#the mystery was bugging the hell outta me

[chaoticdazefire-new]

Can someone tell me when in the series this was confirmed cause I finished my replay a few days ago & never had any scenes that said it 😭

(Unless Jameson said it in book 3 or later in book 2 if he wasn't killed cause I killed his ass in both of my playthroughs 😂)

[alvojake]

The Murder House | Pt. Two

𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕/𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐 | 𝒑𝒕. 𝒐𝒏𝒆 | 𝒑𝒕. 𝒕𝒘𝒐 | 𝒑𝒕. 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 | 𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆

「synopsis」 : with everyone's lives on the line, will luck be on your side? except it seems like whoever trapped you here doesn't plan on letting any of you leave that easy... suspicion is rising, and trust is starting to falter, but can you save everyone and bust whoever put you and your friends through this hell?

「word count」 : 11.3k

「genre」 : horror/thriller, gore, angst, psychological thriller, mystery

「warnings」 : MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!!!, cussing, spiders/bugs, water, blood, mentions of betrayal, arguments, mentions of claustrophobia & arachnophobia/entomophobia, mentions of spider venom, life or death situations, more mind games, mental health disorders (anxiety, panic attacks, breakdowns, etc...), (some tags will be hidden as to not spoil the story!)

Jay groaned as he opened his eyes, his hand instantly going to his head, trying to soothe the dull pounding behind his eyes. Riki, who had just been shaking the older male, looked down at him before moving back, letting him sit up. As the throbbing died down, Jay’s brain swirled with questions once more, how many times had they been drugged at this point? Where had they been taken now? And most importantly, where was everyone else?

“Where are we?” Jay asked, voice hoarse from the lack of any fluid, his eyes scanning the room. “And where’s y/n?” Riki watched him with an unreadable expression but rolled his eyes when he wasn’t looking.

The walls looked as if they were made out of concrete, water stains dripping down from the ceiling. The ground was solid and cold under Jay’s palms, sending a shiver up his spine. If he didn’t know any better he would have thought this was some kind of dungeon. 

“I’m not sure.” Riki’s voice was low as he glanced over his shoulder, “looks like some kind of basement.” 

Jay scrunched his eyebrows at the boy’s calm tone. He knew that Riki had always been exceptional at hiding his emotions. This, however, he would think would warrant at least a tremor in his voice, but there was nothing.

The last thing Jay wanted was to throw any more accusations at anyone, let alone his little brother, so he just brushed it off. Standing on his feet, he dusted his jeans off before he heard what sounded like chains rattling on the other side of the room. Both Riki and Jay’s heads snapped over in that direction, and their eyes grew wide.

There, in a room separated by a glass window, sat Heeseung, hands cuffed to the arms of a chair. Pure fear and panic painted his face, which was only mirrored onto Sunghoon’s as Jay looked over at the taller male. 

Sunghoon stood in front of the window, fear etched into his features as he looked at Heeseung. His heart was beating at what seemed to be a million miles an hour. His eyes never strayed from the older male as Jay and Riki walked up to join him.

Heeseung’s panicked eyes move over to Jay when he comes into view, arms straining against their restraints, “Jay, what’s the fuck is going on?” His voice was higher in pitch as he yanked on the cuffs once more, but just like his last attempts, they proved to be fruitless.

Jay’s words caught in his throat as he started to realize what was going on. This was another game. 

Sunghoon saw movement in the corner of his eye, causing him to look up. He felt his blood run cold. Above Heeseung was a crate of spiders, at least a couple dozen crawling all over each other. Seeing the creatures made his skin crawl, and his mouth went dry as he tried to speak.

“I don’t wanna panic anyone, but…” He spoke quietly, pointing to the tub of spiders, which caused all eyes to follow. Jay’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull while Riki licked his lips. However, Heeseung…

“Guys, get me the fuck outta here! I mean it!” Heeseung started to panic, roughly pulling on his restraints. His heart beating so loudly it was deafening, his body starting to shake as sweat coated his skin. Bile crept up his throat the longer he kept looking at the creatures that hung over his head. Spiders had always, always freaked Heeseung out, going as far as jumping on the couch, nearly falling right on Sunghoon when he found a tiny one on his apartment floor, begging you to kill it.

“Ahhh, everyone is already awake,” A distorted voice cuts through the speakers in the room, causing all four of the boys to jump; Heeseung stopped moving, his hands still trembling. “Hello, gentlemen, and welcome to game number two! Let’s get straight into it, ya? Your last rooms may have been easy peasy lemon squeezy, but that doesn’t quite travel over.” Sunghoon’s eyes flicker all over the room, trying to find the source of the voice, “now you better put on your running shoes because you’ll have to move quickly if you wanna get your friend outta there, otherwise, well, he’ll experience a pain like no other.” Just then a big screen powers on, displaying a timer, the numbers frozen. “Good luck! Oh, and don’t let the bugs bite!” The voice then cut out, and a spotlight clicked on, showing a lockbox on a table that sat right under the screen.

Then the timer started. Jay’s heart dropped, his feet glued to the spot on the ground, his ears ringing loudly. Sunghoon’s horrified face shifts back to Heeseung, who is staring at the ground by his feet. Riki watches Sunghoon from the corner of his eye, studying his expression, his hands stuffed deep in his jacket pockets.

Sunghoon swallowed thickly before looking between Riki and Jay, “how can we be sure that the spiders will actually drop?” His voice shook, hands trembling at his sides, “or if they’re even venomous?” 

Jay couldn’t help but glare at the younger male, “Are you dense or something, dude? They have literally drugged us. Twice! What makes you think they won’t drop those spiders on him, huh?” The tone in Jay’s voice caused Sunghoon to recoil, flinching slightly.

“I’m just saying there’s a possibi-” “Those look like Sydney funnel-web spiders, highly venomous.” Riki cut Sunghoon off, causing both of them to look over at him, “if that many were to bite him at once, he’d die in five minutes tops.” he explained, voice trembling slightly as he looked over, meeting Sunghoon’s eyes, gleam in his pupils. “We’d need an ass ton of anti-venom, and that’s if there is any.”

At the new information, Heeseung felt his blood run cold. His arms violently tugged at his restaurants, and tears started to brim in his eyes. His attention then turned to Sunghoon, who was still looking at Riki.

“This is what you wanted, huh?” Heeseung seethed, sending a deadly glare toward the dark-haired male, “Lock us in some fucking sick and twisted games just to kill us off, just like you did the hacker. Is this what you get off to?”

Sunghoon’s eyes blew wide at Heeseung’s accusations, hurt contorting his face into a glare of his own. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? What fucking hacker?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb; we found your bracelet on the dead guy's body.” Heeseung scoffed, tugging on the restraints once more, “thought you could hide it, huh? Well, news flash, if you’re gonna kill someone, try not to lose any of your belongings on the body!”

“My bracelet? My bracelet is on my…” Sunghoon’s words trailed on as he held his hand up, shocked eyes right on the spot where his bracelet would normally be sitting.

“Oh, cat got your tongue? Yeah, we caught your ass red fucking handed.” Heeseung’s words dripped venom, eyes burning with rage.

Sunghoon glared at the older male, his body starting to shake due to anger and embarrassment. Riki watched the two go at each other, standing just a few feet away while Jay tried to concentrate on finding the pieces of clues they needed.

“Yeah and how do we know that you didn’t plant the bracelet on the body, huh?” Sunghoon turned the accusation around on Heeseung, “How do we know you're not the one behind all of this?” 

Heeseung laughed in disbelief, “Yeah because I would totally cuff myself to a chair under a box of the most venomous spiders IN THE FUCKING WORLD!” He shouted, yanking the cuffs and ignoring the pain that shot up his arm.

“Who knows, maybe this is just another tactic to throw us off your trail!” Sunghoon’s eyes narrowed, and that’s when Jay finally had enough, stepping over to the three.

“Stop. Both of you, this is fucking ridiculous.” Jay interjected a glare of his own, adoring his face, “We don’t have all the time in the world to sit here and argue about who’s behind all of this. You two bickering like a damn pair of street cats is only wasting time.” He shot a glare at Heeseung, too, who just shook his head, bottom lip caught between his teeth. “And you, why the fuck are you just standing there? This isn’t some telnova you can just sit back and watch, we need to find these clues.”

Sunghoon scoffs, nodding his head before looking over at Jay, pointing a finger at his chest, “And what about you?”

Caught off guard, Jay raises an eyebrow, “what about me?”

“I don’t know, maybe the fact that you seem pretty damn calm considering everything that’s happening,” Sunghoon stated in a matter-of-fact tone, causing Jay’s eyes to narrow into slits.

“One of our closest friends is sitting under a fucking ticking time bomb; I have no other choice than to be calm, Sunghoon.” Jay fumed, pointing a finger in Heeseung’s direction.

“How can you even be sure that they’ll actually drop?” Sunghoon resorted once again.

“Can you guarantee they won’t?” Jay asked, his undertone obviously showing that the trust he held for Sunghoon was starting to dwindle. His eyes were hard as he stared at the younger boy, who suddenly went silent. “Exactly, but if you’re okay with just sitting back and watching as one of your best friends sits on the brink of death, then be my fucking guest, but don’t expect anyone to come to save your sorry ass when it’s you in his position.” 

Sunghoon looks at Jay in complete disbelief, his hands trembling at his sides as heat rushes up his neck. He held eye contact with Jay, waiting to see if he would realize just how messed up what he said was, but when Sunghoon realized that he wasn’t going to, he looked away with a scoff.

“So quick to throw the blame on me, but what about your innocent princess? How do you know she didn’t plant my fucking bracelet on the body?” Sunghoon sneers, causing Jay’s jaw to tighten.

“That’s a pretty low blow, Sunghoon, blaming my sister because you fucked up.” Riki glared at the older male, arms crossed over his chest.

“I don’t kill anyone,” Sunghoon growled, eyes shooting daggers at the boy.

“Oh, and my sister did?” Riki shot back, a look of pure disgust covering his features, “And to think she thinks of you as a friend.” He scoffs, shaking his head and Sunghoon laughs, eyes looking away from Riki.

“Your sister isn’t this princess you see her as Riki. She’s not as innocent as you may want to think she is.” Sunghoon said, a fire burning in his pupils.

Riki could feel a rage bubble up in his gut; however, before he could open his mouth to resort, Jay intervened.

“Knock it the hell off,” Jay exclaims, grabbing Sunghoon’s shoulder. His patience is starting to wear thin.

Sunghoon just shrugged him off, glaring at him, “back off.”

That’s when that last little bit of patience that Jay had broken. Fed up with how Sunghoon was acting, Jay grabbed a hold of the boy's collar, pulling him close. “We are running out of time, so you can either hop off your high horse and help or shut up and get the fuck out of our way.”

Taken aback, Sunghoon shoves Jay off of him before taking a step back, his eyes narrowing. Heeseung sits quietly in his seat. The argument is like background noise as he lets his thoughts run wild.

“Did you do this, Sunghoon?” Heeseung’s voice was flat, with no sign of any emotion, head hung low. Sunghoon’s eyes snap over to him, opening his mouth to say no, but Heeseung cuts him off, “Then why was your bracelet on the body?” Heeseung lifted his head, and Sunghoon’s breath caught in his throat; tears brimmed in the older male’s eyes, threatening to fall at any moment. “If I’m going to die here tonight, I at least want to know why.” Heeseung’s voice cracked, and the tears he fought so hard to hold back broke free, streaming down his cheeks and dripping from his chin.

Sunghoon was at a complete loss for words, the severity of everything finally starting to sink in. Tears of his own filled his eyes as he watched Heeseung break. 

“I didn’t kill anyone, I swear.” Sunghoon nearly choked on his words, “I don’t know why my bracelet was there, but it wasn’t me.” However, his words held very little importance to Heeseung, and Sunghoon could see the trust crumbling into fine dust. Sunghoon then walked closer to the window, placing his palm flat on the glass, “We’re gonna get you out of here, and we’re gonna get out of here alive, I promise.” Sunghoon’s voice shook, tears dripping from his eyelashes.

Heeseung just shook his head, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "You shouldn’t make promises that you can’t keep, Sunghoon.”

Sunghoon repeats his words once more before wiping the tears from his face and turning towards Jay. Taking a few steps, he called out to the older male, gaining his attention.

Jay turned, a glare still fixed on his face, “If you’re going to say some stupid shit again, I don’t wanna hear it.”

The younger boy just swallowed thickly, shaking his head, “What do you need me to do?”

Jay looked him up and down, scrutinizing him before holding a piece of paper up. " We need to find two more pages with these symbols on them. I already found two, and Riki is over there looking for another.” He explained, pointing over to the younger boy who was rummaging through a filing cabinet.

Sunghoon nodded quickly before turning and making his way over to the cabinets that lined the far wall, tearing them completely apart. His mind was going haywire, thoughts overshadowing themselves as he repeatedly told himself that he would get Heeseung out. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed the eyes that were watching him.

Riki peeked over his shoulder, seeing that both Jay and Sunghoon were too immersed in trying to find more of the code to be paying him any mind, and Heeseung’s eyes were trained on the floor by his feet, lost in his mind. Curing his fingers around whatever sat in his palm, he stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets just as Jay turned around.

The silver-haired male nodded at Sunghoon as he handed him the piece of paper that he had found before turning towards the younger boy.

“Have you found anything yet?” Jay asked, and Riki just shook his head, tightening his fist in his pocket. He had to bite his tongue as he listened to Jay grumble out a few curses before telling Sunghoon to keep looking. His head turned back to the timer, watching the seconds tick away.

~

The three of them completely tore the room apart, trying to find the last piece of the code. Sunghoon was starting to grow frustrated because he was sure that they had searched every single nook and cranny of the room but had yet to see any sign of it. Jay chewed on the nail of his thumb, trying to think of any other place they could look, while Riki continued to search through the cabinet on the opposite wall of Jay.

Heeseung lay his head back on the chair, eyes closed, thinking back to his childhood and all of the memories he’d made over the past few years. He was always a quiet kid when he was younger, never really feeling like he fit in anywhere. He was always sitting in the back of the class, staring out the window as music played through his headphones. Then he met Sunghoon in middle school.

Sunghoon was a new transfer student, perceived to be this quiet, cold guy who barely spoke a word to anyone. The only thing that anyone knew was that he could always be found at the ice rink or in the park with his camera. Heeseung saw himself in the boy, and he knew just how lonely it got, so he started to talk to Sunghoon every day regardless if the younger wanted him to or not. One day, Sunghoon stopped fighting him, and they became close friends, then they met Jay in high school. Then his mind went to when he first met you; you and Riki had just moved into his apartment complex, and you were carrying boxes up the stairs and almost fell. Thankfully for you, maybe not so much Heeseung, he was walking right behind you on his phone until you fell back, right into him. He managed to grab both you and the railing in time before either of you could fall; however, his phone didn’t quite make it safely.

“Ya know there’s safer ways to fall for me.” He teased you, watching as your face started turning red. You had apologized and promised to fix his phone, but he just chuckled, telling you that it was fine before helping you lug all of your belongings into your apartment, where Riki was waiting for you. From there, the two of you become inseparable, leading you to introduce him to Jake and Sunoo, and he introduces you to the other guys.

Everything was picture-perfect. Sure, you all have your ups and downs, but what friend group doesn’t? So he was left with the question of why. Why were you guys brought to this point? What had caused this? Where did they do wrong?

Heeseung lifted his head just as Jay walked in front of the window, “Jay.” His voice was hoarse from holding back tears but was still heard by the silver-haired male, causing him to stop and look over at Heeseung, “Do me a favor and tell y/n that I’m sorry for being so mean, ya?”

Jay felt his heart drop when he realized what Heeseung was implying; shaking his head, he told him no, “You can tell her yourself, dumbass, we’re getting you out.”  

However, Heeseung just shook his head softly, a small, sad smile playing on his chapped lips. The light that used to always gleam in his eyes was slowly vanishing. This broke Jay’s heart because he knew that his closest friend was accepting the fact that he may not make it out of there alive.

“There’s only fifteen minutes left, Jay. I’m not getting out of here.” Heeseung’s words stung Jay to the depths of his soul. Tears that he was trying to keep at bay started to spill over, flowing down his flushed cheeks. “Tell my mom that I love her and to make sure to look after herself.”

Jay wiped his face after finally realizing that he was crying, glaring at Heeseung, “Shut up, we’re getting you out of here.” His voice shook, willing himself to keep from breaking down, not even sure who he was really trying to reassure Heeseung or himself.

Sunghoon was rushing around the room, his heart beating in his ears and he tore apart places that he had already looked in multiple times. He knew that the last piece had to be around here somewhere, it couldn’t be gone, it just couldn’t. Turning around, his eyes landed on the younger boy who hadn't moved from that one side of the room.

“Riki, are you sure you haven’t found anything?” His voice came out a lot louder than he had intended, causing Riki to look over at him with wide, shocked eyes.

“Are you saying I was lying? I have been looking this whole time just like the two of you.” Riki sneered, glaring at the dark-haired male.

“Fuck, no, sorry.” Sunghoon curses, running his fingers through his hair, avoiding Riki’s harsh gaze before making his way over to the lockbox.

He grabbed the lock with shaky hands, inspecting the pattern of symbols on the dial. Running his fingers over the grooves, he turned around and found Jay hunched over another table, deep in his thoughts.

“Couldn’t we just try to guess the code?”

Both Riki and Jay looked over at the boy, Jay’s face devoid of any emotion as tears rolled down his cheeks, while Riki’s was stoic almost as if he wasn’t fully there.

“There are way too many possibilities, not to mention we don’t even have the last piece, so it’ll make it ten times harder,” Riki stated, pulling his lips into a thin line when he saw Sunghoon’s face drop.

“We don’t have the time for it anyway.” Jay’s voice cracked, eyes avoiding Sunghoon’s as he looked up at the timer, causing the other two to look over as well.

‘00:10:27’

Sunghoon felt the lump in his throat return, his body growing warm as a thin layer of sweat coated his icy skin. His ears were ringing so loud he couldn’t hear anything other than the high-pitched sound. Turning around, he started trying any combination on the lock that he could think of that involved the three pieces that they already had. Mixtures of curses and cries fell from his lips every time one of them turned out to be wrong.

Jay pushed himself off of the table before rummaging through the cabinets for the nth time, a small inkling of hope that he’d be able to find it. His hands shook so back that he could barely grab onto anything, his vision blurry as the tears fell from his lashes endlessly.

Riki moved from his spot, standing in front of the window to meet Heeseung’s gaze, who offered him a small smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. The younger boy stood there with a solemn look on his face, his hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his jacket.

“Hey Riki,” Heeseung’s voice was merely above a whisper, but the boy heard it nonetheless. "Take care of your sister. She’s going to need you after tonight.”

Riki swallows thickly, nodding his head, “always.”

Heeseung nods his head slowly, his smile never leaving his face. His eyes then travel to the other two, Sunghoon’s movements frantic when he realizes just how quickly time is running out. Jay moves over to the cabinet that Riki has been looking through, throwing everything to the ground as he searches it.

“Guys,” Heeseung calls out to them, but neither of them pays him any mind, not wanting to hear anything he has to say. Their hope was hanging on by a thread, but they were going to try their damnedest, even to the very last second. Heeseung bit the inside of his cheek, his heart rate speeding up as he watched the seconds tick by. “Listen to me, dammit!”

‘00:01:25

Sunghoon and Jay reluctantly looked away from what they were doing, tears stinging their eyes as they met the older male’s eyes. Heeseung looked between them with a sorrowful look, his eyes glancing over to Sunghoon, “I’m sorry for accusing you, Hoon; I know you’d never do that.” Tears started to spill from Heeseung’s bloodshot eyes; Sunghoon bit his lip, shaking his head.

‘00:01:02’

“It’s okay, Hee. I’m sorry for lashing out.” Sunghoon’s voice shook, fresh tears brimming his eyes. His heart felt as if someone was stabbing multiple tiny little knives into it before leaving it to bleed out. Was he really going to lose his best friend like this? The first person who actually saw him as a person?

“Water under the bridge, right?” Heeseung’s voice was soft, not a single ounce of malice causing Sunghoon’s heart to lurch, nodding his head too afraid his words would fail him.

‘00:00:54’

Heeseung’s eyes then moved over to Jay, who was standing there, lip trapped between his teeth, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “Jay, go and ask y/n out when y’all make it out of here, ya?”

Jay felt dizzy, blinking harshly to try and clear the tears that had built up on his waterline. Licking his chapped lips, he nods, “Yeah…” His voice trails on the first tear, dropping, allowing the others to follow. His whole body shook as he watched his best friend look over at Riki, all the thoughts of their past circulating in his mind. His heart was cracking little by little until it was completely shattered, the shards cutting everything around it. Was this really going to be the end of their friendship? Was it really going to end before they got the chance to be each other's best man at their weddings? Before they could watch their kids grow up together?

‘00:00:42’

Riki refused to meet Heeseung’s eyes, keeping them glued to the ground right by his feet. His mind was swirling with thoughts, but his face remained unchanged even when Heeseung coaxed him to look up.

“You’re a good kid, Riki. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I know your sister may give you a hard time, but she loves you. So much.” Heeseung’s voice then cracked, “I will always be with you guys. Feel free to take any of my games from the apartment. I wouldn't want them to go to waste.” Tears were flowing down Heeseung’s flushed cheeks as he offered the boy a small smile.

Riki didn’t say a word, his jaw clenched tightly. His eyes seemed to have darkened as he altered his gaze, the tips of his ears turning a shade of scarlet red. How was he going to explain all of this to his sister? How was he going to be able to sit there watching as she sobbed over the death of her ‘friends’?

‘00:00:27’

Heeseung closed his eyes, allowing tears to fall from the corner of his eyes. Little snippets of his life flashed behind his eyelids, allowing him to cherish those memories one last time before they were all lost to time. He inhaled, shaky, before opening his eyes to look at his friend once more. 

‘00:00:09’

“Thank you for everything, for dealing with my annoying ass, for allowing me to be your friend, for allowing me to find a place where I belong.” Heeseung smiled weakly, “Thank you for being my family.”

Time felt like it had stopped when the timer buzzed, and the crate opened, allowing the spiders to drop. The creatures scattered all over Heeseung’s body, some biting as soon as they landed. His lip was caught between his teeth, trying his best to muffle any sounds that escaped his lungs, eyes screwed shut as pain erupted all over his body. His jaw fell slack as screams of pure agony echoed all around the room. Each bite he received seemed to be ten times worse than the last, leaving his skin to feel like it was being set ablaze. His arms involuntarily jerked against the restraints in any attempt to get out, but he couldn’t.

Sunghoon felt like he was going to be sick as he watched the insects latch themself onto any exposed skin Heeseung had shown before turning his head, hand covering his mouth. Riki averted his gaze, hands clenching into fists in the pockets of his jacket once more. Jay watched in utter disbelief, tears rolling down his face as he watched and listened to Heeseung start to quiet until they were merely an echo in his brain, and his body lay still, his skin red and irritated as bumps started to show from the multitude of bites.

Then a shutter came down, blocking Heeseung’s mutilated body from their view. Jay was rooted to the same spot, eyes on his reflection that started right back at him. Sunghoon takes a small step back before dropping down to the ground, head in his hands, pure terror and shock etched on his face. Riki continued to stare at the wall just beside the window, his face voice of any emotion, but there was a slight gleam in his eyes, fingers fidgeting with the slip of paper in his pocket.

