#sorry about this massive chunk of text

[malereadermaniac]

(;¬_¬) "Maniac" - Bryce Callahan x Male Reader

Word Count: 3.2k

Plot: Bryce will proudly say he dated you "for laughs" and call you a "psycho", a "stalker", or a "maniac". But it's the ginger who shows up at your door drunk and spam texts you; not the other way around...

Note: Inspired by Conan Gray's 'Maniac' AND 'Wish You Were Sober' ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ Also sorry if he's ooc - game isn't out yet and I haven't played the demo!

Warnings: m!reader (no genitalia mentioned) / FDNI Some nsfw mentions but no smut!

You and Bryce started out as friends. All in all, he was pretty chill with you being gay, but he still had his homophobic tendencies and would always make comments. You put up with it, though. You could see through the wrestler's act; you knew that deep down he was having some sort of internal conflict and displacing it onto you.

Your friendship got to the point where Bryce would invite you out to parties. It wasn't that you weren't ever invited before; you just never really had a reason or a desire to hang around a bunch of your drunk classmates in a dirty frat house. You were quite content chilling with your small group of friends. But nonetheless, now that Bryce was inviting you, you were given a reason to go. Could be fun... Right?

Slowly but surely, over a couple months' worth of frat parties, you noticed a pattern in Bryce's behaviour. Your theories and guesses of what made the ginger so insecure and homophobic were answered. The night would always start with Bryce picking you up in his car and pulling up to the function. Sure, near the start of each night, the two of you would hang out, but it took very little to separate the two of you; you would mingle with whoever came up to you, and as soon as Bryce had a drink in hand, he would try to get with girls. Of course, you noticed this. And yeah, it irked you a little, but you didn't really have the right to get annoyed or angry with Bryce; it's not like he was your boyfriend. Bryce, on the other hand, usually didn't even wanna get with whatever girl he was flirting with that night. The insecure man would never admit that he never really felt some sort of spark or even attraction, but he felt obligated to flirt and get 'bitches'.

'trade drinks, but you don't even know her'

The next thing that you were certain would happen is Bryce getting absolutely plastered. For him, that is. You could tell from your first look at the massive hunk that he could handle his drink. So, though the amount Bryce drinks at every party would be enough to put someone into a coma, it just gets the wrestler to a comfortable drunk. Words slurring and knees buckling. You can always tell when Bryce is drunk, and you always notice it. He gets nicer, more honest, and he starts to lose that 'alpha-male' act he always puts on.

'knees weak but you talk pretty fly, wow'

Then, without a doubt, once Bryce spots you in his drunken state, he's all over you. He's slurring every couple of words, he's complimenting you a lot, and he always gets way too close for comfort. You always end up in the corner of some busy room, music quietly playing amongst other people's chatter, as Bryce keeps sipping on his beer and talking to you as if he's trying to chat you up. "Bryce... I think you've drunk a bit too much haha..." You always try to laugh it off. The first few times he did this, you gave Bryce the benefit of the doubt. You assumed he was too drunk to even know it was you, or that he was just being a dick n joking around. But the more he did this, the more he slurred your name specifically, the more he drunkenly mumbled about how shitty he feels and how he feels fake, you realised that wasn't the case. Over time, Bryce would get more confident; his attempts at wooing girls would get shorter and shorter, he'd get drunk quicker and quicker, and he'd flirt with you for bigger chunks of the night. His confidence could also be seen in the moments he shared with you; he'd start to try kissing you (successfully most of the time), and you could swear that one time he was stone-cold sober and just acted drunk so that he could remember everything the next morning. You felt bad, though, like you were taking advantage of the ginger, or even that he was taking advantage of your kind-hearted nature and the way you'd bend to his will whenever you pitied him or took care of him.

'Don't take a hit, don't kiss my lips, and please don't drink more beer'

After most people had cleared out, you would have to peel Bryce off of you and take him to his car to sober up a little. As more parties passed, you noticed that Bryce would drink more and more. You didn't know why he was doing this, and Bryce didn't either, at least consciously; subconsciously, he was drinking more to be drunk for longer, so that he could have an excuse to spend time with you and be himself. But this meant that you would have to deal with a very drunk Bryce; it also didn't help that you were also quite drunk by the end of the night. What would start as lying down in the backseat and drinking water to sober up would always, without a doubt, quickly turn into making out in Bryce's car. He was always the one to initiate it; overpowering you and lying you down beneath him in the backseat, though you never really fought against it. And though you enjoyed every second of it, enjoyed what felt like an answer to the unspoken chemistry between you and Bryce, enjoyed what felt like genuine flirtations and romance, you couldn't help but wish that Bryce was sober during all of this. You could feel that Bryce was letting the mask of his douche personality slip whenever he was drunk, but you knew that he would never do this when sober; he'd never fully take the mask off.

'Save me 'til the part is over, kiss me in the seat of your Rover - real sweet, but I wish you were sober...'

Eventually, after at least an hour of making out and even going a little further, you would pull Bryce off of you and emphasise that you two had to get going. Obviously, the man couldn't drive in his state, so it was always up to you to walk Bryce home. And it was no easy feat. You'd trip and stumble down the road, Bryce's massive arm swung 'round your shoulder as you practically lugged the hunk down the street. Once you'd get to his place, like clockwork, Bryce would always kiss you again, pulling you in close and begging you to stay over. You always felt that it was too late in the night for Bryce to still be drunk enough to be saying stuff like that, but you never questioned him about it.

'trip down the road, walking you home, you kiss me at your door. Pulling me close, beg me "stay over"'

Yet by the next morning, Bryce is always back to how he was before. Acting as if he hadn't flirted with you for hours and let little things about himself slip. Acting as if you two hadn't shared your most intimate selves with each other. Acting as if he doesn't live for and crave your touch. It was a constant loop. And you were getting bored of it. Though, bored's not exactly the right word. Maybe you were tired of it? Exhausted even? Sad? It doesn't really matter. You were done.

'But I'm over this rollercoaster. Honestly, you always let me down. And I know we're not just "Hanging out"'

You stopped putting up with Bryce's shit. Originally, you tried talking to him; you went 'round his place and confronted him about his very polarising behaviour. Bryce, of course, got defensive very quick. He started out by trying to play off his advances and the intimate moments between the two of you as friendly gestures. But when you wouldn't have it, he started shouting and accusing you of being weird. He, of course, threw out a couple of homophobic comments. He called you gross. The man even told you to 'fuck off, don't wanna see your face, scared I'll catch fag-atitis or something'. That really did it for you. You could handle Bryce's obvious displacement and refusal to confront his own emotions and sexuality, but outright insulting you? Oh yeah, that ginger can fuck off.

So, you put some distance between you and Bryce. Well, more like a lot of distance. You stopped texting him back. You stopped talking to him and seeing him in person. And you stopped going to parties with him; you didn't stop going altogether, you just made a point of not going with him or talking to him throughout the night. As you'd expect, Bryce didn't like this. Though they were buried deep, deep down, the wrestler most certainly had some strong feelings for you. But instead of working through his own shit, Bryce of course kept displacing his turmoil and anger at himself, towards you.

The pattern you had noticed and become accustomed to with Bryce had slightly changed. He'd still try to get with girls at the start of the night, but as he drank, instead of going over to you and flirting with you, he starts shit-talking you to all of his guys. He calls you 'crazy', 'some gay guy [he] was nice to and then [you] fell for him', calls you a 'stalker' that he always catches staring at him and says he 'wants you dead' for that.

'You were with your friends, partyin', when the alcohol kicked in. Said you wanted me dead.'

But for all the smack that Bryce would talk to his friends about you, calling you 'desperate' and many other things, you weren't the one yearningly and achingly trying to get back with him. You weren't the one spam texting, you weren't the one drunk-calling, you weren't the one showing up with roses at Bryce's front door. He was. He was doin' all that to you.

When sober, Bryce would go through moments of spam-texting you under the guise of being stressed that you'd 'expose' him for being gay; though in reality, he just needed you to talk to him, to stop ignoring him, to stop treating him like he was nothing. If it were late at night, the texts would get a lot less agitated and a lot more pathetic; mainly single-word texts of 'sorry' that would be deleted by the morning, or if he got real desperate, Bryce would literally beg you to respond. Again, when drunk, Bryce would constantly shit on you around his friends. But once the party's over? He's at your front door, holding a single rose. It's too late to slam the door on the wrestler; his foot already in the door. You listen to his drunken words, apologies, excuses; really, he's just digging his own grave deeper and deeper.

'But you show up at my home, all alone, with a shovel and a rose. Do you think I'm a joke?'

Whilst you do listen to him, you never actually care for Bryce's desperation. He was drunk when he would tell you he loved you, and would take it back the next morning. What's stopping him from doing the same now? You were also well aware of the amount of shit he was chatting on your name, and that didn't really help his case. After every drunken apology and profession of love, you would send Bryce on his way. It hurt you just seeing him around. Having to hear all this? It was killing you. So you would always just tell him to fuck off back to his friends and to keep up his 'alpha-male' shit. It was the truth, after all.

'cause people like you always want back what they can't have. But I'm past that, and you know that, so you should turn back to your rat-pack, tell 'em I'm trash.'

So he does go back to his friends. And the cycle continues. Bryce keeps calling you 'crazy', says that you 'drive [him] mad', calls you a 'psychopathic watcher ', and says that he 'fucked with you just for laughs'. The polar opposite of what he was saying to you the night before. And the polar opposite of what he'll be telling you later that very night, and the night after that.

'Tell all of your friends that I'm crazy and drive you mad. That I'm such a stalker, a watcher, a psychopath. And tell them you hate me and dated me just for laughs.'

'So why do you call me and tell me you want me back? You maniac.'

This wretched cycle went on for a while. But it came to a very abrupt stop when you got a call late one night. The sound of your ringer and the light of your phone screen woke you up. You saw the caller ID and sighed, but you answered anyway; you had already woken up, and Bryce never called this late; he at least had some sense.

He'd wrecked his car. Crashed it into a tree. He sounded really panicked, hyperventilating and sounding like he'd been crying. Bryce discombobulatingly explained that he didn't know who to call, and that he's sorry if he woke you up, and that he gets it if you don't wanna help him, etcetera, etcetera... You felt bad for him; you couldn't deny that. So, against your better judgment, you drove over and picked him up.

You took Bryce home and thought that would be it. Oh, how wrong you were. The ginger begged you to come in, arguing that he was still shaken up; and though you knew you shouldn't, his strong grip on your wrist and the way he looked with desperate eyes into your, it convinced you. You wiped the tears off of Bryce's face and calmly rubbed your thumbs across his pudgy cheeks. You brewed the man a tea and stroked his auburn hair. It was domestic. It was sweet. It didn't last very long.

'You just went too far, wrecked your car, called me cryin' in the dark - now you're breakin' my heart. So I show up at your place right away, wipe the tears off your face; while you beg me to stay'

The sweet moment slowly escalated into an argument. One in which Bryce was calling you 'crazy and dramatic', arguing that you're reading too deep into things.

'psychopathic, don't be so dramatic'

But you argued back. Like usual; you weren't one to take Bryce's shit.

"I thought we had something, Bryce. You told me that it was nothing, and I STUCK BY THAT! I left you the fuck alone. Like you asked! You're the one whose gone fucking manic now. You're the one who keeps coming back!"

That struck a cord. Mostly 'cause it was true, and Bryce really didn't... no, he couldn't hear it right now.

"Oh just fuck off, (name). I'm so done with your gay shit." Bryce mumbled.

You couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Fine. I'll do as you ask. Again. You need to deal with all that internalised homophobia, Bryce. No one gives a shit if you're gay. It's not the fucking 80s!" You get another jab in before you slam the door shut and head back to your place.

Damn. Why did you always say exactly what Bryce couldn't bear hearing, like you could see right through him?

'We had magic, but you made it tragic. Now you're manic, honestly, I've had it.' 'Listen to yourself, think you need to get some help'

And that was it for a while. Like before, you kept your distance, but this time, Bryce also kept his distance. You were honestly shocked. You expected him to at least go back to his desperate self when he got drunk, but no dice. Radio Silence. And you hated it.

Did that make you toxic? Maybe. You didn't exactly care. You hated that Bryce wasn't spam-texting you. You hated that he wasn't desperately trying to get your attention again. But at the same time, you had to be glad; at least this way, he wouldn't use you like some sort of experiment and then pretend like nothing happened the next day.

But after another month or so, a knock at your door grabbed your attention as you were getting ready for bed. The thought of it being Bryce flashed through your head as you unlocked the door. Why were you hoping it was that dickhead? You rolled your eyes at yourself as you swung the door open, but then ate your words when your wide eyes locked with Bryce's sad ones.

"............ugh" You broke the silence with a scoff. "Lemme guess: you're drunk, you hate me, oh but wait you wanna kiss me, oh wait you're not gay. Did I get it right? Can we just skip all that?" It was snarky. Sure. But by this point, Bryce's behaviour pattern was ingrained into your brain.

