#the wrangler is a character okay

[lunarriviera]

猎罪图鉴 | under the skin 5 of ∞ | shen yi & du cheng edition (bonus: the wrangler)

[sgtbradfords]

something wild and unruly

Pairing: Tyler Owens x reader

Summary: You and the Tornado Wranglers seek shelter from the tornado inside a theater that was most certainly not up to modern building codes.

Warnings: life or death situation, minor character injury, hurt/comfort, dirty talk, flirting

A/N: It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written an x reader, but after watching the theater scene in Twisters, I just couldn't get this idea out of my head. Enjoy! :)

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‘This is it.’ you think, pushing yourself further up underneath a row of theater chairs as the sound of a freight train grew louder. 

In the two years that you had been working with The Tornado Wrangler, you had witnessed Tyler and Boone have numerous, exhilarating, and successful intercepts with one of nature’s most destructive forces, but always from the safety of your vehicle several miles away. Your job of keeping up with the ever-evolving data was rather tedious and very important, but it didn’t always require you to be in close proximity with the rotating column, which was something you preferred. Especially when staying back allows you to capture the beauty of the storm from behind a lens. 

For a moment, you allow yourself to go there, to imagine what this tornado would look like from the safety of an open field. In your mind, the massive wedge wasn’t wrapped by sheets of rain, making it one of the most photogenic you had ever captured, even though it was obliterating everything in its path. Through the screen of your camera, you would be able to see whole trees, sheets of metal, planks of wood, as they circulated through the air. 

Dexter yells something from the other end of the row, his words unintelligible as it pulls you out of your reverie, reminding you that you didn't have to imagine the destruction because you were living through it.

You adjust your sweaty palms along the base of the chair in front of you, muttering underneath your breath that everything was going to be okay. It was only going to last a few more seconds, right?

“Shit!” cries out a familiar voice as the screen at the front of the auditorium is pulled away, revealing the beast which rages outside.

Turning your head slightly to the right, you glance towards the floor of the row behind you. 

Tyler is frowning prominently, you might add, but that wasn't what unnerved you. No, what chilled you to the bone was the unmistakable fear in his glaucous colored eyes. Because if the Tyler Owens was scared, then the world as you know it was ending. 

The vibration in your palms intensifies as a decades worth of old dust and stale popcorn is sucked out of the building. There’s a small part of you that hopes that that’s the worst of it, that this little podunk would remain otherwise unscathed. But like a fool, the tornado proves you wrong by pulling the row of chairs in front of you away, leaving you suddenly exposed. 

“[Y/N]!” You hear Tyler yell, but by then it was too late.

You scream, a loud, guttural sound of peril that is lost to the wind as one of your hands loses its grip on the chair. Frantically, you look around for something, anything, that would be worth holding onto in a last-ditch effort in saving your life, choosing to grasp the leather of the armrest that was just within reach. 

The thought that you were quite literally about to die, crosses your mind as your body is lifted off the sticky floor and into the air. 

“Tyler!” you scream, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to hold on for forever. 

You watch as furiously he twists and turns, firmly wrapping the toe of his boot around the base of the chairs behind him, before reaching out towards you.

With both hands, you hold onto his wrist for dear life, your weightless body swaying in the air as more debris flies past you. It feels as though the moment lasts a lifetime, time slowing to a standstill as Tyler attempts to pull you back down, sending an intense throbbing sensation up your arm. 

You don’t know how long you hold on, but just as quickly as it began, did your buoyancy end, sending your body crashing to the floor. 

“Holy shit [Y/N],” Tyler says, kneeling in front of you. “Are you okay?”

“What's your definition of okay?”

It was a miracle that you hadn’t flown out the gaping hole at the front of the theater. So, were you okay? Not by a long shot, but was it better than someone finding your mangled body in a tree somewhere? Absolutely. 

You watch as his concern deepens, his brow pulling further inward as you give him a shaky smile. “I’m fine Cowboy, at least I will be.”

The look understandably fails in easing his worries. He glances towards your thigh. “You’re bleeding.”

“Am I?” You tell him, looking downward to find your jeans now tainted a crimson color thanks to a small jagged wound that ran across your thigh. You should probably be concerned about that, right? “I am. I’m bleeding. And I'm missing a shoe.”

“I need a first aid kit!” Tyler yells a little too loudly, causing you to wince.

“It's not that bad.” To prove a point, you move to your feet, only for your legs to wobble underneath your weight. 

Tyler rolls his eyes, “You resemble a newborn giraffe.”

“A cute newborn giraffe.” You giggle, easing yourself down into a theater chair. “I think I'm in shock.”

Raising a brow, Tyler kneels on the ground before you, first aid kit now in hand. “You think?”

So what if you were in shock or that you had what looked to be an insignificant wound that needed to be treated? There were people out there, in far worse condition than yourself, that needed help. 

“Better think of your happy place sweetheart, cause this is going to burn like hell.”

Tyler murmurs low apologies under his breath when you release a hiss as the alcohol pad sanitizes the cut, but the pain was short-lived as tenderly, he continues to provide treatment. 

You watch him closely, noting his features; the way his nose was furled, the way his lips thinned, or how his brow furrowed as he focused intently on putting a couple butterfly bandages over the open wound. It’s the same look he gets when trying to decipher where the hell the team was going to chase for the day. You shake your head at the imagery.

“All done,” He says, giving you a panty melting smile. Damn him. You can feel your cheeks warm, heart beating wildly inside your chest as you move to your feet. “Does the patient want a sticker or a sucker?”

“What the patient would like is to get out of here.” While you long for the opportunity to take a hot shower, you know that it'll be hours until you find yourself in the bathroom of a motel room. Instead, you brush off the dust off your clothes. “But for future reference,” your lips twitch into a smirk as you lean in close, whispering. “I prefer to do my sucking on my knees.”

It takes everything in you to walk away calmly, to not look back, not even once, but that doesn’t mean the intensity of his stare has no effect on you. More than once, does your knees threaten to buckle, but by some miracle you manage to keep your head held high. 

It was going to be a long couple of hours. 

[tamby-teeze]

Okay, so I know a solid 40% of the new Fantasy High was about Tracker "There's still deep attraction here" O'Shaughnessy, but HERE ME OUT

Gertie Bladeshield is the perfect woman for Kristen Applebees.

Cause, like, look, there was a lot of talk in episode 11 about impulsivity and chaos as an aspect of Kristen's character, mainly in how it's mirrored in Princess "Kristen if she had money" Naradriel, but it's also been a general focus this season, especially in how she often uses it to guard her emotions. Think back to "That's what you think", an incredible improv moment, but if you look at the big picture, Kristen's estranged parents make an incredibly inflammatory statement about her religion right after actively bullying her little brother, and instead of honoring any of the actual negative emotions she's being filled with in that moment, she pirouettes away. It's brought up in the adventuring party after this exact episode how Kristen is a cleric, a high-wisdom class that is naturally insightful, but uses these silly deflections to hold other people back from being insightful into her (hence Mac & Donna's lifetime insight disadvantage)

This isn't just limited to small moments, too. To take a broader look at the season so far, Kristen's chaotic, shrimp-jumping, wrangler-wearing, salsa-dipping, middle-school-campaigning, steel-workers-union-supporting bid for class president is often shown explicitly as a distraction from her existentially important job as the only cleric of Cassandra. Even when trying to earnestly apologize to Cassandra and prove to them that she's gonna prioritize her over class presidency, the only way she can articulate it is "You're the meat, mama." Her emotions are always guarded by some amount of chaos and impulsivity.

Now, how does that relate to Gertie "I've had a crush on you for a really long time" Bladeshield?

In both of the two scenes we've gotten of The Best D20 NPC (/j (but I do really like her)), Gertie has shown a pretty similar propensity for making bold, chaotic decisions in the heat of the moment. However, in my observation, these decisions do NOT come from a place of emotional suppression. Quite the opposite, actually.

Think back to her Grand Entrance into the narrative. Gertie, being one of the last people awake at Fabian's party, gifts her longtime-crush a jar of honey, something that connects directly to her passion/special-interest of beekeeping, in a homemade container designed as a pun on Kristen's last name. (in hindsight, the crush was very obvious) Then, in the middle of her infodumping to her about honey, Kristen's rich friend makes an incredibly dismissive remark about her good-natured gift. This obviously pisses her off, but unlike Kristen "That's what you think" Applebees, Gertie "I don't give a shit who's kid you are" Bladeshield lets herself feel those emotions very loudly, immediately starts a duel with possibly one of the most accomplished sword-fighters in the history of Aguefort, and declares him a life-long nemesis. She acts very brashly and impulsively, but in a way that doesn't hide her emotions, instead expressing them.

(I know there's a lot of talk about outbursts of anger being tied to Ankarna, but not only does the scene not really seem like foreshadowing to me, it's more interesting to see it through the lens of being Gertie's actual actions)

This trend continues with the 12th most noteworthy thing to have happened in episode 11 (which incredibly high acclaim), where after being explicitly asked to talk about bees by her crush, and being placed inches away from her face, kisses her on the lips. Now, excusing the albeit upsetting lack of consent, it once again shows Gertie acting very impulsively in a way that exposes her feelings to the people she likes. With these two instances of characterization being literally the only two scenes we get with her, it poses her as a very interesting parallel to Kristen, someone who shares in her willingness to make impulsive decisions, but differs wildly from her in the way she uses them to react to strong emotions.

However, does this really make Gertie the Autism to her ADHD?

(idk if Gertie really shows autistic traits, I just wanted to say that) Well, part of what Tracker a good companion for Kristen was that, as a fellow cleric, she naturally had very high wisdom, meaning she had enough insight to look past the layers of shrimp and salsa and engage with her on a deep level. However, clerics aren't the only class that cast spells with wisdom, so do rangers, including swarm-keeper rangers, which is a subclass that both has a good few abilities focused on spell-casting and was confirmed to be Gertie's subclass in an adventuring party. While her highest stat still could be dex (which, come to think of it, is a hilarious contrast to Kristen), there's no doubt that Gertie has a higher chance than most at being able to look past Kristen's barriers and see the complex hive of sweet, buzzing emotions underneath.

Hell, maybe that's where Gertie's crush comes from in the first place. Maybe, seeing this popular, proudly sapphic cleric be incredibly playful and chaotic on school grounds, she not only saw a bit of herself, but a little more. Perhaps, the type of mind that dedicates itself to allowing small, harmless critters to prosper even when no-one cares to join her club, is also the type of mind able to recognize when someone isn't allowing their truest emotions to prosper, making her wonder if they might have something to gain from sharing some of that chaos, using it not to hide, but to be free.

Or maybe it's just cause her last name has "bees" in it, idk.

[wanderingsoul6261]

Gif credit goes to scre6m

Tyler Owens x Reader

Synopsis: request fic done with "Blown Away" by Carrie Underwood on the brain. Reader is in an abusive marriage and Tyler finally comes to save her.

Warnings: mentions of abuse/degrading words, swearing, implied character death (not Y/N or Tyler) I think that's it. Let me know if I misses anything. I tried, so I'm sorry if it sucks.

Also not edited, so if there are mistakes, I'm sorry.

Y/N knew she wouldn't be able to hide it for long. She knew eventually that the wounds she wore, that spread across her body like vines, withering her soul away to nothing would give way to something. It was only a matter of time. Her excuses of being too clumsy would only hold up for so long. The split lips, black eyes, and bruises on her body would give way to a story in which people would shove their sympathies and self pity into her face. She didn't want it though. Y/N didn't want the attention, the spotlight. 

She could barely muster up the courage to be on the livestreams with the Wranglers, sitting in the back seat of the red beast that they rode into tornadoes often. Y/N almost grew envious of the truck, watching how well it was cared for and maintained, treated so well. She got barely half of that treatment at home. 

From her husband. 

Oh how doting he was when they first met, willing to bend over backward for her and give her the world. Love her as if she was the last one on Earth, looked at her as if no other woman existed. 

Then he ripped it out from underneath her, twisting a knife into her back at the same time. No matter how much she tried to reach for that knife, she couldn't reach it. She couldn't pull it out, no matter how badly she wanted to. 

But the only person who also seemingly caught on to how she felt was the very man that couldn't have her. 

One Mr. Tyler Owens. 