Jay then shouted out of pure rage and pain, completely clearing the table of the lockbox and papers. Tears continued to stream down his face as he hit the table a few times until his knuckles were bruised and swollen. A string of cusses left his lips until they died down into quiet sobs as his head hung low.

The sound of a beep echoed in the deadly silent room, causing Jay and Riki to look up; Sunghoon stayed crouched down, mumbling incoherently. Jay felt a newfound sense of rage bubble up in his chest as he read the words on the screen.

‘GAME OVER – BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!!’

Just then, the lock on their door clicks, signaling that they are allowed to leave; being the closest to it, Riki grabs the handle, pulling it open. He looked down the dimly lit hallway seeing no sign of anyone else before looking back at the other two. Sunghoon was unmoving, fingers knotted in his hair as he stared at the window, while Jay’s eyes stayed glued to the TV screen, his mind running a million miles an hour.

Riki swallowed thickly before opening his mouth to speak, “We should probably go find the others.” His voice was quiet as the weight of the room started to set in on him.

Heeseung was gone.

It had been about five minutes since the timer had started, and the water turned on. Five minutes since you and Jungwon scrambled to search the nearest cabinet. Five minutes of Sunoo watching you silently, his brain mulled with thoughts.

You had torn almost every book, decoration, file, paper, or other item out of the cabinet. Mumbling small curses to yourself as your hand slipped, almost causing you to cut your palm on the corner, Jungwon looked over. Hearing your small grunt of pain, worry flickered in his eyes.

“Hey, I found something!” Jake exclaims, holding up a box. "There’s some kind of combination lock on it.” He sets the box down just as you and Jungwon walk over, moving out of the way.

“There’s probably two other boxes like this,” Jungwon states, eyes flickering up to you before moving to Jake.

You quickly nodded, looking between both of the boys, telling them to continue looking for the other boxes. The three of you then split off once more, tearing the room apart for the other objects, knowing they held the key to getting Sunoo out of the box he was in.

Before too long both of the other boxes had been found, you and Jungwon setting them on the table next to the one that Jake had found. You stood there looking at them, thinking about your next course of action despite the shaking of your hands. Jake stood next to you, his hand lightly placed on your lower back, causing a chill to run down your spine.

“Do you think the codes are the same?” Jake asked, bottom lip caught between his teeth, his hand still on you.

Becoming uncomfortable with the way his fingers were curling around the fabric of your shirt, you took a step away, putting a good distance between the two of you. “I doubt it,” you cleared your throat, looking everywhere but the brunette’s eyes. " The codes are probably hidden around the room, too.”

Jake’s jaw clenched as he tried his best to push the annoyance down, nodding his head. You swallowed thickly before returning his nod and turning around to walk away, leaving the boy to watch you with gleaming eyes.

He ran his tongue over his teeth before turning and walking over to another filing cabinet, pulling the drawer open quite roughly. Jungwon watched with furrowed brows, clearly confused by Jake’s reaction and wondering why he started acting so hostile. However, he pushed it to the side, deciding to deal with it later, whenever they all got out.

It had taken about five minutes before you scrambled to your feet, exclaiming that you had found one of the codes, catching both of the boys’ attention. Quickly making your way over to the table where the boxes were sitting you showed Jugwon the page before bending down to start unlocking the lock. However, your hands shook with so much force that it was causing the lock to slip from your fingers. Tears were blurring your vision, which only added to your struggle, causing you to let out a few curses.

Noticing your struggle, Jake walks over and places a soft hand on your shoulder. " Hey, just slow down. You’re rushing too much.”

Scoffing, you shrugged his hand off, turning to glare at him. “Slow down? Jake, he is in there with running water, I don’t have the time to slow down!” You pointed a finger in Sunoo’s direction, “We need to get the keys out so we can unlock that fucking box before he drowns!”

Jake was taken aback by your outburst, but the shock quickly shifted to annoyance, “yeah, we do need to get the keys out, but you seem to be incapable of doing so with all of your shaking.” He rolled his eyes, and you opened your mouth to retort, but he beat you to it, “No one is going to yell at you for not going fast enough; we’re not your parents, for fucks sake, y/n.”

Your jaw fell slack, and all of the words you were going to say died on your tongue as you stared at the male in utter disbelief. Jungwon stood off to the side with a nervous look on his face, unsure of how to defuse the situation.

“Hey guys, let’s not-”

“That's a real fucking low blow, Jake,” Your tone was full of hurt as you glared at him before turning back to the boxes.

Jake just scoffs, rolling his eyes, “god, I forgot how much of a damn drama queen you are.”

Jungwon looked at Jake in surprise while you tried your best to ignore him. Your jaw clenched tightly as you unlocked the box. You pulled the lid open before taking the key that was sitting inside and pocketing it. Sending Jake one last glare, you turned and walked off in pursuit of the other lock combinations.

Sensing the tension in the air, Jungwon walks over and puts his hand on Jake's shoulder. “Let’s just look for the other codes,” the younger boy suggests. However, the only response that he reserved was Jake shoving his hand off and him walking off. Sighing, Jungwon closed his eyes, shaking his head, before walking over to Sunoo, who had been watching the two of them.

Jungwon placed his hand on the glass, looking up at the boy. “Just hang tight. We’re going to get you out of there.”

Sunoo nods with a small smile before watching as Jungwon walks away before looking over at you. You had found another cabinet and were searching through the bottom drawer, but tears kept obstructing your vision, causing you to let out a few curses while wiping them away. Sunoo watched with sorrow as your shoulders shook, his heart hurting seeing you so broken.

“Y/n.” He called out your name, causing you to stop what you were doing, and turned to look at him, wiping some of the tears from your face. Standing to your feet, you made your way over to the blonde, who offered you a sad smile. “Don’t let what he said get to you, okay? Emotions are so high right now I’m sure he didn’t mean it.” 

You knew that he was probably right. All of you were trapped in such a stressful situation that it was not that much of a surprise that someone snapped. You nodded softly, wiping more of the tears off of your cheeks before a small smile pulled on the corner of your lips, which made Sunoo’s heart swell.

However, your smile quickly dropped when you realized that the water had already traveled up to his knees. Panic started to etch itself into your bones once more as you placed your hand on the glass, Sunoo mimicking your movements.

“We’ll get you out soon, I promise.” Your voice cracked slightly, causing Sunoo’s heart to lurch. He smiled, trying his best to reassure you, but the smile didn’t quite meet his eyes.

Deep down Sunoo had a small feeling that this was going to be his last twenty minutes on earth. Something was telling him that they weren’t going to find all of the keys on time, that he was going to end up taking his last breath.  He started to think back to everything that led up to now, how he spent the last year pining over someone who would just be right out of his reach. How he had made plans with Riki and Jungwon to go on a road trip this summer, but now they would have to take the trip without him. He thought back to when he first met Riki, which is funny in itself because he was at the store looking for a game that Jungwon sent him out to get, accidentally running into Riki, literally. The boy was in such a rush to get back home before his favorite show started that he hadn't seen Riki standing there. Riki, who had just as surprised as Sunoo offered him a hand up and teased him for being in such a rush before asking what he was looking for.

“Some new game my roommate sent me to grab,” Sunoo rolled his eyes, “not even sure why I agreed to.” Riki couldn’t help but laugh, but he had helped Sunoo find that game before exchanging numbers because of a show they both liked.

Tears started to prick at Sunoo’s eyes as he wondered what he did to deserve this? What have any of you done to deserve this? It was something that he was sure that he would wonder even after he was laid to rest.

Jake glanced over his shoulder, seeing that everyone else was distracted, his fingers wrapping around the box nearest to him. Sunoo caught him from the corner of his eye, eyebrows furrowed together as he watched the older male stuff something in his pocket and set the box back down just as you turned around.

Eyes narrowing slightly, you looked Jake up and down. "What are you doing?” Your voice caught Jake’s attention, causing him to turn to look at you. "Did you find another code?”

Jake shakes his head, pulling his hand from his pocket to point at the box that he just had in his hand. “I was just checking to see if there was anything on the bottom.” His voice is steady as he meets your gaze. Something about the gleam in his eyes leaves a bad taste in your mouth. However, against your better judgment, you decide not to question him, though you do look at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

“So, was there anything?” Your tone held a bit of sas that caused the male to bite his tongue, trying his best to not lash out once more; more than enough damage had already been done.

So he just shook his head, “No, there’s nothing.”

With a curt nod, you turned back around to continue your search for the missing codes. Sunoo glanced at you for a moment before looking over at Jake, who opened a drawer that he was sure he had already looked through a few times. Alarms started going off in the blonde’s head, something telling him that something was very, very wrong, but he didn’t want to just assume anything.

The feeling of eyes on him caused Jake to turn his head, meeting Sunoo’s gaze. He raised an eyebrow, questioning the blonde silently, who just gave him a tight-lipped smile and turned away, but not before catching a glimpse of what looked to be a knife in the older male’s jacket pocket.

A shiver runs throughout Sunoo’s entire body as he looks elsewhere in the room, unsure if it was due to what he had just seen or if it was the cold water that was soaking his clothes little by little. His heart beat loudly in his ears as he tried to think why Jake would have a knife. Surely, the person behind all of this would have taken any kind of weapon that they had on them, and if he had found it in the room, why hadn’t he said anything? Sunoo had gotten so lost that he hadn’t even noticed Jungwon leap to his feet, holding up a piece of paper.

“I found another one!” He exclaimed before making a beeline for the boxes; you were hot on his heels.

Jungwon grabbed one of the boxes just as you stood by his side, arms brushing against each other as you watched him intently. However, at the sight of you standing so close to the younger boy, Jake's lip twitched, a glare adorning his features, all of which didn’t go unnoticed by Sunoo.

Before he could speak aloud, Jungwon threw the box open, grabbing the key out and showing you with a wide smile on his face. You guys were one step closer to getting Sunoo out of there. But then all of the excitement died down when he looked over to show Sunoo the key and saw that the water was mid-chest on the older male.

Panic starts to cloud your mind, causing you to look around the room frantically, yelling at the other two boys to pick it up and keep looking. Jake walked over to a bookshelf that was off to Sunoo’s right while Jungwon walked over to another cabinet.

Jungwon mumbled something akin to promises of finding the last one, his ears ringing so loudly that it’d be a miracle if he heard anything else. You practically threw out of the shelf that you had been looking through, flipping through the pages of the books. Tears involuntarily brimming in your eyes once more, but you bite the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from letting them fall.

Jake licked his lips, his eyes flickering over to you before he shoved his hand into the pocket of his jacket. Clearing his throat, he called out to you and Jungwon, a sense of urgency in his tone causing all of your attention to shift over to him. He held up the crinkled paper, causing your eyes to light up before rushing over to him.

You stood next to Jake, staring over his shoulder urging him to open the box already while Jungwon walked over to Sunoo with a bright smile on his lips.

“We’re getting you out of there, Sun.” Jungwon felt tears of relief fill his eyes, but Sunoo would only offer him a smile, a gut feeling telling him that something was wrong.

Jake opens the box with a flourish, but his eyes grow wide at the sight of an empty box. Looking over, he watches as fear and panic morph into your face once more. You snatch the box out of Jake’s hands, causing him to recoil back slightly, his eyes widening.

Your panic-stricken eyes looked into the box, seeing that the key was, in fact, not in there, “Son of a bitch!” You shouted, throwing the box to the ground, the metal crashing into the ground, causing the sound to reverberate all around the room.

With tears streaming down your face, you search the room for anything that could break the last lock. All your attempts proved to be futile; nothing was quite strong enough to even begin to crack the lock. 

“Fuck!” All of the anger and frustration started to bubble in your chest, a stream of tears falling from your eyes. Jungwon looked up from his spot on the ground next to Sunoo, lock in hand trying to see if he could pick it.

In the heat of the moment, she grabbed one of the chairs that sat at the desk before swinging as hard as she could, hitting the glass and causing all three boys to jump at the sudden sound. Jungwon shields his head when you go to swing the chair once more, but Jake grabs your arm, causing you to glare at him.

“There’s no point.” His voice was flat, causing your heart to sink. Had he really already accepted Sunoo’s fate?

“How would you know?” You seethed, yanking your arm free from his grasp just as Jungwon stood from the ground.

“And why are you just standing there doing nothing?” Jungwon pointed at Jake, who just slapped his hand out of the way, a glare of his own covering his face.

“Because there’s nothing we can do; what about that, do you not get?” Jake growled, looking between you and Jungwon.

Before you could open your mouth, Sunoo butts in, “Y/n, he’s right, time’s alm-”

“No, there’s a way. I’ll find a way, dammit.” You hissed through your teeth, tears sticking to your eyelashes. You refused to hear anything else as you continued your search for anything that could get the lock undone.

Sunoo sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them once more to look at you. It pained him so much to see you trying so hard to save him, and it broke his soul to know that he was about to cause a lot of pain—not just to you but to all of your other friends.

“Y/n.” He called out to you, but you shook your head not giving him your attention. Letting out a sigh, he placed his hand against the glass, the water merely inches away from his neck. “Y/n, look at me, please.” This time you look over at him, tears streaming down your flushed face, eyes bloodshot, “there’s no time.” 

A sob tore through your lungs, a sound that Sunoo never wanted to hear, let alone be the cause of. Tears of his own stung at the corner of his eyes as he watched Jungwon grab your frail body, pulling you into his chest. He didn’t want his last few moments alive seeing that heartbreaking expression on your face, so he offered a small smile when you finally looked up to meet his gaze.

“Do you remember that new cafe we wanted to go to?” Sunoo’s voice was soft, only causing your heart to hurt more because you knew what he was starting to get at.

But you still nodded, “yeah, you always talked about the paw print design on the cups.”

Sunoo couldn’t help but chuckle because he knew she was right. Ever since the cafe released their cup designs, Sunoo couldn’t shut up about how cute they were and how he wanted one to use at home.

“Go and try it out for me, ya?” He asked, a teary smile on his lips as he watched you choke back a sob but still nodded, telling him that you would. Your hands balled Jungwon’s shirt into a fist as sobs continued to rack through your body.

Jungwon tightened his grip around your waist, letting you cry into his shoulder as he bit the inside of his cheek to keep his own tears at bay. However, it proved to be a lot harder than he thought when Sunoo looked in his direction.

“Hey, Won.” Sunoo smiled, his bottom lip trembling, “go ahead and do me a favor, ya?”

Jungwon’s hand tightened against your hip, “of course, Sun.”

“Stop being so reckless all of the time; you’re gonna get yourself hurt one day.” Sunoo mused, and Jungwon couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as his tears finally broke free. “Oh, and get that game you’ve been going crazy over, okay?”

The younger boy swallowed thickly, trying to keep from entirely breaking down. “I will, Sun, I promise.” His voice shook, and his vision became blurry as more tears flowed from his eyes.

Sunoo offered Jungwon one last smile before looking over at Jake, his heart feeling heavy. The last thing he needed to do was throw around accusations, but he hoped that a few words of warning to Jungwon would suffice if anything were to happen. However, the questioning look on the older male’s face made his stomach turn. 

Swallowing thickly, he gestured to you and Jungwon, “Make sure they make it out alive, okay?”

Jake poked the inside of his cheek before nodding, reassuring him that he would. Seconds later, the water completely submerged Sunoo. He held his breath as he looked at the three of you once more before fully accepting his fate.

Choked sobs tore through your body as you watched in horror as Sunoo’s body fought to get air, bubbles surrounding his head until they slowly diminished into nothing, and his body sank to the bottom of the container. His eyes closed, and if he hadn’t been in the water, you would have thought he was just sleeping.

Jungwon’s grip slipped from your body, allowing you to drop to the ground, eyes never leaving Sunoo’s body. Sobs no longer fell from your lips, but tears continued to silently fall from your eyes.

The younger boy just stood there, arms hung by his sides as he stared at the body of his best friend, waiting to wake up from this sick and twisted nightmare. Wanting to wake up already to walk into the living room to see the blonde perched on the couch with a bowl of cereal while watching whatever drama show was on that morning. However, no matter how many times he pinches himself he doesn’t seem to be waking up. With every pinch, the reality of everything sank in, and all he could do was cry.

Jake stood off to the side, his eyes staring at the blonde’s body. His expression was unreadable, but his jaw was taught. 

Both boys looked at the TV screen when the buzzer alarmed them. Jake quickly looked away, his hands stuffed deep in his jacket pockets.

“Fuck you, you sick sons of bitches.” Jungwon cursed, wiping the tears from his face with a scoff as he read the words they had displayed with little animated fish swimming around.

‘GAME OVER – BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!!’

Their attention was then pulled to the door. When the sound of the lock turning was heard, Jake made his way over to it. Pulling his hands from his packets, he reached for the doorknob before pulling it open, peeking out, and then looking back at Jungwon, whose eyes were already on him.

“We better go find the others.” His voice was merely above a whisper, and his eyes shifted away from the boy down to you. The shock had completely rendered your body motionless, but your eyes were still glued to where Sunoo lay at the bottom of the tank.

One of your friends was gone, Sunoo was dead.

Not a word was uttered as Jay, Sunghoon, and Riki walked down the dimly lit hallway. Each in their own world, they were still trying to come to terms with what they had just witnessed. Jay led the way while Sunghoon trailed along in the back, eyes devoid of any emotion save for sorrow. Then, Riki walked between the two.

Jay then sees a door at the end of the hall, light shining through the cracks. He mutters a quick ‘come on’ before walking towards the door. Waiting just a second, he tried to see if he could hear anything, but no sound came through the thick wooden door. Glancing behind him for a second, Riki just gave him a slight nod while Sunghoon remained stoic.

On the other side of the door, Jungwon shot to his feet when he heard the sound of the door knob turning; his nerves completely shot. However, as soon as Jay’s face came into view he could feel his body significantly relax. He couldn’t help the small smile that tugged on his lips, seeing that their other friends were fine, at least he thought they were until he realized that something was severely wrong. Looking around, he noticed that another of their friends was missing, nowhere to be seen, and he could feel his heart drop to the pit of his stomach.

“Where’s Heeseung?” Jungwon’s words caught your attention, causing you to look over before standing to your feet when you didn’t see the older male anywhere. Sunghoon looked away, his lip tucked between his teeth, avoiding your and Jungwon’s gazes. 

With a few quick strides, you walked over to Jay, grabbing his forearms. Jay bit the inside of his cheek at the sight of your bloodshot eyes, knowing that you had already been crying long before they even made it into the room. 

Terror filled your veins as you tried to convince yourself that he was fine, that he was just lagging behind the rest of them, that he would walk through that door any second and tease her for crying over him. However, seeing the heartbreak on Sunghoon’s face left your heart beating in your ears as you swallowed thickly before asking the dreaded question.

“Jay, where’s Heeseung?” Your bottom lip trembled as you fought back tears, shifting your gaze over to your brother, who just closed his eyes and shook his head.

“I’m sorry.” Jay’s voice came out hoarse, and your eyes went wide, your heart shattering, “he’s gone.” 

You shake your head, releasing Jay’s arms before taking a step back, “No, no, no, NO!” You cried out, hands in your hair as you dropped to the ground. Sobs tore through your exhausted lungs, causing them to come out choked as tears flooded from your eyes before dropping to the hardwood floor.

Your cries echoed all over the room, etching itself into each of the boy’s bones. Jay tilted his head up towards the ceiling to keep the tears at bay while Sunghoon bit his lip, wishing he’d never have to hear something as devastating as this ever again.

All of your memories of Heeseung came crashing into you all at once, causing your screams to increase in agony. Your vision was completely obscured by the tears as you covered your ears to try and drown out the ringing, but it was no use. Your breathing then started to hitch, causing alarm amongst the rest.

Jay was the first to move towards you but was quickly intervened by Riki, who pushed him away, a hard look in his eye as he bent down to grab you.

“I’ve got her.” The boy’s tone was harsh, causing Jay to take a small step back, knowing now wouldn’t be the best time for an argument to break out.

So he watched as Riki helped you to your feet before leading you to the couch. Then he looked around the room, seeing that a certain blonde was nowhere to be seen either. Eyebrows scrunched together, he looked over at Jungwon, ready to ask where Sunoo was, but the younger boy just shook his head, a solemn look gracing his features.

“Fucking hell.” Jay cursed, running his fingers through his hair and walking off to the side of the room. How could they lose two people within the span of just an hour? How many more of them were going to have to die before they managed to get out of this hell hole?

~

After a short while, you had finally calmed down a little bit. Now, you were leaning against your brother, silent tears still falling down your cheeks. No one had said a word, not sure what to say or too lost in their own minds to even bother speaking.

Riki moved slightly, lifting his head to look at the others. " We should take this chance to look around, do you think?” His words caught Jay’s attention, causing the older male to look over at him. “I mean, the doors are still unlocked, so shouldn’t we look for a way out or clues at least?”

Jay nods his head before pushing himself to his feet, followed by Jake and Jungwon. However, neither you nor Sunghoon showed any kind of response. Jay lets out a sigh, walking over to the dark-haired male and placing his hand on his shoulder. Sunghoon still shows no response even after Jay tells him to come on, and neither do you, your eyes still glued to the same spot on the ground.

He was trying to be patient with the two of you, but his patience had already been worn to the max, and there wasn’t much left that he could spare before snapping. So he pinches the bridge of his nose before giving the both of you a stern look.

“Do you really think this is what Hee or Sunoo would have wanted?” Jay’s voice was hard, but all you could do was scoff before glaring up at him.

“The last time we snooped around, two of our friends died, so I’m sorry if I don’t wanna run that risk again.” You hissed, standing on your feet. The last thing you wanted to do was witness another one of your friends dying, already experiencing enough heartbreak to last ten lifetimes.

Jay returned your glare with one of his own, “If we stay here, one or even all of us are bound to die.” He gestured to the others around the two of you, “I would much rather die trying to get free rather than sit here and wait for death because, guess what? That would mean that our friends' deaths were in vain.” Jay’s words struck a cord deep within your soul causing you to flinch while Sunghoon inhaled deeply before nodding his head.

“Jay’s right,” He walked over to stand next to Jay, looking down at you, a mixture of emotions swirling in his iris’, “I don’t know about you, y/n, but I’m about to sit around and let Hee’s death be for nothing,”

Your glare shifted from Jay to the taller male next to him, the feeling of uncertainty coming back. How could you trust him after finding his bracelet? After Heeseung died when he was with him? So many emotions were stored away in your body that you weren’t even sure what to feel, but you did know that anger was the strongest. Your hands clenched at your sides before stepping away from the couch and closer to Sunghoon.

“I swear to god, if I find out that you’re the one behind all of this. I will personally kill you myself.” You seethed before making your way towards the door and ripping it open. Riki was hot on your heels when you stormed out of the room.

Jake watched from the back, his eyes darting between everyone who stood in the room with him, a smirk tugging on the corner of his lips when he saw Sunghoon’s face fall. However, the expression didn’t go unnoticed by Jungwon, who just happened to glance at the older boy. Sensing someone’s gaze, Jake looked over, meeting Jungwon’s, a gleam in his eyes daring the younger boy to say something. Swallowing thickly Jungwon tore his gaze away from Jake before making his way towards the door, looking back at the other.

“Come on, let’s find a way outta here.” His voice was full of uncertainty but he just tried his best to ignore the red flags and focus on getting out for right now. Jay’s tongue darted out to wet his lips before he nodded and followed Jungwon out of the door, Sunghoon right behind him. Jake was the last out of the room, walking out with his hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his jacket, a smug gleam in his eyes when Jungwon looked back knowing that he had the boy right in the palm of his hand. Jake knew that Jungwon didn’t have the guts to say anything to the rest of the group, not as long as Jake was nearby, and with that information, Jake couldn’t help but feel a thrill of excitement.

