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frodo-with-glasses · 1 year ago

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25 Questions with Phil Dragash: YES, SERIOUSLY!

So y'all know how I was reviewing Phil Dragash's audiobook of LotR last year, but kinda fell off somewhere in the middle of Rohan?? Well, guess what! A couple weeks ago, I received a tumblr message from the man himself, saying he'd read through all my reviews, had really enjoyed the little blast from the past, and was open to answering questions if I had any!

So of course, I had LOTS of questions.

The first one being: "Are you actually the real Phil Dragash??"

But I'm delighted to say that after exchanging emails with the work email listed on his website, I can confidently say that it is the real dude, and I've had a blast chatting with him! So for those of you who urged I listen to this audiobook—especially @laurelindorenan for her glowing recommendation—and for everyone else who likes the audiobook and/or enjoyed my reviews: I am delighted to present, ladies and gentlehobbits, this peek behind the curtain!

But of course I'm putting it all below the cut, because this man rambles like I do 🤣

Obligatory disclaimer: All opinions presented by Mr. Dragash are his own, I am not necessarily condoning any of them; please do not come after me for his opinions regarding pineapple on pizza.

25 QUESTIONS, LET'S GO!

1. Tell me how you got into Lord of the Rings!

I was ten years old when my dad took me to the library, and found a VHS copy of Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 animated Lord of the Rings film. I was already a fan of the “Chronicles of Narnia” and my dad just handed the tape to me and said “Look, C.S. Lewis’s friend made this”. I watched it, and had no idea what was going on. It was so hard to understand.

Fast forward to the year 2002 when “Fellowship” was out on DVD, and we had a movie night at my older cousin’s place, and watched the film for the first time. My 13 year old self was enraptured by it. Dad bought the DVD first thing the next day, and I’ve been a fan ever since! I, my brother, and our dad watched “Return of the King” in theaters four times, which was saying something, considering we only ever saw a movie once in cinemas. Between “The Return of the King” opening in December ‘03, I picked up the books and read (as well as I could) through them. A lot of friends kept joking “tell us how the damn story ends!”, good times.

2. When and how did you decide to make this audiobook? What’s the story behind the entire project?

I was a very ambitious lad, and my first and biggest interest was filmmaking. I used to direct short films with my friends ever since my 11th birthday, and was the youngest in class at the filmschool I attended a few years later. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that I had massive ambitions to direct “the Hobbit”, which is silly in retrospect considering I was 16 years old at the time. I even sent my portfolio and DVDs of my films to Peter Jackson’s manager (who actually got back to me with a wonderful response, despite not being able to accept my ‘completely reasonable’ offer) When I was heartbroken and torn to pieces knowing I wouldn’t be directing the movie, a few more years went by, and I decided to reread some chapters of the “Lord of the Rings” books. I remember really well that this was late at night, laying in bed, and going through “King of the Golden Hall” and seeing how close to the movies it was, but also far more expanded. I thought “my extensive home-made short movies experience with sound design and sound mixing could work here, and I could just read a few chapters and try to make the soundscape as realistic as possible. Why not try it?”

So, the next day I tried. The first two chapters I tried were “King of the Golden Hall” and “A Journey in the Dark” (which partly answers your other question about that chapter). I was so absolutely surprised by how well it was going, that I decided to upload them onto YouTube in March 2010 I think. I got a fairly good response, and I was planning on doing a few more random chapters. I never intended to do the whole thing. But this one comment on YouTube I’ll always remember, it said: “I think you should go from start to finish, because you’ll probably get used to the characters and sounds and people can also follow along in the story gradually”.

Taking that suggestion to heart, in August 2010 I went from Chapter 1 onward.

3. Were you inspired by any other audiobook versions of LotR (such as the BBC radio drama)?

I was not, I actually haven’t listened to the BBC Radio drama until far ahead into the project I was doing. I did some research on what other audio productions anyone did with LOTR, from The Mind’s Eye edition, to the ‘60s Hobbit Radio Play; so I felt pretty confident. I just fell in love with the way the films brought Middle-Earth to life and seeing their incredible dedication for authenticity (from the props department, to the music), you really couldn’t do any better than that visually or audibly - at least in my opinion. I just wanted to hear Tolkien’s text but with the realisation of the films.

However, if you listen to Chapter 1 of TTT, and hear how Legolas laments their absence from not being there to help Boromir at Amon Hen, you can clearly hear the inflection from the BBC Radio play’s version. I just lifted that because I thought it was a fantastic way to deliver the line.

4. Did you have any rituals for “getting into character” before recording?

If I were to show you the raw unedited recording sessions, you’d probably be surprised at how underdeveloped it is! I had no real rituals or warmups, I just went for it. Usually went in cold, and tried reading the entire chapter and doing all the voices at once. Then I’d be exhausted, and afterwards start cutting all the mistakes, and separating each character into different tracks – and then re-recording 50%-70% of it, as I was laying in the sounds.

I think any character just needs a few words for me to say in their voice, and that helps for the rest of their dialogue. For Aragorn it was usually: “You cannot wield it! None of us can.” for Pippin it was: “Sometimes”, just random things that make things ‘click’ in my head. If I got lost or didn’t feel like the performances were working, I’d simply just watch scenes from the films to hear the real actors again!

5. Who was your favorite character to voice? Who was your least favorite? And why?

People who know me, know I love doing the villains. Sauron, the orcs, the Nazgûl, etc. I just love the idea of personifying things that scare you. Something completely the opposite of who you are. Always a fun time! Any character I can nail extremely accurately always makes me happy, but I’m always very critical of my own work, so it’s a rare thing.

My least favorite characters to voice are: Imrahil, Denethor, Arwen, Celeborn, Galadriel, Erestor, Lindir, Haldir, Goldberry, Gildor… I think the pattern is pretty obvious if you realize that I am incapable of providing a satisfactory voice that feels unique enough. They just sound to me like “I wish I had a broader range. They weren’t done justice.” I have feelings for most of the characters in this situation, but I’m a mere mortal. I can’t do all of them as well as I wish I could. I wish Aragorn was more like Viggo Mortensen’s voice (I tried with the nasally yells you mentioned!), I wish Gandalf had a richer tone, I wish Saruman sounded more majestic, and I wish Frodo was - in retrospect- more older sounding, too. There’s so much I wish I could do better, but to hell with it, I tried.

Fun fact: my least-favorite to voice are also Orcs because they destroy my throat after a while. Which is ironic, because of my first statement.

6. I noticed that you gave the men of Rohan and Gondor slightly different dialects! Are you pulling from any real-world accents to make that happen?

I did try to listen to Anglo-Saxon, and ancient norse but I just tried to make Rohan and Gondor slightly distinct in any way I could. I never really tried to make things too obvious, but admittedly, I think I just used my intuition (smoothing the R’s for the Rohirrim, making the Gondorians more ‘proper’, etc.). I do want to emphasize that this was a one-person project and keeping things together or consistent is definitely an extraneous exercise when you’re just trying to get something finished by yourself!

7. Some characters (like Beregond and Quickbeam, to name a couple of my favorites) aren’t in the movies, so they don’t have an actor for you to imitate. How did you decide what they would sound like?

Well, in the case of Beregond, I realized he was just “your ordinary guy”, and seeing Minas Tirith through his eyes (and Pippin’s) is such an amazing and interesting opportunity. It made the city feel so real, and I wanted to take advantage of that. I think I started with a ‘generic’ voice, but when I re-recorded him knowing more and more of the context and what he was saying to Pippin, and as a result who he is, made me adjust what I felt were more his personality. But still that ‘ordinary guy’ idea was the bedrock, and it’s been years since I heard that chapter, but I hope it holds up! (I just remembered Bergil is in that too, another voice I wish I could have done better)

Another fun fact: when Pippin scares the kids in Minas Tirith, the audio was from something I videotaped when I was 10 years old with my friends, it had the perfect “kids-going-aaah!” sound.

If I had it my way, I’d have a cast of dozens in this Audiobook, so a lot of times I never felt like my voice was enough to truly capture the “We’re in Middle-Earth, we just have microphones to record it” idea. So I have to make compromises since I was the only one doing the voices. That being said, Quickbeam was a fun surprise because he felt like, as you said “young treebeard”, and these things just worked out through experimentation! I think Quickbeam turned out pretty nice. I like Quickbeam.

8. HOW—I ask with great enthusiasm—DID YOU DO TREEBEARD’S VOICE? How did you get that resonance and woody sound? Did you send your voice through a wooden box and re-record it on the other side like they did in the movies?

It’s really great that you know all the behind the scenes stories from the films! Especially what Ethan Van der Ryn, David Farmer, and the late Michael Hopkins have done with their incredible creativity. I had no such resources to produce Treebeard’s sound. What I did was a digital facsimile: a special ‘room’ reverb, with some other equalizing effects to boost the bass and (maybe, I can’t remember) another higher pitched track of the same voice faintly in there.

You won’t believe this, but I was not going to do The Two Towers audiobook unless I could do a good Treebeard voice. In 2011 after finishing “Fellowship”, I was on the fence about continuing, and only committed once I knew I could do Treebeard right. Treebeard was the key to all this. This should come to no surprise to the ones who played the game, but I used a lot of sound effects from ‘Battle for Middle-Earth’ which contained a lot of clean sounds for ents, trolls, the balrog, the ringwraiths, and other monsters from the films. I used the ent’s footsteps from the games, and recorded my own foley for some of the trees snapping and leaves rustling as well. The “fart” sounds were the low creaking of tree branches, and - as they stated in the making-of for the films - very pitched down cow moos.