The man fell head over heels for her but while she was married, he couldn't do anything but watch from afar, appreciating her as a friend only because that was the only way he could have her. And for a while he was okay with that. 

Until he wasn’t.

He noticed the bruises. The split lips. The flinching whenever he or anyone else raised their hands above a certain threshold. Tyler was the one who broke down her door to get to her after finding out she was having a panic attack, the yelling outside the door from the variety of storm chasers overwhelming her. He held her while she slapped and clawed at him, begging him to let her go until she realized it wasn't her husband, and that she was okay. Tyler listened through the paper thin walls of the motel as her husband yelled at her through her phone speaker, calling her terrible names and treating her in a way that not ever, did a single person deserve. He listened as she had nightmares, wanting so desperately to help her, to hold her and reassure her. 

Tyler wanted to be the one to love her because he knew he could do it. 

Not her abusive husband. 

He wouldn't be a husband that kept constant tabs on her and limit her freedom, beating her when she disobeyed or tried to fight back. 

No. He would love her and care for her with every love sick bone in his body, because truly, all he lived for in this world, was her. 

Even if he couldn't have her. 

Even as he now raced towards her home, dead set in the path of EF4 Tornado, threatening to engulf every single thing in its path, including Tyler, Y/N and her abusive husband. He would save both of them, as much as he wished for him to be swept up by the storm and never seen again. 

Tyler had barely put the red beast he drove into park, before his boots hit the ground, his heart pounding in his throat as he called out. 

“Y/N! Y/H/N!” He raced towards the front entrance,hearing yelling and screaming coming from inside. Tyler held his breath, feet pounding up the steps to their home as he forced his way inside, the noises now louder as he tried to figure out where the sounds were coming from. The yelling and screaming echoed from the back of the house, completely forgetting the wind howling outside for a single moment. 

Then he saw her. 

Y/N came around the corner, trying to dodge something her husband threw. Tyler watched as whatever it was shattered against the wall, calling her name before he even realized what he was doing. Her head whipped in his direction, catching sight of him, and he watched as her eyes flooded with relief, before the booming voice of her husband filled the house. 

Y/N rushed towards Tyler, his hands capturing her tear soaked face in his hands, and oh how his heart broke for her. The redness on her cheek, likely from being slapped, along with a split lip. Bruises on her wrists where her husband forcibly held her. His calm resolve started to crumble as he continued to look at her, melting into anger. 

“Y/N. Get to your storm cellar now.” 

“What about you?” She asked. The wind outside grew louder, signaling their impending doom. 

“I'll be there. I promise.” as he spoke those words, her husband rounded the corner from the back of the house, catching sight of the two. 

“Who the hell are you? Have you been fucking my wife? Some fucking nerve to show up here.” He bellowed, advancing on the two. 

“Y/N! Go!” Tyler shoved her out of the way and towards the direction of her storm cellar. She hesitated for a split second, looking between the two men before she finally disappeared. 

“I always knew my wife was a whore. Fucking any man she seen.” Tyler watched as her husband closed the last few steps, the front screen door bursting open from the force of the winds outside. His eyes searched the room, finding an umbrella conveniently placed near the front door, and a split second he grabbed it, swinging it around and heard the destructive crack as he hit her husband upside the head. 

And he collapse to a heap, Tyler standing above him. His chest heaving with panic as he hesitated on what to do. Drag her husband down the stairs to the storm cellar, saving a life, or leave him, giving her a chance to be free from him, also effectively saving a life. 

“Tyler?!” Y/N's panicked cry came from below, spurring him to make a decision. He stepped over the crumpled body, dropping the umbrella and running through the house towards the storm cellar. Bursting his way inside, he made sure the door was sealed. Tyler made his way to her, his arms encasing her in a tight hold, his body covering hers as moments later the rumbling above them heightened, the noises outside growing impossibly louder as Y/N sobbed beneath him, tears soaking his shirt as she cried into his chest. 

Somehow, her crying was loudest, beating the storm that raged on above them. 

“It’s okay. I got you. You’re safe. It’s okay.” He repeated the words, the phrases becoming a mantra as the two of them spent the next several minutes in the cold and damp cellar, waiting out the raging tunnel of wind above them. And as he held her, whispering comforting words, his hand running through her hair in a soothing manner, he vowed that no one would find out about today. 

Her husband's death would be accidental, caught in the storm after he was unable to make it to safety. No one would ever find out that Tyler left him deliberately to die, to free them of his wrath and to save Y/N. 

She was safe, and maybe with time, Tyler could finally have her. 

Maybe he could finally have the chance to treat and love her the way that she deserved. 

[kumkaniudaku]

Picture Day

Summary: You and Yahya prepare for a special keepsake and new holiday memories. 

Pairing: Yahya Abdul Mateen II x Black!Reader

Word Count: 3,159

Warnings: None.

Previous: NEIGHBOR’S MASTERLIST

A/N: This one is for @ghostfacekill-monger. If you're new to these characters, I'll shamelessly plug the series above. Enjoy.

If the Abdul-Mateen family was nothing else, they were a collection of Black folks with big personalities and a flair for the dramatic. Everything from how Yolanda and Senior's home was lit up with carefully placed string lights to the interior decor that Yolanda poured her heart and soul into for no other reason than to see how her grandchildren's eyes lit up when they stepped into her home. And to make their neighbors across the street, the Walters, seethe in jealousy when they step outside their home to see such an extravagant display of taste and wealth. But that was a different conversation to have over aged Cabernet after photos for the annual holiday card were wrapped and the ladies were left to their own devices while the men did whatever it was they did in Senior's parlor. 

Upstairs, as bodies whizzed from room to room to meet their strict 12:30 pm call time, Yahya chased a giggling toddler version of himself down the hallway before extending his long arms to pull the little one into the air just before he could reach the stairs for the third time that half-hour. 

"Damn, boy," he panted before wincing at the ache in his back as he stood up straight. "Remind me to tell your mama you need to run track in a few years. You got your daddy's speed." 

Yahya, half-dressed and already sweating from the stuffy sweater and playing wrangler for his rambunctious mini-me, looked down at his son's feet and noticed that he'd forgotten to add the one part of his outfit that would keep him from moving so fast. He'd learned to toddle but hadn't quite grasped the concept of doing so in footwear. 

He set off to consult the one person with supreme knowledge and authority in their shared household across town. 

In a junior suite on the first floor, he listened to you hum along to Gucci Mane's Christmas album at the bedroom's threshold, out of breath and at his wit's end. He knocked twice before speaking.

"Baby, where are Nasir's shoes?" 

"Next to his sweater." 

"Got it," Yahya answered, eyes still blank as if you had never given him an answer. He started to walk out but doubled back. "And if I were looking for his sweater, where would that be?" 

Holding a breastfeeding baby in one arm and pressing brightening concealer under tired eyes was your primary task that your man promised he wouldn't interrupt. But his oldest son was an adventurous, hard-to-wrangle rascal with all his features and a knack for wearing out even the most seasoned professional. 

Peeling your eyes from your vanity mirror, you looked over at him and his worried expression to offer a bit of reassurance. "I left it on the ottoman in the sitting room so he'll be distracted during his screentime."

When it came to your boys, every detail was tediously planned from sunup to sundown. Yahya still hadn't convinced you to make schedules for any other aspect of life like grocery shopping or tax paying, but motherhood was different. Motherhood was sacred and beautiful, and everything else you didn't expect when that pregnancy test came up positive not once but twice in three years of partnership.

Yahya smiled at your thoughtfulness before answering. "Thank you, baby. I promise to leave you alone now." 

"You're okay. That's why we work together. Come here." Yahya added a little spring to his step as he closed the short distance between you two, stopping just short for a silly little two-step before bending forward to meet your lips for a few quick pecks and leaving a couple for Tariq's forehead as he suckled from your breast. Your hand lingered on his cheek while you spoke. "You're a good man, Savannah. A good man." 

"What's crazy is that nigga was not a good man," he laughed. 

"Okay, but why did you ruin the moment?"

Yahya lifted his hands in surrender. "My fault, baby. Gas me up."

Affirmations of his worthiness as a husband and father murmured between quick kisses made Nasir giggle until both of you turned your attention to showering him in praise, too. He'd learned a few new words as the year ended. All of them expletives or some form of your shared pet names, but new words nonetheless. 

While the cute family moment pulled you away from getting ready, Amir walked past the room and doubled back to stop the lollygagging at his mother's behest. He wore the mantle of enforcer with pride. 

"Aye, man, y'all ain't ever heard of a call time? Don't have my mama looking for y'all. You know her sciatica actin' up."

"Her what?" 

"Don't make me repeat it. You know I got a heavy tongue." You tried but failed to contain your laughter, pulling Yahya in to join as he stood to readjust Nas on his hip. Amir feigned his offense with a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, so y'all are ableists? This is crazy." 

"No, you're just an idiot. I knew they adopted you," Yahya answered back, the taunting tone of a younger sibling thick in his voice and a childish grin to match. 

Amir scoffed and looked in your direction. "You see what happens when a nigga gets back cool with his daddy? He start actin' entitled and whatnot. Should've never allowed y'all to reconcile. I miss emotionally charged Christmas."

Yahya's jaw hung slack while you tucked both lips into your mouth to conceal the unruly laugh deep within your soul. It didn't matter how long you were part of their family; the jokes at the other's expense would never cease to amaze you. No one could eviscerate the Abdul-Mateen clan like the members within their close-knit circle. 

Though impressed with his older brother's quick wit, Yahya couldn't allow the annoyance in his expression to falter for even a moment. He pretended to laugh as he geared up for a retort that didn't quite come close to the earlier jab but fulfilled his need to feel victorious. 

"That's why Hassan is getting the house in the will." 

"You thought you did something. I knew that already. You just now gettin' into those rooms, my boy." 

Thwarted again. Yahya looked to you for backup while you carefully helped Tariq end his feeding session and returned your breast to its rightful home. "Amir, if you keep talking to my man like that, we gon' have an issue. You know what happened last time." 

"My fault, OG," he answered, tapping the space over his heart to signal his allegiance as memories of the night a few too many postpartum cocktails had you reliving the early days of your relationship with the family. "Y'all got it. I don't want no problems. You a good man, Savannah."

"That's what I said!"

A half-decade of family dinners, vacations, and game nights creating inside jokes and sharing funnies between kindred spirits was bound to result in some personality transfer. Still, Yahya could never, in a million years, predict that you and Amir would become two hosts for nearly the same brain. 

Yahya looked between the both of you, confused and amused at the sheer absurdity of the unlikely moment of deja vu. "I never should've introduced y'all. Now I'm married to Amir: The Sequel." 

"Oh, please," you scoffed as you turned back to the mirror. "I am way too fine to claim that position. No offense, Amir."

"I'm not gon' act like there's none taken. That hurt. Thought we were better than that, Tootie. At least I still got my nephews on my side." 

"You do not," Yahya answered, playfully shielding both boys from their uncle's affection. "I'm raising my kids to dislike you. This is a family that hates before we love. If nobody else gon' keep it going, I will. You know me."

While the youngest brothers fell into their typical back-and-forth exchange of jabs covered in an unmistakable love for one another, you let the familiar chatter surround you in the kind of warmth that could only be felt in the presence of family. 

To think that there was once a time when the family was split into factions too stubborn to have a civil conversation seemed like an alternate reality. You'd traversed the hardships of severed bonds to come out on the other end triumphant, with your relationship intact and growing by the minute. 

As chatter grew louder, more guests seeking refuge from Yolanda's iron fist trickled into an already crowded room. Hassan rounded the corner with Lourdes and Sha'Tarra in tow, two of them holding separate glasses of spirits you could've sworn were off-limits until the evening.

Hassan chimed in, loud and gregarious, courtesy of the expensive whiskey in his half-empty glass. "Damn, we having a meeting, and nobody told us?" 

"I always knew you liked Tootie more than me," Lourdes playfully accused Amir.

"You know they have a standing weekly lunch, right?" Tarra laughed as she rested against the quartz bathroom counter in her red satin dress that barely contained the seven-month pregnant belly she was starting to abhor. "Every Wednesday at Kismet downtown. Oh my God, I could go for some of their wings right now. Baby, can you order some for me? It's for AJ, and your mama is starving us." 