It had felt like the six of you had been walking down the dimly lit hallways for hours, and not a single clue or exit was to be found. However, what you did find were cobwebs and roaches, causing a shiver to run down your spine. Looking around, it wasn’t hard to tell that this was a more run-down part of whatever building you were stuck in, most likely the basement.

The air around you was thick with tension, and it was weighing on each of you. However, no one had the guts to break it—at least not until Jungwon saw a broken clock off to the side.

“I wonder how long we’ve been stuck here…” He questions out loud, not to anyone in particular, but Jake glances around.

“Probably most, if not all, of the night,” Jake murmurs as he cringes when another roach scurries in front of his feet. Everything then goes silent once more, much to Jungwon’s dismay.

Before too long they make it to the end of the hallway, dread filling your senses when you saw that it forked off into two separate directions. All of you stop before turning to face one another to come up with a game plan.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just split up?” Riki suggests from his spot beside you, but you are quick to shake your head, refusing the idea.

“No, we’re not splitting up.” Fear laced your tone causing both Jay and Jungwon to look over at you while Sunghoon nodded his head in agreement.

“I second that; every time we’ve been split up, something bad happens.” Sunghoon explained eyebrows furrowed as he looked between each of you.

Jake, however, steps forward, glancing between you and Sunghoon. " It’ll just take more time if we all stay together.” Riki and Jay nod, knowing that he was right; they would cover more ground if you were to split up.

You start to protest, but Jay turns towards you, cupping your face in his palms, and you look up at him with worry-filled eyes.

“Y/n, love, listen to me.” His voice was soft as he spoke to you, tears involuntarily filling his eyes. “We can split up into two groups and meet back here in thirty minutes. That way, we can cover as much ground as possible in a shorter amount of time.”

You bit your bottom lip to keep the tears that had pooled on your waterline at bay before saying okay. Jay then gives you a soft smile before leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on your forehead. Neither of you caught the look of anger and disgust that flashed across Jake’s face. However, Jungwon once again caught it, causing a chill to run down his spine, worried about what kind of thoughts were running through the older male’s head.

He opens his mouth to voice his concerns, but Jake once more cuts him off before he can get a single word out, “I’ll go with Sunghoon and Jungwon. You take y/n and Jay.”

Jungwon couldn’t help but feel his heart drop, a sense of dread washing over his body, soaking into his bones. More so when everyone agrees to the teams, blissfully unaware of what was happening. Swallowing the lump in his throat Jungwon makes his way over to you, grabbing your hand in his. 

The feeling of paper on your palm made you open your mouth to question the boy, but the look in his eyes told you not to say a word, so you didn’t. He then offers you a small smile before telling you to be safe. You closed your fingers around the paper when he moved his hand away before returning his sentiment and going to stand next to Jay, who had been watching quietly. 

“Alright, we’ll meet back here in thirty. Be safe, all of you.” Jay spoke, pointing to each of the boys on the opposite side of the hall.

Sunghoon nodded, looking over at Jake, then shifted his gaze to Jungwon before meeting Jay's once more, “We will, but the same goes for the three of you.”

With that, the six of you split up once more, walking down opposite sides of the hall, the promise of meeting back in thirty minutes hanging in the air.

Jay notices you uneasy and reaches down to intertwine his fingers with yours, catching your attention. "We’re gonna get out of here, and we’ll be okay,” he whispers softly before pressing a soft kiss on your knuckles.

~

When the three of you made it to an open door, you peeked inside, seeing zero signs of any kind of life, which you weren’t sure you should feel happy or creeped out by. However, when you got inside, you suggested splitting up to look through the shelves and cabinets, to which both boys agreed.

Once you were off to the side of the room and made sure that neither Jay nor Riki were looking you slipped the paper out of your pocket, unfolding it. Your eyes blew wide open as you read the words that Jungwon had hurriedly scribbled on the page.

‘There’s something up with Jake; he’s acting weird, and Sunoo told me that he had seen a knife in his pocket.’

Quickly covering your mouth to muffle the gasp that fell from your lips, you looked up and over to say something to the guys, but then the lights went out, leaving the room pitch black.

You jumped at the sudden change, panic flooding into your mind. Reaching around you, you tried to find some kind of table to stabilize yourself.

“Jay? Riki? Where are you guys?” You called out, fingers gripping the edge of whatever you had grabbed, sure that your knuckles were a ghostly shade of white.

“Y/n? Where are you?” You heard Jay’s voice, and you felt your shoulders relax a bit. You moved to follow where the sound of his voice came from: “Here, follow my voice.”

Then it dawned on you that you never received a response from your brother, causing your heart to start hammering under your ribs.

“Riki, where are you?” you called out again, using your hands to maneuver the space around you. However, just like before, there was no sign of your brother. “Riki now is not the time for one of your little pranks. Where the hell are you?”

Jay had made his way over to you, grabbing your arm softly and causing your body to jolt. "It’s just me.”

You frantically turned your head, trying to see anything in the pitch-dark room. " Do you know where Riki is?” Fear started to wash over you, and you were scared that something had happened to your little brother.

Before Jay could even get the chance to say anything, the lights flashed back on, momentarily blinding the both of you.

Blinking a few times, you let your eyes adjust to the new lighting before you turned your body in every direction, seeing absolutely no sign of your brother. Not only that but the door had been closed and more than likely locked, causing your breath to hitch in your throat as you looked over at Jay with wide, fear-stricken eyes.

“Where’s Riki?” Your voice shook as you frantically looked around the room for any sign of the younger boy; it felt like all of the air was being stolen from your lungs as you ran your fingers through your hair, “Where the fuck is my brother?”

Riki was gone, and you were trapped in yet another room…

@alvojake | Do not steal, plagiarise, translate, or repost any of my work

𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖑𝖆𝖎𝖒𝖊𝖗 : ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ɴᴏ ᴡᴀʏ ᴀ ᴛʀᴜᴇ ʀᴇᴘʀᴇꜱᴇɴᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴀɴʏ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀꜱ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴘᴜʀᴇʟʏ ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴛᴀᴋᴇɴ ꜱᴇʀɪᴏᴜꜱʟʏ.

[webbywatcheshorror]

Webby Reviews Horror: Hell House LLC. (2015)

Hell House LLC. is a mockumentary style movie centered around a haunted house attraction, and the mystery surrounding the tragedy that occurred on its opening night. 

Hell House LLC. is tense and atmospheric, despite being fairly frequently interrupted by sequences of interviews and the mockumentary’s narrator providing commentary. 

This one has a lot of tropes and concepts I like, and a couple that I don’t, so let’s talk about them! Review under the cut, and as always, beasties and ghouls, SPOILERS ahead!

To start off with, I love a mockumentary type movie, especially when well-made, and this one IS well-made. The news segments look great, and the talking heads portions do a great job of making me curious about what REALLY happened on the night Hell House opened its door to the public. I’d probably even have watched this if it had been a real documentary, and that’s saying something, as I much prefer fictional horror to real life horror. 

The small town setting of the movie, a place called Abaddon, feels so familiar. I lived in a similar town for many years, and can say with utmost certainty that Hell House would have been PACKED on opening night. That part is 100% legit. There is never anything to do in a small town like that except hang out in Walmart parking lots (because you’re not allowed to hang out in gas station parking lots anymore), so when the fair rolls around or there’s a parade (or a haunted house), people jump at the chance to finally shake off the monotony, even if only for a couple hours.

Now, I’m a simple ghoul. I love a good cast of characters that get absolutely wrecked, I’m a sucker for an ‘Oh Shit It’s Real’ story beat, and a Halloween Event Goes Wrong? Forget about it, I’m THERE. Are these tropes overused? Who cares! They’re fun, and I enjoy them, and that’s all I care about.

The characters are, for the most part, just fairly decent people, aside from Paul, who I hated so, so much. He’s a fucking creep and a sex pest, and an unapologetic one at that. His friends know about it too, calling him out a few times to which he responds with pride. He’s also the main cameraman for the main story, so we get to spend just. SO much time with him. Hooray.

However this means we also get to see him be the first target of the evil that inhabits the abandoned hotel they’re fixing up, which is satisfying. His descent into indignant terror is fun to watch. He goes from this cocky asshole making fun of his friends, to cowering beneath a blanket from a dead woman. He seems to be the only one targeted, over and over, until he disappears, and then after that is pretty much when shit pops OFF.

There are some really good scares, mostly focused on one of the clown mannequins, but there’s also a good one during the test run scene, which I would have enjoyed more but the intensity of the strobing effect was dialed way too high. I also feel that it would have been scarier if they hadn’t shown the freeze-frame of the demon like, right after.

Other things about this movie I enjoyed are: the concept of Lucifer with a New York accent; a man possessed by the ghost of capitalism and then by an actual ghost; the piano tune that Paul plays; the foreshadowing from Sara in the beginning; and how we never get a clear look at what happened to most people involved in the tragedy. 

Now for the stuff I was less enthused about, which isn’t a whole lot. I’m not impressed when media uses pentacles and upside down crosses to imply Satanism/evil, it just feels, I don’t know. Uninspired? I also felt that some of the characters’ decisions were flat out stupid- primary example being the fact that they used actual, locked shackles for their basement actress, and put the only set of keys in someone else’s hands. There’s no universe in which this is a good idea.

I give this one eight ghosts outta ten, for really good scares and intense atmosphere and a nicely wrapped up ending. It did contain a few tropes that bug me, not to mention how long I had to endure Paul, but overall it’s a fun movie that I could see myself enjoying now and again.

[gyubby99]

@disneyanddisneyships THEM

Vox and Mal had been out on a walk, the hell's city streets doing all of their stuff, wether it be sinning, murder or simply wondering what they're gonna have for dinner. They had just gone from Lu Lu world, in which Vox had spent his time making fun of how bad she aimed for the target at this one game where if you hit it, you get a prize. Vox had been extremely exhausted, but Mal still had energy left in her. She never won the game, but atleast she had fun.

They still had a few blocks to go to the hotel, and Vox had suggested he called his driver to take both of them there, but Mal suggested they go for a walk, to serve them a more fun time talking about things only they knew of, inside jokes for only them to hear and laugh at.

A whistle was heard from afar. Near her and Vox

Mal thought it was a man calling for his dog, so she paid it no mind.

"Oh, come on, pretty bug! You can't ignore me!" The man shouted, and Mal perked her head up.

"Me?" she asks, a bit perplexed.

"Yeah, babe!" He chuckles, before walking over to her.

He clearly hadn't noticed Vox, as he seemed to be fixated on his own selfish desire of wooing Mal into the bedroom he probably hasn't cleaned for months.

"Uh, no? You're outta luck, buddy. I'm off limits. Not interested." Mal dismissed the demon before he could even come any closer.

"What? Come on, sexy! You look like you had a rough night! I can take-" the demon was cut off by a hand, a hand that never belonged to her.

Now he noticed.

The demon looked up with a glare, yelling at the mysterious person before he recognized the face and realized he'd made a mistake.

Vox, with an alarming and cold glare, sent strong, violent electric shocks all throughout the demon's body, traveling from his hand to the rest as he yelps and screamed in agony.

Vox, satisfied with it, let go and dropped the demon harshly on the ground. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? She's mine. Got that?"

Mal looked at Vox's glare, and something in his eyes screamed he was determined to obliterate whatever harmed his beloved, or whatever attempted to cause anything he wouldn't like.

And the little firefly could never love any being more.

"Y-Yes, sir.." the demon grunted helplessly on the ground. "I'm-- I'm sorry, sir!"

Now that made Vox even angrier.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Vox asks, before stomping on the demon's back, making the poor creature grunt in pain, and pressure of the weight of Vox's foot on his pathetic bony back.

"I'm not the one you attempted to take home to suck on your pathetic limp dick, am I?" Vox taunted, harshly stomping on the demon's back. "She said no, and somehow you wouldn't get it in your head, hm? How about I leave you tied up for rats like you to eat? That way you can all hangout."

"No- No! Please!" The demon pleaded.

Vox smugly smirked, crouching down. "Why should I listen to that?"

The demon pleaded useless cries still.

Vox laughs, cruel and sadistic. "Apologize.."

"Sir, I'm so-"

"To her."

The demon looked at Mal with fear in his eyes, and Mal had her hips on her shoulder, taunting the demon also. "You heard him."

"I.. I-I'm sorry! It- it won't happen again!" The demon cried out.

Mal tapped her chin. "Hm.. do you mean that?"

"I-I do! I really do! Please!"

Mal crouched down to the demon, smirking. "Then do me a favor."

"Anything! I'll do anything!"

Mal chuckles, before whispering with a serious glare. "Never do this to anyone else again."

"F..Fine! Fine!! I won't!"

Mal's gaze softened.. but she was not quite pleased yet.

"Good! But just in case.." Mal closed her eyes, before opening them, emitting a bright LED-like glow. Her glare was sharp and her eyes were as bright as if you'd been face-to-face with the sun. The demon yelped in shock as he closed his eyes, but opening them to see only black.

He couldn't see anything..

"Fuck! I-- I can't see! What the fuck did you do?!"

Mal's eyes turned to normal as she closed her eyes and opened them once again. She stood up and looked at Vox.

Vox scoffs at the helpless demon, before kicking him once more as he removed his foot at the top of his back. He took Mal's hand and got away from the demon.

As they walked, Mal turned to glance at Vox. "Someone's protective!"

Vox scoffed. "I'm your boyfriend. That's my job. It was of my own will anyway!"

Mal laughed as she squeezed his hand. "Remind me why I love you again?"

Now, Vox smugly smirked. "Because I'm awesome. I never knew you had to ask about something this obvious!"

Mal laughed, as Vox chuckled with her.

"Yeah, yes you are, Vox."

[lexpressobean]

Help I'm suddenly plagued with thoughts of Popstar Sensation!Shino AU. It's so dumb.

He can sing. He can dance. He can play guitar and piano. Dude's all kinds of popular. He always seems to be so poised and mysterious in interviews, yet on stage he's, like, crazy athletic with his showmanship and his presence makes itself known. His main asset is his Grade A Coolness. But surprise! He's actualy a Tripple Threat Musician! He's also a talented actor! But, no one really knows about the last one. Why? Because there's always a camera in his face in public. So he's always acting.

On stage he goes by simply Moritaka (play on source material). In reality, he's still the same old Shino Aburame we know. He's still a huge nerd and Insects are still his special interest. He plays many instruments due to his upbringing but keeps that on the DL because his Record Label has this Image for him. He sings lovely sweet nothings and danceable anthems on stage, but when he pours his soul into his writing, it's more raw and sad, usually very cathartic and often with a hint of bitterness. Not something that can rake in the success as easily as the Pop Music he adapts to as it's given to him, but it helps him cope. He loves his layers goddamn it, and sometimes he feels like a clown on stage with these "fashion savvy" outfits they pick out for him. He especially misses his glasses on stage but he can manage well enough with his contacts, though they do really irritate him sometimes.

Shibi had made the choice to hide Shino from the public eye as much as he possibly could from a young age, so very few people could figure out what he looked like as a kid, especially after he chose to start wearing prescription sunglasses specifically.

He lives a sort of Hannah Montana double life with a "Lucky" by Britney Spears flavoring. Except he started as a young adult, 20's sensation, so he's also unfortunately sexualized to a much higher degree right off the bat and the heavy emphasis on his looks can be very tough on his skin, let alone his nerves and insides. But he's not blind to his own attractiveness. Plus he'd be damned if the constant dieting and working out didn't amount to anything. His day job is less of a job and more he acts like a nerd about his beloved bugs and is very active as Shino in online communities dedicated to Insect love and information. In fact, days off for Moritaka include Shino being secretly Philanthropic and he's always furthering his education in one way or another. He didn't become a sensation over night, his family's been in the Music Business, but the Label would have you believe he was a nobody who made it big of course. He probably did this against his family's wishes tbh and the secret identity was to give the name Aburame absolutely no credit. Spite is such a motivator you guys, and selling his soul for sum amount of years means he can do what he realy likes in his free time. When he has it, anyway.

The fun part for me, the main part for me, is that all his old classmates don't recognize him as Moritaka. But, they're all fans to some degree. Especially Ino and Naruto, the two who were the meanest to him for no good reason lmao

Ino thinks he so unbearably handsome and can watch the same dancing clip over and over again. Naruto genuinely likes his music, who cares if it's Pop!? It's super catchy and super good, that's the point!!

Just... imagine Ino and Naruto winning two VIP tickets to one of Moritaka's Bigger Concerts and they're going feral the whole time and Shino has to refrain from reading them to absolute filth and revealing his true identity during backstage access and dinner and an after party or whatever the winners of the contest win because they're all over him now when from K-12 they literally wanted nothing to do with him and went out of their ways just to shut him down or bother the hell outta him with complete disregard for his feelings hahahahaha

Well, mostly Ino tbh, but adding Naruto specifically as her plus one because he was that big of a fan just makes it funnier lol

[ladyorlandodream]

Lady Dimitrescu-tag FanFiction List PART 6

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 7

1101) Bittersweet Scars (Chapters in progress)

1102) not in my good satantic cul de sac (short story)

1103) How Did You Love? (Chapters in progress)

1104) Sea of Emotions (Chapters in progress)

1105) "and always, there is hunger / i will admit that i do not know if i should hold you or eat you." (Chapters in progress)

1106) The Gifts of Desecration (Chapters in progress)

1107) Vampiric Love (Chapters in progress)

1108) Lady Dimitrescu spanks Jean-Jacques Rousseau (short story)

1109) Some People Say A Man Is Made Outta Mud (Chapters in progress)

1110) Irreplaceable (Chapters in progress)

1111) Give In- A Lady D x Fem Reader Story (Chapters in progress)

1112) We're Going Home (short story)

1113) Look Out the Window (short story)

1114) A Hope in Hell (Chapters in progress)

1115) Shared Depths (Chapters in progress)

1116) 睡美人 (Chapters Completed)

1117) Everything You Never Wanted (Chapters in progress)

1118) Part Two: The Chase (short story)

1119) In Your Light (short story)

1120) the lady's hound (Chapters in progress)

1121) My crazy family (Chapters Completed)

1122) Within these walls our fates shall intertwine (Chapters in progress)

1123) I Dreamt of Yellow Flowers (Chapters in progress)

1124) white scars (Chapters in progress)

1125) Craving (Chapters in progress)

1126) Your walls are blizzards, but your center is a garden. (Chapters in progress)

1127) I'll take you anywhere you need to go (short story)

1128) Welcome to the Family, Boy (short story)

1129) Red Tainted Thorns (Chapters in progress)

1130) Ain’t So Tough (short story)

1131) You Pushed Yourself Too Far, Cassandra (short story)

1132) Tentalinigus (short story)

1133) A Pretentious Journey (Chapters in progress)

1134) Ask me to leave (Chapters in progress)

1135) Sanguis Virginis (Chapters in progress)

1136) Through fated stars (Chapters in progress)

1137) Bela and the maiden (Chapters Completed)

1138) maiden's virtue (Chapters in progress)

1139) The Tragedy of Salvatore Moreau (Chapters in progress)

1140) Looking Through (short story)

1141) Part of the Family (Chapters in progress)

1142) Behind Porcelain Eyes (Chapters in progress)

1143) something wretched & oh so beautiful (Chapters in progress)

1144) A Promise of a Lifetime of Love even after death (short story)

1145) Rough Day (short story)

1146) A Sacrifice To The Goddess...es (short story)

1147) Little Fawn (Chapters in progress)

1148) Дневник Моро (short story)

1149) The Adventures of Ethan Winters and His Friend (Chapters in progress)

1150) I'm all hers (Chapters in progress)

1151) Ethan's Romp in The Village (Chapters in progress)

1152) Famished Follies and a Flower (short story)

1153) Suck the Blood from My Wound (short story)

1154) Ophelia (Chapters in progress)

1155) Everything Right, Still Not Enough (Chapters in progress)

1156) The enemy of my enemy is my friend? (Chapters in progress)

1157) The Horse Lord's Morning Glory (Chapters in progress)

1158) What Lies Beneath (Chapters in progress)

1159) Won't Bite (Chapters Completed)

1160) Into The Realm Of Supernaturals (Chapters in progress)

1161) little sister. (Chapters in progress)

1162) We Lay in Our Graves (short story)

1163) meet me in the pale moonlight (short story)

1164) A Dinner? (short story)

1165) Divine Taste (short story)

1166) Thorn In Her Side (short story)

1167) Resident Evil Village: An Alternate Path.

