#this was simply the announcement about the 'hiatus'

[pillowbugs]

idea: submas au(?) where pre-battle subway, both of them were already somewhat known on the internet, but for different reasons. maybe not super famous, but definitely notable in their various circles.

let's say emmet has a blog / vlog (iamemmet) where he and a couple friends (elesa, burgh, etc) just mess around and battle and stuff (think online / showdown battle videos on yt except they're actually irl). he does talk about trains sometimes, and is visibly excited whenever he does, but most of his fans are there to watch him battle more than anything.

meanwhile, ingo runs a train blog (Conductor I) where he posts long and detailed writeups of virtually anything to do with trains. he is known to be quite passionate, and has gotten into various extremely heated arguments with other railfans on internet forums over the merits of certain trains and railfan etiquette. maybe he collabs with other blogs covering other topics run by his friends (e.g. trains vs planes annual debate feat. highflyinggirl (skyla), starlight express review feat. spectralscribe (shauntal), etc). overall, though, he's fairly guarded regarding his personal life, and most of what people know about him, excluding his train-related opinions, is from whenever he collabs with other people.

they have collaborated with each other before, so people absolutely know they're twins. there is a running joke about how emmet's fans might actually know more about ingo than his own fans, simply because emmet is much more open with his personal life and inevitably that includes a lot of stuff involving his brother.

so one day, they both announce that they're taking an indefinite hiatus from their blogs because of a project. after almost a year of speculation - oh, look, there's a new battle facility in unova! wait, these guys look familiar... and it does happen to be a facility integrated into the subway...

so of course, their existing fans congratulate both of them on their new positions, everyone's celebrating. both of them do return to posting on their blogs after things have settled a bit more (albeit less frequently than before the hiatus, because they have a job now). however, with their newfound mainstream fame, comes a gigantic new wave of fans from the battle subway.

and this is where things get incredibly messy within the fandom. maybe less so on emmet's end - he's quite open on his blog about being a subway boss, and vice versa, and he acts more or less the same way on both accounts, so within his fanbase, the question is just "when did you find him?" because he's been the same throughout. he is emmet. that's it. though, there is of course still a bit of fan elitism from those who found him before the subway and know all the "deep lore" about him.

ingo's fanbase, however, is an absolute bloodbath. there are actual factions. the two most notorious are the subway-onlies, the ones who are most likely to be called fake fans by the rest because they're only interested in his persona as a subway boss; and the conductor purists, who only enjoy his blog and forum presence but not his irl job, and think he has gone downhill after achieving mainstream success. in fact, many of the subway-onlies don't even realise ingo has a 'personal' blog, or any social media presence besides his official account as a subway boss, while the most diehard conductor purists have disavowed the battle subway because in their minds, it's taking attention away from the blog.

a big reason for the divide is that ingo gives a very different image on his blog and as a subway boss; a passionate, friendly railfan who can be quite verbose especially in roasting people online, versus the professional, polite facility head with a serious demeanour. many fans who found him through the subway are surprised at the content of his blog, even if most of them also love seeing this side of him. a certain subset of the fandom is very insistent that the blog shows his 'real' personality, while his being a subway boss is entirely an act.

in short, big fanbase = problems. many people looking in are genuinely terrified and confused as to whatever the hell is going on in there. there is Drama. get the popcorn.

[nasirsagron]

I NEED THIS SCENE ALREADY

LOOK AT THE TENSION, THE LONGING, THE LOVE

[rubynationwins]

Soft & Cuddly

Bucky Barnes x Plus Size Reader

Synopsis: Bucky is very determined to prolong your cuddle sesh.

Warnings: just some sickly sweet fluff for your perusal, sleepy/needy Bucky, a lil angst in the beginning

A/N: A little drabble to get me out of my writing slump/hiatus I never officially announced😅 oops. Anyway, I hope you all are doing well🥰

Thanks for reading!

-Ruby

Bucky loved soft things.

For too long, he’d been subjected to cold and unforgiving environments filled with harsh, unmovable barriers. As the Winter Soldier, his life had been a continuous tirade of concrete, metal, harsh terrain, and a constant threat of danger that kept him from ever truly resting. Until, of course, he was put back on ice - only to be awoken to do the bidding of cold, unforgiving people when the time came. 

So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that now he did everything in his power to surround himself with the opposite of what his previous life had been full of.

Lucky enough for him, you provided all the comfort he desired.

