the list it has to shen jiu, as i said up above. i think mxtx writes vilains incredibly well, and shen jiu in particular is really compelling to me. i think he is a horrible man, an incredibly sad and cruel man, and what makes him all the more compelling is that he keeps choosing to be that way. i think in pidw he is not even a foil to luo bingge and more like a direct parallel, an example of the cycle of abuse. someone was cruel to shen jiu, so he is cruel to luo bingge, and then bingge kills him. and when i say that he chooses to be cruel, it is not that i don't recognise his trauma, the way that he learned that there was no point in defending himself because no one would believe him anyways, the way that living on the streets taught him that the world was kill or be killed, that yue qi abandoning him taught him that he couldn't depend on anyone, all of that can be true, but he also had many chances to turn a new leaf to choose to be better, but he was so trapped and so hurt that he couldn't. i find him interesting to think about, i find it interesting to try and explain the enigma that is shen jiu. and i also really like imagining aus where somehow, by some miracle, he makes a different choice.

as for my top five favourite moments, this will be in no particular order, just as i think of them on the spot, if you asked me tomorrow you'd very likely get a different list because there are just so many good moments.

the moment in the holy masoleum where shen qingqiu has been dragging binghe as vines are growing out of his skin and then binghe wakes up and shen qingqiu is uncontrollably crying from pain and stress

in the extras when shang qinghua is asking bingqiu questions about their relationship and shen qingqiu soothes luo binghe's anxieties as easy as breathing

luo binghe's "as long as you don’t leave me" line (AND THEN SQQ DOES!!! SCREAMING)

every single second of airplane’s extra but especially the last line "it was just that he very much liked this story he’d written" i’m tearing up thinking about it now

white lotus bunhe pretending to be clumsy so shen qingqiu would hold him

literally just the first 5 that came to mind but i could already go for another 5 there are so many gems in svsss omg

thanks so much for the question!

[jazzy-flowerr]

Wrole Headcanons [the novel /j]

Yap time baby woo! 👏 🗣

[TW: cult activity, religious abuse and kidnapping]

-

-

The story begins with a wolf by the name of Woshe Petrov

Back when Woshe was in his late teens - early 20s, he was involved with a cult. The cult in question was known for its drastic punishments. If any member were to disobey their leader, if anyone outside the cult did something that the cult took as a threat, the person who had "misbehaved" - or that person's family and/or friends - would be cursed by the leader and transformed into a bloodthirsty, horrifying beast.

After a few years of being involved in this cult, Woshe eventually realized how dangerous the group was and left. It was a difficult process, coming extremely close to getting caught by the leader at points, but he had successfully gotten out.

Though he never fully recovered from what he had seen in that cult, Woshe was still somewhat able to move on from his past and start a family.

He married a woman by the name of Wilma, and soon the two had a child who they named Wrole.

For a while, it seemed as if Woshe had successfully been able to escape the cult without ever being caught.

But what he didn't know was that the cult was fully aware of what Woshe did, and that the group had been spending years planning how they would punish him.

Cursing Woshe himself wasn't enough for them, he needed to have a loved one taken from him, he needed to feel the weight of his "crimes", and he needed to feel it hard.

So one day, when Wrole was only 6 years old, a small group of the cult members kidnapped the little wolf cub in the dead of night and brought him to their leader.

Woshe and Wilma ran into their child's room as soon as they heard the commotion, but by the time they went in, it was already too late. Their child was gone, and all that remained was a letter telling Woshe that this was his punishment.

Woshe realized almost immediately that this was the cult's doing, and so he and his wife rushed to save their child. Woshe knew the way the cult punished people all too well, and therefore knew exactly where they would be.

Sadly for Woshe and Wilma, though, by the time they made it to the location, the curse had already been placed onto their child. And what was once an innocent little kid was now a lanky, rabid monster on the prowl.

The two had to resort to containing Wrole in a nearby abandoned warehouse for a days until Woshe had figured out a solution.

The cult's leader always wore a golden pendulum necklace to protect himself from any potential spell mistakes, so Woshe figured that if the necklace was worn by Wrole, his curse would be repelled.

After some careful strategizing [I think that's a word-], Woshe and Wilma were able to break into the cult's base and steal the necklace from the leader.

They then went into the abandoned warehouse and forced the necklace onto their child.

Their plan had been a success! Well - moreso a half success...

The necklace did repel Wrole's curse, but it only works during the day. So, when it's day time, Wrole is their normal self. But once the moon rises, he reverts back to their monstrous form.

Due to this, Wrole's parents refused to ever let him out of the house. Up until when Wrole was 19 and ran away from home. Wrole, not even fully aware of the curse inflicted upon them at such a young age, never understood why they were never allowed to leave the house, and therefore didn't understand what trouble he was getting themself into by running off.

That night, once the moon rose, Wrole wandered into an abandoned train station after their transformation, where he would unfortunately meet their demise at the hands of this

BITCHASS ROBOT

[I have no reason to hate this robot as much as I do but idc it's ugly and stupid and it fills me with rage and I want it publicly executed]

-

Except that only happened in the APRP universe. In an alternative universe, Wrole never got murdered and instead met a man by the name of Wayne.