1168) Our Dear Hunter (Chapters in progress)

1169) Lady in Black (Creative, I know) (Chapters in progress)

1170) Yes, my Lady. I see you. (Chapters in progress)

1171) Bite Me, Asshole (Chapters in progress)

1172) Finding One's self (Chapters in progress)

1173) The Maid's Diary (Chapters in progress)

1174) Die Schöne und das Biest (Chapters in progress)

1175) Death's Angel (Chapters in progress)

1176) Sit on me, Lady (short story)

1177) Risking Just Enough (Chapters in progress)

1178) Ceasefire (short story)

1179) drunk on you (Chapters Completed)

1180) Pawns in Red (short story)

1181) Bound by Sins of the Past (Chapters in progress)

1182) Just Like You (short story)

1183) A Maiden for a Day (short story)

1184) Worried (short story)

1185) Diamonds and Rust (Chapters in progress)

1186) Partners (Chapters in progress)

1187) I'll Have The Usual (Chapters in progress)

1188) entomopathogenic (short story)

1189) Deflower me, my lady (short story)

1190) Desflórame, dama mía (short story)

1191) My Little Bugs (short story)

1192) Doncella depravada (short story)

1193) A Modest Proposal (short story)

1194) dragon's maiden (Chapters in progress)

1195) Blood Hell Night (Chapters in progress)

1196) A Peculiar Servant (Chapters in progress)

1197) The Pet of House Dimitrescu (short story)

1198) Sleepy Cuddles (short story)

1199) Happy Family (Chapters in progress)

1200) Lady Dimitrescu (short story)

1201) Anything and Everything (All of the time) (Chapters in progress)

1202) You Feel Pure (short story)

1203) In the Dragon's Claws (Chapters in progress)

1204) Tales of the side of the road. (Chapters in progress)

1205) The Son of Dimitrescu (Chapters Completed)

1206) Can We Try? (Chapters Completed)

1207) Paying Your Respects (Chapters Completed)

1208) Tentacle Entanglement (short story)

1209) The Final Waltz (short story)

1210) Little Red Dress (short story)

1211) a new home, a new family (Chapters in progress)

1212) Adventures in the Village (Chapters in progress)

1213) Lady Dimitrescu's New Vintage (Chapters in progress)

1214) Feed the Machine (Chapters in progress)

1215) A lifetime and an eternity after (short story)

1216) ses terribles jeux (short story)

1217) The Metal Doll (Chapters in progress)

1218) olly olly oxenfree (Chapters in progress)

1219) Till Death Do Us Part, or Not. (Chapters in progress)

1220) The Maid's Observation Notes - Short Stories (Chapters in progress)

1221) Mandatory High School AU That No One (Except Daniela Dimitrescu) Asked For (Chapters in progress)

1222) Daughter of Dione: Is Thirty Seconds All I Have? (Chapters in progress)

1223) Book of Pyroclasm (Chapters in progress)

1224) Don't Want Your Heart (Between My Teeth) (Chapters in progress)

1225) The Book of Blood and Bedlam (Chapters in progress)

1226) Metal and Blood (Chapters in progress)

1227) A Sentimental Noose (Chapters Completed)

1228) How could I refuse? (Chapters in progress)

1229) Village of Gods and Angels (Chapters in progress)

1230) Dream (short story)

1231) Heavy (short story)

1232) How an immortal dies (short story)

1233) Wir werden sehen (short story)

1234) What's that coming over the hill? (Is it a monster?) (Chapters in progress)

1235) Sorrow, Joy, Rage, and Pleasure (Chapters in progress)

1236) Built on a Lie (Chapters in progress)

1237) “ Dress Up ” (short story)

1238) Mother Mia (Chapters in progress)

1239) Măr de Sânge (Chapters in progress)

1240) Hard-wired tragedys (Chapters in progress)

1241) Are you Single? (Chapters in progress)

1242) butterflies in your stomach (short story)

1243) A Cold Village (Chapters in progress)

1244) all i want is to be your harbor (Chapters in progress)

1245) Comfort (short story)

1246) Ichor & Steel (Chapters Completed)

1247) A Missing Link (short story)

1248) Can't Get No (short story)

1249) The Daughters, The Lady and You (short story)

1250) My Darling (Chapters in progress)

1251) Something Wicked (Chapters in progress)

1252) Screws (Chapters Completed)

1253) Mother is God, in the eyes of her children (Chapters in progress)

1254) Resident Evil | Family (Chapters in progress)

1255) The Turn of the Screw (Chapters in progress)

1256) Absolution (Chapters in progress)

1257) Before Winter starts (Chapters in progress)

1258) Beauty Is In The Eye of The Beholder (short story)

1259) 𝕹𝖊𝖝𝖙 𝖎𝖓 𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊: 𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖘𝖊𝖓𝖇𝖊𝖗𝖌 𝖝 𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗 (Chapters in progress)

1260) Greater Innocence (Chapters in progress)

1261) Lady's Pet (short story)

1262) we'll both make it out alive, i promise (Chapters in progress)

1263) If I Catch Fire (Chapters in progress)

1264) Wenn Ich Weiß, Was Liebe Ist, Dann Wegen Dir || If I Know What Love Is, It Is Because Of You (Chapters in progress)

1265) Her Maiden (Chapters in progress)

1266) What's A Mother To Do? (Chapters in progress)

1267) The Huntress of Dimitrescu (Chapters in progress)

1268) I'm Begging for Mercy on my Mind (Chapters Completed)

1269) Tough as Thorns (Chapters Completed)

1270) Broken Telephone (short story)

1271) Re and dsmp crossover prompt (short story)

1272) Lady Dimitrescu/fem reader birthday special (short story)

1273) Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave (short story)

1274) Mystery of the blackwood family (Chapters in progress)

1275) Romantic Machinations (Chapters in progress)

1276) What We May Be (Chapters in progress)

1277) Best 10/10 (short story)

1278) Foggy Nightmares (Chapters in progress)

1279) Some Things Stay The Same And Some Times They Change (Chapters in progress)

1280) Bend and Break (Chapters in progress)

1281) Verbena (TRIGGER WARNING) (Chapters in progress)

1282) home (am i home?) (short story) (Chapters in progress)

1283) REtirement (Chapters in progress)

1284) Not-So-Rude Awakening (Chapters Completed)

1285) Mother is the Name for God (Chapters Completed)

1286) The Four Lord's Grace After Stories (Chapters in progress)

1287) Funny Things (Chapters in progress)

1288) The Carriage Ride Home (short story)

1289) The Dragon's Favorite Treasure (short story)

1290) the lightning says something, and the thunder answers back (short story)

1291) let's walk into the woods; (Chapters in progress)

1292) Drawn (Chapters in progress)

1293) Not All That Glitters is Gold (Chapters in progress)

1294) go back (short story)

1295) Instincts (Chapters in progress)

1296) what you're made of (Chapters Completed)

1297) Misery Loves Company (Chapters in progress)

1298) Your Dagger Upon My Sword (Chapters in progress)

1299) When Night Comes (Chapters in progress)

1300) Heimarmene (Chapters in progress)

1301) Till I breathe my last breath. (Chapters in progress)

1302) The shy dollmaker (Chapters in progress)

1303) Even The Scraps He Keeps (Chapters in progress)

1304) Period Piece (short story)

1305) Gender Euphoria (short story)

1306) Obsession of a Metal Man (Chapters in progress)

1307) Day of Rites (Chapters in progress)

1308) Moonlit Masters (Chapters in progress)

1309) Blood bag (Chapters in progress)

1310) Unfathomable Violence (Chapters in progress)

1311) Nightmare: A Karl Heisenberg story (Chapters in progress)

1312) Mercy for a Maiden (Chapters in progress)

1313) The Heir of the House of Beneviento (Chapters in progress)

1314) Adjustments (Chapters in progress)

1315) Plaything (short story) (Chapters in progress)

1316) Obsessed ➰ (Chapters in progress)

1317) Your Lord and Master (Chapters in progress)

1318) Hunted (Chapters in progress)

1319) The fifth lord (Chapters in progress)

1320) Phoenix Feeding (short story)

1321) Salvatore Moreau: Matchmaker Extraordinare! (Chapters in progress)

1322) The no.1 reaper apprentice finds out why Lady D is nicknamed as such (short story)

1323) Ethan the Pacifist (Chapters in progress)

1324) The Visit (Chapters in progress)

1325) Her Addiction (Chapters in progress)

1326) Will I Find My Home In You? (short story)

1327) Assistant To Aristocracy (Chapters in progress)

1328) The Lycan Queen (Chapters in progress)

1329) The Taste of Decay (Chapters in progress)

1330) A second chance (Chapters in progress)

1331) The Cellar (short story)

1332) Pretty Man-Thing (short story)

1333) I’d do anything for you (Chapters Completed)

1334) Little Dragon (Chapters in progress)

1335) Carnivore (Chapters in progress)

1336) Serendipity (Chapters in progress)

1337) Lady Dimitrescu x Maiden - Sanguis Virginis (Chapters in progress)

1338) The New Bela (Chapters Completed)

1339) Any Means Necessary (Chapters in progress)

1340) Make Me Worse, Make Me Better (Chapters in progress)

[beskarberry]

Krayt’s Teeth

Bargaining with Beskar, Chapter 3 (The Mandalorian x f!reader)

The sound of crashing and shouting was hot on your tail, the other hunters had followed you and were gaining fast. You saw a light rapidly approaching ahead of you, and the two of you burst out into the brilliant daylight to the worst possible place: a dead fucking end.

Rating: Explicit

Word count: 6.7k

Content warnings: Canon typical violence, killing in self defense, headcanon angst, FLUFF, sensory deprivation, body worship, oral sex (f receiving).

A/N: These are my headcanons regarding Mandalorian culture in terms of sex, I didn’t find much lore on it so whether it’s accurate or not idk but I like them and that’s all that matters! Enjoy~

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You could have slept forever, even on that horrible little cot you were so comfortable that you could have been out for days, but the only one on it was you. You did’t know when Mando got up from the tiny space you both shared through the night, or how he managed to get out from your tangled bodies without waking you up. You opened your eyes to tiny green baby hands tugging at your fingers. 

“Hey booger, is it time for breakfast? Where’s your papa?” You started to sit up, but the horrible sticky mess underneath you made you reluctant to move, a mix of passion and pain from the day before. “Yikes. I’m gonna run all his water out if I have to keep using the fresher. Come on, let’s get scrubbed up.” The baby gibbered excitedly at you, though you weren’t sure how much of what you said he actually understood. You scooped him into your arms without looking back at the sad little cot and all its stains. “You’re water proof, right?”

The ship’s engines were rumbling away, so you guessed tin man was up in the cockpit flying you towards your next bounty. Or Nevarro. You would have to find Mr. Mystery later, the grossness that was you had to be dealt with. Between you and the child your shower took forever, the two of you getting water and soap bubbles from top to bottom. You didn’t care. You had been on Tatooine for months without having a real shower, being consigned to the sonic freshers that vibrated the sand off of the moisture farmer’s bodies; and this was the second real shower you’d gotten to have in twice as many days. You spent a good deal of time trying to get your chatty friend to hold still long enough to be dried off, the little fart squealing with joy every time you went for him with the towel.

An ordeal later you were both fresh and presentable, but your host was still nowhere to be seen, though the ugly sheets had thankfully disappeared from view. The ship was quiet now, without the engine running you knew you had to be back on the ground, and you could hear a distinct hum of activity coming through the walls. Space port? He flew us into town? The thought was replaced immediately with a rich, savory smell coming through the air vents: FOOD! Your gut grumbled loud enough to resonate through the cabin and earn you a confused look from the baby. When was the last time you really ate? You’d been living on ration packs for the last couple of days. That was going to change right now.

“Ya hungry buddy? Me too! Maybe that’s where your dad is, hmm?” Grabbing your old backpack and hooking the baby under your arm you started punching buttons on the wall to get the door open, sending walls sliding and cabinets opening before you got one of the access ramps open. Bright double sunlight nearly blinded you, and on reflex you covered the baby’s giant googly eyes. It took a moment for your own to adjust to the radiant light of the Tatooine morning, and the smell of cooking food hit you like a ton of bricks, making your mouth water. As your eyes adjusted you were able to take in your surroundings: though it was bright outside you were parked low inside a maintenance bay, the walls of which soared high above you; littered with engine parts and humming with droid activity. Sound was the last input your hungry brain could process, but when it did you didn’t like what you heard. The sounds of an argument echoed around the hangar, high and shrill.

“I already told you, you can’t park here! You’re bad for business!”

“I just need to park here long enough to get supplies.”

“Well you’re gonna have to pay up, Mando! I’m not running a charity here! You got credits for supplies you got credits for parking! Up front this time!”

Oh no.

Of all the mechanics and docking hangars in Mos Eisley he had to pick this one. The fireball of a woman barely came up to your partner’s chest, but she made up for it with unbridled fury; and the giant cooked animal leg she was swinging around like a club between bites made her look even more formidable. She noticed you coming down the ramp and stopped grilling your comrade long enough to glare daggers through your skull.

“Oh NO! No nope nuh uh! You can turn right back around and get back on that ship, missy! I knew it! I knew you were bad for business, Mando! What’re you doing running around with her? I hope she’s your bounty because she’s your problem!”

“Peli.” Your words were cold as ice, but the squirming baby in your arms took all the malice out of your stance. He wiggled until you set him down, and he ran towards the mechanic with open arms.

“Baby! You can stay but your dad’s gotta take the mean lady somewhere else! She cheats at sabacc!”

“You lost fair and square, Peli! Try playing a better hand next time!”

“Ladies please!”  Mando cut through your bickering, holding his arms up between the two of you like he was trying to corner a pair of wild blurgs. “If I let the child stay with you for the day, will you let me park the Razor Crest here? Just for a couple hours?”

Peli bounced the child on her hip, offering him a bite of her breakfast. The baby squealed happily while he sank his little teeth into the mighty snack, though the size of it comically dwarfed his itty bitty hands. “I’ll tell you what, you let me keep him and then maybe I’ll let you park here in a week.” Mando cocked his helmet at her with disdain and she huffed loudly, “Well if you put it that way, I guess you can park here, but you gotta put five hundred credits down, and not a cent less!”

Mando reeled, stabbing his hands to his hips with indignation. “Five hund- absolutely not! What am I going to buy our-” You interrupted his tirade with a hand on his shoulder, waving a slew of credits in front of his eyes. Peli snatched them out of your hand, fanning them out like cards to count them.

“Who’d you cheat these outta?”

“Don’t worry about it.” You leaned casually against your metal man, eyeing Peli with a smug look on your face. “Let’s go, Mando. Bye baby green bean, have fun with Auntie Cheats-at-Sabacc!” You spun him around by the hand and dragged him towards the exit, ignoring the insults being slung at your back. “We are getting breakfast and that’s final!”

The Mandalorian allowed you to pull him along a few feet before grinding his heels into the sand, shaking his head. “You have to stay here.”

Now it was your turn for sassy head tilts. “I just paid for your parking, buckethead, that makes me in charge and I’m hungry! I’ll buy you breakfast too if you want.” He didn’t budge, fixing you with that intense stare of his and grabbing you by the shoulders.

“You are still being hunted. Mos Eisley isn’t safe for you.”

Ah.

You knew you could look after yourself, and he himself had compared you to a ferocious rancor just yesterday. You groaned loudly, “Shit balls of hell. But dad, I’m huuunngry!” The man bristled at your paternal harassment, sighing heavily and letting his helmeted head fall to the side like the world was ending. He glanced around the hangar exit, his shiny beskar snapping to each object of interest until he located a protocol droid corpse that was missing everything from the waist down. He strode over to it and held it down with one boot, yanking it by the head until it popped off. He began prying the droid’s vocorder apart at the mouth, pulling it wide until the droids face plate broke off with a snap! Tossing the rest of the logic processing unit to the ground, he held the face plate up to the light, inspecting the clarity of its photo receptor casings. He bent back down to the junk pile and fished out a stray wire to thread through the ruined audio processors, then tossed the finished creation to you.

“Put that on.”

You turned the makeshift mask over in your hands to check for sharp edges before you pressed it to your face. The bug eyes on the front were dirty, but you could see well enough. Before you could clean them more thoroughly you felt the weight of fabric on your head, his cloak now worn as your own. The thought of how you must look made you giggle. “You make me take my clothes off, now you want me to put clothes on. It never ends with you, Mando. Next you’ll be forging me beskar. Now can we eat something, please?” Without a word the armored man turned on his heel and walked out the hangar exit. I’ll take that as a yes.

Mos Eisley buzzed with life, people and animals and things you couldn’t explain made their way up and down the bustling streets. The smell of food led you to a vendor selling something that could have been a root vegetable, covered in herbs and spices and grilled to perfection. You couldn't wait, all thoughts of self-preservation went out the window as you hauled ass to the stand, waving two fingers in the air. When you had both of your prizes in hand you stuffed the savory veggie under your mask, sighing contentedly at the taste of real honest-to-Maker food. “Hey tin man, I hope you like... whatever this-” You turned to offer your partner something to eat, but he had disappeared from the crowd. “Alright... more for me.”

Taking a newspaper from the vendor you wrapped the extra snack up tight and threw it in your pack for later, continuing to chow down on your own. You would find Mando eventually, and you had credits to spend. You had held onto your hush-money for months to avoid suspicion, but now it was burning a hole in your pocket. Wandering the streets of Mos Eisley from merchant to merchant you began accumulating a small hoard of supplies, ranging from bacta to hand tools, and food. Whatever you could get your hands on that would survive hyperspace when you inevitably left this fucking dirtball for good; though you still weren’t convinced that you wouldn’t be making that flight in carbonite. You picked out new clothes and underwear, a much-needed bedroll, and some soft bantha-wool blankets. Something further down the marketplace caught your eye, and you made your way to the fancier items that glittered in the double daylight. You didn’t wear jewelry yourself, a poor choice of attire for a hunter, but the way the trinkets caught the light still made you wistful. Your hidden eyes danced over the glittering treasures; jewels and geodes that had been found deep in the sands and polished to a radiant shine.

You spotted something opalescent at the end of one table and found a pair of krayt teeth, each about the size of your palm. They had been sanded to a smooth, flat finish and carved with intricate desert patterns. The backs of them had tiny fittings that could be sewn on as buttons, or pulled off to reveal magnets. Something about their shape seemed familiar, though you couldn’t imagine why in that moment. You purchased the unique pieces anyway, something to remind you that even the harshest of places could hold hidden beauty. After a while you had so much junk piled in your arms that you could barely see over it, and tin man was nowhere to be found. You spotted a courier droid and paid for it to deliver your treasures back to Hanger 3-5, though you kept the pricey teeth in your pockets. With your arms free you started looking for your missing comrade.

The streets were busy with people, you would have to get somewhere out of the way in order to scan the crowds. Your eyes went from shimmer to shimmer, looking for his reflective chrome dome. “Big jerk,” you mused to yourself “‘Mos Eisley’s not saaafe...’ If he’s so worried then where the hell is he? Bah!” The scratched-up photoreceptor casings of your mask made it a challenge to see through the crowd, and you took a moment to adjust the iris apertures so you wouldn’t have to keep squinting into the double sunshine when you felt a hand on your back. Finally. “Mando, where have you-”

“Mando? Whos’sis man-do? Nah sssweetheart, I think you got me confused wi’ sssomeone elssse.” The slithering voice in your ear made your blood run cold. Not Mando! You rocketed your elbow backwards, connecting with the gut of the stranger on your back with an -oof! The hand let go long enough for you to make a run for it, and you tore off down the streets of the busy spaceport, smashing into bystanders in your wake. You cast a quick look behind you to see a large reptilian body flying after you, brownish scales catching the reflection of the noonday suns. Though you had your blaster, the risk of hitting a civilian was too great, so running would have to do. You were thankful for the courier droid that had freed your hands just minutes before as you barreled down the busy streets.

Market stalls flew past you, your boots kicking up sand and dust. The mask on your face, as dirty as it was, kept the debris from your eyes as you raced through the sunburnt city. You had to lose this fucker and fast. You turned down an alley, left, right, another right, leaping over supply crates and low fences like a lothcat. You turned to see if you had lost your chaser, breath heaving and heart pounding. Behind you was clear, but you took your eyes off your path for just a second too long, and were taken by surprise when a heavy weight fell on you from above.

The Trandoshan had gone over the low sandstone roofs, chasing you easily through the alleyways of Mos Eisley while you were none the wiser. He pinned you under him quickly, ripping your blaster off your hip and pointing your own barrel in your face. “Tha’ss enough, princesss! Nice n’ quietlike now. You gonna make me a pretty penny you are.” The lizard’s words dripped with metaphorical venom, though you were sure by the look of those fangs that real venom was probably right behind. “Ahm gonna cart yer arse right back to th’ Guild’n I’ll become th’ most famous hunter in th’ galax -urk!”  With a sickening gag the hunter above you grew a shiny new fang in the back of his throat before falling down dead on top of you, a vibroblade protruding from back of his skull.

“Took you long enough!” You hollered at your chrome companion, who was stepping forward to kick the carcass off of you. “Where the fuck have you been? Getting your rifle polished?” He pulled you to your feet, handing you your blaster while readjusting the mask on your face. You swatted at his fussing hands, but when you looked at him you were shocked to see not one but three blinking bounty fobs dangling from his belt. On the ground by the dead lizard was a fourth, flashing rapidly in the sand.

“I told you you weren’t safe! We need to leave right now.”  You were barely able to grab the remaining bounty fob while you were being tugged away by your allied hunter. He had a death grip on your hand, pulling you along behind him towards what you hoped was the docking hangar. You would have to cross the main street to get there, and as the pair of you plowed across the dusty, busy road there came shouts from either side. More hunters, fucking Guild! You didn’t have a single second to assess them before you were lead through an alley on the other side of the street. These were darker than the ones you had run through on the west side of town, and shady bodies moved quickly out of the way of your living locomotive.

At the end of a narrow alley you both burst through a door leading into an abandoned building. The darkness was almost worse than the blinding sunlight, you would need time for your eyes to adjust but the Mandalorian had enough sensory detection equipment that he ghosted through the ruinous building with ease; never once letting go of your hand as you tripped and stumbled through the dark. The sound of crashing and shouting was hot on your tail, the other hunters had followed you and were gaining fast. You saw a light rapidly approaching ahead, and the two of you burst out into the brilliant daylight to the worst possible place: a dead fucking end.

“There! Get down!” Mando pointed at a pile of rubble, probably big enough to hide behind, but that’s not how you handled business.

“Fuck you! I’m not going down without a fight!” You pulled your blaster out and aimed at the incoming assailants. He growled at you and stepped closer, putting his body in between you and the door. The reptilian hunters burst from the darkness of the warehouse, firing rapid shots of blaster charges that bounced off of Mando’s beskar. You fired over his protective arm, taking out the first one and tripping up the second, who fell over his cohorts limp body. Mando took shot after shot to the chest, reeling with each impact. His other arm cocked back and shot out, sending a wall of fire into the last of the Guild’s hired guns.

Both of you were panting, shaking and sweating from flying through Mos Eisley, but the sound of blaster fire would draw attention and you knew there was no time to waste. You stepped over the incinerated corpse, making sure the fob it carried was melted, the second body still squirmed in the dirt, and you weren’t going to let it get a second chance, firing your blaster through it’s scaly skull. You picked the remaining two fobs and stuffed them in your pockets, making a run for it back through the building with Mando right behind, the blaze of his flamethrower lighting your way.

You took a different door out of the building and were relieved to see the words ‘HANGAR 3-5′ painted in bright blue Basic straight ahead. You skittered through the entrance, rounding the corner and dropping down behind the edges of the hangar doorway. Mando did the same on the other side, both of you pointing your blasters back towards Mos Eisley’s dark heart. Bootsteps behind you made you snap around, and you nearly shot your mechanically inclined host.

“You kids have fun out there?” Peli stood over where you were hunched, and you lowered your blaster to the ground. At her feet your little buddy was holding onto her pant leg, making big puppy dog eyes at you. You looked over to Mando to make sure there weren’t any more coming, but he still held his blaster out ahead. After a few tense seconds he lowered it down until it was back in its’ holster, then pulled himself to his feet.

“We can’t stay any longer, we’re putting you in danger. Time to go, kiddo.” His charred beskar still shimmered when he bent down to pick up his adopted son, who chirped with delight. “Thank you for watching him.”

“He can stay any time! Oh and thanks for all the snacks you made that droid bring me!” Peli called after the three of you as your party quickly boarded the Razor, making you turn around and stick your tongue out at her. She happily flipped you off and started closing the ground entrance to the bay, letting you board the ship uninterrupted. Fortunately, the courier droid’s delivery had made it to the ship, though you couldn't help but notice a few of your most carefully picked snacks had been taken as collateral. Fucking Peli. As much as she infuriated you, there wasn’t another person on all of Tatooine that you would rather play sabacc with.

The old rust bucket rumbled to life, taking off into the midafternoon sky and pointed towards the stars. Finally! Bye motherfucker. The hazy atmosphere of the outer rim planet fell away below you until the light of the bright yellow world illuminated the Crest’s stern. The pre-Imperial scrapheap started howling with noise, and you were almost thrown to the deck when it blasted into the safety of hyper space.

Your heart was still racing and you struggled to catch your breath. Once you had yourself in order you started busying yourself with putting the supplies away, filling the food larder to capacity. The child was contentedly telling you about his day with his auntie in his cute baby gibberish, and you picked him up off the ground to give him a much needed hug, pushing your stolen identity onto the top of your head to give him kisses. You almost wanted to ignore the sound of heavy armored boots hitting the floor panel under the ladder, their wearer opting to jump down from the cockpit rather than climb. You could feel the fury coming off of him as he stalked over to where you were sorting your treasures.

“You could have been hurt! I knew it was a bad idea to let you go wandering around, even with your face covered. What if they’d caught you? I picked three of them off before you even saw one!”

“I had it under control, Mando! I’m not some princess that needs you coming to her rescue at every sign of a struggle. And you don’t get to let me do anything, you don’t own me!” The man under your scrutiny paced the cabin on stiff legs with his hands on his hips, helmet snapping with rage.

“I know you can handle yourself, but I need to protect you.” He said with a huff, “And that lizard was... he had you pinned down, had his filthy, scaly claws on you... Nobody should touch you like that! What if.. what if he... I- I- didn’t like that he was...” Listening to the sound of the gears jamming in his head made you realize the ridiculous thing he was trying to say.

“Are you.. Mando are you jealous?”