9. Tell me about the foley work! Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been that nerd who watched the Behind The Scenes featurettes for fun, so I’m very interested to hear how you made the sound effects for footsteps and whistling arrows and jangling horse harnesses and such.

I’m glad you are! I’ve collected sound libraries (ripped from video games, and finding and buying sound packs) for a literal decade, because I always needed sounds for the short films I made when I was younger. I just kept learning about how to mix sounds together, and it’s very creative and very enjoyable! That being said, the foley work itself is mostly recorded by me. If I can’t find a sound in the library I have, I will record it. Clothing rustles, and touch are all recorded while I listen to the audiobook playback and ‘perform’ each character. It’s a really arduous process, but I think it adds so much life into the sound.

I went out into the woods (or backyard) with my mic to record footsteps, sometimes I would listen to the audiobook with headphones while performing the footsteps. When I would have traveled somewhere with different terrain I would be sure to record more foley (rocks being moved, or pebbles being stepped on) knowing I’ll use it for certain chapters. I do not want to reveal a huge secret about the predominant foley for the character's clothes, but an old backpack I used were 90% of the characters’ ‘movements’. Some wingflaps of the fell beasts were just my jeans. It’s a really creative process trying to find things that ‘sound’ right for an environment or action. The magic is putting them all together and hearing the result. Also, yes Sam’s pan is my grandma’s frying pan, and I know it’s sometimes annoying, but - look - Sam has a lot of stuff to carry.

I start with the background sounds (wind, tree rustles, water if there is any, etc.) lots of layers of them just to make them sound unique and not the same. Then I move to selective and nearer environmental background sounds. Then, the ‘hero’ sounds, the effects that are integral to the story (if it’s sword clashes, or an explosion, or who knows what), and finally the foley (footsteps, clothing rustles, breaths, etc.) - I had a friend record her own horses breathing and moving for a lot of closeups of the horses in the audiobooks. I think even if you can’t really hear some of their low breaths, their presence is still ‘there’. I personally think I got a lot better by the end of LOTR than when I started!

I wanted to add, the sounds for little Elanor in the very last scene of “The Return of the King” (the baby sounds), I was not happy with the stock baby sounds I had, and asked my older cousin (an audio person too!) to send me recordings he made of his then-1-year-old daughter in a studio. So, my first-cousin-once-removed is Elanor! She’s 22 now. I feel old.

10. Do you have a favorite sound effect from this project? Mine is the “pat-pat” against cloth that’s used to denote a hug.

Absolutely, do you remember the two “watchers” before the tower of Cirith Ungol? The vulture-like statues that block the hobbit’s path out? The alarm sound is a wholly original sound design I did, and I’m really happy with it. It’s just ugly sounding, and that’s the point. I always wished I had more Nazgul, and I think the worst moments I had with mixing were the battle scenes. There’s just too much to handle and make it sound good. But I really tried.

I’m very glad you heard the ‘pat-pat’s. I try my best to perform every character when recording foley, and want even some of the sounds to convey something in the telling of the story.

11. What's the thought process behind your use of the various musical motifs from Howard Shore's score? (Read: Why do you use the Shire theme so often, and why does it get me in the heart every single time?)

I want everyone to know that this is a really important and valuable question, and one I never really get to talk about: To me, Howard Shore’s music is one of the very best things to come out of the films. He truly made an opera out of the story, and all his leitmotifs and orchestrations are a stroke of genius. They work on their own, and when reading the books as well, and as a nerd for films and all that stuff, I wanted to put a lot of care into how I’m placing the score, and for what scene, emotionally and leitmotivically, if that’s a word.

The Audiobook I did is obviously a ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ situation, so I can’t credit myself for the majority of the Audiobook I did, but I wanted to use all my filmmaking intuition to properly use the music to enhance the telling of the story. So, just like the filmmakers had to change and mix lines from the book, or make changes to make it work as a film, I felt like a lot of instances happened with the music for the audiobook. Obviously, I used the score when applicable to the intended scenes, but there are very often cases where they won’t work. I read as much as I could in the past about what the motifs were and where Shore used them in the movies, so I followed that trajectory for the most part. Gondor is Gondor, Rohan is Rohan, Mordor is Mordor, etc.

Changes happen when I feel the emotions for a scene in the books do not match up to the ones in the films, and then there are brand new scenes and characters not in the movies at all, that I have to figure out! Take the pause from music between Gandalf falling into the chasm with the Balrog, and the fellowship successfully escaping. It’s perfect in the film, but I knew I couldn’t put the lamenting heartbreaking music in there yet, since the descriptions all drive the idea that escape is paramount. So I treated it as a ‘shock’ moment. No music until they’re completely out of the mountain, then the grief comes in. Things like that, a lot of fun creative thinking to get those emotions working!

I recall you mentioning the ‘Gimli / Legolas drinking game’ statement and how I used the hell out of it throughout the Audiobook, which is a good example. I pitched it up and down, for different moments, and it just has that hobbit mundane and jolly quality to it. So, in it goes to fill moments from the books.

I also edited and modified existing motifs for completely different scenes and ideas. One of my favorites is when Treebeard talks about the Entwives. I needed this melancholy yearning sound that was really essential, and found it by reversing Eowyn’s theme, and pitching it down so the violin sounds like a cello/bass. To me it just felt extremely appropriate for the sound of a long-lost relationship while portraying a larger-than-life creature.

Let’s also say Bombadil. I made up the idea that the last statement in the credits for “Return of the King”, was Bombadil’s theme. It’s actually just a reference to Der Ring des Nibelungen by Wagner, a very verbose beautiful crescendo, but I thought “I’ll pretend like it’s Bombadil, he’s last in the score even though he’s the first in Arda”. So I used that musical progression in his songs, that’s his leitmotif now (to me, anyway) He sings in that wavy up-and-down melody. Which is why you hear a lot of that in those chapters.

I also try to use recordings not from the original score: I looked far and wide for alternative recordings, predominantly the album by the Royal Prague Philharmonic, and the “LOTR Symphony”, just to make the Audiobooks feel different. I pitched down and moved and reassembled a lot of different cues for different scenes as well.

There are not a lot of instances of music from other movies, however, they do exist! I used music from “Battle for Middle-Earth”, the game “War in the North”, and for the last few chapters, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” since it just came out at the time. I used a lot of music from Howard Shore’s “Seven” and “The Game” during Shelob (I think), and for the Barrow-Downs. I used a tiny bit of underscore from the brilliant Don Davis’s “The Matrix Reloaded”, it had a really eerie choir which made me feel like it would be perfect for the fatigue and dizzying unreality of Mordor when Sam and Frodo were on their last leg, trying to get to Mt. Doom. Lastly, I used a little bit of music from Howard Shore’s “Twilight: Eclipse” for some dialogue scenes during Return of the King! And music from the independent film “Mongol” by Tuomas Kantelinen for the Woses when Theoden has to get help from Ghan-Buri-Ghan. Also the ending of ROTK has a few cues from “The Lord of the Rings musical”, lovely stuff.

It may surprise you that there is a small amount of score I actually ‘wrote’ with help from my brother (he’s a musician). It’s in the coronation of Elessar. It’s not very good but I needed something. There is also a cello version of “to the edge of night”, which I kindly asked permission to use by YouTube celloist, but I sadly don't think that video is up anymore.

Lastly, I use the Shire music so much because - just like Howard Shore said - it becomes a ‘hymn’ or an ‘anthem’ for the hobbits as they leave their comforts behind and are in a wide and unfamiliar world. Every little bit that reminds them of home, or relates to each of them, usually deserves a little ‘shire’ statement here and there. I feel if it’s in the characters’ hearts and minds, it has to be expressed in the music!

12. Out of all the chapters I’ve listened to so far on the Internet Archive, “A Journey in the Dark” is the one most plagued with editing issues; Sam’s temper tantrum over leaving Bill the Pony is cut out entirely. Which is a shame, because I was really looking forward to hearing your take on that. (Is it strange to say that I wanted to hear you break down into blubbering tears? Probably. Let’s ignore that and move on.) Is there any chance that you have a cleaner edit of that chapter somewhere?

I think you’ll be very unsurprised to know that “A Journey in the Dark” is the first chapter I ever recorded. I think you’ll also need to know that I did FOTR when I was 21 years old, and my grasp on doing better sound mixing or even getting the characters right was still a work in progress. I learned so much going chapter-by-chapter and felt that each succeeding one improves from the former. As a demo-run, I did “King of the Golden Hall '' and “Journey in the Dark” in early 2010 (in fact, I did only the first half of “JITD” back then. Stopping right after they are barred inside the mines, as the Watcher destroys the gate. I did the second half once I caught up with the story going chapter-by-chapter.)

There are so many issues with it, and I haven’t listened to it since. If you have headphones you’ll also notice that none of the voices really pan from left to right, or feel like they’re ever anywhere else except the dead-center. I was lazy back then.