They're happily married now and no ugly robots got in the way of their relationship so yayyyyy

[whichever one of these universes is the quote, unquote, "canon" one is up to you]

Anyways this ended up being a lot shorter than I was expecting. You're all free from my ramblings now. Bye bye :3 👋

[notmorbid]

model home.

dialogue prompts from model home: a novel by rivers solomon.

i don't want nothing to do with you right now.

want some company?

abuse of power surprises me every time, actually.

knowledge has never saved anyone.

this house lures in animals with a death wish.

my god, what would the neighbors think?

every day, everyone is a hundred different people.

i don't even know what i need to be ready for.

should i be worried?

you're not going to post that, are you?

the kids who grow up fine do so because of us or despite us.

what's the point of gated communities? the bad people are already inside. this is their fort.

is it me who haunts? me who is the ghost?

i cannot say everything. cannot tell the whole truth.

to look yourself in the eye and face up to what you've done is not a task you can survive. not when you've done the things i have.

i am always playing hide and seek with my own damn self.

when you see something you want, get it. why ask questions, you know?

a house like ours gives scars. people ask about them.

i always want to fuck people who aren't immediately available to me.

i'm not interested in people once the spark of newness has faded.

our neighborhood is a demon, and our house is its belly. digesting us.

be quiet, for once in your damn life.

who is it you're looking for?

i'm not a person. i'm a place where bad things happen.

you know i don't bullshit. not to anyone.

why does it matter what i think?

it's stupid to run from pain instead of to it. pain always comes.

what's it feel like inside your body right now?

the world doesn't make a lick of sense, does it?

it hasn't hit me yet, i don't think.

it makes me tired seeing how good your life is.

the central tenet of my parenting philosophy is not saying what mama would say.

you'll learn when you're ready.

if i don't show them who i am, they can't disapprove.

you're not a real person. you're a paper doll.

what happened to us being family?

how jarring, the different versions of events we all have.

come to bed. i'll even let you be little spoon.

i need you to shut the fuck up.

i am trying to find the beauty here. the appeal.

please pretend i didn't say that. that's not who i am.

i know the pain of realizing what you're capable of.

you aren't gonna be okay. you know that, right?

i was never going to be okay.

maybe you shouldn't be alone right now.

fucked up recognizes fucked up.

i don't know if there's a distinction between self harm and self pleasure, for me.

do you think god is a horse girl, or a wolf girl?

how will it look, if we try to hide the evidence?

my body knows things before i do.

you said you missed me. here i am.

who sees beauty and does not want to experience it?

parents atone for their personal lacks by punishing their offspring.

teenagers aren't interested in being with their families. right?

don't get involved in grown folks' business.

you should probably be on antidepressants or something.

the first step of an american mall adventure is getting your ears badly pierced at claire's.

i made all your favorites.

do you not think your experiences were particularly extreme?

i can't really live because i don't let things die.

i have learned to close my eyes against the world.

you can't help me. no one can.

if it's not my fault, there's truly not a thing i can do.

i'm only an animal, not a god.

get your shit and get out.

it's not your job to ask questions. it's your job to do what you're told.

we can reproduce only what we know.

straight up, there is bad juju afoot.

a death in the family is torture for the control freak.

we need to tell somebody.

don't you want to live somewhere else?

what happens to us matters. otherwise, what tethers us to the living?

the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but it also gets the beating.

how can you know, beyond a doubt, what's right?

'a family matter' is a phrase used to protect abuse.

the world doesn't make sense. why should we?

i'm tired of being the bad guy.

i need you to try to remember what you did.

believe me. please. please believe me.

there is no such thing as 'never again'.

money? that shit rots your fucking brain.

so much of what we speak is our attempt to make our fantasies real.

it isn't easy to leave your home, even when that home terrorizes you.

psychological cages are real cages.

you're shaking. please talk to me.

old problems require old solutions.

'perfect' is the enemy of 'good'.

my mind likes to play tricks on me. new ways every day.

i always expect nights like this to be quiet.

the darkness hides us as much as it hides the ghosts.

so much of you is an image you're constructing.

i can't tell the difference between grief and ghosts. both seize the body and take what they will.

i was starting to believe that maybe i made it all up.

i wish i knew how to help you. can you tell me?

is that what you think it is? a story i tell myself?

every feeling to me is a funny feeling.

can i hug you? would that be alright?

i didn't want to disturb you. you looked very studious.

your heart is so big. it's the biggest thing i've ever seen.

maybe there is no saving, only salvaging.

[kiwiana-writes]

4, 6, 9 and 19- or any combination of those if that's too much!

4. Do you write original stories as well?

2024 is the year of the original novel, baby! I may have done more, like, setting up a website/Substack/Airtable writing tracker/etc than actual writing at the moment, but in my defence I'm still wrapping up my freelancing obligations this month lmao

6. What is a fandom you will never write for?

You know, it's hard to say 'never' because... I never know what's going to grip me. I never would have predicted that I'd write a fic for the TV adaption of The Last of Us, or that I'd walk out of the theatre after going to see a queer Christmas movie and rage-write an alternate ending in three hours.

So I'll take a slightly different approach to this question and instead say a fandom I'll never write for again, and that's HP. I respect the hell out of the authors who have gone full death of the author about it and reclaimed the world they love to make it better, I really fucking do. But I pulled my HP fics down from AO3 when I realised that seeing the author's name on my fandoms list, on my profile, was just... really fucking with my little trans non binary head.

9. What are your favorite fanfics?

This question is cruel. CRUEL. I have never picked a favourite anything in my life. Here's a few things I'm vibing with RIGHT NOW, but the answer may change in a month or a week or an hour lol.

Going Platinum by @cricketnationrise - always, but especially now as cricket works through the sequel. I feel very taken care of by this fic and have reread it a truly embarrassing number of times.

I really hope I can get him alone by @clottedcreamfudge - the Henry POV of Kinda think that I might be his type aka Alex and Bea fake date. I am just. iu4oqhurfriehngfuqernugoenuogre.

In His Wildest Dreams by @myheartalivewrites - I bang on about Oxford Days by this author a lot (and for good reason) but FUCK this one is beautiful. I am forever a sucker for the psychology of kink.