Your bed was soft and littered with fuzzy blankets and stuffed animals. Cushioned rugs that his feet sank into with every step covered the entire floor of your bedroom. Bucky would happily cocoon himself away in your room forever and live out the rest of his day basking in the warmth and coziness of it all.

What Bucky loved most of all, however, was your softness. In fact, the best part of your room was the fact that it you were in it. 

Currently, Bucky was laying in your bed with his head resting in your lap. You were scrolling through your phone, absentmindedly stroking your fingers through his silky locks. Bucky nuzzled into your thigh, his scruffy chin tickling your bare skin. His metal hand sat against your other leg, fingers lazily tracing along your inner thigh. They crested over the dimples that shifted every time you moved, and outlined the intricate stretch marks that interrupted the smooth plains of your body. He wanted to run his hands across all of you, mapping out every divot and line that led to the discovery of you. Bucky breathed in your perfect scent, his eyes drifting shut. He knew he could relax and let his guard down around you, it’s one of the things he cherished most about your relationship.

Your hand stopped its motion. “Bucky?” You gently called out. He simply nuzzled deeper into your lap. You chuckled, “Bucky, you can’t fall asleep there, I have to get up.” You unwrapped your leg that was curled up underneath his head and moved to get out of bed. Bucky’s metal hand wrapped around the outside of your lower hip, ceasing your attempt at escape. 

“Just 10 more minutes doll,” he grumbled against your skin, the sensation sparking butterflies in your stomach.

“Buckyyyyy-“ you whined, fully aware that 10 minutes would turn into an entire afternoon.

“Please?” His plea was so soft, so sweet.

You let out a sigh in defeat, “Fine. Just 10 more minutes. Then I’ve got to get up.”

You felt his satisfied smile against your skin and rolled your eyes. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do to keep you cuddled up with him. 30 minutes later you and Bucky were both softly snoring, wrapped in the softness of each other. 

[speakergame]

Progress Update - 3/4/24

Hello and happy March!

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? 😅 Well, I finally have some good news for you this time: I have some actual news!

I'm happy to be able to announce at last that an update is on its way! I’ve still got some assets to make and code cleanup and testing to finish, but I should finally have something to show you soon.

I’ll put a cut at the end of this and go into more detail about the what and why of what I’ve been working on during this long and unintended hiatus, but the tl;dr is that I hope to have an update out by the end of the month, and that said update will break any saves made in Chapter 4. Unfortunate, but unavoidable, since Chapter 4 had to be recoded from the beginning 😞

I just want to thank all of you once again for sticking with me through my extended silence! Especially to my patrons who’ve put up with me putting everything on pause month after month while I dealt with my real life shit, and to everyone who’s sent me kind and supportive messages to let me know Speaker hasn’t been forgotten. It really means a lot to me.

Okay, enough of that sappy shit! I’m gonna get back to work finishing this up 😁 I’ll put out another update later this month once I have a more definite release date.

Thank you all for reading! I hope you’re having a fantastic 2024 so far, and that the rest of the week treats you kindly. See y’all soon! 💙💙💙

(For those who want a more detailed breakdown on what’s been happening and what to expect, hit the readmore)

I won’t go into the personal life stuff I’ve been dealing with this past year that has slowed down my work, but as far as the actual game goes: 

To put it simply, I just wasn’t happy with it. Some of it could be because of how many times I had to reread the same section while I was coding the scenes that would’ve taken place after the last update, but no matter how much I edited or rearranged it, I didn’t like how that scene turned out. There was something… formulaic that had been happening with the way I always laid out scenes, and a bit of stagnation in the story, character, and relationship development that bothered me.

So I rewrote it. And when I still didn’t like it, I rewrote it again. And I still didn’t like it. I thought about scrapping the whole thing on more than one occasion as I struggled to get out of the corner I’d written myself into.

Inspiration finally struck at the beginning of this year, thanks in part to another interactive novel I follow, and I really like the direction I’ve taken it now. 

Instead of the RO split scenes happening where the last one left off, Speaker, Seer, and Gavin are gonna have a chat about Things™ to move the next story arc forward. Then Speaker will get some downtime, by themself at first and then in an extended scene split with the RO of their choosing. 

All the Big Plot Things that were going to happen in Chapter 4 will be moved to Chapter 5 instead, and 4 will be a bit more of a filler episode. A deep breath before the plunge, as it were.