When I read the chapters, at the time, I was sharing an ‘office room’ with my younger brother, and as a teenaged younger brother does - continues strumming his guitar no matter what the other brother is doing. It was really fun, and funny and I was extremely sloppy with editing things out, and taking it too seriously. So, for sure you can hear ‘someone’ in the background during the early parts of FOTR, and I was too lazy to re-record or edit out the noises that weren’t supposed to be there.

Forgive me if this part is a lot longer, but now that you mention it, I want to get on my soap-box and rant about how many things I agree with about the Audiobook’s shortcomings and how many things have changed since the wee days of 2010:

I didn’t really get a grasp on the characters, and I had no idea I was going to do the entire book. I did not take enough care with sound mixing (it’s a highly technical and rigorous practice, I’ve discovered. Even now, ten plus years later - it’s too technical for me to fully understand yet), and I did not thoroughly re-listen to the chapter when I was done with an edit or a sound-effects pass. Therefore there’s always been mistakes still in there, and just unpleasantly careless placement of sounds and music. I have often thought about re-recording it to get it up to scratch, but it’s been over a decade and I haven’t properly preserved all the sound stems without having to re-sound-mix the whole chapter again, and there is that little thing called ‘burnout’ which is hard to ignore. So, I apologize to everyone who has to suffer through that huge drop in quality with “A Journey in the Dark”. It quite literally was my first attempt, and it definitely shows.

The good news is that a fan asked me the same thing about the missing piece in that chapter (the one you mentioned! With Sam and Bill!), and I’ve heard the same comments about it throughout the years. Why is it missing? I don’t know why! I recorded it, but in my loose run-and-gun past when I was a wee lad, I was careless, and just had the mp3 with that part missing. A rendering error, perhaps! Stupid 21 year old Phil just hodgepoging everything.

A Few months ago, I did get another email about that missing piece. I thought “okay, once and for all, I’m going to find that missing part.” - and I searched my old harddrives for some kind of archival copy with that part in it. Amazingly, it was a lot harder to find than I thought. Every rendered version of JITD either stopped right before that scene, or had it omitted. I actually found one half of it as a ‘demo’ piece I rendered years ago for a ‘sound trailer’, and then I finally found the original YouTube video I made - which had it intact! Now the hardest part was stitching it together with the rest. Took longer than I thought, but I finally amended this horrible incompetence. And yes, I will share the link to you! And be prepared to be disappointed at the 2010-era quality!

I don’t know if anyone knows this, but with the mp3s circling around, I have taken the liberty of re-recording and re-working some chapters from their original versions. I try my best to preserve the originals, but I also wish people to listen to the re-records. I have actually re-recorded and re-mastered “A Long-Expected Party” three times. 2011, 2013, and 2014. I re-recorded “King of the Golden Hall” in 2013, and “Shadow of the Past” in 2014. I usually try labelling the dates on the mp3 files themselves. The one I’m most proud of re-recording bits of, is “The Pyre of Denethor” as the first time I had Denethor say his last words he was mildly raising his voice, but I listened to it again one day and went “this man should be at the edge of sanity.” - so he absolutely yells now, and it’s such a night-and-day comparison.

Another addendum: I completely understand the complaints about ‘the sound/music drowning out the dialogue’. It’s been the #1 complaint over the decade. I completely understand. I never had professional sound mixing gear, nor did I have proper mixing headphones or speakers or a proper studio (most of the audiobook was recorded at my grandmother’s house!). The balance of the audio making it sound immersive, (like you are there!) and having clear dialogue to hear is - like I said - an extremely technical and complex process that I’ve never had the ability or tech to master. Let alone for a book that’s 48 hours long, and has so much sound and music to it. Nothing would bring me more joy than to work with an experienced sound mixer, and find all my audio stems, and for us to work together to clear up any and all issues. But as this project was a simple fan-made work, and I haven’t distributed it myself for a decade, who knows?

This is also why I never went on to do “The Hobbit”. Burnout is real, and I’ve never recovered from LOTR. The burnout… “it’s never really healed, Sam.”

13. What was your favorite scene to record and mix?

Mount Doom. Can’t get better than trying to make the climax as horrible and eucatastrophic as that. It all led up to this, and it was such a rush to work on. I remember how I was at the edge of my seat watching ROTK in cinemas for the first time, and how amazingly they pulled it off, and I wanted to definitely imitate that, but using Tolkien’s own writing. Just so cool.

I have two favorite chapters: The first one is “The Scouring of the Shire”. I remember well, when I was working on it, I realized this has never been ‘dramatized’ before. At least not in full. I felt so special being the first one (probably) to do it. I could imagine the entire chapter in my head like a film, and I could bring it to life with very little outside influence. Such a poignant and shocking chapter.

I don’t think I would have done it as well without the experience I gained doing the rest of the Audiobook. Showing the strength of the four hobbits, portraying the dignity and resolve of their kind, giving that pathetic yet dangerous authenticity to Sharkey, and the ruffians, illustrating the battle of bywater with sound… this was done in 2013, so we all were able to listen to new music by Howard Shore (for The Hobbit), and I would be able to transpose motifs from that, into “Scouring”, and honestly I wouldn’t know how it would have worked out if the Hobbit films didn’t come out just at the right time. I think the score fits so well with the events of “Scouring”, there is a ‘mordor’ theme but it feels ‘unfinished’, like the remnant of an old defeated foe; there’s that wily progression for Radagast in the films, that I used for the hobbit’s rebellion and the conflict, and there’s a new ‘hobbit/shire’ motif that worked so perfectly for a ‘wounded, but recovering’ Shire. I feel so silly talking about decisions I made for this, but I always wanted to share some thoughts I had!

Fun fact: I had a wonderful person ask if she would be able to play Rosie Cotton back in 2013, and I asked her to perform her lines. She was great, but I realized a very strange thing: when I put her in the audio mix, it would actually break the immersion, because you can hear a voice that wasn’t mine, and as a result - I couldn’t help but keep thinking - my voice for Rosie’s mother sounded like a Monty Python skit in comparison! And thus her lines had to be unused. It kind of just opened the fourth wall, breaking the illusion. Which is a shame, because I always dream of having a fully-cast LOTR Audiobook, maybe someday officially.

The other favorite is “The Tower of Cirith Ungol” just because I listened to it one day in 2014, and heard no errors. I was so proud. I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to change substantially. No one dislikes all the errors more than I do!

14. What’s your best memory from this entire project?

My late dad drove me and my brother out into a clearing at midnight in the forest. The sky was so clear and starry. And we were here simply to just yell at the top of our lungs to record material for “Helm’s Deep”. All the clear yells: “Elendil!!!” “Gúthwinë! Gúthwinë For the Mark!”etc. Etc. - I lost my voice, it was a fun time. He held the microphone for me as I splashed around a stream (for Gollum), once again at midnight since there were fewer background sounds.

I also tell this story a lot: A friend of mine who was listening to the chapters as I finished them - she hated the sound of knuckles cracking. And hated spiders. So, obviously, Shelob would have to have knuckle-cracking sounds for her limbs. So I recorded my own knuckles cracking and tried using it as much as I could for Shelob’s legs moving about. My friend was soooo ecstatic to know this fact.

15. If you could do it all again today, what would you change?

I would consider doing a ground-up re-recording of everything. With a budget, with a cast, with a lot more understanding of the story and intentions behind them. With VR sound options. With extra original music. That’s the dream.

If we’re back to reality, I guess I’d just re-record a bunch of chapters since they could always be better, and tighten all the technical errors. But that would require a lot of assembling of the raw archived files, and re-building of sounds, and re-recording of lines. Also, as I stated before, I do not want to distribute my unofficial fan work just because I know that it’s a copyright nightmare. And burnout… “it’s never really healed, Sam.”

I like taking other people’s opinions to heart, such as the issues with Frodo’s youth or inflections and intonations for certain scenes that I didn’t quite fully grasp the first time. I would love to adjust things and make it closer to the book now.

- - - - -

And now! The Silly Questions Lightning Round!

(With thoughts from Lady Glasses in parentheses and italics!)

1. In Fellowship, long stretches of dialogue would often have someone randomly cough in the background. Tell me about the Cough. Why is the Cough there?

No one hates the coughs more than me. That’s either my brother minding his own business in the other end of our ‘office room’. I think you now know I was 21, I didn’t care, so these things are just left in because I was careless. However, sometimes there are intentional coughs to make it feel more realistic. It’s been years since I listened to it, so unless I somehow do a massive commentary stream someday (thinking about it), your guess will be as good as mine! The coughs heavily subsided once I did Two Towers, since I was by myself.

2. During the dinner scene with Farmer Cotton, someone burps. Who was that?

Mine. I have no regrets with that one. Or Pippin. I guess it could be Pippin.

(Darn! And here I thought it was Farmer Cotton, LOL)

3. How did you manage to make Bill Ferny’s voice so perfectly obnoxious?

I imagined Bill as an obnoxious guy. The image in my head gives me a good idea of what he’d sound like, and I’m so glad he’s so obnoxious that you had to mention it.

(He sounds perfectly punchable. Thanks, I hate it.)

4. Did you crack yourself up at any point in the recording?

Oh yes, in fact I have a whole outtake reel just for you!