Noble Blood by @orchidscript - currently a WIP, somewhat based on The King's Assassin by Benjamin Wooley which is the book Mary & George is based on. And like... here's the thing. I picked up pretty quickly coming into this fandom that The Thing Orchid Is Known For is researching the absolute living fuck out of her fics, and like... I respect it, but I also didn't really think about it much, because while deep-dive knowledge is fun, as long as something's plausible enough that it doesn't pull me out of the story I'm along for the ride, you know? But this fic. THIS FIC is based in a time period I am very familiar with (my focus was always Tudor England, but you don't study that time period without picking up a lot of knowledge of the decades either side of it) and like... I get it now. Reading a historical fic where you know so much about the time period, and seeing all these tiny little details sprinkled throughout that, like, aren't actually required for the plot but are just weaving the tapestry of the world... fuck me, it's an entire different experience.

Something Borrowed, Something Blue by @anincompletelist - currently a WIP, I believe it's due to be completely posted by the end of January? But y'all it's so fucking engaging and I am loving the journey so much.

When I Met You (I Could Not Speak) by @sparklepocalypse - forever on my fairytale bullshit as y'all know and this one is EXCELLENT.

You love me! You love me? by anarchyat4am - god. GOD. I don't even know what to say about this one other than PLEASE READ IT. Trans Alex and one of my favourite tropes, quietly falling into a relationship.

19. Dead or overused tropes?

I am an extremely firm believer that there is in fact no such thing. People are forever coming up with new twists on tropes, and even fics that play tropes totally straight are infused with the author's voice or experience or whatever. If I didn't want to enjoy the comfort of the familiar, I would probably not be engaging with fic in the first place 🤣

[Ask game for fanfic writers]

[poorlittleyaoyao]

mdzs the novel was where i started but it frustrates me still. a romantic/sexual dynamic where prioritizing your partner over everything is desirable doesn't work for me (regardless of what the author's intention was with that) when (a) the story is so much about how society sucks, (b) the romance is.. not even important for so much of what we See, (c) and romantic-ish relationships between men who tried to improve things are actually present in the text. if doomed. just. ugh.

I am of the opinion that MXTX did a lot of really interesting things with this story that she did not set out to do when she drafted the story, and maybe didn't even realize as she was writing it. Which doesn't mean that she's a flop writer or that these things aren't worth analyzing, because I have the same opinion about certain Shakespeare plays and such. (And she has to be doing something effectively, because here we all are with brainworms.)

But--and I am basing this on vibes and my personal biases alone, no interviews or anything like that--I think she set out to write a romance, and then developed the setting around that romance more than the romance plot strictly required . Which in a way is great! Because now we have this rich lived-in world with a lot of potential and characters who exist beyond their functions vis-a-vis our two leads! Awesome! But rich, lived-in worlds and large casts of three-dimensional characters take time and effort to maintain, and that's time and effort that is now being diverted away from the romance--the romance which was the whole point of writing, and which readers will be expecting.

So what we have is this rich, lived-in world, and these complicated characters, and these situations with no easy answers, and these themes of, like, reputation as a construct and the power of public perception, or the nature of duty and what happens when duty is taken to the extreme or one's obligations are in conflict with each other, or the impact of one's family ties on one's place in society, etc etc... and none of these things are ever examined to their fullest extent, because this was supposed to be a romance. This was supposed to be a romance that will go through a whole lot of tumult until its leads are ultimately granted a happy ending for Just The Two Of Them that readers can feel good about. So you can't look too closely at anything else, or you might ask questions, and the conclusion of this romance is going to start feeling a bit icky.

(Also, the fact that MXTX has supposedly stated that Wangxian are the only intended m/m couple in the text is so funny. Ma'am, what did you want us to think was happening elsewhere? There are no women in this text, so whomst are these inexplicably unmarried men supposed to be into?)

[spacetrashpile]

DRACTOBER DAY FIVE: DRACULA (1931)

Welcome back to Dractober, where I watch and rank one film adaptation of Dracula for every day in October! I'll be ranking each film on two one to ten scales (was it a good adaptation of Dracula and did I enjoy it?) and giving the film a final score at the end by averaging out the other scores.

Today's film was Dracula (1931), starring Bela Lugosi as Dracula himself. This film follows Dracula as he arrives in London and, with the help of his servant Renfield, terrorizes our protagonists, Mina, John, Seward, Lucy, and Van Helsing. Yes, I know this is basically just the plot of the novel, but I've been giving all these movies the summary treatment thus far, so I'm giving it to this one too. This is one of the few films on this list that I've actually seen before, but it's been ages since I last saw it, so this was basically a first watch, with how much I actually remembered of the film.

Let's get into it!

So, our first question, was this a good adaptation of Dracula?

Everyone get excited, this is the first film where the answer is unequivocally yes! While this film does make some significant changes to the plot of the novel, it's still a very solid adaptation.

One of the biggest, and most unfortunate changes (in my opinion) is the cutting of Lucy's suitor plot line, and as such, the cutting of Arthur and Quincy. Their presence is greatly missed, but I understand why the filmmakers chose to cut this plot- this movie's runtime is only just over an hour, they had to make cuts somewhere and this is one of the places that made the most sense. This also means that Lucy gets significantly less screen time, with her death coming about 30 minutes into the film (and her first appearance coming maybe 15 minutes in, to give you an idea).

There are also a few changes made to the relationships of the characters. Van Helsing doesn't have a clear connection to Seward, other than maybe being his coworker (unless I missed a line), and Seward is now Mina's father and has no real connection to Lucy, outside of her being Mina's friend. I remember when I first saw the film and noticed that Seward was the only suitor in the credits, I assumed he would be taking both his original role in the novel and the role of Lucy's husband. And while this change does make sense as a way to more clearly connect Seward to Mina with how pared down Lucy's role is, it does still feel like a missed opportunity.