This split won’t just be a quick conversation/reaction from the RO, but a full on different direction for the rest of the chapter based on who you choose. Most of them will involve leaving the house; all of them will involve actual one-on-one time (or one-on-two time, as the case may be) away from the others. And though romance isn’t required, all of them will have the potential to really move the romance forward if you so choose. One or two might even have a lock-in choice (maybe. I’m not 100 percent on that, so don’t hold me to it) 

These scenes won’t be in the next update, because they’re all very complex, but the update will definitely have the Seer chat and at least some of the by-yourself stuff. The update after will have the rest of the alone time stuff (including the clothes/body CC you’ve all been waiting for), and then the one after will start the RO scenes. I think.

I may actually split the RO scenes into separate updates, and let my darlings over at Patreon vote for the order they’re released. That way I can focus on one at a time instead of trying to split my attention six ways at once.

Okay, that’s enough rambling for me today. Time to get back to work! Still got a lot to get done before this is ready, but it’s so close now.

[cffeelia]

divine, divine | k. namjoon

“you are my pain divine, divine.”

summary: your long time boyfriend is the leader of the biggest band in the world. you’d imagine he would have some more time for you now that the group was temporarily disbanded, but he’s still busy with an album, leaving you to feel unwanted and lonely. it’s only a matter of time before he leaves for the military and all you want is to see him do anything but fall asleep in his studio.

kind of angsty but pinky promise it ends on a good note 🙏🙏

2022

bts has become apart of your life as much as it’s apart of your boyfriend’s, seeing as he’s the leader of the group. for the past 4 years, youve grown closer to the boys, growing a special relationship with each of them. from sitting backstage on tour, to placing blankets over them as they slept in their studio. you’ve seen all of their highs and lows, seeing as their moods basically determined your boyfriends.

namjoon lives vicariously through his band mates, if they were upset, so was he. 2020 was a rough patch for everyone, but namjoon took it so harshly. that was the first time you’d ever seen him sob, hands running through his bleached hair as he fell to his knees in your shared apartment.

“what am i even good for if it’s not music? and i can’t even get anything out in this time where everyone needs me. ____, why am i even here?”

all you could do was tuck his head into your chest, your mouth lightly parted as tears fell silently while he cried into your shirt. he’s never crashed this hard before, you needed to say something, anything.

you managed to calm him down after about ten minutes, the night ended with him wrapped in your arms, eyes puffed from his sobs.

thankfully, that year never repeated. you learned a lot about namjoon, his moods, how to comfort him. he wasn’t always a touchy guy, opting for words of affirmation both to you and to receive, but this year taught him how much he loved to be held by you. he would never take that for granted.

things went back to normal after about two years, and bangtan was excited to perform again for their permission to dance tour, though it wasn’t to the scale of the one they originally planned. however, the tour was successful, and definitely memorable for not just you, but your boyfriend and his band mates as well. you can still recall the night they closed off the tour, ‘mikrokosmos’ always would hold a special place in your heart, this group really loved their fans, it’s so admirable to see an artist hold that much love for people simply because they enjoy their music.

nothing good lasted forever, though.

june 14, 2022, during 2022 festa, bangtan officially announced their hiatus. you knew this news was coming since january of that year, but this wasn’t the bad part. if anything, you were excited to spend more 1-on-1 time with the love of your life, and for his close friends to get a break from the spotlight, but it wasn’t what you thought it was.

immediately after this announcement, namjoon was working like crazy on more music. their repackaged album was already out, and the busan concert went well, so why was he still calling you from his studio to tell you he wouldn’t make it for dinner again? that’s how you ended up in your car, trying not to violate traffic laws as you angrily drove to the hybe building.

“mr namjoon, someones here for you.”

the studio door opened to reveal a staff member, namjoon got up groggily from his seat, a little pissed of that his flow was interrupted.

taking the elevator to the first floor, he imagined it was probably some producer offering their beats again. why wasn’t security listening when he said he knew what he was doing for this album?

he wasn’t expecting you, hair braided out of your bare face. you wore his white tshirt and loose fitting jeans, clearly you rushed out of the house.

“hey baby. what’s up?” he slowly made his way to you.

“don’t ‘hey baby’ me, are you seriously doing this again?” you took his hand, dragging him back to his studio.

“what do you mean?” he struggled to keep up as you paced into the elevator, jamming the floor seven button

“____, hey, what’s going on? are you ok?” he cupped your face, dark circles hung along your eyes, your eyelashes poking straight out instead of their usual curled position. were you crying?

“no namjoon, im not! i thought you were done working on music, i want you to come home!” dramatically flinging your hands around, you looked longingly up to your boyfriends eyes, his hand still caressing your cheek.