"I'm totally sober... Please. I wanna talk." Bryce's eyes remained sad and tired.

The sincerity in his voice was jarring. He wasn't slurring. He was looking you in the eyes. It felt totally different to the song and dance you were used to. So you let him in. You let Bryce talk. And holy shit were you left speechless. It was like a completely different person had taken Bryce's body over. He'd grown, or more like he'd self-reflect, so much in the time you two hadn't spoken.

Bryce explained himself. He didn't make any excuses; in fact, he told you that he didn't want to make excuses for himself and that he didn't deserve your benefit of the doubt. He told you how he felt a pressure to conform, to be what his parents and friends and everyone in general expected him to be. He apologised a lot, and told you many times that you didn't desrve all the shit he put you through and how much he regrets playing with your feelings. But what shocked you most was that at the end of Bryce's mini-speech, he came out to you. Sure, it was reluctant. And it was the way he said it with an upwards inflexion near the end that made it sound like a question, as if Bryce was still unsure. But it was still a massive step forward.

This little chat lasted most of the night. Bryce talked a lot, and then listened a lot when you said your part. But all in all, it was definitely productive; Bryce had fully put down the mask and just spoke to you without any sort of act; it was refreshing. It was 4am by the time the ginger left your place. You allowed him a hug before he left, one hug which lasted at least two whole minutes and was incredibly tight. Seriously, you felt like you were being suffocated... in a good way. The way Bryce's massive, muscular body wrapped around you, you felt cozy, safe. You told him that you couldn't move past all his shitty behaviour just because of one apology, and he completely understood; told you that no matter how desperate he was to make things right, he didn't wanna rush you at all. And honestly? That made your heart pitter-patter just a little faster.

[koimethehorizon]

A Major Critique on Deltarune Ch 3-4's Shadow Crystals (maybe for future chapters as well)

(Massive Deltarune Chapter 1-4 spoilers!)

UPDATE (6/7/25): Thanks, dreams-narrator for pointing out that you can actually beat secret bosses on separate save files, then pick the crystal up at the random cliff in Castle Town in the next one.

Oh, it's the wrong number! The wrong number song! I'm very very sorry that I got that wrong!

...I do still think the points-of-no return issue is still very much of game design issue, but a lot of this is fortunately alleviated.

Hi, enormous Deltarune fan here who loved these new chapters. I'll be singing praises about this release and dropping Deltarune-shaped brain chunks out of my ears til 2026's Deltarune tomorrow.

Gonna say it straight up, Ch 3's secret boss requirements sucks and I think the frequency of points-of-no-return spells a bad precedent for the future of this game.

WHY TOBY???

One of the first NPCs you meet before Tenna's game tells you not to worry about what rank you get = a total lie, and if you commit to S ranking Round 2, Ramb will still let you play an unwinnable game then tell you "If only you'd gotten the S rank earlier".

SCREW YOU!!!!

So yeah, you gotta restart the whole chapter over.

And I'm damn sure that most people had to do this because S ranks for your first run at fighting the new enemies/getting used to the rank requirements/first time controlling the minigames is kinda unreasonable.

Yes, there is an NPC who can help you get from A to S with 1500 points but again, if this is your first time, you probably won't have enough to buy this. You might even spend a lot of it on the B rank gacha machine or the A rank Susiezilla minigame out the same curiosity you had trying to find the damn secret in the first place!

If only there was a way to convert dark dollars to Points... oh wait there is! IN THE S RANK ROOM!!!

Gerson's is fortunately far more forgivable and if you're curious enough, you'll get it without even realizing he's the secret boss... but still. Unlike Jevil and Spamton, you are locked out if you leave the first version of Dark Sanctuary.

Why even have so many warp points if we can't even do this...

The Issue with Replayability

This trend is troubling. Toby's games have always had an issue with being games that encourage replayability and secret hunting but, and I hate to admit this, they're not very engaging games to replay unless you're committing to a completely different route.

With Undertale, a boring replay (until the new content) and a fading emotional investment of the game is the MAIN THEME of the True Pacifist and Genocide routes. But most of all, Undertale was a short game so it wasn't going to be mundane walking through the same beats.

This is not the case for Deltarune. This game is [BIG]. If you miss something, you gotta go WAAAAY back to check something again. Worse, by the end of every chapter, you get locked out of that chapter's Dark World permanently.

When replaying a chapter, most of the time is spent either reading or skipping dialogue, and most fights are going to play out pretty much the same way. The reason why this shallow gameplay is mostly passed off is is because Undertale/Deltarune's humor, writing, and gameplay gimmicks are so varied (and good!) that you'll never be stuck on one beat for a very long time.

Fortunately, there aren't as many Undertale-level deviations in the narrative that require you to restart, other than the Weird Route. A lot of the missable items and conversations are mostly flavor text that you can look up later.

If you were restarting a chapter from the ground up, you were probably one of those sickos who tried to hoard every individual item available to see what Ralsei, Susie, and future playable characters would say about them... or an EGG hunter. (I can't believe I restarted for those teas...) This is NOT true with Shadow Crystals.

A Future Problem

These are unquestionably important missable items that the game WANTS you to get every chapter that requires not only a whole chapter reset to get, but MULTIPLE CHAPTER RESETS if you happen to miss the crystal in previous one!

And I want to emphasize, if you miss these, your ass has to reset SEVERAL HOURS back to get the one you forgot.

In the far future, when Deltarune completes and we find out what having all these crystals do and we have no QoL measure to get them all... and everyone misses the Chapter 3 one because of how unfriendly it is for blind runs.... we're in for a huge drag.

I really hope this is an issue that's on the Deltarune team's radar and that we can go back to some abridged sections to get these again. I'm a sicko so I have all these + the eggs and... god I hope the eggs aren't important too.

PS. Some might include the Roaring Knight being the secret fight into the BS I mentioned.... and I disagree.

Praise incoming!

The Roaring Knight is bullshit and hard as hell, but it should be! This is the first real fight in Deltarune that actually made me consider my equipment and battle strategy multiple times.

The Shadow Mantle turning an unwinnable JRPG stomp fight into a real-winnable fight is a genius misdirect that shows the first tangible evidence that Susie and the player might be able to defy the prophecy.

In Undertale, our struggle against Sans was made fun of because we were forcing ourselves through a frustrating fight purely to find out what happens at the end of the Genocide run. But here, even Gaster roots us on, hoping that the determination we show here will amount to something greater.

I think it's seriously understated how game-changing and brilliant this twist is with what it implies.

And come on, everything with Susie during this fight is so cool.

[enavstars]

Cyberpunk au

RGB designs for a new au

Important things:

The inspiration for this was the game Stray (that I finally played).

This is a hyperfixation that I don't know when it's going to end. I'll probably draw things from it as much as my motivation lets me but don't expect it to be a constant thing like Eclipse or On the road.

I love worldbuilding so there is a lot of details of this au already, feel free to ask questions.

The world is dark and very corrupted but the tone of the au is chill because the sibs dgaf about the world.

Worldbuilding details (my friend wrote this because this is complicated and I suck at writing) [very long text under the cut]:

The key element of this AU’s worldbuilding is a new biohazardous artificial plant which was originally genetically engineered by the scientist of the RGB’s city-state to fight the air pollution that plagued the region by attempting to reduce the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere (yes this is a biopunk universe :)). However, because they are an ugly reddish colour, have a bitter taste and are extremely nutrient-deficient and unhealthy, they have no natural predators and can spread like wildfire across both fertile plots and forests like weeds. On top of that, due to that nutrient deficiency, which stems from the slow absorption ability of their roots (not nearly enough to keep the heavy rate of photosynthesis), they evolved on their own to attach themselves to other living beings as parasites and basically invaded the entire area around the metropolis. With them being potentially lethal, this caused a massive problem that made the city panic; although they have plenty of weak points (like fire and a vulnerable immune system) and it takes them very long to get their roots to the rest of the body, their grip is so deep and strong that the only option is to remove the infected body part. So their special ability became a critical issue when the plants unexpectedly ended up liking animals better, and with them humans themselves, because they could carry them to other places and infest those too while still sucking the life out of them until they die (oopsie). Ultimately, with the lack of proper information on the parasites, and because the situation was handled very poorly overall, they ended up taking many people’s lives and made the most vulnerable species of the area (like cattle) go endangered or extinct, which in turn altered the balance of the ecosystem and the working class’ means of living :).

Sorry this chunk was so technical, we (@kaigoesbrr and I) are biology nerds, but basically the plants were so good at making more oxygen and so ass at getting what they needed to do so that they became parasites, and now they get what they need from plants and animals (and they like animals better, like humans, because they have more stuff and help them spread further). Then society collapsed :).

All of this caused a deep economic crisis that brought about high rates of poverty, and with it, a deep fear of the infested world outside the city walls. So this whole conundrum led to the city closing off to the lands around it, implementing absurd levels of security like a tight border control and a slower, more strict business traffic, and making a huge dark translucent dome that encapsulates the whole city to keep any potential smuggled plants from ever growing by blocking the natural sunlight. They even made a ditch around their walls (kind of like a moat) and burnt and bombed the fields and suburbs around them to make them extremely infertile. So yeah, this city-state is a terrible place to live, a gloomy prison where not even the sun and stars can be seen, but most the inhabitants never leave out of that paranoid terror and the heavy bureaucracy needed to just go outside and touch grass.

(haha with poor funding corrupt scientists who didn’t know what they were doing made a mess, shocker how that would backfire horribly).

However, the outside isn’t as bad as they make it out to be. In the end, the plants did clean the air as they were supposed to, and, as nature does, it did somewhat recover from the disaster to where human life is now sustainable again.

Taking advantage of their thick crust, trees were the least affected by the plague, and the other plants in the forest developed new natural defences against the parasites, which was yet another reason why they in turn became best at infecting animals. And many of the fungi, abundant in the now more humid forest (haha cooler air equals more rain), took advantage of their weak immune system (due to their fucking incompetent creators making a mess of the original plant’s DNA) and infected them (haha scammer get scammed). So basically, the fields and farmlands were lost to the people, but the forests are still intact. Also, even though one of the rivers around the city, the one which makes its ways under it and is therefore connected to the water supply and sewer systems, is trashed, the other, which is further away, is now perfectly healthy due to the city closing off and therefore leaving it alone for enough time. The real issue here lies within the actual government, which obviously does not want to expose how corrupt and lazy they are when dealing with problems and so they keep fueling the paranoia of their most vulnerable citizens since they are kids :). One way they do so is by manipulating the information their people get, claiming bullshit like “the current ecosystem is wild and polluted, it cannot offer our economy anything anymore!” and “the plants are dangerous and will kill you if you ever come into contact with them, and they have infected virtually every living thing around!”. Another is by not educating their population about “the Outside”, treating it like a sort of taboo. Therefore, they refuse to explain, or hush those who try to, the actual danger of the plants and how to deal with them (they do have many weaknesses, after all).

But the people in this world have yet another nasty problem. In this AU there are beings believed to be anthropomorphic demons due to their pointy ears, fangs, and sometimes strange behaviour. But in fact, these people are descendants of the dragons that once lived in these nations, but their origins were forgotten as the world gradually lost touch with its spirituality and ancestry, and now those who were once revered for their “godlike attributes” (yes, they kinda worshipped dragons, I mean, who wouldn’t) are today facing discrimination. However, even though they aren’t considered exactly “people”, the pure humans are still kind of afraid of them, so they usually choose the subtler kind of racism. In most governments, “Demons” get less job opportunities and are denied high positions, can be freely banned from any establishment, and face unmatched prejudice just for existing, especially those with a stronger blood relation with their ancestry. In the city, they are treated as less than even the robots (nindroids of all kinds), who are treated like any other respected social group by now because they have grown so advanced that most of them are just like humans in metal armour. In fact, many of them are mechanics, who are held in high esteem for making the many bionic implants for the humans.

And all of that combined made the RGB siblings (who are obviously demons, especially Lloyd), decide never to leave the Outside, where they grew up, to go live in the city.

