#the story got kinda dark whoops

[clearwillow]

Giving @j3lly-fish's Create-A-Circus challenge a try. Meet Tumble and her clone, Bumble, a pair of spellcasting clowns. Tumble had...a bit of an accident.

Tumble has never been a clown that was good at her job. Her spells would backfire and set fire to the big top tent. Her wardrobe looked more like an alternative pop rock singer than a clown. Even her clone Bumble is aptly named - its only purpose is to run around and pick up after Tumble, and it can't even do that efficiently. Bumble doesn't speak, and as a team, they leave audiences quickly bored and scrolling on their phones.

No troupe will accept them because their routines are too bland. "We need flash," they have been told. "People want to see bright lights, explosions, something shocking. The days of juggling and disappearing rabbits in hats are over. We have to push ourselves farther than any troupe in history ever has to keep up." Tumble spent many nights researching trends and came to the conclusion that magic wouldn't be enough anymore. She would need to make use of technology to reach people. Recording her performance could surely lead to more people coming to her acts, right? But a recording of a clown performance still needed pizazz to entice people online to watch. A clown doing a clumsy routine in front of a waterfall would surely draw some attention.

It was a mistake to entrust Bumble with the equipment, Tumble soon learned. Her clone, not used to the portal or the sounds it made, got startled when a fledgling spellcaster appeared on the other side. Tumble was mid-twirl when she spotted the camera fall from Bumble's hands. She shouted to Bumble to catch the equipment. It was expensive and she couldn't afford to replace it. Not paying attention to her footing, Tumble's ankle rolled as her foot slipped on a broken piece of stone. She fell, watching the camera shatter on the stone before hitting her head...

The camera was gone, and so was Tumble. Or so Bumble thought. The clone fell through the portal, dragging her creator's body to the sages. She was so confident that they could do something - anything to make things right. She cried big tears as she pointed to Tumble, unable to articulate what she desperately wanted to say. "Save her." The words were hoarse and sounded nothing like what Tumble's once-bubbly voice could be, but the clone had spoken for the first time since her creation. The sages knew they should have told the clone that there were risks that came with bringing a person back to life. Even with a selfless sacrifice, the one revived may not be the person they once were. Yet Bumble continued to cry, repeating the only two words she could say. There wouldn't be much time left before Tumble's last bit of magic dissolved, and with it, Bumble would cease to exist.

As one, the sages cast the spell and silently prayed that it would work. Blue light struck Tumble's chest, forcing its magic into her body. As quick as it appeared, it was gone, and they feared that their efforts were for nothing. Until Tumble slowly sat up. The spell had been successful in bringing Tumble back to life, but she wasn't the same.

Her skin was paler, more gray. The wound on her temple and the cuts on her face were no longer bleeding, but they still looked fresh against her pallid face. Tumble's eyes, once a bright violet, were a shocking white. Her teeth had become jagged, likely broken on impact. She was alive, but at what cost?

Tumble wanted to be furious with her clone; how was she supposed to live like this? But when Bumble dropped to her knees next to Tumble, crying "Save you", the spellcaster had to swallow her pride. Her clone, as clumsy as she was, fought to give her a second chance. It would take time to build a new routine, because Bumble would need to learn to speak properly. Tumble would still be the coordinator of their act, but Bumble would have to look the part. Because who would believe that someone actually wanted a clown to be brought back to life?

[twistedfics]

𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔

Leona (twisted wonderland) x AFAB!reader (no pronouns mentioned) NSFW

2.3k+ words

~

hi! this story is 18+ and contains dark content. read at your own risk.

tags/warnings: ⚠️ non-con/dub-con, somno, biting, dacryphilia, breeding, possessive sex, mating, leona is in rut, licking, cum eating, kinda yandere ig?, leona is mean, maybe a bit ooc

~

summary: what if the night you stayed at savanaclaw went a little.... differently?

Leona had been acting strange. Or, at least, that’s what you thought. You couldn’t exactly say you knew the guy very well but something seemed off about him. 

But then again, maybe you were just majorly pissing him off. If you knew anything about him at all, it would probably be that he wouldn’t exactly want people (that he doesn’t seem to like, especially) all up in his business. And especially not in his bed. Whoops.

You’ll admit, it wasn’t the best arrangement, but given your current options, it was all you had. You had to stay somewhere right? It’s only temporary, you can live with him hating you for a night. 

Leona grumbled to himself, tail flinging around as you attempted to make yourself comfortable. He had thrown himself down in the middle of his bed in the midst of his little tantrum and you were forced to squeeze yourself into the bed the best you could. And as far away as you could manage. All those times you thought about Leona getting you into his bed, this wasn’t exactly what you had imagined.

“This is so fucking stupid. I should just throw you out and let you and that damn cat of yours find someone else to bother.” He spat in your direction, but you didn’t acknowledge it. Maybe if you just face the other way and pretend to sleep, he’ll calm down?

“You better not make a fucking sound tonight. If you wake me up, you’re dead, herbivore.” Guess not. 

You sighed and turned slightly in the bed, looking over your shoulder at him. You spoke softly, “Look, Leona. I’m sorry about this, really. but I really appreciate you letting us stay here. I’ll keep quiet, okay? You won’t even know I’m here.”

He didn’t look at you, but you heard a quiet “ugh” which you decided to take as a response. You knew you weren’t getting much more. 

“Goodnight, Leona,” you said as you turned back to face the wall, closing your eyes. You just needed some sleep, and then you’ll figure everything out in the morning.

~*~

You awoke to a room that was far too dark for it to be anywhere near morning. You felt hot. Way, way, way too hot. You attempted to move but found yourself constricted. What was going on? 

In your half-asleep state, you tried to kick away whatever it was that was holding you in place, and your heart nearly stopped when you were lucid enough to feel it. Something was pressed up against you from behind, holding your body against the mattress. Your eyes shot open when you felt something wet and hot against your neck. 

You tried to scream and were immediately silenced with a hand over your mouth. 

“Shh. I told you to be quiet.” A deep voice growled in your ear. Leona? That was definitely him. What in the seven was he doing?

“Leona, wha-” your voice was muffled, and he shushed you again. “You smell so good,” he mumbled, shifting against you. And that’s when you felt it. Something long and hard pressed against your ass. 

Panic shot through you as you began to struggle against him. You managed to turn yourself towards him before he got a hold of you again, removing his hand from your mouth in the process.

“Stop. Stop, Leona, please!” You cried trying desperately to pull yourself out of his grasp. This proved impossible, as he simply tightened his hold on you. It felt like he was trying to crush you to death.

“Maybe you should of thought of that earlier? You know, before you decided to invade my space all night.” He spoke low, way too casual for the situation you were in. His teeth pressed against your neck and you gasped.

This is apparently your fault to him??? You didn’t ask for this! You were only staying here out of necessity anyway. Sure he was hot, and you can’t lie that you haven’t thought of this before, but you never wanted it like this. Why now? Why you?! Violated just because a man can’t keep it in his pants? It’s sick!

Despite your constant struggling and protests though, Leona didn’t let up. His claws were digging into where he held you by your hips and you were sure your neck was probably bruised beyond belief. And to make matters worse, no amount of your crying was keeping him from pressing himself into your thigh. 

“Leona, please! You’re scaring me. Let me go right now!” Your pleas fell on deaf ears as he maneuvered himself on top of you. One of his hands held your wrists together above your head, the rest of his body pinning you against the mattress. Tears were falling down your cheeks now, sobs getting stuck in your throat. You were no match for his strength. You couldn’t see yourself getting out of this alone.

“Do you ever shut up?” He growled, attacking your neck with his teeth again. His claws started to work at tearing your shirt apart and his hips not so subtly ground against your thigh. You tried to thrash around one last time, but the groan that came from him at your movements stopped you in your tracks. This was a nightmare.

“W-why are you doing this?” Your voice was shaking now, sobs being ripped from your throat at every nip of his teeth against it.

“I let you sleep here out of the kindness of my heart, didn’t I? I should at least get something out of it.” He had completed his task of ripping your top to shreds, and he slowly moved himself down your body, biting and sucking at your skin the whole way.

You whimpered when he reached your chest, licking at one of your nipples while his hand came up to pinch at the other one. He teased you for a while, switching between your tits, sucking and licking at your nipples while massaging the other one. 

You could feel him each time he ground himself against your thigh. He was so hard, and you could almost swear he was growing harder- if that was even possible. Pre-cum dripped from his tip and soaked the front of his pants, so much so that you could feel it, sticky on your exposed skin.

His free hand moved down to toy at the waistband of your shorts and your breath hitched. He was really doing this. This was really happening. 

You tried to free your hands but found that he still had your wrists caught in an iron grasp. Tears were now pouring down your face, begging and pleading as you sobbed for him to stop, to just let you go. 

Why did this have to happen to you?

He came back up so he was level with you, his face just centimeters from yours. You searched his eyes for any kind of remorse at what he was doing, but there was nothing. His pupils were blown wide with lust as he smirked down at you.

His face moved closer towards you and you froze as you felt him lick at your face, wiping away your tears in the most disgusting way possible. You felt like you were going to vomit.

“You’re cute when you cry. Be a lot cuter if you were quiet though,” he whispered to you, nipping at your ear before moving back down your body. 

You had given up struggling, accepting your fate. You couldn’t get out of this. He was too strong, and there was no reasoning with him. Something was wrong. He wouldn’t listen, you knew that. 

You cried even harder as he finally ripped away the material of your shorts. You felt humiliated, left in just your panties as you cried and shook beneath him.

His hand slipped past your panties to toy with your cunt, and you watched in horror as he flashed you a predatory smile. 

His next words sent ice through your veins, “Would you look at that, herbivore? You’re soaked. You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Freak.” He chuckled and you felt as if you weren’t even in your own body anymore.

Were you enjoying this? No! You can’t be. You’re scared out of your mind and you want it to stop. So why are you wet? Surely a natural reaction, right? There’s no way you could actually be into this kind of thing, right?

“Look at that pretty pussy. All f’ me.” While you were lost in thought, he had torn your underwear away completely. He spread you apart with two fingers, watching as your wetness dripped from your core between your thighs. You didn’t think you’ve ever been more embarrassed.

He pressed down harshly on your clit, closely watching your reaction as your whole body jerked. His stare had you pinned, you felt like prey being stalked. But the lion had already caught you. 

“I hope you’re ready, herbivore. I’m done waiting.” He let go of your wrists and swiftly flipped your body around. Your face was now pressed against the mattress, support from your arms taken from you as he once again pinned your wrists, this time holding them behind your back. 

With one hand he pulled your hips up, leaving you face down with your ass up, level with his hips as he kneeled behind you. He removed his hand for a moment, and you heard the rustling of clothes before you felt his hard cock pressing against your soaked entrance. 

His hand came back to grip your hip, claws digging in and leaving marks on your skin. Your body involuntarily tightened up as it anticipated what would come next.

Leona pushed his hips forward slowly, groaning softly as he forced the tip of his leaking cock into your little cunt. 

“If you don’t relax this is going to hurt a hell of a lot more than it would have,” he grunted and continued to press forward.

You whimpered as you tried to force yourself to relax, your body not wanting to welcome the intrusion. He was huge! It hurt like hell, but no matter what, he wasn’t stopping, and you cried out as his tip stretched you out more than you had ever felt before. 

“That’s it. Take it, you little brat.” You moaned as his cock continued to stretch you out, the feeling burning more with each inch that entered you.

After what felt like forever, he finally bottomed out. He sighed as his hips pressed against your ass and you took a deep breath to try and prepare for what came next. You could feel him inside of you, pressing against the walls of your pussy, hot and twitching.

Without warning he pulled back and quickly slammed his hips forward, pressing you hard against his bed. He gave you no time to adjust, starting out with a quick and brutal pace, abusing your pussy with each harsh thrust.

“Fuck! You’re so tight~ So perfect for me, herbivore.” He bent himself over you hammering his hips into you as he spoke into your ear. His words were interrupted by his own moans, matching the sounds you made as you cried and drooled into the pillows. 

He nipped and licked at the back of your neck, working his way over your shoulders as his cock hit that perfect spot inside of you. You gasped and felt him grin against your skin. You weren’t supposed to like this! So why did it feel so good?

“That feel good, huh?” He readjusted to continue hitting that sweet spot that made you see stars, fucking you impossibly harder. He let go of your wrists to get a better grip on your waist and your hands fell limply to the bed. You moaned loudly, losing yourself to the feeling of his cock deep inside of you, letting yourself enjoy the moment. He bent his body over you once more, licking at the shell of your ear, making you shudder. “Cum for me, baby,” he whispered to you, “Cum. For. Me.” 

Each word was punctuated with an insanely hard thrust, sending you hurtling over the edge. Your vision blacked and you screamed, falling completely limp in his arms as your orgasm hit you hard.

You tried to catch your breath, but Leona didn’t let up. He continued his harsh pace, fucking you into the mattress as he panted and moaned in your ear. The wet sounds of his hips slapping against your thighs echoed through the dark room. 

“Almost there, fuck!” he moaned loudly, his claws biting into your skin as he held you in a death grip. 

“Leona~ Leona, please, stop it hurts, please!” The sensation of overstimulation had you sobbing again, repeatedly chanting Leona’s name and begging for him to stop, to just give you a break.