(Warning to anyone who clicks the link: the April Fool's audio had me ON THE FLOOR)

5. Voice acting aside, who is your favorite character in LotR and why?

If you asked me in 2002 it would be the Balrog, if you asked me now it would be difficult because so many of them mean so much to me, and each of their aspects have something to aspire to. Gandalf, Aragorn, Sam, Frodo, Galadriel, the list goes on and on.

(That's beautiful, and so true. The story really grows with us, doesn't it?)

6. What’s your favorite color?

Blue. Always has been.

(Blue is a good color! 💙)

7. Political question: Pineapples on pizza, yes or no?

Yes, I still don’t get what the fuss is about

(Oooh, controversial)

8. Is a hotdog a sandwich?

No, it’s a hotdog!

(Counterpoint: A hotdog is a taco.)

9. What’s your opinion on geese?

They’re racist

(Racist against the entire human race, apparently)

10. How much would I have to pay you to say “I love boats!” in Merry’s voice? (It’s an inside joke with my friends.)

Nothing, it’s on the house!

(HOLY CRAP I LOVE YOU)

- - - - -

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! What are you working on nowadays?

I’ve actually had a few people ask me if I’ll ever do more audiobooks like this, and I seem to have tapped something. Yes, in fact! I’m working with a few creative collaborators on a small company to do the exact same sonic experience with other books! Since we’re very small, we are starting with stories in the Public Domain, and have successfully kickstarted (and finished) “The Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling. Which will be out (hopefully, officially) by early September! I’m really excited and hope this will lead to more projects, and - hopefully- back to Tolkien someday, in an official manner. Please follow my Instagram or Facebook for more info about it. (I also have a Twitter and Tumblr and more, but they’re all completely unrelated to LOTR and are just me drawing doodles and being a nerd, very unlike the Audiobooks I did, which is a bit confusing, I admit.)

- - - - -

And that concludes our interview! As I told Phil, it was so much fun to discuss a fellow fan's passion project like this. The more I read about it, the more I realized just how similar it was to my own experiences as a fan creator. We all start out as just a noob with a few unpolished skills, making something because we love it, and we learn and grow and hone our talents along the way. It's legitimately inspiring.

Needless to say, I am stoked to finish listening to the rest of this audiobook! Is it a bit weird knowing the creator of the thing might drop in and read my reviews?? Yes. Yes it is. But I'm gonna do it anyway. No holds barred! If I hear another cough, you're gonna know about it, Phil!

Also I may or may not do something with that audio of Merry because I'M STILL DYING OF LAUGHTER HELP

Anyway! If you made it to the end of this, you deserve a cookie! Everybody say thank you to Mr. Dragash, and go check out the other stuff he's doing nowadays! Namárië!

#phil dragash #audiobook #lotr audiobook #interview #CATCH ME SCREAMING ABOUT THIS FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS

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sitp-recs · 2 years ago

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Reparo by amalin

Harry/Draco (2008, Explicit, 85k)

Voldemort's final defeat does not mean Harry Potter's troubles are over; far from it. In the aftermath of war, he returns to a Hogwarts that is fractured and divided, but this is no break that can be fixed with a spell. New owls, fading scars, surprising alliances—and along the way, the hardest task of all, to live with it.

'I'm just saying, it's a good thing I never switched to your side,' Malfoy added, sounding more than a little delirious from the pain. 'Never could produce a Patronus. Wouldn't have made the cut.'

I’ve mentioned this fic on a few reclists before but I hadn’t been able to reread it and write a proper rec until now. For those who enjoy old school Drarry, this is excellent 8th year food - quirky, fun, with vivid settings, organic slow burn and fabulous characterization. I reckon unredeemed Draco is not everyone’s jam but for those who enjoy him let me tell you, his proud and pathetic Malfoy voice is an absolute delight. He’s pretty insufferable, prejudiced, arrogant, holds grudges and has that annoying dramatic flair colouring his every interaction. It’s rare to see him embarrassed or caught off guard from Harry’s pov which is why blushing moments feels like a victory for both Harry and us. From bullied Death Eater to the Slytherin champion to Harry’s fuck buddy, he’s complex and fascinating and so deliciously in character I can’t help but lmao at his awful personality. I like this take because it makes me remember that people don’t change that much, or that quickly, especially when they’re so young.

This fic is an 8th year romance with brilliant Gen vibes for the most part, which I love. The Hogwarts routine feels so familiar and I’ve had a blast with their early interactions, all that cute snarling banter and fantastic dialogue keeping me amused and engaged at all times. There are moments that made me pause and appreciate the supporting cast, like the Christmas scene with Andi and Narcissa, or Slughorn’s party - his aloof voice is so on point it feels like he’s jumping out of the books, and Harry soothing Ron’s insecurities about his relationship with Hermione was a very nice touch.

Speaking of characters, I can’t not mention Draco since this is his party, but the Golden Trio is also a delight: this perceptive Hermione (“you got a Malfoy look, you start to look sort of confused and wistful and eager all at once”) who takes notes for inexistent surprise exams + this feisty Ron who instead of exploding just celebrates that his cock is bigger than Draco’s are just perfect. And young Harry has my whole heart - he’s snarky, impulsive and classically oblivious, drawn to Draco in ways he’s not able or willing to explain, and he never disappoints in his classic “do first, ask later” philosophy 😂 his fire and sass complement Draco’s brilliantly, it’s hilarious how he quickly learns how to read and handle him.

The fuck buddies dynamics are as awkward and intense as you’d expect from two horny, traumatized and inexperienced 18 year olds. They butt heads and go for it, never talking it out but finding more about themselves in the process. Despite being so different (and boy do they argue about it) Harry and Draco somehow click together emotionally and physically, with their skinny, scarred, imperfect bodies. Harry can be his true self with Draco and gives back just as good as he gets; they’d be in the middle of an argument then quotes such as “the color of the sky reminded him of Malfoy, a bruised, determined gray” come and take your breath away!

If for nothing else, go read this if you’re looking for a different 8th year vibe, where no character is traditionally nice or easy to love. They’re all both light and dark, sweet but sharp around the edges, and we learn to care for them despite (or maybe because of) their flaws. This story leaves me nostalgic over those good old Hogwarts fics with lots of sneaking around and no heart-to-heart moment, which rings true for two lost boys figuring out who they are and what they want in the post-war. It’s messy, confusing, awkward and dramatic, but also very relatable and real, their future together left open and full of possibilities. Enjoy!

Read on AO3

#Drarry fic rec #8th year

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shallicomparetheetolagrenouille · 8 months ago

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2024 in books - May

The nostalgia!! Oh, it was such a comfort to read this - well, not for the content, but for the feeling of going back to something I loved in simpler times.

I realized I had to reread the Inheritance Cycle when Durza was mentioned at the beginning of this and I thought, "who?" So I actually reread the books in the Cycle and The Fork, the Witch and the Worm and it was a blast! I loved it, especially because I had forgotten a lot of what happens in Brisingr and Inheritance (being the ones I reread less often) and enjoyed revisiting the fictional places and meeting again the characters that meant so much to me in my teenage years and very early twenties. I giggled so much, especially when I knew that an event was about to happen or a character was about to show up (Glaedr, my love! And Thorn, my baby!). I don't think I have ever had so much fun with a reread!

Having read a lot more since then, in various genres, a lot of the narrative choices and language used felt simplistic and childish and narrow-minded, but considering the age of the author at the time of writing the novels, I could look past that and just enjoy the story and the feeling of adventure and exploration that I associate to the fantasy genre.

When I actually managed to get to Murtagh, I was ready to enjoy a continuation of that same experience and find out a bit more about two interesting characters from the Cycle: we didn't know anything about Thorn, aside from him having a musical mind and having been made to grow faster through magic, whereas Murtagh at least had more of a voice and we had a bit more of an idea of him.

The main themes of the book are dealing with trauma, grappling with one's identity and opening up towards others. Which meant that the interactions I had hoped to see at least a tiny bit of (with Arya and Fírnen, hopefully, or with a few elves in general, or even at a distance with Eragon and Saphira) never happened - only the very end of the book sees Murtagh's acceptance that he wants and needs 'a pack' like in Uvek's story, this first novel (because judging by all the open points and hints and subsequent interviews I watched there will surely be other books with him and Thorn as protagonists) was very much centered around his and Thorn's traumas and relationship and lessons to learn to live in the world as actual actors in it, not just as hermits watching things happen from afar.

And, to be honest, this was needed if there are other books in the works with them at the center: there were too many things that had to be explained about their past, both pre-meeting-Eragon, in Murtagh's case, and pre-Galbatorix's-death. So many new pieces of information were finally revealed about the Forsworn and life at court and how life under Galbatorix's control was - I have to say that so much of the past was kept nebulous (both to make it more threatening and mysterious and probably not to lengthen the Cycle further) that having a POV from that part of the world is a necessary correction for the series.

That said, had I not felt such affection and interest for the characters and the world, I would have skimmed a big portion of the middle part of the book.

The first half is engaging, even while facing the effects of trauma and war and torture: it is filled with movement and action and moments of reflection and love between Murtagh and Thorn, which make the confined feeling of just focusing on them for the whole time less heavy. Their minds are not those of an innocent teen and newly-hatched magical creature seeking to prove themselves and dabble a bit in vengeance, but rather those of veterans seeking a reason to rejoin the world without having to suffer more if possible, please and thank you.

