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erraticrandomficwriter · 4 years

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A Lost Boys Plot Bunny:

The Night Stalker’s Moon - Part 1

A Werewolf hadn’t crossed the town line into Santa Carla ever since the agreement between the Werewolves and Vampires was put in place to outline their territories. This agreement – this treaty, so to speak – was put in place for more reasons than one. It was put in place to not only keep the peace between the species, but to keep certain members of their species apart.

There hadn’t been a transgression since the treaty’s creation until the unthinkable happened – history repeated. A history that the treaty was supposed to prevent from happening – A small group of Vampires turned a young runaway from Luna Bay – the Werewolves’ territory. Now while the Vampires did not technically break the treaty, the Werewolves took it as an act of aggression towards it and they would not stand for that.

This is where Lycandra – known as Andie to the humans – comes into play. She is a Luna Bay Werewolf and a Santa Carla native. Andie was the first to volunteer but given her history with Santa Carla the elder Wolves were reluctant to let her go, but in the end, they determined that perhaps sending her would be the best. After all, it was history that had repeated, and she had learned from her own.

Lycandra’s orders were simple; find the young boy Laddie, determine if he is savable or not and act accordingly. She convinced the elder Wolves to let her go alone because a lone Wolf would be harder for the Vampires to sense than a Pack.

Little did any of them know Lycandra’s history would inevitably get in the way of their plans…

As the cab crossed the town line into Santa Carla, ‘The Murder Capital of the World’, Lycandra felt her hair stand on end. It was if half of every fiber of her being was telling her to head for the hills and the other half was pulling her further in. It had been so long since she’d been there but hadn’t forgotten a thing. Despite her recollections of the past, she pushed them from her mind. Lycandra was there for one thing and one thing only – repeating her part of the history was not part of it.

Lycandra watched the familiar scenery pass her by and how different it had all become. Not only had the buildings evolve and the storefronts change, but the residents as well. Of course, Lycandra was familiar with the culture of the time and knew what to expect, but seeing it in play within a town she hadn’t seen in so long was odd for her, and it wasn’t until the cab pulled up in front of a house that she removed her sunglasses and placed them on top of her blonde head.

Lycandra rolled down her window in the back of the cab and leaned out of it to take a look around. This place looked like a deserted flea market had exploded and was left to let nature take its course. “Oh, Emerson,” she said to herself, “trying to be the town crazy, are we?”

Lycandra turned her attention away from the scene around her when the cabbie spoke,

“This is it. You sure a young thing like you wants to get out in a town like this?”

Lycandra paid the fare with a, “Why wouldn’t I? This is the murder capital of the world, isn’t it? I’ll fit right in.” She smiled and flashed her yellow eyes that at him that returned to normal in a blink of an eye before getting out of the cab to get her bags from the trunk. It didn’t surprise her that the cabbie didn’t get out to help her and it amused her as he sped away the second after she closed the trunk.

With an amused expression upon her face, she went down the drive the rest of the way and paused when she found an unconscious appearing Emerson lying upon the porch. Lycandra dropped her bags with a bit of a huff and went over to him. She crossed her arms and waited for him to make a move, but when he didn’t, she greeted him with, “You’re not drunk or dead. I don’t smell any liquor or decomposition. A mere human would find your presentation of playing dead rather convincing, however.”

Emerson opened his eyes and sat up in disbelief because this was not the person he was expecting. “Lycandra? What in the devil’s name are you doing here?”

Lycandra sat on the porch step beside him. “A letter was sent, Emerson. It’s all in there.”

Emerson recalled receiving a letter with the Lunar Seal upon it, but he didn’t bother reading the contents. “I don’t look at anything with the Seal anymore. I haven’t for decades. So, I will ask again. What are you doing here, Lycandra? You’re not supposed to be here or have the terms changed?”

Lycandra took her sunglasses from upon her head and put them on with a sighed, “No, you’re right. I’m not supposed to be in Santa Carla, but the Vampires fired the first shot. They turned a runaway from Luna Bay, and we can’t stand for that. I’m here to rectify the situation – whatever that entails.”

Emerson muttered, “Damn Vampires,” before speaking clearly. “I don’t want no Wolf trouble, Lycandra. I got my daughter and grandsons coming and they know about none of this.”

“It’s Andie for the time being. Lycandra is far too obvious.” She made sure to address that first before getting to her other point “And you’re seriously letting them come here? That is a recipe for disaster, Emerson.”

He knew she was right about that, but an idea came to his mind in that moment. “Not if you keep an eye on them for me.” Before Lycandra could argue, he continued. “They don’t know nothing about what goes on around here or in Luna Bay.”

Lycandra had caught what he said before about his family, but it didn’t really sink in until he brought up Luna Bay. “Wait…wait. They don’t know anything about their bloodline – their goddamn birthright?”

“I am not arguing my decisions with you, Lycandra. If you want to stay under my roof, then you will obey my rules. You’re in my territory now.” Emerson knew he had her there.

Andie grumbled a bit but agreed. “Fine,” she seethed is frustration. “I will keep my mouth shut and keep an eye out, but my mission comes first. I will not stray from that.”

Emerson accepted the compromise. “Good. Now there are other rules while you are under my roof…”

Before he could state what they were, Lycandra said, “Don’t touch your root beer and stay out of your room?” She grinned at his scoffed chuckle. “We’ve known each other for a long time, Emerson. You may be an old man now, but I still know you.” Despite the fact that Lycandra looked to be in her late teens, early twenties at the latest she was far older than she appeared.

Emerson didn’t agree to nor deny with that fact. Instead, he shooed her off into the house. “Take the downstairs guest room. Now shoo before my family arrives and you ruin my presentation.”

Lycandra got up with a slight shake to her head so she could get her bags from the ground. When she turned around to head into the house, Emerson was already back to playing dead, so she had to step over him. “Very convincing,” she stated flatly as she moved over him and went into the house.

Her eyes widened slightly as she returned her sunglasses to the top of her head. “Good lord, I stepped into a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie.” To say the design was very…hunting lodge rustic would be an understatement. The sights were only overshadowed by the smells coming from the taxidermy room attached to the living room. She had no intention of investigating that, so she went straight to the guest room to drop off her bags.

What she did, though, was take her camera from her bag and head out the back door. Lycandra needed to document things around the house just in case she ever needed to put anything to use.

—————————————————————————–

Lycandra was out there for a bit and didn’t head back to the house until a Huskey dog ran over to her and started barking like man. She simply turned around and crouched down in front of the canine to flash her yellow eyes at them as she held out her hand to show she meant no harm. The dog then sniffed her hand before licking it then took off to chase after some horses further down in the field.

Lycandra made her way up the house and entered the back door just as she heard the voice of a teenage boy ask Emerson about living in the murder capital of the world. “I wouldn’t say it was the capital, but pretty close to it.” She introduced herself to the brothers before Emerson could. “I’m Andie, and you must be the grandsons I’ve heard about.”

Michael was the first to step forward to reply. “Hey, I’m Michael and this annoying fella is my little brother Sam.”

“Are you living here, too?” Sam asked since his grandfather hadn’t said anything about her.

Lucy, Emerson’s daughter, had a question about that as well. “You didn’t mention there was a young girl living here.” She turned to Andie, “Who are you again?”

“This is my house, and I can have whoever I want living here.” Emerson made that clear before addressing concerns about Lycandra – about Andie. “Now Andie is…the granddaughter of an old friend of mine. She needs a place to stay for some time so the downstairs bedroom is hers and that’s the last I will address of it.”

Emerson made his way to his taxidermy room while saying to his grandsons, “Andie will tell you the rest of the rules,” before he closed the double doors behind him.

Lucy wasn’t too keen on the idea of the young woman staying there but her father laid down the law, so she just smiled and said, “It’s lovely to meet you, Andie,” then brought some more boxes upstairs.

Andie didn’t get the chance to say anything else before Sam picked up the TV Guide from the table and asked her,

“Grandpa actually has a TV?”

“No,” she informed him based on past memory, “he just likes reading the guide.” Andie gestured to the taxidermy room. “Make sure to stay out of there, and if you’ll excuse me, I have some unpacking to do.”

“Need any help with that?” Michael offered, especially since it wasn’t every day he’d be living in the house with a woman who wasn’t his mother.

Andie was so not interested for more reasons than one, but played along by saying, “Now, Michael, you’re gonna have to work harder than that to get into my bedroom.” She placed her sunglasses back over her eyes and walked away, leaving a laughing Sam in her wake.

———————————————————————————–

End Part 1

#lycandra #andie #the nightstalker's moon #a lost boys plot bunny #work in progress

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crackimagines · 4 years

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Daisy and Sunshine (FE: Three Houses Full Fic)

All 3H AU’s Listed Here!

—

DOOM Paralogue

On the Doom Slayer's day off, he loses track of his beloved pet Daisy, and he goes on the hunt to bring her back. He finds out quickly his day off is about to be put on hold...

----

“Against all the evil that hell can conjure,

All the wickedness man can produce,

We will send unto them, only you.

Rip and tear, until it is done...”

----

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP-

SMASH!

[Life at Garreg Mach Monastery - Fire Emblem: Three Houses]

Doomguy rose from his bed and looked over to the side. Before he smashed his homemade alarm clock, it was about 8 in the morning.

Once he finished stretching, he looked at the calendar and sighed in relief.

Sunday.

Being an instructor for House Isekai was tiring work. Even though he never spoke, there hadn’t been a day for these past few months where he hasn’t sighed out of disappointment.

Compared to the other houses, this one was trying to herd several cats.

Megumi, Cocytus, and if it ever got too bad, Byleth had to try and calm them down.

Sara did nothing to help and in fact only added fuel to the fire.

(Hayden) “Must you keep destroying the alarm every morning? We do have to keep an eye on our resources.”

The voice speaking was one of the AI’s that Doomguy had on him when he was transported to Fodlan. Personally he would have preferred if it was just his main assistant, Vega, here but he made do with it. It’s not as if Hayden could do anything.

Ignoring him, Doomguy got dressed in his Praetor suit and checked his rabbit pen.

Daisy was normally still sleeping at this hour, but she was wide awake. Her head turned to Doomguy.

Getting a small hay cube, he held his hand out to her, which she nibbled off his hand.

Nodding in satisfaction, he left his room for breakfast.

At the mess hall he met up with Megumi, Sara, Cocytus, Byleth and Seteth.

Once they all grabbed their plates and food, they sat down at a table near the entrance. More and more students eventually poured in and the Mess Hall went from nearly dead quiet to extremely busy.

(Sara) “Finally, a nice old Sunday! These aching bones need to rest.”

(Byleth) “...I don’t recall you doing anything other than do lectures, Sara-”

(Sara) “Exactly! Teaching is hard work, ESPECIALLY with the kiddos that we have!”

(Seteth) “Hmph, that I will agree with. House Isekai’s students seem to be more high maintenance than any of our three houses.”

(Megumi) “You have no idea, but it is fulfilling work!”

(Cocytus) “INDEED. SEEING THE YOUTH SLOWLY BECOME BETTER AND BETTER FIGHTERS IS A REWARD IN OF ITSELF.”

Doomguy nodded in agreement.

(Sara) “Bah, enough talking about classes already! I’m gonna be drinkin’ the day away as soon as breakfast is done!”

(Seteth) “My goodness, it is not even twelve yet!”

(Cocytus) “I SUPPOSE I WILL BE ASSISTING ANY STUDENT IN THE TRAINING HALLS TODAY.”

(Byleth) “I haven’t decided yet.”

(Megumi) “Neither have I. What about you, Slayer?”

Doomguy put his hands to his helmet’s chin.

He wasn’t too sure himself. He supposed he could read for today. It’d make a nice change of pace.

Doomguy shrugged at Megumi and went back to eating.

After everyone finished their breakfast, they all went their separate ways.

...

Turning off the chainsaw, he had finally finished making a makeshift hammock for himself and sat down. He put his helmet onto a leftover parts of a tree he had punched off.

Opening his book, he continued where he left off.

Dungeons and Demons, 6th Edition.

As he read, the morning slowly turned into early afternoon, students and staff passing by and waving hello at him.

He waved back, but hadn’t moved from his spot in hours as he tried to better understand how to play this new tabletop game.

A little later passed and the sun was still shining nice and warm over him. It seemed like the rules and lore within this never seemed to end, so he put it down to catch a small break.

It was then he noticed his helmet’s visor was glowing.

Raising an eyebrow he put the helmet back on and Vega’s voice appeared on screen.

(VEGA) “Slayer, your pet rabbit Daisy has escaped the cage.”

Normally he would have let Daisy explore and come back on her own, since she had a habit of doing that anyway, but he was in the mood to stop reading for the moment, so it was a perfect excuse.

Knowing already where her favorite hiding spot was, he put his book down on the log and went down to Abyss.

[The Forgotten - Fire Emblem: Three Houses]

When he turned the corner, he was greeted by the Abysskeeper.

(Abysskeeper) “Oh, hey Slayer. Got something to report.”

Doomguy stopped walking and nodded at him.

(Abysskeeper) “We got that shipment of supplies we’ve been needing for a while thanks to your assistants. So thanks.”

Doomguy nodded again and grabbed a piece of paper nearby. Quickly scribbling onto it, he showed it to the Abysskeeper and pointed towards the paper’s drawing.

It was an extremely crude drawing of a rabbit.

(Abysskeeper) “Ah, your rabbit. Yeah I saw her run by, she’s fast on her feet. Think she went towards the former classrooms.”

Doomguy gestured his hand upwards as a sign of thanks and went towards that direction.

As he was walking, a familiar face emerged from the corner.

(Hapi) “Oh, Teary. What’s up, Daisy got down here again?”

Doomguy nodded.

(Hapi) “Hmph. Alright, I’ll help you look for her, wasn’t really doing anything anyway.”

Not needing to say anything further the two continued walking and searching every crevice for Daisy. After about 10 minutes of searching the classrooms, they decided to see if anyone else had seen her.

(Yuri) “Oh, hey you two.”

(Balthus) “Heya.”

Yuri and Balthus were in the main room with Angelica, and Sharon.

(Angelica) “’Sup?”

Sharon bowed.

(Sharon) “Good afternoon!”

(Hapi) “Supplies still being brought in, Yuri-bird?”

(Yuri) “Yeah, figured we would’ve been done about half an hour ago. Just how much were you able to get?!”