Amir placed a chaste kiss on his wife's forehead to placate her before delivering devastating news. "I love you so much, baby. But my mama is gone be the reason AJ goes to college. We makin' money, but we ain't making Ivy League tuition money yet. Here. Chew some gum. It'll fill you up."

The room lit up with laughter except for Tarra, who screwed her face and smacked the stick of gum meant to cure her hunger out of Amir's hand. You chuckled along as you swapped children with Yahya and focused on cleaning Nasir's face for the hundredth time. 

"If you want 'em, we packed some apple and carrot slices for Nas as a snack. They're in the loft and all yours." 

The mention of a worthwhile snack made Tarra giddy enough to wiggle through her excitement while brandishing a manicured middle finger meant especially for her husband on her way out the door.

"Thank you, girl. At least somebody cares about me."

"You always coming to the rescue. Are you trynna steal my shine," Hassan asked with a laugh. 

You shook your head. "Nah. I'm trynna steal Yahya's shine. You know he's the golden boy. I need them privileges for all my hard work keeping this family together."

"She's not wrong. Senior hasn't been this happy since…well, hell, I don't think I've ever seen your father this happy." Lourdes laughed. 

"Turned him into sitcom dad in three years. You really might be a magician. You do taxes, Tootie?" 

Loud laughter bounced off the bathroom walls at Amir's joke and the noticeable shift in Senior's behavior. A once hard man never known for pleasantries or extending kindness beyond his wife and grandchildren had blossomed into the quintessential loving grandfather. 

A grand smile big enough to rival the sun had found a permanent home on his lips since the day Yahya met you at the end of a short backyard aisle and pledged his love to you forever and always. He was there when each of his youngest grandchildren were born, spent birthday parties dressed as a host of characters, played with action figures and dolls, and made time for weekly appointments with all of his children, natural and inherited. 

Despite your humble denial that you had nothing to do with such a stark transition, you'd been credited with re-introducing the family to the best version of Senior they'd ever experienced. 

Especially by Yahya, who finally got to know his father in a way he'd always desired. 

"That's my baby," Yahya gushed, a silly grin gracing his face as he affectionately gripped your chin for a quick kiss. "You don't want her handling your money, though. She has no clue what a budget is." 

"Why would I need a budget?"

"You sound like your mother-in-law, young lady."

A booming voice projecting beyond a ridiculous faux Santa beard came into the room shortly before Senior's physical presence joined the growing party. A glass of whiskey in his hand matched his oldest son's, making for a silent toast from across the way as they took identical sips. 

He continued. "In here hiding from the lady of the house," he asked as he looked around the space at faces that gave answers that their mouths wouldn't dare utter. He took another sip and nodded. "This is a good spot. I usually do the cellar, but this works. She will find you, though." 

"She always does. She is basically Detective Stabler in a pair of Dior slippers." Yahya laughed, earning a smile from his father. 

An overlapping chorus of brief personal memories of being found by Yolanda amid a one-sided game of hide and seek. She always won no matter how they attempted to outsmart and evade her watchful eye. 

Quickly finding his collection of older children uninteresting, Senior turned his attention to Nasir and Tariq, pulling the infant from his youngest son's arms to speak at him in a high-pitched voice. 

"You win, my girl. Sorry, I ever doubted you. But using the baby is a dirty tactic."

"Who told you I played fair?"

"Touché."

Senior watched you and Amir exchange a handshake too complicated for his taste and screwed his face in growing confusion. "Win what? You two gambling again?" 

"They think Tootie's your favorite now. Yahya lost his spot at the top." Hassan cut in. 

The older man scoffed. "All of you are too old to be my favorite anything." 

"But if you had to choose, it's Tootie, right?" 

"I'm not answering that," he laughed before a quick pause to eye them all individually. He stopped at you and smiled, adding a wink before speaking again. "She isn't half bad if that's what you're asking." 

Another round of laughter and collective conversation proved fatal as Yolanda marched down the hallway with Macie in tow. The soft clicking of her heels across wood floors didn't register amongst the chatter until it was too late. Your attempt to signal the others was futile. All of you were caught again. 

Yolanda cleared her throat, freezing everyone in an instant. She folded her arms over her chest. "Is this what I get in return for all my hard work and planning? Are you hiding from me?" All in the room rushed to deny her accusation to no avail. She couldn't be fooled. "And then you lie to me. Am I nothing to you people?"

Her heavy dose of guilt worked how she'd intended, producing averted gazes and murmured apologies that made her bite back a triumphant smile. 

"That's why I came down here, honey," Senior lied as he approached her for a kiss she didn't return. "They don't listen. I'm so glad you came to back me up. Bad, bad children the who-" 

"You're laying it on thick. Stop while you're ahead."

"Yes, ma'am. Stopping now."

A tense silence hung in the room while they waited for Yolanda to unleash her wrath. You looked between everyone, your brain scrambling in a frantic search for words that could turn the snafu into more of a misunderstanding than an intentional slight. 

Finally, your mind drafted an appropriate response. "We just wanted to get out of your way, Ms. Yolanda. Amir came to tell us you were almost ready for us, just like you asked, but I know you need quiet for a masterpiece. We should start outside so the folks across the street can get a reminder on who really runs Christmas around here." 

The mention of the Walters family getting a glimpse of her kin all dressed in their holiday best brought back a competitive light to Yolanda's eyes as she smiled. 

"You're right. I like the way you think," she started, her gaze far off for a moment while she envisioned the looks on their smug faces. She slowly refocused and waved her hands in the air. "Wrap this up and do it quickly. We have photos to take! C'mon, Senior. And take off that ridiculous beard. It's giving me "the ick," as Macie would say."

A collective sigh of relief was released as Yolanda left the room with her granddaughter hot on her heels, imitating her every move as a last-ditch effort to score the Christmas gift at the top of her list. Senior turned to the group and gestured toward you as soon as she was out of earshot. 

"Now, can any of you do that?" 

He didn't wait to hear an answer. As quickly as he could pass Tariq back to Yahya, he was off to comply with his wife's strict instructions. 

One by one, the others trickled out, leaving behind various iterations of praise for your quick thinking and the recognition that you, in fact, had claimed the coveted throne with no worthy competitor in sight. 

As the room returned to comfortable quiet, Yahya turned to you as you stood from the vanity to get a final look at your gown. He called your name softly before capturing your hand in his to pull you flush to his body. 

A slow and thorough kiss connected your lips and tongues until he was confident that his actions had conveyed his point. But, just in case they didn't, he praised you with his words. 

"If I was gonna give up my spot, I'm glad it's to you." 

"I only wanna be queen of your heart, baby," you giggled. "The rest of this is just extra." 

He chuckled at your smooth talking. "You can't finesse a finesser, baby. Who do you think talked you into all this? You ain't married with kids for no reason." 

"Oh, please! Santa gave me all this. I had it on my list." 

"Yeah, right." 

Stolen kisses and lingering touches were cut short at a second call of their names from the hallway. Yahya reluctantly took the boys out of the bathroom's safety and into the winter chill, leaving you alone for a final moment of peace. 

You took a look at your reflection, allowing a small smile to creep across your lip as your eyes swept over every change in your body since a fated meeting in your old apartment building. Formal gowns for family photos. A wedding ring that glittered in the light. A crazy bonus family that loved you dearly. Extra weight from two safe births only a few short years apart. All from a quick conversation with the guy next door. 

"Thank you, Santa. This is cool or whatever."

Straightening the strap on your dress, you stood up a little straighter and laughed at yourself before flipping the light switch and joining your family. Santa had outdone himself yet again.

---

@earthformelanin​​ @mufasathatniggatho​​ @hidden-treasures21​​@justanotherloveaffair​​ @jozigrrl​​ @essaysbyciara​​@chaneajoyyy​​@determinednot2fall​​ @honey-lamb-k​​@scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade​​ @walkrightuptothesun@ghostfacekill-monger​​ @trillistb​​@shaekingshitup​​@purplehairgawdess​​ @xo-goldengirl​​@steampunkprincess147​​@twistedcharismaaa​​ @fandomfavesss​​@bugngiz​​ @lifelover4u​​@ljstraightnochaser​​ @l-auteuse​​ @itsjustyazz​​@energy-innerg​​@lahuttor @sagittariusroyalty@chrisgalore @grandadchadwick​​​ @blowmymbackout​​​@supersizemeplz​​​ @just-peachee​​​ @itskikilove​​​ @eyeknowmywrites​​​ @aanairb​​​ @blackburnbook​​​ @leahnicole1219​​ @lovedersha​​ @cant-decide-at-this-moment​​ @jasmindaughteroftheworld

[minyard-05]

another banger from me (thinks an ungodly amount about aftg) and my friend (knows 3 characters' names and nothing else)

BAND AU #6

(suspend your disbelief here on in)

anyway i was talking about neilaaron bestfriendismz with the aforementioned friend and she just said "band au with them" and i was like "yes okay now what" so we drew up a plan (in like 10 minutes between classes)

neil & aaron are already friends, either in college or just out of it

andrew just got out of prison

kevin's just had his big injury

neil & aaron are like hey we should totally start a band this is a great idea and theyre both like "i know someone who plays an instrument !"

so aaron calls his brother and is like dude come play drums with us and andrew's like okay fine (then there's something of a deal made there I don't know)

neil runs into kevin and is like hey you wanna play guitar and kevin's like yeah alright but i broke my hand and neil essentially says that's fine we can't play either

(and they can't)

they gradually get better and Dynamics begin to form

nicky shows up and becomes their manager/pr guy/wrangler

they share a rehearsal space with the other foxes because wymack owes andrew a favour (andrew killed his dad for him)

roles are pretty much like usual, neil & aaron are co lyricists (andrew occasionally contributes) aaron does vocals + bass kevin & neil are guitar andrew is drums

(nobody notices when andrew and aaron occasionally switch roles so sometimes andrew's singing and nobody picks up on it lmao)

renee signs on as their keyboard player slash backup drummer eventually

kevaaron. andreil. probably. that or i kill them all in a zombie apocalypse it could really go either way

here's what we have so far

[randomfandomblabdom]

Okay, so, I have one really annoying criticism about the film Twisters and you can call me nitpick-y all you want, I don't care, I need to talk about it.

I'd like to say right off the bat that I really like this movie. I saw it three times in theaters and I'd happily pay to see it on the big screen again, this criticism doesn't deter my enjoyment of the film at all, it's just something I've noticed and it lowkey drives me a little bit crazy. When I say it drives me crazy I mean that it's such a simple continuity thing that they still somehow managed to kind of mess up a little and I wouldn't have any issues with this at all if the film itself didn't handle it remarkably well for the first half only to just absurdly drop the ball on it in the second.

Twisters attempts to do a similar thing with Kate's character that the original Twister did with Bill Paxton's character in which it states a time limit for how long she's planning to work with these storm chasers. In Twister, Bill (Paxton) makes it abundantly clear that he's giving Jo and her crew 24hrs to get 'Dorothy' to work before he's gone and over the course of those 24hrs, he becomes far more emotionally invested than he intended. The night of the iconic drive-in tornado sequence, his fiancee leaves him, the 24hrs end, and a new day begins (which is kind of insane when you think about the fact that that entire movie apparently takes place in less than 48hrs...). The first act of Twisters does a similar thing albeit a little later in the narrative. We are informed that Kate only plans on being in Oklahoma for exactly one week. That is how long she's giving her time to Javi and Storm Par and this was absolutely meant to be a cemented plot point as it's brought up multiple times in the first act. Javi asks her to give him one week in Oklahoma, (in a deleted scene where he picks her up from the airport, it is stated again), Javi informs the Storm Par crew upon introductions that they'll only have her expertise for a week, and it's once again reiterated when Javi and Kate say goodnight at the motel. A week being what I feel like I can safely assume is seven days so we will be looking at this as a seven-day time-frame. Pretty simple, right? Apparently not.

As mentioned prior, the first half of this film - give or take - handles this timeline continuity really, really well. Like, this is a time frame they are actively keeping track of. You are being shown clear cut days and nights that signify the obvious passage of time and the change in costumes perfectly indicate those individual days. It's fantastic continuity and suddenly... you're not being shown clear days and nights anymore and there's more costume changes than there should be. Suddenly you're left doing guesswork as to what day it is and how much time is left or even just how long Kate's been there. Granted, it's far from the most egregious continuity I've ever seen which is why it doesn't bother me that much but at the same time, it's such an easy timeline. Genuinely, how did they somehow mess this up?