The central part, instead, just lets all the despair and and new torture and hopelessness loose - it was hard to read and, to be quite honest, long. Since the author makes a point to make Murtagh say that he avoids remembering as much as possible, part of the need for mental and phisical torture was making him remember - and the flashbacks are the most interesting and moving part of that section, mind you, so cutting them woud not have improved it - but the overall feeling was of being trapped right alongside him and Thorn.

Luckily, I had hopes that this would follow the same scheme as the main Cycle and have either a happy ending or a bittersweet one, so I managed to work my way to the end, but even in the final section there were moments in which I hoped for a more streamlined plot. And I do not mean having shorter or fewer descriptions or less interaction among Murtagh, Thorn and Uvek - I mean that having obstacles before the final battle or before retrieving the thing or before finding the person is reasonable and expected and adds to the feeling of reality, but if they start being repetitive just to show me how difficult it is to get to that point, they become an obstacle to me, personally, the reader and I will not feel like pushing through because it will not feel like a rush towards the core of the adventure, but rather a slow drag through neverending sidequests.

That said, the resolution of the confict (both external, against Bachel and the maybe-literal-wingless-dragon-in-the-pit, and internal, against Morzan's influence on Murtagh's life and the effects of Galbatorix's torture on Thorn's mind) was satifying and the very end was sweet, though very open in a see-you-in-the-next-installment way.

The flashback of Tornac's final fight and sacrifice for Murtagh made me cry, I'll admit that.

I do hope that now that Murtagh accepted to be a part of the world again (and gained another kind of brother, he just keeps collecting them, just like Eragon did with him and Orik). we will see him and Thorn interact with other established characters.

I can't wait!!

#2024 in books #murtagh #christopher paolini

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usmsgutterson · 2 years ago

Note

Hello I hope you have good day

Can I request a Nikolai x reader x Zoya where it can be mutual pinning where Nikolai & Zoya are together already.

More details Like where the reader has crush on them but doesn’t say anything due to not wanting to ruin the relationship while it could be like everyone knows that they like each other and are like why don’t they just get together already vibes but the reader denies it since they are conscious since they don’t believe it .

So they go confront the reader since they’ve been avoiding them after the incident about finding out they like them and they go comfort them about it. It could have the king of scars vibes if it’s okay as well can the pronouns be he/him

Perfect- Poly! Zoyalai x male! reader

Okay, hi! Second poly! zoyalai request to come out and the longer of the two I've written so far, and nonnie, I hope you like this one, it was a blast to write!

Based on your asking that he/him pronouns be included, I went ahead and wrote this fic in third person, which I hope you don't mind!

Fic type- this is fluff but there's a bit of yearning

Warnings-none

“It’d be easier to know whether or not they liked you back if you’d just ask them,” Tolya said pointedly as he found Y/N, sitting on one of many couches in the library. He was reading a poetry book, a volume that Tolya had read enough times to be able to recite every single poem in it by heart.

“Perhaps I just like taking the mantle of the lovesick fool,” Y/N suggested, smirk playing at the corner of his lips. “I could make an argument that every palace needs one, but I wouldn’t want to bore you with the specifics.”

Tolya scoffed as Y/N closed the book and stood. “Well, if every palace needs at least one, we’ve got two too many,” he said. “Are you due for a shift on the guard?”

“Zoya and I took the morning shift," Y/N said. "Nik let me take the afternoon. Been a bit sick lately."

“Your heart will only grow sicker if you continue to pine,” Tolya said pointedly, grabbing the book from Y/N as the two moved to leave. “Seriously. People have died from broken hearts, from too much time spent yearning for romance. I have every right to be concerned.”

“I’m not heartbroken,” Y/N said, pairing it with an easy shrug. “You won’t lose me, Tolya. Stop worrying.”

Tolya shot Y/N a look, the thought behind it clear as day. Stop being so destitute in the regard of your own emotions, it said. Tell them. It can't go terribly based on how they look at you when you're pretending not to notice.

“Worrying isn’t good for the heart, either,” Y/N said, though he knew that it would not stop his best friend from doing so. “I’ll handle it.”

“You handle these things by ignoring them,” Tolya said, holding the door open and allowing Y/N to step past the threshold and into the hall first. “You’ve been in love with them for three years now. Everyone sees it. Stop trying to ignore your feelings.”

“Why on earth would I do that when it’s what I do best?”

Tolya scoffed and spitefully set a quick pace as he walked with Y/N back to his room, where the rest of Y/Ns day would likely be spent in quiet contemplation and enjoyable solitude.

Y/N spent the next several hours reading the books on his shelves, journaling to recount the days minute, slightly bland events. He reread old entries from old journals with soft smiles. He read the realizations of the feelings he held for Nikolai and Zoya, tried to still his heart and ignore the feelings that never really did go away even as he willed them to.

Part of him had known that there was a possibility that Nikolai and Zoya loved him, but it was just too unbelievable. It didn’t seem realistic, didn’t seem like he would’ve been so lucky as to have that outcome, so he ignored that possibility. Y/N ignored the way that it set his heart off at a mile a minute, ignored the heat that ran to his cheeks when he thought it over.

Y/N startled at the sound of a knock on his door, successfully having been pulled out of the reverie in which he'd found himself.

Zoya walked in first, wearing the blue dress Y/N had seen her in earlier in the day during their shift together, hair let down and laying in beautiful ringlets on her shoulders. She was an effortlessly beautiful person, and it’d been impossible not to notice it since Y/N had fallen in love with her.

Nikolai walked in alongside her, wearing his usual kingly outfitting, blonde hair glinting in the sunlight, easy, assured smile on his face. He’d always been effortlessly handsome, and everyone, including Y/N, took notice to that.

“Enjoyed the day off?” Nikolai asked.

“Yeah,” Y/N said with a laugh. “Read, reminisced, nicked a few sweets from the kitchens. Grand day, really.”

“There’s something we’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” Zoya said, clearly interested in skipping the pleasantries. “Tolya just about threatened us. Genya thwacked Nikolai over the head with the hardest pillow she could find.”

With Zoyas last sentence, Y/N let out a laugh. Like clockwork, both Zoya and Nikolais hearts gave a funny little flit, a flit they’d been experiencing since they’d fallen in love with each other and then with Y/N.

“We’ve—” Nikolai began, pausing for a moment. “We’re in love with you. Both of us. We’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you and there just was never a good time because life got in the way tremendously and everything has been chaotic lately. We would’ve told you sooner but—”

“We’ve been arguing about how to tell you for nearly six months,” Zoya said. “It’s fine if you don’t feel the same, but it was going to eat us alive if we kept it from you.”

Y/N, feeling shock fill him from head to toe, only blinked surprisedly. Zoya and Nikolai both watched him, saw him run a hand through his hair as the couples words hung in the silence.

“You don’t—”

“I love you both too,” Y/N said. “I’ve been in love with you for a while. I’ve been trying to figure out how to say it but I just couldn’t. Never really did find the words.”

Nikolai and Zoya both sighed in relief, grins spreading across their faces.

“Well then, mind if we join you?” Nikolai asked. “I do find myself curious as to the book you’re reading. Don’t think I’ve ever seen it in the library.”

Y/N laughed. “It’s my journal, you idiot,” he said. “And yes, you can join me. I would rather appreciate the company and the excuse to ring up for dinner.”

Nikolai and Zoya didn’t need anymore confirmation, joining Y/N easily and ringing up for dinner for three shortly thereafter.

The three of them talked, the conversation coming easily, the quips and the jokes and the looks that’d turned from longing into loving ones. All of it was perfect, and sometimes, Y/N would go on to think that that night must’ve been too good to be true, even as the relationship progressed and he fell deeper in love with his partners then he’d ever thought possible.

#nikolai lantsov #zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lantsov x zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lantsov x reader #zoya nazyalensky x reader #shadow and bone

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alyssaforevermore · 1 year ago

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Hounded ↦ Bellamy Blake 1. Pilot

Synopsis: After being locked away for eight months, Athena Kane alongside 99 other criminals is sent to the ground to find out if it's survivable. The ground was the dream, but who knew it would turn out to be a nightmare?

Show: The 100

Pairings: Bellamy Blake x OC

Warnings: major series spoilers (full series will be covered), use of profanity, descriptions of violence, death, blood and gore, and mentions of drugs and alcohol.

Masterlist

The cement floor of my cell was cold against my legs, the sensation searing through the fabric of my jeans. I had sat here many times over the last few months, visualizing myself being blasted into space. It was a morbid thought, but one I could never seem to shake.

My cellmate Octavia let out a heavy sigh, pulling me from my thoughts. I examined her, lying across her cot on her stomach, her feet swaying back and forth in the air as she reread one of the few books she had for the hundredth time.

As I watched Octavia, an alarm began to sound within Skybox, causing Octavia to close her book and sit on the edge of her cot.

"What's going on out there?"

I stood from my place on the ground, making my way over to our cell door. Peeking through the bars, I noticed guards piling in the main doors, opening cells and dragging people out of them.

"The guards, they're removing people," I spoke, my voice shaking.

Octavia stood up. "Moving people? Moving them where?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea."

We both watched the guards remove more and more people before finally, two reached our cell. Octavia and I stepped back, allowing the guards to enter. The first guard to enter carried a case with him.

"Prisoners 395 and 530, stand facing the wall." One of the guards said.