When they were younger, Kai and Nya adopted Lloyd when they found him asleep in a box in the middle of nowhere, after having been abandoned themselves a few years earlier. This time, though, their dynamic in this AU is more of a team than Kai being a mom to them both like he always is, so even if Kai feels the most responsible for being the eldest sibling, they rely on each other almost equally. They fend off the plants that threaten them with fire (no they do not have powers, but Kai uses a fucking flamethrower because it’s Kai), and usually live on whatever they can find in the wild: mostly by making traps for game, fishing in the cleaner river and occasionally foraging edible plats (that’s more risky and they are more carnivorous anyway). Also, Nya routinely strolls through the ruins of the suburbs to collect scrap junk to turn as much of it as she can into useful trinkets, the rest of which she sells to Ed and Edna’s junkyard and their son, who is an amateur mechanic (wink wink but no shipping actually). Apart from that though, they usually sneak into the metropolis to cause a bit of mayhem here and there, which over time and on top of the fear over their species has earned them a reputation of People You Don't Wanna Mess With (or "Demons", more like). More than once they’ve even messed with a few of the gangs around town, which started sprouting up after the disaster, so overall their presence in the city is tolerated, but frowned upon. They manage to bypass the annoying border control thanks to the faulty assistant robot who raised them, named Echo (wink wink), who cannot perform any other social job (what he was made for) than to be the ferryman for those few people who decide to cross the wide moat and venture out into the Outside. They usually take a secret tunnel that a few smugglers managed to make, and the Guard do nothing because they do not give a fuck about demons anyway (in fact, only a few people know that their actual names aren’t Red, Blue and Green because nobody gives a fuck indeed). They do actually know a few people there, some of whom are also demons (like Mistake and Ronin), but especially as kids (which is when the story starts) they spend most of their time in the wild chilling and going on adventures :³.

(no the city and the plants are not named, we’re lazy :))

Anyway this is what I'll say for now. There's a lot more info, and hopefully drawings, coming. Hope you like this au because I love it for now ^^

(Btw let me know if you want me to make a post/reblog explaining the designs for the Rgb siblings and some info behind them)

[pandorasprongs]

CHAPTER FOUR | come home to my heart.

'it's nice to have a friend' fic masterlist + playlist | previous chapter

PAIRING: jamie tartt x fem!reader

WORD COUNT: 3.1k

SUMMARY: jamie tries to get reader to forgive him.

WARNINGS: language

A/N: hello! sorry for such a long wait, i've been on vacation. i also haven't been able to proofread huhu but hopefully the interlude prepped ya'll for this moment because a good chunk of this one is from jamie's pov! don't have much to say because i don't want to spoil much hehe but enjoy jamie's comeback!

Losing Jamie for a second time felt the exact same: like absolute shit. Except this time, you were an adult and couldn't sulk in your room all day. So for the next few weeks, — aside from said crying sessions — you've been dragging yourself to all of your lectures and powering through office hours as if nothing happened.

You already told Liv about it the morning after, and after seeing your bloated face and the fact that you had a massive hangover, she decided to withhold her 'I told you so' speech, much to your relief. 

It was unraveling the exact same way as last time and the cherry on top was the fact that Jamie wasn't reaching out in any way, shape, or fucking form. No texts, calls, or anything. 

Every now and then, you'd think about reaching out yourself. It was you who yelled at him that night and told him to leave, but you would shake your head every time. No, if Jamie really wanted to preserve your relationship, he would have to be the one to reach out. You got to say your piece and that's it.

And maybe you were being a little petty, taking down all your photos with him from the shelf and stuffing them in a box with all the tokens from Jamie that you couldn’t bring yourself to throw away, but at least it stopped you from nearly breaking down every time you passed your hallway.

Jamie wasn't taking it so well either, despite what you assumed.

After that night, he had this sinking feeling in him. He knew he fucked up, — ghosting you and treating you like a complete stranger at the pub in front of his teammates, — but it hurt even more hearing you shout and tell him how badly it fucked you up.

To this day, he doesn't know why he did it, really. Maybe it was the fact that he felt guilty for never talking to you after you left. Or maybe you were right; he cared too much about what his teammates thought that he ended up hurting you in the process. But no matter the reason, he ruined one of his most important relationships that night.

So what was he going to do? What he always did. Ignore it. Focus on the season, despite the fact that Richmond has been on a losing streak since the West Ham game. While Jamie might be off his game because of you, he wasn't going to acknowledge that. Just bury it and hope it disappears.

It wasn't until after the fifth match in the losing streak that he got a message from an unknown number he was forced to confront it. 

Hi Jamie. I'm Liv. I'm not sure if (Y/N)'s mentioned me, but I'm one of her friends and I got your number from her phone. I was hoping to talk to you soon when you're free.

So now, he was sitting in a white office like he was waiting for some test results. It didn't help that the person sitting in front of him was in a lab coat, either.

"Sorry, I know it's weird we had to do this in an office." Liv started and Jamie straightened up in the chair. "I thought you'd want somewhere private to talk."

"Right."

"Yeah, so you're probably wondering why I wanted to talk to you. Uhm, (Y/N)'s been a little off recently. She told me about what happened, which I honestly saw from a mile away, but that's not the point." Liv sighs before continuing. "The last time this happened, back in uni, she practically quarantined herself in her room till her parents came and picked her up. She barely ate, and barely talked to anyone. It was terrible. And I can tell that she's on the way to that again."

Jamie's eyes widened, filled with guilt once again, but he said nothing.

Something about his reaction just triggered something in Liv. "Right, so I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but what the fuck are you doing, man?" The footballer moved back in his chair, but Liv wasn't dismayed. "Why haven't you called her? Or even texted or something."

"I," Jamie's completely at a loss for words. "I thought that she didn't want to talk."

"What gave you that idea?"

"She told me to leave that night so harshly, so I thought..." Jamie trails off, realizing how terrible that reasoning is after saying it out loud.

Liv is thinking the exact same thing, causing her to roll her eyes. "Come on, Jamie! You can't actually think she wants nothing to do with you now. She won't ever say it, but do you know how many times I've caught her checking your contact to see if you've sent anything? She misses you and seeing how shit you've been playing these past few matches, I think it's safe to assume that you miss her too."

Despite this woman being a complete stranger to Jamie, he's suddenly compelled to admit, "Just because she misses me doesn't mean that she wants me back in her life. And I don't think I should be, to be honest." She's better off without me. 

Liv's expression finally softens and she looks down at her desk before saying, "She at least deserves an apology."

—

It had been a few days since then, which Jamie had been using to think it over. He knew Liv was right; he needed to apologize. He just didn't know how. And of course, he had to talk to the most emotional man he knew.

"Jamie! What brings you here?" Ted who, despite the team losing yet another game, greeted quite cheerfully. It almost made the football player turn right back around because he wasn't sure if he was in the mood for his coach's relentless optimism.

But he knew there wasn't anyone else he could go to, seeing as you were obviously unavailable, Keeley was way swamped with her new company, and telling his mum would be indirectly telling your parents too. He shuts the door behind him and moves to Ted's side of the office. "Right, um, I was hoping to talk to you about something."

His coach seems to pick up on Jamie's uneasy demeanor and leans forward with a sympathetic look on his face. "What's up, buttercup? Should I gather the diamond dogs for this?"

Jamie, recalling the name that the coaches and Higgins called themselves, was quick to reject the idea. "No, no, I'd rather not have them find out about this. Uhm, look, I know I haven't been doing my best recently,—"

"Oh, we'll get a win soon bud, don't worry." Ted is quick to reassure the player and while Jamie appreciates it, he shakes his head.

"No, I know, but that's not it." Jamie takes a deep breath before continuing. "It's just, I've been a bit distracted recently."

"Is this about a girl perhaps?"

"No," though Jamie thinks about it for a second. “Yes, but no?" Seeing the slight look of confusion on his coach's face, he explains, "A while back, I reconnected with an old friend. She was my best friend actually, back in Manchester. We didn't exactly end on the best of terms and it was my fault. But when we met again, she told me that I didn't need to apologize."

Jamie continued to recount the past few months to his coach, from his blind date to the Bones & Honey incident, along with what he did to you in the pub all those years ago. 

"So now, I don't know what to do. Her best friend said I should apologize, but I don't really know how. I'm not really the best with these types of things." Both of them still remembered how long it took for Jamie to get the team to forgive him when he first came back.

Ted takes a second before responding, trying to figure out the best thing to say in this situation. "You know Jamie, I've always thought the simplest ways are sometimes the best ones. Overthinking things tends to complicate them more. You want to apologize right? How'd you used to do it when you were kids and you threw your little tantrums at each other?"

"Coach, I don't think bringing her chocolate is gonna work this time around." Jamie gets flashbacks to your first-ever argument as kids. Jamie accidentally ate the last slice of chocolate cake that you had unofficially saved and you stormed out and locked yourself in your room for an hour. 

All it took was Jamie sliding a bar of chocolate through the bottom of the door, explaining that he got hungry, and promising to save her a slice of cake the next time they had a party. You ended up sharing the bar with Jamie.

"Probably not. But in all the times you fought, what were the things that got her to forgive you? What did you say that made her understand your side and know that you actually were sorry for what you did? And how did you prove to her that you weren't going to do that to her again?" Maybe if Jamie thought about this advice later tonight, it'll make more sense, but right now, only one question was occupying his mind.

"D'you think she'll forgive me?" He thinks out loud.

"I honestly don't know Jamie, I don't even know who she is. But if you show her how much you care like how you're showing me right now, I'm sure things will be fine." Ted, now standing, offers a comforting pat on the back.

Without looking up, Jamie whispers, "I never meant to do this to her. To hurt her like that."

"We rarely ever mean to hurt the people we love." Ted offers.

Love. Yeah, Jamie thought, he did love you, even after all these years. Especially after all these years. What, with all the 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' bullshit.

"All we can do after is try to atone for our mistakes and hope they forgive us. And even if they don't, at least you leave knowing you tried." Jamie nods his head and thanks his coach for the advice.

As he got into his car to leave the clubhouse, he pulled out his phone. Hi, are you free tonight? I was hoping we could talk. 

He anxiously waited for your reply and started listing all the places he had to pass by before heading to your place if you even answered. But before Jamie even left the car park, you already replied, Sure.

—

Maybe you had been hoping for Jamie's message more than you thought. You were in the middle of the lecture when you got his message, so while your class passed the handouts around, you took the chance to grab your phone and reply.

So now, you were anxiously waiting in your flat, still unsure of how you were meant to feel about all this. You knew there was still anger there, but you weren't sure if exploding on him relieved that feeling or made it worse. A part of you also felt guilty for it too, for not even giving him a chance to apologize in the first place. Maybe instead of awkwardly letting him inside later, you would've been having yet another movie night together.

That's what he was going to do now right? Apologize? You didn't really press on for my details when he messaged you earlier. You just hoped that seeing him again will trigger the right response to whatever he had planned.

You heard the doorbell ring and suddenly, it felt like your heartbeat quickened. You take careful steps towards the door and after mentally preparing yourself for whatever this was going to be, turn the doorknob.

"Hi," Jamie greeted, in the most awkward way possible for a guy as confident as he could. You notice him holding a box of LEGO flowers under his left arm and a pack of chocolate nuggets in his right hand.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, you jokingly ask, "Is your apology just going to be flowers and chocolate?" though it may have come across as harsher than you intended.

"No, but uh, in case you changed your mind about talking to me when you saw me, I thought this would at least get me through the door," Jamie explained and you slowly nodded your head.

"Well, you were right." You take the things from his hand and let him inside. 

You had already cleaned up the place before he came over and hidden all the messy catalogs and test papers in your room for the time being. Its current condition could honestly pass as one of those display sets in department stores.

You placed the items on your dining table before turning back to Jamie who was awkwardly standing in the middle of the living room.

You didn't want to delay this any further. "So, why'd you want to talk?"

"Right," Jamie started, still unable to look you in the eye. "I wanted to say sorry for not messaging you these past few weeks. I've just been busy and Richmond's been on a losing streak too,—"

"Is that really all you wanted to say?" Your tone was soft, but even you knew you were being blunt. You just couldn't handle the sinking feeling of anxiety in your chest anymore and while you might be rushing him, you just wanted to get this over with.

"No, it's not." Jamie closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He moves towards you and starts looking at you intently. "I'm sorry. For everything. You deserved an apology and an explanation a long time ago and I can't go back in time, so I want to do it now."

He pauses for a moment, and when you realize he's waiting for you to say something, you respond, "Go ahead, Jamie."

He nods his head and almost looks like he's psyching himself up before a match. He takes another deep breath before continuing.

"I wanted to start from when I started to get distant. I never told you, but after I started at Man City, dad came back into the picture."

"He did?" Your voice was barely a whisper, and you're unsure if he even heard it because he keeps talking.

"You know how he is, right?" Of course, you did. 

Growing up, you knew the exact times his dad would be coming over. There’d be some beat up car in their driveway and if you looked out your window, Jamie’s window blinds would be down. During the early years, you’d ask your mom to call their house, but after the first time and about a ten-minute call with Georgie, she started telling you they were busy. It was only after that outlying car in their driveway disappeared that Jamie would come knocking at your door, asking to play. He'd have this air of discomfort the first few days, but you were so happy being able to see him again that you’d end up ignoring it.

"Anyway, he was on my arse that whole time. He always had something to say after every match about how I fucked up or, how shit I'd been. Even if I was just sitting on the bench, he still had something to say. It was exhausting," You could tell that Jamie was starting to get angry at the reminder of his father, and without thinking, you reach out to hold his hand. Jamie seems to relax at your touch and when he seems to have composed himself, you let go.