(I'm not a fashion expert, so if I call a shirt the wrong design name or wrong color... sorry).

DAY 1:

Tyler is dressed in a deep red flannel, Kate is dressed in a white turtle neck and blue and white-striped button-up.

DAYTIME:

Kate arrives in Oklahoma and meets the Storm Par crew.

Tyler Owens and the Wranglers are introduced.

Kate has a panic attack mid chase and ruins StormPar's potential data collection.

Tyler shoots fireworks up a tornado's ass as one does.

NIGHTTIME:

Kate has a conversation with the Wrangler's outside of the motel.

Tyler is still dressed in that deep red flannel, Kate is still dressed in that white turtleneck and blue and white-striped button-up.

DAY 2:

Tyler is dressed in a lighter red flannel, Kate is dressed in a white shirt and light brown button-up.

DAYTIME:

Kate meets Riggs in the diner and offers to buy Tyler an iced tea.

The twin tornado sequence.

Tyler and Kate get into an argument over misunderstood motivations.

NIGHTTIME:

Kate does research about Riggs' business.

Tyler takes Kate to a rodeo and they end up fending for the lives against a tornado in an empty swimming pool.

Kate drives to her mother's house after some choice words from Javi.

Tyler is still wearing that lighter red flannel, Kate is still wearing that white shirt and her brown button-up is now tied around her waist.

(including this gif to show that her button-up is in fact tied around her waist as a homage to one of Helen Hunt's looks in the original Twister).

DAY 3:

Tyler is dressed in a grey-ish, green-ish button-up, Kate is dressed in a graphic tee with a green button-up that sports an American flag design on the back.

DAYTIME (or evening in this case):

This entire day takes place at the Carter residence.

Kate reminisces in the barn.

Tyler shows up.

They all have dinner together.

NIGHTTIME:

Kate breaks down in front of Tyler.

Tyler is still dressed in that grey-ish, green-ish button-up and Kate is still dressed in that graphic tee with the green button-up that sports an American flag design on the back.

DAY 4:

Tyler is dressed in a white t-shirt with a brown jacket, Kate is dressed in what looks to be a brown button-up sleeveless shirt. As an aside, this is also when their clothing colors start matching pretty consistently because they're now on the same page.

DAYTIME:

The day begins with Tyler leaving the Carter residence and we get the now-famous wet white t-shirt sequence before Kate stops him.

They run a computer test and find that Kate's experiment should have worked all those years ago.

They plan to give her experiment another go.

NIGHTTIME:

............??????????????..............

This unfortunately is where this absolutely PERFECT timeline so far just...stops being perfect for some reason. After this exact scene, we are no longer shown clear days and nights and there are more costume changes then there should be all the while there is absolutely no indication that Kate's Oklahoma time-frame has changed. I'm not kidding when I say we're shown zero night scenes after this. Night scenes that, so far, have been crucial in defining what day we're on. Let me show you what I mean.

DAY 4 or 5:

After Tyler and Kate run their little computer model, the film immediately cuts to them storm chasing as a means of testing it out again. As you can see, their clothing has changed. In this sequence, Tyler is now dressed in a light orange-ish flannel and Kate is dressed in a red graphic sleeveless tee.

The problem with this is that the film, up to this point and as I've already shown you, has been so particular about costumes lining up with individual days so it'd be safe to assume this is the next day but we are given absolutely no context as to how long it's been since the previous scene and there was no night scene to tell us either way. So... is this meant to be later that same day or the day after?? Depending on how long it took them to set up the barrels and rig the truck, I could honestly see arguments for both. This could be either later on DAY 4 or DAY 5.

After their attempt at Kate's project fails, they have lunch and Kate decides to call Javi to get more data from Storm Par that could be useful. In the next scene, Javi shows up and we are given another costume change.

DAY 5 or 6:

I've seen a lot of people assume this is the same day as the storm chase and trust me, I think I strained my eyes trying to figure this out but I'm pretty confident in saying that is NOT the same flannel Tyler was wearing in the storm chasing scene prior. It's now a more white and brown striped one and Kate has also changed into a brown-ish v-neck type shirt which, bear in mind, is a different shirt than what she was wearing on the morning of DAY 4.

These are also the same outfits they're sporting in the scene after when they test her model using Storm Par's data. So... this is exactly why the costume change during their storm chasing adventure bothers me because unless they changed after storm chasing (which we have not seen them do before so why would they do it now?) this right here is clearly a different day but because it's not made clear whether the storm chase was the same day as or the day after the wet white t-shirt day, this is either DAY 5 or DAY 6. Bear in mind, Kate's only supposed to be there for a week and we are given absolutely no indication that she has extended her stay or changed her plans and frankly, all of this probably wouldn't matter if we'd just gotten one line of dialogue or one scene that gave some indication that she did because at least that would mean we could stop keeping track but that never happens so we're still stuck in the 7-day time-frame.

DAY 6 or 7:

In the next scene, Tyler and Kate are leaving the Carter residence and we are, once again, provided with yet another costume change. Now Tyler is dressed in that same grey-ish, green-ish flannel he was in on DAY 3 and Kate is dressed in brown coveralls - with a grey-ish, green-ish tank top underneath that we'll see in the next scene.

This is when they meet up with the Wrangler's to buy supplies in order to test Kate's project once again. So... how long was Kate specifically at the Carter residence? As far as I can tell, most people seem to think all of act two (everything that her mothers farm) takes place over two days - probably strictly because there are no night scenes differentiating them - but depending on how you choose to count the days here with the information we're almost too subtly provided with and assuming that she's still planning on being there for only a week, it was either four or five nights which... is A LOT longer than we're led to believe in the film because it all goes by so quickly and is no longer showing you the distinct days passing like it was earlier. Yes, to all the fanfiction writers out there, that means Tyler would have spent either three or four nights at the Carter farm.

I have two things to say about this:

Everything at her mothers house after DAY 3 is basically a kinda poorly done time jump.

If they'd been more clear that multiple days are passing here I think test audiences would have reacted better to the so-called Kiss Cut because if you understand that they just spent most of the week living in her mothers house together, a kiss wouldn't feel so redundant and rushed because at least you'd subconsciously understand that they probably just spent a shit ton of time together.

Oh look, we didn't get another costume change, so this is later that day (still either DAY 6 or DAY 7). Tyler is still in his grey-ish, green-ish flannel, Kate is still in her brown coveralls just with the top tied around her waist now.

I also just want to point out that the lighting in this scene actually really bothers me because... first of all, I genuinely can't tell if it's supposed to be morning or evening and second of all, it doesn't help that I still can't tell if it's supposed to be morning or evening in the scene before when they leave her mother's house. Kate said she lived a couple hours from where the rodeo was and we have no idea where this meet-up point is so... whatever, that doesn't really matter, I guess.

DAY 7 or 8:

We've now hit the day of the climactic finale EF5 tornado that Kate goes all Suicide Sal on and oh, would you look at that. It's ANOTHER COSTUME CHANGE. Tyler is dressed in what I believe is the same deep red flannel from DAY 1, Kate is dressed in a red tank top.

Do I need to keep repeating myself here? Like, do ya'll understand why I find this so incredibly annoying? The film was doing such a great job at showing the passage of time as it correlated to the amount of time Kate was going to be spending in Oklahoma until it wasn't. At this point, we're on either DAY 7 or DAY 8 which would be the start of a new week but remember how I said there are more costume changes than there should be? Based on the costume changes alone, this would be DAY 8. Again, we've been given zero indication that Kate has extended her stay or that she's even been there for longer then planned but either way her week is officially UP and this is where we reach the most annoying part of all of it...

DAY ??? - WHO THE FUCK KNOWS, SURELY NOT ME:

The airport. The fucking airport.

The costumes don't even matter at this point cause the week-long timeline is very much over.

Full disclosure, I really don't like the ending of this movie and hilariously enough, it has nothing to do with the lack of a kiss. It's too damn quick and this is the one scene in a film that's all about taming tornadoes that feels like it genuinely insults the audience's intelligence. It's weirdly jarring seeing Kate getting pulled out of a turned-over truck after a near-death experience only to have her being dropped off at the airport in the next scene like everything's all good and seemingly being on time for her previously scheduled return-flight. Or is she...

How long has it been since the tornado? Not a clue. How long has she stayed past her initial planned week? We literally have no idea but she's obviously been there longer than a week at this point. She seems injury-free, everyone does, and honestly, I don't think I'd have much of an issue with this scene... if Tyler's truck was not fully functional...

Fixing that amount of damage on that truck would not have been a fast process - it literally took about a month after an accident for fairly minor damage to the front of my truck to be fixed, Tyler's damage would have taken MONTHS for parts alone. Yes, he might be a YouTuber who probably makes decent money but it still would have taken a substantial amount of time to get it fixed. Not to mention all the fancy extra shit he has on it that also got damaged but now looks to be in full operating order. Did he just buy everything brand new and make it look exactly the same? Did he have extra stuff just lying around? Did he have a whole other replica truck just chilling in a garage somewhere?? Did a fan of the channel straight up donate all the money or all new parts? I don't know, I could not tell you because we are given zero information. I don't care how much protective gear he decked that thing out with, it would not have come out of that tornado looking scratch-free and perfect.

I don't care about realistic accuracy in movies. Where's the fun in that? One of my favorite films of all time is Armageddon and everybody knows that's the absolute pinnacle of scientifically accurate film-making. Like, there's movie magic and then there's expecting me to believe this is either the next day or a couple days later with no further clarification as to how long it's been because context clues are telling me that it's obviously been longer and yet... somehow some of the context clues are also pointing in the opposite direction considering Javi's Storm Par truck is still fucked up and he's talking about the EF5 as if it was yesterday. As far as I can tell, most people seem to assume this ending is the day after the EF5 because the audience still subconsciously knows Kate had a deadline for herself and most likely a scheduled flight and they haven't been told any differently regarding her plans so this must be that flight...even though there are conflicting context clues here.

Context clues that point to some sort of time jump:

Tyler's truck somehow being peachy keen even after being in the middle of an EF5 tornado.

Everyone seemingly being injury-free.

The indication of a previous conversation between Tyler and Kate that took place off-screen in which she wouldn't tell him when she's possibly coming home again - he also specifically uses the word 'still' as in "still not telling me when you're coming back?" which could imply they've had the conversation more than once/he's asked her multiple times but that's up for interpretation, I suppose.

Context clues that point to this being the next day:

Javi's truck still looking like shit.

Javi talking about the EF5 as if it were yesterday.

Javi indicating Kate's method has only ever successfully worked once considering he only mentions the EF5.

Javi saying, "I told you I'd get you back here in one piece," (or something along those lines) which seems to imply they're still within her week-long time limit.

The fact that Tyler and Kate's dynamic isn't any further along/different than where we left them previously.

See what I mean? Conflicting context clues that I personally find really annoying, especially given the amazing continuity the film had in Act 1.

I'm not kidding when I say Tyler's truck being absolutely fine in this scene bothers me more than the 'why didn't they just train the astronauts for drilling in Armageddon?' argument. It feels like we're missing an entire scene, whether or not a scene like that was either written or filmed is a different story. Honestly, if his truck wasn't in this scene at all, it might've been fine but because his truck is fully functional, we suddenly have no choice but to ask... wait... how long has it been??? I know, I know, they wanted the ole romantic airport ending or whatever and the joke with his augers but it just messes with the timing. If you're gonna have Tyler's truck in this sequence looking like it wasn't just rolled to hell during a tornado, you need at least one line explaining how long it's been since the EF5.