“Shh, shh~ Shit! I'm almost there! Fuck, just a bit more baby,” He moaned directly in your ear, face pressed into the crook of your neck. “I’m gonna fill you up, yeah? Fuck you full of my cum, everyone’s gonna know you’re all mine- fuck! My own personal little fuck toy. My mate.”

His words sent you over the edge again, screaming out his name as you clenched down on his cock. He followed right after you, biting down hard on your shoulder, breaking the skin as he pumped you full of his hot cum. You could feel it inside you, hot and sticky as it filled you up while he rode out his high. 

When his hips finally stuttered to a stop, he collapsed on top of you, trapping you beneath him. You were both a sweaty, panting mess and it was a while before he finally lifted himself off you.

He slowly pulled out, watching as his and your cum gushed from your cunt, staining the sheets below. Using his fingers, he scooped some up and pulled your head back by your hair, shoving it into your open, panting mouth.

You closed your lips around his fingers and sucked and he sat back to watch as you licked his hand clean. He removed his fingers with a pop, drying them off on the sheets before giving you a quick pat on the head.

“You'll be a good little mate.”

hi there! if you made it this far, thank you! sorry if this was a little rocky, it was my first time writing smut/dark content. i'm a little rusty with my writing >_< but i tried my best!

if you enjoyed this, please like and/or reblog! interaction is very much appreciated! <3

[lowrezbonuslevel]

you... are my nakama.......!

Day 2 Revenge Kirby Fighters 3 and Knuckles: Old Man Yaoi Edition

⚠️ LONG (but good-faith) RANT (that gives a little extra context for today's drawing) UNDER THE CUT (don't worry it's not shipping discourse lmao) ⚠️

Okay so I know neither of these modes are canon and therefore it's SORT OF a moot point, but NARRATIVELY SPEAKING, Meta Knightmare Returns and Dededetour are completely and utterly backwards, right???

What beef does King Dedede have with Dark Meta Knight? What beef does Meta Knight have with Sectonia and Dark Matter Swordsman (besides the fact that they both breathe and hold pointy weapons)? I understand that there's this ongoing plotline with having MK face swordfighters to test his skill, but I still think King Dedede should have been the one to rematch both DMS and Sectonia in Robobot (I do know Sectonia DX in TDX exists, but she isn't the final boss of the Dededetour mode which kinda sucks).

Shadow Dedede himself is a decent idea, but he's new to the series and has absolutely no story introduction (and his design isn't all that interesting, at least to me). Sectonia? Love her, but she deserves a Dedede hammer to the face for all three phases and more. DMS (and Dark Matter in general)? The ORIGINAL Dedede opp (besides Kirby lol). I know these are just clones in-story, but the coolness factor is still there.

You can make the argument that MK got to fight Mecha Knight because of MKR--which is cool, definitely, but if it were King Dedede the same could be said for the Dedede Clone fight, so in my eyes it evens out (actually... Dedede beating Stock Mecha would probably have been even more hype. imho).

Also, a Galacta Knight battle with solo King Dedede would be rad. The power scalers would have a FIELD DAY!!!

Likewise, Meta Knight never actually got to beat DMK in a proper battle at any point, did he? So based on both canon and alt timelines, DMK could still whoop MK's ass. That's just wrong... :(

It's my understanding that TDX was made with absolutely no anticipation of Robobot, so it could be the case that they simply didn't want to give Dedede the spotlight twice. But I sort of wish they had held back on MKR regardless.

Really, I don't think you NEED the anticipation of Robobot's specific plot/mechanics to see that MKR would have fit perfectly in TDX, because it answers the question of "where the hell is MK and why did he sit back when Dedede got kidnapped"? Having him fight DMK would be a way cooler explanation than an implicit "he was doing something somewhere else."

Maybe he's been fighting on the sidelines and is now clearing out the castle--which is full of Sectonia's remaining minions, the strongest and most loyal--and getting to the bottom of some source of magic still coming from the castle. Meanwhile Dedede and Kirby are helping out the people of mainland Popstar that were displaced by Sectonia and the Dreamstalk. And DMK (or, even better--a form of Dark Mind!) serves as the final boss.

Likewise, while the main events of Robobot are going on, the King could be helping Floralia defend themselves from the invasion. (The existence of Sectonia Clone combined with the pause screen that claims "Floralia is too remote to be mechanized yet" is literally just a plot hole anyway. The invaders couldn't overtake Floralia by the time we're fighting Sectonia Clone... despite the fact that they obviously DID find the huge plant that leads DIRECTLY to their kingdom AND the invaders have a mother(computer)ship the size of Planet Popstar AND practically infinite robot soldiers...? Be so fr...)

Extra work/game industry deadlines are a consideration too, but I don't think that applies too heavily here because both modes could have heavily reused and repurposed assets and level designs.

MK could have just had the typical EX mode recolors and stuff, but maybe with the story explanation/design concept that the bosses are being controlled by the Dark Mirror this time, instead of being aggravated by Taranza.

Dededetour in Robobot could have subsequently reused TDX assets. I feel like this is even a case where reskins are the objectively cooler option, as opposed to entirely new assets: seeing the flowery, green areas of Floralia converted to gross, grey landscapes would have been AWESOME, as well as seeing the insects and flower-based enemies turned to robots. Maybe the People of the Sky have been mind controlled: the six main flower fairies work together as a miniboss, and defeating them/breaking their mind control apparatuses is how they are "rescued" here, in parallel to their game of origin. Maybe Taranza is also being mind-controlled in an act of universal karma and Dedede has to bail him out. That would be sick!

This stuff isn't a series-ruiner by any means, but it genuinely feels like a glitch in the Kirby matrix that the plotlines here are so mismatched. If I were whimsically rewriting the Kirby series, the MKR and Dededetour swap would probably be the first change I'd make. (And, again, I'd like to acknowledge that there are/were probably practical considerations of which I'm ignorant.)

You know how the series could still fix everything, though...? Kirby Fighters 3, BUT this time King Dedede and Meta Knight are the main protags. They get to fight magically-summoned/echo versions of DMK, DMS, Sectonia, King D-Mind, Yin-Yarn... you name it. TOGETHER. As husbands should!!!

[avastrasposts]

Big Sky Country - ch. 10

This chapter was a long time coming and I've been struggling with inspiration to write the final part of this story. There is only the epilogue left after this, but I can't say when I'll have it done. But, at least, I'm wrapping up Frankie and Aisling's story now, leaving them in a happy place with a lot of future ahead of them.

Plot: In Big Sky Country we meet a cowboy version of Frankie as he returns to New York to patch things up with his "maybe girlfriend", but he also makes a connection with another woman, who makes this lost cowboy feel welcome in her Brooklyn bar. life doesn't follow straight paths.

Cowboy!Frankie x OFC Aisling

Warnings: None, this is all fluff

Word count: 4.6k

“Fish!” 

The loud whoop could be heard through the closed windows of the truck as the engine went quiet. 

“What the fuck are they doing here?” Frankie said, shaking his head while Aisling gave him a confused look.

“Do you know them?” she asked and Frankie nodded, pushing the door open. 

“Yeah, my friends from the army, but I don’t know why they’re here,” he said and got out as a tall blonde man bounded down the steps.

“Fish!” he yelled, a big grin on his face, but as Aisling opened the door on her side and stepped out, a look of confusion flashed across his face before he smiled wide at Frankie again. He was on him in a couple of long steps and Aisling couldn’t help smiling as he effortlessly picked up Frankie in a bear hug. 

“Benny, you’re fucking squashing me,” Frankie laughed, patting the man on the back to get him to let up on his bone crushing grip. Behind him two other men had stepped off the porch, another blonde man almost as tall and big as the first, but older, and a shorter dark haired man who caught Aisling’s eye and smiled at her. 

“Hi, I’m Santiago,” he said, coming over and putting his hand out to her. His handshake was firm and warm, she could feel the calluses on his palm, and it reminded her of Frankie. 

“Aisling, nice to meet you,” she replied as Frankie got a hug from the other blonde man and Benny came over with a bright, curious smile with his hand out. 

“Hi, I’m Benny,” he grinned down at her and she had a moment to think he really was the biggest man she’d seen until the other blonde man offered his hand and introduced himself as Will. It was like standing in front of a wall of men. The three of them, especially the blondes, wide as barn doors, all built in the same broad shouldered form as Frankie. He came over to her side just as she introduced herself to Benny and Will and got a big hug from the man called Santiago. 

“Good to see you, Pope,” he mumbled as the other man clapped him on the back. 

Frankie stepped back and stood next to Aisling, his hands deep in his pockets and looking utterly uncomfortable and confused under the brim of his Stetson. 

“Love the cowboy hat, Fish,” Benny chuckled, swiping it off his head and swapping his own cap for it, tilting the brim at Frankie with a two fingered “Howdy.” 

“Fuck off, Benny,” Frankie sighed with a smirk, “What are you guys even doing here?” 

“You invited us, Fish,” Santiago said, his eyebrows furrowing, “I sent you the details two days ago.” 

“Yeah, for the 15th, Pope,” Frankie replied but Will immediately shook his head. 

“No, the 5th, I booked it,” he said and Frankie pulled out his phone, getting Pope’s message out and seeing that the date was indeed the 5th. 

“Fuck….” he sighed, “I messed up the dates, I’m sorry.” 

“Yeah, we were kinda confused when you didn’t pick up the phone, but that explains it,” Will said, “We met Herb down at the ranch and he told us you were out on the trail today.” 

Frankie shook his head, his face deeply apologetic, “I’m really sorry, I wasn’t focused when I read your mail, Pope. I…I had other things on my mind,” he stuttered and no one missed his quick glance at Aisling who was starting to feel uncomfortable. 

“Yeah, we can see that, Fish,” Pope smiled at Aisling who felt her cheeks heat up as all four men were suddenly looking at her. 

“Sorry, I kinda showed up unexpectedly a couple of days ago,” she said with a grimace, looking over at Frankie. 

“So, how’d you two-” 

“Fish, show us your cabin and let’s get the grill going, we brought food and beer,” Will interrupted Benny, stepping between him and Aisling and grabbing hold of Frankie’s arm, propelling him towards the house. Pope stepped round them and easily hooked an arm around Aisling’s shoulders and got her walking towards the house with him, leaving Benny to catch up. 

“It’s nice to meet you, good to see that Frankie’s got some company out here,” Santiago smiled, “let’s see if we can dig out that grill, I think I saw around the side earlier. 

Thankful for Santiago’s distraction, Aisling helped him set it up while Benny hauled a couple of coolers from the back of their rental truck. Setting up a camping table next to the BBQ, they soon had it going just as Will and Frankie returned outside with plates and utensils for the BBQ. 

“Any outdoor seating, Fish?” Santiago asked and Frankie shook his head. 

“No, just the bench on the porch and a couple of deck chairs, stairs’ll have to do.” 

“Alright, man, sounds good. Cheers!” Santiago held his beer up to the group and everyone followed suit, clinking bottles and taking long swigs. Frankie caught Aisling’s eyes over the brim of his bottle and she gave him a small smile. He knew he’d have to field a lot of questions from the guys and he wished he’d had a moment to talk to her before they started asking. 

“Frankie, before I forget,” Aisling suddenly said, “Can you help me get my bag down from the closet, I couldn’t reach it this morning and I’ve got my sweater in it.” 

Frankie looked confused for a second while Aisling nodded towards the cabin and left the guys standing by the BBQ. Then it clicked. 

“Yeah, sure. Give me a second, guys, be right back.” 

He hurried after Aisling and followed her into the cabin. He knew her bag was on the floor of his bedroom, and not on top of any closet, and now he followed her in there.

“I’m sorry about this, Ash,” he said as soon as he’d closed the door behind them, “I had no idea they’d turn up today.” 

“It’s fine, ‘Fish’,” she smiled at him, “They seem really nice. I just wanted to ask you what we tell them? Do they know we met in Brooklyn?” 

Frankie shook his head as his hand flew up to rub his neck while he grimaced at her with a pained expression. 

“No, I haven’t talked to them in a while. Pope knows Eva and I broke up, I talked to him just after I got back from New York. But I didn’t tell him about you.” 

“Which one is Pope?” Aisling asked, taking his hand from his neck and threading her fingers through his.

“Santiago, Pope’s his call sign, like mine’s Catfish,” Frankie explained, “Will is Ironhead, Benny is just Benny.” 

He sighed and wrapped his arm around her waist, leaning his forehead against hers, “I wanna tell them everything, if you’re ok with that. Or at least, that we met in New York, that we’re….” Frankie trailed off, giving a small shrug before he continued, “I mean, we didn’t talk about this yet, what we are? Are we dating?”

“I’d say we are, Fish,” Aisling replied with a small smile, “And…I don’t know, they’ll figure out I’m staying with you so just tell them I came out here to stay with you for a bit? We don’t have to tell them all the details about New York.” 

“Pope knows I came back here from New York after Eva and I broke up, but he doesn’t know about the abortion. I’ll tell him eventually, but not now,” Frankie said, shaking his head. He knew he wanted all three of them to know the whole story eventually, so that they understood why he wasn’t with Eva anymore. But it had been such a long time since all four of them had been together, tonight shouldn’t be about him. “I don’t want to bring it down, or make it weird, just make it…easy? And I don’t want them to think I made some sort of rash decision with you and that this isn’t real, you know? I want them to know you and like you and it’s just been so long and-” 

Aisling cupped her hands around his cheeks, stroking her thumbs over the scruffy bear, “Frankie, it’s nothing to worry about,” she could see the anxiety in his eyes as he went through fifty different scenarios in just a few seconds, his head starting to reel, “If they ask, we just tell them we met in Brooklyn while you were there, and now I’m here to stay with you for a while and see where it leads, how about that?” 