Octavia and I complied, as the other guard asked us to extend our dominant hands. Octavia extended her right arm, while I extended my left. The guards reached into the case, pulling out large metal wristbands and placing them around our wrists.

"What's going on? Neither of us is eighteen yet."

Eighteen. That was when we'd be up for reevaluation, the council deciding whether or not we'd be floated.

"No questions." One of the guards responded, pulling me away from the wall. "Let's go, both of you."

Octavia and I exited our cell, the place we'd called home for nearly a year now, entering the chaos that was Skybox. There were long lines of teenagers, most younger than myself, on each side, on all levels. We followed the line all the way out of Skybox, into a long corridor.

"I want to speak with my father," I said, turning to face the guard behind me. "Marcus Kane, he's on the council."

The guard stared at me, his face expressionless. "Keep moving."

"No," I spoke, a glare appearing across my face. "Where is my father?"

The guard pulled out his shock baton, extending it. "I said, keep moving."

Not wanting to go through being shocked again, I took a deep breath, turning back around and continuing to follow the line. Eventually, the guards who had taken Octavia and I disappeared, more guards lining the path to wherever we were going.

The further I get down the line, I finally see it. One of the Ark's guards were scanning identification cards before ushering them onto... a dropship?

A dropship.

"Holy shit," I mumbled to myself. "They're sending us to the ground."

...

"Prisoners of The Ark, hear me now." I listened on as Chancellor Jaha appeared on several screens within the dropship.

Octavia and I had been separated, sent to different levels of the dropship. Looking around, I didn't recognize many faces, only a few from Earth Skills.

"You've been given a second chance, and as your , it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself." He continued. "We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable."

The sound of booing filled the dropship.

"The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough non-perishables to sustain three hundred people for up to two years. If you survive this mission, your crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean."

Chancellor Jaha continued on, though I began to tune it out. All I could think about was my father. Did he know about this? He had to have known, him being one of the Chancellor's closet allies on the Ark.

As the thought of my father's involvement drifted from my mind, the dropship jolted, sending my head forward, then back against the seat with brutal force. The dropship continued to shake, as screams filled the air.

"What's happening?" A girl called out.

I had the same question.

The shaking lasted several minutes before finally, the dropship crashed. Everyone remained silent, unsure if we'd actually landed. After a few moments, people began unbuckling themselves, rushing towards the dropship doors.

I was one of the last to unbuckle myself, wanting to avoid the rush. By the time I had arrived, nearly everyone within the dropship was surrounding the door. As I peeked through the crowd, I spotted Octavia standing by the door, next to a taller boy I'd never seen before.

"Where's your wristband?" I knew that voice.

Octavia spun around to face someone out of my view. "Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in over a year."

While sharing a cell with Octavia, she'd told me many stories about her brother Bellamy. I almost wouldn't have believed she even had one, if she didn't bring him up so often. It was sweet though. I'd always wished I could've had a sibling.

That was against the law on the Ark.

"No one has a brother," someone spoke.

"That's Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden under the floor!"

I watched as Octavia lunged forward, Bellamy grabbing her arm. "Octavia, no. Let's give them something else to remember you by."

By now, I'd pushed my way further through the crowd.

"Yeah?" Octavia asked, looking back at her brother. "Like what?"

Bellamy smirked. "Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years."

With those words, Bellamy reached over and grabbed the dropship door's handle, pulling it down. There was a faint bang before the door slowly began lowering, creating a platform that led to the ground.

It was beautiful, more so than I ever could've imagined. The ground was covered in grass, just like I'd seen in books on the Ark. Trees surrounded us, nearly covering the clear blue sky above us entirely.

I watched as Octavia slowly made her way down the platform, looking back at her brother. He gave her a reassuring nod, and Octavia in turn took a deep breath before jumping off of the platform, her feet colliding with the ground.

We all watched her as she looked around, silent for a few moments. Finally, Octavia threw her hands in the air.

"We're back, bitches!"

Cheers erupted through the dropship, delinquents spilling out around Octavia and running through the forest surrounding us. I slowly made my way down the platform, bracing myself as if I expected to burst into flames the second I touched the ground.

Octavia looked back at me, smiling. "What are you waiting for?"

I jumped from the platform, my boots meeting the hard ground. "Oh my god... We're really here."

Octavia squealed, pulling me in for a hug. "No more tiny cells and uncomfortable beds for us."

"Well, I imagine uncomfortable beds aren't quite out of the picture yet." I laughed.

"You're probably right." Octavia shrugged with a giggle.

Octavia rushed off to catch up with Bellamy, while I stood in place, taking everything in. As I looked around, my eyes fell upon the girl whose voice I recognized earlier; Clarke Griffin, my childhood best friend.

Clarke stood by the edge of a cliff, staring down at the map in her hands. A tall boy with medium-length brown hair stood next to her. Based on the look upon her face, I figured I should head over there.

"Clarke?"

Clarke turned around, her eyes widening. "Athena?"

I couldn't help but smile. It had been a year since I'd spoken to Clarke, and she looked exactly the same today as she did then. I remembered hearing stories of Clarke being arrested, the reasons often varying, but I never actually thought those rumours were true.

"What's with the map?" I finally asked.

Clarke took a deep breath. "Do you two see that peak over there?"

Both I and the boy nodded.

"Mount Weather," Clarke said. "There's a radiation-soaked forest between us and our next meal. They dropped us on the wrong damn mountain."

"Please tell me you're joking?"

Clarke shook her head. "I wish I was."

"We've got problems-" Wells Jaha, the son the Chancellor, spoke as he reached our little group. He stopped as his eyes landed on me. "Athena?"

I blinked, confusion setting over me. "Wells? What the hell did you do to get sent down here?"

"Don't ask." Wells shook his head, before continuing. "We've got problems. The communication system is dead. I went to the roof. A dozen panels are missing. Heat fried the wires."

"Well, all that matters right now is getting to Mount Weather," Clarke responded, marching closer to the dropship. She spread her map out on one of the wings. "See? This is us." Clarke pointed to a spot on the map. "This is where we need to get to if we want to survive." She moved her finger across the map.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Wells asked.

Clarke's face turned pale as she looked away.

Wells sighed. "Your father."

The two remained silent, as another boy with a pair of goggles strapped to his head approached. He leaned over Clarke's shoulder, surveying the map.

"Cool, a map." He spoke, looking Clarke up and down. "They got a bar in this town? I'll buy you a beer."

Wells lightly pushed the boy back. "Do you mind?"

"Woah." The boy spoke, holding his hands up.

"Hey, hands off of him." I turned to see a group of boys approaching. "He's with us." The rest of the delinquents were also gathered around us.

"Relax," Wells spoke, stepping back. "We're just trying to find out where we are."

"We're on the ground," Bellamy spoke. "Is that not good enough for you?"

"We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority."

"Screw your father," Octavia called out. "What, you think you're in charge here? You and your little princess?" She was staring at Clarke.

Clarke shook her head. "Do you think we care who's in charge? We need to get to Mount Weather not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder it'll be. How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a twenty-mile trek. So if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave now."

"I've got a better idea," Bellamy responded. "You two go, find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change."

Everyone around us cheered.

"You're not listening, we all need to go!" Wells urged. "Athena?"

Before I could respond, another boy spoke. "Athena Kane? You're Marcus Kane's daughter!"

"Your father floated my mother!"

"And my father!"

"Mine too!"

I looked at Wells, narrowing my eyes.

Wells shook it off. "We have to go, now."

"Look at this everybody," A boy stepped forward. "The Chancellor of Earth."

"You think that's funny?" Wells asked.

"No," The boy responded, kicking Wells in the leg and watching him fall to the ground. "But that sure was."

Cheers erupted through the forest, people begging them to fight.

"Come on, Wells." The boy egged him on.

Wells stood up, getting into a fighting stance. Before any swings could be thrown, the medium-length haired boy jumped from the top of the dropship, landing between them.

"The kids got one leg." He spoke to the boy. "Why don't you wait until it's a fair fight?"

"Hey, spacewalker!" Octavia called out. "Rescue me next."

People began to laugh, the crowd dispersing. Bellamy grabbed Octavia's arm, pulling her away.

"Uh," The boy spoke to Clarke. "So, Mount Weather? When do we leave?"

"Right now," Clarke replied, looking at Wells. "Finn and I will be back tomorrow with food."

"How are the two of you going to carry enough food for a hundred people?"

Finn looked around, grabbing goggles boy and another. "Four of us."

"Sounds like a party!" Octavia had rejoined the group. "Count me in."

"What are you doing?" Bellamy asked.

Octavia rolled her eyes. "Going for a walk."

Clarke suddenly reached for Finn's hand. "Were you trying to take this off?"

The wristband.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, I don't know. Do you want the people you love to think you're dead? Do you want them to follow you down here in two months? Because they won't if they think we're dying."

Finn nodded. "Okay."

"Now, let's go."

"Wait," I spoke up. "I'm coming with you."

Clarke grabbed my hand, leading me away slightly. "I need you to stay here."

"Why?"

"Wells can hardly walk and I need someone to help him keep an eye on things here. I know it's been forever since we've talked, but I trust you a hell of a lot more than anyone else here." Clarke spoke, her eyes shifting to Wells for a moment.