“No! I- I’m.. Cyar’ika I... ”

Oh no, you don’t get to be cute right now. “I don’t know what that means, Mando! What is that, some kind of sexy little pet name you use on all the girls you take underneath of you?”

“NO! I didn’t- I would nev- I’ve never had... There’s never been- no!” Oh how you wished you could see his face, watching him flail trying to defend himself from your accusation, he was probably white as a sheet under all that armor.

“Never what, Mandalorian?”

“I’ve never had anyone in this ship before!” The Mandalorian’s confession lost steam halfway through as embarrassment and fear crept into his throat, threatening to choke him with his own secrets.

“Wait.. wait wait. Never? You’ve never had anyone in this ship or...” You started approaching him, analyzing his visor for hints of meaning. “Or you’ve never had anyone at all?” The Mandalorian stopped his pacing, but his shoulders looked like they were carrying the weight of the galaxy. His silence told you everything, and the last piece of his puzzle fell into place. “Mando...was I your first?”

“Y-yes.” His visor tilted up to you, hands fidgeting at his sides. His voice was faint and sheepish, a stark contrast to the thunderstorm you were arguing with a moment ago.  Your eyes were full of questions, all racing through your mind so quickly none of them made it to your mouth. The metal man answered them all for you in one singular motion, raising his fist to knock a couple times against his beskar helmet. His creed.

“So, what, you guys aren’t allowed to have sex?”

He sighed his heavy, trademarked sigh and plopped down on the nearest supply crate with a defeated thud, cradling his head in his hands. “No it’s not that. Not... not exactly. In Mando’a the word we use is me'dinuir. It means ‘to give’, specifically to give yourself to another. And... when you give yourself away to someone-“ He turned the black gloss of his single eye up to you, “-you belong to them. That is The Way.”

The weight of his words made your blood cold. He was jealous, but not just because that other hunter had put his scaly hands on you. Everything about his attitude around you suddenly made sense, the way he had looked at you when you were presenting yourself to him that first day, why he never threw you in carbonite when he probably should have, and how he had stayed with you through the night after you nearly died hunting his bounty. His mysterious way of life decreed that giving his body to you meant that he had also given you his soul, and that made you just as important to protect as his foundling.

Mando reached out to pat the fuzzy green head of the baby you were still holding, who gibbered sleepily up at his armor plated papa. “I’m sorry to put that on you, and I’m sorry for how I acted. You’re not my bounty anymore, and I shouldn’t try to control you. I understand if you don’t want to continue with me to the next bounty. You can take whatever you want from the armory when we land next. I’m.. I’m so sorry.” The monolithic man looked so tiny now, sitting on the edge of the crate with his shoulders hunched. He reached his arms out to take his infant son from you, hugging him to his blast-burnt chest and smoothing his massive ears. "I didn’t get to thank you for washing him earlier, he smells really good.”

You desperately needed to know more, though the sight of him fawning over his sleepy son made your heart swell. “I kinda got the feeling that you were rusty when we met, but that was actually your first time? And what does that mean ‘you belong to them’? How can you belong to me? I don’t even know your name.”

"It means that I’m now sworn to protect the one that carries my soul. I’m not asking you to do the same, you’re not Mandalorian.”

His words made you feel sick, ashamed that you had taken something so sacred from him without a second thought, but how could you have known? He could have stopped at any time, you were the one in cuffs that day, not him. No, out of trillions and trillions of sentient beings in the galaxy he chose to give himself to you, knowing full well what his heritage decreed. Why you? Arms crossed, you dug deeper. “You’ve never seen another naked body than your own?”

He shook his head. “Just... holo-vids...”

You were going to have to ask him about those later. “Nothing? You’ve at least kissed someone before though, right?”

“Kissed?”

Maker fucking help you. “Yeah you know, kissing? The thing you do with your... oh, right." You reached up and tapped him twice on the beskar. “You need your face to do it.”

He cocked his helmet at you. “Can you show me?”

The innocence of his question made you melt. Fuck you, tin can, you’re not supposed to be cute when you’re in trouble. You reached your hand out, demanding he give you his, and shyly he obeyed. You pulled his hand to your lips, unsure of how much he could actually feel through his thick leather gloves. You pressed his hand to your lips and watched his whole body snap straight. “Kiss, like that.”

He was staring at his hand like he’d never seen it before, and after a moment he pulled your locked fingers to his head, tapping his forehead with the back of your hand. “Kov’nynir, But we do it with our helmets.”  At this rate you’ll be speaking Mando’a in no time. He still held your hand gently, running his thumb over your fingers. “I think I like your way better. Could... Could you do that again?”

So polite, maybe having him stuck with you wouldn’t be so bad. You pulled his hand back to you, giving him another soft kiss on the side of his thumb, and you heard the sound of his breath catching in his modulator. Your lips pressed to each of his knuckles, and then you turned his wrist to kiss his palm. “How’s that?”

“That’s amazing.”

“You like that? Watch this.” Addressing the bantha in the room would have to wait. You tugged his glove off, revealing the warm bronze skin underneath and kissed him again. The hitched breaths coming out of his modulator were honey to your ears, and you turned his wrist over to kiss his bare palm again, hunting for more sweet sounds. His body was so stiff, so tightly wound you thought he might snap. “Are you ok? Do I need to stop?”

“I- I- want to... Can... Can I try?” You nodded, your heart jumping to your throat at the thought of him removing his helmet in front of you, but instead he gently reached up to the busted droid face you still wore on your head. With a twist of a knob the armatures inside of the eye casings coiled shut, and when he slid the mask down into place you were thrown into total darkness. “Can you see?” You shook your head. “Promise?”

You sighed, long and frustrated. “I promise, dark as a sarlacc’s backside.” You were met with only silence. Then, after what felt like an eternity you heard the sliding sound of metal as the child’s pram shield slid closed, then the shuffle of armor being removed, and lastly the dull thunk of something heavy being set down on the crates. His hand found yours again, and he pressed his lips against your skin. They were hotter than you were expecting, and soft, almost plush. You understood right away why he was so rigid when you were doing the same, it was amazing. Gentle kisses made their way over the back of your hand and made heat flood through your veins. He moved slowly over each joint, following the same pattern you had shown him, then turned your hand over and kissed at your fingertips. Something fuzzy brushed along with his lips, and you imagined that he might have a mustache. The shivers that crept their way up from your captured hand knocked all the strangeness of your conversation out of your mind, but when he reached your wrist he stopped.

“Where else do you kiss at?” You nearly fainted at the sound of his unfiltered voice, a rich baritone that dripped with dark intentions and stole all the words from your mouth. You could only point with your other hand at the forearm attached to the hand he held. Again you felt his lips on your wrist, then slowly, inch by agonizing inch he made his way up your arm, each kiss slower than the last until your toes were curling in their boots. When he reached the edge of the tunic’s sleeve that hung at your elbow he paused again. “Where else?”

“Everywhere.”  Your tormentor hummed at your consenting words and let go of your hand to run his palms down your clothed thighs. When he reached your knees he pulled on their joints, bidding you to bring your legs up over his lap. When you were seated on him he resumed his trek up your arm, kissing at the crease of your elbow and then upwards over your tunic until he reached your shoulder. When he got to your neck you almost buckled over, but his hands were at your back in an instant, wrapping heavily around your waist. Your own hands made their way to the nape of his neck, and your fingers found the edge of his hairline that you had felt before. To your delight you felt that the tousled curls went all the way up, and you tangled your fingers in them, exploring their softness while he explored you.

His journey led him up your neck to the base of your jaw where he nipped gently at the sensitive skin like you had done to him last night, sending a fresh wave of goosebumps from your head to your toes. When his nose bumped the edge of your mask you were suddenly aware of how silly you might look with your big bug eyes. “Can I take this thing off?” you asked in a whisper. “I won’t look.”

“I have a better Idea. Hold on tight.” You dug your hands into his shoulders and felt his arms wrap under your legs as he stood up, lifting you with such ease that you wondered if he felt your weight at all. His boots echoed through the cabin until he stopped at the other end. You hung on for dear life while he climbed the ladder with you still wrapped around his front. When you both reached the top you let yourself unwind from him and scooted on your butt over the floor, listening to the sound of him pulling himself all the way up. You remained seated as your host fussed around the flight deck, the noise of buttons pressing and switches being thrown the only input to your deprived senses.

You were only unattended for a moment, then his hands found your waist, fishing for the edge of your shirt. The tunic was pulled up and over your head, taking your mask with it, and you squeezed your eyes shut to protect his modesty; unsure of what his unconventional oath to you included in the fine print. Your diligence was rewarded with a kiss on your forehead, then down to kiss both of your closed eyes, and then lastly to your lips. The searing heat of his mouth on yours threatened to throw your eyes open, but when they fluttered all you saw was darkness. The transperisteel’s blast shielding had been closed, and the only light in the cockpit came from a handful of illuminated buttons on the dash.

He was lying over top of you on the metal floor, one arm wrapped under your neck for support. The cold decking under you was uncomfortable, but you couldn’t be bothered to care, letting yourself be consumed by his kisses and becoming drunk on the scent of leather and adrenaline. The soft fuzz of his facial hair tickled slightly as he pressed into your lips, and you couldn’t help but smile. Your hands went to his face, running your thumbs over his cheeks and feeling what you weren’t allowed to see. His face was scruffy but not unkempt, and the bristles went all the way from his jaw up to the bottom of the defined nose that bumped against your own. You felt the creases on the corners of his eyes, wishing you could see his smile lines and all the stories they would tell.

You kissed him back, letting your tongue glide over his plush lips and making him inhale sharply. You licked into him again, and this time you were met with his tongue as well, just the faintest touch of its tip. He hummed in your mouth, and the sound of him so close made your belly pool with heat and your kisses bolder, sending your tongue deeper into his mouth until he was almost vibrating with the sensation of you exploring something as forbidden as his human body. He mirrored you as best he could, rolling the smooth muscle over your lips and the edges of your teeth until you were both lost in each other’s taste. He pushed his forehead against yours, pulling his mouth away with frantic breaths that spread fire over your skin. “Everywhere?”

You pushed your lips against his again, giving him an ambitions ‘Mmhmm’ as an answer. His growl made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, and you realized where his goal was. He kissed and nipped his way down your throat, letting his tongue glide over your skin. He made his way to your breast, taking its’ tender tip between his teeth and making you gasp. He sucked at it gently, rolling his tongue around it while it grew harder for his efforts. The hand not under you groped at your free breast so it wouldn’t be ignored.

"Beep!”

An urgent chime echoed in the tiny space, the hyperdrive indicator was flashing its countdown warning: 10 minutes remain.

The Mandalorian’s growl on your breast made your blood turn to ice and your core flush with heat at the same time. He wanted to devour you, taste every single inch of your exposed skin, but time was not on your side; and he became a man on a mission to prove himself worthy of you. Bristles dragged over your skin as he slid down your belly until he hit the edge of your pants. They were yanked off so fast you briefly worried about the krayt teeth that were still in their pockets, but you didn’t have long to think before Mando was poised over the apex of your thighs, kissing at each leg to make his intentions known. Those must be some good holo-vids you’re watching, tinman. You let him push your legs apart with his chin, receiving a soft kiss on each one once they were far enough apart for him to stuff his face in between.

Your back arched, hard, followed by the most ragged moan you‘d ever heard escape your throat. The grip on your thighs kept you in place as he lapped at your clit, sucking and teasing in an experimental way. His inexperience didn’t seem to matter, his hunger for you fueling his efforts and making you squirm in delight. Your hands sought desperately for something to grab onto to keep yourself grounded, finding his lovely curls to bury your fingers in deep. It was all you could do to hold on for dear life, tangling in his hair and struggling to breathe as he worked you into a frenzy.

The noises coming from below your waist were heavenly, wet and greedy in between his hums of contentment. It took you a while to realize they weren’t hums at all, but alien words of worship being prayed at your sinful altar; but the blood pounding in your ears and the gasps from your throat were too loud for you to hear his devotion.

“Beep beep!”  Five minutes remain. Fuck.

The Mandalorian’s efforts doubled, running his tongue almost too quickly in his attempt to eat you alive. You let your hips grind into his mouth, begging him to bring you your release, and it wasn’t long before he succeeded. Stars flashed behind your eyes as you came into his hot open mouth, but he refused to leave until he had drank his fill of you. Eventually he pulled his face away from your spent heat with agonizing slowness, as if he would rather drown than address the impending drop from hyperspace. He kissed at your shaky thighs, your soft belly, and each breast before pressing his lips into your panting mouth, pushing the taste of you onto your own tongue. His breath was ragged, and you could feel the sweat of his brow where it was pushed against your face. 

He lifted away from you, and the weight of the handmade mask was draped over your face, making you groan with the displeasure of your passion being cut short. However, once it was in place, it was almost immediately pushed under by strong fingers to lift its edge, and you were given one last kiss to swear his promise of return to you.

“Din. My name is Din.”

<-Previous Next->

TAG LIST  @mrsparknuts​ @cookiejuicedesu​ @mandoinevarro​ @kaermorons​

[begitalarcos]

Stan and Bev exchanged a sheepish look as Eddie stared back at them bug eyed with hands out waiting for an answer

Eddie: Did either of you boneheads think this shit through before you came to me with it?!

Stan half shrugged while Bev crossed her arms, Eddie groaned slapping his hands against the sides of his face, pulling down with his fingers

Eddie: I can’t believe this

Richie: Believe what?

The three of them turned as Richie stood at the other end of the table, lunch tray in hand. Nobody said anything but Bev and Stan looked to each other wordlessly, making eyes and gestures toward at Eddie who quietly whispered shut up over and over again. Richie put down his tray.

Richie: Did you guys eat the mystery meat again or something?

Stan gave a tight lipped smile as he stood and patted Richie hard on the shoulder and took his leave, Bev not far behind him. Eddie just sitting there wide eyed as Stan and Bev gave him a double thumbs up and made tracks.

Richie: What the hell was that about?

Eddie shrugged, he was practically vibrating

Eddie: Beats the hell outta me!

He said a little louder and squeakier than he was hoping. Richie cocked an eyebrow

Richie: What’s up with you

Eddie felt his face getting hot as Richie stared at him from behind thick glasses

Richie: Wait, are you blushing?

Eddie: No. No of course not

He faked a cough and pulled at his collar vigorously

Richie: What is up with you?

Eddie stood up quicker than expected, knocking the bench back with a squeal

Eddie: I’m fine maybe- maybe your blushing, Y’ever think of that?!

Richie looked very confused which made Eddie go an ever brighter shade of pink

Eddie: I have... health problems! Asshole!

Eddie attempted to make a quick exit but ran into the door that was a pull and not a push causing many of the other students in the cafeteria to laugh

Eddie: Meant to do that

He muttered pulling the door open and rushing down the hall, leaving Richie alone to wonder what the fuck had just happend

[blackwolfnsr]

Purl, you cheeky blueberry bastard, since when did he have a fucKING CLOAKING DEVICE- MOTHERFUCKER, THAT'S CHEATING- MAKING ME THINK MY SWITCH IS BUSTED, BUT NO, IT'S YOUR COLGATE LOOKING ASS GOING GHOST ON ME-

Ok, context, slight rambling warning because I was laughing my ass off so god damn hard.

TLDR//Decided to get the Switch Game for NSR, and some glitchy stuff happens...Specifically Purl going ghost and not even fighting me.

I decided to get NSR on the switch right? Already gotten past Nova, Sayu, and Yinu (Sayu was a hell of a lot harder than I initially thought it was gonna be- BUT MOVING ON-) and I reach 1010's place right?

So, I'm on the ship, and ya get the sexy mission done, flirt the hell outta me, yadda yadda yadda, business as usual...

And then Purl just up and disappears. I thought I killed him, so I thought nothing of it. Besides, apparently the switch didn't have the 1010 death animation when ya kill em so there that.

So, I wait for Dad J to come along to bring his sons back...

The dude didn't bring Purl back.

"I wait- sir- SIR, YOU FORGOT ONE YOUR OTHER SON-- THE BLUE MYSTERIOUS ONE-- SIR, YOUR S O N--"

But alas, no avail, I thought it was bugged and Purl would eventually come back at some point since he and his other brothers (specifically Zim and Rin, since Haym and Eloni were being good boys and not BLIPPING INTO THE ETHER-) were blinking in and out of existance occasionally.

But unlike Purl, they were coming back to fight properly. I figured that after the fight, or once I die, I'd reset and maybe everything would be normal.

Besides, everything up to this point was running smoothly except for a few...*minor* missing aesthetics. (One or two minor misssing lines, Yinu's concert wasn't blinking during the approach, aaaaaand Barraca was straight missing. I'm not joking on that last bit, look at this pic-)

Anyway, so I fight a little longer...

And then I hit something. I hit where Purl was supposed to be...

*And I hit his fucking shield...*

Cheeky blue boy thought he was slick and didn't even bother fighting me. I know Zim and Rin were also blipping in and out from the void, but at least they came back and FOUGHT ME. Purl-Hew? He went "✌" and just DIPPED...Still performed with his brothers, didn't get into the photos when the fans were going crazy over 1010 though to regenerate their shields.

...I'm just gonna hope that Eve won't be as big of a problem as the boys-

[jj-bxby]

Where Do We Go? |Chapter Two| JJ Maybank x Reader

Summary - Y/N is a Mainlander who has just moved to The Cut. When she meets her new neighbor, she just may have found the family she’s been searching for, and more.

gif credit - @rue-bennett

Word count - 4.1k (oopsies)

Warnings - Teenage drinking, mention of abuse, fluff at the end

A/N - Okay so I went a bit extra for this chapter, so please let me know what you think! And just ask if you’d like to added to the tag list for the series ❤️

JJ slung his arm around me, walking me over to the small bonfire his friends sat around. The bubbly blonde told me about how I would love his mates and I would become one of the pogues before I even knew it, and I sure as hell hoped he was right. We came to a stop at the fire, and JJ gestured proudly at me before exclaiming a little “Ta-Da!”

“Hey, you found Mystery Girl!” The brunette chuckled.

“Well, she isn’t a mystery anymore. Guys, this is Y/N. Y/N, these are the Pogues. Pope, Kie, Sarah, and John B.” All of the pogues greeted me kindly, and Kie patted the empty spot next to her for me to sit down. “So,” Kie began, “We hope we didn’t bug you too much by asking you out here, it isn’t every day that someone new moves in!” She flashed me a smile. “And don’t worry, we don’t bite.”

“Except JJ.” John B grinned

“JB, don’t be a little shit, alright? We want her to stay, you doof,” Sarah said as she gave him a little push on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I’ve had to deal with JJ the whole way here. John B seems to be in the minor leagues compared to him, at least on the Shithead Scale.” Kie, Sarah, and Pope all laughed with me while JJ and John B looked at each other in mock-offense.

“Thank God we’ll finally have someone else who can put up with them.” Pope smiled.

“Oh yeah, it can’t get much worse than JJ scaring me awake and making me face-plant out of my hammock.”

“JJ did what, now?” Kie cocked an eyebrow at JJ accusingly.

“Okay, in my defense, I tried to wake her up calmly! She looked like she was gonna karate chop me or something when she shot up outta there!”

“Yeah, because waking a random stranger, who you have never spoken with, from her nap is sooo calm,” I teased. “But yeah, when he woke me up, I was not expecting it. He’s lucky I didn’t headbutt him!” I pointed at JJ, and he smiles.

“Yeah, don’t wanna damage the money-maker.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Your ego would have cushioned the blow.”

“Goddamn, girl, you’re gonna give J a run for his money,” JB chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, Pretty Girl got me this time,” JJ retorted while he stood up, walking over to me. “C’mon, can’t leave ya empty-handed.”

I nod at him, accepting his outstretched hand to help me off the log. “Back in a minute, guys.” JJ led us both to the standing keg in the center of the beach.

“Can you tell if they liked me? Was I saying stupid shit?” I asked the boy, slightly nervous. This was a new thing to me: I was never one to care about what people thought of me, so why do I care now?

“Don’t worry, doll, they loved you,” he winked. “Not everyone can handle me and my—“

“Bullshit?”

“I was gonna say cockiness, but that works too. But anyway, they love you. You’re a natural pogue, Y/N. I think Kiara and Sarah, like you, especially.” We finally reach the keg, and he turns to face me. “On tonight’s menu, we have beer or vodka with some strawberry lemonade Crystal Light. Pick your poison.” I chew on the inside of my cheek, suddenly finding the sand very interesting.

“So, uh, here’s the thing. I’m not really a drinker,” I begin, finally looking back up at JJ, who’s gaze never left mine. “And—“

JJ cuts me off, quickly. “Shit, I’m sorry. Look, you don’t have to pick anything if you don’t want to, it’s not a requirement or anything. And I don’t want to pressure you, you know?”

“Oh my god, JJ, shut up for just a second, okay? I was gonna say I haven’t ever drunk, so I don’t know what I like. I was gonna ask you what you thought I should pick, you dummy.” I giggle at him as he rakes his hand through his hair.

“Well, in that case, I’d say beer. Just don’t drink too quickly, ‘kay Pretty Girl? Don’t want you throwing up on me,” he smirked.

“Alright, beer it is, then.”

JJ knelt down to grab a cup and pour a drink, still chattering on about how I need to drink a glass of water for every cup of beer. It’s so stupid, but I was so in awe of him. This boy I knew nothing about just mystified me, everything about him did. The way his lips curled up at the edges whenever he said something he thought was funny, the curves and lines of his biceps, how wisps of his hair were caught in the starlight perfectly, and, oh my God, his eyes. They were so brilliantly blue. They were the kind of blue that made me hear Hawaiian waters in my ears. The kind of blue that brought a sense of serenity, despite the chaos around us. The brilliance of his eyes did not hide their depth — at least not to me. I could see the shimmer of midnight within them, and the kind of navy blue found in an endless, bleak cavern. Behind the cool, icy facade, there were storms dappled throughout the calm. JJ handed me my now full cup, and I opened my mouth to ask him a question, but a voice interrupted me before I could even begin.

“Found another Touron to fuck, aye, Maybank?” JJ’s head snapped to the source of the voice. Another tall blonde had walked up to us. This boy seemed to be the complete opposite of JJ: Gelled hair, board shorts, a pastel-toned shirt, and an air of arrogance surrounding him. He wasn’t calming like JJ, he was intimidating.

“Lay off, Rafe. She isn’t a Touron, she just moved to the island,” JJ spat. He then grabbed my hand protectively, seeming like he wanted to shield me entirely from the drunken boy’s words.

“Ah, so she’s a long-term fuckbuddy, then.” The boy, Rafe, cackled as he swayed. JJ just rolled his eyes and squeezed my hand in his, his eyes finding my own.

“He’s drunk, Y/N, don’t worry about him. Not that he’s any less of an asshole sober.” I nodded, and JJ faced Rafe again. “Go off to your Kook friends, and don’t fucking talk about her like that, got it?” Rafe rolled his eyes and ignored JJ, instead locking his gaze on me.

“Once you see his old man smack him around, you’ll change your mind about him, babe. He ain’t worth shit.”

I kept my eyes locked on Rafe’s as I spoke slowly, my voice unwavering. “Leave us the fuck alone. Now. I don’t care who you are, I don’t know you, but I will not back down to you. So you better stay in your damn lane. You seem like one to not fight girls, but I don’t discriminate.” I finish, and immediately turn around and head off towards the bonfire where the pogues were sat, tugging JJ along with me.