Frankie took a deep breath and closed his eyes, letting his mind calm down as Aisling continued to stroke his cheeks, the soft touch grounding him. 

“Yeah, sounds good, sounds like a plan,” he sighed, opening is eyes and looking down at her, “What the fuck would I do without you, Ash?” he asked, giving her a small smile. 

“Without me all these questions wouldn’t be popping up,” she smiled back, leaning in and giving him a kiss, “But I don’t mind fielding them, I’ve been a bartender in New York, three ex-military guys is a piece of cake. C’mon, let’s get some BBQ going,” she grinned at him and put her hand in his again.

She still had a firm grip on it as they returned to the front porch, the smell of burning coal already drifting from the grill. Will glanced up and noticed, his mouth pulling up in a quick smile while Benny hauled the cooler of beers to the edge of the porch stairs. 

“The coals will need some time to get nice and hot,” Will said, giving the BBQ a final look before he came over to the stairs and sat down on the bottom one, stretching out his long legs as Aisling and Frankie sat down too. Frankie leaned back as he scratched through his sweaty curls and hooked his arm around her waist. Benny passed them both beers and Pope lifted his, clinking it with Frankie’s. 

“Salud, el pececito,” he said with a grin, “Good to see you again, man. And it’s really nice to meet you Aisling.” 

“Don’t fucking call me that,” Frankie huffed with a chuckle, lifting his bottle to Pope too, “And same, it’s good to have you here.” 

They all raised their bottles and echoed the sentiment, Ashling joining in and getting a warm smile from Will. She already liked him, he seemed stable and quiet, and in tune with what the other three men were feeling. 

“What does that mean?” she asked, “El pececito?” 

“Little fish!” Pope declared with a grin while Frankie sighed. Aisling laughed and patted his head, she was sitting a step above him and he’d put his arm around her as he leaned back. 

“So ‘fish sticks’ isn’t so bad then, huh, Fishy?” she teased him as he groaned, knowing what was coming. 

Benny nearly choked on his beer as he snorted, spraying beer over his shoes as Pope and Will laughed, Will also reaching up and slapping his brother’s back. 

“Oh shit, beer totally just came out of my nose but it was worth it,” Benny coughed, wiping his grinning face, “‘Fish sticks’? I’m using that!” 

“Only Ash is allowed to call me that, Benny,” Frankie sighed as he playfully poked Aisling, “You are in so much trouble, cariño.” 

She winked at Frankie as Benny continued to laugh, “I like her, Fish, good catch.” 

“Any more fish references and you’re getting kicked out,” Frankie said with a mock serious tone, “Besides, I’ve heard them all before you know.” 

“Yeah, you need to update your repertoire,” Pope nodded, “No repeating decade old jokes.” 

Benny just shook his head, flipping Pope the finger while sipping his beer again. 

“So you guys met in New York?” Will asked, his tone casual but Aisling had the feeling he was subtly starting the interrogation part of the conversation, “Are you from there?” His clear blue eyes were friendly as he looked at her and she didn’t mind his questions. 

“Yes, on both accounts. I grew up in Brooklyn and I met Frankie when he walked into the bar I was working at, looking very much like a lost cowboy.” 

“I didn’t look that much like a cowboy, and I wasn’t that lost,” Frankie protested, “I just had some time to kill and your bar looked nice.” 

“You were wearing cowboy boots and a belt buckle the size of Texas,” she pointed out, smiling down at him as he chuckled. 

“Yeah, fair point,” he admitted, scratching his beard as he thought back to the day he’d walked into the bar. He’d been pretty lost, not physically lost, but mentally. He could still remember the feeling he had in his body as he walked down the street to Eva’s apartment, the long hours on the bus in his limbs, the worry in his head about how to handle the prospect of a child with her, how to live in New York. The temporary relief he’d felt in Aisling’s company from the start had been unexpected but flooded him and calmed in a way he’d never felt before. He looked up at her sitting next to him now on the stairs of his cabin, something he’d thought was an impossible dream just two days ago, and something loosened his chest. She continued telling the guys the story about their first meeting, and he moved himself just a little bit closer, tightening his arm around her hips. She felt it and dropped her hand to his shoulder, giving it a small squeeze in response as she smiled at his friends.

“You guys should’ve seen his face when I told him the price of the beer he’d just had, he almost fell off the stool,” she grinned, giving his shoulder another squeeze as she looked down at him with warm eyes. 

The guys laughed as Frankie shook his head in protest, but he was laughing too. 

“This little minx sold me the most expensive beer on the menu, claimed it was her favorite and then charged me fourteen fifty without even blinking,” he said, giving Aisling’s side a teasing poke as she snorted, “And then she had the balls to ask me if I wanted another one.” 

“It was a great beer!” 

“Yeah, but not worth fourteen fifty,” Frankie said, his brown eyes almost disappearing as he grinned up at her and she grabbed his chin between her thumb and fore finger, tugging at it lightly as she gave his nose a quick peck. 

“Totally worth it, I tell you, since you got me too.” 

Frankie looked as if he was mulling that over for a couple of seconds before he slipped his hand behind her neck and pulled her closer for a kiss. 

“Yeah, ok, worth it,” he smiled against her lips. 

“Enough,” Pope laughed, “this beer,” he waved his bottle at the two of them, “might not be fourteen fifty but I’m trying to keep it down, you know what I’m saying?” 

Aisling felt her cheeks heat up as Frankie pulled back a little, but his hand moved down her leg and he was still holding her close, his arm around her waist. 

“How’s ranch life then, for a New Yorker?” Will asked, taking a swig of his beer, the same easy tone to his questions. 

“I’ve only been here two days, but it’s good,” Aisling smiled at him, “Frankie gave me riding lessons yesterday and today we went out on the trail up into the mountains, it’s really beautiful and I haven’t gotten over how big and open it is out here, it’s just endless.” 

“Better than New York?” Pope asked, and something in his tone made Frankie look over at him, but the dark haired man just quirked his eyebrow back at him as Aisling nodded, she could guess what he meant too and she smiled at him. 

“So much better, on all accounts,” she said, looking over at Frankie, “Frankie showed me photos of this place before I came and I thought it was beautiful then too, but nothing compares to seeing it first hand. It’s just…” she shook her head like she couldn’t find the words to describe it, “I don’t even know, it just feels so much better, the air, the sky, the surroundings...” 

“The company,” Benny butted in with a grin and Aisling laughed. 

“Yeah, the company too,” she said and ruffled the top of Frankie’s head as he gave her leg a squeeze. 

Aisling looked over at the other three men again and grimaced, wrinkling her nose, “I…I guess it’s kinda weird for you guys to come here and find some strange woman in Frankie’s life,” she said, glancing at Santiago before meeting Will’s steady gaze, “You guys don’t know me and you’ve never heard of me, and I understand if you wonder what the fuck this is and who I am…” she trailed off but Will nodded. 

“I didn’t expect Frankie to have a new girlfriend, and I think we were all surprised to meet you, but it’s not a bad thing,” he reassured her, “We’ve know Frankie for a very long time, and I think we can all see the difference in him today compared to when we last saw him back in Florida. Whatever you’re doing, it seems to be working.” 

“It is,” Frankie cut in, “When things with Eva didn’t work out, the last thing I needed was to meet someone new, but with Aisling, it’s been easy from the start, well….” he stopped himself and looked at Aisling who had raised her eyebrows with a small smirk, “Ok, maybe not easy, outside circumstances made it difficult, but I never had to think about if you were right or not.” 

Aisling smiled at him, “You know I felt the same,” she said and wrapped her arms around Frankie, giving him a big kiss on his cheek as he grinned and the rest of the guys chuckled. 

Will shifted in his seat and took a sip off his beer while he looked at the two of them, seeming to consider his next words. 

“You look happy, Fish, really happy,” he said, pausing and looking between the two of them with a thoughtful look and seemed to change his mind about what he was going to say next as Pope glanced over at him. Instead he drank from his beer again instead, a small furrow between his eyebrows. 

But Frankie guessed what Will was thinking about, “She knows about my addiction, the PTSD, everything. I even told her about Colombia,” Frankie said, “I had to tell her, I need to go into this without any secrets.” 

Aisling nodded next to him, “This, between us, is…really new, but it’s good. It’s really good and I’m not scared by Frankie’s past, but I’m not going into it blind, I know he’s got a lot to work on.” 

“And you’re still clean, Fish?” Will asked. 

“945 days,” Frankie said without needing to think about it, pulling a small bronze chip from his pocket, “Never again.” 

“That’s awesome, Fish!” Benny exclaimed, reaching over and giving him a clap on the back, “You worked hard at it, it’s great to see something good coming into your life too.”  

“Thanks, Ben,” Frankie replied, rubbing his shoulder, “just a bit too fucking hard.” 

“Welcome to the mayhem, Aisling,” Pope laughed, “Never accept hugs from Benny.” 

“Fuck off,” Benny shot back but he couldn’t resist flexing his thick arms, showing off his physique. 

“I hope you’ve got a trip up on the trail with the horses planned for us too, Fish,” Will said, “we brought the gear for it.” 

“Yeah, of course, I planned with Herb after Pope called. We can go tomorrow if you’re all up for it?” Frankie replied, “You think you can handle another day in the saddle, Ash?” 

“Yeah, if we go slow. I’d love to go up there again,” she nodded and Frankie smiled, giving her hip a squeeze. 

“How about camping up there?” Benny asked, excitement showing on his face but Will just sighed and Pope cursed. 

“You want to go camping? Haven’t we all spent enough nights in tents?” he asked as Will pushed to his feet to check on the BBQ. 

“Yeah, seriously, Benny, I’ve done that enough,” he sighed, lining up the hot dogs and burger patties on the grill, “No more. 

“C’mon, I bet Aisling’s never been camping,” Benny pushed, pointing at Ash who was nodding. 

“I haven’t actually, and Frankie was gonna plan a camping trip for me, so maybe we can all go?” She looked at Frankie and then over at Pope and Will. Pope groaned and Will chuckled. 

“I’m not saying no to Fish’s girlfriend on the first night, I guess we’re going camping, Pope.” 

“Awesome,” Benny grinned, giving Aisling a quick nudge, “You’ll love it, we’ll get a big fire going, I make the best s’mores!”

The evening went on with the same theme, the guys were joking around, poking fun at each other and re-telling stories for Aisling’s benefit, their loud laughter echoed around the surrounding countryside as darkness fell. She sat tucked in under Frankie’s arm on the porch swing, Pope on the other side, while Frankie rocked the three of them back and forth. She looked over at him as his eyes disappeared in his face, doubled over with laughter from Benny’s story. He was telling them about a date he’d been on last month that had started with him bringing his date lilies, which she turned out to be allergic too, and ended when he brought her to a steakhouse, only to find out she was vegan.  

“I think I could’ve saved it after the lilies, I got her allergy tablets on the way to the restaurant, but the vegan thing….” he shook his head as the rest of them laughed, “you should’ve seen her face when we pulled up to the place and there was a big bull’s head above the door.” Benny made a grimace that sent them all into laughter again and next to her Aisling her Frankie almost choked as he took a sip from his beer. He winked at her as she patted his back, looking the most relaxed she’d ever seen him. It was easy to see that hanging out with old friends, sharing stories and just easy laughter, was doing him a lot more good than he probably realized.  

As the evening began to wind down, plans were made for the camping, the guys would go into Big Sky first thing in the morning for supplies while Frankie got the gear on the ranch ready. Aisling decided she needed some better clothes for camping so she’d join them too. Frankie shot her a worried look when she said that and Pope laughed. 

“Frankie’s scared we’ll tell you all the embarrassing stories if you go alone with us,” he chuckled, “don’t worry, Fish, we’ll save that for the campfire.” 

“Very helpful, thanks, Pope,” Frankie replied, beginning to stack the plates as he rolled his eyes, behind his back Pope winked at Aisling, “We should get a move on though, early start tomorrow to get all the gear ready.” 

It took a while longer, but eventually the three guys piled into their rented car and headed back to the ranch. Aisling yawned widely as Frankie locked the door to the cabin behind them and flicked off the kitchen light. She waited for him at the door to the bathroom and wrapped her arms around his waist. 

“You’ve got really great friends,” she said and Frankie smiled, nodding in agreement as he walked her backwards towards the counter, his arms on her shoulders. 

“Yeah, they’re good guys,” he said, “it was great seeing them, it wasn’t as weird as I thought it’d be.” 

“You’ve got people around you who care about you, Frankie, but you seem to be pretty good at forgetting that sometimes,” Aisling said in a soft voice as she caressed his back, lightly scratching as he hummed in agreement. 

“You’re not the first one to tell me that,” he admitted, “Herb has told me many times too, but I get too much in my head and think they’re better off without me, or that they don’t want me around while I’m a mess.” 

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re  dumb ass, Frankie,” she scoffed with a smile as she tugged at his chin, “a total dumb ass sometimes.”

She heaved herself up on the counter next to the sink and grabbed her toothbrush. 