(Sharon) “When you’re as convincing as I am, you can get whatever you want!”

(Balthus) “That’ uh...ominous.”

(Angelica) “And that still didn’t answer his question.”

(Yuri) “Well anyways, we appreciate it. We’ll be good to go for the next few months with what we have. But I digress, what brings you to our humble abode, Slayer?”

(Hapi) “Teary’s rabbit got lost down here again. We were wondering if you saw it.”

(Yuri) “No idea, but I can send word for everyone to keep an eye out if that’ll help.”

(Constance’s voice) “AAAH!”

Everyone spun around as Constance ran in.

(Constance) “T-THERE IS A HIDEOUSLY LARGE RAT THAT IS SCURRYING DOWN HERE!”

(Yuri) “That should be nothing new, but a large one?”

(Angelica) “Would that rat happen to have been a light brown color?”

(Constance) “Yes! It had massive ears and-”

(Hapi) “Coco, that’s a rabbit.”

(Constance) “A rabbit does not move like that! They hop around in an adorable manner, not bolt around at super speeds!”

(Sharon) “Well, looks like we have found your rabbit!”

(Yuri) “Which way did it go?”

(Constance) “Ugh, we are chasing it?! Let’s see, this way!”

Finally chasing her down towards the arena, she was sitting in the middle.

(Sharon) “Oh, I have not been down here in a while!”

(Angelica) “Wait, what?”

(Balthus) “Er, long story short, she, Megumin, Momon and Nabe, and Akechi were down here a couple months back. They actually helped us stop that Demonic beast in the cathedral.”

(Hapi) “Yeah, pretty sure I saw Sharon slit so many throats down here that some of the stains are still here.”

(Angelica) “Huh, so THAT’S what the whole demonic beast attack was about.”

Doomguy did have some recollection of defending the town during that period of time.

(Constance) “Now, mister Slayer shall you get your rabbit, please?”

Doomguy nodded and knelt down, trying to catch her attention.

Instead of running to him, she ran away in terror.

(Yuri) “Huh, that can’t be good.”

[Woven by Fate - Fire Emblem: Three Houses]

A portal slowly started to emerge, with red alerts blinking on Doomguy’s screen.

(VEGA) “Alert! Demonic presence detected!”

Doomguy’s eyes widened as he quickly got up. He instinctively reached for a gun but had none on him.

(Hapi) “Ooooh crap!”

(Balthus) “Demons, seriously?!”

(Constance) “Did you sigh, Hapi!?”

(Yuri) “Everyone, just get ready for whatever’s coming through that portal!”

Everyone pulled their weapons out as Doomguy walked closer to the portal.

“Slayer...I have found you once more...”

(Balthus) “Uh...are they buddies?”

(Hapi) “B, does it look like they’re friends?!”

(Constance) “Then what is he?!”

(VEGA) “That is a Marauder.”

His voice was coming from nowhere, in which they were all confused by.

(Hayden) “Do not be concerned of where his voice is coming from, focus your attention to the incoming portals!”

Behind the Marauder appeared several demonic beasts, some from Fodlan while some others came from Doomguy’s world.

(VEGA) “He will handle the Marauder, I recommend taking out the smaller beasts so he may focus on his task.”

Angelica cracked her knuckles.

(Angelica) “You got it!”

(Yuri) “Everyone, on me!”

Doomguy was looking back at the group and was relieved. VEGA and Hayden would be ensuring they’d be alright.

(Marauder) “How amusing. You think that they will be safe.”

Doomguy slowly turned to the Marauder and gestured towards him, daring the Marauder to even try.

They circled each other as the Marauder activated his Rune Axe, and Doomguy’s wrist blade shot out.

(VEGA) “Your team’s current objective, Rip and Tear!”

----

[Super Gore Nest - Doom Eternal]

UNIT SELECTION:

Begin the slaughter?

>[Yes] Yes

Victory Conditions: Rip and tear the enemy commander.

Defeat Conditions: Leave the area not filled to the brim with demonic organs.

----

Doomguy threw the first swing, the wristblade bouncing off the Marauder’s shield.

The Marauder retaliated by swinging the axe overhead, crushing the concrete beneath him as Doomguy dove out the way.

A demonic imp jumped onto Doomguy’s back. Doomguy grabbed the imp by the throat and slammed it down onto the floor, his boot completely crushing the upper skull with its guts and blood splattering onto the floor.

The shoulder cannon spewed out flames behind Doomguy catching a demonic beast into flames as it howled out in pain.

Doomguy countered the Marauder’s axe with his wristblade, and used his freehand to gut punch the Marauder.

Staggering backwards, several hell hounds formed next to the Marauder and charged Doomguy.

(Marauder) “YOU WILL FALL, USURPER!”

(Yuri) “I can’t believe that guy’s so used to this!”

Yuri got his sword out of a demonic beast as another one tried to eat Balthus.

Balthus managed to punch it away, making it fall back onto its side.

Sharon used her wires to tangle it’s mouth shut as she threw her knife into its eye.

(Hapi) “His name is Teary for a reason, Yuri-bird!”

(VEGA) “Actually, his name is-”

(Hapi) “Not now, VEGA!”

Constance used her magic to disintegrate several demons into dust while Hapi did the same with her magic.

Angelica grabbed one of the demons and slammed its face into the wall, and kicking the head so hard into it, it exploded.

Another one tried to swipe at her, but was grabbed by Balthus. He snapped off its neck before slamming it into the floor, with him stomping it to death.

Angelica turned to Doomguy and noticed just how many enemies were around him.

(Angelica) “Some of us need to back him up!”

(Hayden) “That is ill advised, Rogner. Getting in his way is a good chance for you to lose your limbs.

(Sharon) “We should leave him to his fun, yes?”

(VEGA) “That is the recommended course of action. Several more portals appearing behind you.”

A demonic beast came charging out with everyone diving out the way.

With the last of the hellhound being punched so hard, the skull exploded into fragments, he checked his surroundings and noticed a massive shadow above him.

Doomguy spun around and ripped apart the jaw of a massive demonic bird-like beast that tried swooping in, using the upper beak to stab it in the skull while using the lower beak as a makeshift weapon.

Several more demons tried to rush him, and were immediately impaled with the sharp end of the beak.

The Marauder fired an energy projectile from his axe and flew towards Doomguy.

He threw the beak at the projectile, letting the beak and the demons stuck in it get cut in half as he charged the Marauder.

The Marauder charged and the wristblade and axe clashed against each other.

The Marauder brought out a shotgun and was about to fire before Doomguy headbutted him, and grabbed it from his hands.

He ripped the gun in half and threw it to the side, taking out one of the Marauder’s main weapons.

(VEGA) “Friendly portal inbound, we are dropping a weapon for you, Slayer.”

A blue portal appeared above Doomguy, and he raised his hand upwards and caught his super shotgun.

Finally having a gun again, Doomguy started to smile underneath his helmet.

The first Demon that tried to rush him got the barrel in its mouth, its head completely blowing apart into tiny chunks.

Reloading, he looked at the group of demons enclosing around his group. His shoulder cannon shot a grenade out behind him as he rushed to help.

Angelica and Balthus shattered the skull of a demonic beast with the force of their punch while Yuri was dodging swipes from several imps.

Sharon’s wires grabbed and wrapped around their necks as she pulled them over to her.

It tried clawing Sharon, but its head was immediately sliced off from the garrote going through its neck.

She continued smiling as she threw her knife at an imp’s head attacking Yuri, which he grabbed the dagger and drove it into mouth of the last imp.

Hapi and Constance closed the last portal with their magic before making it explode, the demons around it bursting into limbs with blood flying everywhere.

(Constance) “Such detestable creatures!”

(Hapi) “We keep killing but there’s so many!”

A flying demon was about to attack them from behind until it was grabbed out of the air by a hook.

The hook suddenly closed in with Doomguy flying towards it and ripping the beast in half with his wristblade.

(Hapi) “Teary, any chances of this fight finishing up soon?!”

He looked at Sharon and pointed at her wires.

(Sharon) “Oh, you require this? Of course, mister Slayer!”

He nodded in thanks as he held the wires firmly in his hands and turned to Hapi, gesturing towards the Marauder who was running towards them.

(VEGA) “Everyone, the last of the demonic forces are closing into your position, a defensive line would be recommended!”

Hapi ran ahead of Doomguy and readied her magic while Doomguy was catching up behind.

(Marauder) “A friend to the Slayer? Then allow me to open your eyes to this-”

Hapi interrupted him by shooting a fireball at him, which he reflected with his shield.

(Hapi) “Shut the hell up, would you?!”

The smoke disappearing, the Maruader took his chance and swung towards Hapi, only to be blasted in the chest by Doomguy who was now standing in front of her.

Wasting no time, Doomguy used Sharon’s wires and wrapped around its neck, and he kicked him towards Hapi.

Hapi used dark magic and blasted the Marauder upwards into the air.

Tugging the wires forcefully down, the Marauder went crashing down into the concrete, shooting up several bricks upon impact.

Using the wristblade to stab into his eyes, he used the wires to get him out of the hole, shot a grenade into it, then threw his body back.

Using his suit’s dash, he went over to Hapi and shielded her from the explosion that sent body parts and blood raining down on the arena.

No one was spared from a shower of gore that landed on them.

Yuri and Balthus looked slightly annoyed while Constance was screaming that so much bits of guts was on her.

Angelica made a noise that didn’t decide if it was a swear or sound of disgust while Sharon stood completely still, her smile not even twitching.

(Yuri) “Well...didn’t think a rabbit hunt would turn into a demonic invasion.”

(Balthus) “Sure was fun!”

(Constance) “UGH! HOW REPULSIVE! I MUST SHOWER AT LEAST 3 TIMES TO GET THIS SMELL OFF ME! AND MY DRESS IS RUINED!”

(Angelica) “Eugh, son of...Well, at least it’s over.”

(Sharon) “I would be happy to wash everyone’s clothes if they wish for it!”

Doomguy’s shoulders relaxed as he turned to Hapi.

There was only bits of blood on her, but she looked more annoyed than anything.

(Hapi) sigh “Finally that’s over with.”

(Constance )”H-HAPI?!”

Doomguy cocked his shotgun back and turned to the side, blasting a demonic beast that came charging in.

The blast sent skull and eye fragments scattering into the air as it stopped in its tracks, sliding across the bodies and debris.

(Hapi) “Thanks. Now, let’s go find Daisy, yeah?”

(VEGA) “Daisy is currently hiding in a small hole to your right.”

Doomguy nodded and motioned for Hapi to follow. Everyone else joined him.

[Life at Garreg Mach Monastery - Fire Emblem: Three Houses]

Doomguy emerged from the entrance of Garreg Mach alongside everyone else, while he held Daisy in his arms, softly petting her to calm her down.

Byleth passed by and stopped, looking at all of them.

(Byleth) “...Is...everything alright?”

They were absolutely soaked in blood and giblets, all of them standing awkwardly.

Doomguy nodded at Byleth.

(Hapi) “We’re uh, we’re fine thank you. Everything’s fine...How are you?”

(Yuri) “Hey, professor.”

(Balthus) “Pay no attention to our gut soaked rags, professor!”

(Angelica) “Yeah, don’t mind us.”

(Sharon) “Excuse us, we had a bit of a struggle down in Abyss.”

(Byleth) “I can see that.”

(Constance) “P-Please direct us to the baths, Professor Byleth.”

(Byleth) “...To your left, up the stairs.”

Everyone went towards the baths to get washed up.

...

Once everyone was finally washed up and went their separate ways, Hapi went with Doomguy to this room.

Doomguy set a small tea set down at the table and poured them a drink.

After a few minutes of silence as they ate some snacks, Hapi laid against her chair.

(Hapi) “Thanks, Teary. That hit the spot.”

Doomguy nodded as he drank the remainder of his tea.

He looked over at the cage where Daisy was resting comfortably.

(Hapi) “By the way, thanks for saving our butts there. Not that I had any doubt that you would’ve left us anyway.”

Doomguy didn’t say anything, but Hapi knew he would have said “No problem”. Or at least that’s what he gestured.

(Hapi) “...Ya know for being a person who never speaks, you’re a really nice guy.”

Doomguy tilted his head in confusion but she just chuckled.

(Hapi) “The scariest man alive serving tea and caring for a pet rabbit. I’m sure girls like me would just be swooning.”

Doomguy waved his hand dismissively.

(VEGA) “Perhaps we can get a dating site when we get back, Slayer?”

(Hayden) “As if.”

Doomguy punched the wall to signal to the both of them to shut up.

(Hapi) “I said that as a joke but now I’m pretty curious...”

Doomguy glared at her.

(Hapi) “Alright alright, forget what I said!”

She continued to chuckle as he sighed through his helmet. The two continued to sit in silence as his attention was brought over to Daisy.

Daisy was woken up by the sound but looking at Doomguy. He walked over to the cage and fed her small hay cube, which she nibbled off his hand.

Nodding in satisfaction, he went back to the table and enjoyed a quiet tea time with Hapi.

#fire emblem three houses imagines #fire emblem three houses headcanons #fe3h imagines #crossover #Doom AU #doomguy #doom slayer #hapi #yuri leclerc #balthus von albrecht #constance von nuvelle #angelica rogner #sharon kreuger #ashen wolves #doom #doom eternal #byleth

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creepercraftguy · 5 years

Text

Danganronpa Ultimate Talent Development Plan: Miu Iruma/Keebo/Yamato Kisaragi (DRA)

Man, I’m...I’m feeling kinda randy today...maybe I’m just excited to see Keebo...

He did ask me to upgrade one of his functions after all...speaking of which...

Where the hell is that robo-bastard? If he doesn’t show up soon, I’m gonna start cutting throats!

…

...

…

UGH! Where the fuck IS he!?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keebo! There you are! Bold of you to keep my golden brain wai-

-ting...wait...Huh!?

Alright, but consider this. I can give you any function you want AND I can import it into you really fast with no effort!

AND, I’ll do it completely for free! No strings attached!

Hmm...well I’m not currently being charged for my maintenance, but you make a convincing argument...But still...

What’s wrong? D-Do you doubt my talent?

No! Of course I don’t! It’s just...well...

All I want is to help and take a look to see how you function! I have no plans to modify you in any way, shape or form without your permission!