They also changed the opening portion of the novel (when Jonathan visits Castle Dracula) to instead follow Renfield, showing how he became Dracula's servant and went crazy. Unlike the other notable changes, this is one I really enjoyed! It was another way to cut the runtime of the novel down for the sake of the film, but it was one that I think worked really well for incorporating Renfield more heavily into the story.

The final confrontation is also significantly different from the novel. For one, it takes place in England, rather than back in Translyvania (and the brides actually aren't involved in the film at all after that opening sequence). Renfield is also still alive at this point, and plays his own role in leading Van Helsing and Johnathan to Dracula to confront him.

Honestly, though, my biggest complaint is the extremely small role Jonathan actually plays in the film. While I was a fan of the choice to work Renfield into the story much earlier, it also meant that Jonathan had very little to do, and as such, he really didn't feel like much of a protagonist at all. And this is disappointing because I really like Jonathan, but also because I imagine this choice by the filmmakers played a not insignificant role in the way Jonathan tends to be utilized in other adaptations (which is to say, not enough).

But overall, this is an extremely solid (and refreshing, lol) adaptation of Dracula, and I'm going to give it a 8/10 on the adaptation scale. I'm hoping we'll have a few more films on the list that include the full cast of the novel (I know at least one does!) and utilize the characters a bit more closely to the way they're originally presented, but this is still a really solid adaptation, and one I recommend if you're looking for an accurate adaptation of the novel.

Next, how much did I enjoy the film?

Look, this film is a classic for a reason. It's an enjoyable and effective film, especially considering how old it is. Bela Lugosi is an amazing Dracula, and the film as a whole is a blueprint for not only most modern day horror, but also for most Dracula adaptations there are. And this is something I was able to especially appreciate on this second watch. I kept noticing little moments or lines that I'd seen in other films I've watched this month, and it made the whole thing extra enjoyable.

The film isn't particularly scary, however. I think this is partially a side effect of knowing the entire plot going in, but also a side effect of how old the film is and how much they could actually do at the time. This isn't a huge deal breaker for me, however. I would've appreciated a few moments that really got my heart racing, I'm not super mad about the loss. Though, I do wish the final confrontation scene had been a bit more intense. But if you're looking for a properly scary film this Halloween, that might be something to keep in mind.

I also enjoyed how much of the novel the filmmakers clearly wanted to include, even when they couldn't. For example, the moment when Martin tries to shoot bat!Dracula is ripped straight from when Quincy tries to shoot him. It was nice to see that the filmmakers clearly knew the novel well, even with the changes they were making to it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! I'd say this film gets an 8/10 on the enjoyment scale. I highly recommend!

In the end, Dracula (1931) gets an 8/10. What can I say, this is a classic for a reason! If you haven't already seen the film, I highly recommend giving it a watch sometime. I'll see you tomorrow for my next film!

[imaginationofomi]

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Chapter Three

☪︎

Seventeen minutes of standing in cold air made Aubrie's nose start to run, yet she had a hard time walking into her condo. She wanted to be running the streets, looking for a killer, but it wasn't in her job description. She was toeing a dangerous line that could be classified as contextual bias if she wasn't careful, and she needed to be careful. That bias could get evidence thrown out in the event of a trial.

Eventually, she put her key into the bottom lock and turned it. Sultry jazz tunes played from a bluetooth speaker as Aubrie stepped through her front door to the aroma of butter chicken and fresh garlic naan. It brought her extreme comfort along with the lavender candles lit on her contemporary dining table.

"That you, Brie?" Bryce's voice came from the kitchen, and he poked his head over the sink and counter to see her. The coffee table was covered in piles of paper, folders, and highlighters meaning he'd come straight from his office instead of stopping at his place first. She hated clutter, but it came with the territory of dating a civil rights attorney that worked best in chaos.

"Yeah," she replied, kicking off her shoes and hanging her coat on one of the wall hooks. Her feet carried her past the living room couch to her master bedroom where she began to shed her clothes.

Dinner and a stiff drink were the only things she wanted. Her mind was darker than usual, and she knew that her sleep would be plagued with nightmares. Not abnormal, but so much worse with recent developments. In all of her years working with the Briton Beach Police department, she never knew any of the victims.

Bianca changed that for her. Every hour, her heart lurched in her chest knowing that there was someone roaming free with blood on their hands. The blood of someone she considered a friend. She was not okay. She didn't want to rest until she brought justice to the person responsible.

"I thought you were supposed to relax today. You're stressed." Her boyfriend of two and a half years noticed every detail about her, when she cut her hair, got a new outfit, when she met someone. He could read her like a novel.

"Why are people so fucking sick?" she asked out loud, though she didn't expect a real response. Placing her joined hands on the back of her neck, she breathed roughly before yanking off her shirt and pushing her panties to the ground.

"Haven't psychologists been trying to answer that for centuries?"

"It was really more of a rhetorical question." She scooped up her dirty clothes and dropped them into the hamper, turning on the bathroom light and starting the water for a hot shower.

"What happened?"

"Some shit that shouldn't have." She pulled the glass door open and walked under the shower head to soak her twists and scald her skin as it rapidly heated up. She wanted to feel something more than mental anguish.

Bryce stood near the sink, watching carefully to see if she would break down. It happened once before when Aubrie thought she could do her job without seeing a therapist regularly. A week of murder suicides did her in. She'd become almost catatonic. He was the one to pull her out and get her help. She hadn't had an episode since, but he recognized the signs of her being on the verge of one. The last few days were a slow spiral down.

"When you're finished in there, I'll run you a bath. Dinner'll be done by the time you get out," he said softly. Her head was pointed to the floor, but she looked up when she heard him and nodded.

"Thank you."