“Gee, thanks,” Frankie snorted, but he was smiling too, “and you’re not the first person to call me a dumb ass, but hearing it from my girlfriend is always very heartwarming.” 

“Just making sure you’re aware, pass the tooth paste, please,” she replied, leaning forward as handed her the tube, and giving him a kiss on the cheek, “and I like it when you call me your girlfriend.” 

“I noticed,” he smiled, “it made your cheeks go all pink when I did it tonight, I’m gonna have to use it more often.” 

“If you do, I won’t call  you ‘fish sticks’ in front of Benny again,” she smiled and started brushing her teeth as Frankie rolled his eyes with exaggeration at her. 

“I will never hear the end of that, you have no idea. These guys do not forget. Gathering information for black mailing is literally part of our training for special ops.” 

Aisling grinned around her toothbrush and Frankie gave her forehead a peck before he began brushing his own teeth.

“What was that for?” she asked, tilting her head back to stop the toothpaste from escaping her mouth. 

“Yorrkuut,” Frankie slurred and Aisling giggled and rinsed her mouth, spitting in the sink. 

“No idea what you just said.” 

Frankie spat too, “You’re cute,” he repeated with a smile as Aisling slid off the counter. 

“Not as cute as you ‘Fish sticks’, see you in the bedroom.” 

Frankie gave her butt a quick swat as she slipped out of the bathroom, he could hear her giggling as she rummaged around in her bag next to the bed. He put away his toothbrush and grabbed the mouthwash as he looked at himself in the mirror. The man who faced him looked different, he was smiling widely, and even though the lines around his eyes were still there, his patchy beard changing to gray faster than he’d like, he looked brighter and happier. It was a change that had come in just two days and he knew it was because he was starting to see a future a lot different from the one he’d envisioned less than a week ago. And he felt different, he could feel it in his chest, in his stomach, and above all, in his head. It was all calmer, steadier, and he felt level in a way he hadn’t in a very long time. It wasn’t just a maybe now, it was starting to become reality, a reality he could trust in to be more long term even if there was work to be done. 

He rubbed his hand over his jaw as he rinsed the mouthwash around his teeth, studying himself; dark curls that were getting long, the gray at his temples, deep lines on his forehead, the faint scar on his left cheek and all the thoughts he could see rolling in his head. He spat out the mouthwash and inhaled deeply, still looking at himself, still calm. There was no flare of panic at thinking about the future, no fear. Just a steady confidence that he could do this.

You’ve got this, Morales, you can handle it. Whatever ‘it’ is, you can handle it because you got this far and she believes in you and so do your friends. 

He gave himself a crooked smile in the mirror, and flicked off the light, making his way down to the bedroom and Aisling waiting for him.

Tag list: @harriedandharassed @inept-the-magnificent@sheepdogchick3@readingiskeepingmegoing@noisynightmarepoetry@survivingandenduring @vabeachazn@amyispxnk@oberynslady @amyispxnk @thewiigers @lady-bess @missladym1981@peppermintfury@typewriter83 @anoverwhelmingdin @vabeachazn

[wukong-s-only-wife5000]

Hey for LMK Mac master list can I request “you see him again” cause boy totally needs more love imo 🤌🏼 you’re writing style slaps btws!

LMK!Macaque: You See Him Again.

Content/Trigger Warnings: N/A.

Authors Notes: You just gonna make me cry, thank you sm. I totally agree with you, he needs all love. Luckily for you, I was planning to post this today. ;3 Hope you enjoy!

<---Previous | Masterlist | Next--->

You didn't want to socialize or even leave the house, but one of your mortal friends needed you to go on a double date, which you didn't like but understood. Sisters took care of each other, and it was better to have backup to 'whoop ass', as Wukong often liked to say, than to be alone. You didn't completely pay much attention to the male you were basically on a blind date with. He was okay-looking and as interesting as any other tall and handsome foreigner. You couldn't remember much of what he told you… Like his name, how he knew your friend's date, where he was from and why he was visiting China.

You never expected they would take you both to a puppet show, though. It seemed childish and when you really looked at them, they acted the part a bit too well. He swore that it was the best show they'd seen, but you were only interested when you saw the flier your friend's date had. It was a shadow play… which was much different from a simple puppet show in your opinion. 

Ever since your meeting with the emo monkey man, you always thought of Macaque whenever you're in the dark, staring somewhere only to discover it was the shadow of something, or happened to see something that reminded you of him. Did you maybe need to see a doctor? Potentially. Regardless, it was safe to say he'd plagued your mind and, unbeknownst to you, it was just as much as you plagued his. 

Before the play started, you caved and decided to get a helping of popcorn and a drink, something your friend complained about since you'd refused when they were buying earlier. Your journey to and from the line and back was infected with Macaque and almost made you order a popcorn with Pepsi instead of popcorn and a Pepsi.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to today’s shadow play,” 

You couldn't stop yourself from smiling to yourself. You'd only heard it when you’d first met, but you knew that voice from anywhere. He seemed to be using a human disguise and since the boys liked the plays, you guessed that he did them often. 

“You like these too? You seem excited,” you didn't know if it was your date or your friend who spoke.

“You can say that,” you trailed off. 

It was a brief moment, but Macaque’s gold eyes locked onto your (e/c) ones and his smirk grew before he continued.

“For the new viewers, I will start with the tale of the Hero and the Warrior,” and he did. You were no fool. You could tell that the story was based on him and Wukong. A hero that left his friends behind after obtaining immense power… yeah, that sounded like Wukong, alright. You loved Wukong like a brother, but sometimes he got too caught up in himself that he frequently forgot about others, it was something you noticed in MK too.

“Now, I can tell you about the Goddess,” his voice broke you out of your thoughts, and you noticed he looked at you when he said goddess. 

Your heart was already beating quicker knowing he was there, but when you heard his new story of a goddess the Hero once served, and had both him and the Warrior smitten, you knew that you were the goddess reference. He didn't even try to hide that from you… your brain was then quick to notice something; Macaque insinuated that both he and Wukong were smitten with you the second you met.

“This one is so adorable and tragic at the same time,” your friend swooned, and you rolled your eyes at the hopeless romantic.

“It’s kinda boring…” Yeah, you sort of forgot he was there and his hate for romance? It was never gonna work out. Maybe you took it to heart most because it was about you… The thought almost made you want to laugh.

When the show was over, the few people that were there applauded, you included. You thought your friend’s standing ovation was a bit of an overdo, but eh, who were you to judge? You met eyes with Macaque once more before he turned and walked away. Not wanting to miss the chance, you stood up.

“Where you going?” your friend questioned you.

“I'll meet you guys outside, okay?” was all you said over your shoulder before you chased after the hooded figure,

“Wha-” you barely heard her. “Okay, then?”

When you walked behind the stage, you saw a door as it closed. You walked over to it and opened it to be met with an alley and the back of the hooded figure you knew was Macaque.

“Hey, puppeteer,” your voice stopped him in his tracks, but since his back was to you, you couldn't see his grin. He knew you'd follow him, and you proved him right… It made him oddly happy.

“Sorry, miss, but I’m not signing autographs right now,” he said as he turned toward you with a lazy smirk. You could barely see the rest of his face, only his mouth.

“You get people wanting your autograph?” you mused at the thought of him signing autographs.

“Indeed,” 

“I'd never taken you for the shadow play storyteller type, Macaque,” you said with a slight snicker, he playfully clicked his tongue at being caught.

“I never thought you'd be the type to come watch one, (Y/n),” he lifted his hood and looked down at you with a slight grin. “What gave me away, hm?”

“Your voice obviously gave you away, dude,” you folded your arms, and a small smile adorned your face.

“Obviously,” he chuckled, “wasn't that obvious to MK.”

“Yeah…” you trailed at the memory of MK explaining the time they went to one of Macaque’s shows and how it didn't go too well. “He’s kinda clueless sometimes.”

“Remind you of anyone?” he teased, which made you laugh a bit.

“Most definitely,”

“Did you like the tale?”

“I did,” you gave a nod. “I guess I sympathize with the warrior… being in the shadow of the hero is something I bet the Goddess can relate to.”

“I bet,” he chuckled softly. “Like what you see?” he asked as he noticed you kept looking over his features. 

“I like the real you better,” you confessed and cleared your throat, your words caught him off guard. “I guess 'cause I get used to seeing demons in their true form that seeing their human forms feel… wrong,”

“Oh? Why’s that?” he asked before he chuckled, shook his head and reverted to his true form. “How’s that?”

“Better,” you smiled at him before you looked away and cleared your throat again. “Ya know, since it’s the one I’m used to.”

“Got something in your throat there, (Y/n)? You seem to be clearing it a lot,” he teased. “Too much popcorn?”

“I just wanted to…” 

You didn't know what you wanted to do. Why’d you go after him again?

“There something you needed? I doubt you wanna leave your boyfriend hanging,” he tried to tease, but his cocky attitude had a change to it that you didn't quite pick up on.

“He isn't my boyfriend, and never will be either. Not with that attitude.”

Oh, the irony. 

“Your failed date, then?” he asked curiously. He didn't know why it bothered him that you were there with another human man, but it did. Regardless of the outcome of said date.

“We’ll leave it as that,” you sighed in exhaustion, he didn't need to know the details. He thought your reaction was kinda cute though… “What are you doing here?” you asked as you finally remembered why you went after him.

“Cause I wanna be,”

“Macaque,” you folded your arms, unconvinced.

“Unlike His Majesty, some of us need to make a living,”

“So you're doing shows for money?”

“Yep,” he said and looked over your features. 

“That’s shocking,”

“You work, don't you?”

“Touché,” you chuckled and rubbed the back of your neck sheepishly. “Not at the moment, though… I guess you can say I'm on vaca.”

“I never expected you to be a liar, ya know,”

“What did I lie about?”

“You told MK you’d visit, but every-” he cut himself off and continued, “he said you never showed,”

“Were you trying to see me again?” you raised a brow in amusement, but he couldn't deny that he was caught.

“What if I was?” he stepped closer to you till you were a breath away. “Why does my old pal Wukong get to be friends with you and I can't?” he asked softly.

“Hm,” you looked up at him. “You're in my personal space,”

“Does it bother you?”

“The alley is already small, it'd like as much space as I could get.”

“What if I don't wanna move?” he smirked a bit.

“Then I won't be your friend,” you shot back.

“Oh, playing dirty,” he chuckled but stepped back. “Does that save our potential friendship, plum?”

“You don't have the rank for nicknames,” you stated in a matter-of-fact voice.

“Yet,” he added.

“That might take a long… long time, ya know,”

“I have nothing but time, you know that,” he leaned close to your face. “See you soon, plum. Maybe without a boy toy.”

“Would you rather yourself as my boy toy?” you had no idea where that came from, but you were internally screaming at what had just come out your mouth. Where'd that confidence come from?!

“Definitely,” he leaned back and looked away as you did as you both blushed. “Later, goddess.” with that, he fell back into a portal before you could say anything else.

“Why are the cute ones always so irritating?” you said to yourself in annoyance, but your undeniable smile said you definitely weren't complaining.

Friends. Yeah, you could both work with that… For now.

[sturniololoco]

Game Night

N. Sturniolo x fem reader (STRICTLY PLATONIC)

Requested: kinda?

Warnings: language ig?

Y/N’s POV

Nick invited me to a game night with him and his brothers. I’m didn’t live far from them, but I drove anyways. I didn’t want to take my chances walking in the dark by myself.

I pulled into the driveway and walked up to their front door, locking my car in the way up.

I knocked twice before I heard footsteps running down the stairs. The door flys open, revealing my best friend Nick, who greeted me with a bone crushing hug.

“Oh my gosh, I’ve missed you so much.” He said ushering me through the door and up the steps.

“I was here yesterday Nick.” I replied, laughing at the excitement in his eyes, that he always denies.

“Yeah, but that’s too long. Especially when you live with these two hooligans.” He replied, tilting his head to the two boys relaxing on The couch.

“Hey Y/N” Chris and Matt said in unison. Chris casually flicked Nick off for his name calling. I giggled at the brothers antics.

“Hey yall. Who’s ready to get their asses whooped on game night?!?” I said, getting ready for a fun night filled with games and giggles.

-

It’s been around two hours of games, but none of us were tired yet. We’ve gone through 2 games of uno, a game of clue, and we’re now half way through monopoly.

I was winning, as usual. Most of the time the boys can’t stop bickering to even finish a whole game. And tonight was no exception.

“Why did we make Matt the fucking banker? The stupid fuck can’t even count while using his fingers!” Nick said, waiting impatiently for Matt to hand him his 120 dollars.(I’m sorry Matt I just needed to put this for the story ❤️😭)

While they were arguing, Chris got up to get a Pepsi, but instead came back with a pillow. He flung the pillow right at the back of Nick’s head, colliding with a really loud SMACK!

“You really wanna fucking go bitch?!”Nick practically screamed at his brother, grabbing a pillow from the couch. 

“Oh I’d kill him. I’d kill him!” Matt said, edging his brother on. 

Little did he know, I had a pillow aimed right at his face and started swinging.

-

The four of us were now laid out in the couch, tired and out of breath from our pillow battle. The lights were off and we were watching a movie.

Chris was stretched out on the long part of the couch while Matt was cuddled up in the corner with his blanket. Nick and I were huddled up together on the short part of the couch, sharing a blanket.