You know what it genuinely feels like? Because Tyler's truck is so much of a character in this film in its own right, it feels like a character just died a gruesome death and then was brought back to life between scenes with no explanation given. Yes, Tyler literally digging his truck into the concrete and running after Kate is very cathartic but the whole damn time, I'm just shouting at Tyler's truck:

I know people are gonna say I'm over-analyzing or "it's not that big of a deal" or "the EF5 could technically be on DAY 7 so that was a week" but when the film was so precise about showing you the timing to the point that it was perfectly keeping track of days and suddenly stopped for seemingly no narrative reason then I need to beg the question of... this is such an easy, basic timeline to keep track of and it was doing great, what the fuck happened??? It's like they suddenly forgot their own plotpoint. Dare I say it, it feels like the second and third acts were possibly rewritten? Hell, even the films use of songs dies down in the second and third acts but that's a whole different topic, so I digress.

After all of that gibberish, I guess my main complaint here is there was no reason to provide the audience with that week-long deadline if it wasn't going to be brought up again or have any significance to the plot whatsoever. That and I really don't like the ending mainly because of the inclusion of Tyler's truck.

If you made it this far, thank you kindly and see you next time.

*gif credit to @austinbutlermischief and @keery*

[lost-in-lamentation]

passing storms.

a/n: new layout + new post? crazy. but august is wrapping up which means i finally have some free time and energy to write (´ω｀)

content: beel has a very scary nightmare and it's you to the rescue.

warnings: mentions of characters being dead in nightmare, but no one is harmed. lucifer and mammon make brief appearances.

fluff. comfort. beel × gen!reader (you/your).

"MC, if i may, i need to request something from you this morning."

you shifted in your seat, finding lucifer in the doorway to the dining hall. "as if you would let me say no," you sighed, rubbing an eye before standing up to face him properly. "what is it now?"

lucifer stared at the ground uncharacteristically. "it is not an errand this time. it's…" the way his voice trailed off had you raising an eyebrow.

"really, lucifer. i've got plenty on my plate with RAD, either say it or spare me the trouble." usually, you feared being so curt with lucifer himself, but the exhaustion of your assignments and the fact that you were a demon brother wrangler was catching up to you. a stark bitterness clung to the edge of your voice. "if you won't say, then-"

"i need you to stay home with beel today." the eldest cut you off, concern evident in the way his eyes dimmed. "i'm sure mammon has informed you of how all of us are subject to nightmares," lucifer began, his words quieting the more he spoke. "beel is no different, and if anything, suffers the worst." you waited as he made his way to the window, gloved hand reaching up to place a palm on the glass. "mammon and belphie could not help him today, but they both believe you could." lucifer dropped his gaze to the floor. "please."

rare were the occasions that lucifer said the word so genuinely, so raw. you bit your lip, guilt creeping into the crevices of your mind at how crudely you had spoken to lucifer just seconds ago. "okay, i'll go." the raven haired demon said nothing more, only shooting you a glance over his shoulder; a silent thank you that you knew would be harder for him to say aloud.

═  ˎˊ˗

you headed down to the twins room, muffled cries and soft words of encouragement echoing through the hallways. the sound alone made your heart ache, and you couldn't stop yourself from practically sprinting down. when you got there, you knocked twice quietly, before turning the knob and allowing yourself in with a click. you were surprised to see mammon sitting next to beelzebub, and even more surprised when belphegor wasn't in the room. the second born just barely turned his head to acknowledge you, his focus remaining on his younger brother. beside him, beel shuddered with each passing second, head buried in his knees and arms wrapped tightly around himself.

beel, ever the tall and steadfast demon, was small, shaking; afraid. you shut the door behind you a bit louder, trying to announce your presence to the second youngest. when the door shut, beel snapped his head up, wide-eyed and trembling, and at the sight of you, his eyes filled with more tears. you ran over immediately, slotting yourself next to beel's legs and just in front of mammon. with a heavy sob, beel grabbed at your shoulders, pulling you into an embrace and squeezing you harder than you thought possible. you held back a wince, hands reaching to card through his hair and rub the small of his back. you took a moment to nod at mammon, who made his way out after giving his brother one more tight hug.

as the door opened and closed for the third time, you exhaled softly, tapping gently on beel's shoulders. "you're alright, i'm here. i'm not going anywhere." his tears began to seep through your clothing, his hold on you loosening just barely after hearing you speak. from the way he shook, you were worried that he wasn't breathing. "beel, breathe with me, okay?" you started slow, inhaling for 4 counts, and then exhaling for another 4. you kept the pattern, waiting until beelzebub could finally match you. even after he was following you, you continued the cycle, taking the chance to unwrap his arms from you. beel allowed you to move his hands away from you, but refused to lift his face when you tried to look at him. "oh, beel," you whispered, using one hand to play with his and another to hold to his waist. underneath your touch, beel eventually stopped trembling, his hands becoming more responsive to yours. after a few minutes of steady breathing, beel finally lifted his head from your shoulder, tears still streaming.

"i thought… you all died." his voice was barely above a whimper. "you, and belphie, and everyone… you were dead." his breaths began heaving again as the images replayed in his head.

quickly, you pulled him towards you, rubbing gently on his chest. "we're all okay. i promise. mammon was just here, remember?" you nuzzled his temple with your nose, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek as you did. "come on, lie down. lucifer said you don't have to go to RAD today." beel was reluctant, fear obvious through the way he didn't allow you to pull him down. you tried again, this time lying down first. "lie down with me," you urged, placing your hand on the back of his neck and guiding him to rest on your shoulder. beel finally relented, too exhausted to fight back.

his heart pounded behind the confines of his ribcage, clear as day even through the layers of clothing that separated you from him. but in the storm of fright and confusion that raged in beel's heart, he found you directly in the eye of the hurricane. the way your fingers danced lightly along his back brought him back to the reality where his family is full; is alive. soon enough, you felt the demon relax into your embrace, his head becoming heavier on your shoulder as his body tried to regain the hours of sleep he had lost last night. beel continued to resist, eyes snapping wide open each time they dared fall closed. you moved your hands to the base of his neck, playing around with his hair gently.

"you can go to sleep beel. it's okay."

tears spilled out of beel's eyes once more, his gaze watery and unsure when he tilted his head up to look at you. "do you promise?"

you smiled at him, a hand threading through his hair. "i promise. i'll be right here when you wake up."

beel only nodded in response, exhaling shakily as his eyes finally felt shut. his arms tightened around your waist, holding you as though you would disappear if he let go for a second.

"we'll all be here," you reassured him, sneaking a kiss to the crown of his head just before he allowed himself to finally rest.

a/n: idk man it's 3am. also it's not a fic written by me if it doesn't have 1 older brother doin something so brotherly :) I LOVE BIG BROS!!

and yes, requests are being worked on, i promise. i just finished a wedding where i had to make the cake, and had to play the piano as the bride walked down the aisle. needless to say, it's been a bit of a wild ride for me this month-

reblogs are really appreciated (´ω｀) ♡

[lesvegas]

FNV Quest Mods That Don't Suck

I know I've made modlists before but talk of DLC-sized mods made me want to make another. Big, DLC-sized quest mods are nine times outta ten messy, poorly-made and poorly-written, feel like they should've been fo3 mods, or have numerous other qualities that are detestable to normal people with taste. I've played most of the popular ones and hate nearly all of them. Here are the ones I actually can recommend.

Note: I also highly recommend having a proper modding setup before installing any of these. Everyone and their mother has already recommended the Viva New Vegas guide before because it works and it's beginner-friendly.

Allow me to spare your dash by putting this list under a cut.

"DLC-sized" Quest Mods

Boom to the Moon - A quest where you go to the moon (yes, really) to find out what happened to a man's wife. I promise it's way better than I could possibly describe. Honestly I recommend almost all of Jokerine's mods for her attention to detail and all the cool shit she makes. This quest mod doesn't even end with the moon trip, you'll also get the best-written mod companion I've ever seen. Seriously please give this one a try if nothing else on this list.

Autumn Leaves - A murder mystery in an archival library vault inhabited by Protectrons. Story so good Bethesda stole it to make a fo4 DLC. No combat, no need for weapons or companions. WARNING: if you suck at navigating vaults like I do you may have a bad time finding stuff (there's a walkthrough in the files). Also some of the lines are a bit odd because the author's first language isn't English. Also one character is a bigot in every way possible because he's intentionally designed to be as punchable as possible. Despite all of this it's still easily one of the best quest mods I've ever experienced.

Unfortunately, making quest mods DLC-sized in general leaves ample opportunity for shit to get messy fast, so honestly your best bet for quest mods is smaller scale, vanilla-feeling mods. So while I highly recommend the above mods, I'd recommend the following ones even more for a more seamless experience.

"Vanilla-feeling" Quest Mods

The Collector - A quest given by a broker in which you collect debts from gamblers. Similar to the Atomic Wrangler quest Debt Collector.

Caravan Tournament - Do you suck at Caravan? Skill issue. Play this anyway and tell me how it feels to lose because I'm sure it's just as interesting as winning but I'm too good at Caravan to to see it for myself. If you get good you get to see a tiny Robobrain wearing a hat.

Working On The Chain Gang - A Powder Ganger Quest Mod - Okay, technically this makes a second faction of Powder Gangers that aren't affected by your reputation with the vanilla Powder Gangers (so yes, even if they hate you, you can experience this mod). These new Powder Gangers reorganize themselves into a legitimate faction that blends seamlessly into the Mojave NPC ecosystem.

The Moon Comes Over the Tower - This one is technically cut content, but that just means it's peak vanilla-feel. Restores the rest of the quest where Emily Ortal asks you to bug Mr. House's network in which you actually have to travel to places to do it.

Okay, these ones are silly, but trust me

Among Us But It's Fallout - It's a vault with a murder mystery you get to solve! Memes aside it's honestly really well done and you should try it.

The Hollander Hotel and Casino - For a quest involving a haunted hotel (no jumpscares, don't worry), this one feels a little goofy at times, especially with The Shining references and the guy outside selling nothing but 500 bottles of Sunset Sarsaparilla. But you should give it a try anyway.

Legion Quests

Haven't done a Legion run not because you don't like being a bad guy, but because the Legion route feels lacking? Try some of these.

Legion Quests Expanded - Adds more Legion quests and expands several vanilla quests.

A Golden Opportunity - Legion El Dorado Quest - A quest where the Legion goes in and shuts down the NCR's El Dorado station.

Five Card Ante - A Legion Quest Mod - A quest parallel to Three Card Bounty in which you get to eliminate the NCR's First Recon.

Yes I Would Actually - A Legion Quest Mod - You know how Bitter Springs has three quests you can do for the NCR? Well, now you can do them for the Legion instead. You can even recruit help from the Great Khans to fuck the NCR's shit up.

[kamari333]

I just realized that I go off on this same autistic-info dump like 5 times a week, so I might as well make a whole post about it I can just link back to.

So here, have this:

Kam's Guide to Tagging UTMV on AO3

I'll start with the basics:

If you've ever posted a fic on AO3, you probably already noticed that there are several types of Tags, including (but not limited to) "Character", "Relationship" and "Freeform" (which are also called "Additional Tags").

Unlike on some other platforms, every Type of Tag serves a different purpose in the ecosystem and is used for different things.

Users can either free-type in new tags, or choose a tag out of the Autocomplete.

When a user types in a new tag, that Tag gets a Tag Page. The Tag Page tells us what Type of Tag it is, as well as what relationships it has to other tags.

Okay, so now we know Tags exist. Now, for a second piece of information!

Tag Wranglers are AO3 volunteers that watch over Tags and manage the relationships between them.

If the Tag Wranglers see 3+ tags that mean the same thing, they will link those tags together (wrangle them) under a Canonized Tag (which is a Tag that can be pulled up in the autocomplete, be filtered on, and searched for/with). When Tags are 'wrangled' like this, filtering for any one of the tags pulls up all the fics with any one of them.

Take for example the Freeform tag "Horses". If you filter for fics tagged with this tag, you will get all the fics tagged both with "Horses" specifically, as well as any of the other tags wrangled under it. This includes (but is not limited to) the wrangled tags: "a baby horse", "also a horse", and "and horses!"

Thats how Wrangling works: it links related tags together for searching and filtering purposes!

Now, one last important bit of general information.

Tags cannot be wrangled as synonymous with other tags of a different Type.

The tag Freeform "Horses" cannot be made synonymous with the Character tag "Horses (Characters)". So searching for the Horses character tag will not necessarily pull up any of the fics tagged with the freeform tag, and vis versa.

Okay, so why does this matter for UTMV?