He stopped us and I spun around to look at him, glancing over his shoulder to see Rafe giving me a smug look as he took a swig of his vodka before I shift my eyes back to JJ’s. “Holy shit,” he breathed. “You’re a feisty one, Y/N.”

“Yeah, well I don’t exactly take kindly to people who harass my friends,” I sigh. “I’m kinda scrappy, I guess. At least that’s what my everyone used to tell me.”

“Friend, huh? I like it. And, look, I’m not looking to just fuck around with you, y‘know? If I told Rafe that, it’s all he would have fixated on.” His gaze falling to the sand.

“JJ, I get it. Don’t worry, okay?” I wait for him to look at me. “I’m a walking box of daddy issues, anyways,” I smile slightly, and JJ gives me a laugh.

“Well, damn, we have even more in common than I thought, Pretty Girl. Now, let’s head back to the fire, you need to relax after all that.” I smiled at JJ and noticed how his eyes flicked to my lips for half a second. Just friends, though... right? JJ guided us back towards the group, his arm slung around my waist, and I was definitely hyper-aware of every inch of his skin pressed against my midsection. I take a sip of my beer, trying to distract myself. Finally, we stopped at the bonfire, and everyone gave us a little cheer and a wave, and JJ pulled me down to sit beside him.

“Hey, was King Kook giving you shit, Y/N?” Sarah asked me.

“Yeah, ’cause we’ll mess him up if you want us to,” Kie butts in, giggling. “But seriously,” Sarah continues, “You looked pretty pissed off, did Rafe say something? God, he’s such a dick. And I can say that, ‘cause I live with him.”

“Ah, he was just drunk and pestering us, is all,” I say. “Nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

“Yeah, the pretty one can fend for herself, it seems. Not that I wouldn’t have stepped in if they threw down, of course. But, that being said, I would be pretty curious to see how badly Rafe would get his ass beat.” JJ grinned at me proudly, and I wiggled my eyebrows at him as I sipped on my drink.

“So, on a more serious note, what do you think of the OBX so far, Y/N?” Pope asked me.

“Oh, it’s so frickin’ gorgeous!” I nearly yell, and I bring my hand up to cover my mouth, surprised by my outburst. I giggle before I continue on. “Well, at least what I’ve seen of it, I guess. But I really can’t wait to go out on the water, of course I still need to find a boat somewhere, but the sea is so perfect for swimming. It would be damn good for fishing too!” I was pretty obviously excited, and John B grinned at me.

“Well, missy, you’re in luck. The HMS Pogue is in need of a drive again, and we were planning on going out tomorrow. You up for a little initiation ride?” John B asked, raising his eyebrow.

I smile widely. “Hell yes, I am!”

“Well, it’s settled. Tomorrow, you’ll officially become one of the pogues, Y/N,” Kie said excitedly.

JJ raised his cup, “To the pogues!”

“To the pogues!” We all cheered. Everyone began babbling together about things that needed to be ready for tomorrow — and whether or not they should push me off and into the sea to see if I can get back onto the boat as a ritual.

I smiled at the sight around me and took a swig of my drink, and JJ bumped his shoulder into mine before whispering in my ear. “See? I told you they’d love you as much as I do, Pretty Girl.”

I suppressed a shiver when I felt his breath against my ear, trying my hardest not to falter in my voice as I responded quietly. “Mhm, I’m pretty hard to not love, huh?” I brought my cup up to my lips again, and he cocked his eyebrow at me, his lips curling into a smirk.

“Goddamn,” he murmured as he shook his head. He glanced down at my cup and looked back up at me, concerned. “You better slow down, you know. I know you haven’t been drinking before, so… Just be careful, ‘kay?”

I rolled my eyes at him, sipping my drink again. “Oh don’t worry about it, I have to get used to it somehow,” I say, brushing him off. I can see that his brows are still furrowed, and I think for a second. “Y’know, if you’re really that worried about me, I guess you can stay at my place tonight.”

“Oh really, now?” He questioned teasingly.

“You’ll be on the couch, dumbass.” JJ just laughed, and his brows softened in relief.

“I like this arrangement. I’ll take care of ya if you need it, Y/N.” I nod at him, and I realize that I just invited him back to my own house, and I wonder when I became so brave. I turn away from JJ as Sarah asks if I’ve ever been scuba diving before, and I begin chatting away. As we talk, I can feel JJ’s gaze on me, and for once in my life, I don’t mind it. For once, having a boy pay attention to me was a good thing, even if it was simply him being a concerned friend. Eventually, I finish my drink and JJ pours some water into my cup, I mouth a silent ‘thank you’ to him, before turning back to Sarah and Kie.

“What brought you to the Outer Banks, Y/N?” Kie asks me.

“Oh, I guess it a bit of a long story. But… I think I just really needed a fresh start.” I say quietly. It wasn’t technically a lie — it was more of an omission. It was a long story, and I did need a new beginning, but I didn’t exactly want to say why. Not yet, at least.

“Hey, I think we’ve all felt that a time or twenty,” John B says reassuringly. “Do you have a job lined up out here yet?”

“Oh yeah, I’m teaching dance classes to little kids over on the North Side. I used to it back on the Mainland, too. Actually, I was a dancer myself back there.”

“Ooh, is it the one that’s brand new?” Sarah asks me, and I nod. “It’s only a few minutes from my house! You have to come over, Y/N!”

“I’d love to,” I smiled widely at Sarah.

“Here, gimme your phone, girl,” I laugh and hand my phone over to Sarah, and she enters her phone number for me. My phone ends up being passed between all of the pogues, all of them entering their contacts and sending themselves a text to get my number. I smile as JJ passes my phone back to me, finally, him being the last one to enter his number. Sarah is extra bubbly now; telling me about how she’ll let me pick through her closet, how we’ll walk on the boardwalk and see all of the small artisan shops, and how she wants to take me to the little ice cream stand that sets up every day near her house. “Kie, you have to come too, it’ll be a girls’ day! Don’t even start on how you don’t like unnecessary gender roles and shit, okay, it’s just an expression.” Kiara smiles and tells us that shes in.

“So if it’s just an expression, does that mean I can come too?” Pope asks, feigning a pout.

“Nope,” the three of us say in unison. “Look, we have to show her that there’s actually shit to do on the island, aside from working and fishing,” Kie says as she gives Pope a kiss on the cheek.

“And we have to get to know her too, duh. Can’t do that with you boys around,” Sarah smiles at me. “Don’t worry, we won’t do anything crazy, though.”

I smile back at them, and I tell them that I can’t wait for our girls’ day. I go to take a drink from my cup, only to find that I’ve finished my water, and I make a pouty face. I stand up, looking around. “Anyone need a refill?”

“Yeah, I do. You sit back down, though, I’ll run and grab some,” JJ tells me. I roll my eyes and tell him a little thank you before passing him my empty cup. I sit back down and see that everyone is looking at me expectantly. “Uh, did I do something wrong?” I ask.

Pope shakes his head, “No, no nothing wrong. It’s just—”

“We haven’t really seen JJ take to someone as quickly as he has to you,” Kie explains. “He doesn’t usually trust anyone very quickly.”

John B nods at me. “Yeah, the closest he gets is being flirty with Tourons that he wants to f— Ow!” Sarah smacked him on the arm to cut him off, and John B gave her a little glare as he rubbed his arm.

“It’s nice to see him actually let his guard down and hit it off with someone,” Pope clarifies, smiling kindly. “He’s a good guy, he just doesn’t trust people very easily.”

“But, he clearly sees something in you to change that,” Kiara adds. “I think he picked a good person to put his confidence into.”

I smiled to myself, appreciating the pogues’ reassurance. It feels like I’m actually surrounded by love for the first time in my life, and although it frightened me, it made me so happy at the same time. When JJ came back to us, we all laughed and drank for a few more hours, before finally deciding it was time to head back to our homes. We were able to walk together the majority of the way, but eventually we had to split off. Pope, Kiara, Sarah, and John B all headed back to his house, and JJ and I branched off to my own. Admittedly, I was quite buzzed. I was lucky to have JJ at my side, as I nearly tripped a time or two, and he caught me every time.

“Y/N, you’re lucky I decided to come with you,” he laughed. We had finally reached my doorstep, and I was facing JJ, my back resting against the door.

“Y’know, JJ, I wish I’d done more stuff like this back on the Mainland. Made more friends, gone to more parties. I would have had a much better time,” I told him.

JJ smiled softly at me. “As much as I may agree, I’m glad you didn’t. I’m glad I get to meet you.” I grinned lazily at him, fumbling for my keys in my pocket, eventually finding the right one and shoving it into the lock, twisting the key and opening the door. I kick off my sandals and JJ does the same.

“So, I don’t exactly have a guest bedroom, but I do have a futon couch.” I say, grabbing blankets and a pillow out of one of my packing boxes and tossing them onto the couch. “I’m so fucking tired.”

JJ sits down, and looks at me, tilting his head. “You know you’re one of us now, yeah?”

I think for a second, not sure how to respond. “I mean, I guess. For how close-knit you all are, I’m glad you guys accepted me.” His lips curled at the edges, and his eyes left mine.

“Me too, Y/N.”

I clear my throat slightly. “Well, the bathroom is down the hall, and the kitchen is right over there if you need water or anything, okay? And my room is just past the bathroom if you need me. Don’t need me,” I say jokingly. JJ smiles as he lays his head back against the couch. I walk off to my bedroom to change out of my clothes, wash my face, and finally lay down.

•

JJ had finally fallen asleep after nearly an hour of thinking of you. He couldn’t get you off of his mind; Your smile, your laugh, the curves of your body, the way he found you sleeping in your hammock that day. You had looked so peaceful, your features soft. God, he just wanted to touch you. He hadn’t wanted to fall for you, but from the moment he’d seen you that day, his heart had skipped a beat. It still made his heart quicken thinking about it.

Kie just pointed you out to all of them, and JJ had to keep his jaw from dropping to the ground.

“Hey, who’s the new girl, JB?” He’d asked, taking a sip of his can.

“No clue, dude. I didn’t even know the house had been for sale, honestly.”

That’s when he saw you looking towards them, and waved as he flashed you a smile. He caught himself staring for an extra second, studying the way your cheeks looked as they flushed with color, and the way the right side of your cheek dimpled as you smiled.

Sarah gave a small whistle when she noticed him staring. JJ snapped his head to her, flipping the bird.

“Ooh, JJ’s ‘boutta be whipped y’all.” Pope cackled.

“J, you don’t even know the girl! Try not to stare so much.” Kie said smugly. JJ groaned, and chugged his beer. He knew they were right, he was staring. But he couldn’t help it, he had never found anyone that attractive. Ever. Something within him felt drawn to you, like a tether being pulled in your direction.

JJ snapped awake as he heard a small yelp. He slowly relaxed back into the couch, until he heard it again. He stood up cautiously, trying not to bump into anything. He padded down towards your room, hearing soft weeping as he grew closer. He gently opened the door, only to find you with a tear-stained face, thrashing your head against the pillow as you whimpered. His heart hurt at the sight, and, without thinking, he sat on the bed, and gently woke you.

•

I don’t totally remember what my dream was to make me wake up with tears running down my face and choked out screams escaping my throat, I just know that it was JJ who held me against him as I woke. I do know that it was JJ who stroked my hair and told me that I would be okay, that he was here. I do know when I finally looked up at him, he was the one who wiped away my tears with his thumb. He was the one who kissed my forehead as he helped me slow my breathing. I know it was him who told me that it was okay as I whispered so many apologies through my tears. His voice was the one to calm me as thunder cracked through the sky, lightning illuminating the room. “Shh, Y/N, it’s okay. You’re safe. I promise. I’ve got you, okay? I’ve got you,” he mumbled to me, stroking my back. He continued holding me against him, murmuring calming things to me, helping me relax.

“I’m so sorry, JJ. I don’t know what happened. I don’t remember,” I whispered as I shook my head, my breathing finally evening out. “God, I’m sorry I woke you up. I’m so sorry you had to see me like that.”

JJ sighed, and he pressed a kiss to my hair. “It’s okay, doll. I always wished someone was there to do this for me. I’m just glad you weren’t alone.”

I pull back from his chest to look in JJ’s eyes, getting lost in their blue spell. “Thank you,” I whisper. He tilts his forehead to rest against mine. His eyes flicker from my eyes to my lips, just as they did earlier that night. Boldly, I pressed my lips to his gently. And while JJ seemed surprised, he didn’t pull away. He moved his hand to rest against my cheek, his thumb brushing against my cheekbone delicately. I felt as though I was melting as he moved his lips against my own. I brought my hand up to his hair, finally able to run my hand through his soft mess of hair. We sat like that for what seemed like forever, our bodies intertwined as our lips slid together as thunder clapped through the sky. Until eventually, JJ pulled away, out of breath. “I… I shouldn’t have done that, have I? You’re drunk, Y/N.”

“No, JJ, I barely am, okay? I’m the one who started it, remember? God, I’ve been wanting to do that since the moment I saw you.” The words seemed to pour out of me, and I was suddenly exhausted. “I… I know it isn’t great timing. But I meant it.” JJ’s eyes examined my own, studying how my lashes grazed against my brow bone, and how gorgeous my lips looked despite being puffy. “Please, just stay with me tonight, JJ?”

He nodded slowly before laying back in the bed, opening his arms for me to crawl into, finally resting my head against his chest. JJ presses a kiss to the top of my head before mumbling quietly, “I won’t leave you, Y/N.” I finally closed my eyes again, listening to the fluttering of JJ’s heart and feeling his hands playing with my hair. I finally felt safe as I drifted off to sleep. It was the best sleep I’d gotten in years.

•

taglist ~ @hmspxgue @drewswannabegirl @jiaraendgame @midnightmagicmusings

[thanksjro]

Dark Cybertron Chapter 7: Simon Furman and His Lack of a Relationship with the Singular They

The Lost Light is still being attacked by Ammonites, like it has been for the last few issues. Hound’s taken over as acting field commander and is calling all the shots. Chromedome uses his stupid beefy arms to punch things. Trailcutter is screaming. Swerve’s got his My First Blaster™ strapped to the top of his alt, and saves Crosscut.

Crosscut is our toy tie-in character for this issue. He’s a senator, and drafts play scripts. Arguably one of the more interesting tie-in guys, at least in theory. In practice, all he’s doing is forgetting Swerve’s name, which isn’t going to help the guy with his through-the-floor self esteem.

Crosscut points out that Swerve’s communicator is flashing, and while he’s checking his voicemail, all the Ammonites seemingly vanish… at least, until the gang realizes that they’re instead heading for Metroplex.

Inside, it would appear that the Rod Pod Squad aren’t actually dead, though their ride is probably toast. Before everything went to hell, a wall slammed down from the ceiling, protecting everyone from being utterly destroyed. Skids has figured out what all the arrow graffiti is about, earning himself a BOMP from Getaway. Looks like the internal structure of Metroplex has been shifting, and that’s why they got the runaround last issue. Also, Whirl’s gone missing, but we don’t have time to worry about that, because Swerve just called back with some bad news: the admium flakes they saw earlier mean that Metroplex has an alchemical virus.

Don’t you look at me like that, I’m getting to the explanation.

Alchemical viruses turn the metal of the body into admium, a rare, incredibly soft metal that will break down very easily and also kill you. It’s pretty bad to have. Also, contagious. Fellas better get outta there, posthaste.

The Ammonites are also storming Metroplex, so that’s an additional issue. God, it just never stops, does it?

Over in the Dead Universe-

Is

Is that a fortress of evil in the shape of Nova Prime’s head?

Is that a goddamned fortress-

Anyway, the center of Nova Prime’s universe is Kup, who was the guy who got oh-so-dramatically revealed at the end of the last issue. Unfortunately, Orion Pax also considers Kup to be very near and dear to his heart, and the whole “being turned into a space bridge” thing is going to be an issue.

This is the weirdest love triangle I’ve ever seen.

How the hell did Kup even get here? Well, in order to know that, you’ve have to had read Infestation, the bullshit zombie crossover comic miniseries that ran in 2011.

But I’m not going to do that.

Because I don’t want to.

After a bit of showboating, Nova Prime orders Nightbeat to take Team -Imus to their cell.

Over on Cybertron, Shockwave is getting real sick of Galvatron’s shit, but Galvatron is too busy posing dramatically to notice. Waspinator, Metalhawk, and Dreadwing float in the air. I’m not sure what they’re up to, but I’m sure it’s important. Jhiaxus shows up with a gaggle of goons, one of which seems to have forgotten his face in the jar by the door.

Galvatron gets shamed for tearing Megatron in half, since that sort of broke the space bridge in his torso, but he’s too busy being classist to care. Waspinator floats in the background. What are you doing back there, pal?

Shockwave orders Waspinator to carry Megatron to his quarters, but Galvatron’s decided that he’s going to be an asshole about everything today, even when he’s being helpful.

…Okay, Boomer.

Waspinator still ends up hauling Megatron’s ass away, and Shockwave and Jhiaxus have a little chat.

Back in the dead universe, Team -Imus are in their cell, as Nightbeat double-checks the locks or some shit, I dunno. They’re gonna get their sparks ripped out later in the day, so that the space bridge Kup’s got running in his torso finally has enough juice to actually friggin’ work.

Then Rodimus flashes his mystery hand at Nightbeat and makes him fall down. In order for the whole brainwashing thing to work, Nightbeat’s true nature had to be suppressed; however, whenever Rodimus shows off his mystery hand, it makes his brain kickstart back on, messing up the brainwashing.

Well, you know what, Cyclonus? That’s not my fucking fault. Blame Roberts and Barber. I certainly do.

ORION PLEASE.

We finally get a look at what Rodimus’ hand mystery is, and if you read Eugenesis, you might know where this is going. It would seem Nightbeat has not- which is for the best, really, given what happens to him in it- but he’s still a pretty smart cookie and can suss it out through the power of deductive reasoning. Here’s what he’s working with:

After a moment’s deliberation, he asks Rodimus, who he knows to be the captain of a ship, how many folks are riding around in the space yacht. Rodimus tells him 190, and shows off that he’s got his lipgloss on, and it would seem that Nightbeat’s a free man again. He lets everyone out of the cell, and they gear up to go pick up Kup. Orion Pax is confused as to what the hell just happened here, and Rodimus promises to explain why he’s carved a division problem into his palm once they aren’t in immediate danger.

Back on Cybertron, Galvatron and Waspinator are dragging Megatron’s halves towards Shockwave’s quarters, when Bumblebee pops out of nowhere with a gun and a mouth full of swears. He’s here for Megatron, and he’s not taking “no” for an answer. Galvatron thinks that this is super fucking funny, and tosses Megatron like an empty soda can into the wall so he can squash a bug.

It looks pretty grim for ol’ Bumblebee, but suddenly Galvatron realizes he left the oven on that Megatron’s gone missing.

Oh, there he is!

Megatron blasts Galvatron in the torso, then- in a surprisingly polite manner, at least for him- tells Bumblebee to grab his legs so they can get out of here. As the two of them traverse the burned-out husk that is Cybertron, Megatron decides to be a complete bastard, as he smiles at the idea of Starscream suffering. Like, dude, I know he kept you in weird hamster ball jail and spouted soliloquies in your general direction every single day you were there, but folks are dying right now.

Speaking of Starscream, he’s having a moment, as he sits on his knees and stares at the sky in abject horror while the world burns around him. Scoop comes by to yell at him for being a harbinger of death, and generally being a less than stellar leader, and Starscream halfway calls himself a dumpster fire.

Back inside Metroplex, the Rod Pod Squad are fortifying their defenses against the Ammonites, even though they really need to be getting the hell out of there before they get turned into talcum powder through the power of alchemy. Whirl shows back up, the Ammonite hanger-on in his grasp, and we get the skinny on why the hell the Ammonites are involved with this whole debacle anyway.

The answer is Shockwave.

The answer is always Shockwave.

Then the little dude explodes. It’s fine, they do that sometimes.

Before he went kablooey, little dude uttered the phrase, “if the dead are not enough.” We’ll get to what all that’s about later. Right now there are far more important things going on.

LIKE MOTHERFUCKING LADY ROBOTS.

But why is this such a big deal? Why is it that non-male coded robots who aren’t Arcee haven’t been seen up until this point? What’s up with that, huh?

Well, in order to understand IDW’s complicated relationship with gender, we’re going to have to do some digging into the history of Transformers as a franchise.

We’re going to have to talk about Simon Furman.

We're going to have to talk about Prime's Rib.

And we’re going to have to talk about Spotlight: Arcee.

Simon Furman wrote a lot of Transformers. You cannot get away from Simon Furman, because the man is so ingrained in the franchise. He was there for Marvel UK, he was there for the back half of Marvel US, he wrote for several other publication runs of Transformers, he worked on the Earth Wars mobile game-

-and, of course, IDW publishing.

Because Furman is so very well established and known in the industry, he gets the benefit of not being questioned on a lot of the calls he makes.

Which is a problem, because the man is a massive misogynist.

In 1989, Marvel UK #234 came out, containing the story entitled “Prime’s Rib!” in which the Autobots built Arcee in order to appease a group of strawmen feminists. Of course, one female Transformer isn’t enough for them, and they yell at poor Optimus Prime for trying his best. This is the point where Hot Rod is used as a writer avatar to try to smooth things over with the reader, because you see, the Transformers don’t even know what sexual dimorphism and gender identity even is, so of course they wouldn’t have female members of their race! Jazz is used for a breast joke. Arcee acts like a massive, stereotypical bitch the whole time, despite not having been written like that at all in the other issues. It’s a bad comic with hideous ideology leaking out of it, and I'm halfway sorry I read it, so I’ll just give you the essence of this nightmare.

Oh, those big, mean, scary feminists are bullying the robots for living their lives, huh Furman? Life is just so goddamned unfair when a woman exists in your fucking line of sight.

Furman has gone on record saying that he doesn’t see the point in including the concept of gender in a race of non-sexually reproducing robots. He sees them as “genderless.” Which, if that statement existed in a vacuum, I could perhaps see where he’s coming from.

But Simon Furman does not exist in a vacuum. He exists in a world where sexism exists, something that he’s willingly participated in.

Let me back up that little tidbit with a bit of a disclaimer: I’m not in any way an expert on gender. I didn’t study it in school, I’ve not read an obscene amount of pieces on the topic. I’m not even sure about it on a personal level.

Maybe some of y’all have noticed the whole other set of pronouns I slapped into the bio in the last month or so. It doesn’t really matter, 90% of people don’t read the FAQ/About, I know that, and then 95% of those people only read it once, and this has been a relatively new self-revelation.

BUT ANYWAY.

Let’s be… fair about this. 1989 was a while ago, a lot of research on the concept of gender has taken place, maybe he’s ch-

Oh, what’s that?

Misogyny?

Transphobia?

Transmisogyny?

Treating women as an aberration being forced on Transformers as a whole?

And the writing is clunky and overstuffed?

Well, that’s just fucking fantastic, Furman, thanks so much.

This was in 2008. Because Furman established that female Transformers weren’t something natural, but rather made, and forcibly at that, and nobody fucking smacked his little hands away from this terrible idea, AND nobody tried to fix it for years, there was a lack of gender diversity within IDW until 2014, with the release of Dark Cybertron Chapter 7. Because we waited six years to fix this nightmare, things couldn’t be done quite the way that Roberts had been hoping, in that he intended for our female robots to not have the whole… fembot build happening. IDW wanted them immediately clockable, because this was very clearly a problem that needed rectifying.

So, in short: because of boys’ club mentality and a lack of understanding of what gender means or why it’s important for roughly 50% of the world’s population to have representation in media, Nautica and Chromia are here now.