"He would go on about the same things. Don't be soft, it's the fucking Premier League and shit like that. I just, I wanted it to stop. And I thought that toughening up would stop him from him getting under my skin. That meant removing everything that did make me soft, vulnerable. One of those things was you, but I realized now that it was in a good way. As in, I only ever felt comfortable and safe when I was with you." Your eyes widened at his confession and you felt tears threatening to fall.

"But fuck, Dad was really in my head back then. I thought that you were making me weak. And I hated the thought of him calling me that. So I stopped picking up your calls and messages. I just blocked you out.

"But when I started to realize I was becoming a prick, I thought you'd never want to talk to me again. That you'd hate me and it wasn't worth trying to get you to forgive me. Plus, Mum always had great stories about you, so I thought you were better off without me. I guess that's why I was such a prick back in the pub, pretending I didn’t know you. Might as well lean into it if I already lost you." At this point, you were resisting the urge to envelop Jamie in a hug and never let go, but you knew he wanted to finish his piece.

"And I know that it doesn't change the fact that it was a shitty way to treat someone I loved, but it's the best explanation I can give you. I really am sorry." Jamie held your eyes, emphasizing how genuine he was being. Someone I loved, did he really just say that? But he starts again before you can even consider what that meant.

"And, I really am trying to be better. I want to be worthy of staying in your life, if you'll let me. This time, I promise I'll never leave you like that ever again."

You were processing his words and couldn't answer immediately, so Jamie added, "And if you decide that you don't want anything to do with me, then you'll never have to see me again. But I promise to keep trying to be better even then."

You continued to stay silent and Jamie took that as your answer. "Right, so that's all I had to say, so I'll be out of—"

You wrap your arms around him, stopping him mid-sentence. The footballer is slow to reciprocate it, but when he does, you're transported back in time. It feels like you're eight again, and Jamie's football team just won the finals. It feels like you're fifteen again, and you've made up during a midnight run to the grocery after a stupid argument. It feels like you're seventeen again, saying goodbye to the only boy you've ever loved.

"I don't know if I'm ready to forgive you yet, Jamie. To go back to how it was before." You finally answer, and if you're being honest, you don't think you ever could go back. "But I want to be able to," you whisper and you feel him relax even more in your arms. "Just, don't fuck it up and leave again. Because I'd really love to have you in my life again."

"I promise I won't." And this time, you believe him.

A/N: and there you go! the angst is over! (or is it? muahaha) some cameos from liv and ted to help snap jamie out of it :) i had written jamie's apology monologue the same time i wrote reader's angry monologue from chapter three with some slight revisions when i put them in their respective chapters, so hopefully it matches up well stay tuned for the next chapter!!

TAGLIST: @moonflowersandsparkles @faith-alons26 @rexorangecouny @aiyaiy @thegirlthatwantedtowrite @giggling-sewer-ginger @katdahlali @higherthanheroes @guccilongboard @alipap3 @rockchickrebel @ellietartt @shineforever19 @skewedcherries @jamietarttdodo @meg-ro @deepdarkvelvet @taytaylala12 @scaramou @rae4725 @oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo (couldn't tag you for some reason?)

[itsmebytch001]

Smoking It Away: Part 1

18++ Please!

Summary: You are Aarons daughter, but being that you and Miles are so close in age you two are more siblings, recently he noticed your erratic behavoiour, he calls you out and you come clean to him about your drinking and weed, but when he caves and tell's your Dad Aaron, he finds more than just weed and Vodka.

TW: Drugs, Yandere platonic Miles, Rio, jeff and Aaron who is alive.

You come home not having announced yourself hearing rustiling noise coming from your room, immeditlay you feel the sweat on your neck drip as you stand down the hallway hearing the rummage, you Know it's Dad and you begin to think maybe it's best to make a run for it now? Go to Mile's place? But would Auntie Rio let you stay if she knew what you had been doing?

You knew it wasn't a good idea to tell Miles about the pills, or the drinking but he was clever and was cathcing on quick, he was your sudden extreme joy and dialted eyes, you sudddently all you wanted was to eat and hug, how you were missing massive chunks of school at a time to later find you wondering the streets high out your mind observing the sky or bright city lights, he was scared for you.

As you stood outside the your door panicked, on the other side Aaron was frantically taking your room apart, he had empited every draw, your closet, all your shoe boxes and under the bed but he hadn't found anything yet, until... he stood and heard an unsual creek, he weighed his foot back over the same plank of wood hearing the creek again before lying down the lift the plank off the board, and that's where he found it.

Your'e little collection of goodies, your MDMA, your weed, your shrooms you were yet to try and a half drank bottle of Vodka.

He's mortified, vene though deep down he probably knew, he was how somtimes when you came home all you wanted to do was have him hold you and chat his ear off, he didn't mind it was nice actucally, but it threw him off

but he had caught you know, it was over. You went for the door, maybe you'd just stay at a mates house, turn your phone off and hope he wouldn't get Jeff involed in finding you like he had before when you had pulled your last stunt.

And just the door handle is in reach you hear your door swing open.

Aaron:" Y/N DAVIS!"

I mean, I could still make a break for it.

He see's you standing by the front door, your hand on the door knob.

Aaron:" You make a break for it I will drag you back inn by your hair, I don't care who see's"

You turn the knob.

Aaron:"I fucking mean it Y/N don't play with me"

Run

And so you swing open the front door and run down the hall, you hear you Dad's heavy boots bellow after you and you sprit down the stairs and out the building and dissapear into the crowd.

It had been sevral hours form when you had ran off, you hand't stopped moving so you hadn't checked your phone, so it was late into the night that you fianlly checked your phone, only to see what you completyley expected.

Auntie Rio-18 notifications.

Uncle Jeffe-22 notifications.

Miles- 37 notifications.

Dad-57 notifications.

You dare not open Rio's texts, she would be the most harsh in her messages than anyone else, and you were stressed enough hiding under a filthy bridge.

But you did read though Mile's texts:

Miles: Y/N Your Dad is freaking out where r u Miles: Srlsy Y/N my dad has put out a APB for you just come home Miles: I'm sorry i sniched but i was getting worried. Miles: there not even angry, just worried Miles: That was a lie, they are mad but they are alos reallllly worried Miles: Y/n im sure we can all just talk this out your dad is actually starting to have like a panic of attac of somthin can you please just come back Miles: my mom said shed make those wraps you like? Miles: aaron aint't even mad no more, he's just scared Miles: Can you please come home

Then you opended Uncle Jeffe's texts:

Uncle Jeffe: Y/N we know about what's been happeing we should talk Uncle Jeffe: Aaron has the pills this is serious Uncle Jeffe: Y/N You can't just stay out forever, It's best if you just give us a call, and i can come pick you up Uncle Jeffe: I'm not trying to scare you, but i have put out a APB for you Uncle Jeffe: You are only making it worse by running off like this Uncle Jeffe: Your father is deeply distressed come home

You didn't read your Dad's text's. you didn't want the grife, but you begin to listen to your 56 VOCIE MAILS.

You Have 56 voice, press one to play voice mails.

press one

Its Rio, Oh god.

Rio: "Y/n is this true? Pills now really? Are you serious? You want to waste away everything your father did for some pills?! when I get my hand on you Y/n I'm going to-"

Miles:"Mami! She's not going to come home if you threaten her!"

End Of Voice Message.

Another, It's Jeffe.

Jeffe: "come on now Y/N, this isn't a escape plan you can't stay outside in the streets forever now, just pick up the phone make this easy, were all looking for you right now I'm in my cruiser down 7th and Iv'e got people all over looking for you, just call back"

End Of Voice Message.

Anther, Its Miles:

Miles:" Y/n please just fucking pick up the phone the whole house is freaking out! you got cocaine in that fucking bag? YOU told me it was just fucking weed and some vodka not fucking powders I'm getting toasted by my parents right now they might arrest me!"

Oh God, theyr'e going to arrest you...

Another play automatically, Its Rio Again.

Rio: "ANSWER THE FUCKING PHONE BEFORE YOU GIVE YOUR FATHER A HEART ATTACK!!"

You hang up after that, you don't want to hear another one, but as you do you recive another text...

Uncle Jeffe: You know we can track you phone, right?

How wierldy threatning.

You turn off the power to your phone and get on the move immdeiabley on the run in New York.

Wondering, Wondering and Wondering some more you had covered so much land you had left Brooklyn, and surley Jeffe and his goon police men wouldn't look for you outside Brooklyn, right?

But seriolusy you were running out of cash, it was almost morning and still you were trying to stick it out and for what? Your body was exashsted, and all you wanted to was sleep in a bed, instead of having to pay for constant stream on enegry drinks.

So here you are, at 3 am alone in an alley sipping on your suagry drink making hands shake.

ring ring

ring ring

It's Dad, It's Aaron.

You pick up.

Aaron: "Y/n? Baby I'm so glad you picked up"

...

...

Aaron:"Hello?"

Aaron:" I can hear your breathing Y/n can you just say a word to me?"

...

Aaron: "Please Baby you are stressing me out and that's not good for an old man like myself, we can talk about this just pleas-"

You hang up, feeling like a bitch.

You don't want to go back and face them, you are not an addict it's not like that but you can't go back home, they would try and lable as 'needing help' and swarm you with thier 'love'.

But what the hell are you going to do?

It's so damm early and you want to sleep but all the enery drinks you've consumed wouldn't allow that, so you began to walk it off down the streets.

Maybe a homless shelter? You Thought.

No, Bit scummy I'm not actually homless. You decide.

So you sleep on the streets tonight, using your coat as a blanket you try and ride it out even though you'd know you'd barley sleep due to all that sugar.

Morning come's as you wake too a familar face above you. as your eyes clear and you focus on the face...

Its fucking Jeffe.

Jeffe: "Y/N" he says plainly as he pulls you up forcefully helping you up by hand, placing a hand on your shoudler as he pushed you to the back of his cruiser, cleary he looks very tired.

As he drives you home in his car you begin to shake, your not sure if it's the stress, the sugar of the fear. you know all 3 of them are going to be waiting for you home to scould you, maybe to yell and scream. you see Jeffe glaring at you in his rear view mirror, he looks so...sad?

Jeffe: " Y/n..."

You passivley ignore him.

Jeffe: "Y/N." He says strenly.

Y/N: "Yeah?"

Jeffe: "Do you know what youv'e done?"

Y/N: "Yeah."

Jeffe: "Really? Do you understand what your'e doing? I should arrest you not shoffere you home"

Y/N: "then let me out the car!"

Jeffe:"Don't you dare give me lip right now Y/n! You know is Aaron hadn't begged me not to I would arrest you, maybe I still will!" he turns to look at you while driving.

Jeffe: "And youv'e roped Mile's into it!"

Y/N: "That's not true"

Jeffe:" Inst't it?"#

Y/N:"no, I haven't done anything with him, never drank or smoked or pills or anything"

Jeffe: "But he knew?"

Y/N: "yeah, he got all 'I'm gonna tell your dad unless you tell me what's going on' "

Jeffe: "And what did you tell him?"

Y/N:" I told him I was smoking on the side and drinking on the weeknds"

Jeffe:" and were you?"

Y/N: "yeah"

Jeffe: "so what was all that stuff Aaron had around, you telling me you didn't take that?"

Y/N: "No I did, I just didn't tell him

Jeffe: "So your'e a lair and a drug addict?"

Y/N: "I am not an addict!"

Jeffe:"So your'e a lair?"

You rolled you eyes at him.

Jeffe: "Don't you roll your eyes at me young lady!"

He stopped the car, you thought he was about to yell at you some more, until you realised he had parked outside his block.

He pulled you out the back seat and esseinatlly shoved you up the stairs until you reached his front door, you were under the impression he would take you to your own home but no.

oh god oh god.

As Jeffe opended his front door you felt your body tense, you wanted to run again, but you had been caught.

Openeing the entrance you see the brown sofa, and sat on it was Rio, Miles and your Dad.

Oh fuck me...