Plus, I’m a much better guy for maintenance that someone like HER...

Like “her?” Are you perhaps talking about-

HEY! DICK-TWISTERS!

GAAH!

AH! Miu!?

Well, well, speak of the devil! Miu Iruma herself! No one asked you to come here you-

Shut the fuck up, Yam-asshole Kiss-your-ass-i! I’m here for Keebo, so go suck your own dick and get out of my sight!

It’s YAMATO KI-SA-RA-GI!

Miu, listen. I don’t know how much of that you heard, but I assure you I-

No, don’t even try it! I’m not stupid Keebo…

You’re...cheating on me, aren’t you?

Miu, don’t phrase it like that!

N-Now normally...I-I wouldn’t mind...that k-kinda thing is...sort of tantalising...

But of all people, why THIS guy!? What’s he got over me!?

It’s obvious if you think about it...

It’s because I’m the better inventor and the more trustworthy of the two of us...

In your dreams asswipe!

Well, unlike SOME people, I make inventions that are beneficial to society!

The fuck does that mean!? My inventions are SUPER beneficial!

Name one!

Ok! How about those glasses I made that allows you to see through clothes!?

Wh-Where do I even begin with that one?

Why do you sound so disappointed!? There’s a ton of perverted assfaces out there that would be creaming their pants over an invention like that!

What you’re doing with your inventions is making waste to the valuable resources the academy provides for you!

If I leave Keebo to you, you’ll probably modify him with yet another erotic function!

Yamato, wait! Listen to me for a mo-

Bold of you to assume that all my work is pervy! I’ve made loads of inventions that do really useful stuff!

Well, THIS oughta be good...

I’ve made amazing inventions that lets people work while they sleep, eat while they sleep, read while they sleep-

Th-They all involve sleeping...That is...

the most obsolete and lame idea I have ever heard from another inventor!

C-Can the two of you just listen to me for a mome-

Listen here, Kiss-your-ass-i! I’m the one true Ultimate Inventor! NOT YOU! Keebo is MINE!

Insulting me is one thing; one thing I’m more willing to accept. But if you bring my genius inventions into this, then I’ll carve you wide open with a chainsaw!

He doesn’t belong to you! And I don’t trust you with him either! As for the chainsaw, I invite you to try!

Tch...Desperate times call for desperate measures!

WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP AND LISTEN FOR ONE MOMENT!?

AAAH!

Yowch that’s bright!

My apologies, but it was the only way I could get both of your attentions...

Yamato. As I mentioned already, you make a very convincing argument.

If I was to go to you for maintenance, I believe I would come out of it with a nice clean body and effectively working functions...

Hah! But of course you would!

…

But in regards toy your offer....Sorry, but my answer is no.

Huh!?

In all honesty, I can perfectly understand why you don’t trust Miu to handle me...

She is foul-mouthed, rude, and most of what she says is unintelligible nonsense...

But the one thing she isn’t is untrustworthy.

For example, recall the flashlight function in my eyes that you beheld only moments ago...I was not created with that function.

Don’t tell me...

Huh? O-Oh yeah, I-I gave him that...

And that is but one of many useful bodily functions Miu has given me.

I don’t doubt your skills as an inventor are any less than Miu’s, but she is my classmate and one of my most trusted friends...

So for the time being, I will let her handle my maintenance...

I-I feel so loved!

Keebo, you piece of shit, come here!

Ah...uh...I take it you’re happy?

…

Ahahaha….Well, if that’s your choice, then who am I to disagree with you?

Listen Iruma...I still don’t like you very much, and have no intention of taking back what I said about your inventions uses...

But I’m happy knowing that Keebo’s in good hands for maintenance.

Yeah, yeah, whatevs. So Keebo, about that thing you asked me about.

Turns out it’s gonna be a lot harder to get it done that I first thought...

Oh...well, if nothing can be done about it, then I suppose it’s alright...

Hold on, what’s this about?

Huh? Not that it’s any of your business, but Keebo came to me with an idea for a function the other day...

I’m unable to consume food, so I was going to ask Miu if she could incorporate an eating function into me...but it appears that may not be possible...

Then here’s an idea: Why don’t you invent artificial foods that only Kiibo can eat? Stuff he can digest and also feel the taste?

Huh...that’s...not a bad idea...

Oh, but wait...I guess there’s a chance that the food might gum up his joints and circuits, right?

No, no! There’s a way around that! Modify the food to disintegrate after he swallows it! He doesn’t need to shit, so there’s no worry about it exiting his body another way, right?

Oh man that’s awesome! That’s seriously genius!

Well if you hadn’t come up with the idea of the food first, I wouldn’t have-

Er....

Ah...

If I may intervene for a moment...

What I said about your talent earlier Yamato, was genuinely how I feel.

I believe you are worthy of sharing the title of Ultimate Inventor with Miu, no matter how much she disagrees.

If you two can come up with an eating function for me, then why not accept you have things in common and work together?

...

L-Looking forward to working with you...Miu Iruma…

Same here...Y-Yamato Kisaragi...

Yamato Kisaragi and Danganronpa Another Despair Academy are created and owned by LINUJ

#danganronpa #fanganronpa #danganronpa v3 #drv3 #danganronpa another despair academy #danganronpa another 2 #dra #sdra2 #miu iruma #k1b0 #kiibo #keebo #yamato kisaragi #ultimate talent development plan #fan made #LINUJ #kiiruma

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sourbkg · 5 years

Note

Could I get the bakusquad going through a haunted house?! Reader and bakugou are like holding on to each other, but bakugou tries to act brave. In reality he’s scared shitless? ( a fake haunted house rated 5 star)

——this idea is so cute——

haunted house

bakusquad shenanigans x reader

You don’t know how they convinced the seething blond to come with you, but they did. He grumbled the whole train ride about how stupid this was and how he would rather be training or something.

“Don’t be such a sourpuss.” You hummed, flicking him in his temple.

He cut his eyes to you, probably ready to call you a dumb fuck and tell you not to touch him again, but Kirishima stood and stretched.

“This is our stop!”

Everyone else clammored to get up and out of the cramped train, making a small circle inside the station to figure out what way to go to get to the spooky house. Mina and Jirou locked elbows with you and skipped as they walked.

“This place is supposed to be the scariest haunted house around!” Mina said excitedly.

“Five stars, and all the reviews were positive.” Jirou added.

You snorted. Horror wasn’t something that really... scared you. Sure, someone jumping in front of you with a chainsaw might spook you, but blood and gore didn’t really make your stomach churn. You expressed this with the girls once, which led to this little adventure. Kirishima mentioned that it took a lot to scare Bakugou, too.

Sero let out a low whistle when your group approached the building. It was a huge mansion with Halloween decor all around it. Some actors wandered around the lot with props, drenched in blood and tattered clothes to look like zombies.

“Yo... we’re actually gonna... go in?” Kaminari asked, looking uncertain as a zombie spotted your group and started to make his way towards you.

“We’re already here!” Kirishima said, clasping a hand on his shoulder and pulling him where the line ended.

A worker handed each of you a clipboard and pen, and after reading the headline, you laughed.

“We have to sign a waiver?” You looked to Mina, who planned the whole thing.

She shrugged sheepishly, “It’s so the actors have permission to touch us and stuff. The website said the safeword is ‘mercy’.”

“Oh my god.” You heard Sero whisper as he filled out the form.

When you reached the front of the line, a woman at a table took the papers from you and ushered the seven of you inside the lobby of the building. The doors slammed shut behind you.

“This is an escape haunted house,” a distorted voice said from all around you. You could assume there were speakers set up, “your goal is to make it out. The actors are allowed to touch you, but please do not hurt them. There will be maze like aspects to the house. Your group may get separated. If it gets to be too much, say ‘mercy’ and an actor will lead you to the nearest exit. Good luck.”

There was a clicking noise before a set of door opened in front of you. You all looked between each other before Mina and Jirou shrugged and went through them, Kirishima following behind. As the rest of you moved to go through them as well, the doors shut and you heard their screams through it.

“Oh my god.” Kaminari whispered, jumping when another set of doors to your right opened. A misty fog beckoned you to enter.

“Come on, you cowards.” Bakugou huffed, trudging forward. The three of you were close behind, not wanting to be left alone. The doors shut behind you.

Inside was hard to see, strobe lights flickering and green led lights being your only guidance. A clown with a pickaxe jumped out from the side, making Kaminari and Sero scream. You tensed, staring with wide eyes. Bakugou continued on. After a few minutes of walking, and Bakugou almost punching three actors in the face for jumping out at him, you grabbed his hand, telling him to shove the other in his pocket so he wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Up ahead was a set of jail doors. You looked to Balugou, then to Sero and Kaminari, who–

They weren’t behind you anymore.

“Uh....”

“What?” Bakugou snapped, following your line of sight, “You’re kidding me.”

You squeezed his hand slightly, “Okay, we’re smart. We can do this.”

He rolled his eyes, “You’re not scared, are you?”

“No!” Was your instant reply, dragging him forward. Behind the doors was two routes. Left or right.

“I say we split up. See who makes it out first.” He teased.

“Please don’t.” You whined, “let’s go left.”

“I say right.”

“Okay then, right it is.”

And the two of you went right.

It brought you down a dark corridor. This led you to take notice of how Bakugou’s sweaty palms seemed to ignite his quirk. Small bursts of explosions erupted from your clasped hands and you giggled. They tickled. The giggle was immediatly turned to a scream when someone banged on the corridor wall next to you.

Bakugou snickered, though the tensing in his hand around yours told you it spooked him a little. After walking down the corridor for what felt like forever, you were lead to a set of double doors. Bakugou pushes them open to reveal the outside world.

“Freedom!” You yelled, running out, only to run directly into one of the zombies outside, “JESUS.”

Bakugou laughed freely, looking around the outside for the rest of the idiots.

Once you got your bearings, apologizing to the zombie man for bumping into him, you were tackled in a hug by a sweaty Jirou and Mina.

“That was the scariest thing I’ve ever done!” Mina whined.

“I can’t believe we were separated IMMEDIATLY.” Jirou huffed.

“Did you guys make it out?” You asked, returning their hugs.

“Yeah!” Mina giggles, “Sero and Kaminari called mercy though!!” She snorted.

You laughed and they pulled away from you just long enough to drag you where your group had reconstructed.

Bakugou was bullying Kaminari and Sero for being whimps.

“I say,” you interrupted him, looking among your friends, “that we get something to eat. Losers pay?”

Sero and Kaminari groaned but reluctantly agreed.

What a good start to the spooky season.

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rivetgoth · 5 years

Text

Okay, the verdict is out, I finally got to watch THREE FROM HELL after anticipating it for ages and I got some thoughtz.

First, some full disclosure, so y’all know where my biases are:

1. I genuinely adore House of 1000 Corpses and I consider The Devil’s Rejects one of my favorite movies of all time. In general I really adore a lot of Rob Zombie’s work — I also loved 31. That being said, he’s been hit or miss in the past and there’s some stuff of his I really detested too, but overall he’s not only impressed me but stood out as the creator of some of my absolutely favorite films. I wanna clarify this because I’ve seen a lot of people write up scathing reviews for this film that literally start with “I HATE ROB ZOMBIE’S MOVIES!!!!!” and that just seems like a really unfair way to approach a review specifically for a sequel. Idk what you’re expecting to get out of it.

2. Speaking of that, I love good horror sequels and some of my favorite movies of all time are specifically sequels. I fall in love with characters and concepts and I love seeing them expanded on in fun ways. I have no inherent negative feelings towards sequels at all.

I say all this to point out that I was genuinely looking forward to this movie without any unfair biases, it didn’t have to change my mind on anything larger than itself, like “convince me that Rob Zombie is a capable film director after all” or “convince me that sequels have artistic merit” or anything like that.

My overall thought, before I explain anything else, is pretty much that I feel like the first half of the film is extremely promising and fun, and the second half of the movie is so bad that I more or less wish I’d just turned it off halfway through and pretended that was the whole film. And, given the fact that so many of the developmental issues with the film that led to its shakiness came from Sid Haig’s declining health, I almost feel like this wasn’t a movie that had to be made at all — at least in this form.

I read one review that pretty much said that for Rob Zombie to revive this series he needed a damn good reason, and he never managed to make that reason clear. And I feel like that’s exactly what my overall takeaway was here. The ending of Devil’s Rejects is pretty much perfect. In order for that to be retconned and expanded upon, something really mind blowing had to happen. In general, even when you’re not taking the risk of retconning an ending of such epic proportions, if a sequel is made to something I want to see it do something new and uniquely memorable in its own right. Devil’s Rejects itself is a perfect example of this; one of the things I completely adore about it is the fact that it expanded upon the very classic retro slasher feel of 1000 Corpses to center the attention on the killers and recreate them as antiheroes with an entirely different tone. Similarly, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 stands out to me as one of the great horror sequels, partly in the way it so fearlessly completely shifts it’s tone away from the total frenzied isolation horror of TCM 1 and does something entirely different. Other series try less for “perspective/atmosphere shift” and more for “just go bigger” and that can work too — I think the increasing extremity of gore and complexity of the traps in the Saw series (which I love) is a good example, especially through the first three films which are by far the best as a coherent trilogy.

The WEIRD thing about Three From Hell is that Rob Zombie has clearly proven that he 1) understands the idea of sequels that build upon original films in unique new ways 2) has no qualms being increasingly and shamelessly extreme and shocking and horrific. But instead, I felt like Three From Hell is... jarringly tame, actually, compared to what we got from Rejects. And I mean, in some ways that’s fine, I didn’t necessarily miss the way-too-long graphic rape scene in Rejects, which is a miserable chore to get through in just how sickening it is. But there’s no moment where I felt that we get anything more extreme or intense than what’s seen in Rejects. It all feels like it’s been toned way down, which is bizarre to me. The victims aren’t people we’re sympathetic towards like the traveling musicians we meet in Rejects, and their deaths aren’t particularly gruesome - The majority of the deaths in this movie are “shot in the head” or “stabbed.” That’s it. The climax of the film is extremely similar to the opening shootout of Rejects, with significantly lower stakes and less memorable artistic direction, meaning that one film’s introductory scene is able to create a more intense moment than this one’s entire two hour duration.