And despite the convoluted road they had to take, I love them very much.

[xmxisxforxmaybe]

I like honestly need some toothrotting fluff with snafu like 70% of the snafu content is just smut not that I'm complaining but I need doing basic ass things with snaf that don't lead to fucking like mention it sure but if the reader and snaf could keep it in there pants and do something fluffy for two seconds that would be much appreciated

I don’t think you’re yelling at me, lol, but I do acknowledge that the majority of my Snaf writing is smut. I guess we all just see Merriell “Snafu” Shelton as the sexbeast when it comes to the Ramigos 🙃

Anyway, kickin’ it out to the country for this one, and I hope it’s fluffy enough for you!

Your relationship with your parents was . . . complicated.

For as long as you could remember, your main goal had been to get as far away from the northeastern United States as possible, so when your ambitions took you deep into the south, you settled into your new life with ease. The oppressive weight of everything that was them, lifted, and you felt, for the first time, free.

Meeting Merriell Shelton only lightened matters. At first, he was a handsome, mysterious, brooding creature, but when he took a shine to you, you realized it was all a mask—a protective layer, much like your own that he had donned to shield himself from all the bad he had already known in the world. And once he let you in, there wasn’t a day that went by when he didn’t make you smile or when you didn’t have to clutch your stomach from laughing so hard it hurt.

Happiness, so soft and so sweet, flowed over you like a cleansing wave and life was good.

But one evening, when Merriell came home from work, he found you sitting quietly on the sofa, reading a message from your brother.

“What is it, darlin?”

“My folks—they . . . miss me.”

“But you don’t miss them, right?”

You looked up at Merriell, frowning. “I’m . . . not sure. A few years ago, my answer would’ve been a hell no. Now? I’m just not sure.”

“Time can do that to a person,” Mer said, raising his eyes and looking over your head and out the living room window.

“Would you—” you stopped, unsure if you really wanted to ask this of him.

“Would I?” he questioned, his green eyes flicking back to lock on yours, blazing with an intensity that told you he was listening, really listening.

You bit your lip, then asked, “Would you come home with me?”

Merriell was quiet for a moment, then he kneeled on the floor in front of you, careful to avoid staining the fabric of the couch with his grease-spotted work pants. “I’ll do whateva ya want,” he said, plucking one of your hands from your lap so he could gently kiss your palm before pressing it against his cheek.

“Thank you,” you said, your voice choked with emotion as you ran your thumb over the soft skin of his cheek.

* * * * *

As the tires crunched over the grass-disrupted gravel along the winding driveway to your parents’ farmhouse, you rolled down the window and breathed in the air of your childhood. The corn was growing in nicely, but Mer looked around and said, “That’s all the higha it is in July?”

“Knee-high by the fourth of July,” you sang with a little laugh. “Things grow a little slower up here.”

Merriell watched the corn pass suspiciously, but once the rows ended, you were met with yet another long stretch of driveway that led up to the house.

Situated on a hill in the midst of a decently sized yard that was then flanked by the woods, was your parents’ place. Everything was kept in pristine condition when you lived there, so you weren’t surprised that much hadn’t changed. Property was the one true pride of your folks.

Merriell pulled into a spot beside your daddy’s truck and cut the engine.

“Ya ready?”

You nodded before hopping out of your car, relishing in the freedom to stand and bounce on your toes, wiggling off the long drive.

Merriell stretched, groaning a little as his back popped when he lifted his arms high over his head.

You seized the opportunity and launched into his side, wrapping your arms tightly around his trim waist. You buried your face in his neck and inhaled as he brought his arms down around you.

For a few minutes, you just stood there, locked in a warm hug and wrapped in the most comforting presence you had ever known, both of you totally at peace. Although, you could feel Merriell’s eyeballs moving as they took everything in, knowing he’d have a million questions once the two of you were settled in for the night.

“All right. Let’s do this,” you said with a shaky conviction.

Mer chuckled into your ear and kissed your temple. “Not too late to jus’ high-tail it outta here.”  

You smiled at him and shook your head, taking his hand in yours and leading him into the house.

* * * * *

As it turned out, Merriell was right. Time did have a way of changing things and the evening was pleasant. Your brother and your sister were there, asking Merriell a million questions about growing up in Cajun country, and your parents peppered you with questions about how you’d adjusted to life in the south.

By the time the crickets and the katydids were trying to outsing each other, your mouth was actually dry from talking. Your parents had gone to bed and your siblings had just left, so you poured what remained of the lemonade into two glasses, filled them with ice, and took Merriell to your favorite part of the house: the wrap-around, open, front porch.

You settled into a pair of matching, wooden Adirondack chairs that were connected by a small table, and settling your drinks there, you both let your eyes adjust to the dark.

“‘S kinda spooky out here,” Mer commented as he adjusted to the night noises of the north.

Your laughter was soft. “Give your eyes a minute. Keep watching the treeline.”

Mer complied, and in a few minutes he was leaning forward, his mouth popping open in the dark. You watched him first, then turned your eyes to the treeline as what seemed like millions of lightening bugs began their dance.

There were so many of the fiery little creatures, their lights blinking off and on so quickly that it looked like the trees were moving even though there wasn’t even a slight breeze. It was mesmerizing, and paired with the sounds of the crickets and the katydids, it was bliss.

“I missed this.”

“I’ve neva seen so many,” Merriell said with awe. “It looks like a, whatchamacallit? The thing with the bursts of color inside?”

“A kaleidoscope.”

“Mmhm.”

You smiled as you watched him watching the lightening bugs, his curls still neatly tamed and his crisp white t-shirt standing out against both the background of the night and the deep tan of his arms.

“Wanna catch a couple?”

Merriell turned to look at you like you were crazy, but once he saw the way your face was lit up in a wide smile, he couldn’t help but smile back. He stood up from his chair and you did, too, telling him to wait just a second.

Dashing into the house, you dug out one of your mom’s canning jars and grimaced as you poked holes in the lid with a kitchen knife. You didn’t even want to know how many jars met this fate when you were little because no one could ever remember where the lid went. It was like the holes made it invisible by the next time you needed it.

Merriell was still standing in the same spot, still watching the lightening bugs.

“They closer now.”

“Perfect for catching!” you said with a leap off the porch and into the yard, your shoes forgotten and the cool grass bringing back another wave of memories.

Except nothing from your childhood could compare to the feeling of Merriell deciding that you were going to be his first lightening bug. He caught you around the waist and spun you before settling you back on your feet.

“That’s not how this works,” you said through your laughter.

“Oh? Show me then,” he teased, his teeth a flash of white in the dark as he grinned.

“Come on!”

Tugging Merriell through the yard you stalked a lightening bug, waiting until it was just close enough to snatch out of the air.

“Got him!”

You shook the bug off into the jar and both of you watched as he blinked inside of his cage.

“Betta find him a friend,” Merriell said, his eyes narrowing as he mimicked the way you had stalked and captured your bug—except he didn’t quite have the knack yet, so when he opened his hand a streak of dying phosphorescence was smeared across his palm.

“Oh no,” Merriell breathed.

You shook your head and couldn’t help but to quietly laugh at his genuine guilt.

“I had a cousin who used to smear them on like war paint—at least you didn’t do it on purpose,” you said, lifting his chin and giving him a consoling peck.

“Here,” you said softly. “Watch me again.”

Mer watched you so intently that you could feel his burning gaze of concentration as you caught the next bug. “More like an open-palmed snatch—and don’t close your fist the whole way.”  

Merriell nodded and came back beaming with his living lightening bug cupped tenderly in his palm.

“Do I get a kiss for doin’ it right?”

“You can have a kiss for breathing if you want.”

Mer laughed and kissed you, his lips pressing into yours in a few quick successions before he pulled away and challenged you, insisting he could catch more lightening bugs than you.

For the next hour, the two of you darted through the yard like kids, laughing, occasionally stopping for hugs and sweet kisses until Mer’s challenge was completely forgotten and your jar was filled with blinking little treasures.

“I’m so thirsty,” you said, swiping at the little bit of sweat that had broken out along your brow.

Merriell took your hand and you walked back to the porch. He set the jar down beside your watered down lemonades and when you downed your drink in nearly one gulp, he offered you his.

“Wha’ we gonna do with them?” he asked, his finger lightly tapping on the glass as he leaned in to watch them crawl around the jar, their lights bright enough to reflect in his big eyes.

“Let them go,” you said with a wistful half-smile.

Mer looked up at you, then back down at the jar.

“They sure are beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you,” you replied, betting a hundred dollars that Merriell was blushing but it was too dark to see.

“Stop that,” he lightly scolded. “That’s ma line.”

“Oh, it’s a line, is it?”

He smiled. “No, darlin. Not with you. With you, it’s the truth.”

“That’s an even better line.”

You both tittered with laughter, both of your eyes lingering on each other before you reached for the jar.

“Let’s go free our little friends.”

Hand in hand with only a mason jar full of fireflies to guide you, you made your way toward the treeline.

[a-bugz-life]

Fuckin’ Amphibians || Anita & Nicodemus

TIMING: A few days ago. PARTIES: @professoranieves and @bountybossier SUMMARY: Anita and Nic are both out in the forest when they run across some Ballogbogs. Things get a bit psychedelic. 

Anita had lived in White Crest for almost five years now. When she first arrived, she knew of a handful of supernatural beings, but her worldview expanded exponentially even within the first few months of living here. It didn’t hurt that she spent a lot of her time in the woods, mostly for the bugs partially for the isolation. But even in her years of experience, she apparently still had more to learn. In her exploring, she found herself near a small pond out in the forest. Perfect place for some interesting breeds of bugs. But then she saw them, very large and very gross looking toads. She didn’t think much of it, toads love bugs too. But as she drew closer to the pond she noticed one of the toads puff up, and then shoot something at her. “Shit, shit…” She groaned, as she tried to run before it hit her. But she wasn’t so successful. Initially she didn’t feel much of anything, and thought for a second maybe she was immune to whatever this was. But then the leaves on the trees began turning pink? And the ground began to slowly melt under her feet? No, something wasn’t quite right.

The place farthest away from the lake was the woods on damn near the other side of town. In between trying to figure out any thing that might help deal with the fucking squid, Nicodemus went about business as usual. Took up a job and saw it to completion. Traditionally, he wasn’t picky about jobs that demanded a bounty dead or alive. He took whichever. But lately, he wasn’t in the mind for killing. Just a catch and release to the shadow paying him. The task of catching a handful of fatflitters was just mundane enough that he didn’t expect to be bothered too much. The hunter tapped his fingers against his thumb as he walked, a small perforated cage in his other hand. The things were quick and liked their fatty tissue, so it was just a matter of finding the right tracks of a larger creature and hoping the quick shits were on it. The croak of toads sounded loudly to his left and he briefly looked over in that direction. Over the sound of toads, a voice. A voice that sounded a hell of a lot more bothered than he did. The hunter considered just keeping on the way he was and even as he did, he was already heading over to the noise. As he drew closer and his night vision made out the shape of a person, he looked over at the pond. Oh hell. Fucking ballybogs. They didn’t like when anyone got too close to their little domains. And it looked like the stranger had found that out. He cleared his throat to try and get her attention. “You, uh, you good?”

For a split second Anita thought she saw a person approaching, but it quickly became clear to her that this was no person, but rather a very tall and mobile ice cream cone. Interesting. It was rocky road, which wasn’t her favorite flavor. No pun intended but she really wasn’t a fan of nuts. But then the strangest thing happened, the ice cream spoke to her? No that couldn’t be. She slowly got closer to it, trying to figure out if maybe someone was just standing behind it? But no, just one singular cone of ice. “You can talk?” She asked, the disbelief thick in her voice. She sat down on the ground in front of the ice cream and dropped her head into her hands. “This ice cream cannot talk to me. This ice cream cannot talk to me.” She whispered, then rubbed her eyes and looked back up. “Fuck.” It was still an ice cream cone.

She was looking at him like she wasn’t really seeing him. Nicodemus squinted. Ballybogs made homes out of the swamps he grew up in and he had seen people when they got hit by their shit. Woodstock had nothing on what ballybog crap could do to a person. Once, a few years ago, not even he had escaped it and he was stuck trying to hop into the Mystery Machine that had just been a hollow log. The shame of that still haunted him sometimes. Fucking Scrappy Doo. “Yeah, I can talk,” he answered with a sigh. Damn it. He just wanted to find some damn fatflitters. Not this mess. When she sat down, he stepped back and put a hand on his hip. Oh hell. “This, uh, ice cream is fuckin’ talking to you. That’s me, one big damn waffle cone.” Alright, so she was seeing him as an ice cream cone. Maybe she wouldn’t feel like attacking him. He glanced down at her. “And I might be able to waffle us the fuck outta here.”

Anita was shocked when the guy? Yeah, sounded like a guy, seemed to respond to her delusions … and knew that he was a waffle cone? Anita stood up, eyeing the frosty treat with delicate suspicion. But it was almost as though the moment that he acknowledged that he was in fact a waffle cone, things began to shift. Anita began to hear odd voices coming from all around her in the forest. They weren’t speaking any language she understood, but something told her they were not nice voices. Suddenly, the nice ice cream cone began to melt, causing large puddles of melted chocolate ice cream. “Oh no.. oh my god… here let me help.” Anita tried to scoop up the puddles of ice cream and put it all back into the cone. “We can’t get out of here until I fix you… I can’t just leave you here for them to get you.”

Her eyes, large and confused, were directly on him and Nicodemus couldn’t help but feel a little scrutinized. Waffle cone or not. Jesus, he was starting to refer to himself as a waffle cone. Maybe he had been hit too. When she started to try and put dead leaves, plus bits of grass on him, he decidedly was not feeling like a waffle cone. “Alright, no need to go and do that,” he asserted as he took a step back. “Think you’re the one needin’ help here.” Surely someone else would come along and help. People in town had a habit of running headlong into shit every day. As he waited for a beat, a ballybog croak answered him. Fuck. He was the person that had run headlong into shit. And she had too. “Let’s get the hell on outta here, huh? I think somethin’ nearby is causin’ me to--fuckin’ Christ--melt my ice creamy bits all over the place.” He winced and shook his head. He was a hunter, for fucks sake. With a reserved expression, he offered a weathered hand. “Name’s Nic, alright? Let’s get on away from the fuckin’ acid trip frogs.”

Anita had been ignoring his claim that he didn’t need help getting all of the ice cream back into his cone, largely because that was just insane? Why wouldn’t a giant cone of ice cream want all of it’s contents securely inside of itself before running off? But then he finally offered a real reason. He was melting because of something nearby! Of course! Quickly, she stood up and stopped scooping up the ice cream melted in giant sticky puddles on the ground around them. Anita reached out to take the cone’s hand, finding it a bit odd that he had hands to begin with. “Nic the Ice Cream Man.” She repeated, clearly making up those last three words herself. His comment about frogs threw her for a loop. She had heard stories about supernatural frogs. As she was just about to open her mouth and say something, she saw all of the ice cream quickly melt away from Nic and the cone break off into a million tiny pieces. That’s when she realized that he really wasn’t an ice cream man… he had been a giant toad in disguise all along. She let out a soft scream, then quickly pulled her hand away from him. “You! You’re the acid trip frog!” Without paying much attention to where she was going, she began to slowly back away from him.

Nicodemus breathed in sharply through his nose, thankful as hell that she had stopped trying to help get his ice cream back together. Jesus, he was already in too deep with the ice cream bit. It was too much and he can feel a nerve pulsing somewhere near his temple. He shook her hand a bit stiffly. “Just, uh, Nic works,” he said. “The...Ice Cream Man is my father?” Whoever the hell that was. He had never met the poor bastard. And just when it had all been going so well, she looked at him like he was coming apart at the seams. Hell, he just might have been. Ballybogs spat serious shit and she had been hit with it. His hand clenched by his side before it came up to pinch the bridge of his nose. She was backpedaling towards the ballybogs again and he could see the damn things puffing up. He moved toward her and attempted to act as a buffer between. Like a dumbass would. “No. Nope, I’m not the acid trip fr--Oh fuck.” The ballybogs spat and Nicodemus blocked his hand with his face. He blinked twice, squeezed them shut, then opened his eyes to see his hands melting. His ice creamy hands with weirdly frog-like fingers but hey, he had been born with those. He stared at them for what felt like a century. “I...I think I am the ice cream frog,” he said as he looked at her. “And we gotta get out of my fuckin’ swamp.”

As the giant ice cream began to move towards Anita, she began to panic. How was she going to get out of here? She didn’t even know where here was anymore. Had she hiked here? Was her car nearby? Could she even drive like this? Unlikely. She heard a faint noise from beside her and while it took her a moment to place it, she eventually recognized it. Amphibians. And this ice cream frog was likely their king. Of course the dumb fucking amphibians still had a monarcy system. Reptiles had evolved beyond that need of hierarchy. “If you’re the ice cream frog… can’t you just make them stop! They’ll listen to you. Amphibians are really dumb.”

“Reckon they want us to move away from the party we weren’t invited to,” Nicodemus said as if it were obvious and it was. He could understand them. He splayed his hands out to his side, ice cream and all, in a sign of submission. They could respect that. “Partners. Fellas. We’re just gonna hit the, uh, old dusty trail now as it were. Didn’t mean to bother you fine folks this evenin’.” He made a sound as close to a frog as he could before he turned on his heel and took to walking away. He turned his head toward the stranger and spoke in a stage whisper. “They might not be bright but they like bein’ respected. Let’s just go on elsewhere.”

Anita watched the frog’s leader try to talk them down, finding the level of kindness he was showing them to be more than a bit annoying. In fact she might have rolled her eyes at his big performance, or maybe she just thought about rolling her eyes and actually didn’t move at all? It was really hard to tell. So she tried again, feeling pretty confident that she did this time roll her eyes and not just roll her head around in a circular motion. “Of course they’re not bright,” Anita quickly replied, not bothering to follow suit and speak in a whisper. “Why would I want to go anywhere with you? You’re like their leader or something stupid.” Despite her resistance, Anita followed this strange somewhat suave smooth-speaking ice cream man. At least wherever he was going was away from here, and away from those fucking frogs.

[djsherriff]

Here’s redesigns of the other 3 new warriors , more in depth comments under cut 

B-negative is now Blood Saint!

When he was born ,instead of being a bundle of life ready to take on the world, he suffered from extreme blood due to complications from the labour, meaning he had to have a blood transfusion.

Though unaware at the time, doctors actually used the blood of a vampire to save his life, causing him to become a living vampire of sorts. (So yes he can still age)

It’s his life long mission to learn who his mysterious blood donor is and master his dark powers, but it would be much easier his parent stopped bugging him about him wearing 4 layers of leather in the summer and his loud music. “augh , my parents are the REAL blood suckers around here”

You’re probably curious why he would go by “blood saint” , well besides sounding cool, it’s also a bit of irony for him.

See , unlike other vampires Saint can actually heal people when he bites them rather than turn them, which also works cause he actually can’t stand the taste of human blood (no matter how much he loves to push the brooding vampire aesthetic), he eats foods like any other kid his age, though his diet consists of more meat than the average teenager.

Besides that , he has the standard vampire traits like turning into a bat, weak in sunlight , can’t stand garlic , you know like the classics!

Artist comment:

Since Marvel has a bunch of other vampires they rarely use, I rewrote his backstory a bit so he wasn’t tied to a well known superhero , as well as have a chance to have more original vampire characters in the marvel universe.

The only thing I really pushed design wise was tone down the red/pink and use it more sparingly throughout to make it pop more (hence his hair colour being changed), as well as add a few more punk aesthetics to it such as spikes.

I imagined that his your standard punk teen who trying way too hard to rebel against everyone and everything besides what he personally likes, you know the “its not a PHASE mom” kinda teenager. I thought it be hilarious if besides the vampire thing he has going , his got the most normal home life outta everyone on the team and thus the most “boring”. Yes he totally makes up ridiculously tragic backstories for himself when meeting strangers , his a complete drama queen and is definitely a theatre kid.

Speaking of hilarious, I also made him the team’s medic with his healing bite, cause I also thought that was funny and also a great opportunity for both good comedy and some good character development for him.

His greatest character flaw is his tendency to overdramatise EVERYTHING and he needs to learn that sometimes , life is that simple and that’s not a bad thing.

Trailblazer is now Void Caster

Void Caster is a young teeenager from a family who regularly travels through the universe to explore the wonders and to gain a living , though her mother decided she needed to stop having her head up in the stars so much and return to Earth- literally.

She comes from a long line of space witches : witches ...... but in space! The deeper history is that her ancestors were witches who came into contact with aliens and decided to use their magic to explore beyond the world of earth , which lead to a brand of magic that’s more “sci-fi “ aesthetic than its earth counterpart.

Thanks to a life full of space adventures, Void Caster is what most people would describe as “quirky” as she very new to a lot of concepts on earth , like selfies! She always has a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes, though those sparkles can be seem almost forced sometimes. But she generally curious to the world around her and always open to learning new concepts!

You wouldn’t think it , but Void Caster’s seemingly mundane mother has a lot more in common with her daughter than either of the two release, though what remains a mystery.

Void Caster main ability is to create worm holes to transport to one place to the other, which is the main form of transportation for the whole team, she is also capable of making items shrink and grow whatever size she wants and effect gravity of those said items. The limits of her powers though is that she can only effect the size of an object as long as she can see it without straining (so she can’t turn people into the size of an atom or make someone be big enough to sit on the sun) she also struggles to change her own size (she’s very self conscious of it) her portal powers also have a similar size limit (she can’t make a planet size portal but making one a size of a tank would be possible, but straining for her)

Artist comments:

So with Trailblazer’s redesign I could’ve went with one of two options:

Make her a Native American and very likely make her a stereotype due to my lack of knowledge on the culture.

Or

An obvious Dora the Explorer knock off

I went with making her an obvious Dora the Explorer knock off , with a bit of a sci- fi twist to her. Her hair being a short bob is an obvious nod to Dora, as well as sticking with a pink and purple colour scheme which was also a way of ditching the all neon palette she originally had.

While she still has pockets , I completely ditched the bag all together and instead made it so she had space themed powers instead. I went with the weird idea of “witches but from space” since I didn’t want her to be a mutant as there were already 3 mutants on my redesign of the team, but adding onto the weirdness I also made it so her style was more “quirky” in comparison to her teammates , as well as stand out as the leader of her team.

I like to think that she’s a very outgoing girl but doesn’t grasp social ques all that well and usually ends up feeling like an annoyance to people when she tries to connect with others, though she also struggles with her more negative feelings and tries bottling them down to avoid bothering people , only for those feelings to explode at the most inconvenient time.

So naturally her biggest character flaw would be that she tries too hard to please people and fit in and that she’ll have to learn that she can find friends without sacrificing her own quirks, and that expression negative emotions isn’t a burden to anyone.

Screen time is the worst so I made him Brain scan

With the others I made in depth backstories and such for them as well as some notes on their rewritten character.

But here I didn’t, I honestly hate screen time , his the worst character outta everybody if you ask me and the first I would throw off a cliff if given the chance.

This is less of a redesign and just me making up a straight up oc here cause what the hell is “internet gas”???

Soooo uh, Screen time is now brain scan.

His an autistic kid who spends most of his time online cause his power of telepathy makes it extremely difficult to be around people. He learns to control his peers and socialise more

I’m sorry , that’s literally all I could do here.