Because, the Tag Wranglers have rules about what they do and do not canonize where. One rule they are consistent with is that (outside of distinct Named OCs), AU Tags cannot be canonized outside of Freeform Tags.

So if you tag "Underfell Sans" as a Character tag, that tag is going to be wrangled to mean the same thing as "Sans (Undertale)". This makes it functionally useless for actually finding (or avoiding) "Underfell Sans" content.

Likewise, if you tag "Kustard" as a Relationship tag, it's going to be wrangled under the "Sans/Sans (Undertale)" tag, and also be functionally useless for searching or filtering

If we want AU tags to be searchable and filterable, we need to use Freeform tags (a.k.a. Additional Tags), like "Underfell Sans (Undertale)", and "Sans/Underfell Sans (Undertale)" (aka the canonical Kustard tag), and "Dancetale Sans/Underfell Sans/Underlust Sans (Undertale)"

By putting both the Character disambiguating tags and the Relationship disambiguating tags in the Freeform tags, we can actually USE them to search and filter for the specific UTMV content we want.

That's the gist of it!

Yes, I love this stuff and I love talking about it. <3

[anotherbluesunday]

✨Fic Release: In Technicolor—Ch. 1: Hell in a Handbasket (Pugsley + Cheryl)✨

____________Pugsley/Lee____________

Just past the shopping center that housed the Erewhon Wednesday silently hissed at and Bertie audibly boo'ed was our new school. A glittering beacon of narrow-minded thinking disguised as liberalism if I'd ever seen one, I'd read up on the place. Had Jug and Reggie fill me in on what to expect and it wasn't good.

Insidious racism veiled as social work and fundraisers. Sender students being made into charity cases to make donating families and businesses feel better about themselves while they donate to political campaigns for politicians who couldn't give two shits about the working class. I could see it in the way they looked at us as we pulled up into the student parking lot and hung up the parking permit from the rearview mirror. They were sizing us up. Knew without having to ask that we were from somewhere else. Somewhere where it wasn't commonplace for sixteen year old's to have access to their parents Amex Black card.

Eyes down on the steering wheel for a moment as the girls to our right sat in their brand new canary yellow Jeep Wrangler "whispering" loudly about how dirty the truck was, Bertie reminded me it was only for a year and that chances were not everyone would be as bad as I was making them out to be in my head. Wednesday snorted a laugh from the backseat and I shot her a glance through the mirror saying "Probablemente sean monstruos chupadores de sangre." With a hard reluctant sneer, I forced myself to unbuckle. Grabbed my backpack from the backseat, slipped on my sunglasses, and heaved sigh.

"I can't believe we're actually doing this."

Shrugging her backpack onto her shoulders, Wednesday stood beside me staring at our new prison. "Just close your eyes and count to ten. It'll be over before you know it."

"Promise?"

"No."

Should have known better than to ask. But it made me laugh nonetheless. And that was the only upside here really. I wouldn't be going at this alone. I'd have Wen and Bert and a couple friends if Toni made it through the testing process since her mom made her apply too. We'd be okay. Not great. Not fine. But we'd be okay.

We'll survive.

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.

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____________Cheryl____________

Routine on repeat like some b-rate film that used timelooping as a metaphor for repeating the past until the main character righted their wrongs, I put on my morning music playlist as I stepped into the spacious en suite bathroom that had been warmed to seventy-two degrees for me. My shampoo and conditioner never seemed to run out. My bodywash was always in supply. Shaving razors never dulled and toothpaste never emptied paste the halfway point. The only thing I was burdened with was remembering when to restock my skincare items which, even when they did run out, it was never a problem because there was nothing that couldn't be handled with a quick call.

Perfectly controlled and acclimated. It was like a dollhouse inside of a greenhouse.

Everything's monitored and privacy is a privilege.

You missed practice this morning. It was from dad, the message brightening the screen of my phone as I stepped out of the shower. We'll double up tonight's session and split it for before and after dinner.

Staring at the message, I hesitated. Could hear the small scream itching at the back of my neck like nails dragging down the nerves hidden beneath my skin.

I wanted to throw up and I hadn't eaten anything yet.

I'll have homework. I told him.

You can do it afterwards. Slacking off once leads to habitual laziness Cheryl. No excuses.

My stomach knotted. Worked itself up until the familiar aftertaste of vomit ghosted itself on my taste buds.

The cold sweats that came with it.

The dizzying nausea.

Looking at myself in my vanity mirror, I dissected the bags under my dull brown eyes. Examined my hairline to see if it had thinned anymore than what mom had pointed to over the summer when we went on vacation to Portugal. "It must be from the stress. You should sleep more darling" she had said. At least my lashes had grown back after my nervous snap over spring semester.

.

.

.

*IMPORTANT NOTE!: Please do keep in mind while reading that the characters Pubert and Pugsley have nicknames that they go by and will go by for most of the story. For Pugsley, his nickname is “Lee” and for Pubert, his nickname is “Bert” or “Bertie.” Wednesday sometimes goes by “Wen” but I feel like that is a known in the Wednesday fandom but I wanted to mention it quickly for readers in the Riverdale fandom so that they’re in the loop.

.

.

.

[olderthannetfic]

I havent found the answers to this online, likely due to my own fault of not being able to word it in a SEO friendly way, so I'll just ask here. When it comes to relationship tags, if the relationship is a group with a canon name, is it okay to just tag the name as a relationship, rather than combining all names of all individual members? For example - Marauders 4way fic, can I just tag it as "Marauders"? Fic about all of the avengers together, can I just tag it as "The Avengers"? etc

--

You can tag with anything you want! AO3 is designed to let you make up any tags that make sense to you. You should never feel bad about creating new tags on AO3.

I assume what you're actually asking, however, is if tagging that way will result in the tag being wrangled in a way that's helpful to you. And the answer is... maybe?

If you tag something like "Marauders 4-way", I suspect it will get made a synonym of the filterable tag with all the names written out. Unambiguous nicknames for fandoms, like LotRiPS, get synned to the appropriate fandom tag all the time.

But I'd expect a tag that's just 'Marauders' to get used a lot of different ways. Somebody might mean it as platonic, somebody else not. Somebody might accidentally put that there when they meant to put it in the fandom field or something. If other people are already using the tag ambiguously or if the tag wranglers think it's likely to be ambiguous, they might not wrangle it at all. That would make your work not show up when people filter for the filterable ship tag.

'The Avengers' is even worse because they're not going to know which ship tag to syn that too. Lots of characters have been Avengers! And there are even other fandoms with this name (though I doubt people would tag a ship that way).

I don't think wranglers typically make ship tags of this type canonicals/common (i.e. filterable). Fandom-specific jargon tends to get made a canonical when it's a freeform/additional tag (and only if it's used by 3 different users). The rules for main ship tags are to spell out the names so that it's less ambiguous for fans who maybe aren't in the same part of fandom socially.

--

Anyway, you're allowed to do whatever you want. Personally, I would just make sure the tag is unambiguous.

Unless you don't care about showing up in filters, in which case, really do whatever you want!

[orchidbreezefc]

well, lads, my one fear has finally been realized: the ao3 tag wranglers made every mike walters tag synonymous

it's so bad. it is so so so bad. this is a nightmare. this is the bad place

like, look at [link: my comprehensive mike chart]. filtering for fic of one cell on that chart will now turn up every fic that contains any cell anywhere on that chart. searching for the lieutenant will now give me every fic with fucking m-dawg in it. most characters who arent the same guy are way less different from each other in both personality and story role than the lieutenant and fucking m-dawg.

woe.begone has a pretty big cast and it's about 40% mike walters. like, okay, for those familiar, picture the cast of homestuck. not all of it but like, a bit bigger than both troll sessions and both kid sessions.

now imagine if ao3 made every troll in the beta session (which is roughly approximate to the mikes' relative story prominence as well as their numbers) share one tag. if you wanted to search for sollux fic you'd use the tag "beta troll", which would turn up every fic with gamzee, terezi, nepeta, etc.

also. also. in this scenario the most popular ship in the fandom is between two trolls. now unsearchable. the only tag is 'beta troll'. like, vriska/terezi is the fandom's top ship, and the tag you can filter for is beta troll/beta troll. which gives you just, any beta troll with any other beta troll.

this is not a post promoting outrage and pitchforks against ao3, though submitting a support ticket politely requesting they unsync these tags would be very much appreciated. a lot of folks less familiar with ao3's tagging system didn't seem to grasp the ramifications here, so i just wanted to take a moment to unpack exactly how comically disastrous this choice was. it's very bad, y'all.

EDIT: the damage has been undone! huzzah

[kaiboone]

Here is my playlist that I listen to when I’m writing Twisters fic! ^_^

it includes a few songs from the movie, songs that remind me of the fics I’ve worked on, and some that I think the characters would listen to— mostly a lot of country and (as per my own headcanon) classic rock :0

Its also pretty long, so I’ve added little details abt why the song is on the playlist, and you can pick and choose what you want to listen to or skip the ones you already know :P

The fics in question for reference vvv

Getting Over It • Skip to Next Summer • Carry On

🦂Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash

Could apply to any of them— this song reminds me of Scott and Javi’s unhealthy relationship

🌌Skip to Next Summer by Homestyle Dinner Rolls

I’m sure you can tell which one this reminds me of— it even inspired the title! Lowkey I think it’s a must-listen if you’re really liking that fic

🪩Sharp Dressed Man 2008 Remaster by ZZ Top

This one is for Getting Over It lol, makes me think of the scene where Boone and Javi are going through Boone’s old clothes together

🌵Circle K Acoustic by Ricky Chilton

This one’s mostly for Skip to Next Summer bc that’s the fic where they spend the most time out in the middle of nowhere. I think Tyler would like this song lol

💀God’s Gonna Cut You Down by Johnny Cash

Javi listens to this song in Getting Over It :0 it makes him think about his guilt regarding the decisions he made in the past

🌾Arkansas by Chris Stapleton

This is one from the movie :) good for Skip to Next Summer because that fic includes storm chasing scenes with the same positive tone as the movie

⛪️The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie by Colter Wall

For Getting Over It bc it sort of reminds me of Javi’s business dealings in a metaphorical sense.

🍃Feelin’ Country by Thomas Rhett

Also from the movie. Sort of reminds me of the happier moments Boone and Javi have together in both Getting Over It and Skip to Next Summer

🎸Safari Song by Greta Van Fleet

One of the songs they listen to in Getting Over It <3 pretty dang perfect for their stupid situationship

🛤️Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma by Luke Combs

Of course I have to include this one!! I love it sm.

🍻C’mon Down by Poor Man’s Poison

Another one that Javi had on his playlist in Getting Over It

♥️Closer by Nine Inch Nails

Doesn’t really match the genre, but it really matches the way Javi thinks about sex in Skip to Next Summer. It’s sort of a double edged sword; he’s so obsessive about being “good enough” for Boone, he’ll ignore his own interests. Still, it’s not inherently a bad feeling for him, it’s just the way he’s programmed after having been taken advantage of for so long.

🔥Highway to Hell by AC/DC

Just for funsies!! I think Boone would love this song. He and Tyler definitely sing along to all their favorite songs on long roadtrips

🌩️Steal my Thunder by Connor Smith

Another from the movie— any country love song makes me think of them. The exciting new feeling it carries is reminiscent to the second year Javi and Boone have together in Skip to Next Summer

💌I wanna know by tea

Okay this is the odd one out 💀 it’s just really sweet and sad, and perfect for how Javi feels about Boone in Getting Over It. Like, they aren’t quite close yet, but he really wants to be

💋Kiss Me by Homestyle Dinner Rolls

More nonsense about Javi and Boone finding solace in one another regarding their respective unrequited feelings for Kate and Tyler. Every line is perfect as always. Like, “holding on until it breaks me” SHUT UP “I need to know what life is like without you in my head” SHUT THE FUCK UP

💥Dead End Road by Jellyroll

This is literally my favorite part in the whole movie Boone is so cute I love him with all my heart

☠️Come with Me Now by Kongos

This is a song that I think Tyler and the rest of the Wranglers would listen to (and have fun dancing to hehe)

💫Taco Bell by Homestyle Dinner Rolls

This song is perfect for Skip to Next Summer Boone/Javi ^_^ it’s so cute!