My BeReal went off about half way through the movie. Nick and I struck a gorgeous kissy face selfie, while the other side was Chris and Matt casually flicking off the camera. I captioned the picture Movie night with my fav human and added a heart emoji. 

“That’s corny.” Nick said, reading my caption.

“It’s true!” I said leaning over to him and giving him a side hug, to which he squeezed me just as tight.

Note: this was rly rly bad. I might try again in the future, but I was going through bad writers block and this is what came out 😂 

Lemme know if you have any more requests of the triplets. I’d be down to try 

❤️❤️❤️

[twisted-wonderland-but-gayer]

So uh, you know what DoL is, that game is bat shit but fun if you ignore certain aspects ... Its got some nuts lore and everyday activities, like image Yuu saying something like "oh this place is pretty nice, I haven't been kidnapped or almost kidnapped and nothing too crazy happened!" Extra wtf points if Yuu had TF traits (maybe devine and animal for extra fuckery) like oh they aren't a beastman they just ate a bunch of weird shrooms wore a sick ass choker and prayed for 50+ days (Wolf + Angel TF)

I mean yes, there's some parts I'm glad you can toggle off cause holy fuck. Then again the creator said that it is a trauma simulator and the whole point of the game is that it never gets better but you can cope which is one of my fav tropes in horror. Like fear and hunger in that regard (I think abt these games a lot tbh).

Tagging this as Dark Content just in case

The lore is so fucking intense and the fact there's a potential timeloop/eldritch being trapping everyone there and influencing them is fucking WILD. The whole world is a cage designed for you and it lets you know it.

Anyways. I can imagine that Yuu comes with a lot of trauma that needs to be worked out but they are one hell of a fighter... and I imagine Crewel is the one to break the horrible teacher curse and help them heal cause he's nice. Other students think you're insane for considering him kind. They also wonder why you put up with Crowley but he is an improvement from your previous headmaster.

Students getting their asses whooped in cause Yuu had to always fight for their life and shit.

So much "this is how it should have been" or "I wish I could have met you as a better person and loved you right away but I wouldn't have been able to love you as much as I do now cause you've been by my side"

Yuu panicking over the kids at the orphanage cause they're used to looking out for them. Bonus if maybe Deuce or Ace gets in trouble and Yuu takes the blame prepared for the most heinous punishment but instead just gets some boring homework to do and it kinda breaks them.

They share horrible stories that are relatable in their world and everyone just stops.

Also the transformation things in the game imply that Yuu to an extent is a shapeshifter that changes gradually. Can you imagine if a few months into the shool year Yuu gets Fae ears, maybe some animal like claws and sharp teeth, or even gills and they're like "yeah I can do that" or maybe they even fall in love with one of the non human boys and they start changing to be more like them cause they love them <33

This game ruined me

[talxe]

Reading the Iliad, Book 14 thoughts

This is my first time ever reading it and I know next to nothing abt greek mythology so if I interpret anything wrong by all means pls correct me

Im reading the Robert Fagles translation

Honestly not much happened

Nestor is still recouping, he's chilling in his tent drinking wine

NESTOR THE TROJANS ARE IN THE DAMN CAMP

He finally hears the cry of war and grabs a spear/shield while leaving his tent

When Nestor gets outside he's just met with a shitshow lol

He meets up with the heroes of the Greek side (Diomedes, Agamemnon, ppl like that)

And those guys are kinda just standing around

Agamemnon straight up admits that Hector scares him because he wants to burn their ships. He also fears the rest of the Argives hating him as much as Achilles does

Once again Agamemnon goes "Fuck it we should go home."

Odysseus DOES NOT TOLERATE THAT GOING HOME SHIT THO and scolds him bc the leader of their army probably shouldn't be talking like that

"My bad." - Agamemnon

Diomedes hops up and gives us another "My father, and my father's father, and his father's father" speech bc everyone in the Iliad has to list their entire family tree each time they speak

So Diomedes poses a that they should support others who are uninjured and can still fight since they themselves cannot

Poseidon pops up to tell Agamemnon that Achilles is probably jumping for joy at this moment bc the Greeks are losing and that makes Achilles super un-cool lmao

Sooooo Hera decided to seduce Zeus

Using the weakness of men against themselves I love to see it honestly

Hera gets all dolled up and enlists the help of Aphrodite

But she does this by lying to Aphrodite. Hera spins this story abt her needing to play matchmaker for another two gods so she needs Aphrodite to make her look really hot

She gives Hera a breastplate that will make Zeus sleep with her

Hera stops to talk to the god of sleep

Why is he just called sleep and not Hypnos?

Anyway she asks him to put Zeus to sleep so she can help the Argives

Sleep goes "Absolutely not, I played this game before and almost got my ass whooped if it wasn't for my mother."

Hera offers one of the three Graces to marry him and sleep folds

Sleep and Hera speed over to Mt. Ida which is where Zeus is

Her plan works and Zeus starts listing off all the women he's slept with during their marriage??????

And ends the list by saying "I've never felt such lust before but now I do♥️"

Thanks?

Can't believe Hera didn't lose her fucking mind

They end up banging inside of a golden cloud

Sleep makes Zeus fall asleep afterward. Ig he had to sit there and wait until they finished

Sleep speeds down to Poseidon and basically tells him that whatever move he needs to make to aid the Argives, now is the time to make them. So he ushers the Greeks into battle

Hector and Ajax (greater) start going at each other, Ajax throws a rock and Hector is described to be "sent whirling" when it hits him and he loses consciousness

The Greeks try to take this opportunity to kill Hector but his Trojan buddies drag him away

LMAO ig the rock made Hector spin so much that he vomits "Dark clots" (blood) when he wakes up

Peneleos (Idk he's not important) just full send charges and throws his spear at some guy

Which ends up striking him below the eye and popping it out of its socket

Im abt to fucking cry

Ajax (lesser) had the highest kill count of the day

[artist-issues]

Hello hello I have very big and complicated questions that started out broad and complex but got more and more specific and more and more personal like my questions to my family and friends always do. Whoops lol. Buckle up.

I wanted to ask about fanfiction. I've really been thinking about that post you made about how a lot of fanfiction can be just used as a form of escapism, and not in a good way like Tolkien described it, but as a 'I hate life so I'm gonna read and write extensively about fictional characters rather than working hard/trying to improve my own life' Which I really want to avoid and not do. In the past I've certainly fallen into that trap- I would get so caught up in writing Marvel or Percy Jackson or Harry Potter fanfiction (not to toot my own horn, but was objectively good and I do think grew my skills a lot as a writer and character analyzer) that I would spend every free moment and many of ones when I really should've been working on school or chores or spending time with my actual family reading and writing it. I was probably doing that 5-8 hours a day when I was 11/12. (Yikes) Thankfully, my parents smacked some sense into me lol. It really just goes to show you how, for lack of a better term, soul-consuming, that these kind of fantasy pursuits can really be. Thankfully, I don't do that any more. I actively limit myself to a max of 3 hours of reading and writing fanfiction over the course of a week, which is a big improvement.

So yay! Now I have a definte separation from writing fanfiction to improve my writing and writing it to waste time because all of my energy is focused on it to the point where it is in my every thought. Good! Growth!

But now my new thing is this- I want to make sure that any and all fanfiction I write has a definite point. I want it to point to good things and have clear messages and blue flowers and point to Jesus, even if it isn't specifically a 'Christian' fanfiction.

For example, let's just point at that Voice in the Dark one shot I wrote, which is one of, if not the, best singular fiction piece that I've written. I think the reasons why it was so good was that A) I expanded on the story in a way that was intriguing, and got inside my characters heads and accurately depicted their thought processes through it B) Made it pleasant to read with details and action and emotion and everything, C) set everything up for a part 2 conclusion of Sam and Five really connecting and talking about what they both said/thought, and becoming friends (which after procrastinating for months, I'm finally working on), but most importantly, D) Had clear themes of hope, perseverance, connection, trust, and encouragement. Which is really what I think made it so much more excellent than other fanfiction pieces I've written. I had a clear point and intention going into it that was more than just 'Have it be something I love and just for my entertainment' although that was one of the reasons I did decide to write it I will say- you do have to love what you want to write in order to write it well after all. But this is absolutely what I want the point of all my fanfiction writing to be like from here on out, being morally great, as well as well-written.

So now, because I really enjoy ZR and its really is kinda perfect for a fanfiction format, I want to turn it into more of an ongoing piece with my favorite missions and Five's relationships with the characters. But how do I go about this trying to intentionally bring in blue flowers and good messages and beautiful themes, and not just only write it for my entertainment because its a piece of media I love? How to I make sure to firstly know what themes I can bring in, and then do it in such a way that's well-written, while also being able to have those fun moments and situations that are both in the game and I've thought up?

And finally, last thing, is I'm wrestling through if I should continue writing fanfiction to 'fix' a story (which is why I started a Percy Jackson and Marvel fanfictions, I wanted to take the parts of each story I didn't like and were poorly done and make them better) rather than make my own point with it. For most of the fanfiction writing I've ever done, my goal was to improve it, to act like a ghostwriting editor the author hired to fix their fundamentally flawed story. But now I'm realizing that I was spending so much time and effort (which don't get me wrong, I do not fully regret, I really do think that I've gotten far better at fiction writing through this) and I didn't even add any more goodness or morals to the story in a way that made it more soul-sustaining and truly good. I wanted to add a lot of bits that made be as a reader squeal and get happy over which... I don't think is bad per say, but its not what I want my fanfiction to be like any more. With my writing, I absolutely do want to improve on the source material, yes, but I also want to figure out what sort of themes and goodness I'm going for with it. So should I continue writing these large projects (cause each piece covers several books/movies) for improvement and also try to expand on the good ideas and themes the authors had, even bringing in my own, or should I just set it aside as that was great, but now I need to focus on making writing morally good and not just for entertainment?

I know a big part of this is wisdom and descretion- things that God has blessed me with but I know I always can pursue more of. So I know a absolute perfect answer to this question will require time and experience. But after sorting through my word-vomiting (sorry lol), what would you say to all of this? Thank you!! <3

Hey! First of all, I love getting questions from you, and I especially love it because you take enough time to read the previous things I say that we can have a very level conversation, and a deep back-and-forth, which is not always the case with everybody who sends me questions (I like those questions too, I’m just saying.) So thanks for typing all that up!

Second of all, I’m no expert on fanfiction writing. You’ve read what I have to say about making sure the “Tone & Style” and “Themes” of any “Continued Work” stay true to their source material when it comes to like, sequels and expansions? Well, I guess I would apply that philosophy, generally, to fanfiction, too.

But the point of my “second of all” is actually, there are better people to ask about this than me. I can answer you in a broad “here’s how I apply my storytelling philosophy to this hypothetical scenario” sense, but other people have more experience actually doing what you’re talking about with fanfiction. Specifically, @doverstar, who, if you don’t follow her or read her stuff, I seriously think you’re missing out.

So in summary, talk to Doverstar. She’ll answer this better. But if I had to try and succinctly respond, I’d say: “Intentionality is always better than doing something by accident. But if you genuinely value goodness, beauty, and truth, in your own personal worldview, in a way that is genuine, and you cultivate that…it’ll come out in your writing on accident.” So in a way, even when you’re being intentional, as long as you remember that, you don’t have to be too militant whether you’re writing fanfiction or fiction.

(That’s a thought I’m still learning to put into practice, myself. I err on the side of “control everything to a T, outline everything, everything has to have a tie-in to the theme—if it doesn’t you’re failing—“ and I don’t recommend that mindset 😅) That’s the “short” answer to your ask. I’ve got a deep-dive below the cut if you’re interested, though.

How do I make sure to firstly know what themes I can bring in?

This has to do with knowing the source-story.

ZR unfortunately gets very political and social in further seasons, but to do it credit, the main, recurring, broad theme of Zombies, Run continues to be “Something greater than yourself is all that’s worth living and dying for.”

They keep coming back to it with literally every villain, and every hero, from multiple angles. You’ll see. They say, “the pursuit of pure happiness alone is bad because it’s selfish—the pursuit of immortality is bad because it’s selfish—the pursuit of everyone’s affections is bad because it’s selfish; but sacrificing for others is the real happiness, the real immortality, the real love, etc.”

So any fanfiction—even if, surface-read, it appears to be about Five falling in love with Sam or Janine learning to communicate, etc—that comes back to “Something greater than yourself is all that’s worth living and dying for.” is a success. Because it carried on the Main Point of ZR. Or it carried on a point that could be tied to the main point, whatevs.

But your question (for other fandoms) is “How do I know what themes I can bring in?”

Okay, well, that’s actually not so hard. Lots of “sub-themes” fit under the umbrella of the main theme. “Something greater than yourself,” well, that entails “self-sacrifice, gaining a broader perspective, finding empathy,” etc. (something you can see they do with sheltered characters or brittle, mission-focused miopic characters like Janine.)

But how did I find the main theme to begin with? This post. In summary:

Take in the Story, With the Single Expectation that They’re Trying to Tell You Something.

Take Note of Where You Felt Something. Then Figure Out Why You Felt It.

Figure Out What Each Character Wants, and If They Have a Moment of Change.

Look at What Decisions the Storytellers Reward, and What Decisions They Punish.

You can apply this to Marvel, to Percy Jackson, to anything. Once you figure out the main theme, it’s not so hard to break that down into little supporting ideas. And inject those into your own story. And you can even figure out where the storytellers dropped the ball, or lost their theme and did something totally out-of-character, and then fix that with your fanfiction.