(If I do turn these redesigns into my own ocs, I would 110% make “him” a “she” ;) )

[letterstothemidnightsociety]

THURSDAY OCTOBER 8, one of the longest running television shows of our time begins airing the final episodes of it’s final season. Guys, Supernatural is 15. FIFTEEN. It can practically drive a car now. As one friend put it, “that show had a Quinceañera.” And if you don’t know how significant that is, think of the last show you know of that made it to season 10. Take your time, I’ll wait. 

Whoever I stole this birthday invite from, they are probably older than this show.

I started watching Supernatural in 2008. I was 19, I had just begun my journey towards Over-Worked, Under-Slept Millennial, and my best friend recommended it. I can’t really remember how the conversation went, but I’m sure at some point it was “It’s scary, and it’s got these two brothers, I’ll send you a link!” cuz we were trash and we were broke and Netflix...existed? Hulu existed, but not in the way that either of those sites work now, so we watched by...ahem...other means. It is probably why my first laptop stopped working after 3 semesters of college.

And damn, I was hooked. I don’t do scary movies and honestly, I was legit creeped out by a lot of these episodes, but it had two hot dudes who took down a monster every week and then (the real kicker) had a bigger, season-long mystery they were trying to solve. And occasionally, they got punched in their big dumb beautiful faces. If I had known what a kink was at the time, I would have said that someone was reading my dream diary. 

Over the next 12 years - Let me say that again for those of you in the back - TWELVE YEARS - I had an on-again-off-again relationship with the Winchesters. It was pretty hot and heavy in the beginning. I was jumping on the back of this 67 Chevy Impala 3 years in, so I had three seasons that I bought on DVD that I binged and was caught up with season 4 by the time the midseason started to air in late January of 2009. I was introducing all my friends to Supernatural, I made several people watch the entire first disc of season 1 with me, irregardless of whether they’d asked or not. Things started to cool down towards the end of season 4 as life started picking up and I know...I caught...the tail end of season 5? I think? I distinctly remember the final scene of the final episode, but honestly, I can’t remember how much of that season I actually watched.

At that point, I considered Supernatural to be a weird pseudoaddiction. I’d be clean for a while, years even, and then Netflix caught up with consumers and I could binge whole seasons in a weekend. It’d be, oh, I could just watch an episode. Just one episode. Maybe two. And then the weekend is gone in a blaze of classic rock and rock salt and I’m left with something like but not necessarily a hangover where my feelings live. I think I did this for seasons 6 through, like, 8? Eventually, Netflix stopped putting it at the top of my dashboard and it was easier to avoid. And I said to myself, well, when they finally get to the last season, THEN I’ll go on one last run, one last big score, and watch the whole series again in one go. 

But the seasons kept coming?? And they?? Didn’t stop?? Guys, I don’t know how many of you care about this but, Friends, one of the most popular sitcoms of all time that defined an entire generation had ten seasons. TEN. Supernatural is ending with fifteen! For an industry where most shows don’t make it past a pilot, let alone a season 1, this is INSANE. 

But now it’s ending. Even though a pandemic halted production just two episodes away from the finale, Supernatural is finally outta cassette tapes. The Wayward Sons may finally (??) be laying their wearied heads to rest (?? lol, I know).  

And frankly, 2020’s been a real sh*tshow so I thought “Why not?” 

And if I’m doing this and I’m not interacting with anyone on a human level, I might as well chronicle this epic dive into a time capsule of television because frankly, what the hell else am I doing? 

Cuz that’s what this is guys. 15 years in TV time is multiple lifespans. Shows are born, grow into something Emmy-worthy, and die in less time than Supernatural has been on the air. You know what else aired their pilot episode in 2005? The American version of The Office. You know when The Office ended? 2013. 

So let’s talk about pilots because that in and of itself may be a thing of the past not too far from now. 

Guys, I love pilots. I will probably say this a lot over the next, uhhhh...many months, but I love pilots and I love season ones, especially for a sci-fi and fantasy shows because that’s where your characters are at their most vulnerable, their most unsure. The writers and producers are really digging around, trying to figure out what the groundwork for this world is and there’s something so exciting about exploring it with them, as an audience. 

Pilot’s are great, pilots on spec are even better, and that’s a lot of what the Supernatural Pilot feels like. It’s got a real indie/guerilla-style horror movie vibe, like the crew scraped together just enough cash for that one special effect scene but had to skimp out on a lot of the other production stuff, and still managed to turn something around that is totally, 100% watchable and somehow more charming than if they’d had the budget to make something really polished? Go watch Night of the Living Dead (1968) and tell me that movie would have been better if they’d had a bigger budget. You could, but I won’t agree. 

Ok so a quick break down of technical terms. A television pilot is basically the first episode of a TV show. Well, that’s not exactly true. A pilot is kind of like making a sample or a blueprint of your show that you hand over to the television networks and say, here! This is what my TV show will look like. Will you pay me money to continue making it? And the networks (think ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and The CW - remember, this is Network, not cable) will spend January through April of every year reviewing pilots and deciding if they want to pay you money to make more episodes. Well, every year except 2020. See: sh*tshow. Sometimes the network comes to you with an idea, or maybe, you’ve pitched your script/show to some executives and they buy in for that first pilot episode to see where things will go. Neither of these scenarios are a sure thing, and pilot season is always rife with will-they-won’t-they tension. In fact, if you’re working on the show, there’s a real possibility that pilot will get re-shot after studio notes, you’ll lose your job to someone the studio liked better, and then the show still may not get picked up. A pilot shot on spec is in even more of a limbo scenario because nobody asked for this! And just to follow through on Pilot Season - after the networks decide to buy your pilot, they then air the pilot at Upfronts (usually in May) where their many ad companies decide if they will pay money to air their ads during those shows. This is where we get things like prime time and key demographics - if you thought TV was all about the art, you are very wrong. TV, like most other industries, is still a business that’s about making money. 

Back to the Supernatural pilot. Now, from my research, series creator Eric Kripke had been working on the concept for 10 years. He was big into classic rock, big into urban legends and big into cowboys and all those things get married ever so neatly in this show. A lot of his initial ideas remain unchanged, at least for the first season - he wants two brothers, traveling across the country, facing off with America’s Spookiest Myths and legends. A lot of it did change. I honestly feel like I remember reading an early draft of the pilot where Sam and Dean are cowboys? But I’m also pretty sure I’m imaging that. What I’m not imagining is this ridiculous early draft where John’s been locked in an insane asylum, dies before the first episode starts, and Sam’s been living with an aunt and uncle his whole life and knows nothing. They still use something close enough to the La Llorona legend as the catalyst for the episode, but a lot of other things are changed. This is not the Sam and Dean we come to know and love. This is also a good example of when you SHOULD listen to notes, because this draft was rewritten after executive producer McG and his Wonderland Sound and Vision production company signed on, but before they actually shot the script. 

Now from what I’ve read, the WB picked the show up for (4) episodes initially, and ultimately picked it up for a full season of (22) episodes. This was, at the time, a pretty standard season and a pretty standard way to get it. They had a better deal than The Office, anyway, which only got picked up for (6) episodes in their first season, then got picked up four episodes at a time for season 2. 

Now let’s go over that paragraph one more time and talk about what a hecking DINOSAUR this show is - 

FIRST off - Supernatural premiered on THE WB. It PREDATES The CW!!

Man guys, you remember they had a frog as a mascot? Oof, that would not work today.

Secondly, it got 22 EPISODES. We’ll get into this some more when we talk about that evil bugs filler ep, but think about how many episodes were in the last show that you binged on Netflix? 8? Maybe 10?

Welcome to the exciting world of GRAPHS brought to you buy https://www.theringer.com/tv/2017/8/4/16094348/inefficiency-week-mourning-the-lost-long-tv-season

OH! And SPEAKING of Netflix and streaming services like them, they’re kind of killing pilot season AND upfronts. They pick up shows when they want to. They “air” them when they feel like. There are no ads because you pay for that content on a monthly basis and also they don’t even have commercial breaks. I am slowly seeing the passage of time in one (1) episode of television and I think I’ve aged 100 years. 

Here is just one of MANY articles about the death of Pilot Season 

Finally, and most importantly, this show got a better deal than The Office. And that show was an NBC primetime show. 

This show was nominated for 193 awards and won 50. And it ended when my nephew was still in kindergarten. He’s gonna be in high school next year. 

So what about this Supernatural Pilot? Was it any good? Honestly, I’m gonna say yeah. This is some very solid Hero’s Journey here. I think the only weird thing about it is that Sam is our Hero, our point of contact character that gets us into this world. And I only say that because I’ll be real up front and say that I’m a Dean girl through and through. I don’t hate Sam, but because we live in a world where we have to choose, it’s Dean 4Eva. 

From that early script draft, we learn the plan was for Sam to be in the dark and essentially be our audience stand in so that Dean can explain all the backstory. I think the decision to make John Winchester raise his kids as a weird fringe paramilitary outfit and establish Sam as the brother that tried to get away is a good one. It’s a very “Arrive Late” (or if you’re fancy, in media res,) sort of attitude and it works and you’ve already started building in the Atonement with the Father. There’s still some pretty excellent exposition dialogue, but what are ya gonna do. Sam, did you really need to explain to Dean that your collective father “raised you like warriors”? Or that you “kill everything we CAN find?” It’s fine. You’re beautiful and I love you. But also, he knows all that.

You have the Call to Adventure - Dean showing up and saying “Dad hasn’t been home in a few days.” You have the refusal of the call (“He’ll sleep it off”). You have your supernatural aid (hah!) giving Sam a push out the door - that’s Dean. You have your famous line that I quoted along with the TV - Dad’s on a hunting trip. And he hasn’t been home in a few days. 

The dead mom backstory seems pretty on the nose, but the “burned on the ceiling” concept was new and unique enough that I was intrigued to find out more. Listen, I’ve already admitted I don’t watch a lot of horror so if this has been done before, don’t @ me. 

La Llorona or Woman in White or Weeping Woman was a new trope to me at the time, so it too seemed fresh. I see that myth show up in a lot more Supernatural-type shows now, but in 2008, at 19, I was like, oh this is different. Not to mention - this definitely leaned in to the horror aspect. I know I’m a baby, but it aired at 9pm, which is the more adult side of Prime Time, so the WB thought it was too spooky for kids who had early bedtimes. So there. 

I HATE when they do this cuz it freaks me out EVERY TIME and THAT’S NOT EVEN HOW THESE MIRRORS WORK??? SHE’S NOT EVEN IN THE BACK SEAT IN THIS SHOT!

And then at the END, when Sam STILL refuses the call to adventure, you have the real Crossing of the Threshold - Jess is ALSO stuck on the ceiling, dead, and on fire. Spoiler alert, but they had to fridge her early to make the rest of the season work and so it shouldn’t be a big surprise. Sam’s all in and we get 21 more episodes of him and Dean and that car. 

Is it technically fridging if she’s lit on fire?

And let’s talk about Jess for a second cuz actress Adrianne Palicki is giving a LOT more in this performance than a fridged girlfriend should be required to. She’s likeable, she’s down to earth, she’s crushing it and and all this with only, like, two scenes of dialogue. I say this even though we meet her in a slutty nurse costume - COME on WB. 

WB what the hell is this wardrobe. What the HELL is THIS. 

In fact, all of the extras in this show are crushing it? Louis is instantly likeable and he disappears after his first scene, never to grace our TV’s again. And these extras in the town in Jericho, California - I kind of love them. As CW (or I guess, WB) as Jessica is, these extras look like they found them at the local highschool and I LOVE THEM FOR IT. They probably came to set already in makeup and wardrobe! They POSSIBLY brought their own jewelry! They’re weirdos and they are GREAT. I’m pretty sure this will NEVER happen again on this show because once the $$ came in, so did the more polished-looking one-off characters.

 Lookit these magnificent goth weirdos! And great news, both these actresses have very full, non-goth careers after this. 

Also, heckin’ Joseph Welch is just crushing it. This man has NOTHING CW about him and that’s maybe why I like him so much? Everything about the scene with him and Sam is pretty heartbreaking, from his rundown car graveyard to his rundown physique with his rundown accent to the fact that we never actually see his face. Seriously, really LOOK at this scene - WHAT is going on with this cinematography? Is this a reference to something? It’s SO bleached out and SO stark and WHAT is going on???

WHAT is this lighting? And also this guy was played by Steve Railsback was on X-Files!

You can’t talk about Supernatural without talking about the chemistry between Sam and Dean and that’s probably the real hook here? I mean a) very beautiful. I will probably talk about this a lot. Let’s call it what it is here, they’re beefcakes and they’re made for me and people like me. It is weird that this show is so macho but their primary audience was mostly there for the babes. And by babes I mean Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. And b) they REALLY sell the whole brothers thing. They’re both from Austin, TX which feels like a weird coincidence. They were both already on WB shows before this one, also a weird coincidence. And they just click. They just do. It’s impressive, and occasionally creepy when we start to get into the Wincest of it all, but lets not talk about that.

Oh, and the MUSIC! The music just makes it. If you don’t believe me, watch the Netflix version of the first season and then find yourself a DVD version. See, TV shows need to acquire a license to play popular music during the show. Nowadays, the CW actually tags their songs in the episode so you can find and presumably buy it later, but they still have to pay royalties for using those pop songs. When Netflix acquired Supernatural, they did NOT acquire the licensing to use the classic rock songs from ACDC, Metallica, etc. and so you’re left with some pretty bland and generic production music that’s something like but not necessarily Back in Black. More like, Back in...Grey? This pun didn't work how I wanted it to. 

And the show just...doesn’t work? Like, who knew BACKINBLAAAAACK! Was so instrumental to whether I thought this was quality programming or not. Side note - it ruins my favorite piece of dialogue of maybe the entire series - 

Sam: I swear, man, you gotta update your cassette tape collection.

Dean: Why?

Sam: Well, for one, they're cassette tapes.

Do the young people even know what a cassette tape is? I AM the CRYPTKEEPER.

So yeah, you got a lot of ingredients to make something pretty great. Did we know then that it would launch a juggernaut of a television program that would still be on the air in the Year of Our Reckoning, 2020? I was a big fan of Firefly, so I was 99.99% sure this show was gonna get canceled at any second. In fact, I was thrilled, in 2008, to find there were two more seasons after the one I was currently watching. Of course, season 3 aired around the time of the great Writer’s Strike of ‘07, where nothing looked good and few programs survived, but we’ll get there. 

In a final, kind of spooky, almost premonition-type decision the WB actually decided to air this pilot episode a whole week early on Yahoo!. Yeah, you remember Yahoo!, right? The search engine that briefly tried to have its own original streaming content and then we all abandoned it in favor of the monster that is Google? Yeah. This episode premiered online. I haven’t done enough research, but I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say this was probably one of the first ever TV shows to start on the internet? Weird to think that was a novel and innovative concept at one time. 

So this is it. This is the end of the era. Are we gonna get any more shows that last as long as this one did? Who knows. Are we as a culture gonna care at that point? I don’t know. Our TV habits have changed so much in the last few years that it’s hard to say how we’ll watch TV in the future. But credit where it’s due, boys. Nice huntin’. 

[star-linedsoul]

Legacy: A Supernatural Fanfiction | Sneak Peek

STORY SUMMARY:

Dean & Sam Winchester have spent their lives surrounded by the evil forces of the world, pushed and pulled and forced to bend in attempt to rid the world of evil and save innocent lives. As such, they jump at the chance to close the gates of Hell, forever removing demons from the face of the Earth. However, a visitor from the future causes the brothers to question this decision as the cost of this endeavor makes itself clear. Raised in a future where demons rule the world, Erica Winchester longs for an escape from the darkness that has destroyed her family. Sending herself to the past to finish the job her father started long ago, she hopes to atone for her own mistakes as much as she hopes to fix her world. As she delves into nigh-impossible trials and ancient magicks, however, she begins to wonder whether redemption is even possible. Perhaps, in the end, destiny cannot be avoided. Perhaps, for a Winchester, the only possible legacy is one of blood and death.

CHAPTER SUMMARY:

After the events of episode 8x13, “Everybody Hates Hitler,” Sam & Dean return to the Men of Letters bunker to find that they are no longer the only ones entrusted with its secrets. A search ensues to determine who or what has compromised the security of their new home.

Well, as definitive proof that I really need to work on my self-control, the writing bug has officially refused to leave me alone when it comes to this WIP. It will probably be awhile before I post any full chapters of this story, but I couldn’t resist sharing an excerpt featuring the first meeting between Dean and my OC Erica. I’m trying a couple new things in regards to a more concise writing style and a streamlined writing process that will hopefully allow me to write faster. Feel free to give me some input/constructive criticism on whether or not you feel it works! I put the excerpt under a read more due to length and mild spoilers for anyone that isn’t caught up on the series!

Legacy Taglist: @wordspin-shares​

As always, my askbox and messaging are always open for discussion or if you would like to be added to the taglist! :D

EXCERPT:

Shaking his head at how ridiculous it was to be playing hide and go seek in his own home—without even knowing who he was looking for—Dean securely latched the door on his way out of the bedroom. No one was violating his space more than they already had. Not if he had anything to say about it.

The hunter crossed the corridors on silent feet, every sense tuned to pick up on the slightest sign of the bunker’s mystery guests. He knew he had finally struck gold as he turned into the hall leading to the garage. Amid the funky rhythm and melodic vocals of what his ears immediately recognized as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the metallic clang of tools clattering together sang through the air. He knew that sound well. Pressing his back against the wall flanking the stairs that led up into the garage, he quickly texted Sam, letting him know that he had finally found something.

Dean ascended the first few stairs leading into the garage, stopping when he was just high enough to see over the concrete walls of the motorcycle bays flanking the stairwell. Scanning the open garage, he found all of the cars and bikes still in their places, with the sounds coming from the corner workspace at the rear. He ducked back down out of sight as he caught movement between the shelves that separated the work area from the rest of the garage. Bingo.

The hunter not-so-patiently waited until his phone vibrated with Sam’s confirmation that he was on his way before climbing the stairs to fully enter the garage. He kept his gun low but at the ready as quick strides carried him toward the corner, where a single figure was silhouetted behind the shelves. Ready to duck out of sight if anyone else should show up, he stayed close to the vehicle bays.

Several choice curses punctuating Anthony Kiedis’ melancholic crooning through “Californication” had Dean categorizing this particular intruder as female, and he absently wondered if this was the owner of the jacket he and Sam had found in the library. The loud music masked his steps as he approached the gap that left the workspace open to the rest of the garage, giving him a moment to survey the scene without being noticed by the target. This objective was even better served when he saw that the woman stood at the near end of a collapsible worktable, on which rested a shiny, black and chrome motorcycle. Her back was to the hunter as she leaned one shoulder against the bike’s rear tire to hold it in place while she struggled to install its axle with her free hand.

“Come on, girl,” she growled between the dull thuds of a rubber mallet knocking the axle into place. “Stop being such a bitch!”

As if the bike heard her, the shaft finally found its seat. Dropping the rubber mallet to the table, the woman rested one hand on the reinstalled tire, running her other hand through choppy black hair as she muttered, “Finally!”  

Deciding to press his advantage while the woman was still unaware that she was no longer alone, Dean reached over and turned off the small stereo on the shelf next to him. As the intro to “By the Way” abruptly cut to silence, the hunter raised his pistol to the ready position. “Nice bike.”

With a loud gasp, the woman whirled around, swiping the mallet from the table once again and adopting a defensive stance in a single, fluid motion. She froze, however, as she spotted the gun leveled at her chest. Narrowed eyes widened in surprise and a crinkle formed along her brows while her knuckles turned white from gripping the mallet in her hand.

“Who are you?”

“Funny. I was planning on asking you the same thing,” Dean gestured to the woman’s hands with the barrel of his gun. “Drop that mallet and kick it under the table. Keep your hands where I can see them.”

The hunter thought for a moment that the woman was going to try something very stupid. She had the looks of an animal caught in headlights and panicking, seconds away from bolting. He had left her nowhere to run, making him wonder if she might try to charge him. He had her unquestionably outmatched in size, but fear made people do crazy things. Luckily, she proved to be a bit more sensible. Though her body was still taut with tension and her eyes remained glued to him, she crouched and placed the mallet on the floor. She raised her hands in a gesture of surrender as she rose, kicking the mallet away.

Though it was the result that he had wanted, something didn’t sit right with Dean. He couldn’t quite explain what it was. Maybe it was that this was too easy. Maybe it was that the intruder seemed to be trying too hard to appear normal. This woman before him had somehow managed to infiltrate their bunker—which was supposed to be secret and hidden—and yet she was tinkering in the garage instead of robbing the place of its virtually priceless collection. Nothing about her appearance suggested that she was anything other than average. Surely no older than thirty, she wore a simple, black T-shirt, form-fitting jeans, and scuffed biker boots, with no logos or embellishments visible that might be traced back to a store. No charms or amulets decorated her wrists or hung around her neck, nor were any weapons visible that might suggest that she was a hunter. And yet there was something unsettling about her. About how quickly she had picked up that mallet and prepared to defend herself only to disarm just as fast. About how she looked as submissive as possible, wide-eyed and with her hands in the air, and yet her entire body was tensed as if ready for a fight.

Remaining on alert, Dean stepped closer to the woman only for her to back away in equal measure. “What do you want?”

The hunter was sure it was meant to be a demand, but her voice was too shaky for it to have the desired effect. “Hey, you’re the one in my home without permission, sweetheart. I’ll handle the questions.” Before she could protest further, Dean closed the distance between them, grabbing her shoulder and pushing her to turn around. “Keep those hands up.”

His pistol ready in one hand just in case, he quickly skimmed his free hand over the woman’s lean frame. Starting at her torso, he then went down one denim-clad leg, confiscating the switchblade tucked into her boot. On the way up the other leg, he swiped the leather wallet from her back pocket.

“Hey!” she protested, whirling back around and reaching for the wallet. “Give that back!”

Dean dodged her, moving out of reach. “Don’t worry, you’ll get it back so long as you don’t do anything stupid.” He could tell she didn’t like that answer as her hands tightened into fists. Green eyes fixed him with a scorching glare, which he elected to ignore as he flipped open the wallet to check for ID. “Got any friends with you?”

“It’s just me.” Dean glanced up at the woman’s wooden tone, but he found that she wasn’t looking at him, fixed on a spot behind his left shoulder. Then, faintly, “Oh…there’s two of you.”

Turning to follow her stare, Dean found his brother surveying the scene, pistol lowered but ready. About damn time. “Hi, Sammy! I’m so glad you finally decided to join us.”

The younger Winchester answered with a curt nod, glancing between his brother and the woman he’d cornered. “What’s going on?”

“I was just getting acquainted with our new friend here.” Dean made a show of holding up the ID he had pulled from their guest’s wallet, keeping his tone casual. “Meet Erica Jackson from Seminole, Oklahoma. She’s a...let’s see, carry the one, thirteen minus seven…twenty-six year old Gemini and”—he raised an eyebrow, looking at the woman’s choppy black locks—“a blonde?”

She shifted her weight to one leg, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m sorry, is dying hair a crime these days?”

Dean definitely didn’t like that snippy tone. “No, but breaking and entering is. So give me one good reason why you’re in my garage and I’ll think about letting you walk outta here.”

“I-I didn’t know anyone lived here.” Erica had the decency to at least pretend to be remorseful, nervously tucking her hair behind one ear and scuffing one toe against the concrete as she glanced between the brothers. “The place was empty when I found it.”

“And you just decided to move in?” Sam inferred, moving forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Dean.

“No, of course not!” Erica returned, indignant. But then she faltered, pulling her lower lip between her teeth. “Well, kind of, I guess…” She huffed. “It’s a long story.”