He was hesitant to leave her. However, burnt food wouldn't be a good time for either of them. With all she tried to handle one her own, the very least that could be done was her eating a good home cooked meal. After assembling their plates, he put them in the oven to keep them warm and returned to the bathroom to fill the tub. He added a few drops of her favorite bath oil, lit a lavender incense, and made her an extra dry martini with two olives.

Aubrie liked to soak alone, so he was ready to give her time to herself when she surprised him by asking him to stay. He sat down by the tub, emulsifying a bit of oil in his palms before he began to work the tension out of her shoulders.

"You need to take some time off," he told her, thinking about the fact that her last vacation was over a year prior, and it was only a three day weekend in the next city over. She had days racked up. It was time to use them.

"I can't. I have to see this through."

"See what through?"

"A personal case. I promised her parents I would find the bastard."

"You can't make that type of promise, Aubrie." The same way a surgeon or internist couldn't. Law enforcement was good for getting shit wrong and not correcting their mistakes after the fact. He trusted Aubrie's judgment and her intellect, but she could only do so much in her position. The rest was up to the cops, and they'd proven over and over again that they would serve their own interests first and foremost. When it came time for the parents to find someone to blame, the person that made them a promise would be first on the hook.

"I'm 1000 percent aware, but this one, I'm going to keep. I have to," she said definitively, and his only choice was to let it go. She would do what she wanted at the end of the day.

"Let me know if you need my help." Criminal law wasn't his area of expertise, but he had quite a few acquaintances from school in the area.

"Is Lola still a P.I.?"

"She'll do you a favor if you ask."

Lola, a past partner of theirs, was exceptional at finding what people didn't want found. While Aubrie had always been polyamorous, that was her first time in a throuple. She could take or leave the experience, as it wasn't horrible or particularly grand. She didn't like playing favorites, but Lola did, and her favorite was Bryce. Those two kept in contact, and Aubrie moved onto Summer.

If it weren't for the nature of the situation, she wouldn't have asked. Aubrie didn't have any issues with Lola. They were cordial, friendly even. The latter had gotten herself into a sticky situation by being a little too good at her job. She'd gone underground for a while and switched professions. Aubrie hated the thought of asking her to backtrack, but Lola was the best she knew.

The hot bath water went lukewarm, and Aubrie decided to get out before she pruned further. Bryce helped her onto the mat and dried her off with a fresh towel, taking his time to rub lotion into her skin and wrapping her up in a robe. She kissed his lips as he tied it shut.

He made her sit on the bed and told her to try to relax, mixing up another martini and bringing her plate into the bedroom on a tray. The first bite of chicken and jasmine rice made her moan.

"I love you," she said, tearing off a piece of naan and picking up more of the chicken.

"How much?"

"More than I did yesterday."

"Enough for us to talk about Summer?"

Her chewing slowed, and she swallowed, licking sauce from her lips and fingers, "What about her?"

"I think she needs to go," he said, and Aubrie wasn't surprised to hear it. Truthfully, he'd been hinting at it for a while, but they often danced around the conversation. She could always explain something away, and Bryce was tired of accepting it.

"That's not for you to have an opinion on. She's my girlfriend."

"She stresses you out more than she makes you happy, and she purposely cuts into my time with you because she can't handle sharing you with a man." That was for him to have an opinion on. He could admit that Aubrie did her best to be fair, but Summer was working the system, and he refused to bow out when he was there first.

"You're saying if I were dating another woman, she wouldn't complain as much?"

"All I know is that we didn't have problems until she got here. She doesn't want you to go out, she doesn't respect our schedule, and she always wants to start shit with me. I'm here for you, not to listen to her mouth." He knew what he had in Aubrie. They developed an understanding, ground rules, and they'd been together long enough to know each others ticks. She was the only woman that he managed to maintain a healthy relationship with for more than a year because most of the women he met that claimed to be polyamorous weren't legit. He met many that were monogamists in denial, and he was past the realm of exploring options with people new to the lifestyle. There wasn't much luck in finding someone seasoned that matched him as well as Aubrie did, either. At least not in their city. Neither cared much for marriage, but she was as close to a wife as he would ever get. Summer would not ruin that for him.

Aubrie took one look at his face and knew that she had to do something more than she'd done in the past. She tried to be delicate with both and thought that would keep the peace, but neither of her partners were happy with the current predicament. Her days of getting away with small gifts and promised foot rubs were over. To whom much is given, much is required, and requirements were going up.

"I'll talk to her about the way she treats you, and if changes aren't made, I will let her go," she promised him because he wasn't lying. Summer did show a lack of respect for him and their relationship. Previous conversations did nothing, so it was time to get real or get lost.

"Thank you. I love you." He kissed her twice, leaving the bedroom to grab his own plate of food, and Aubrie sighed. She really needed to call her therapist.

🂡🂡🂡

Dead ends were the worst. Roads, cases, hair, all of them. Somebody was getting a kick out of fucking with Aubrie, and she didn't appreciate it. One of her cases hit a wall, and with more coming in, she was being pressured to let it go cold.

"Ya love to love me, baby." Kirsten strolled into Aubrie's lab with a smirk and the test results she asked for in hand. The toxicologist was new to the precinct, a transfer from Malibu with tight ringlets she bleached platinum blonde and roots that showed her true color, beach tan skin maintained with regular spray tan appointments, and blue eyes. Pink lips and a small nose completed her pretty face.

For the most part, they saw each other when work called for it. Aubrie found her overall to be sweet, and hot, but she had rules. Kirsten, on the other hand, had been giving Aubrie the eye for weeks and was ready to take her chances on the doctor.

"Thanks. I owe you one," Aubrie said, flipping through the papers of the first packet until she got to the page that she wanted.

"I'll be sure to cash in on that," Kirsten replied, leaning her elbows on top off the cart that held two different microscopes and some glass sides. Aubrie was too focused to realize that Kirsten wanted to talk, and she had her own job to get back to. She'd catch her later, "I got a box from Nayeli's. It's in the break room if you want something sweet."