Or, galaxy-brain, is when you figure out what the story was trying to say—and it was saying something bad or wrong, but you liked some of the setting or characterizations, you can fix that. Like I’ve always wanted to do with A Streetcar Named Desire.

What you don’t want to do is try to make the story about a theme that has nothing to do with any good or true thing—it’s just gratuitous. For example, I see about sixty fanfics for Twisters (one of my new favorite movies, you may recall) and they’re all about Tyler (the main guy) needing to be defended from his abusive alcoholic dad.

There is no mention of his dad, or alcohol, or Tyler having any emotional trauma, at all, in Twisters. Because the point of the movie Twisters is the girl character’s trauma (and her best friend’s,) and Tyler’s role in all of that is to be the guy who pushes her past that. Because he’s lived a lifestyle of “you ride your fears, you don’t run from them, you don’t even just face them.”

So why would a character who’s whole conception, who was created to say that, be curled up in a sad little miserable ball because his out-of-nowhere made-up father is back in town? He wouldn’t do that. His lifestyle is “ride your fears.” He’d be the guy reaching out and inviting his dad to lunch to see if something he does can make the outcome different, even though his dad never shows up, or always makes a scene, or whatever, because that would be “riding his fears.” That’s Tyler’s character. So why would you have him curl into a little ball and need his 126-lb girlfriend to defend him?

I’ll tell you why, it’s because the point of your story was not the point of Twisters, or anything good. The point of your story was, “I have a thing for emotional scenes where a man gets all weak and vulnerable and needs his love interest to take care of him,” and it shows. So you just hung skin-puppets and names of established characters on “your thing” and that’s trash storytelling. The characters are supposed to serve the story, and the story is supposed to serve the audience, not serve you.

That would be an extreme example of what not to do.

And then do it in such a way that's well-written, while also being able to have those fun moments and situations that are both in the game and I've thought up?

If my fanfic is all about Sam and Five coming clean about their feelings together, that’s fine—but they should be driven to do that because not doing that is selfish. And selfishness is the opposite of “something greater than yourself is all that’s worth living and dying for.” So I’d have Sam avoid admitting to himself that Five means so much to him because if he does, he opens himself up to crippling worry after what happened to Alice. So out of fear, which is ultimately self-protection, he doesn’t admit that he has feelings for her. But then eventually he comes to realize that caring about someone else actually drives him to work harder for the Greater Good, etc.

See what I mean? Your fanfic can be a string of scenes of will-they-won’t-they, romcom popcorn, as long as the thread holding them together is that character arc that points back to the game’s main theme.

To make it well-written, you just have to be genuine. I know everyone has lots of good tips like “show don’t tell” but books like Jane Eyre tell much more than they show. Some people say, “break up the pace with dialogue,” or “cut the tension with comedy, then ramp it back up,” etc., but there’s no cut to the tension in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. There’s breaks to every rule. There’s an audience for every style. Just do what C. S. Lewis says and “tell the truth, without caring two pence if it’s original.”

If you know your source material and love the loveable parts for what it is, and then you marry that with what you really believe and value in the real world, you’ll get it.

Know what you’re trying to say, love what you’re trying to say, and sacrifice to say it.

I think now that you’re thinking about this stuff, you’re going to have a hard time not writing something morally good, with entertainment as a supporting pillar.

[late-to-the-magnus-archives]

Hello, I would like to tell you a little story called "how I failed to listen to malevolent." I hope you enjoy.

I am pretty sure I came across your monster Magnus series when it was still being frequently updated. It was fantastic, lots of fun God!Jon vibes and much other besides. Of course, I had to see what you wrote other than that. And you had two other big Magnus fics, "I prefer my heart..." and "and eat it, too." So I read "and eat it, too" and I liked that one even more. But big problem. Crossover.

Well, I liked your fic. More than anything else, I loved how you wrote the characters. Good characterization is worth its weight in gold, and I wasn't going to let a little thing like a new fandom keep me gated from so much high quality fic—because it seemed you had written a ton of stuff for the fandom. This one massive 750k series about Hastur and whatever? I could do the prereqs. Easy. Only had to finish up to 29 for this fic.

Here's the kicker. I tried. But man, the density of it, the interplay, the detective work, it just didn't work for me over an audio medium. I got up to 10 and then just let myself read the prologue chapters featuring the main characters as a treat.

So um, that didn't work. Whoops. I sort of bulldozed through the entire fic in one day, just like I had "and eat it."

...I may have reread "I prefer" a couple of times since. It's just such good Jon/Martin past canon content. Even if I did learn that John was the King. Whoops.

And I mean, I'd already been spoiled. So I might as well read corrupted, when it came out. I didn't exactly intend to, but I HAD to read that little side story you did in the dark world. And sure, that's where I finally stopped purposefully skimming a few parts and learned that Faroe had drowned, but it was worth it!

Then I read "yellow city." I mean, it was a complete canon au! It probably couldn't tell me anything I didn't already know! And cloud city. But it was such a cool follow up to such a wild cliffhanger! Arthur in the city of a mad god? Come on, what a dynamic!

So I mean, it only made sense to read corrupted. It probably wouldn't tell me anything I didn't already know! And sure, Tim wasn't my favorite character, but I liked TMA and SHIT THIS WAS REALLY GOOD AND WHY AM I SHIPPING THIS—

....I should really just listen to malevolent so I can read surrogate, right? That's the prize. 750k of a cool ass au you and your cowriters had been churning out. Frequent updates. I mean, as much as I'd spoiled myself, I still had huge gaps other than what happened around certain points. I didn't know most of what happened to Arthur, other than a few key points. I didn't really get Kayne's place in canon. I knew almost nothing about Faroe. Didn't know what actually went down with Parker in canon, all of this stuff.

I made it two episodes in before I lost my airpods and started procrastinating listening.

...surely. surely. I could just check out the first few fics in the series and see if I could grasp it.

Can you tell where this is going.

So, i finished surrogate. Kind of. I ended up skipping around a bit the last 50 fics or so because I got so entranced with Arthur and John's relationship and kinda couldn't commit to going to bed without seeing where it was going. But um. Wow. That is a hell of a fic.

And also oops I got spoiled on cannibalism, yellow, how parker died and who he is, Kayne, and like...so many things. So many things. Whoops.

I think you (and your coauthors, but really this process started probably back around "I prefer") might have ruined me for power dynamics. I am not sure how i will ever find a relationship more exciting and delightful and sexy than one is a god, one is a human, both are people, both really want this to work, but you know, things are getting in the way. Like tentacles. And the inability to touch their loved one without exploding them. And years of failed communication.

Holy shit, Arthur is a true paragon of self loathing. I can't even. How many years of this slow burn?!!!? A decade!???!! Literally can't believe I'm saying this, but poor Hastur. Poor everyone around them.

Like, I myself am ace. I don't really care about sex in relationships I'm reading, and I honestly don't even care if characters are together or not as long as they're interacting in fun ways and not pining across the room. I really can't overstate that. But even I was screaming, by like 140 fics into this series, "JUST FUCK ALREADY!!!"

okay but seriously what's going on in surrogate right now is having all of my wildest wish fulfillment for fiction written and displayed before me. I have already reread the relevant fics in the series. John and Arthur having their like fifth divorce, this time because congrats, it's a god (that doesn't share a head with his favorite person anymore), is such good fucking food.

I must ask, I have noticed you bring up a malevolent server at some point in your chapter notes. Is this an open server? Despite me, still, STILL, having failed to listen to malevolent, I would love to have people to scream with. Though of course if it's not open, totally understand.

Apologies (for the deception) for not leaving comments on any of your fics. I have a bit of a problem with commenting, it's sort of a procrastination, ADHD thing. I hope to leave them one day. But in the meantime I would like you to know that I have read SO MANY of your fics, and enjoy them on a range from "this is great" to "I would not be upset if someone ripped out my soul and replaced it with these words." Love your stuff. Thank you for returning to the chaos that is fanfiction, cause finding fic like yours is the reason I am still here!

Okay I took a while to answer this because every time I read it I would end up squealing and sort of dancing around the room, neither of which are conducive to replies. XD

Thank you so so SO MUCH for this note! I don't think I can fully explain how incredibly much it meant to me. This note is legitimately going in the little collection of "read this when you think you suck" things to help keep me going. You're amazing. THANK YOU.

And honestly, the spoiling with Malevolent is fine! I find it's fun on relisten when I don't have to worry about what's going on lol.

Though TMA does, and possibly always will, hold my heart.

ALSO! Those fics are all going to be finished!! We've just been busy moving and dealing with family drama and job stuff and just... life, but none of them will be abandoned. <3 <3 Corrupted and Just Another Side Quest are both on track to be finished early 2025!

Surrogate will take a while longer. We have three solid seasons planned out, plus a bunch of side fics which will go into the "Surrogate Sides" series. We're insane.

From one ace to another (high five). I completely understand re: the slow burn, and that means (IMHO) we did it right. 🤣

(I mean... that's where Yellow City came from. Do I "get" smut? Not really... but emotional transformative mind bending stuff? Yeaaaah. Yep. Totally.)

Thank you again for this FREAKING INCREDIBLE NOTE. I really, seriously can't say it enough. <3

[spiderculechronicals]

Peter 3 goes on patrol with the air tag on his butt since he doesn't have a phone yet, then meets up with Wade after.

___

Peter 3 let out a joyful whoop as he swung through the city, doing flips at the peak of his arcs and turns, enjoying the rush of the free fall. He felt his Spidey-Sense prickle up a low-level alert and changed course to investigate. As he drew near enough to perch on the roof of one of the buildings near the alley in question, the warning ramped up hot and he instinctively shot a web into the dark, then dropped down, having knocked a knife out of a mugger’s hand and startled him back into a stack of pallets. He put himself in front of the victim, arms fanned out protectively.

“What the- who the hell are you??” the mugger asked.

“Who the…” Peter 3 cocked his head, “Are you serious? I’m Spiderman.” He turned to the victim, “Are you okay? Did he take anything?”

“No, uh- I mean, I’m okay, uh… thank you! You look taller in person!” the near-victim hurried off back to the main street area.

“Um!... Thanks?” Peter 3 shook his head, then shot another web without looking, sticking the mugger to the street before he could run off. “Okay man, come on, that’s not how this works.” He turned to face him and crossed his arms. The mugger fumbled in his pockets and Peter 3 huffed in annoyance, webbing his hands tied. “No.” He sighed. “Look, I’m just… I’m gonna go get someone to call the cops and pick you up. I’ll stick close in case someone else tries to pull an uno reverse and mug you, then you’re on your own.”

“You’re not Spiderman, Spiderman’s a kid…”

“Dude! That was almost four years ago when that story came out! Do math! Not a kid!”

“I heard he was like, fourteen back then… So that’s still a minor…”

“Oh my God…” Peter 3 threw his hands up and walked out of the alley and peeked around, looking for a likely person to call it in. A couple onlookers lifted up their phones to take a picture and he zeroed in on them with a little wave. “Uh, hey! Hi…” He hopped up on a streetlight and stuck to it. “Are you taking picture or video right now? … could you just please call 911 or the non-emergency line and leave a tip about this alley? … I don’t have my phone on me at the moment.”

“You should put pockets in your suit!”

“… I have pockets!” Peter 3 said, sliding a hand down his thigh into the concealed pocket there and wiggling his fingers. This got him a couple giggles.

“Before I call the cops, uh, is the guy in the alley black?” One of the less-drunk group members spoke up.

Peter 3 pointed a finger. “That is a sadly relevant question. No, not a black guy, please tell the dispatch that info. Not too sure more specific than that. Also he’s fine, just immobilized.”

“ACAB!” one of the other people in the group called out.

“Hey! Look, I agree! But this guy was gonna literally stab someone, this isn’t a slap on the wrist and let go kinda deal. What do you want me to do, beat him up myself? Nuh-uh. I’ll stick around to make sure nothing happens until he’s in custody.” Peter 3 relaxed into an upside-down crouch.

“Uh, I guess someone already called it in! They’re on their way.”

“Okay, Thanks!” Peter 3 swung himself up and leapt off the streetlight onto the building, then scrambled back to the alley to wait out of sight.

“… I know you’re up there!” the mugger called up into the dark.

“Dude, I said I would be. Calm your tits.” Peter 3 snorted, settling into the shadows high on the wall, sticking with his back and feet. He wondered how long it would take before Wade noticed he’d stopped traveling and come to investigate. The arrival of flashing red and blue lights at the entrance to the alley signaled the authorities’ arrival. “Alright, pumpkin, your ride is here. I’ll make sure you get on the bus safe and sound, then I don’t want to catch you out here again, got it?” Flashlights swept down the alley, spotlighting the webbed-up mugger. One broke off and went high, catching Peter 3’s reflective eye shields. He put a hand up to shade them, then walked himself up backwards quickly out of sight before jumping higher on the next building. He grinned to himself as he heard the mugger insist to the cops that that wasn’t Spiderman.

“I mean he looked like Spiderman to me? You saw him sticking to the wall… and these look like webs… what else would you call that?”

“Dude but Spiderman’s a kid, that guy was for sure older… like… mid… twenties at least?”

“Whatever. This your knife?”

“… No.”

“I’m pretty sure Spiderman’s college age now. That expose came out four years ago and I think he was a high-school senior then…”

Peter 3 chuckled, satisfied that there wouldn’t be any police violence, and took a running start before web-slinging away again.