(There shall be a pt2)

[chronically-ghosted]

ohhh boy. sorry in advance for ask length.

okay so, i've been trying to pick myself up by my bootstraps and actually get to sending my favorite writers the appreciation they deserve more often, because i often find myself a guiltily silent reader. partly because i'm afraid i'm intruding, but also because i honestly don't know what TO say, and it ultimately always ends up extremely long anyway. very, very long. i ramble so much. i'm sure you can tell already.

so i have a list, and as i was moving down it i came to realize that a massive chunk of fics that i *loved* have come from you. to the point where if i did my usual thing and tried to break down each one, it would probably hit some kind of ask text limit?

when i say your entire masterlist is oops all bangers, i MEAN that your entire masterlist is oops all bangers. i haven't even had the chance to read through it all, but you somehow manage to make even tropes that don't usually catch my eye so good that i can't help but read to the end. i'm going to limit myself to only one FOR NOW, so i don't clog your whole inbox. but i'll be back (*shaking my fist like a cartoon villain*)

my favorite dieter thing you've ever written is "i crawl home to her". maybe it's just because i love how you characterize him in general (i do) and i love your work (i do!!!) but this one really got to me. feeling so alienated by family during obligatory holidays is such an agonizing experience, and the whole time through the fic i found myself really thinking and feeling basically everything the reader was. what? who bodysnatched our boyfriend?? how did he change that fast?? why is he talking like that????

the costume change actually made me laugh. i have no idea where he pulled the magic bag of tricks and gifts from, but i like to imagine that secretly he'd been planning the whole thing from the moment they said go. reader thought they would have to shield him from their shitty family, take on that burden alone because as much as they love him he isn't reliable... only for him to immediately and hilariously prove them wrong. not only was he ready, he was READY. set? go.

we love dieter for his messiness, so seeing him pull himself together to support the person he loves, and then for that support to be rewarded and reinforced by them saying they want him, the real him, damned be the people who might judge him, how dare they? that was so sweet. they were both so sweet. and spicy, obviously. but my heart felt it the most.

most importantly; thank you so much for sharing. i tear through your works like i'm starving, and while i promised not to talk about more than one... i need you to know that i love "just one more thing" javi, "the days i spend with you" marcus, "i'm empty without you, so come grow within me" joel, "can you see my reflection in the snow covered hills" dieter (OKAY maybe i have two favorite dieter things from you and i just read the other one more recently, this one is so SO a tie), and so many more. you are amazing. your writing is amazing. it's so, so kind of you to share it with people when you have no obligation to, and i thank you for it. it's beautiful. also your blog header is amazing. max is such a black and white horror movie villain, it fits so well.

okay that's enough, sorry for how horrifically long that got. hope you have a lovely day, and may your faucets never suffer from calcification ❤️ (is that a unique enough well-wish? you deserve one.)

nonnie.

dearest nonnie. i have one single question...

why are you nonnie i cant hug you in secret

i've been holding onto this ask for a while. mostly because i read it once initially and my brain promptly leaked out of my ears so I had to put it away. Then as my lack of engagement over here grew, I just kept feeling more and more guilty about not responding. you put so much effort into this wonderful, incredible ask and i just neatly tucked it away. genuinely, i am so sorry it's taken this long to respond.

as for the ask itself, wow?? rarely do my dieter fics get their own asks, despite him being maybe my favorite pedro boy. i am fiercely protective of him and cannot stomach how parts of this fandom write him. It's fine for others, but sometimes it just curdles my blood. "i crawl home to her" was a comfort-write for me because i feel required to put on a show and dance for so many people who see what they want to see in me and i feel like dieter would never ask that of anyone. he doesn't mind being the monkey in the spotlight if it means you're at ease. i feel like he would be very sensitive to your anxiety and that just makes me melt.

sorry - this is turning into a very long ask but with dieter, you've opened a can of worms. My personal favorite dieter fic that i've written is "Recovery Road". that fic is very personal and as AU as it is, it felt very meaningful for me to write. it also covers a lot of heavy topics so no shame if you can't pick it up.

You are always welcome in my ask box, especially if you clog it up with dieter thoughts and feelings. Heck you're welcome anywhere any time on my blog!

this really genuinely means a lot and im gonna go scream about it some more!

[databuffer]

Terribly sorry to bother you once again. I just finished Marathon 2 and I don't know anyone else to get answers from. That ending text confused the hell out of me. Durandal doesn't interact with ''man'' for the next thousand years? Didn't he teleport us back to his ship at the end of the final level? Also, I like to know what's coming up ahead, so I went to check the synopsis of Marathon Infinity before downloading it. The whole jumping around in time/different realities thing does not interest me, so I'm probably going to abstain from that one. But I saw the first (and only?) Durandal terminal which says he wishes he could've sent the human to explore the Lowon ruins. But...he did? In Marathon 2? Does Infinity retcon the second game?

You’re all good, no worries. Ok so the line is

It was ten thousand years before fate brought Durandal once again into contact with man.

I sort of interpreted it as a generalized ‘man’. The society as a whole, and not only “””human””” he liked enough to continue to keep with him. But also its completely possible the security officer died of old age at that point, or is being stowed in cryo until he’s needed. Might still be kicking tho. He’s not fully human, and Durandal would for sure wanna keep him alive and kicking as long as possible. Buy anyway. The ending of Marathon 2 is the ending of that timeline.

Marathon Infinity however is a bit of a mind fuck, and takes place across several timelines where things didn’t go as smoothly as they do in Marathon 2. Its several nonlinear retellings of the battle for lh’owon where you’re jumping around and trying to find a timeline where the Pfhor or Tycho DONT piss off a very very very real S’pht chaos god, and wake it up to eat the universe. I wouldn’t say it retcons the second game exactly, its sort of like an alternate retelling. Durandal IS in it, however not as prevalent as the second game, as a big part of it is that a good chunk of the timelines place you as Tycho’s to command.

I would say its fun to play if you’re invested in the characters (especially Tycho) and wanna see new perspectives and learn about the player character as a person, but also its a lot of metaphor, and difficult to follow. If you’re having a hard time understanding where you’re at, this little chart is a big help. But generally, just keep in mind that dream levels are a segway into new timelines, and that all the terminals on those levels aren’t Thoth, despite the shared logo.

If you don’t wanna deal with it, you can play Marathon Rubicon X. Its a really really really massive fan game thats well written (tho the level design is Terrible) that picks up after Marathon 2. However it does keep the character development of the security officer from Marathon Infinity.

[apileofashandember]

🌵🍄🧩

🌵 ⇢ share the link to a playlist you love

Im going to be honest here, I'm not an avid playlist user... I just hit ahuffle and call it a day, or create a queue based on the vibes I want... sorry!!

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

oof just one? Okay...

Assuming you've stumbled upon my blog from my more recent fics, I'll go with Perchabeth.

My headcanon is that when are of them are really tired or having a bad time, they immediately crawl into the others' arms and everyone around them gets used it, and only realize how often they do it when they accidentally do it in front of their godly parents.

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

For starters, first person POV. Very few times I can handle it, but honestly, if I see an 'I', I click the 'x' so fast. Another thing would be either poor punctuation or if the fic is just like one massive chunk of text with.

There's other stuff too, but i don't wanna seem so ranty about it...

[dagger-n-ravvi]

Chapter 12: Bottoms Up

Trey confronts the stalker in the warehouse.

Chapter contains attempted suicide, non-consensual drugging, and kidnapping.

Previous | Next Chapter | Fic Index

A03 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49350448?view_full_work=true

Carpenter Beach is not much of a beach. It’s pebbled and heavily over-built with piers that stink of brine and dead oysters at low tide. The warehouses are a series of joyless, gray buildings that hug the docks. At one time, they were bustling with workers loading and unloading goods that had come from the Scalding Sands and the Shaftlands. Now they’ve largely been abandoned in favour of the newer, more strategically located downtown docks. There’s been grumbles in local politics for years about tearing the whole place down and turning it into a national park, but it hasn’t happened yet. Too expensive.

Warehouse 12 is the last one in the row. Trey and Chenya had gotten there as fast as possible, arriving fifteen minutes before the deadline. Chenya had gone in just a bit ago, to scout ahead and try to find Rook and Cater.

The silence is oppressive and heart-wrenching as the last few minutes before Trey’s deadline creep by. The warehouse looms over him. Its big, sliding front doors have fallen open a few inches, even though a chain and padlock is wrapped around the handles. The darkness past it seems to beckon to him with the promise of more abuse, and fear.

After what might have been an eternity of waiting, a text comes in from Chenya.

Chenya: Found them!! 

Trey Clover:

Good! Can you get them out? 

Chenya: trying, chained to wall 

Trey sucks in a breath, and then glares at the padlocked doors.

Trey Clover:

I’ll give you time. I’m coming in. 

Trey walks up to the doors, pulls them forward enough to make the gap bigger, and then ducks through underneath the chain.

It’s dark inside. Indistinct shapes suggest themselves from the gloom as his eyes sluggishly adjust. His footsteps echo slightly, suggesting that the space beyond is enormous…

His phone buzzes in his pocket. Trey jumps, then pulls it out. Is it Chenya? Are they safe?!

His heart sinks as he reads the text.

Unknown #: You’re late :( 

Trey Clover:

I’m sorry. 

Unknown #: I forgive you <3 

Trey grits his teeth, forcing down his growing anger as he types back a reply.

Trey Clover:

Thank you… can we talk? 

Unknown #: Soon.  I have a gift for you. 

Trey Clover:

I have a question… Do you want me to love you? 

The answer comes so rapidly that it’s almost startling.

Unknown #: yes 

Trey Clover:

Then I need you to let my friends go. Alive. 

Unknown #: Soon <3  For you. 

Trey Clover:

If you are lying to me… Then you won’t have me at all. Understand? 

Unknown #: I want you~ …  Can I give you my present now? 

Trey pauses, reaching into his shoulder bag and running his fingers over the side of his thermos. 

Trey Clover:

Sure 

The warehouse lights come on with a loud, resonant clunk and an electrical hum. The room he’s in is a wide, open area the size of a basketball court. At one time, it probably had rows of massive shelves in neat aisles along the floor, but they’ve all been stripped away. Only the rusted, metal bolts that had anchored them to the floor remain.

In the center of the room, glittering like a diamond against the cracked, concrete floor, is a beautiful, glass table.  A delicate, crystal bottle with a red ribbon tied around it has been placed teasingly in the center.

Trey looks at the table for a long moment, and then looks up. Above him is a mezzanine level with a row of darkened office windows. There’s a set of metal stairs that lead up to it at the opposite end of the room. Tucked into the space below the stairs are a pair of dimly lit, unisex bathrooms with the doors hanging slightly askew.

The floor is littered with crumpled paper, broken chunks of concrete, and seagull droppings. It’s clearly been abandoned for years. He takes a deep breath, and then reaches fir his phone.

Trey Clover:

uuuh… wow. Did you buy this? 

Unknown #: Ha ha noooooo 

Trey approaches the table, feet heavy. 

Trey Clover:

You know if you wanted to take me out to dinner, I can think of better places. Actually I’d rather have been approached with dinner when you decided to make yourself known three days ago 

Unknown #: You want to go out to dinner? <3 

He squints at the bottle. It holds about two tablespoons of clear, red liquid, and has a tag hanging around the neck that says ’Drink Me.’ Clearly more drugs.

Trey Clover:

Honestly if you knew me as well as you say you do, then you should know that I’m easy. What is this? A potion? 

Unknown #: A gift. Bottoms up~

Trey opens the top, and gives it a sniff, swirling it. 

Trey Clover:

You REALLY like drugging me. 

Unknown #: I like you relaxed. 

Trey Clover:

I like being present. Can you see me? 

Unknown #: Yes <3 

Trey Clover:

Then here is my gift. My consent. I won’t fight you. No drugs. 

He puts the bottle back down, chest tight as he types. ‘Please let this be enough.’ 

Unknown #: But you’re so tense! It won’t hurt you. Promise. 

Trey Clover:

No worries. I prepared tea. Here I’ll drink some right now. It’s chamomile.  

Trey uncaps his thermos and puts it to his lips. He can barely stand the smell. Bitter, and so astringent it nearly makes him gag.

Unknown #: Not the same :(  … If you drink it I’ll show you my real face. No fancy mask. No tricks. 

You’ll probably be really disappointed though.

Trey Clover:

It’s a very strong blend! But if you insist, how can I refuse? 

Trey forces himself to drink three, disgusting mouthfuls from the thermos. He puts the cap back on, and then downs the stalker’s potion, breathing hard through his nose as he struggles to keep himself from immediately throwing up. 

Trey Clover:

That was so gross. 

Unknown #: Awwww, sorry. I’m not so good with flavours. 

The lights come on in the mezzanine level, revealing the figure in the black bodysuit standing just inside one of the windows. They wave their phone at him, then cup it in one hand and tap the screen with a thumb.

Unknown #: Come on up.  

Trey forces a smile, heart pounding in his ears as he begins making his way up. The metal stairs echo with each step.

At the top pf the stairs is a short walkway, protected by a chest-high handrail. Behind it, a door leads into the offices. The stalker opens the door, and then almost shyly holds out a hand for him to take.

“Come here, I have something to show you.” 

Trey swallows hard, then forces himself to take the figure’s hand. “I thought you were going to show me your face?”

”I will~” 

They lead him through the offices and to the other side ”Right… through… here!” 

They open the door to another mezzanine walkway. Rook and Cater are chained to the railing by their wrists, and heavily gagged with duct tape. They recoil hard when the stalker opens the door, shaking their heads at Trey and screaming at him through the tape. Chenya is beside them, head hanging heavy and wrists tightly chained in the same position. He seems unconscious, but it’s hard to tell. His entire head is covered by a heavy, black hood.

”I caught a little sneak~” the stalker proudly presses a finger to Chenya’s hooded forehead, pushing his head up.