"Sweets mess with my concentration."

"A distraction would do you some good. Have you even been to the bathroom today?"

"Shit!" Aubrie eyes widened and zeroed in on the particular line she was looking for. Picking up the second packet, she flipped through those pages and slapped her table excitedly, repeating the action a final time for the third packet, "Shit shit shit....Detective Edison, wait up!" She called out to stop him on his way to the coffee maker, "Look at this."

"We wrapped this up already. It was an OD. She tested positive for fentanyl," Forest said quickly when he realized whose results he was looking at.

"I know, but hear me out. Something told me to run Bianca's blood again, and my hunch was right. I took the first sample from her left arm, the one with the pattern of track marks. I took three more samples, one from her right arm, her left leg, and her neck. Negative for fentanyl which is only possible if the drug was administered after her heart stopped pumping blood to the rest of her body. She was injected post mortem. They wanted us to think it was an overdose." It was the first positive break in the case, and Aubrie was hoping it would make someone see reason. The case couldn't be closed when there was still so much information that they didn't have. She was moving in the right direction, and she knew it.

"I'll take it to Hughes, but I doubt he's going to want to touch this." Briton Beach had become an eerie place over the last couple of years. After the high-profile murder case that involved the patriarchs of two of the town's founding families and a host of other businessmen, secrets came to the forefront and false images began to crumble. What were once somewhat light desks now remained full thanks to a large spike in activity. Too many questions made Joel look for the easiest answer, but Aubrie planned on advocating for herself until she couldn't anymore.

"He should. This confirms my suspicions. Someone went after her, and I think it's the same person that got Madison." Her gut was right, and she'd thrown up again when she learned. The increase in her therapy sessions and an extra melatonin gummy were helping her with sleeping, but her mind continued to race while she was awake. Madison was unlucky yet lucky enough for her death to be ruled a homicide. Her murderer was being searched for, and Aubrie couldn't comfortably let her get justice while Bianca's family received none, not when their deaths were, in her eyes, clearly connected.

"You said they knew each other, right?"

"Mhm. They lived together. I'm not sure what their exact relationship was or how long they were roommates, but I can find out." She hadn't been back to Sticky Fingers, and Gio hadn't called her with anything new, but it was time to take another trip and maybe talk to some more of the bartenders because having Lola research Robin Shank didn't give her much more than she had when she walked out of there.

"Leave that to me and Joel."

"Then I need you to really look into this. I've already dug up some stuff, and-"

"Don't tell me anything that can get you in trouble," Forest interrupted her with a wave of his hand, "I want to truthfully and confidently say I don't know shit if you get called in for misconduct."

"Everything I have is legal and was given willingly. My contact is on stand by with more. He consented to giving us surveillance footage and any files we might need, but Hughes has to be on board."

"I'll work on it. You work on those bullet fragments and casings for the robbery on Mission Avenue." A botched robbery, really, and at a pharmacy of all places, but once Aubrie did some digging, it wasn't so much of a crazy consideration. Absolutely intentional and for a lot more than money.

"Already done. All came from a .38 semi-automatic pistol, same as the weapon found at the scene, and I lifted a partial print from one of the shells. Saul Cantrell, but he's not the registered owner, so it's stolen or it belongs to whoever was driving the getaway car."

"We have an ID on him yet?"

"No, but David ran the license plate, and the car is registered to Richard Keaton, address 5448 Attler Road." The street was in one of the more affluent parts of the city, stopping just before the hills of Oceanview.

"Where have I heard that name?" Forest asked and rubbed his chin.

"He was on the news for weeks about a year ago. He was a doctor, but his license to practice was revoked when he got arrested for drugging and assaulting women who received abortions in his clinic. He plead guilty, ratted out four other doctors, and got out eight months ago."

"Son of a bitch." Where there was smoke, there was usually fire. A disgraced doctor responsible for who knew how many heinous acts, a botched pharmacy robbery, and his car fleeing the scene. It was time to bring him in, "Thanks, Parrish." Forest clapped her on the arm and walked away to find Joel.

Aubrie went back to her lab, taking some time away from Bianca's case to make sure her other duties were completed. Entering evidence and writing up reports were most boring parts of her job, but she needed to do them in order to do what she liked, solving mysteries, ruining lives of those that deserved it.

She got tired of touching her keyboard and decided to give that part of her brain a break, picking up the pictures from Bianca's file instead. She still hadn't figured out what the marks meant. Madison had her own set that weren't clear either. It was frustrating to know that she was close close yet so far away from the truth. She put one picture of Bianca's wrist under a bright light and angled it the way she wanted coming up with less than nothing.

"Whatcha looking at?" Kirsten asked, walking in on her way to deliver another tox screen for Sean.

Aubrie didn't bother looking up when she answered her, "These marks on her arm. They're not normal, but I've put them through an image search more than once, and nothing comes up as a match."

"OD from a few weeks ago?"

"That's the thing. It wasn't an OD. Drugs were only present in one part of the body, the left arm."

"Oh, the extra tests you just had me run. Wicked," Kirsten said, "How'd you catch that?"

"Call it a hunch." Aubrie let out a long exhale and leaned back in her chair, gazing up at the ceiling with quiet frustration because the help she asked for was evading her, "Something's not right. The marks have to have a meaning."

"You could be looking at it too closely. Back up, maybe look at it piece by piece instead of the whole picture."

"I'll try. Thanks." She couldn't pull herself together until she knew she was alone. It was next to impossible for her to work with someone hovering over her. The day was coming to an end, and without being approved for more overtime, she would be told to go home when the lights flipped off. She wanted to get as much done as possible before then. Taking Kirsten's advice, she used a blank sheet of paper to cover up parts of the pictures. One block in particular made it click so fast that she was mad at herself for not catching it sooner, "Holy shit, it's braille!" she yelled to no one in particular and pulled up a translator on her computer, "M-A-D-A-M. Madam. The fuck? P-S-Y-C-H-O. Madam Psycho. That doesn't make any sense."