--

“BabyBoy!!” Wade squeaked cheerfully as Peter 3 came in for a landing on the agreed upon rooftop, holding up a bag. “I brought tacos!”

Peter 3 remembered that Wade had been looking for him for two years. “Babe, you’re the best.” He sat down on the edge of the roof and dangled his feet down. Wade plopped next to him, his expressive mask almost giving heart-eyes. Peter 3 tugged his own mask off and grinned. “You gonna gimmie kiss?”

Wade gasped, “Spiderman! What are you doing with your mask off?”

“Wade… nobody knows this face.” Peter 3 snorted, then remembered his doppelganger and paused. “Well…”

“Oh shit you saw a picture of Andrew Garfield, huh?”

“Oh My God Thank You!! Petey and Dr Parker were all just, oh I see a resemblance, but…! Then we figured out he’s like, mirror-image with his features? I mean it’s subtle, but…”

“No, I got that right away. I mean, I did a hard double-take the first time he popped up on my screen, but that was because I knew it wasn’t you, and I kinda thought maybe the TVA had pulled a fast one or just fucked up and like… this was all I was gonna get and… weeelll anyway…” Wade kicked his feet and looked down for something to change the subject. “Taco?”

Peter 3 huffed softly, not missing that veiled admission. “Yes, please.”

“I only did it once here. I wasn’t going to give up, it just… felt like the rug had been swept out and… I was gonna find you no matter what, Babyboy, promise.”

“And you did. We made it.” Peter 3 leaned in and kissed Wade’s jaw where he’d pulled his mask up to eat. Wade turned to face him, then tugged his mask up all the way and smiled softly, leaning in for a proper kiss.

“We did.” Wade sighed happily. “Want rooftop head?”

“Wade, no…” Peter 3 snorted. “Not tonight. Actually I might put the mask back on… we’re on Petey’s turf still, we haven’t really discussed the intricacies of like… how we’re gonna manage the Spiderman image. But public indecency is a no-go for sure.”

“Booo. But fair, I guess.”

Peter 3 picked his mask up and put it back on, rolling it up just enough to eat. “Like old times, eh?”

“Did you help some folks out tonight? I saw you stop and camp for a bit, I was almost gonna head over but… like there wasn’t enough action to suggest you’d been fighting, so…”

“You stalker,” Peter 3 teased. “Yeah, I stopped a mugger? He had a knife. And he fucking clocked me! Like- absolutely did not believe I was Spiderman! With my webs all over him, jumping down from the roof, the whole thing. Because he thinks Spiderman is still a kid. Apparently some people were saying Petey was 14 when his identity got blown up, and… anyway. I was kinda prepared to keep running into that kind of reaction but, nah… Then I caught a car from pulling out too fast into traffic when some idiot flew by that would’ve hit ‘em, and then I kinda stood out in the street and held up the oncoming cars so they could get out. Got flipped off and honked at while someone else called out I love you Spiderman! So yanno. Pretty quiet overall. Caught someone’s phone they dropped off a rooftop party railing.”

“I threatened a couple creeps that were lewding on some young ladies having a nice night out, they went home early.” Wade offered.

“Just threatened?” Peter 3 probed, munching one of the tacos.

“It did not take much! I’ve been out and about enough. They had to walk home of course, no uber is gonna pick you up with that mess in your pants.”

“Ha! Nice.”

“We need to get you a phone. And Dr Parker. Phone store tomorrow?”

“Agreed.”

[mrstsung]

DEADASS old man shang tsung should be loved more

Like mk legends shang tsung specifically is absolutely delicious.

(Minus some things like not really showing his treachery to shao kahn. Like it's playing a bit too safe in the cunning department. And honestly makes it look like he's a sinp for shao kahn when he fucking wasn't and hated his guts and would happily stab shao in the back 1000 times over if you ask him and given him the opportunity to. And not to mention it's so convenient around plot. And i hate that. Because honestly holy shit this shang had potential. He had the presence,the aura,but never really shown to fight. And it sucks. Because shang is supposed to be a beast in kombat. He was a fucking boss after all. Like gdi nrs. Why you gotta fumble this guy so hard?! Like the writing is right there!)

Anyways. Old man shang. Let's get back to that.

The reason why i feel old man shang or at least how shang tsung IS SUPPOSED TO BE.

This mofo is cursed. To age. Less he takes the lifeforce/souls of others Because he decided to say "fuck you elder gods! Imma take your ritual healing dark magics and apply it to kombat. Imma take this shit and make it my own!" DEADASS a Dracula energy/soul vampire. Like this man despite everything,still could whoop your ass because he is fucking 500yrs old! From old dynasty china. In earthrealm. Yeah.

This man used to be a warrior from earthrealm,got into beef with raiden,and said fuck you im switching sides as soon as he caught whiff of an opportunity to(at least in his mind at the time) be treated "better" (which he really wasn't as better off,maybe even worse,but he had some power and some better standing tho at a cost)

Like you could take shang tsung in many ways. But all in all he doesn't need to be twirly mustache to be evil. Nor does he need to be good or "SOME GODS PLAYTHING!" to be righteous or do honorable things.

Legitimately mofo shang tsung as an old man should be written as a person who comes off as uncannily and eerily calm,a air of danger but you can't really run away nor want to. You're too damn curious even tho you're screaming inside to run. He needs that true fucking snake vibe.

Very few people have written and portrayed this successfully. And tagawa pioneered that well vibe for villains imho. (Tho the man was unfortunately typecasted by Hollywood this man by god set the bar high. He did it so damn well. He put his whole heart into this. And honestly out of all his roles,this was the most notorious of his roles. Tho i hope this man gets more leisure roles and happier roles in the future. And eventually has a safe,and peaceful retirement. He deserves it. Fr. Thank you Mr. Tagawa seriously. <3 )

Artt butler did a fantastic job with shang tsung,tho given a better script it would be better.

Same with alan lee. I feel his would have made me like it more if fans and story weren't shit.

But all in all shang tsung being rejuvenated and young is nice. And should be shown especially since he is cursed. But his default,unpopular opinion here but. His old man form should be his default look. If not old man old man,then a but of salt n pepper at bare minimum.

Honestly,shang i prefer at his old man look because thats what i well grew up on. And that's kinda how i see him. 🤷‍♀️ *shrug*

Like guy is a flashier more fancy pai mei from Tarantino's kill bill to me. Maybe slightly bit more nicer and considerate but not by much. Lol.

I could go on and on about old man shang tsung specifically. But I'll leave this at.

Honestly we just need to bring him back. We need to bring back shang tsung with that vibe. We need to not make him conveniently made for plot. No give me the shang tsung that i fucking knew.

That bastard needs to make a comeback. And mk11 can't be the only game that he does it in.

And mk legends can't be the only media outside the games that does it either.

Anyways,old man shang. I love this foxy grandpa.

[maybeimamuppet]

Veronica and Cady for the character thingy plss

DID I NEVER POST THIS HOLY SHIT OOPS

eeep i just found this and don’t remember when i got it i’m sorry friend!! i’m assuming this is for the list and not the bingo but if i’m wrong i’ll do it again lol

ok i have to do cady first bc it won’t let me type beneath veronica’s picture so woo i love it here soooo much /s

CADY

favorite thing about them

she has so much depth! i love how adorable she is and how bubbly and high energy and yet soft spoken and sweet she is but she also has a dark and vindictive streak in her that’s really fun to play with. also she’s like really fun to torture sometimes lol whoops

least favorite thing about them

again i hate how many people she uses for her own gain and how power hungry she gets

favorite line

“shuck! i started to say shoot and i almost said fu-” for funnies and uhhh

“fearless is the one thing i can be now, no friends, nothing to lose” and whatnot for like more emotional. also all of i see stars i still get misty every time i listen to it

brOTP

damiaaaaan. they wear matching outfits whenever they can, damian comes over to cadnis’ house for movie nights twice a week at least, they watch bootlegs together without janis bc she doesn’t like them. just. mwah. i could go off but i’ll hold back lol

OTP

TAKE A WILD GUESS DUDE

nOTP

aaron. they only worked bc of erikyle. if i could drop kick every other aaron into the road i would.

random headcanon

she can talk backwards!

unpopular opinion

there’s a point where she is fully aware of what she’s doing and how wrong it is and she actively chooses to continue for a hot second until the burn book being released and whatnot snaps her out of it that people do not talk about enough. i know i’m guilty of it too but she is not all innocent and naive and coerced into this shit like she’s a full teenager she knows damn well what she’s doing

song i associate with them

a change in me from beauty and the beast which hath inspired many a fic in my early days. at the plaza from the violet hour loosely inspired i’ll be there for christmas. like very loosely. uhhh and i think the like vibes of true love from frozen (or basically anything anna sings lol) even if it’s not necessarily the same meaning

favorite picture of them

i picked two for both her and veronica bc iiiim greedy lol

alright well one of cady’s is with ronnie for some fuckass reason thanks tumblr!!! i tried i swear

VERONICA

favorite thing about them

honestly this isn’t as much to do with her as a character as it is to do with the people who’ve played her but she has done so much for my self esteem in a really roundabout way. as someone with dark brown eyes and frizzy kinda untamable brown hair reading fic about her helped me appreciate more things about myself.

if you struggle with self image i really cannot recommend highly enough finding a character who looks and acts like you and reading stories where someone is absolutely, irrevocably in love with them. whether that’s platonically or romantically. i know it’s weird but being able to look in the mirror or at some aspect of my personality that i don’t like and say “that’s still lovable” is WONDERFUL.

least favorite thing about them

i despise the way she treats martha and also baby girl is kind of a doormat!! she’s one of those shitty wicker doormats that scratches the hell outta your feet but like dang!!

favorite line

not a line but her face in the musical when jd and kurt and ram start fighting

but also the way barrett delivers the “oH MY GOD!” over chandler’s corpse is immaculate

and i had one of her like super iconic ones everyone knows in my head but now i can’t remember it siiiigh

brOTP

marthaaaaa buddies since babies. also like. still alive and post MUCH therapy jd has a lot of fun potential

OTP

poly heathers!! but to put them individually in order, mac, chandler (those two are almost tied), duke

nOTP

JD. i know he goes by his initials and that’s just his name but i was trying to yell that. i do not like him i think he stinky get him outta there

random headcanon

she’s not allowed to wear pants with drawstrings anymore because she’s gotten stuck in them too many times. also she’s not allowed to use superglue bc she’s glued her fingers together too many times.

yes both of these are true of me shut up

unpopular opinion

she’s a lot weaker than most people think and a lot stronger than most people think st the same time

and i’m not always a huge fan of her being autistic i think she’s just that painfully awkward and dense

song i associate with them

it is so much harder than you would think to pick songs that are not from their shows?? like the only one in my head is i’m blue dabadeedabadie like i don’t KNOW OKAY

favorite picture of them

[ladyluscinia]

Organizing my thoughts on OFMD 2x01 - 2x03

Strong start to a season. I really enjoy the black comedy aspect of the show, and the "all these people are kinda terrible" aspect, so win for me! The opening scene gave me a lot of thoughts. Actually, lots of stuff gave me thoughts that I'm gonna dump here (as I rewatch the episodes since I spent the first go around whooping and cheering more than paying attention to details lol) so I can start picking through them more coherently.

---

Ok, first. OHMYGOD EDWARD AND IZZ- *I am yanked off the stage* Ahem. BlackHands thoughts will go into a different post, so as not to overwhelm the many other things going on worth discussing. (Link to post)

So. Real first point:

Kraken Era

Big thing I was absolutely wrong about was how dark Edward's Kraken arc would go. I was counting on a very handwavy resolution that would still let him do some fucked up shit, but I expected it to be mostly externally directed violence that toed up to a potential line but didn't quite cross it. Reminiscent of Flint's vengeance rampage after Miranda is killed. Self-destructive harm but only tangential harm of others in your social sphere.

That is... we did not get that. But what we did get I am very here for.

I'll be honest - I wasn't sure they were bold enough in a romcom to blast right over the line into horrifying and then be so audacious it looped back to funny, but they did. And I think the tone is working for them so far. Big saving grace is they went way further with Edward's cruelty but they counterbalanced it by going way further with the suicidal themes, which made the whole situation more extreme and sympathetic. He should still probably apologize tho.

The Breakup Boat

Frenchie my beloved! Also Fang & Jim & Archie & Izzy! Literally the breakup boat is a resounding success all around and I adore every second of their fucked up trauma bonding. Win after win after win.

Frenchie is repression king and it's hilarious. I love how he gets named first mate for presumably being the only one who sounds plausibly honest when getting interrogated, tries to turn the job down, and then doesn't follow a single order while vibing. Also the bonding with Izzy?!? He's steps in during the intervention. He hides him after Edward shoots him, and then later he's checking in on him and leaning against his leg in the cell. Please Frenchie get all up in that Edward and Izzy mess!

And I'm trying not to turn this into a breakup boat recap but also Fang sobbing through basically every scene. The wooden boy story. Jim's terrible voices. Izzy hiding in the walls. "He's our dick" to "He was your friend" holy fuckkkkkk. And the whole mutiny scene was amazing. Jim saying fuck this toxic bullshit and Izzy saving them all!!! (Sidenote: love how all the nameless extras got washed overboard in the storm. More bodycount!)