The thing is, I feel like the first half of the movie really has potential. There are things I could nitpick — for example I love Richard Brake and I feel like Foxy is fun but flat — but the majority of my complaints would be things that, if the movie had a stronger second half, could easily have been further developed and solved. In fact, the first half of the movie feels like it’s gearing up to pretty much be exactly what I’d want out of a Rejects sequel. It’s weird and engaging and markedly different from its predecessors. It focuses on Otis, Spaulding, and Baby’s survival and arrest after the ending of Rejects, the subsequent trial, and then Otis’ escape and attempt to save Baby (after Spaulding is given the death penalty; more on that later). There’s a ton I love here, mostly Otis and Baby’s relationship being given more time in a really interesting way. The stakes are high and Otis clearly cares about his sister to a degree that feels like a fitting continuation of Rejects’ attempts at showing sympathetic or relatable aspects to these characters that makes them very three dimensional and complex. Bill Moseley is the fucking greatest and his ability to make Otis so completely depraved and unrestrained while also clearly caring about his family is one of my favorite things about the series and this played it up really well. You get the feeling that Otis is genuinely concerned for Baby, even after she’s freed, although it mostly comes out in yelling and deadpan snarking. Baby, meanwhile, gets the beginning of a completely fascinating character arc that included my favorite dialogue and scenes through the entire film as we’re shown that after a decade in prison she’s gone completely off the deep end. She rambles on about being Snow White and saving kittens and cries while hallucinating ballerinas with cat heads. By the time she’s free even Otis is expressing vocal concern for her. We get to meet the first half of the film’s main antagonist, Warden Virgil Harper, who was memorable and fun and felt right at home in the Rejects canon. We got the chance to see him developed into a character you almost start to feel sorry for; he’s cocky, but he clearly has no idea how in over his head he really is. On top of this, the scene when the clown shows up at Harper’s house while Otis and Foxy are torturing him and his friends and family is the best torture scene in the film in the complete absurd awfulness of the clown trying to put on a funny show while everyone is sobbing and a man is bleeding out.

At this point, the movie is going in a direction I totally dig. By the time Baby is finally free and able to reunite with Otis and he’s picking up on how fucked up she’s become, I’m genuinely excited to see how things will develop. It feels like Rob Zombie was setting up a film where we get to explore the siblings’ dynamic in a way that’s new and intriguing but developing from the things people loved in Rejects, which is that perfect blend of “utterly irredeemably despicable people” and “genuinely likable, oddly human characters.” Baby and Otis only really have each other at this point (Foxy is there, but even in the movie itself they allude to the fact that he really barely matters — a bit of a copout of a running gag, but whatever), and Baby actually voices this. It hit me at that moment how all of their family has died, and considering how much family has been a driving force for these characters, they were literally initially introduced in 1000 Corpses as the classic murder family and that’s all been taken from them, it’s genuinely sad. Spaulding’s death feels like it could be the final catalyst for... something to come from this, as that was Baby’s father and such a hugely important member of the Firefly family. We have Otis and Baby, alone (well, accompanied by Foxy) in the late 1980s (also a COMPLETELY not utilized detail), on the run as the country’s most wanted serial killers and trying to cope with the weird scenario of being merciless murderers who’ve had their entire family taken from them.

But we don’t get any of that in the second half. At all. Instead, we have Baby suggesting they all run away to Mexico. They do, winding up in a little hotel in the middle of nowhere full of prostitutes and alcohol. Baby wins a knife throwing contest against some big misogynistic guys. Then Danny Trejo’s character’s unmentioned son shows up (oh yeah; Danny Trejo was here for about 5 seconds, he died early on), has about 3 lines of dialogue, sends in 20 masked luchadors to kill Baby and Otis, they have an extremely long low stakes shootout, and with the help of the second half’s most interesting but still underdeveloped and shockingly unironically sympathetic character they burn Danny Trejo’s son alive and the movie ends. And that’s it. The characters regress even further backwards than their Rejects counterparts. They don’t really do... anything, actually. Otis fucks some women and then lays in bed flirting with them until the luchadors show up with their machine guns. My favorite moment was Otis’ attempts at saving Baby’s life by telling Aquarius (Danny Trejo’s character’s son) to let her go because he was the only one responsible for his father’s death, and they share a brief exchange about family. But that was one interesting moment amidst an extremely stale and low stakes plot separate from anything I care about after the intensity and high stakes present in the previous movie’s climax, and even this movie’s first half. A lot of things are recycled here, like the revenge plot driving the antagonist, but Sheriff Wydell’s descent into righteous insanity in Rejects was given way more time to develop, or a character betraying the Fireflys’ trust, but instead of the extremely memorably shocking, selfish betrayal from Charlie who was a longtime acquaintance clearly considered family (plus he actually attempts to “redeem” himself in the end), this is betrayal from a random hotel owner we do not know or care about. When the credits roll and we see Otis and Baby and Foxy driving away to... somewhere, I don’t even know where they’re going, I’m not even really sure what I’m supposed to feel. I chuckled a little at Baby being allowed to drive after an earlier argument where Otis asserted she shouldn’t, but that was it.

I hadn’t read anything about this movie before watching it, because I didn’t want anything to be spoiled for me. I was really excited for it! I learned that Sid Haig, who of course passed on only very recently (RIP), was dealing with very serious health issues that made him unable to film the movie, when originally the film had been written with the original infamous three - Otis, Baby, Spaulding - as the leads for the whole thing. Rob Zombie wanted to honor him with at least a cameo, knowing that the movie wouldn’t be the same without the Captain, but aside from a brief few minutes of screen time he had to rewrite the whole rest of the film with Spaulding removed. I feel like that’s where a majority of the problems with the movie lie. It’s why Foxy is as flat as he is and it’s why there’s an awkward uncertainty in how to deal with the loss of the Captain as the patriarch and why the whole idea of Otis and Baby’s aloneness is so awkwardly glossed over, like Mr. Zombie noticed the elephant in the room enough to address the turmoil but didn’t want to rewrite the entire movie from scratch to account for one of the most important characters in the franchise (maybe THE most important) being unexpectedly killed off.

Now, I LOVE some films that have been to developmental hell and back and came out as solid movies. In fact, there’s an extremely special place in my heart for films that fought tooth and nail to be made. It inspires me as a creator myself and it’s why indie low budget horror is my favorite genre of movie. I absolutely love seeing creators fight to bring their artistic visions to life against the odds. There are fantastic sequels out there where major actors either died or refused to/were unable to return and the stories were reworked or the actors replaced. I feel like something went wrong here. The moment he realized that Sid Haig would be unable to return, Rob Zombie should have set the whole thing aside and done a total rewrite. Right now, the knowledge of what was going on with Sid Haig behind the scenes makes the movie’s shortcomings go from “poor writing and storytelling decisions” to “genuinely extremely sad.”

One of the things I totally love about the writing of Devil’s Rejects is the way Rob Zombie inserts seemingly random moments that do nothing but add to the overall atmosphere and tone of his world. Random arguments, random character quirks, random shots of random things that simultaneously add a gritty “anything goes” realism as well as a surreal absurd humor. I’m also ALL for disjointed, nonlinear, or otherwise experimental and strange plots with a lot going on in them, I don’t think a big genre shift halfway through a movie is inherently bad. In the past, it’s been Rob Zombie’s fearlessness with experimenting with strange, often shameless storytelling decisions that have made his films so memorable and enjoyable and even inspiring to me. But in Three From Hell, there’s just a sense that everything feels kind of... disconnected and unfinished. It feels like two different movies were trying to be made and neither were fully developed. It just ends up sort of feeling like a kind of sad mess.

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unoriginaltoast · 7 years

Text

Mini Place Oneshot

Okay I had no idea what to write, so I just made this. I’ve never written Place before and I hope it’s alright! Dedicated to @cultofpokeshipping who asked me for this and I was happy to oblidge (and bored at work).

I’ll take any and all requests :)

The house on 23 Stearns Road seemed just as normal as every other house in the neighborhood. Like the others, it was two stories tall with an abundance of clear windows and a short green front lawn. A driveway sloped down to a garage and the house was painted an inviting shade of light beige. It was a completely unassuming house in an unassuming neighborhood owned by, what their neighbors thought, was an unassuming young couple.

Lance McClain and Katie (or Pidge as she was known to her friends) Holt had moved into the charming suburban house just a few months before. While Pidge was more apt to keep to herself, Lance quickly became the favorite of the neighborhood kids. On summer nights after work, he could be found on the street with them playing soccer or basketball or hockey and keeping an eye out for slow moving cars.

It was one such evening on a warm day in August. While Lance played kickball with the neighbor kids, Pidge worked in her home laboratory working on a robot for the local high school’s robotics club. Her shoulder-length orange hair was swept up in a messy tangled bun and she had to scrunch up her face to keep her glasses on her nose. Pidge wasn’t exactly sure how she had gotten pulled into helping the robotics club except that one of the neighbor girls all but begged for her help a few weeks ago. And now here she was, building a square robot with a chainsaw attached that was honestly better made than it had any right to be.

“I better get a box of Girl Scout cookies for this,” she muttered, though a smile lingered on her lips. She was sure she could convince the girl to spare her a box of Peanut Butter Patties when spring rolled around.

The front door opened and closed with a loud thud and she knew Lance was home. Pidge checked over the work she had done to be sure everything would be alright if she left for the night and then walked upstairs from her basement lab.

As she rounded the corner from the stairs and made her way to the living room, Pidge found Lance on the couch chugging water from a glass. Sweat glistened on his brow and he looked completely exhausted. “Looks like those kids gave you a run for your money,” the woman quipped as Lance set the glass down on the end table.

He smiled over at her and stood, coming around to wrap his wife in a big hug. Briefly, Pidge thought about pushing his sweaty body away from her, but she figured she could just stick her cold feet on his legs when they were in bed later that night.

“Hey, honey!” Lance smiled, a white toothy grin that reached both sides of his face. “You would not believe how insane those kids are! If there was a kickball national championship, they would all take first place, easy-peasy!”

“And you?”

“Better than first place! What can I say, Pidge? I’m the man!” He whipped around and headed for the kitchen. “What do you say I make tacos for dinner?”

“Like last night?” Pidge questioned as she followed him. “And the night before? Oh, and the night before that. Hey, and the night before--”

“Alright, alright, I get it!”

Pidge smiled as she stopped next to him in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek; his lower cheek that is. Although she had grown taller around seventeen, she still was only just past Lance’s shoulder in terms of height. “Tacos are fine. Better than anything I can cook.” She sighed. “Oh, if only Hunk were here.”

“If Hunk were here, you’d be sad because you wouldn’t have the most awesome tacos in the world.”

“No, but he’s a renowned chef and he makes some of the best food in the whole galaxy,” Pidge pointed out. “I wouldn’t have tacos, but I’d have… something else.”

Lance stuck his tongue out as he went to the fridge to gather supplies. “You and Hunk can have your fancy-smancy alien food, but I’m gonna be over here with my good-ass American-Earth food!”

“Aren’t tacos technically--”

“Good. Ass. American-Earth. Food.”

Pidge smirked and turned on her heel to the living room. She enjoyed pushing Lance’s buttons, probably just as much as he enjoyed pushing hers. As she walked to the couch, her eyes glanced over a picture in a frame on the bookshelf. Seven people stood smiling back at her, all lined up and in uniform. Coran, the bright-orange haired man stood in the back next to a beautiful white-haired Princess Allura. The other five were lined up and dressed in stark colors. Pidge was there in green next to Hunk, who wore Yellow. Keith and Lance, wearing red and blue respectively, were on the other side. And then there was Shiro, their leader in black in the middle of the group. The picture brought back memories that felt like they happened a lifetime ago, but Pidge could remember the exact moment they took that very picture.

She glanced at Lance in the kitchen and then at the younger version of himself in the kitchen. Seventeen-year-old Lance had no hair on his chin and the hair on his head was a little shorter. He also looked so youthful and confident, something that hadn't changed. But, although Lance still kept his childish sense of wonder, he had grown wiser over the years.

Pidge also looked to the younger version of herself. Her hair had grown out again, but she never let it get to the length it was before she disguised herself. There was something about the old Katie that needed to stay in her memories. Old Katie deserved the comfort of a full family and a life without worry. But, she was also no longer the Katie that had become a Paladin of Voltron. She too had grown up since then. So, she grew her hair. And took a husband.

She’d always had a crush on Lance, but there were more pressing matters to attend to when they first joined Voltron. Over the years, though, as the war dragged on and then came to a close, they grew closer. They fell in love. And, when it was over and everyone went their separate ways, they got married.

And so they moved to this idyllic little town in the quiet suburb of a generic big city. However, when she looked at that photo, Pidge couldn’t help but miss the times they had as a team.

A beeping pager pulled her from her thoughts and she was grateful since she had a habit of getting lost in herself. She plucked the pager off the coffee table and read the message. Her heart began to beat and her palms became sweaty as she realized exactly what the text was saying.

Pidge ran to the kitchen, sliding across the wood floors in her socks as she rounded the corner. “Lance!”

“What?” he turned around, worried something was wrong. She thrust the pager towards him and he grabbed it, knowing by the look on her face that this was serious. He read the words, then looked at her, and then read the text one more time.

“Oh my god.”

“I know!”

“Pidge…”

“We have to!”

Lance looked at her and broke into a huge smile. He walked over and wrapped her up in a giant hug, lifting her off the floor.

“You’re excited?” Pidge asked. “I thought you loved it here.”

“I do. But I miss it, you know? I love living here and having a normal life, but I don’t know if we’re supposed to live a normal life, you know?”

“Yeah,” she breathed. “I do. I miss it so much.”

The pager rang and Pidge pressed the button to answer. A holographic depiction of Shiro appeared in their kitchen.

“Hey, dude, you’re just in time for tacos,” Lance joked.

“Might have to give you a rain check on that,” Shiro replied. “So? What do you say? Want to come back to the old team?”

Pidge looked up at her husband who looked back at her with an excited smile. She glanced back to Shiro and stuck both of her thumbs up. “We’ll see you in a few dobashes!”

#plance #pidgance #flirtyrobot #lance x pidge #pidge x lance #voltron #shipping #fanfic #oneshot #kat's writing

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deadlyanddelicate · 7 years

Text

Pynch Week 2017 - Day 3: “What are you doing here?”