It was yet another question for her to take back to Sticky Fingers. She scribbled it down on a post-it and grabbed Madison's file, pulling out the pictures of her markings to translate them. She was halfway through when someone knocked on her doorframe.

"I need another minute, and then I'll pack up," she said, assuming her captain was about to tell her to call it a night.

"Your shift ended twenty minutes ago. I know you're hungry." That wasn't Debra's voice. For the third time that day, Kirsten inserted herself into Aubrie's space. Her colleague meant no harm, and she'd helped her, but Aubrie wasn't looking for a distraction. Despite that, her normal bodily function needed to be considered.

"I am." And had been for hours

"It's Taco Tuesday. Let's go to Rosario's, get $2 margaritas and all the tacos we can eat."

Aubrie debated saying no. Finding out the markings that stumped her were braille made her want to keep digging, but without going to Sticky Fingers, she didn't know where else to dig. She'd done all she could do for the day. Tomorrow, she'd start with fresh eyes and renewed hope.

"Let's."

I'm almost there, Bianca.

[frost-eyed-autumn]

Some Sheep Headcanons ;;

Chuuya genuinely just didn't know a lot about anything when the Sheep first found him, even by the standards of a seven year old, to a point that it weirded the other kids out a lot. He knew some things like basic language, colors, shapes, lights and darkness, and just general "spacial" things that were more intuitive than education-based, but beyond that, even things like different foods were completely novel to him.

Shirase was the first person to really welcome Chuuya into the Sheep and give him food (even if he probably thought Chuuya was weird af just as much as all the other kids), so he was the first person Chuuya really gravitated towards and looked up to like an older brother, despite being about the same age. He absolutely had Baby Duck Syndrome following him everywhere.

Chuuya's first two years with the Sheep were basically just spent playing catch-up on figuring out how the world works and filling in all his knowledge gaps to be on par with all the rest of the Sheep kids. Every day was basically spent asking endless questions about things (to the point it probably annoyed the fuck out of everyone, honestly) and learning social cues through mimicry.

When it came to mimicry, he definitely didn't always get it right and, as happens with a pack of unsupervised kids whose only teacher is each other, ended up on the receiving end of harsh criticisms or getting picked on or ostracized for doing the "wrong thing" a lot during his first years with the Sheep. Suffice to say, it made him extremely conscientious about how to act around others and instilled in him a strong respect for group dynamics in order to fit in, looking outward at the other Sheep to dictate how he should behave. Even when he got older and more independent, he still defaulted to looking to the other kids and the Sheep Council for what he should do first, and followed his own decisions second (this was a large part of why it was so jarring when he brushed off Shirase and Yuan at the arcade to do something outside of their approval for once).

Chuuya was a very tactile and kinetic learner, and despite his gaps in knowledge, he learned quickly. It wasn't enough just to hear about or see things from afar. He liked to touch things, hold them and turn them over in his hands and figure them out and feel the textures on his fingers. Complex puzzle things like rubix cubes were his favorite to play with and he could get obsessively lost in them for hours. He's absolutely the kid that bit down on objects or licked them just because, or ran his fingers along the edge of a knife out of sheer curiosity (before getting lectured by the other kids about the dangers of tetanus and infections). If it was a place instead of an object, he had to explore it, climb it, and find all the hidden places. He was unsurpassed in finding good hiding places no one else could reach once he learned how to use his Gravity. He'd use these places for the benefit of the other Sheep most of the time, obviously, as either secret hiding places or somewhere to stash supplies where the adults couldn't find them.

Chuuya definitely wasn't shy about physical touch and getting close to the other Sheep when he was younger, leaning into them, holding onto hands or arms, or inserting himself closely between the other kids whenever he got the chance. He rough-housed just as much as any of the other kids, or ended up curled up asleep against them just as often as not. It was only when he got older and grew more into his Ability and his role as the Sheep's protector that he started to be more physically distant from a lot of the Sheep, though unbeknownst to him it was also because some of the Sheep were distancing themselves from him as well, save for a couple that were closer to him and less afraid like Yuan. Shirase stabbing him with a poisoned knife was a huge turning point for Chuuya allowing other people to get physically close to him when his guard is down or he's in a relaxed state, even if the person is friendly toward him.

Chuuya almost learned the hard way just how dangerous the cold could be during his first winter with the Sheep. Temperature and seasons was definitely one of the bigger things he had a hard time learning and coping with, not least of all because there wasn't a whole lot that the Sheep could do about staying warm except stoke a fire and huddle together. Winters were definitely the most miserable times for the Sheep, especially in the early days, but it also made him appreciate being physically close with his family all the more.

Chuuya didn't immediately understand or use his Ability when he was first brought into the Sheep. In the beginning, he seemed no different than all the other kids, weird "amnesia" aside. This was especially true given his weakened state when he was first taken in, given that he couldn't even finish a piece of bread without passing out halfway through eating, not having the strength or spare energy to activate it. He was around 9 or 10 when he first started to display his Ability, though he wouldn't learn how to use it to fight for a while yet.

Chuuya's only ever used his Gravity against anyone in the Sheep once when he was younger (before he came into its Protector role), when he got into a brawl with one of the other, bigger kids he didn't get along with and lost his temper. He didn't hurt them in any way they couldn't recover from, especially since the others broke up the fight rather quickly, but he got a long and hard lecture about never using his power against the other Sheep kids to win a fight. He took it to heart and swore he wouldn't, but it hardly mattered either way since no one in the Sheep ever tried to pick a physical fight with him again after that.