“i’m sorry, i didn’t tell you. i’m preparing another album before i have to go to the military this december.” he smiled softly to you, but you didn’t return it. your face lost all emotion, turning back to the buttons on the elevator.

“i’m going home then, goodnight.”

“what? hun, what’s wrong? i’ll come home this wholeeee week. i promise, i just got a late start today babe.”

he grabbed your hand to stop your from pressing the lobby button.

“baby, look at me.” turning your head towards his smiling face, you knew you were in for it now. you planned to tell him off, and get him to come home. now you felt bad for interrupting his music process, and couldn’t keep up your angry girlfriend act any longer.

“just let me wrap up, ok? you can come with, there’s still some takeout in my office. give me thirty minutes i promise.” your eyes fell to his pinky, sticking out for you to interlock yours with and seal his promise.

you pecked his lips, looking away embarassed that he sweet talked the anger out of you.

“i love you, you’re real cute.” he whispered as he lead you into his studio.

2023

so much for the stupid fucking pinky promise, once again you were left alone in your bed. namjoon was surprisingly here tonight, but he had barely said a word, his exhaustion took him over, and he almost fell asleep in the shower if it weren’t for you coming in to brush your teeth.

now he was sleeping at your side, head skimming your shoulder as you sat, propped up on your pillows, scrolling mindlessly on your phone. it was supposed to distract you, but your for you page wanted you to remember everything that you were missing out on. you know this is a hard time for bangtan, but what about you? namjoon was overworking himself as if he didn’t have ten whole months before he would have to enlist.

you wanted to feel bad for him, it’s so selfish to tell him to abandon his work to come spend time with you. but seriously, what the fuck? you didn’t even get to kiss him on new years, he spent it with jhope, in their stupid fucking studio.

your phone flashed all colors of purple and white, the tiktok video was from an army recounting their concert memories from 2019 during the lysy tour. you remember that night, hearing thousands of english speaking armys defy the boundaries of language to sing in korean for bts. it made you cry too, but this video inflicted both frustration and sadness in you now.

you turned your phone off, tossing it to the side and climbing into your sheets, head facing namjoons as he slept. you let a tear roll silently down your cheek, you wish he could care as much as he used to. he unconsciously grabbed your arm, barely awake as he interlocked arms with you, and shuffled higher on the pillows. he basically was inviting you into his arms. hesitantly, you scooted until you were in his chest, you arms naturally reaching up to his neck.

that one tear became two, then three, then you lost count. hopefully he wouldn’t notice how soaked his shirt was, you sniffled lightly, careful not to wake him. you had almost drifted to sleep, exhausted from your heavy breathing while you let your emotions fall from your heavy lids. namjoon pulled you into his chest tighter, feeling the wet stain of your tears startled him awake.

he gasped lightly and groggily sprung up from bed

“what? what’s wrong?” you asked, flipping a lamp on, your voice hoarse as you tried to wipe your tears discreetly.

“what, what, is this you?” he pointed to the dark circle staining his loose shirt.

this only earned a sniffle from you, everything fell out all at once, snapping joon out of his sleepy trance, he listened as close as he could, extremely sleep deprived and barely even awake.

“i miss you so much joonie, it’s- it’s- like, not the same anymore!” you sniffled “all i want is to just enjoy waking up with you and going out to cute cafes again without music being behind it! please,” your hands slapped into your eyes, “please joonie can you just, just come back to me once in a while? why am i competing with your music? shouldn’t you prioritize me? i feel so unimportant.” your voice died down, namjoon wasted no time in tucking you back into bed, he let you roll onto his chest.

“hun, you should’ve spoke up. i broke our promise, i know i did, i should’ve apologized princess.” he kissed your temple. “i’m so sorry, ____, i’ll spend more time with you baby. it’s been so hard huh?” he tilted his head back to see your relaxed face, still leaking tears onto his shirt.