Adam was almost done piecing together his ambitious, abundant course notes, turning his jagged handwriting to tidy script on his computer – and what a thing to think, that he owned a computer; one of the first things he’d bought with his scholarship money, right after a phone – when the doorbell rang. He looked at the clock on the screen. It was ten to 1am.

Probably Josh having an impromptu party, or inviting a girl over. Or Melissa deciding to share some netflix and weed with someone. The doorbell rang again. Adam sighed.

He weighed his chances and yelled across the wall. “Josh! Someone’s at the door!”

No reply came.

Reaching for his phone, he quickly shot Melissa a text, which was usually what they did rather than get up and physically talk to each other– two introverts more than happy to stay in their respective bubbles.

why is josh not answering the damn doorbell

josh isn’t home dude

Oh. Now that she mentioned it, Adam seemed to remember Josh saying there was a party happening somewhere on campus, and inviting Adam to go along. He had refused, because, well. Biology notes.

The doorbell rang again.

is this one of your friends?

dont u think if it was one of my friends i wld kno

Adam sighed.

i’m revising for finals can you answer it

hell no what if its a murderer

melissa. it’s not a murderer.

ok but im like stoned af.what if its the RA????

Adam rolled his eyes.

Gently depositing his computer on the bed, he stalked off in the direction of the ever-more-insistent doorbell, annoyance plastering a withering glare on his face. If this was another drunk frat boy who had forgotten where he lived–

He threw the door open just as the bell rang yet another time, fully prepared to snarl the most vicious Can I fucking help you a stressed student had ever mustered, before the words died on his lips.

On the other side of the door, dark and tall and impossible, was Ronan Lynch.

Adam blinked once, just to be sure he wasn’t having midterms-induced hallucinations, but no – Ronan was really there, intricate tattoo peeking out from his tank top, Chainsaw perched on his shoulder, and a pile of food containers stacked in his hands.

It didn’t occur to Adam that he was gaping until he saw an unmistakeable shit-eating grin painting itself on Ronan’s face.

“Mind letting me in, Parrish? It’s honestly so fucking rude of you to keep me outside.”

“How did you even get into the building?” sputtered Adam. It was not the right response, hell, it wasn’t even the question he most wanted to ask, but his brain had the tendency to latch itself onto the closest logical problem when it was stuttering. He moved out of the doorway to let Ronan in, hoping it would count as amends.

Ronan shrugged, one eyebrow rising suggestively. “Hooligans these days. They can get into anything.” He walked in, somehow managing to look indolent while carrying more takeout than one man could possibly consume and a large prey bird. His duffel bag came into view on the ground behind him, and Adam automatically picked it up, closing the door.

“Ronan, what are you doing here? Did something happen?”

“Well hello to you too, sweetheart.”

The last was said in an overly high-pitched, exaggerated Southern accent, and Adam rolled his eyes in fond exasperation. “Don’t be like that. You know I’m happy to see you. And also that supernatural catastrophes are not exactly uncommon in our lives.”

Ronan looked uncomfortable for a brief second, dropping his façade of bravado for the first time since he’d shown up. He awkwardly raised the food containers.

“Chinese food.”

Adam blinked, because he had a feeling about where this was going but surely it couldn’t be right.

“Specifically, the shitty Chinese food from the place behind St. Agnes.”

He was right.

“Ronan.

“You’re welcome, dickbag.

“Ronan.”

“What.”

“It’s a seven hour drive--”

“Five hours if you know how to drive,” Ronan cut him off, his smile sharp and wicked.

Part of Adam had a minor freak-out at the idea of Ronan barrelling towards New York at night with complete disregard for any speed limits, but he couldn’t worry about Ronan’s reckless driving right now, not when he was already trying to process all the rest of the Ronan’s ridiculousness.

“-it’s a five hour drive up here from Henrietta–”

“Yeah, so I better not hear you complain about the food being cold, you little shit.”

“--oh my God can you shut the fuck up for one second–”

“You have a microwave in this Ivy League sponsored dump, right?”

“Ronan.”

The emphasis eventually got him to shut up and look at Adam, and now Adam could see it, the vulnerability underneath the bluster, Ronan’s mind already working hard to convince him that it had been a stupid mistake, that he was being ridiculous right now, that the whole situation was embarrassing. Adam didn’t know when he’d started being able to read Ronan so well, but his heart ached with it.

“You sounded tired, and shit.” Ronan offered, looking at his leather bracelets. “On the phone, earlier. And you said you missed the shitty Chinese food from back home, so I went and got you some. It’s not a big fucking deal, okay?” His voice would have sounded hostile to anyone who didn’t know better. Adam knew better.

Which meant he should have known better than to be surprised at all, but it was so hard to wrap his brain around, that this boy – this impossible boy – this man-shaped god, who had it in his power to create flowers and animals and brothers and entire landscapes – had heard Adam talk nostalgically about Henrietta’s shitty Chinese food five hours earlier during an offhand conversation, and here he was, five hours later, standing in Adam’s tiny shared kitchen with unholy amounts of cold take-out, looking thunderous and gorgeous and every inch the logic-defying miracle that he was.

All because Adam sounded tired, and shit.

“Jesus,” Adam breathed.

“There’s no need to bring him into this, Parrish.”

“You’re insane.”

“Well, you’re not exactly the poster boy for sanity–”

“I love you,” Adam stated, cutting off the indignant bluster.

Ronan flushed an adorable shade of magenta. Adam knew better than to make fun of him for it, though he sometimes did anyway.

“Come on,” he said, taking Ronan by the hand. “Let’s go eat a shitton of cold, bad Chinese food.” He paused significantly, locking eyes with Ronan. “And chill.”

Ronan’s eyes grew darker, pupils blown out, because at some point along the ridiculous and perfect ride that was their relationship, making fun of memes they both found overused had turned into foreplay.

“Wait,” he said, very reluctantly. “I thought you were supposed to study for a biology final.”

“Did I say biology?” Adam hummed, pursing his lips in mock thoughtfulness. “My bad. I meant anatomy, obviously.”

A moment later, Ronan was wrapped around him, melting against his mouth, and suddenly, just like that – Adam was home.

#pynchweek #pynchweek17 #adam parrish #ronan lynch #pynch #i'm so sorry if this sucks #i've been dealing with ungodly heat/uni courses/thesis submission deadlines all day #and only just managed to get on tumblr at midnight #but fortunately i had a snippet of another story that just happened to fit today's prompt #so have this humble offering #i swear i will polish this up at some point sigh #back to no wifi land i go #mp #text #trc #i'm ready to find a billion typos in two seconds #my writing

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sweetnestor · 7 years

Text

You Look Happier | Chapter 5

university au, teamiplier + jack

platonic/romance/angst/(smut at one point but it’ll only be on ao3)

previous chapter

“It was awful!” I rambled, anxiously pacing around my living room. “Oh god, it was going so well and then it just fucking - ah!” I rubbed my hands together, my mind buzzing horribly.

“I didn’t know Hollywood Hills had business hours,” said Jack, who was sat on the couch. “Did you get a fine?”

“No, but I did have an anxiety attack,” I groaned.

“Oh no.” Jack sat up. “What did Ethan do?”

I cringed as I remembered the irrational crying and hyperventilating. God, it was so embarrassing and stupid, I was trying not to reduce myself to tears. “Nothing. He didn’t know what to do! He just rubbed my back and told me to breathe!”

“So he didn’t do anything wrong?”

I shook my head. “But it was so stupid! Everything was perfectly fine until I ruined it!”

Jack then stood up and went to me. “Hey, it’s okay. You didn’t ruin anything, and I’m sure Ethan told you the same thing.”

“Yeah, and how long will it be before he gets tired of it? How long do I have before he starts rolling his eyes at me?” I asked, knowing exactly how insane I sounded, but I couldn’t stop these thoughts from spilling out.

“You need to trust him,” Jack firmly said. “And it sounds impossible, but it’s not. It just takes time.”

I sighed. “I don’t want to be afraid of him. I don’t want to run away from him… I don’t want to be sad anymore…”

“I know. You won’t always be said, you have to know that.”

This was exhausting. How long was I going to be like this? When would I stop being such a stick in the mud? When will everything just stop?

Jack gently hugged me as I started to cry. I wanted all of this bad stuff to be over. I wanted to give up, I wanted to stop fighting. It was more tiring than just being depressed and anxious all the time. At least I know what to expect with the latter; It was easier to stay on the ground.

“No one said recovery was easy,” he told me. “You have to take the good with the bad. And you have to remember that this is only the beginning. You have plenty of time, and you have plenty of people who want to support you.”

I didn’t realize that I had said any of that out loud. I didn’t care. None of this was worth it. It was always going to be this way.

“No, it won’t,” Jack reassured. “And it’s completely worth it. You’ll have your good days and bad days. That’s how you can appreciate the good.”

He kept telling me these things as I cried Things were hard to hear. My knee-jerk reaction was finding a reason to stay in my private, comfy sinkhole of depression. In that moment, I couldn’t believe that I could get better. I was broken beyond repair.

However, once the worst of it was over, I wondered why I acted like that in the first place. Yes, Ethan and I got a stern talking-to by a Hollywood Hills security guard, but it wasn’t that big a deal. Yes, I was trying to get my shit together, I had done this before in the past. I knew from prior experience that I couldn’t just expect everything to be better overnight… as much as I wanted it to be like that.

I had forgotten how consistent you had to be when it came to communication in relationships. Ethan sent me a text a few days after the Hollywood Hills incident that made me feel kind of like an asshole.

“Hey, you’re not mad at me are you?”

Of course not. I’ve just been too exhausted and embarrassed to talk to specifically him. How does one say that without sounding crazy or rude?

“No lol I’ve just been kinda busy,” I typed before sending. Then, as an add-on, “Sorry for the silence.” Then I realized how cold and distant I sounded, so I sent some emojis following my two messages. That was three. I just triple texted.

Although, Ethan didn’t take ten years to respond this time.

“Okay, just making sure. Besides that, is everything okay?”

How can he tell? What did I say? Was I really that obvious? Was the storm cloud above my head actually visible? I was hesitating. I didn’t want to lie to him, but I didn’t want to be a burden either.

“Sometimes I’m bad at keeping in contact, even if it’s people I really like.” I sent it before I could panic.

My heart pounded as I read his reply.

“Aww… I’m the same way lol… I really like you too.”

FUCK. ABORT. RUN AWAY!

“Ay, no seas pendeja,” I mumbled to myself, catching my immediate reaction before it could spiral. “We’ve been at it for this long, we’ve already established this crap. C’mon Bella, no seas chillona.”

I sent back the monkey covering its eyes and the blue heart emojis. Then, I filmed a video to distract myself. Thankfully, I was able to be by myself again, which meant that I could film a cover while Jack was away on campus.

While I was doing my makeup, I got another text from Ethan. He was what I was doing, and I told him. Then, he asked if he could listen somehow, and I was convinced to let him in on a Skype call.

“Hey!” he greeted when his face popped up on my laptop screen.

“Hi! Don’t mind me, I’m just putting on my actual face,” I told him. “I’m nearly done.”

“Take your time,” Ethan said, resting his chin in his hands. “Work your magic.”

I took my laptop over to the bathroom and moved my products aside. Then, I continued with my routine, not really conscious of the fact that I was being watched. Strangely enough, I didn’t really mind people watching me do something I knew I was good at. Plus, I was sure Ethan would get bored of me and open another tab until I was ready to sing.

“How do you do the wing?” he asked, much to my surprise.

I paused, letting that surprised feeling pass over. “Um… I’ve had to sacrifice all my babies,” I finally answered. “I also had to summon like, five different demons with the blood of a virgin.”

“And who did you murder to get that contour?” he egged on.

I sighed as I applied highlighter to the tops of my cheekbones. “You know too much already.”

Ethan giggled. “Well, I’ll stop asking questions, Miss Makeup Artist Person Expert.”

“Yeah, stay in your lane, Mr. Gamer Person Man.”

I finished up with my makeup routine by spritzing some setting spray onto my face. For a second, I forgot I was being watched, and I had a moment of… “feelin’ myself.” I turned my head from side to side, watching my highlight catch the light. I appreciated the sharpness of my winged liner and the flawlessness of my eyebrows.

Suddenly, I heard a shutter sound and snapped out of my vain moment. I turned back to Ethan on the screen, my eyes widening.

“I’m not doin’ nothin’,” he said, feigning innocence.

“Oh god. I can only hope I look good in that screenshot,” I said timidly.

“You always look good.”

I rolled my eyes and put on my best “white girl” accent. “Aw, thanks boo!”

Then, I took my laptop back to my room. I set it down on the bed and went to get my keyboard. I stood it in front of my bed, since I didn’t have a proper bench. After, I went to grab my lights that I left in the living room.

“What are you gonna sing?” Ethan prompted.

“I’m thinking Dodie,” I replied as I went to grab my camera and tripod. “Or something else, I’m not sure.”

“Dodie,” he said. “You gotta sing Dodie.”

I hesitated as I turned on the camera and lights. “I’ve been practicing ‘When’ but I don’t know if it’s good enough.”

“Let’s hear it then. I’ll tell you if it’s good.”

It was more nervewracking knowing that Ethan was the one hearing me sing. I always needed to sing for someone before posting on my channel, but since it was going to be the guy I liked this time, I was a little nervous. I also found the song because of him, too. I could only hope I would do it justice.

Nervously, I sat down on the bed and placed my fingers on the keys. After breathing deeply, I played the first few notes of the song, but I had to start over a few times. To be honest, I was just stalling, but I got to it eventually.

“I think I’ve been telling lies, ‘cause I’ve never been in love Everyone falls for the sunshine disguise Distracted by who they’re thinking of”

The vocals were a little too soft for my liking, but the lyrics and Ethan’s persistence are what won me over. The more I sang it, the more lost I got in it.

“Am I the only one wishing life away? Never caught up in the moment, busy begging the past to stay Memories painted with much brighter ink They tell me I loved, teach me how to think”

Part of me wished for the day I would find a happy song that I could relate to.

I sighed when I finished the song. Sheepishly, I turned to Ethan, who had a huge smile on his face. He started with a slow clap.

“You’re so talented!” he exclaimed. “Ah, your voice is so nice! I love it!”

“Thanks,” I replied, blushing furiously. “That should go on my channel, then?”

“Yes! Record it and post it, like, right now,” he excitedly told me.