The first time Chuuya tried to go swimming in deep water with the other Sheep, it was assumed he'd be fine because of his Gravity Ability. They had to rescue him from drowning since that very quickly turned out not to be the case, and he never learned how to swim before then.

Chuuya discovered his Ability could stop bullets entirely by accident when someone tried to shoot him. At first, it damn near gave the other Sheep a heart attack, thinking he was surely dead. It took a few more times and Chuuya learning that he could provoke attacks at him instead of the other Sheep and be a bullet sponge that he really started to flex his Ability more noticeably and develop a bit of a cocky attitude about it.

Fleas and ticks and other insects were just a common reality that Chuuya had to tolerate along with the rest of the Sheep living in the slums, especially in the early days before he learned how to use Gravity to their benefit and favorably influence their opportunities. He hates ticks the most for how they burrow into skin and have to be ripped out. Even years after getting kicked out of the Sheep, he still religiously checks his ears for the little fuckers.

He absolutely knows what a lot of urban animals taste like given that it was sometimes the difference between eating them, rancid trash, or nothing at all. He's eaten reptiles (snakes, lizards, turtles), roasted insects like grasshoppers, song birds, squirrel, raccoon, seagull, duck, cat, dog, and plenty of other things before, when he's had to. He draws the line at eating rats. He'd rather starve.

He did learn a small bit of reading and writing in the slums here and there, though before coming to the Port Mafia, there were still large gaps in his knowledge of it. He was better at reading than he was with writing, because no one had ever taught him about things like proper brush stroke order, and his reading comprehension was still far below that of a teenager his age that would have had a formal education.

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC Review: Forget Me Not by Julie Soto

4.25/5. Releases 7/11/2023.

For when you're vibing with... a Julia Roberts-era romcom, wedding planner romance, gruff but swoonworthy, lovely heroes, and messy bitches who can't do emotion right.

Workaholic Ama has booked a celebrity wedding that will skyrocket her notoriety as a planner. The only problem? The florist is her ex, quiet, grumpy Elliot Bloom...who is none too happy to see her after she broke his heart. Determined to make the situation work, Ama and Elliot try to avoid one another as much as possible--but there's unfinished business between them, and it could push Ama to question everything she believed about herself.

Oh, this is a good one. Emotional and reminiscent of the 90s/early 2000s romcoms I love, this book wears it heart on its sleeve. The Reylos know how to do a romance novel, dude.

Quick Takes:

--I love a wedding backdrop for romantic stories, and this book milks it. It gave me My Best Friend's Wedding and The Wedding Planner energy; there's the high emotion that comes with wedding planning, plus the drama and the inherent wistfulness that occurs when you're not the bride but maybe, just maybe, you really want to be a bride. Forget Me Not nails that energy, and it's also just a lot of fun in that sense. Plus, I really believed that Ama loved her job, and that's kind of a lynchpin of the plot.

--Our leads were a great match. Like I said, Ama is all about work; whereas Elliot is very good at his job, but it's more about family legacy. She lives to work, whereas he works to live. It's a good conflict. But at the same time, they give each other something. She pushes him out of his shell, he gives her a safe place to land. They fuck like rabbits and hold each other sweetly. There's a real sense of "oh they are in looooove" in this book, and it made my heart warm.

--I mentioned this author is a Reylo. For me, that's not something I actively seek (I have nothing against the ship, I've read really good Reylo fic, I disagree with some interpretations of the ship and agree with other, darker takes, I love Adam Driver as an actor and Daisy Ridley does nothing for me--I'm very "middle of the road" on it) but I'm also happy to see it. And let me tell you, I could seeeee the "things we project onto Adam Driver as a man who wishes to not be perceived on the internet" vibe to Elliot, in the best way. He's shy in a way that comes off as stern, he's struck by Ama but doesn't know what the fuck to say, he'll put her on her hands and knees in his car and then, when he realizes she's been knowingly driving a car about to fall apart for months, glare at her and competently take care of it. God... he really does it. He does it. The competency, the suppressed emotion, the floral tattoos! Damn.

--I feel like Ama might be a heroine some don't respond well to, because she is unabashedly forthright about her wants and needs--or at least, what she thinks she wants and needs. At the same time, she clearly pushes for things with Elliot without being willing to follow through, sending him mixed signals. To me, she was extremely relatable and human. I love a commitment-phobic heroine, and I sure would love to see more of them. To me, both Ama and Elliot make mistakes in this novel, but never because they want to hurt each other. They're just... people.

--We have a classic romcom-type villain in this book, and that is something I personally love.

--I will say, the format is unusual--sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. Ama's POV is largely in the present, nearly three years after she and Elliot broke up. Elliot's POV is largely in the past, during their relationship. The timeline for both eras is relatively short-ish, and you see a lot more of Elliot and Ama interacting romantically in the past than you do the present, because the present is about like... working towards a reunion. It's realistic, in a sense, because these two really just should be together and their conflicts are internal. But I did wish that we could've seen them interact a bit earlier in the novel, and it did take some getting used to. It's interesting, I just think there could've been a bit more flexibility in the structure. I will say, it did add to the MAX ANGST of the present in Ama's POV.

The Sex Stuff:

Oh, it's hot. We bemoan the state of sex in many traditionally published contemporaries at the moment, but this one is really sexy. I was pleasantly surprised by how their sexual relationship began--you don't see that vibe in a lot of contemporary trad romances. And Elliot is, again, kind of the ideal man: he's a lovely sweet baby who will fuck the absolute shit out of a woman. Also... they talk flowers during. Like, "recite these flowers until you come" kind of talk.

I'm excited to see what Julie Soto releases next, and honestly? I could totally see this as a movie. It's a really solid, truly romantic debut, and it did in fact... give me the feels.

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.