🪶Blackbird by The Beatles

Something something recovering from grief and learning to move on— omg Getting Over It what are you doing here??

🐍Greedy Man by Poor Man’s Poison

Another one about Javi being a little bit of a snake when it comes to business

✈️Too Easy by Tanner Adell

Another movie one lol. This one is super fun! The Twisters soundtrack really is my favorite :]

🦴Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi

Another one for them to listen to in the car— this one especially reminds me of Carry On, because the song was also featured in Supernatural and that show served as good inspiration for that fic

💕You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC

A song they listen to while cooking together in Getting Over It <3 also foreshadowing to when they fucking FUCK like 1 chapter later

☀️Salió El Sol by Don Omar

Just one more song from the movie :P

🦟American Kids by Kenny Chesney

I love this song <3 it doesn’t have a lot to do with the story that each fic tells, but rather it reminds me of the way I think Tyler and Boone grew up together

🌙Go All The Way by Raspberries

This song reminds me of Getting Over It Boone/Javi— tender and a little uncertain, but still very enthusiastic

🐾Sleeping on the Blacktop by Colter Wall

A song that Boone definitely loves. He is obsessed with cowboy stuff and songs like this are his favorite

🌸New Flesh by Current Joys

Okay nvm THIS is the odd one out lmfao— It reminds me of the way Javi feels in Getting Over It; like absolutely no one in the whole world cares about him. Also for the mention of staying awake all night to avoid having nightmares, that’s very Skip to Next Summer Javi

🌪️Ain’t in Kansas Anymore by Miranda Lambert

How could I not. But yeah, it really captures the draw of storm chasing that Boone feels in all my fics— especially Skip to Next Summer. Also, “You’re torn apart like a trailer park, but you still can’t wait ‘til I come back around” is soooo Boone/Javi coded you have no idea

🌺Sink the Pink by AC/DC

This song was mentioned early on in Skip to Next Summer, as one Tyler plays when they’re storm chasing and Boone is showing off for Javi

🐄Ghost Riders in the Sky by Johnny Cash

This song is in the movie ^_^ I love it

🥃Good Times Bad Times by Led Zeppelin

Applicable to all of the stories, but especially Getting Over It

🧨Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap by AC/DC

For the vibes mostly :P

🏜️Highway 61 revised by Dave Alvin

Another just bc I think it would be on Ty’s playlist

🧳Help! By The Beatles

For Getting Over It. Javi just needs help for the first time like ever and it freaks him out

🎣Already Had It by Tucker Westmore

More dumb country love songs from the movie <3

💰Providence by Poor Man’s Poison

A lot of Poor Man’s Poison songs remind me of Javi’s business bullshit

💞Tear Us Apart by Sam Barber

This is a rlly good one for Boone and Javi’s relationship in Skip to Next Summer ^_^

🔪In Hell I’ll Be in Good Company by The Dead South

Some more country music for singing along to in the truck

🚪Never Left Me by Megan Moroney

“Came back a different me, but it’s good to see you’re still you” come onnnn come on come on oh my god. “I bet you knew that I’d be back the day you watched me go” COME ONNNNN “now here you are all open arms” RAAAAHHHH (its giving Skip to Next Summer. Javi feels most at home when he’s with Boone ❤️)

🛞Should I Stay or Should I Go by The Clash

This one inspired the title for the first chapter of Carry On because it’s upbeat tempo reminds me of Addy, but it also sort of reminds me of the unsure yet playful tone of the first little bit of Skip to Next Summer ^_^

🍒Cherry Pie by Warrant

This is one that I almost included in my chapter titles lineup for Carry On— maybe that’s a little bit of spoilers for the direction that story is headed oops 👀

Anyway that’s all! Tagging @amelia-mariee because you replied to my initial post <3

Also pls lmk if any of the links are mixed up 💀

[keep-the-wolves-close]

Steady Heart

Chapter 1: Bad Things Are Comin’

When a sudden death happens at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, Stella Daniels is forced deeper into the world of her employer, John Dutton. It’s much further than her experience from just working with the horses and being an extra wrangler when needed. Now Stella, her brother Ryan, and her best friend Kayce; her employer’s youngest semi-estranged son, have to navigate finding their place within the ranch’s not-so-clean dealings and the challenges that come their way.

Pairing: Slow-burn Kayce Dutton x OFC Stella Daniels

Rating: M? (Still figuring out the rating system) (might eventually be M anyhow)

Warnings: Violence, mentions of blood, character death, grief, panic, language because I mean let’s be honest we’ve all seen the show lol

Word count: 3,803ish?

Stella Daniels breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned backward on a fence in a round pen belonging to Grand Springs Ranch. She was lending a helping hand to her good friend Olivia. Olivia helped run the broodmare portion of her parent’s ranch, and this year the broodmares were giving both women a run for their money. There had been so many speed bumps this year.

Olivia sidled up beside her to join in the viewing of a new broodmare prospect. They wanted to see her movement, her temperament, and also talk to the current owner about her AQHA titles. The usual things they looked for in a good broodmare. Olivia and her parents were very strict with things being ethical and not just breeding to breed. Stella respected that.

The mare in question was a pretty little chestnut thing, spunky and only 6 years old. Stella enjoyed watching her graceful lope. The mare had a bit of an attitude, but that wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. She had been taught well when it came to horses and getting temperament under control. She had faith she would be able to have this girl right as rain in no time. She tapped Olivia’s arm and gave a nod of her approval, to which Olivia agreed.

Stella fixed her glasses and saw movement out of her peripheral. She looked over to see one of the full time hands rushing toward them with a concerned look on his face.

Olivia’s eyebrows scrunched together, “Tim, what’s wrong?”

“There was a phone call from the Yellowstone for Miss Stella.” Tim looked almost nervous.

“Was it Ryan?” Stella pushed herself away from leaning on the fence. “Is he okay?” Ryan would occasionally send a text, but always knew she might not have her phone. He only ever called the barn phone in an emergency when she was here.

“Something big happened. He said to tell you he’s fine, but they need you home right away.”

Her eyes glazed over as she unfocused on everything except her rising heartbeat. Her mouth dropped open as her breathing started to come out in shallow puffs. She didn’t feel when Olivia first grabbed her arm, but it was like she had been electrocuted the second she realized Olivia’s hand was there.

“Liv, I gotta go!” She bolted for the barn to grab her things.

Olivia responded, telling her to go, family comes first; her part of the job could be worked on at a later time, but Stella never heard those words as she ran as fast as her feet would take her.

She didn’t hear anything until she got back to the Yellowstone. As soon as her SUV tires hit the gravel of the ranch, Stella sped up to the main house. Seeing the flurry of activity happening there, she figured that would be the best place to start. Her SUV was barely in park before she hopped out and ran across the grass desperately searching for her brother. There were news vans, reporters, police, EMS, and livestock police all crowded around in the front yard.

It was at that moment that her hearing came back all at once. The chatter from every direction was disorienting. Her eyes were looking but not seeing. Every face was blending in with the next one. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, quicker with each passing second.

She pushed her glasses up while calling out, “Ryan!” Not caring who would look in her direction. “Ryan!!” She hollered out again, sounding more panicked than the first time. Multiple heads snapped in her direction. Lloyd spotted her through the mass of people and moved quickly to her. He grabbed her by the arm gently and guided her to the porch where it was a little more secluded. He knew he had to get her focus. If he didn’t, Stella would raze the whole ranch to ground looking for her brother.

“He’s finishing up something in the house, but he’ll be out soon. He’s okay.” He made sure to try and keep direct eye contact with Stella, trying to keep her glued to the porch. She continued to look around trying to peek at every face that walked by them. She had to physically see her brother to accept that he was alright.

“Stella, look at me!” Lloyd said sternly and shook her to grab her attention. “Your brother is alright. Come with me.”

She finally allowed herself to catch her breath. She trailed closely behind Lloyd, hot on his heels, to the large section of the porch by the front door. He had her sit in one of the chairs, and asked her to stay put. He wasn’t sure exactly how long Ryan would be, but he would be coming out the main door. Stella was in the perfect place to catch him the second he walked out. Lloyd knew Ryan would be glad to see his little sister.

With a numb expression she asked, “What the fuck happened, Lloyd?”

“Some of the herd moved onto tribal land.” He took a deep breath, trying to figure out how he was going to continue this explanation.

“Oh shit, no.” Stella’s shoulders dropped as she whispered.

“Well, both groups butted heads and here we are.” He wasn’t trying to be vague, but he also didn’t want to drop too much on her at once. Especially about Lee.

Stella knew that both groups didn’t always get along, but she never imagined it coming to something that required this much attention from police and news alike. She rubbed her fingertips on her palms trying to get feeling back. Ever since she left Grand Springs her hands had been numb.

Movement from the front door startled Stella into action. She hopped up from the chair and made her way quickly to the door, weaving through livestock police as she went. Kayce and Jamie came out of the house. Kayce, her best friend of 12 years, looked rough. When Stella saw the blood on his shirt, her heart nearly jumped from her chest.

“My God, Kayce!” She rushed over to him to try and get a better look. “Are you okay?” There was a mumbled, “‘m fine, Stell.” He grabbed her hands before she could touch his shirt. Knowing she would thank him later. He gave her hands a squeeze while taking a deep breath to ground himself. Almost as if he was using her as a tether.

Light brown eyes met darker brown. She finally saw the sadness that resided there. Her eyebrows scrunched together and she tilted her head to the left, and wordlessly asked what happened. His eyes dropped and his shoulders looked heavy. Stella’s breathing picked up again, worried by whatever change may be coming. She nodded to Kayce, knowing this was a conversation for another time.

“You’re brother should be right behind me. Go get him, and we’ll talk later.” He squeezed her hand again and let go. More people coming out of the house prompted Stella to give his arm a quick squeeze and move toward the door.

Her eyes locked on her brother, “Ryan!” She propelled herself forward and gripped him in a tight hug. Now that she could physically see that he was okay, her blood pressure started to return to normal. Ryan was her rock. She wouldn’t even dare to fathom the consequences of not having him around.

He squeezed her back and moved them off to the side. He held her tight. Primarily for her, but it also gave him solace because she was safe back here at the ranch.

“Let’s go down to the bunkhouse where it’s quiet. We gotta talk.” He needed to tell her about Lee.

Stella sat forward in the chair bracing herself on her knees. Her brother had just told her Lee was gone. She felt like she was going to vomit. Lee and herself hadn’t been as tight knit as she and Kayce, but she had known both of them since she was 14. He had taught her just as much about horses as Kayce. Hell, they partnered together to train the horses for the ranch. She was flabbergasted. Speechless. She struggled because that very well could have been her brother.

She took deep breaths to keep the nausea down, and placed a hand on her forehead. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and sat back swallowing the lump that was lodged in her throat. She felt guilty for even thinking that, but she also understood the look that Kayce had given her on the porch fully now.

There weren’t any tears being shed. Ryan was concerned, but then remembered that his little sister didn’t like to cry in front of people. Not even him. If she did, it was because she had no control anymore. He didn’t know how she dealt with human death. Animal death? He had seen her deal with it a thousand times over because of the ranch. The work on a ranch doesn’t stop unfortunately. But the untimely passing of a friend? He was worried about how this would go.

“Were you with them?” Stella cleared her throat.

Ryan bit his lip and nodded. “I was a few feet away, and then I got swept off to the side dealing with something else and Kayce was alone with his brother.”

“Oh my god, he was alone? That’s the second time that’s happened to him.”

Ryan knew she was talking about Kayce’s mother and how that whole situation went down. She felt horrible that Kayce had to face that by himself.

Stella knew she would probably cry later on when she was by herself, but she couldn’t even drum up a response to her brother. Other than the occasionally quiet whispered, ‘what the fuck.’ She could understand the disagreement about the herd, and knew things could get rash at times, but her mind was blown that it came to this kind of firing point.

It had been quiet for about five minutes with her staring at the wall where the sink was. “You still with me?”

Stella slowly moved her head to look at Ryan. “Hmm?” She said softly. The energy slowly drained out of her the longer she sat there. He came over and sat next to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in sideways.

Ryan comforted her. “Stay with me Stellee.” She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, letting out a big breath, trying to pretend she was anywhere else but here.