I smiled. "I don't know if I should take that as a compliment."

She smiled back. "You got this?"

I nodded. "Be safe."

Clarke and I made our way back to the group. She grabbed a bag before looking at Wells, who sat on the ground leaning against the dropship. "You really shouldn't have come here, Wells."

With that, Clarke headed off into the forest alongside Finn, Octavia, and the two other boys I'd yet to meet.

I looked at Wells, frowning. "Let's get you into the dropship so you can rest your foot in peace."

...

A few hours later, I found myself returning to camp after going on a water run, my efforts having been futile. Just as I was about to reach the camp, I spotted Wells gathering sticks. He had also been searching for water the last I'd seen him.

"No luck?"

Wells looked up, startled. "No, you?"

I shook my head. "There's gotta be water somewhere."

"Just not anywhere near us," Wells sighed. "Want to give me a hand with these?"

I picked up a pile of sticks, following Wells towards the dropship. We began dropping them in an already started pile when footsteps came up behind us.

"Find any water yet?" It was the same boy who had tried to fight Wells earlier. I recently learned his name was John Murphy. He stood beside another boy, also named John.

"No, not yet-" Wells paused, his face going pale before he quickly pulled himself back together. "I'm going back out if you want to come."

I followed Wells' gaze, spotting something carved into the dropship: first son, first to dye.

"You know, my father begged for mercy in the airlock chamber before your father floated him," Murphy spoke, his eyes narrowed in on Wells.

Wells shook his head, pushing past the pair. "You spelt die wrong, geniuses."

I attempted to follow Wells, though both boys blocked my way. "Where do you think you're going? Don't think we haven't forgotten about what your father did."

Shaking my head, I took a step back. "That was my father's doing, not mine. The same goes for Wells. Feel free to take it up with them when they come down here though. I'll be the last to stop you."

Murphy looked me up and down for a moment before a smirk crept across his face. He didn't say anything, simply stepping out of my way. I took it as an opportunity to join Wells, who still stood just a few paces behind them.

"We're not safe here, Athena," Wells whispered.

"No, we're not," I agreed. "There's nothing you or I can do about it, not until Clarke and the others get back. We just have to lay low, watch each other's backs, like the good old days."

Wells smiled. "I'd give anything to go back there right now."

I let out a small, shaking breath. "You and me both."

...

Wells and I spent the rest of the afternoon searching for water, with no luck. As we came closer to the camp, I stopped. Noticing my absence from beside him, Wells also stopped, turning around to face me.

"Can I ask you something?" Wells nodded. "What happened with Clarke? I heard stories in lockup but never from anyone who had actually been there."

Wells was quiet for a moment, kicking his feet around in the dirt. "Her father discovered a flaw in the Ark. That they're running out of air. He wanted to go public with it."

"But he didn't?"

"Clarke found out and told me, and a few days later her father was arrested."

My heart sank into my stomach. "You told your father, didn't you?"

Wells shook his head. "It wasn't me, but Clarke thinks it was."

"So he was floated?" I was having a hard time processing all of this.

"Yeah," Wells responded. "Clarke saw it happen, and then she was arrested too."

I shook my head. "I had no idea..."

"That was kinda the point," Wells mumbled.

I frowned. "You haven't told Clarke it wasn't you, have you?"

"I can't tell her, Athena," Wells said, not able to look me in the eye.

"Why not?"

Wells once again fell silent. "It was her mother."

My eyes grew wide. "You're sure?"

"It wasn't me and I'm the only one Clarke told. Do you really think she'd expect her mother to turn her father in?" Wells asked. "I can't tell her. It would break her, especially now."

"So you let her hate you..."

Wells frowned. "Better than her hating her mother."

I smiled softly. "You're a really good friend, you know that?"

Before Wells could respond, the sound of screams filled the air. They were coming from the camp. Both of us looked at each other before hurrying our way back. By the time we arrived, there was a large crowd surrounding the campfire.

We both pushed our way through the crowd, spotting Murphy prying off a girl named Fox's wristband. She winced as the wristband popped off, and Murphy tossed it into the fire.

"Who's next?" Bellamy asked.

"What the hell are you doing?" Wells asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

Bellamy smirked. "We're liberating ourselves. What does it look like?"

"It looks like you're trying to kill us all." I hissed.

"The communication system is dead. These wristbands are all we got. Take them off, and the Ark will think we're dying, that it's not safe for them to follow." Wells added.

"That's the point, Chancellor," Bellamy replied. "We can take care of ourselves, can't we?"

Everyone around them cheered.

"Do you think this is a game? Those aren't just our friends and our parents up there. They're our farmers, our doctors, our engineers." Wells shouted, looking around the crowd. "I don't care what he tells you. We won't survive here on our own, and besides, if it really is safe, how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?"

"My people are already down here," Bellamy replied. "Those people locked my people up. Those people killed my mother for the crime of having a second child. Your father did that."

Wells shook his head. "My father didn't write the laws."

"No, he enforced them, but not anymore, not here. Here there are no laws. Here, we do whatever the hell we want, whenever the hell we want. Now, you two don't have to like it. You can even try to stop it or change it, kill me even. You know why?" Bellamy's smirk only grew wider. "Whatever the hell we want."

"Whatever the hell we want!" Murphy cheered.

Everyone began chanting around us, repeating those five words over and over again. I couldn't believe it. How could they all be so stupid? So selfish? They were going to get all of us killed.

Suddenly, I felt a speck of water hit my bare arm. Then another, and another. Then, water began falling from the sky rapidly.

"It's rain," A girl called out. "Real rain!"

The cheering began once again, as I lifted my head to stare at the sky, letting the rain wash over my face. It was as if all of my previous worries washed away for a few moments.

"We need to collect this," Wells spoke up, yanking me from my bliss.

Bellamy smiled. "Whatever the hell you want."

----

AN: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! I have chapters 1-10 written already, so I'm just catching up on posting them all. If you'd like to request to be tagged in future chapters, you can do so here. Please be sure to like and reblog <3

#bellamy blake; hounded #the 100 #the 100 fanfiction #the 100 fan fiction #bellamy blake #bellamy blake fanfiction #bellamy blake fan fiction

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yellowsugarwords · 2 years ago

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If Clem and the Ericson kids had access to everything from before the walkers, would would be the first thing they would do?

omg this was such a blast to write!!! I hope you like it, friend :’) 💛

Clementine: Clementine would go into a tech store, not only looking for batteries, cords, and supplies needed, but also to snag a new pair of walkie-talkies. She could decorate them with AJ and they each could have one. She missed the childlike wonder she felt whenever she had her walkie on her. If she could give a sliver of that feeling to AJ, she would in a heartbeat.

AJ: AJ immediately went for a toy store. Any stuffed animals or toys he ever got were used, dirty, and falling apart. Finally, he could get a new Disco Broccoli toy, and maybe some coloring supplies for him to share with Tenn. He finally felt like a kid wandering through the store, knowing he could take whatever he wanted.

Marlon: Marlon went straight for the hunting store. He wanted to get some more arrows, tape, gloves, and knives to prep everyone at the school, plus some. If they were well equipped, they could tackle any threat that came their way. Mitch and Marlon had a blast exploring the store and snagging whatever they deemed might be useful.

Louis: Louis went straight for a video game store. Here admired the merch, the dust-covered games, and, most importantly, he admired the comic books. He snagged a few, excited to head back and read them with the kids and Clementine. As he wandered through the store, he tried to gather supplies that they could use for building or modifying things around the school. Mainly though, he was excited to read comics alongside his friends again, especially ones they hadn’t needed to reread over and over.

Violet: Violet darted for a clothing store, beaming once she got inside. She grabbed beanies, jackets, new jeans, a new pair of boots, gloves, and socks. She wanted a whole new wardrobe, both for fashion’s sake and because she hadn’t received new clothes in around 6 years. She couldn’t wait for some fresh, non-used clothing, and she couldn’t wait to pass it down to the younger kids as they grew up.

Mitch: A hunting store alongside Marlon. All he wanted was to get a sharp, new knife, some bullets, and a new gun. Yeah, he knew he could go anywhere and snag anything, but not only did he want to be prepared and equipped, but he had a blast roaming an abandoned store all alone, snagging whatever he pleased before heading home with his new goodies.

Willy: Willy would race into a drug store or corner store, snagging all the snacks and candy he could fit into his arms. He had so deeply missed snack foods, instead of eating merely for survival. He missed late-night treats with his siblings, watching TV while their parents slept. For a moment, it was like he could go back in time.

Aasim: Aasim would head straight for a coffee shop. It was his quiet, safe haven where he used to sit with his parents and read to his siblings. He never liked coffee - only tea - and would relax to the wonderful smells all around him. After he was sent away, he never got to experience that again. He could practically feel the freshly roasted coffee and over-fresh croissants. His shoulders fell, realizing it would never become a reality again.

Ruby: Ruby went to a craft store, gathering some knitting supplies, notebooks, crayons, markers, and paint. She really just wanted more comforting supplies to pass the time, and to benefit the whole of the group when they returned home. She could spend her free time crocheting or knitting, and could provide blankets, mutts, jackets, and more to the Ericson members. She couldn’t wait to get started.

Tenn: Ten went straight for the art supplies store. He had been running out of pencils and paper for months, and tried his best to reuse and scribble on whatever scraps he could find. Being able to snag several new books and hoards of new art supplies. He would be occupied for at least the next year with everything he snagged.