“yes, i just wanted you to come home, i feel like i’m loosing it, i haven’t even showered for the past three days, i didn’t wash my face joonie everything’s just a fucking task right now.” you let out another sniffle before looking back into his eyes. “when will you just be how you used to again?”

he felt himself recharge as he looks into your beautiful eyes, though half lidded. he felt like he could sleep in your eyes, they were truly heaven. so much so he forgot to reply, “i know baby. it’s ok, you’re ok, i’ll find a way to stay home more often, that sound good?”

you nodded, puckering your lips lightly, he kissed you once, then again, and again, then your cheek, ear, neck, then back to your lips.

it pained him so much to see you hurt over him, especially when he knows you’ve been innocently waiting like the perfect girl you are for him to say something to you.

after a while, the two of you fell asleep, arms crossed around each other as he caught up on some much needed rest. neither of you woke up until 2pm, joon replaced himself with a pillow, letting you sleep some more while he walked to the living room. his guitar sat in the corner of the room, where it had been collecting dust for two years now.

he rushed back into the room to quietly grab his laptop, also stealing a soft kiss on your lips, before he sat down on your shared couch. he knew what he wanted this song to sound like, he just needed lyrics and now, he finally found them.

copying your words, he began to play quietly. it took a while, but he got the premise of the song eventually, deciding to put the guitar down to cook the two of you some breakfast. he turned the stove on, getting to work making pancakes.

the smell woke you up, even though the food had been made, your boyfriend knew it could be reheated. if you weren’t ready to wake up, he wouldn’t come get you. so, he settled back down with his guitar, playing his untitled song.

it was the sound that lulled you out of bed. despite what you’d said last night, you loved to hear namjoon singing. you stumbled into the living room, sitting down beside namjoon as he continued his song, eyes skimming over you. the smile in his voice was audible. you layed your head on his shoulder, letting the vibrations of his voice relax you.

this was exactly what you missed, just quality time with the light of your life. you had never felt better than at that exact moment, it was the peak of your relationship.

just like his lyrics, it was divine, divine.

i have ideas for a part two if anyone’s interested 😽😽 lmk!!

[vellichor-of-the-solivagant]

How to Plant Snapdragons | 9

Task Force 141, Keegan, & Konig x Female Criminal!Reader

Previous Chapter / Masterlist

CONTENT WARNING: Strong Violence NOTE: WAZZUP BITCHES, IM BACK I am very sorry for not updating for 4-5(?) months. I didn't mean to go on a hiatus without any announcements. Things had been quite busy for me lately and I focused on some things (FUCK COLLEGE BUT I PASSED ALL MY CLASSES ANYWAY), and also the reason why I suddenly "went dark" is because of the fucking MW3 Campaign. Yeah, shit destroyed me. WORD COUNT: 2.7k

You had been to Mexico once. You went to good places it held, but you also walked on the mud it hid in the dark. After all, there could never be a perfect country. Even if someone said that their glorious purpose was for the better good of their nation—most of the time, they were merely heroes in their own stories and villains in the others’. Well, Mexico had good food. You could give them that, at least. But this place, Las Almas, would it have good stuff as well?

You shook off your vest and Ghost’s jacket as the pilot alerted you of the time of the touchdown and slipped into your jacket, fitted to your frame. As much as you wanted to keep wearing the lieutenant’s clothes, you couldn’t risk getting harmed because of loose clothing and failing this stupid mission.

You turned to Ghost as you folded his jacket neatly. “Can I keep this?” you asked and smiled.

He stared at you for a good second, pools of honey you couldn’t read before he looked away. “Suit yourself.”

Your grin widened, and you stashed the jacket into your bag. You hummed as you put on your vest, tightening it to your liking. You patted your pockets, checking each of them, until you felt Ghost’s mask in one, fingers lingering on the soft fabric, and sighed. You put your hands down on your lap and leaned against the cold steel, waiting for the upcoming descent, which didn’t take long.

The plane opened up, and a busy facility greeted your sight. Vehicles drove in and out of the area, and soldiers went back and forth from one place to another. But even when they were bustling, you could feel their gazes land on you—suspicious and judging, whispering among themselves, voices drowned out by the loud exhausts of the transports.

It was something you wished you could get used to. At the same time, you didn’t want to, when eyes held more than they seemed.

You followed Soap and Ghost down the plane, walking towards a couple of men who stepped forward. One of them had his hands clasped behind him, while the other simply stood by his side. Both were, well, good-looking and buffed (which was normal for military men), but eh, not really your type.

They would make pretty models though.

Also, good human shields, if ever.

Johnny, being the everlasting sunshine he was, greeted them first, extending a hand to the man named Alejandro, and engaged in a conversation with him as though they had been long good friends. Then, the sergeants forced the poor lieutenant to join in, who sounded ready to strangle the scot.

Then, your eyes found the gaze of the man next to the Mexican captain on the monitor on your ankle. A frown spread on his face and worsened the moment he saw the smirk that crept up your lips, his eyes darting between you and the half of the 141.

The look of a man confused never failed to be an entertainment. And what was more the obvious expression that said, what the fuck is a criminal doing here? Or something in Spanish.