“Ahh, should I?”

“Do it. Do it, and… then we’ll go out after?” Ethan said the last bit slowly and softly.

Honestly, that was all it took for me to hit “record.”

This time, we went to the beach. It was cold as hell, being mid-January. But it was quiet and lacking of other people. It was also getting dark, which only made it colder. I was comfortable.

“Leggings were a bad idea,” I commented as we walked on the sand. “You’re gonna have to cut off my legs later.”

“You should’ve told me sooner,” Ethan replied. “I would’ve brought a chainsaw or something.”

We both stayed silent. Then we looked at each other and laughed. Thank god we had a similar sense of humor. It was easy to be around him.

“Hey, so,” Ethan said, changing the subject. “I… I overheard Mark saying that he was talking to you again?”

Spoke too soon.

“Uh, where did you hear that?” I asked in response.

“He was telling Tyler at the office,” Ethan explained. “I just happened to… be in the room. So, it’s true, then?”

“We’re making amends,” I told him, looking out at the distance. “It’s just that… we were friends before we dated and… we want to get over the things that happened. And, I think if I don’t try to work out these things, then I’ll wind up making the same mistakes in other relationships.”

Ethan didn’t say anything at first, which prompted me to ramble.

“I’ve known Mark for two, almost three, years,” I added. “We have a lot of history. I still want him to be my friend. A-And like I said, I don’t want my past mistakes to happen in this relationship.”

“I get it,” he finally said. “That’s good that you still wanna be friends.”

“Yeah, I probably should’ve told you sooner,” I said. “I feel like that’s something you deserve to know.”

“It’s okay. I mean, he doesn’t know about… this.” Ethan gestured between the two of us. “So I guess that’s fair.”

I wanted to ask what we are but… you know the cause by now. All I knew was that we definitely weren’t just friends.

“You wanna get food and eat in the car?” he asked after a while.

“Absolutely.”

_______

next chapter

#crankgameplays x oc #ethan nestor x reader #jacksepticeye x oc #jacksepticeye x reader #ylh fic #sweetheart writes #this was a mini filler #the next chapter is where the Good Shit happes #im so excite #i hope yall are too #i hope yall are liking it #i wouldnt know bc no one tells me haha #but its ok :')

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oselatra · 7 years

Text

Bitter pill

Arkansas is second in the nation when it comes to opioid prescription rates. Those numbers are edging down, but some say the worst of the epidemic may be yet to come.

Though Lane Huie was 27 years old when he died in a car crash on July 4, 2013, his mother, Darla Huie, never knew her son as a fully functional adult. She could see his potential, of course, as every parent can see the potential in their child. But from the time he was 17 years old, the man he might have been otherwise was always distorted by a crippling, seemingly unbreakable addiction to opioids.

When he was 17, Lane hurt his hand playing football, a fracture that would take, at most, a month or two to heal for a boy his age. He left the doctor's office with a prescription for the opioid pain reliever hydrocodone. Within a week, his mother said, she saw a change in him, from a happy-go-lucky boy to a person she almost didn't recognize. Within a month, she said, he was hopelessly addicted.

"We didn't have the skill set to deal with it," Huie said. "We didn't know what we were looking at, and didn't understand the physiology of the drug. Because we'd never been exposed to it, we didn't know. Lane was a happy kid who traveled and had a good time, a very friendly person, excited and exuberant about every day. He went from that to angry and screaming. We had no clue what happened."

He would remain an addict for the rest of his life, in and out of rehab and in trouble with the law as he tried to keep pace with his habit. Eventually, he turned to heroin.

Once, after he finished yet another rehab, Huie said she came into his room to find him loading a shotgun to kill himself. She wrestled the gun away. "He was like, 'Mom, I can't,' " Huie recalled. " 'I can't fight this. I don't know who I am. I've fucked up my life. Nobody in our family has ever been to jail. What am I doing? I don't know how to handle this. My brain, I fight it all day. I'll get up and I'll say, I'm not doing this. I'm not going to do it ... . I tell myself, I'm going to have a good day, a great day. I'm going to make them proud. By 3 o'clock, you know how you get a song stuck in your head? It starts playing, Just do it. You did good. Just do it. Do it again. Put yourself out of your misery and go to sleep. ' "

Lane was making one last, desperate attempt to wean himself off opioids cold turkey, Huie said, when he died. She believes he may have had a seizure behind the wheel, brought on by withdrawal. She uses a metaphor about the last 15 years of her life that would be heartbreakingly beautiful if it wasn't so tragic: that it was as if she spent a decade crawling along in the dust behind her son, begging him to get well, and has spent the five years since she lost him trying to stand.

"You can't sleep," she said. "You don't have healthy relationships. I would literally have friends wanting me to do things, and the whole time I was thinking, 'What about Lane? Is Lane OK? What's wrong with him? Asking for help. Trying to help him. Going to counseling. Sending him to rehab.' "

R.J. Looney also knows what it is to fear for an addicted loved one. His son, Zachary, now 29, has been in prison since 2016 on theft charges, which Looney said Zachary committed to support an opioid addiction. After becoming addicted to opioids purchased on the street when he was about 14, the younger Looney progressed from snorting crushed pills to injecting heroin when he was a junior in high school.

"It just led to the destruction of his teenage years," his father said. "Everything he lived for was just for getting high. ... He stole firearms, chainsaws, window air-conditioning units, debit cards, anything that wasn't nailed down." At one point, Looney said, his son blew through a $2,500 college fund in a single week. Finally, in 2015, after losing his job and unable to find money to feed his habit, he committed a robbery in the parking lot of Little Rock's White Water Tavern. Arrested, convicted and sentenced to five years of probation, he landed in prison last year after violating the terms of his probation.

With his son scheduled to be released at the end of April, Looney knows the feeling of being trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea: He wants Zach to be free, but knows that once he's released, he may return to his addiction. A wave of recent overdoses and deaths by heroin users in Little Rock is constantly on Looney's mind.

"Really early, before I go to work, is when the black dog wakes me up and I start thinking about things," he said. "It's always in the back of my mind: the recidivism rates that I've read about. ... I've always said, 'If you love an addict, you'll get to a point where it's about self-preservation, so they don't take you down with them.' They will. You can give up on trust. There's no way I'd ever trust him again, unless it's after years of being clean. But the two emotions you can't give up on are love and hope. That's about all you've got left for them. You always love them. You always hope they'll get better."

Stories like these are the tip of a looming iceberg the state and nation are only starting to comprehend. America consumes over 80 percent of the global output of prescription opioids, and 99 percent of the world's hydrocodone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Arkansas has the second highest legal opioid prescription rate in the nation: 114.6 prescriptions for every 100 people in the state. Only doctors in Alabama prescribe more opioids. Greene County in Northeast Arkansas has the highest prescription rate in the state, with 122 prescriptions per 100 people. In counties on the other end of the spectrum, the rates are half that. Troublingly, nobody — not addiction specialists at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, nor the state Department of Health, nor the state drug director — can definitively say why there is a difference in prescription rates from county to county.

What is known, according to the health department's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, is that doctors and pharmacists in Arkansas legally prescribed and distributed a staggering 235.9 million opioid pills in 2016 alone. Forty-six percent of Arkansans over the age of 18 filled at least one prescription for an opioid drug that year.

With all those pills floating around, opioid theft for illicit use — what police and policymakers call "diversion" — is rampant. The CDC ranks Arkansas first in the nation when it comes to children aged 12 to 17 who have misused opioids. While opioid-related deaths seem to be edging downward since the introduction of prescription monitoring, opioid overdoses in Arkansas have tripled since 2000.

Meanwhile, a study released last March of 1.2 million UAMS patient records collected between 2006 and 2015 found that the likelihood of becoming dependent on opioids long term increases by leaps and bounds with every day beyond three that a patient takes the drugs for pain. The study found that patients who were prescribed an 11-day supply of opioid drugs had a 1 in 4 chance of still being on opioids a year later.

In short, it's clear we have a problem that isn't going to be resolved with thoughts and prayers. Just how to go about solving it, how it got so bad in the first place, and how to pay for a fix is still being debated, but things are moving quickly now. Recent months have seen the Arkansas State Medical Board working on new guidelines to try to rein in prescription rates and problem prescribers, the Attorney General's office announcing it intends to investigate drug manufacturers and bring charges if warranted, and the Association of Arkansas Counties filing a federal lawsuit — and planning to soon file a series of further suits in state courts — against some of the nation's most prominent drug companies and distributors.

Meanwhile, many chronic pain patients with debilitating injuries are terrified that a crackdown will take away the painkillers they say allow them to lead something approaching a normal life. While efforts such as the state's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program have led to an overall decrease in the amount of "doctor shopping" — hopping from one doctor to another while trying to get opioid prescriptions — and a historic drop in the number of opioid overdoses in the state, state Drug Director Kirk Lane and others the Times spoke with say they believe the worst days of the epidemic are still ahead, as regulatory efforts and stricter prescription guidelines make pharmaceutical drugs like hydrocodone and oxycodone harder to get from doctors and more expensive when diverted to the streets and as prescription opioid abusers turn to much cheaper heroin — some of it laced with the brutally potent synthetic opioid fentanyl.

Whether those efforts succeed in moving the ball on opioids in a positive direction or not long term, it's clear that the issue is much more complicated than old-fashioned pill mills.

A plague in a bottle

Though doctors have known the addictive and often deadly consequences of using opioid drugs since the days when snake oil containing opium and heroin was readily available on drugstore shelves, the last two decades of the 20th century saw a wholesale rethinking of opioids and their addictive properties in the medical community, including the idea that the powerful drugs could be safely prescribed for temporary "acute" pain and chronic pain without fear of addiction. As seen in a number of lawsuits filed across the country over the last 10 years, including the one filed in late 2017 by the counties association, a case can and has been made that much of that rethinking by physicians, and the attendant explosion in opioid prescription rates, corresponds with a decades-long, multimillion-dollar marketing push by pharmaceutical companies beginning in the 1990s, the goal of which appears to have been to convince physicians that no patient need ever be in pain, that opioid painkillers are neither as dangerous or addictive as previous generations believed, and that those drugs could therefore be safely prescribed for pain other than that experienced by late-stage cancer or hospice patients.

The counties association filed suit last December in federal court against several of the biggest makers and distributors of opioid painkillers, including Purdue Pharma, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, McKesson Corp. and others. The lawsuit calls the effort to sell physicians on the idea that opioid medications were safe and nonaddictive a "marketing scheme designed to persuade doctors and patients that opioids can and should be used for chronic pain." It reads like the bleak color commentary on a slow-motion train wreck, laying out the history of how opioids came to be so widely prescribed in Arkansas and America, including claims that drug companies spent millions to downplay the risks of opioid addiction and dependency by using paid "opinion leaders," employing "front groups" masquerading as impartial patient advocates, spending tens of millions of dollars to advertise in medical journals and using drug reps to make the case for shaky concepts such as "pseudoaddiction," the idea that if patients taking opioids were found to be engaging in behaviors indicating addiction, that meant their pain was not well managed and their dosage should be increased. Citing what she called "staggering" statistics, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced Jan. 24 that her office would bring in extra legal help to investigate several yet-to-be-named opioid manufacturers and will potentially bring lawsuits or charges against those firms if warranted.

The counties association lawsuit points out several of what seem to be damning facts: The named defendants spent over $14 million to advertise their products in medical journals in 2011, triple what they'd spent in 2001, and spent $168 million in 2014 alone to market opioid drugs to doctors through "detailers" — friendly drug company sales reps who visit physicians in their offices — double what they'd spent on opioid detailing in 2000.

"Manufacturer defendants also identified doctors to serve, for payment, on their speakers' bureaus," the lawsuit goes on to say, "and to attend programs with speakers and meals paid for by Manufacturer defendants." Among other damages, the lawsuit calls for funds specifically to pay for opioid addiction treatment costs in Arkansas in coming years.

Colin Jorgensen is litigation counsel for the Association of Arkansas Counties Risk Management Services. He said there are obvious parallels between the lawsuits filed against opioid manufacturers and those filed in the past against Big Tobacco, but also significant differences.

"The parallels are mostly in the legal theory and the misrepresentation in the marketing by the companies," Jorgensen said. "That's what's similar between tobacco and the opioids — the deliberate deceit about the addictive nature of these products, knowing full well the truth. The damages are not exactly the same. We've got a lot more local-level impact this time with the opioid epidemic than with tobacco. ... We need education, prevention and treatment, and all three of those things are extremely expensive, and they're best deployed at the local level." The price tag for that intervention could easily run into the billions of dollars nationwide, Jorgensen said.

Jorgensen said he believes physicians have been duped about opioids just like patients, but are quickly working to turn things around. "The awareness in the medical profession is shifting dramatically," he said. "I think you're probably going to see a pretty substantial drop-off in the prescription rates and things moving forward. The doctors are in a tough position because they don't necessarily have effective alternative treatment, but they're learning now that [opioid] treatment is ineffective, too."

Association of Arkansas Counties Executive Director Chris Villines said the financial and social impact on counties and cities in the state is shaping up to be much more costly than that posed by tobacco addiction in the past. "We didn't fill our jails with people using tobacco," he said. "We didn't have to go out and police the street for tobacco users. [Tobacco] really had more of a direct impact on health care than anything. This plague has had an impact all over: the court system, the county hospital, the county jail, policing, law enforcement, coroners, everybody."

Villines noted that while there is a clear need to curb the prescription opioid rate in the state, slowing the supply does nothing to stop the demand from those addicted to opioids. Like several the Times talked to, Villines fears that attempting to restrict the number of legal prescriptions without a corresponding increase in funding for drug treatment — money that is going to be very hard to find in a cash-strapped state like Arkansas — may well result in a new scourge.

"Between 2005 and 2009, Mexican heroin [production] increased from 8 metric tons to 50 metric tons," he said. "Almost all of that increase is going straight to those who are getting off of opioids. So if we talk about the solution being, 'Let's cut back the flow of opioids,' we're not helping. We're actually driving addicts more quickly into illegal heroin than we would be if we had a good plan in place to help get them off of opioids."