It was quiet for a few moments. Ryan would occasionally rub Stella’s arm. Since he wasn’t sure how far her reaction to the loss would take her, he treaded lightly. He didn’t know if she would react now or later, and he definitely didn’t want to come up on her breaking her hand through a wall.

“I’ve gotta go find Kayce.” Stella started to move restlessly before she got up.

“Yeah, but don’t you think he would want space?”

“If I know anything, space is the last thing his mind needs. And I know he hasn’t been home yet, so he doesn’t have Monica here. I can’t just sit by, Ryan.”

Ryan sighed. His little sister could be one of the most endearing people. If someone had a problem, she refused to let them carry it alone. He was worried one day her back might break.

“I’m gonna go back up to the big house. He’s probably still there.”

Now that the activity had quieted down, Stella poked her head in through the front door. She ran into Beth sitting in the living room, looking very much like she needed to catch her breath. When Stella entered the room she looked up from her long gaze.

“Funny how everyone else employed here knocks, except you. Why is that?” Stella breathed out a sigh at the accusation from Beth. She knew Beth was just in defense mode and didn’t mean to spit fire at her. They got along for the most part.

“Beth… I haven’t knocked on this door since I was 15. I wanted to come check on everyone.”

“There’s nothing to be done except wait for the plan. You know that. You came here to check up on my baby brother, didn’t you?”

“Well, he is my best friend. And you and I both know that being alone is something your brother doesn’t need right now.”

“And you thought you would swoop in and be his savior, huh?

“Not a savior. Just a shoulder.” Stella was getting frustrated.

“Beth, leave her alone.” Kayce’s voice came from behind them. He came from the hallway toward the back of the main sitting room. He nodded toward the porch and Stella did a 180 to make her way around. He placed a hand at the small of her back as he directed her to keep moving. There was a small zip up her spine at the contact. Her back tensed.

He wanted to get them both out of the room before his sister could spit more grief. Stella shook her head and squeezed Beth’s shoulder quickly as they walked by and back out the front door.

Kayce sighed. “I’m sorry about her.”

“You should know by now you don’t have to apologize for your sister. I would have been worried if she hadn’t responded like that.” They shared a chuckle.

Stella seated herself on one of the chairs by the little table. Kayce made himself comfortable in the other. They both gazed out at the vast ranch. They zoned out and let the silence embrace them. Today was chaotic for both of them, in different ways, but tiring nonetheless.

“How the hell did a feud about some cattle that wandered through a broken fence produce this end result? Like, how did we get here Kayce?” Stella was very confused. She hadn’t been on the ranch when the arguing had started about the cattle, land, and who owed the livestock.

“I mean, I understand that it’s a very tender subject about land and all, but…,” she didn’t really know how to continue. Thinking about it made her brain hurt. She sighed.

“My head is spinning too.”

Stella whispered. “Is it selfish if I say I’m glad you’re still here?” Stella adjusted her glasses as she moved her eyes away from him. It was quiet as both of them contemplated her question. Her admission. In a way it was selfish, but he understood the sentiment she was trying to get at.

“I’m not really up to talking just yet, Stell. After I come back for the —,” he halted trying to figure out how to avoid saying the word funeral, finally ignoring the word all together. “We can talk then, okay?”

“I understand.” She pushed her glasses up. “If you or Monica need anything, please let me know and I’ll get it to you guys with lightning speed. Okay? Even if you need someone to take little man for the day or something.” He gave her a look that only the two of them seemed to understand. They stood and bear hugged like their lives depended on it. She knew it would be a few days before he would actually talk. Stella would wait as long as he needed her to.

Neither of them let go for a short minute. They knew that once they did, cursed reality would set in again. For this short span they felt like they were kids again without a worry in the world.

Stella murmured softly, “I’m so sorry this happened,” as she released him from the hug. He nodded, giving her one last glance before he made his way back inside to gather his things to go home.

"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried... " the Father's voice faded as Stella scanned the crowd of people that had come around for Lee’s service. Everyone from the ranch was there and accounted for amongst other people that knew the family. The only one missing was Kayce. Her eyebrows pulled together. She looked at Monica, and she gave Stella a quiet shrug. He couldn’t have been far. There’s also no way he would have missed his brother’s funeral. She tried to be nonchalant about looking around, but she made eye contact with Beth who gave her a pointed look with a raised eyebrow.

Stella rolled her eyes slightly and kept looking. Not far off she saw a horse that just stood in place. It wasn’t completely out of the ordinary, but from the looks of it, the horse was a mustang. In these particular hills of the ranch property, the most you would find would be a quarter horse if one got out of its designated pasture. Maybe an Appendix or two. No one, that she was aware of, had brought a horse with them today, however.

Just barely above the high grass up at the grave sites, she could see a dirty blond head move back and forth. There he was. She looked to Monica who nodded her permission and Stella silently exited the group. She knew that if anything, Lee would have wanted her to go over to his brother. Lee always joked that they were each other’s Huckleberry. Attached at the hip, and where one was the other was surely not far behind. Most certainly to “fuck some shit up, cause some chaos and leave” as Lee would have said.

Stella’s fond smile at the memory faded as she got closer and heard sniffling coming from Kayce. Her face softened and her heart bled for him. She sat down beside him. The horse paid her little attention, but snorted in acknowledgement and went back to grazing as she folded her legs beneath her. Kayce glanced at her from the side.

When he realized it was her, he turned slightly and made eye contact. Stella pulled her lips together in a small smile, and kept her eyes gentle. They simultaneously leaned toward each other, shoulders touching, as they looked forward. Stella reached over and rubbed his back.

She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled him close sideways and rubbed his arm to offer any sort of comfort to him while they sat there. They both pretended that they were anywhere else, at any other event than his brother’s funeral. She couldn’t believe this had happened, and she felt helpless that she couldn’t change it or do anything to make the hurt less, other than what she was doing right now.

They both heard as the Father finished his sermon, but they remained seated. Even when Stella felt eyes on her back, she stayed. John surveyed the pair closely. That girl, well woman now, had been there through the thick of almost everything for his youngest son since she and her brother showed up on the ranch 12 years ago.

At first, John had been hesitant to have an extra child on the ranch. Especially with his new young wrangler being her parental figure. She turned out to be a great kid, who would pull her own weight and then some. He slowly started to come around to the idea when Kayce started to put up a fight for Stella and Ryan.

She also was the first to throw knuckles when anyone, or anything, came for his youngest. John would swear that she would throw herself in front of a bullet for Kayce. Hell, she threw herself in front of grizzly for him once. Evelyn would have liked her. John couldn’t even begin to think of ways to thank her for keeping Kayce grounded along with Monica’s help. He cleared his throat and came up beside the twosome.

“He's one hell of a horse.” They heard from Stella’s right as John seated himself next to the pair. Stella removed her arm from Kayce’s shoulders, but remained quiet. She wasn’t a part of this conversation.

Kayce sniffled at his dad’s words. “Yeah. Ain't got the breeding of your stud, but he has a heart.”

“I know. I saw.”

“He would have died for me. He almost did.”

John changed the subject. “You want to stay for supper? You can put him in the barn.”

Kayce sniffed loudly and stood. He carefully draped the lead rope over Stella’s lap and handed it to his father. “No. I brought him for you. You can put him in the barn.” She watched as he quickly left to catch up with his family.

“I can take care of him for you, sir.” Stella offered as they both stood.

John looked at her from behind his dark sunglasses and shook his head. “Thank you, Stella, but I’ll take this one up.” As he walked away with the horse, she pursed her lips to the side realizing she was alone. She looked back to the gravesite. She patted her legs trying to decide if she wanted to go back over. ‘By the time you’ve argued with yourself, you could’ve already done it.’ She rolled her eyes at herself and started walking over.

“Hey Lee. I’m so sorry this happened to you.” A little bird sang its song from high in a tree. Stella smiled sadly and fixed her glasses. She hoped it was Lee saying he was listening. She still hadn’t come to grips that he was gone.

“I’ll do what I can for the family, the ranch. To the best of my ability anyhow. Especially for Kayce. I know he was the favorite.” Stella forced herself to look at his place marker. “I guess you’ve left me no choice but to take over your spot as the lead for the horses. If your dad agrees to put me there.” It was a heavy decision, to choose to do nearly anything for the family. It could come with a hefty price tag, but the Dutton’s and the wranglers were all she and Ryan had.

She looked off to where everyone had gone and noticed Ryan was still waiting in the wings for her. “I should probably go catch up with everyone else, but I’ll be around again.” She brushed her skirt off and headed up to the big house on the hill. Everyone was invited for supper. She wasn’t about to turn down Gator’s food. Lee wouldn’t have wanted her to either.

After supper everyone had congregated outside to get some fresh air and talk amongst themselves. The wranglers had parted to one side and Stella stood next to her brother and Colby.

She could see John with Beth and Jamie. They stared off at the helicopter, speaking to each other quietly. Lloyd brought her attention back to the group when he asked her a question.

“I’m sorry, what Lloyd?”

“I asked if you were spendin’ the night, lil’ bit?” She yawned at the exact moment he asked.

“Yeah,” she laughed. “I probably should. I think my overnight bag from Olivia’s is still in my car.”

Comments, thoughts, and commentary is welcome! Just please be gentle lol. 🤓

[cacodaemonia]

You seem to know a lot about AO3, do you know how to engage more of your readers? I’ve been trying to get comments on my fics but all I get is kudos. I just want to know if people are enjoying my writing

Hi there! I definitely wouldn't say I'm an expert when it comes to AO3, but I find the fandom culture around AO3 to be really interesting, so I do talk about it a lot, haha. I've only been posting works there since 2019, though, and I'm sure folks who have been doing so for longer or have volunteered as tag wranglers or on the policy & abuse committee, for example, would know a lot more than I do. <3

But I'm really sorry to hear that you only get kudos and no comments on your fics! That really sucks. :( Like you said, you have no idea what those people actually think about what you made—just that they consumed it.

Honestly, I'm not sure I'm a good person to ask about getting readers to interact because I post both fanart and fanfics, which isn't super common, at least among people I know. I'm pretty sure that most of the folks who comment on my works followed me from Tumblr to AO3 back when I used to post art here. If I wanted to share nsfw images, I could only post cropped versions of them on Tumblr, so I would sometimes do that and link to the full image over on AO3. I suspect that's a big reason why I even have subscribers on AO3, haha. My writing certainly isn't better than that of plenty of people who also write for very niche ships and don't get as many kind comments as I do.

I also started out in my current fandom making art and writing about more popular characters until I quickly shifted focus when I found some that I like much more 😂 But I'm sure that quite a few people found my stuff because of those old works, and some of them probably stuck around.

Speaking of popular... This isn't something I do because I'm only motivated to make things that I like, but of course, there's always the 'write stuff for popular ships/characters' option. :/ Even now, when I happen to include fan favorites in my fics or art, all kinds of people come out of the woodwork to comment on them. And because I'm a contrary ass, that then makes me not want to create works featuring those ships or characters XD;;; But anyway, that is one option, haha.

A friend recently told me that they started asking little questions in the notes of each chapter of their fics, and that seemed to encourage readers to respond in the comments, so maybe that would be a good thing to try? I haven't tested it, so I can't say.

One thing I have tried that I think has made a difference is adding a blurb in the end notes of my works that I got from @longlivefeedback! They have a great template that you can customize and try out if you like (just make sure to read the bug fix part about curly/smart quotes versus straight quotes, since the curly quotes will kill your html).

One tried and true method to get more people commenting on your fics, of course, is to get to know people who also like the fandom/characters/ships you write about. Read some of their stuff or comment on their art or just chat about headcanons etc. And maybe they'll check out what you wrote.

(My caveat to this would be: do not do this with the sole purpose of getting someone to comment on your fics. I've had plenty of people do this to me, and it was so transparent that they had no interest in me as a person, but just wanted me to draw their OCs or scenes from their fic, or reblog their art, etc. Trying to manipulate someone like that just for your own gain is such gross behavior, and of course, I'm not saying you would do it, but it's common enough that I wanted to mention it 😓)

Okay, unsurprisingly, this got very long and rambling, haha. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, but I hope you get more folks interested in your writing!

I'd be curious to know if other people have advice for @sonofhighrock! :)