The tearing into a seagull like zombies scene - perfect. Archie recognizing Stede (did they tell her about Stede in hushed whispers or was it literally just Izzy's singular statement?). All backing each other up on the "retirement" story. Izzy taking the blame to motivate Stede in trying to defend the crew again.

Trauma bonding WIN!

Also sympathetic Izzy has been real forever despite misreads of S1 and the mistaken predictions they spawned, but once again... Izzy!!!

BlackBonnet "On A Break"

They are idealizing each other so fucking hard. Also Stede what on earth are you talking about in the first episode??? "He's just blowing off some steam." "I'm afraid that your life is better without me?" MY GUY are you reading that list of what Edward has been up to??? Denial so strong.

So we have Stede still full of self-loathing and simultaneously convinced Ed couldn't want him but also avoiding the realization that he hurt him really bad because Ed wanted him. And we have Edward actively suicidal over feeling unlovable and determined to murder-suicide his situationship and the kids, except he can't kill himself so he's trying to make everyone else do it.

(And, you know, Edward is very pointedly refusing to see how the people around him would care for and support him if he would let them - even when they straight up offer it to his face - because he is more concerned with the misery of his own twisted narrative about being fundamentally unlovable than whether or not that is a true statement. Stede doesn't want him and everyone else is just a prop for his depression's final act. Very "I don't have any friends" of him - shoutout to that flashback in his purgatory sequence too.)

Edward's self-loathing throwing him into the water, but Edward starting to save himself well before merman!Stede shows up. Because he does, deep down, want to live with or without Stede. Very strong. Like that. Also the idealization on Edward's end of envisioning Stede as a legit magical being of golden scales??? Fuck, you two need to get some perspective.

Stede's Crew

Trauma Lucius I was not counting on, but Lucius going from BlackBonnet supporter to FUCK YOU STEDE was fun. Also Stede offering to be supportive and then immediately trying to nope right out.

Sea Witch Buttons!!!!!! We're going to get naked Buttons charging into a scene screaming about how he's a seagull or something, aren't we?

Confirmation that Oluwande can't read in the funniest way. Well I guess on reflection the scrolls are probably in Chinese so reading wouldn't help, so maybe this point is null.

I did like the note of Stede knowing "The Soul Reaper's" real name. Piracy hyperfixation bonus.

JimOlu vs JimArchie... If we get another poly ship then I'm calling SteddyHands real. I'm just saying.

Oluwande taking initiative to step up and flex his boytoy powers to advocate diplomatically for the crew - very Captain material of him. Also conveniently doubled as a distraction so he was essential to the plan. Go Olu!

Antagonists New and Old!

Spanish Jackie was a treat. I enjoy that she still hates Stede. The Swede literally became a new man by marrying her. AND WE SAW THE HUSBANDS!

Prince Ricky is so far just kind of a shady classist scumbag - presumably that's going somewhere.

Zheng Yi Sao on the other hand... interested what's happening with this whole armada plan she's apparently enacting. The whole Olu boytoy arc was fun. I'm not as into the whole "girlboss" approach to every single female character in this show so far, so, uh, concerned about that. Hoping for more exploration of how she's doing Stede's version of piracy but what exactly is off about it? Because so far there's no real reason to resist her, other than maybe the whole "I didn't conquer China by listening to pirates ramble about their feelings" bit.

Hornigold. Yeah, I know he was a subconscious manifestation of Edward's self-loathing but I still have hope. "Last time I saw you, you said you were gonna flay my skin and feed it back to me." Does that not sound like a great foreshadowing for S3???

[stars-n-spice]

A Shot in the Dark

Crosshair x OC (Tay'kaa Marr) - aka 'Sharpshooters'

Warnings: mild TBB S3 spoilers Word Count: 4.4k (<- whoops was supposed to be shorter, I got carried away) Summary: There was nothing more damning to Crosshair than his shaky hands. Well, other than if he were to suddenly lose his sight, but the shaky hands were bad enough. He felt completely and utterly useless now that he wasn’t the great sniper he once was with his hand tremors. He was made to be a sniper and now he lost that purpose. And damn if that didn’t drive him utterly crazy. He felt helpless, hopeless, and useless. But Tay wasn't going to let him continue feeling that way.

Nights on Pabu were cold.

From morning to sunset, the air was warm; a perfect tropical temperature where some days were humid and others were just chilly enough to warrant a thin jacket, but when night rolled around it was a whole other story. 

While it wasn’t freezing, per se, it was still the kind of cold that nipped at your nose and fingertips and left you coughing in the morning. It was like an annoying bug, tolerable to an extent, but constantly buzzing and stinging at your skin, trying to get you to break. It wasn’t the kind of cold that you wanted to be out in, so when night rolled around on the tranquil island, everyone retreated into the warmth of their homes and let the cold take over the night. 

So, yes, nights on Pabu were cold, but they were peaceful. 

Everything on the island seemed to be quiet and at peace. A gentle breeze with only the soft sound of the waves crashing up on the shore. The pale moonlight illuminating the quiet houses. The faint chirp of a moon-yo as the leaves of the trees rustled a quiet melody. Everything as it always was and has been. 

Aside from the sound of a rifle firing in the distance. 

In the dark, cold, peaceful late nights of Pabu; Crosshair would sneak down to the shore to practice because doing so meant that nobody could see and hear as he struggled to do something that used to come so simply to him. There were no judging eyes, no pitiful frowns, nobody around to watch as his hands trembled and his rifle misfired as blaster bolts skimmed their targets leaving only a faint streak of burning black in its wake. 

Nobody could see him struggle in the dark, cold, peaceful late nights of Pabu and that’s exactly what Crosshair wanted. 

A misfire. A grunt of frustration. A click as the rifle reloaded. Another shot. And a miss. A hiss of anger. Repeat. 

Until his hands shook so badly he couldn’t hold the rifle up anymore. Until his eyes grew too heavy to keep open. Until the sun poked its orange crown over the blanket of the ocean horizon. Until the memories of Tatniss and everything he endured during and before it, silenced themselves enough for him to feel ready for sleep. 

Until the smooth voice of Tay’kaa Marr cut through the cold like the warmth of a striking match. 

“It’s kinda late to be training right now, don’t you think?”

Crosshair grimaced, clicking his tongue as he lowered his rifle, watching as the bright bolt shot right past his target. 

“You made me miss,” he growled, clenching his fists to ease the trembling as he set down his rifle and slowly turned to the sight of Tay approaching with a bowl of colorful fruit Crosshair didn’t recognize. 

With his steel blue skin that reminded Crosshair of the waves on a good day on Kamino and the dark poncho covering his build, Tay nearly blended into the night. If it weren’t for the gentle shimmer of the silver clasps on his bottom lethorns or gentle glow of his orange eyes, the untrained eye could’ve totally missed him. 

But Crosshair’s eyes weren’t untrained. They were the best in the business. Specifically made for picking targets out no matter the environment. But even still, he missed more shots than he landed. 

With a soft chuckle, Tay closed the few feet between them, the sound of sand and sediment crackling underneath his boots with each step. 

“Let me make it up to you then,” Tay hummed, offering up the bowl of fruits to Crosshair. 

The chagrian merc only got a blank stare in response from the sniper as he stared down at the bowl, his gaze flickering back and forth between the fruits and Tay’s face, clearly unamused. Even if Tay hadn’t been the reason why Crosshair missed his shot, he wasn’t going to admit to it, even if they both knew that wasn’t the case. “I don’t want fruit,” Crosshair huffed, rolling his eyes as he turned away from Tay and his offer. Crosshair didn’t want to admit that he did want fruit, he’d skipped out on dinner after all, but taking the offer meant reaching out and peeling the fruit with his shaky hands. Even if Tay was already well aware of Crosshair’s hand tremors, the sniper tried his absolute best to not let Tay see just how bad the tremors were. 

“Ah…more for me then,” Tay shrugged as he pulled the bowl back towards him. The subtle glance down to his hands told Crosshair that Tay could see right through him and that alone was enough to make his chest tighten. Tay might be able to read him like a book at times, but the best thing about him was that he always knew when to say nothing about it. 

Crosshair appreciated this fact about his partner, but he never told him that he did. He liked that things could go unspoken between each other until it reached a point where they needed to talk about it when they were ready. So he enjoyed the silence that settled between them as Tay began to peel one of the fruits and Crosshair turned back to his rifle. 

Of course, Tay knew when to keep quiet, but unfortunately he was also incredibly impatient at times. 

“Y’know, it really is a little too late to be up training. Batcher’s wondering where you are…” 

Another misfire. Another groan. 

Crosshair shot Tay a glare, one that hit its mark and immediately made the chagrian stand down and hold up a hand in mock surrender, his cheeks puffed up and filled with fruit. It was a sight that almost made Crosshair snort in amusement, but then he remembered he was supposed to be angry and irritated with Tay. 

“I can train whenever I want to, and Batcher’s fine without me,” Crosshair hissed, shaking his head in frustration at both Tay’s attempts to start a more serious conversation and his constant misfiring. “Why do you care when I train anyways?” He asked, his words having a little more sting and bite to them than Crosshair really meant them to.  

Tay swallowed his fruit and shook his head, backing down with a grunt. “Alright, alright, do what you want, then…” he muttered, popping another slice of the fruit into his mouth as he glanced away from Crosshair, giving him some space. He watched as Crosshair rolled his eyes yet again before he turned back to his rifle, the subtle tremble in his fingers not going unnoticed by Tay. 

He knew Crosshair tried his best to hide the tremors from everyone, especially him, and Tay didn’t blame him. He understood better than anyone what it felt like to suddenly feel utterly useless. To have the thing you thought was your identity stripped away from you so unexpectedly in the most horrific way possible. For everything you ever knew, everything you ever stood for, everything you were loyal to come crashing down on you. And it hurt, by the stars it hurt to see him like this. 

With a sigh, Tay began to peel another fruit, his eyes down at the bowl resting on the top of a rock. His mind swirled with how to deal with this, not wanting it to continue. It was quiet for a bit before Tay’s mouth spoke before his mind could approve of anything. 

“And I care because the bed is cold without you there.”

Read the rest on A03!

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

“Terrifier 3” movie review

Short review

It’s Happy Tree Friends 90% of the time, Insane Clown Posse music video 5% of the time, and actual movie 5% of the time. I give this a 5/10 juggalo ripoffs, whoop whoop.

Long review

Just for context, the only reason why I watched this movie was because my cousin asked if I watched it. I have this reputation as the cousin who loves horror movies, so apparently, I’ve seen every horror movie in existence. Well, I decided to give this movie a watch because my cousin brought it up. And…yeah…this was definitely a movie. Things happened. And then it ended. Yeah.

Okay, I’m just gonna come out and say it. I love horror and I am aware that the genre is 80% terrible. Let’s be real here, there are more shitty horror movies out there then good ones. But that’s fine! Over time, you grow to love even the terrible horror movies. Crappy horror has its own kind of charm. Terrifier 3, though, I couldn’t get into it.

I did not care for this movie at all. Even though it’s replicating the shitty, campy horror movies that I love, I didn’t like how this movie was packaged. It was just so…obnoxious. I think that’s part of the reason why this movie fell flat for me. At least when a series like “Evil Dead” goes campy, it feels genuine. Sam Raimi really is a goofy nerd and it showed in “Army of Darkness”. “Terrifier 3” feels like it was made by a jackass who just wanted to be as gross and horrifying as possible.

I didn’t think it was possible but this movie somehow made gore really boring to watch. Once you get past the initial shock - which is the first minute - there really isn’t that much to the gory scenes. It’s just the director trying to be as gross as possible, to the point that it feels like there’s no stakes in the plot.

I’ll put it like this. The gory scenes in “Saw” were intense because of the set-up of the traps and the portrayal of the victims’ attempts to survive. The gory scenes in “Evil Dead” were hilarious because Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell have good comedic timing. But in both examples, the focus wasn’t necessarily on the gore. The focus was on the lead-up to the gore. And that’s why those movies are more memorable.

“Terrifier 3” has nothing but gore and shitty humor. I’m pretty sure that’s why the gory scenes feel like they go on forever, they were made that way because the movie’s story is thin and the makers are shock jocks. Also, what makes this worse is that the plot is so thin that the movie ends up feeling a lot longer than it should’ve been. By the halfway point, I was ready to leave because the movie was so boring and dull at that point.

Speaking of the plot…really? Did the writers/director just not care? Sienna gets a sword, but the movie doesn’t show her actually getting it. The movie shows all these other characters getting slaughtered…except for the dad and the brother, who were crucial characters. There’s some bullshit about Sienna being a messiah or something. There was a subplot about a true crime podcast that went nowhere. There was a subplot about the clown fucker wanting to be Santa that also goes nowhere. There was an explosion in the mall that ends up just being a footnote in the movie. And…yeah, you get my point about the movie’s lack of a story.

It’s like the makers wanted to do a bunch of skits with the clown fucker, then slapped together a script that met the bare minimum of a story. Because 90% of this movie was just stupid clown skits and over-the-top gore.

I kinda feel offended that my cousin thought I’d like this movie lol. I love horror, but I still got standards. So, yeah, not a huge fan of “Terrifier 3”. Just go watch “Longlegs” again. Or if you want an actual good campy horror movie, watch “Late Night with the Devil”.

P.S. Best part of the movie is Chris Jericho’s random cameo.