Omar: Omar wandered into a massive retail store, exploring the furniture, groceries, games, toys, and more. He hadn’t been in one since he was a toddler. It was before the end of the world, and it was before his behavior caused his parents to send them away. For a brief moment, he felt free. He felt like he was a kid again: the whole world at his fingertips before it all fell apart.

Brody: Brody gleefully scurried into a library, looking for a book or two to steal to add to their library collection. At this point in the apocalypse, all the Ericson kids had read practically every book once over in the library. If she could find a few new ones, especially ones that the younger students would like, it could make life within their school’s walls a little more fun.

𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢��𝘪𝘯𝘨 💌☕️♡

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onlythebravest · 2 years ago

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recently read: january 2023 🪐

I did say I was going to try and make a list of what I’ve read each month. First month done! I decided not to include rereads (which I do a lot), because then the list would never end.

If you decide to check any of these fics out, make sure to show the author some love. Leave kudos, a comment and, if possible, reblog (or retweet) the fic post! and a big thank you to all these amazing authors! thank you for sharing your writing with us!

Little Taste by @wabadabadaba (G, 1.2k, domestic fluff, age regression) A morning with little Harry and caregiver Louis.

I loved As It Was and was so happy to see that the strawbaby universe had gotten another fic! I had missed those two.

yeah, he's a looker (but i really think it's guts that matter most) by @thedevilinmybrain (E, 40k, non-au, established, friendships) Five times Oli was asked to do something that was outside of his job description, and the one time he didn't have to be asked.

amazing characterization! Jennifer never fails with writing amazing characters, but this was just something else.

Can I Watch? by @larrysballetslippers (E, 4.9k, poly, established, smut, voyeurism) Harry never thought a horrible encounter would lead to some hot loving from his boyfriends.

Chicago by @hellolovers13 (G, 3.5k, exes to lovers, famous/non-famous) They hadn't seen each other in four years, why was Louis still writing songs about Harry?

London by @hellolovers13 (M, 2k, fluff, established, famous/non-famous) A lazy morning in bed. Finally home.

Bless You! by @neondiamond (G, 2k, kid, established, fluff) Harry and Louis’ young daughter, Ava, really enjoys when Harry says ‘bless you’ after she sneezes.

you can always expect amazing fluff from Jess, so you know you’re gonna leave the fic with a warm feeling in your chest

Tender Hearted by @polaroidlouis (E, 3.3k, established, mpreg, smut, service top L) It hadn’t taken long then for Harry to clue in the fact that Louis was enthralled with his newly bloomed breasts.

Just To See That Smile by @homosociallyyours (NR, 6.7k, uni au, fake relationship, pining) A fic where a hastily faked relationship and a lot of miscommunication almost ruins a perfectly good dance.

One for the Books by @neondiamond (M, 25k, advent fic, strangers, winter, fluff) Or the one where there’s a bookshop, a cat, OT5 friendship, a budding romance, and all the festive vibes.

Hike Up Your Skirt (And Show Your World To Me) by @twopoppies (E, 17k, CEO/employee, dom/sub, smut) Louis has a very hands on approach to training his new secretary. How else can he make sure Harry realizes his full potential?

I really enjoyed reading a character that isn’t really a good character and now I want more of these morally gray characters.

It's Thursday. Let's Get (un)Dressed. by @bananaheathen (E, 9k, genderfluid H, pining) When Louis is peer-pressured into downloading TikTok over the holidays, he fully expects to hate it. And he does hate it. All of it. Well... except for aspiring OOTD influencer, @ harrystyles.

edible stars by @forthetherapyy (E, 10k, uni, friends with benefits, dom/sub) They take a test and the results change things for Harry and Louis.

Fellowship of Eroda by @sadaveniren (E, 5.3k, enemies to lovers, dom/sub) aka Louis may have had a four night stand with Harry and now he's stuck in a DND campaign with him.

Fun Time Candles by @sadaveniren (T, 1k, kid fic) Harry makes candles shaped like dicks. Harry also has a five year old learning to read. These two things should never interact.

The animals play by @sadaveniren (M, 1.2k, kid fic, dom/sub) Harry and Louis play a game of cat and mouse.

I love this parenting while actively in the bdsm community series! all of them are amazing

Counterculture by @sadaveniren (E, 6k, a/b/o, pack dynamics, scenting) It all culminated to this: Harry in the middle of a crowded basement, music blasting from the live show on the far side, shirtless amongst alphas and omegas who all weren’t covering their scents. He took a deep breath of the heavy air and he felt alive.

(yes, I had a little sadaveniren marathon and I’m not sorry)

A Bright and Blazing Flame by @greenfeelings (E, 23k, a/b/o, established, famous/famous, all the good omegaverse stuff) Bonded, engaged, and moved in together — there’s nothing to daunt Louis and Harry’s happiness. Until the past catches up to them and everything comes crashing down when they least expect it.

I have so much good to say about this series and not enough words to express myself. it’s got everything you can want from an a/b/o fic, and more

Late for Flying Practice by @jaerie (E, 2.5k, elf/reindeer, smut) Louis is a hybrid reindeer gearing up for his first year as navigator for Santa. Harry is one of Santa's elves in the middle of his 99th season as head cookie designer. They've been having an affair for years. This time it doesn't exactly go well. Or does it?

Secrets, Santa? by @indiaalphawhiskey (E, 19k, boss/employee, christmas themed, awkward H, dirty talk) Right, okay, so Harry had confessed his deepest, darkest, dirtiest secrets to a stranger who turned out to be his boss. No big deal. This was probably just the beginning of Harry’s own hilariously heartwarming, wildly romantic Hallmark Christmas movie, come to life, right?… Right?

this was hilarious and found myself having to stop myself from laughing while reading it

Wanna play you like a game, boy (what's the thrill of the same toy?) by @thebreadvansstuff (E, 10k, boss/employee, dom/sub, humiliation) Louis is Harry's boss, and Harry has a humiliation kink.

He's Got the Money, Baby Honey by @larry-hiatus (E. 10k, dom/sub, financial domination) Finsub Harry forgets his dom’s weekly gift. Louis makes him pay for the mistake with a shopping spree.

I loved reading about this kink and way of domination that was completely new to me

On the naughty list tonight by @lunarheslwt (E, 6k, established, dom/sub, Christmas) Harry has a little bad habit- he peeks at gifts early because he is too impatient to wait to open them. Louis is determined to catch him this time, and show him that actions have consequences.

enough to make a girl blush by @disgruntledkittenface (E, 22k, a/b/o, girl direction, childhood friends, self discovery) When Louis moves from her small hometown to the city, she runs into her childhood friend Niall. Despite her surprise at learning that Niall presented as an alpha, she’s immediately drawn to her. As their relationship progresses and Louis settles into life in the city, she learns that love, sex and identity aren’t always as simple as she’d been taught growing up. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

I loved learning about girl alphas in this! I know I’ve said it every time I talk about this fic, but I can’t help it. it was so fun learning about it

Unholy by @wicked-archer (E, 11k, religios kink, priest/demon, smut) When Harry Styles started acting different after his 26th birthday, Father Louis Tomlinson is the only one that may be able to save his soul. He has successfully performed exorcisms before. This should be easy. Until it isn't. Harry is more than he seems. The battle of wills test every bit of faith Louis has. And Harry? Well, he's just getting started.

positive feedback by @sun-lt (T, 4k, a/b/o, established, nesting) Louis pretends he isn’t insecure about his nest, Harry pretends he isn’t inconveniently horny, and they both see right through each other.

you know you’re gonna have a great time when you’ve get a notification about a new Essie fic, and this one was no different!

Control by @zourry-a (E, 1.7k, smut, public sex) "M'gonna finger you," he said softly. "Right here in front of everyone, like you want. Do you want it, Louis?"

I Built This Bed For Two (I Built This Bed For Me and You) by @yafookinlousah (E, 8.9k, exes to lovers, cuddling) Harry and Louis broke up after uni and haven't seen each other since—until they're roped into doing a Buzzfeed video together. Featuring awkward cuddling and a reunion that just needed a kick in the arse, gleefully provided by Niall.

One Touch Is Never Enough by @kingsofeverything (E, 3.8k, werewolves, funny) It’s been a rough year for Louis. First, he was turned into a werewolf, which hasn't been so bad, except that he didn't anticipate how it would affect his love life. Maybe it’d be easier to ignore if he wasn’t constantly bombarded by the sound of his two werewolf best friends getting it on in the next room. At least they were nice enough to give him a gift certificate for a massage.

I'm Sure It Happens To All Alphas by @jaerie (E, 3.7k, a/b/o, awkward sex) Louis has trouble popping a knot.

I said a little while ago that there aren’t enough fics where the sex isn’t perfect, and then I stumble upon this. I was so happy!

pink like the paradise found by @disgruntledkittenface (M, 18k, girl direction, uni, bartender L, coming out) Harry's friends take her out to the local lesbian bar to celebrate after she comes out. They joke about getting her laid, but the way the hot bartender is looking at her makes her think it might actually happen.

#28th appreciation #i'm so happy i actually managed to do this!#fic rec #trackinghome #trackinghappily #tracksintheam #hlcreators

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