Jorgensen said the association plans to file lawsuits somewhat similar to its federal action in state courts this spring. He said the fact that the vast majority of the counties in Arkansas — 70 out of 75 as of this writing — quickly signed on to the forthcoming state lawsuits shows the extent of the problem in both cities and rural areas, and officials' frustration with the issue. The association will also be partnering with the Arkansas Municipal League on the state lawsuits; the municipal league has signed up over 100 cities across the state, including the largest cities, Jorgensen said.

He and Villines said that in talking to groups around the state, they're seeing that police and leaders understand that it's impossible to arrest their way out of the opioid crisis, and are willing to view opioid addicts as victims of a scheme rather than criminals.

Though Jorgensen said it's his belief, based on the available evidence, that drug companies set out to get people hooked on dangerous opioid painkillers, he said the lawsuit need only prove the companies knew their drugs were dangerous and addictive and deceptively marketed to prevail. The lawsuit is not about trying to tell doctors how to practice medicine, he said.

"Ending the deceptive marketing scheme and hopefully enjoining and compelling the companies that produce these pills and the companies that distribute these pills to market them truthfully, that may change the culture among doctors," he said.

The candyman

Retired for the past three years, Benton physician Dr. Sam Taggart has long been something of a Paul Revere on the subject of opioids. Both a medical historian (he'll soon publish his second book on the history of the profession in Arkansas) and an early proponent of the idea of "wellness" — the idea that if you eat right, get exercise, stay near an ideal weight, don't smoke and follow other healthy guidelines, the body doesn't need much medicine — he said that the idea of "a pill for everything" has been pushed by the pharmaceutical industry since the turn of the 20th century, starting with vitamins. The result, he said, is that America is a drug culture that has been training its population to look for health in pill form for over 100 years. The problem with that, according to Taggart, is that the pharmaceutical industry is in the market to create customers, not to produce cures.

Since the opioid boom, Taggart believes, the result of that century-long training of American consumers has come home to roost in nearly every Arkansas city and town. "A lot of towns have a candyman," he said. "They have a guy that everybody in town knows: If you need something, you go to this guy. I honestly didn't want to be that person under any circumstances. So I began very early thinking about those kinds of issues and saying, 'How do you keep that from happening?' "

While it was starting to change by the time he left his practice, thanks in part to the state's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program and other efforts, Taggart said the local "candyman" would often persist for years because those physicians flirt with the edges of the law and Medical Board regulations. "I don't want you to misunderstand me, and please don't misrepresent this: I'm not being judgmental of my fellow physicians, except to say that, in every community, and I believe this is still true ... if you go into the drug-seeking community, there is a network and they know who prescribes drugs," Taggart said. "They know who will do it, they know where they can get it, they know how much they can get."

Part of being the change he hoped to see in the world was insisting on something that has grown much more common among doctors in recent years: that chronic pain patients in his care be evaluated by a chronic pain management specialist. "If it looked like they had a problem," Taggart said, "something like a severe back problem and there was nothing that could be done, or a severe hip or leg problem and nothing could be done about it, what I would do is start warning them after about three weeks, 'This is not long term. We're not going to do this long term.' I wouldn't write big, long-term prescriptions. I'd say, 'If we decide that this is what you're going to need, I'm going to send you to a chronic pain management specialist,' but with a caveat: 'OK, we'll let them evaluate you. If they think you need this medicine, I'll continue writing the prescription.' "

During his years in practice, Taggart refused to hear the pharmaceutical companies' sales pitch on opioids. As early as 1983, Taggart said, he stopped seeing "detailers" who asked to come to his office to market drugs. Once, Taggart said, most drug company sales reps were former pharmacists who were informed about medicine and patient care. But during the early 1980s, that changed. "They'd send out pretty young girls, pretty young guys, and they'll send them out with a study that might have six people in it, which is no study at all," Taggart said. "They have direct access. They come right into the doctor's office. They bring food for the whole office staff. They're salesmen. It's sales, is all it is." The sales pitch often worked, Taggart said, because doctors are just suceptable to a friendly face offering direct marketing as anyone else.

"For a long time, they provided all kinds of freebies," Taggart said. "They would hire physicians to be speakers at meetings: 'We want you to be part of our staff.' That part was ultimately outlawed, I think. I was never part of that. I was never interested in it. I had way too much to do and I wasn't interested in what they had to say. I'd rather get my information from a reasonably objective source."

Denise Robertson has served as administrator of the health department's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program since it started in 2012. The job has given her a daily view of the flowering of the opioid crisis in Arkansas. Established by Act 304 of 2011, the program collects daily reports from pharmacies, allowing doctors and pharmacists to see with just a few keystrokes whether a patient is engaging in "doctor-shopping" behavior to get more pills from multiple physicians.

Act 820, passed in the last legislative session, made it mandatory for doctors to consult the drug-monitoring program before writing opioid prescriptions, and for pharmacists to update the registry whenever they fill a prescription. The change from voluntary to mandatory has been controversial, Robertson said, but it is helping to slow the spiraling opioid prescription rate in Arkansas. She noted that since the program was instituted, there has been a 20 percent decrease in prescription opioid overdose deaths in the state. That's the fourth largest decrease nationwide, according to the CDC.

Robertson said one issue that drives opioid abuse in Arkansas is the fact that Missouri is the only state in the nation without some form of prescription drug monitoring system. The Missouri legislature has made attempts to establishing a system for tracking opioids in their last three sessions, but has failed each time (lacking guidance from the state, St. Louis County and bordering counties finally started their own system, which has helped). Looking at Arkansas county-by-county maps of overdose rates, Robertson said, you can actually see the deadly results of addicts hopping the border into Missouri to doctor shop. "You'll see a lot of that concentrated up there on the border of Missouri," she said. "We have no idea, really, what's going on across that border."

Drug Director Lane agrees that Missouri's lack of a drug-monitoring program is contributing to the problem in Arkansas. He said the impact of prescription monitoring can be seen in the two states' opioid overdose death rates. "Before we started our program, we ranged about 12 deaths for every 100,000 people," he said. "Missouri tracked right along with us. We were side by side, Missouri and Arkansas. We kicked into our PDMP, and our death rate remains the same today. Based on the current figures, we have around 12.5 people per 100,000. Missouri is at 20 [deaths per 100,000] now. So they have grown. We've maintained."

Formerly the chief of police in Benton, Lane has seen firsthand the impact of the opioid crisis in the state. He said that prescription opioids go for about a dollar per milligram on the street. "If you have a 10- to 15-pill-a-day habit, you can add up the money there," he said. "It comes from taking from medicine cabinets, stealing or other criminal activity to raise the money and feed the substance abuse disorder. Eventually, you move to heroin because it's cheaper. The supply of heroin is coming into the state very rapidly now."

Because smugglers have upped supply to meet demand, an amount of injectable heroin to satisfy an opioid habit that would cost thousands of dollars a day goes for about $10 in Arkansas, Lane said.

Much of the heroin seized in Arkansas in recent years, he said, tests positive for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that's 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and that — unlike heroin — can be absorbed through the skin. The drug, normally only used in patch form by late-stage cancer patients, is now being synthesized in cartel labs in Mexico and smuggled into the U.S. in tonnage quantities, sold either alone or mixed into heroin. Because of fentanyl's potency, the fact that it looks identical to heroin and has the ability to pass through the skin, Lane said, the drug has been linked to overdoses across the nation in not only opioid users, but cops, drug dogs and family members who stumbled upon a loved ones' stash.

"Where heroin will be fatal slowly by slowly depressing the respiratory system," Lane said, "fentanyl acts very quickly. And carfentanil, which we haven't seen in the state yet to my knowledge, is 100 times more potent than fentanyl." Carfentanil, which has popped up in some opioid hotspots around the country, is normally used by veterinarians as a surgical anesthetic for very large animals, including elephants.

The risk of addicts turning to heroin, the danger of fentanyl and the attendant overdose deaths and needle-related diseases that will result, are why Lane believes the worst days of the crisis in Arkansas are still ahead. It's part of the reason he helped lead the state's effort to make the lifesaving drug Narcan, which can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose and give first responders time to rush a patient to the hospital, available over the counter in the state. First responders have used Narcan to save over 30 overdose victims in Little Rock alone so far this year, including a 17-year-old who overdosed in a bathroom at Little Rock Central High School. Lane said the state has received $3.5 million in grants to provide Narcan to first responders in the state over the next five years. The state's drug takeback program — online at artakeback.org — has 194 secure boxes in the state where patients can dispose of their unused narcotic drugs 24 hours a day. Lane said that between the boxes and statewide takeback events — the next one is Saturday, April 28 — the state has collected and destroyed 131 tons of prescription drugs — enough to fully load over three tractor trailer rigs. About a third of the surrendered drugs, Lane said, have been opioids.

Lane couldn't give a definitive answer as to why the prescribing rates are so high in certain counties. The issue of prescription rates, he said, is multifaceted and the reasons may vary from county to county. "Some Arkansas counties have a lot of retired folks who move here from other states," he said. "Older people have more medical problems than younger people and because of that, they have more medications than younger people. So that may be part of the issue on the prescribing rates. Some of it could be the physicians themselves. ... Some of the problem [may be due to] the older prescribers, who are set in their ways and were trained that opioids were OK in the past. Basically, trying to retrain them and reprogram them to the latest techniques to deal with the opioid epidemic is a big push, not only in Arkansas, but in the U.S."

One issue as the state moves forward, Lane said, is that Arkansas is in the bottom 10 percent in the nation when it comes to the availability of drug treatment, a problem especially acute in rural areas.

"Good medically assisted treatment isn't just giving somebody Suboxone or methadone [drugs that mimic opioids but don't cause a high] and letting him walk out the door with a prescription," he said. "Good medical-assisted treatment is the constant monitoring of somebody, urinalysis, and also a piece with peer recovery — not only getting that person clean but maintaining that sobriety and giving them tools." There is also, Lane said, the issue of breaking the stigma of addiction so people can come for help without shame. For a lot of opioid addicts, he said, using is not about getting high; it's just about feeling normal and not getting sick. While that drive can cause addicts to engage in criminal behavior, Lane said that people who have been punished need to have a way back to the community and a sense of worth.

"We as a society have to understand that and give these people a second chance," Lane said. "It's kind of hard for a longtime cop to say that, but it's a realization of the problem we have and what pushes people into these behaviors. It really takes all of us working together to understand the problem. We created the problem. We can fix it. ... You can't turn addiction off like a light switch. You just can't do it. It takes hard work and support, and it takes a community to solve the problem."

Dr. Rick Smith chairs the UAMS Department of Psychiatry and serves as director of the hospital's Psychiatric Research Center. He works with patients to break the cycle of opioid addiction every day. "You've got a situation where there are a lot of pills out there. A huge number. Too many pills are out there that are not taken," he said. "There's this diversion phenomena, so the adolescents and young adults get hold of them, and then they end up graduating from pharmaceutical grade opioids to heroin. There used to not be a market in Arkansas for heroin. Heroin would pass through Arkansas on the way to Chicago and other cities up north, but there wasn't enough market to stop here. Now there's plenty of market to stop here because [addicts] can't afford the prescription-grade opioids."

While it's impossible to determine who will become addicted to opioids and who won't, Smith said there is clearly a genetic susceptibility to opioids in some people linked to their body's activation of opioid receptors in the brain — the golf-tee-like sockets that opioid molecules plug into.

Educating or reeducating doctors about the danger of the drugs is key, Smith said. In the past, doctors were often misinformed about opioids during their initial training. "The pharmaceutical reps were saying: These drugs aren't dangerous and folks aren't going to get addicted to it if they're having post-surgery or post trauma [pain], which is just not true," Smith said. "I was taught that in my fellowship. I did my fellowship in 1981, and we were taught that if somebody was given a pain medicine after surgery or after trauma, they would almost never get addicted to it."

Smith said there is a common euphemism for the four categories of doctors who prescribe too many painkillers: those who are dated in their knowledge, those who are duped by their patients into overprescribing, those who are disabled by an addiction to medication themselves, and, the last category, which Smith said is much more rare — doctors who are dishonest and overprescribing for personal gain. "The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program helps sort those out, especially the last group," Smith said, "which is really the responsibility of the DEA and the Medical Board. Reports are sent from the PDMP to the board."

Helping patients get off long-term opioids must be done slowly and carefully, Smith said. The approach that works best right now is what's called medication-assisted treatment. "The one that we're hoping works and gets widespread use in Arkansas is treatment with Suboxone," he said. "That can be done in a primary care physician's office. They have to have counseling as well as this drug in tapering doses, tapered over a number of weeks. If they're on really high doses of opioids, you have to lower the doses of opioids first, and then get them on Suboxone."

Asked whether prescribing medical cannabis instead of opioids for pain might help in solving the opioid crisis in the state, Smith said he doesn't believe so. "We know from research that it's a gateway drug," he said. "Adolescents especially will start with marijuana because our society believes that marijuana is harmless or even helpful. So they start using marijuana and they oftentimes graduate to other drugs. It's not always, but it's statistically significant."

Smith believes the state is moving in the right direction to combat the opioid crisis, taking very aggressive action and instituting programs, like the PDMP, which help stem the tide. "The health department has taken a strong lead, the Arkansas State Medical Board is, the Medical Society is," he said. "Everybody is concerned about the problem, and I don't see anybody really holding back. It's just a very complex problem. We shouldn't and can't blame this on the patients. The patients are suffering. We have to put the patients' best interest first. We can't just ban the drugs. When I had a leg injury, I needed the medicine for a day or two ... There's a battle about: Is this a moral flaw? That's the stigma. No it's not. This is physiological. This is brain physiology — brain and body physiology."

The fall

The state Medical Board met Feb. 1 to hear comments on a proposed regulation that would give the board the power to revoke or suspend the medical license of any doctor found to have prescribed "excessive amounts of controlled substances to a patient, including the writing of an excessive number of prescriptions for an addicting or potentially harmful drug." As defined in the proposed rule, "excessive" wouldn't include medications given to patients in hospice, being treated for active cancer, emergency inpatient care or end-of-life care. For the treatment of acute, temporary pain from surgery or an injury, the regulation would define "excessive" as any pain medication prescription written for more than seven days "without detailed, documented medical justification." The board will hold another public comment session on the proposed regulation in April.

As the audience for the meeting filed into the chamber in the Victory Building in downtown Little Rock, it was easy to see which people were there to speak against the proposal — the half-dozen or so, many of them older, who hobbled in on walkers or canes. One man was girdled with an extensive black back brace. One woman in a surgical mask groaned as she lowered herself gingerly into a chair.