“…please… let them go.” Trey leans heavily against the wall, his voice weak, and his body swaying. Guilt and dread burns down the back of his neck, and makes his mouth overfill with nauseous saliva. “I swear… I’ll do anything. But only if they leave here alive. Please.” 

“I already promised,” the stalker soothes. He lets go of Chenya and his head lolls to his chest with heart wrenching limpness. ”Do you still want to see my face?”

Rook is glaring furiously at the stalker, breathing hard through his nose. Cater is trembling with tears pouring down his face, shaking his head slowly.

“I do.” Trey nods, giving them a painful smile and swallowing hard as his mouth overfills with saliva. His body badly wants him to throw up, and it’s a struggle to fight it. “Sorry… I’m feeling woozy.”

“It’s all right.”  

The stalker settles him on a metal folding chair, and then teasingly sits astride his lap. They cup Trey’s hands and bring them up to their face, slipping his fingers under the edge of the mask…

The fabric falls aside, and Cater is staring back at him, expression uncertain and uncomfortable.

“Hi Trey.” His voice is soft, and hollow.

“This isn’t a trick? You aren’t some stranger using my friend’s face? I…?” Trey looks between the Cater sitting on his lap, and the Cater chained to the mezzanine railing. 

“No, I promised. Hey me, watchu doing over there?”

The chained Cater shrugs, and then disappears into a little flurry of diamond-shaped sparkles. A ‘Split Card’ clone.

“Chenya thought I looked sad, so he tried to let me go first, before Rook-Chan,” Cater hums. Rook makes a furious noise and yanks at the chains, fighting them for a moment in frustrated anger before falling still, chest heaving. 

“So I jabbed him~ Same thing I gave you on our first night.”

“… What’s… the plan now? You have me…” Trey’s motivation to kill the stalker fades into dull, pitying sorrow as he stares back at Cater’s eyes. He can’t… he just can’t. Not when it’s Cater… 

"The plan? I have to let them go now, because I pwomised," Cater pouts. "But I miiiiight keep them long enough to scrub their memories. Otherwise Rook will murder me~"

Rook makes a soft, angry noise and Cater sticks his lip out at him. "He's mad because I went through all his notes on everyone. He has sooooo many creepy notes! There’s literally whole book on just Chenya. Did you know that his UM only works if he knows where he is, and where he's going? If he's lost... then uh oh!" Cater gives Chenya's heavily hooded head a little finger wag. "No hopping around through dimensions. It's why he's so obsessed with paths and directions and all that."

“But how… how did you get into my apartment? Wait… did you… like… build a stack of yous? And climb through the window?” Trey wonders aloud. His head is so fuzzy. His heart is pounding in his temples, and little trembles are running down the lengths of his arms and legs.

"Actually, I was in the bakery the whole time. I figured out where to stand so I was under your closet and then..." Cater flicks his hand upward. "I stood on the counter and ‘Split Card!’ There's a me in your closet. And then Rook comes sniffing around, ugh." He gives Rook an angry smile. "So unsplit, and then the other me goes poof. Easy." 

“Then… who…? Wait, did I actually just forget to close that window?”

Cater shrugs. "Wasn't me."

“Wow… maybe I really did just forget,” Trey sighs. “What about the hotel room? How were you able to afford the penthouse?”

"I borrowed Rook's credit card~"

“Ah… that’s mean…”

"It reaaaaally helped that he was super sleepy after he left your place that first night. What did you give him? It really knocked him out," Cater smiles knowingly.

“Just chamomile tea.” Trey responds, with a faint laugh. “Cater…” His heart feels like it’s breaking into ten million pieces as his vision starts to fade. “How did you know about Ms. Rosehearts?”

"Ohhhh, that. About a month ago, I was talking to Riddle," Cater rests his head against Trey's shoulder. "I got him drunk on accident, and he mentioned that his mom really went after you. Like, scary went after you. And then after that, she vanished. He never told the police, and the guilt over that really stuck with him, ha ha. So I put two and two together. Also Rook put it together, with a lot of extra theories as he do. He thinks she tried to stab you."

Rook deliberately looks away, hands curling into fists.

"But that doesn't matter now. You're going to come with me." Cater snuggles into his chest with a possessive little sigh.

“Where… are we going?” 

"Anywhere we want to go. Somewhere I can have you all to myself," Cater pouts. "Why didn't you just let me keep the mask on? It was easier when you didn't know."

Over along the mezzanine rail, Chenya stirs weakly, tugging at the chains with a muffled, confused noise.

“I bet it was…” Trey can’t help but lament the same feelings. It was easier… easier when he didn’t know who this was. When he could hate a faceless enemy and not feel so torn and guilty. “Please… please let them go right now. We have a nice thing going right? No need for them to stay?” It might be the last thing he ever says. His chest feels as though its being crushed, and he can barely breathe. His chest hitches, and a light froth bubbles up between his lips, coating his tongue with a bitter, metallic taste.

“I already said…” Cater sighs, and then double-takes, staring down at Trey's face. "What…?" 

His eyes widen and he snatches up the thermos, opening the lid and taking a sniff. He recoils with a horrified expression. "WHAT IS THIS?!"

“Chamomile… tea…” Trey falls limp against the folding chair, light fading from his eyes as he succumbs to the cocktail of poisons he brewed to save his friends.

[crazy-grrrl-on-the-computer]

Okay, sorry for suddenly appearing, but I'm too curious for my own sake. There are posts you tag with some of your OC and now I'm interested in Dark and Justice. Both are that kind of pair I would love.

I AM SO SORRY IT HAS BEEN 84 YEARS AND SO MUCH HAS CHANGED, BUT I PROMISE THEY’RE EVEN COOLER NOW!

JUSTICE TRANSED HIS WHOLE IDENTITY AND IS NOW A VAMPIRE NAMED DAMIEN, AND DARK MURDERED HIS EVIL EX AND STOLE HIS NAME //WHOOPS

Aaaah, thank you for asking about the murder babes!!!!! ;;3;; But please, you never have to apologize for asking about my OCs~ I love talking about them and I’m really glad you were curious for more information even if I somehow entirely forgot to post the original reply I had typed up before everything changed and only just recently rediscovered this Ask still floating around in my inbox!

Dark is my OC and Damien belongs to my friend @dirtflavoredcoke (you can find more OC-related stuff on their @kieranocemporium blog)

The ship has a new tag on my blog now to represent the new era and also because of just how much has changed about Damien’s backstory!

Warning: There is a massive chunk of text with accompanying art below the cut! ^^

Damien was born human to a farming family in Geneva, New York alongside his sister, Quinn, sometime during the early 1900s (1896, to be exact). Their father had hoped for many children, particularly boys, to help out around the farm but was disappointed that it appeared he had two daughters. “Appeared” being the keyword because little did they know that the promiscuous boy-crazy eldest who was caught on at least one occasion with the hired farm hand in the loft was a boy the entire time. This, of course, Quinn knew and accepted even if she didn’t fully understand her brother yet.

Although their father would have preferred him to “focus on becoming a proper lady and wife”, Damien began a career as a sex worker despite the growing risk of imprisonment that came with the US government’s rising concern about prostitution and the spread of venereal diseases brought on by the first World War. Also, he may or may not have endured some pregnancy-related trauma (miscarriage or abortion) while working that job. Either way, it is safe to presume that this wasn’t the first or last era where he would serve some amount of jail time for offenses including but possibly not limited to public intoxication, obscenity, and patronizing speakeasies during Prohibition.

But by the 1920s, Damien was dying from tuberculosis and, short of better options for survival, he allowed his vampire partner at the time to bite him and save his life. Damien had hoped that turning would allow him to spend more time with Quinn, since he had always felt quite protective of her (an understatement for sure), but he wound up having to leave her behind for her own protection, so his family assumed he had simply died from the illness. (He would later find out that Quinn would run away in grief and be turned without consent by a different vampire that same year, but they wouldn’t reunite until many decades later.)

Unfortunately, Damien’s taste in men had proven to be less than stellar, so after getting what he wanted (the bite) he left his asshole partner in the dust to figure out life as a vampire on his own. This was much easier said than done, but it did allow him to finally start transitioning socially and later, as gender-affirming care advanced in the states, he would begin to transition medically too. At some point along the way, he took up escort work until he decided to “retire” from the working life because he is admittedly too lazy to work and doesn’t think he should have to.

But this is where the backstory gets a bit blurry to my knowledge, so I will leave that up to Kieran to clarify.

Dark, birth name Ezra, is a poltergeist. I’m still working out the details of his backstory from when he was alive, but so far I’ve decided that he is descended from Italian immigrants who came to US America during the first Italian diaspora (+ he’s Irish on his mother’s side) and he died sometime in 1960s New York.

A combination of unchecked mental health struggles and a repressive Catholic upbringing during a high-tension war era already rife with racial prejudices bred just the right conditions for a rebellious streak in him. He gravitated toward the greaser subculture and acted out in ways that didn’t exactly win him many points with his contemporaries, but he was less concerned about fitting in and more focused on proving that he was his own person. Ezra had his eye on a girl, but her older brother did not approve of him and consistently tried to get between them. Eventually, in the heat of a confrontation, Ezra snapped and killed them both. While on the run, he was ultimately killed in a shootout with the police.

In hindsight, he realized much later that he had probably been trying to use the relationship to get close to her brother too but had mistaken that desire for jealousy and acted out in rage. That rage connected with his violent end is what wound up turning him into a poltergeist, which has ironically given him a lot of time to reflect through the decades and discover himself as a person via unhindered exposure to different types of people he had previously never been able to know or conceive of.

At some point, he wound up drawn to a psychic alongside four other poltergeists. A psychic’s purpose in what I call the Extended Monster Universe is more or less to act as a therapist to spirits who need to move on, but given that Lexy was only in high school and barely aware of this ability… she wasn’t exactly the best at it. But because she was determined for them all to get along and wasn’t picky about what she called her new poltergeist friends, Ezra started using Dark as an alias to avoid the irritating ordeal of being known. Unfortunately, there was an exorcist-in-training at her school who sniffed them out rather quickly. It took Dustin a while to bypass Lexy’s determination to keep her friends safe, but he eventually managed to trap them all in a spirit orb and pass them off to his older siblings – Lila and Brentley, two bounty hunters who specialize in artifacts.

It was in transit that they literally bumped into Jesse, a nobody trying to escape a bad situation, accidentally breaking the spirit orb and allowing the weakened poltergeists to seek refuse in his body. Terrified and confused, Jesse continued running and only later found out that he had somehow become a share soul for five very different poltergeists with very conflicting personalities. What this meant was that, in their desperation for safety, they had temporarily attached themselves to his soul for stability until they could regain enough of their power to figure out how to leave… and they were fighting for control. Sympathizing with them to an extent and realizing that they were on the run from the same people, Jesse made a deal with them that he would help the poltergeists find a way to escape if they helped him to avoid the bounty hunters who might do him harm for winding up in the middle of their mess.

A cross-dressing rom-com adventure unfolded from there as the poltergeists took turns attempting to resolve the “bad situation” Jesse had initially been running from and help him seduce Brentley once they realized a relationship could garner them access to artifacts that might release them from Jesse’s body. The romance wound up being more real than anyone was expecting and once again Dark was pushed to come to terms with his own sexuality. In any case, Jesse pulled through for them and the poltergeists made a break for it back out into the world at the first opportunity. From there, Dark no longer cared what happened to the other four or where they ended up (he would later on learn that at least three of them found their way back to Lexy for old time’s sake) – he felt more powerful than ever and he was going to make that the world’s problem.

This is more or less when Dark met Damien.

[This is where I would insert art of them together, if I had any recent ship art for them, but I wanted to get this reply out there sooner rather than later. ;;n;;]

One night, Dark happened to interrupt a vampire’s dinner. Seeing as he was already dead and harboring his own urge to kill, he decided that the smartest course of action would be to use the threat of exposure to blackmail Damien into letting him in on these hunts.

Of course he didn’t realize it for a long while, but practically from the moment he opened his mouth Damien already wanted a piece of him. The way Damien saw it, it was real cute that a cocky poltergeist thought he cared about something as inconsequential to him as exposure, but he did prefer his men to be the “take charge” type and what better aphrodisiac could there be than bloody murder.

Playing his newfound partner for sport seemed to be exactly what Dark wanted… until their accompliceship turned into a flirtationship (no thanks to Damien’s dirty mouth), which found its way to the bedroom (figuratively speaking). To say that Dark wasn’t the best at flirting/relationships would be an understatement, as most people think he is too awkward and blunt, but he’s a quick and willing learner. If he hadn’t recently spent so much time in the body of someone who was very accustomed to casual friendly flirtation, he might have picked up on Damien’s attraction to him sooner.