Along with Drug Director Lane — who, citing the UAMS study of addiction rates, advocated for the board to go further and limit opioid prescriptions for acute pain to five days — and Smith and other experts, several patients spoke before the board, saying that opioids had curbed their pain enough that they were able to live fuller lives following a crippling injury. Nearly every patient who spoke said their doctors, fearing repercussions from the Medical Board, had cut back on the amount of opioid medication they would prescribe. Some said they had been cut back to a point where they could no longer function. One patient, on opioids for a back injury for over 20 years, related that without the drugs, he feared he would have to go on permanent disability, close his small business and put his employees out of work. Board members, saying they wouldn't revoke the license of a doctor prescribing long-term opioids for legitimate chronic pain cases, repeatedly encouraged patients who spoke of skittish physicians to have their doctors call the board for reassurance and education about the regulations concerning opioid prescriptions for chronic pain.

Kelly Jones sat and listened as long as she could bear it, then left the room in tears, saying that the board would do nothing for a person like her. In the hallway, she leaned on a walker and cried as she related her story of living two decades in constant pain. In 1998, while hiding her children's Christmas presents, Jones said, she fell 10 feet from an attic to a concrete carport, rupturing nine disks in her back and neck and crushing an ankle so badly it had to be pieced back together with screws. Since then, bounced from surgeon to specialist, she has been in constant pain that turns to agony without high doses of opioid medication. Bent and wan, an oxygen hose threaded around her head to her nose, Jones said she spends most of her life in bed, the windows of her room heavily curtained because squinting in sunlight gives her headaches, thanks to the neck injury. Like several who spoke, Jones said her doctor has recently cut back her opioid medications, fearing his medical license might be in jeopardy if he continued to prescribe high doses. Dabbing her eyes with a tissue, Jones said she and other chronic pain patients are being punished for the crimes of others.

"It's like I'm paying for the sins of what other people have done with their medicines," she said. "I can't be there to control what other people do with their medicines. But because they can't control themselves, I'm paying for it. I can't sit in there any longer. I kept asking them, 'Can I please talk? I have to go home and go to bed.' They keep bringing up people from the governor's office to talk. They won't let people talk."

She knows through being in pain management, she said, that she will never be pain free, but opioids allow her to at least control her pain. She prays for cancer, Jones said, so that at least she can get her medicine and be pain-free again for a little while before she dies. She said the members of the Medical Board will never understand pain like that.

"I pray to die," she said. "I pray every night to die. My husband actually took the guns out of the house because he was tired of listening to me threaten to do it. ... I'm on scraps of medicine. I can't live my life like this. They don't understand, because unless you have chronic pain, you will not understand what people with chronic pain are talking about. I can't talk anymore. I have to go."

At that, Jones turned and hobbled away, shuffling, pushing her walker along the carpeted hallway until she rounded the corner and disappeared from view, back to her darkened bedroom somewhere in Arkansas.

Bitter pill

#Bitter pill

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survivorathena-motunui · 7 years

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Ep. 7: Like Juggling Chainsaws ~Kevin

Okay so. that worked out well. I think that was pretty much the best way it could go, like obviously there's no perfect outcome or anything. So. I'm now in my third alliance that has Jay in it, and fourth alliance overall. Ashley's also in an f3 with JD and LA but anyone in that position would know they're the third wheel so thankfully she's like no. This is still good because she's gonna tell us all the tea they give her which Jay and I can compare to find out the truth. It's kinda amazing how the stars have aligned so that we're in the middle of everything. It's a stressful position but it feels great. We hold the power and we get all the info so we can make the best and most informed decision. I think it's best to come clean about our alliance with JD and LA (or J-LAD as Jay called them) lest we get exposed by them. Being in all these alliances is like juggling chainsaws, but like juggling chainsaws if you pull it off correctly you look really cool. Also it's good for our game and stuff. ________________________________________________________________ Okay I hate being in all these alliances like Drew's complaining to me about being on the bottom and like that sucks but I don't know what to tell you bc like I'm in this messed up tangled up web of alliances like I can't make any promises to you when I'm already committed to like half of the people in the game okay? Also Drew told me that like the f6 would be me Jay, JLAD, and Keegley, and that JLAD would be the swing bc there's no way that Keegley would align with Jay and I'm like OprahFingerWag.gif.

Kevin for the past YEAR AND A FUCKING HALF: Oh, Drew is such a rat, he's never worked with me, even though he always says he wants to, he would have flipped on me in Pompeii too, remember PI All Stars, remember Motu Maha, never trusted, always dissed, never stanned, he's a snake, why do you fucking do this to me every time, we could have worked together, we could have had everything!! Me: Kevin, I am with you and Jay above all others, this is my team, this is my family, and nobody is getting in the way of my family, this is it for me, y'all are it for me, let's do this Kevin: Well actuallyyyyyyy :~) Kevin: https://gyazo.com/4e0bbd0baf3d7d7c5b0da7c6557bb2c7 Kevin: okay so i'm sorry about that. it was kinda my uncertainty with jack like i mentioned before and paranoia and also i just wasn't like certain about steven since like this was my first round with him Kevin: this game just so messy Kevin: i'm honestly just taking this game one step (or round i guess) at a time Kevin: and i wish i could tell you something but i don't want to lie even more or make any promises yet bc like i said it's figuring things out one step at a time What's a guy gotta do to make a damn friend? Because the answer is clearly not "To make a friend, you have to be a friend." Not even for family. Not anymore.

Drew needs to stop fucking winning so I can get him outta here. Next I thought Jack would be going but I guess no one else wants that?????? Saying its too easy to get him out.... Like bitch aint that what we want? I mean I could see Drew seeing a Jack vote coming and playing his rainbow idol on Jack to vote out whoever they want. But Kevin mentioned not even going for Jack and finally separating JD and LA. I like that idea but then I am scared some people will then just flip to Drew. And in an alliance of 4 that wouldnt be so great.

Me: thankful that this round might be easier because everyone sane person in this game would want Drew out Drew: wins immunity Sigh. So I guess it's time for yet another fun round of screaming, panic, stress, overthinking, and even more screaming. It's time for us to separate the JLAD duo. From what Keegan said we're gonna split the votes between them and Jack. I personally wanna get rid of JD because I feel like she trusts me less than LA does, and idk she feels...shadier and like the more stubborn one. I feel like I have more wiggle room with LA? Probably?

Oh man. I dun goofed. I played an idol so wrong it's almost right. Everyone and their mother was saying the vote was between me and Steven but someone lieeeeedddd. Jay lied. And Kevin lied. I guess drew talked to both of them about blindsiding LA. And yet neither told me it wasn't my name so bye bye idol. Aaaaand now I'm in the "Wholesome Happening" alliance with Jay and Kevin. So that's interesting. Ashley is also in that with us. She says she's also with JD and LA in an alliance chat. Hopefully she sticks with us. I guess the plan for tonight is to break up JLAD, while throwing Jack's name out there in hopes of drew playing a rainbow idol on him. It's unlikely but maybe. Either way, as long as the four of us vote for JD or LA, we should all be safe moving forward. And now we have to hope Drew doesn't win immunity next challenge.

hhhhhhhhhhhso. Drew got immunity, which is annoying, because it means he probably won't play his idol tonight as we were all hoping. The plan is kind of....unsure at the moment. Kevin and I are still playing the middle, which kind of sucks and kind of is great because it feels like we have some power. I think I might actually be in a really good position on the tribe. Keegley trusts me and J-LAD trusts me, and Kevin trusts me. I might be able to wiggle in with Dreck. So that's good. The easiest thing would be to pick off Jack - probably everyone could agree on that and it wouldn't be too hard. But long term, this could be Kevin's and my only opportunity to separate LA JD. It feels like this may be the vote where we have to pick sides. But, from past games, I'm of course wary of making a big move and making myself known as a strategic threat. Hopefully I can pin it all on Keegan? I'm CONSIDERING the possibility of self-voting so that, after this vote, I can pretend that I was with everybody. If there's a majority on LA without me, that might be the best thing, but I still have to get the keegley+kev alliance to choose between JD/LA. My goal is to be able to make Keegan or WHOMSTEVER think that voting LA was their idea, not mine. Basically, after this vote, I want everybody to still love me and for everybody to be in my pocket. I think the self-vote might be the only way to preserve my position, because if I vote with either group, I'm gonna lose trust somewhere, and if I throw my vote, I'm going to seem like I was torn. With a self vote, I can pretend that I was 100% with EVERYONE and just blame it on...an excuse I haven't considered yet. Stay tuned. Hopefully tonight we'll see a bLAndside (Ali suggested that pun to me I'm so sorry.)

I've done some research and the results will SHOCK you. Drew is basically the Jordan Pines of this season. -He's kinda a duo with Jack C -Jordan's close ally, Jack C, went home at f9. Drew's close ally, Steven, went home at f9. -Both have the Rainbow Idol -Everyone wants him gone but he keeps fucking winning immunity The facts don't lie. #StayWoke I just realized I'm killing two of my Taveuni children in a row I'm a horrible parent

2. Who is in the best position? 17. Who has the most final two deals? 20. Who would you like to go on a romantic date with? I would say that me and lori are in the best position but that done not mean I have the most final two! It's it a final three anyway? Or did I not read something again? I'm flattered, that two people would want to go on a date with me <3 I know I'm hella cute~ hahah But okay, enough of the fun. The game is really starting to get me stressed, I don't wanna be the person that goes home with an idol in their pocket but I don't wanna waist it. I don't believe that the vote is for Jack, just doesn't make since at the point. I know I was all for sending him home before but at this point you need to keep the numbers, with eight people and there is always the possibility of flipping so me and LA need to decide asap who we are going to go to the end with but I think that we are leaning towards Ashley and Keegan just because we don't have that much trust for Kevin at this point. If we voted Keegan or Ashley now then the other one would get pissed and flip. On that I think that Jay would stay with us if we explained that we thought Kevin was playing both side, which I think he is and I know she is but at least she is telling us what is going on. This is literally the make or break it vote, I would use the idol to save the people that I want to but again, I don't want to waist it. But maybe if I can convince Jay that I'm throwing her name out there cus I think she is the flipper, tell her I have the idol and that I will use it on her then maybe we can still win this.... I might have to give her the idol and just pray that the vote isn't for me or LA again. I just don't know if it is worth it... Is it worth it or is it not worth is... THAT is the question!

Amanda So its been a while since I gave my thoughts on the game so here we go... We have 4 pairs right now. Keegan/Ashley, LA/JA, Kevin/Jay, Drew/Jack. Everyone wants to split up LA/JD, and it seemed to be working so far, but JD is catching on that these pairs are gonna have to cannibalize on each other soon, so she wants to get a head start on that. Then Jay had this crazy idea about intentionally self-voting? Like, I get her strategy but like, seeing it from this end, every vote is gonna count and if she doesn't vote, it could go very badly for her. I dont know what Drew is thinking because the kid hardly makes confessionals and he isn't in any alliance chats. ugh... To be perfectly honest, I really don't know how this vote is gonna go.

Okay! Game changer! JD just messaged me saying shes potentially willing to vote out LA and not work with her in order to advance her game and I'm......shook. I don't need to do anything devious if JD is willing to just go with the plan. I'm. whew.

njkdhbfboajniog I DONT KNOW WHAT I AM DOING! I NEED ALI!! OKay so i don't know if I am really planing on doing this but I mean... maybe? I'm really worried that she is going to go home and I think that it's stopping my game. I need to stop worrying about what is happening in her game and just play mine. dear god.................................. If this is what happens then Ali is right and I am like... The chick that voted out her mom o.O If I think that I actually have the people voting for her though, we can vote where ever we want and I can play my idol on her but... My game... I dont know yet. A)

or B)

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okay so my 'i dont know what Im doing' really just fucked me over. I'm dumb and I panic and I dont think about what I say and this is a prime example. ________________________________________________________________ I suddenly feel like Matt Fucking Summer in.... My season. ________________________________________________________________ Truthful I think that me and LA are on the bottom, that Drew is really good with talking with people and that he is ether in the process of flipping or has already flipped, you, jay, kevin and keegan. I think that if LA went home then I would be able to play my own game and maybe me, Ashley and Drew could go to the final, just with no alex. I also think it's stupid to take Drew to the end. so that's a no go if she goes home I dont have to worry about her but I also dont have to that solid extra person ether . ________________________________________________________________ After the mental mess I put myself though and the mess I made of things. I wouldn't be surprised if I go home tonight, but I still feel like Lori will go before me so I mean... Maybe. Hopefully. Well see if I life to make another confession

Alright so I have a quick question, what the fuck. Jay told me JD came to her and was like hey I'm voting Kevin and Jay's like um maybe don't do that and JD's like so you're good to vote Kevin?? I know she's cracked but??? This is a new level. I have a feeling Drew might be up to this mishap but idk? That's kinda my automatic assumption but oh well. If any idol hijinks happen tonight I'm playing my idol because I trust approximately 1.5 people in this game.

Okay we're trying to vote LA again. It will hopefully be me, Kevin, Jay, Drew, Ashley, and Keegan, but who fucking knows anymore. All I know is I'm going to try to exploit my current confused status to get people to take me to the end.

I'm way less certain about this tribal council than the last one. Last time I was confident about where everyone else was voting. With the way JD's been acting I'm a little nervous. And if Drew has done some crap then it's 4-4 with the other side having the advantage since Drew has immunity nnnn. I know Drew does want the other side out so hopefully he's not snaking me. Also just nervous because Jay and I's mist has been kinda fading. Our mist isn't even mist it's like, water vapor. Our status as a duo is obvious but since it's kind of a duos game at this point that doesn't make us a threat. Still though...yikes

This is why Drew is going to win. I broke one time and told jay and Ashley that I wanted to vote for Lori and drew got a hold of it and now that's it. They are going to send her home and if I use my idol on her then I'm fucked because then no one will believe that I will vote her out. But then do I trust that they are voting out Lori and not me? Im not going to turn on her right now, not if it's to help someone else. If we vote Kevin and it doesn't work then I guess I'm gonna have to kiss some ass but otherwise... 20 minutes to go

Either Kevin, me or JD are gonna get blindsided tonight. It's been too quiet. And its that kind of day. Rip.

#boardmyboat #confessionals

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