But eventually it did slip out and Dark figured that, if playing house together satisfied Damien enough to give him what he wanted, he could make this  new development work for him. Damien’s feelings were initially just another way for Dark to maintain control of the situation (or so he thought), but Damien was hoping it would only be a matter of time until Dark finally made a romantic move that didn’t involve the bedroom. Living in such close proximity to Damien and Quinn meant getting used to their personalities, habits, and routines… and feeling some way about it. Soft things.

The first time Dark noticed that he was smiling fondly at Damien, he spiraled into an intense and prolonged internal debate. Fondness wasn’t an emotion he was familiar with and it was making him lose sight of his goals. The solution was simple: Damien was ruining him, so Dark needed to kill him. But… he shouldn’t be so hasty. Perhaps Damien was still useful. Did he… care?!

After grappling with the realization that Damien’s feelings were apparently contagious, he is currently satisfied with his decision to not kill his partner because if this is what love feels like then he’d just have to be okay with it. As it turns out, it’s really nice to feel comfortable enough with someone to let them watch his back for once instead of pushing them away. This is what he’d been missing out on all those years, so maybe he can allow himself to want it.

There is more to this story (more characters and more development), but this summarizes how their found family got here pretty well.

If you have a Toyhou.se account, you can take a peek at Dark’s current in-progress profile and see more images of him here, and you can also find Damien’s profile/gallery here. They’re a bit threadbare right now, since we’ve only recently gotten started on that site, but we’re making progress!!

More art can be found on Kieran’s instagram: kieranology.artz

Kieran also made an in-character aesthetic blog for Damien, which you can find here if you’re interested in seeing what kind of blog he would have (nugoth and vampires; warning for blood, suggestive, and simulated gore content): @damienxdeadly

Aesthetic Moon Divider found here.

[optimusphillip]

OptimusPhillip Reviews | Transformers: Legacy United Armada Universe Galvatron

Hello again, Tumblr! Life has gotten weird lately, so YouTube video production is kind of slow. But, I recently got a Transformer that I really want to talk about, so enjoy what will hopefully be a brief return to the text review format as I talk about Legacy United Armada Galvatron.

Tank Mode

Galvatron's vehicle mode is the H-tank that Hasbro seems to really like for some reason. That said, it does look pretty badass. The thick treads with the jagged bumpers make me feel sorry for anyone he ends up ramming. And the barrel is absolutely massive, looking like it could level a skyscraper with one blast. Even the exposed robot head adds to the look, with his giant horns coming out the front like a capture claw. They aren't hinged on this version, though, so it's more left to your imagination.

The detail work is impressive as always. In addition to the usual greeble, there's a ton of molded in details replicating the gimmicks of the original toy. On the front treads, you can see both the Mini-Con catapult, and the flip-out panels for extra Powerlinx plugs. And going around to the rear left, you can even see the edges of the Mini-Con storage hatch.

Of course, the turret is the real highlight of this design. Once again, we're not only seeing the accent detail from the original toy, but recreations of that toy's extra features. And on top of all that, there's even some extra paint that was missing from the Galvatron release. The speaker grill and Mini-Con turntable, both unpainted on Galvatron, are painted in charcoal gray, giving them an extra bit of pop. And with no LED to shine through it, the Decepticon symbol on the front is highlighted with some nice silver beneath the classic purple tampograph. Interestingly, the rail for deploying the missile launcher is styled after the Japanese toy, with a slight offset between the sideways locking position and the back of the channel. Don't know if that's for screen-accuracy, or just a little concession made for the Japanese design team.

But this all kind of brings me to my main problem with this mode. The fact that all of these features aren't actually there. The original toy had a lot of extra features to really hammer home the Mini-Con play pattern. Here, there's nothing he can do that you wouldn't expect from any other tankformer. He has wheels on the underside so he can roll, and the turret is articulated. Aside from that, he's got 5mm ports where the original had most of its Powerlinx plugs, and that's all you get.

Even the turret articulation is limited. For some reason, it can only rotate 90º to the left, and 135º to the right. So if there's a target anywhere from 5 o'clock to 9 o'clock, he's kind of screwed. The missile launcher from the original toy is here, but it can't point forward at all. It only folds out far enough to point straight up in tank mode, so it serves basically no purpose in this mode. It seems to be designed solely for robot mode.

And that's basically it for the tank mode. It looks really good, but is severely lacking in play value. He barely even crests the bare minimum for what a tank toy should do. He really could've benefited from borrowing at least a couple features from the original, like the fold-out catapult, one of the Mini-Con traps on the back, or even just having the missile launcher fold forward. As it is, it's little more than a nice display piece.

Conversion

If you know how the original Armada Megatron mold works, you likely won't be surprised by this toy's transformation, though there are some slight differences that mostly serve to give the tank a narrower profile. The rear treads come down to form the legs, albeit with some extra panels to shore things up, and a simpler transformation for the feet. The turret is also on a hinge that lets it get out of the way of the waist rotation, which is nice.

The torso is where things get a little more interesting. Two chunks come down to fill out the torso, then the arms shift down almost like the original Energon Megatron toy. Oh, by the way, make sure to lift up the Decepticon symbol panels before doing this. They actually tab into the chest panel, and will provide a surprising amount of resistance. The arms fold out from the shoulders like before, with an extra step to bring out the hands. Finally, just like the original toy, you have to bring down the panel covering his face. But instead of a slider, now you bring down the entire chest panel to fold it in on a hinge. Which feels a little bit overkill if you ask me, but whatever works, I guess.

It's basically what you'd expect from a modernized Armada Megatron toy, and I don't mean that in a bad way. I like transformations with big chunky parts shifting around smoothly, and the Unicron Trilogy had that in spades. So the fact that this figure sticks to that spirit is good news to me.

Robot Mode

In robot mode, Galvatron's color scheme is on full display. He seems to be drawing from multiple sources. The torso and limbs are done in anime-accurate lavender, rather than the pink used on the toy. But instead of the anime's flat white base color, this figure goes for a bone color more akin to the Takara toy. I think it comes together really well. Armada Galvatron's colors can easily come across as garish, but this figure manages to make it look imposing.

In terms of sculpt, this figure captures the asymmetric look of the original design quite well. The lines across the chest are straight out of the anime, while the exposed mechanisms on the forearms call to mind the original toy. I think the legs really take the cake here, though. Not only are the kneecaps both sculpted and painted differently, but the open mechanical panels are subtly different, and they even painted in the little extra vent on his left shin. I will always appreciate this kind of attention to detail.

What I didn't realize about this toy going in was that he actually has a slightly different head sculpt from the Megatron release. Instead of that version's stoic glare, this figure's face is sculpted in a permanent yell. I know some people will find this ridiculous, but I actually kind of like it. It really does capture the energy of the fight scenes in Armada, with everyone just shouting at the top of their lungs as they try to kill each other, like the early 2000s anime characters they were. Other than that, it's basically the head from the anime, tall horns and all. I'll admit, as kind of silly as they look, they are pretty intimidating. They're actually separate pieces, cast in soft plastic, and apparently can be taken off, but mine seem to be glued in place. It's probably a Bonecrusher situation, where they just weren't secured in place on some production runs, creating an unintended bit of play value.

Articulation was limited in the days of Armada, so I'm happy to say this figure is quite posable. The neck is on a ball joint, but most of its range is in rotation, rather than tilt. His arms swivel at the bicep, and bend just past 90º at the elbow. His wrists swivel, and the shoulders... well, this is where things get messy. Unlike the original toy, the massive shoulder treads don't rotate. This wouldn't be such a bad thing, if it weren't for the fact that the arm itself is still attached to the tread piece. This means that the arms can only move forward on a hinge, which makes posing his arms even more awkward than Studio Series Hot Rod.

Thankfully, things are much better below the belt. Even without moving the turret, the waist has a good range of swivel, and the hips are on proper universal joints, with nice ratcheting on the forward swivel. The thighs swivel, and the knees are on very solid ratchet joints. The toe and heel pieces can bend down from the transformation, and he also has an inwards tilt. Though I will note that the ankle tilt tabs into place very securely, I guess for tank mode, so that's gonna be a bit of a hassle.

So the articulation level is no slouch. But unfortunately, the awkwardness of his shoulder joints makes it almost impossible to pose his arms in any direction but outwards, which drastically limits the effective posability. This is a very rare instance where I would say an aftermarket upgrade is warranted, and fortunately, one exists.

Just like the original toy, this figure can assume the "Full Blast Mode". Pull the waist down on a slider, fold the turret out on its hinge, and get the arms out of the way, and you can rotate his midsection around to bring the turret to the front, where you can point all of the barrels forward at once for an all-out blast. I'll admit, this configuration looks a little naked without Leader-1, or I guess Clench here, but it still makes for a nice display... which is basically all this is good for. Because the turret can't do a complete rotation, you can't really do the spinning turret attack, the best you can do is spin the missile launcher bit for some reason. It's basically just here for looks. I'd question what the point of restricting the turret's rotation is... then I remembered how many hormonal pre-teens would be buying this toy, and suddenly it all clicked into place. Still annoying, though.

As for other features... the tank barrel can come off, and if you fold in one of the hands, you can peg it onto the stump. Which is... a neat trick, I guess. But that's basically it. He doesn't have any other accessories or features, not even his knife. The only other functionality he has is all the 5mm ports, which you can use to kit him out with accessories from other figures. Which of course, includes the armor pieces included with Titan Class Tidal Wave.

Final Thoughts

By all accounts, there's very little wrong with this toy. Aside from the awkward shoulders and limited turret rotation, he doesn't do anything bad. But the other side of that coin is that he doesn't really do anything at all. Look, I'm not saying I want all the spring-loaded and electronic gimmicks back from his original, I definitely see why those were stripped. But they've stripped so much away that the figure ends up feeling distressingly simplistic. I'm sorry, but if they can make fully working Triple-Changers at this size class, then I think they could've given this guy a few opening panels and an accessory weapon or two. As it is... he's fine, but he just kind of exists. Maybe if I had a Tidal Wave to pair him with, or a hypothetical Core Class Leader-1 (or would it be Clench in this case?), I'd like this guy more. Or maybe I'd be complaining about how much of this toy's functionality is paywalled.

[ruminate88]

Great Love and Loss:

08/16/24

Growing up in a positive and Christian home, I watched my parents give and give some more. I watched them help people and love people. I also found porn at 15, got very addicted to it and mistook that for “love” too. I had a very intense but twisted view on love. Not to mention the many romantic comedies I watched as well…. Both porn and the movies had clouded my upbringing and gave me toxic teachings. (Cuz it’s not real life)

I viewed love as this massive hurricane, waterfall, this massive storm blowing in and taking over my life. I thought love was pure, perfect and just the greatest thing EVER. I was so ready for love to break all my walls down!!!! I grew up believing real love could fix all your problems and just make every wrong right. I felt it so deep and felt I had soooooo much to give away. I had been the family caretaker already and was use to puting other’s needs before my own.

However, I had a wound from school where they labeled me and made me feel less than. Teachers made me feel incapable of doing things or being smart enough. I felt super weak and fearful of many things in life. I never felt good enough and so I worked so hard to make others feel AMAZING. I tried so hard to love people without end or judgement, even when I disagreed with them or their life choices.

When my ex Cody ghosted me though, he stole a portion of my love and my heart. He took out a chunk of my heart and ran with it. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 I was NOT the same person after he ghosted me. He changed me and made me start to question the power of love becuase of how cruel and cold he was but the moment he ghosted me, I missed him. Yes, he hurt me so much but I loved him so much. I could not understand back then that it wasn’t because I did anything wrong or wasn’t “good enough” it’s because Cody has his own personal issues to deal with and it just wasn’t anything my love could fix ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 cody I sorry!!!! I tried so hard to love you in your darkest of dark. I gave you so much of my heart and it’s never fully stopped hurting all these years later 😓 I try to ignore it all but it doesn’t go away.

Then I met a guy named Andrew and he was the first to make me feel something after Cody. I began to trust Andrew after a summer of “flirting” and him texting me good morning everyday… I actually believed I was “special” to Andrew. I was wrong 😔🥺💔 After many months of intermittent reinforcement, love bombing, empty promises and the cheating, I realized Andrew can’t care about me the way I do him. I was skeptical to start with becuase cody broke my trust and helped create emotional barriers within me. So, I already didn’t 100% trust Andrew although I was trying so hard cuz I was falling in love with Andrew and trying to get over cody….

I thought love was perfect and fixed everything and yet I was traumatized after but love wasn’t the problem…. The problem was there wasn’t love there. It was manipulative, betrayal and abusive. They must hurt so much and so they inflicted pain on me and not enough love in my heart made it better. My love can’t change anyone. They will only change for someone if they want to. Otherwise, they’ll continue to be cold and hurtful.

My heart with a wound that is slowly closing up and my stomach is knotted up and won’t unbend just yet. My jaw clenched as my eyes try to hold back the tears because my body knows how painful it is and how much work it’s gonna take to release it all.

I don’t give up through ❤️‍🩹 To truly forgive my exes; is to leave them in the past, let them go and try to continue to heal. I’ve been obsessively thinking of them and talking about too long and I tell myself my brain is just trying to catch up with my heart. I know this isn’t forever but I’m probably never gonna forget them and I sorta already have closure. I blocked Andrew’s number and of course, Cody ghosted me so he’s been gone out of my life for some time now….

allowing myself to feel it all and not beat myself or judge myself today ❤️‍🩹 I KNOW I loved them both sooooo much and not them or anyone else can take that from me✨

[splatdivax]

okay okay full analysis of the trailer (both actual observations and silly notes),,, spoilers ahead,, be warned!

ehehehe they're so cute in the thumbnail

first thing i noticed was that the first song features leitmotifs from the deep cut introduction theme in the splatoon 3 story mode,,, but like in a swing rhythm

these statues interest me quite a bit. there's a lot of them seen throughout the trailer, but we aren't really able to get a good look at them yet. i wonder if they're significant, and if they are, how so?

can't get a clean screenshot of it but the newspaper shown at 0:23 has a picture of shelly and donny,, doubt they'll be really relevant to the game but i thought that was a cute detail

also shown at the same timestamp is the map with what i presume to be the spirhalite islands circled. there appears to be two islands, with one being significantly larger than the other. i assume the majority of the game will be on this larger island,, and maybe the smaller island will be part of a dlc of some sort? not sure really,, just spitting ideas out

new deep cut outfits + hairstyles!!

very very cute

interesting new player ink tank

not only is the main tank massive but the extensions also pique my interest. the section with the can and the little bottle looks like it's extra ink storage, while the propeller contraption looks like it might be a sprinkler of some sort,, maybe it'll function similar to the pearl drone sprinkler ability?

ALSO another thing about the player i noticed,,, FRECKLES!!! we're finally getting a freckle customization option!!!

when the player shoots at big man, he seems to openly embrace it rather than trying to protect himself like other characters have previously. i wonder if we'll be utilizing his abilities and how?

and i guess it kind of makes sense that he'd be a large part of the adventure just going by his outfit alone. his looks more like he's prepared for adventure while the shiver's and frye's appear to be more relaxed

the player character is seen wearing two different outfits in the trailer, with one being a pilot-type outfit and the other being the one seen in the images above with the white top and unzipped orange jumpsuit

the very last part of the trailer (before the narrator) shows what appears to be an eye opening, but it doesn't look like it belongs to anyone we've seen in the trailer. in fact, it looks more like a squid eye

and not like an inkling squid eye. like a pre-human-extinction squid eye

sorry for the massive chunk of text and images,, i just needed to get all my thoughts out

AHHHH AHHHHH AHHHH NEW SPLATOON GAME ANNOUNCEMENT AHHHH AHHHHH

[taffyvontrips]

some thoughts on the 1982 drivers' strike and a little context

So, I’ve been feeling a little odd about the 1982 drivers’ strike for a while, and I’ve been mulling over it. The reason I haven't written this post before now is because I know that a lot of people in this community are attached to the strike! I am not immune to this! It’s a great story, unexpected and fun, rich with lore. I mean, who doesn’t love union action? Who doesn’t love a good strike? 

I really hate to be a buzzkill and I don’t mean to attack anyone—not any users here (definitely not!), not any drivers either really (maybe Bernie Ecclestone though). I guess I just mean this post as a conversation starter. 

Anyway. People like to use the example of the 1982 strike when they’re trying to make points about modern F1. For example, when the race in Saudi Arabia was in question because of airstrikes happening near the track (I still can’t believe that went ahead, but I digress), and when Domenicali made that asinine statement about drivers’ political engagement, a lot of great posts about the strike were suddenly doing the rounds on modern f1 tumblr. Look at what they managed to do before! people were saying. See how ridiculous it is to say that Niki Lauda wasn’t political! Look here! They organised a strike, maybe they’ll do it again! We love a strike! We love a union!

And good for the drivers for sticking up for their workers' rights and so on. Good on Niki Lauda and Didier Pironi for not rolling over.

However.

Something that has always quietly gnawed away at me ever more since first learning about the strike was the fact that it took place in South Africa, in 1982, during apartheid.

If ever there has been a place where F1 should not have raced, it would be South Africa during apartheid. 

The cognitive dissonance is pretty extreme to me. There was an active international campaign going on at the time to try to pressure South Africa into not being a racist backwards hellhole; musical artists were strongly encouraged not to go there as part of a large cultural boycott, trade embargos were in place, the country was excluded from the Olympics and most sports organisations. An exception to this? Formula One. While these very rich white Formula One drivers were gallivanting on Kyalami Ranch or in the Sunnyside Park Hotel, which was whites-only, the majority Black and Coloured* population were being brutally oppressed, deprived of their civil rights, displaced from their homes, and kept in poverty by an explicitly white supremacist regime.

Were the F1 drivers striking over apartheid? 

Were they striking, perhaps, because non-white people did not have equal access to the GP? 

Were they striking, maybe, because the Black employees at Kyalami didn’t have the right to vote? 

No. 

They were striking because they wanted more control over their contracts. 

If the strike had happened anywhere else, I would enjoy the story without reservation. But it didn’t happen somewhere else, it happened in apartheid South Africa. I think it’s maybe good to keep that in mind as an extra dimension when we talk about the strike. It’s also useful when we think about F1’s relationship with politics—internal and external.

F1 is rumoured to race at Kyalami again next year, and I for one am very excited.

Please reblog with any additions and perspectives you may have!

*a term used in South Africa with different connotations than in other places

[m4gp13]

thinking about Ethan spending years of his life waiting for his bargain with Nemesis to be fulfilled, training until he’s better than most able bodied swordsmen, searching for years for any trace of the army, finally finding them in the labyrinth and resigning himself to the fact that he’s gonna have to kill someone to join whether he wants to or not.

 Going into the arena, looking at Percy and thinking only one of them will leave with his life and knows he really wants that one to be him, if not for himself then for all the minor deities and their children who need him to tip the scales in their favour. 

Fighting harder than he ever has before, getting so tantalisingly close and losing because of his damned armour. Lying on his back with the dirt pressed up against it. 

Looking down his nose at the sword resting gently on his neck before following the length of the blade with his eye up to its owner, looking across to Anteus and Luke, feeling his stomach sink even deeper at the sight of that thumb.

 His mind going a thousand miles a second trying to fit his bargain in with this new reality, the one where he dies before doing anything significant for his cause. But that’s okay, he thinks, he doesn’t have to understand how the fates work, maybe he tips the scales with his death, yeah, that must be it. But then it wasn’t. Then Percy, stupid stupid Percy risked both their necks getting them out of their.

 And maybe Ethan did want to go with him, maybe he wanted to leave all this half-blood bullshit behind and bang his head until he got amnesia. But he couldn’t, he still had a deal to finish. Sorry I just have a lot of thoughts, okay?

[she-who-fights-and-writes]

Read your post on dialogue, not sure if anything I missed answers this so sorry if this is answered! I was wondering if you had any advice for discussing background and a robbery plan, how that could be tackled without a massive paragraph of dialogue. Not sure if this is an actual technique but would starting with a line of dialogue and having the paragraphs after be not-dialogue be a good way to go about that? Apologies in advance for “not-dialogue”. I minored in English. Words are hard today.

How to Write Characters Planning/An Explanation of an In-Story Plan

Do you know what's even harder than making a plan?

Having to write about your characters making a plan.

Explaining plans, especially in action/adventure stories that have a lot of moving parts involved, can be a one-way ticket to info-dumping central. I have never written a "planning" scene that I didn't struggle with horrifically, because it always seems like I'm shoving into the readers' faces why they have to do it this way and not another way.

Here are some tips on how I've managed to defeat the much-dreaded In-Story Plan.

1. Give the Planning Its Own Scene

Planning scenes take time. They have a lot of moving parts, require a lot of thinking and outlining to make sure there aren't any plot holes, and take a lot of energy for a writer to power through.

Putting this kind of scene at a huge point of tension or excitement will completely dampen the momentum of the story. Planning scenes are slow and direct, requiring intricate intent and understanding from both the writer and the reader--otherwise, everything that comes after the planning scene will fall apart. Planning scenes are better at building tension and anticipation rather than being the culmination of that tension and anticipation.

Of course, you can have your characters make a small plan in the middle of a fight, but big plans like heists, escapes, battle strategies, or other major character moves that require multiple pages and aren't just an exchange of dialogue and a paragraph or two should have its own section.

It is difficult to put a planning stage in the middle of something, so if you're having trouble figuring out where your planning scene should go, consider putting it at the start or end of a chapter or before/after a line break.

2. Explain Some Things Beforehand So You Don't Have to Cover Too Much

Plant some details surrounding the plan before the actual planning scene. This way, you don't have to worry about explaining each and every aspect of how it's going to go; even if you do have to reiterate some of these details, at least it won't be all new information for the readers.

These things could include:

1. Passing stand-out details about the places they will eventually infiltrate/rob/escape or the people they're going up against

Newspaper headline saying [Name of Corporation] just spent 9 million dollars on a new laser security system.

"Ugh, I hate walking by this place; it gives me the creeps! Rumor has it the statues come alive as an extra line of security."

Explain powers/influence enemy has

2. Magical Limitations

If your WIP includes magic, you might want to pre-explain all the reasons why they can't just use magic to solve the thing they want to do before the planning scene. Magical explanations are almost just as hard as plan explanations, and you don't want to have to burden yourself with combining the two.

There are more than just these two, but these were the ones I thought were the biggest!

3. Fight Back Info-Dumping by Balancing Description and Dialogue

How to Write Dialogue

How to Balance Description and Dialogue

If your planning scene is just one big chunk of text describing what they're gonna do, the readers will grow restless.

The key to writing a good planning scene is to give the characters props/staging, have interjections from other characters that may not be necessarily relevant to the planning, and include other aspects that make the scene important besides the planning.

Describe the space they're in before the start, pointing out interesting aspects.

Have the characters use a map, moving around pieces and pointing out specific areas.

Have some characters be more in the loop than others, interjecting their own input or asking questions.

Make the characters walk around, gesture, fidget, the whole nine yards! Break up that dialogue with visual cues the readers can latch onto to better envision the scene.

Have them joke around, maybe go off on some short tangents before quickly returning to the matter at hand.

Maybe the main character finds out one of their friends is a hacker, or into acrobatics! That contributes to both the furthering of the planning process and the building of that character!

You can also spice up that dialogue with some speech tags if it's feeling a bit stagnant! Here are some speech tags that could be useful in explaining a plan:

Asking

Asked, Demanded, Grated, Inquired, Insisted, Interrogated, Pried, Prompted, Quipped, Quizzed, Queried, Requested

Answering

Answered, Replied, Responded, Retorted

Explanations and Observations

Added, Advised, Affirmed, Alleged, Announced, Assumed, Began, Cautioned, Commented, Corrected, Deadpanned, Declared, Estimated, Explained, Guessed, Informed, Interrupted, Lectured, Mentioned, Noted, Observed, Pointed Out, Presumed, Proposed, Recommended, Remarked, Repeated, Revealed, Theorized, Told, Suggested, Supposed, Warned

Agreeing

Conceded, Confessed, Admitted, Affirmed, Agreed, Decided, Declared, Vowed

4. Use a Fresh Set of Eyes

The best way to make sure your planning scene doesn't come across as one big info-dump is to have your work be read by someone who's never laid eyes on it before.

You know your story better than anyone else. You know how the plan is supposed to go, and why they make some choices over other choices. A beta reader can be very, very important when it comes to not only picking out info-dumping, but also picking out possible plot holes.

The LAST thing you want is to have written a whole novel based around this plan, only to have a reader go "Well why didn't they just do [obvious option you didn't even think about]?"

Unfortunately...this has happened to me on multiple occasions with my current novel, which is why I've had to completely re-write it twice (these re-writes have improved the story for the better, of course, but have set me back years!)

5. Watch/Read Planning Scenes by Other Authors

Sometimes, watching or reading planning scenes can help you get a taste for the different rhythms and props used to keep it from being one big info-dump.

Of course, films and TV shows do have visuals and audio to keep watchers entertained in a way that us writers don't, but pay attention to the ways that the informative dialogue is broken up--with quips, with shots of different items, characters speaking up or moving around the room--and incorporate these narrative beats into your own storytelling!

Here are some planning scenes that you may want to look into to help spark your creativity!

Some of these are more intimate plans, some more elaborate, some involving more props/movement, and some involving more explanation!

Ocean's Eleven (2001)

Inception (2010)

The Martian (2015)

Next Three Days (2010)

The Fellowship of the Ring(2001)

Game of Thrones 7x02 (2017)

Game of Thrones 8x02 (2019)- Planning beings at 3:07

Game of Thrones has a lot of good battle strategy planning scenes, and the Ocean's franchise specializes in heist planning scenes!

Feel free to reblog and suggest more!

Hope this helped, and happy writing!