“And who is she?” Alejandro questioned, finally turning his eyes on you—or rather, down to your ankle, as if the monitor would be the one to answer him.

“She’s sent by General Shepherd,” Ghost immediately replied, batting an eye at you. “She may be a criminal, but she proved excellent in various ways that could be useful to us.”

Alejandro, albeit hesitantly, nodded and extended a hand to you. “Nice to meet you, miss.”

You took his hand, giving it a quick shake. “I’m at your service, sir. And worry not about me going against orders, I pretty much like my head attached to my neck.”

He put a forced smile on his face, one you’d seen way too many times on people. “We’ll see about that.” He motioned at the man beside him. “This is Sergeant Major Rodolfo Parra, my second-in-command.”

The said man, Rodolfo, extended his hand first to Soap, who the fellow Sergeant enthusiastically shook. Then, he batted an eye at Ghost, seemingly hesitant to approach him, but still decided to. Ghost, however, merely stared at his hand, and Rodolfo backed away, clearing his throat.

Soap stepped forward. “Ah, the Lt’s not much of a talker.”

Rodolfo nodded. “I understand.” He turned your way and reached out his hand, which you lightly shook, quickly withdrawing right after. He moved back to Alejandro’s side, who nodded his head towards a direction.

“Follow me, we’ll talk along the way.” Alejandro turned and began to walk, passing by and nodding at soldiers who saluted at him. By the end of the way—or seemingly at both an entrance and exit, several jeeps were parked, and a few soldiers stood by the vehicles. With a wave of hand from Alejandro, the men slipped inside the vehicles, and Rodolfo was the first to get in the first jeep on the line.

“I’d like to sit beside the window—” you attempted to request, but Ghost was quick to shut you off.

“No,” he said as Soap rounded the car, stepping in by the other side.

“But—”

“No.”

“C’mon, lassie, don’t you want to sit between us?” Soap questioned, a smile played on his lips.

You slipped inside with a grumble, inching close to the sergeant, before elbowing him. He grunted, but you knew it wouldn’t do much damage to him with all his muscles. At the same time, doors shut as both Alejandro and Simon got inside.

“Tengo miedo de los fantasmas,” Rodolfo mumbled, slightly turning his head to face his colonel.

(I’m afraid of ghosts.)

Your eyes whipped forward, brows slightly raising at his words, which you perfectly understood. You glanced at Ghost, but he merely stared ahead. At the back of your mind, you wanted to snitch on the new guy just so some drama could happen between them, but at the same time, drama could lead to suspicion between these men.

This was why knowing some languages if you travel abroad was great. But it should be fine to keep quiet for now. What the sergeant said wasn’t suspicious, but if they did anything that could bring harm to Ghost and Soap, then . . . 

On the other hand, Alejandro chuckled at the comment of his sergeant and looked back at the three of you. “You know Spanish?”

The Lieutenant remained silent, and you did the same, turning your head to the side to look out of the window, whilst Soap shook his head, and answered, “No.”

Alejandro drew a smirk on his face and turned his attention back ahead. “Oh, you will.”

Rodolfo started the car and drove out of the base.

“See,” you pointed at the window, begrudgingly looking at Simon, who stared indifferently at you. “This is why I want to be next to the window.”

The car passed by two-story buildings, seemingly houses or apartments, painted in pastel colors. People were walking and talking on the street, some vendors and their stands offering their goods, and some other vehicles were parked on the way. It wasn’t much, not even beautiful, but still you’d like to see everything you could see.

“Have you taken a liking to Las Almas?” Alejandro questioned, glancing back at you.

You put your hand down and turned your head on his way. “To be frank, it’s not a liking, sir, rather, it’s curiosity. I’m not from here or anything similar to this place, so I’d like to see how things work here.”

His head inclined a bit to the side, appearing to be thinking of his words. “You’ll be . . . disappointed.”

You smiled. “I’ll be the one to judge that.” Just as you finished your sentence, a truck with men riding on the back, guns in hand passed by. You couldn’t help but whistle at their ridiculous sight, and put your hand on top of Soap’s before he could grab his gun.

He frowned at you. “What are ya—”

“Calm down, sir,” you cut him off, pulling your hand away. “Seeing as no one on the street is reacting about it, pretty sure that’s normal here.”

“You’re right,” Alejandro spoke in a serious voice, once again looking back at you. “Guns are in the jurisdiction of the police.”

“Looks like Las Almas has a huge problem,” you commented and crossed your arms. “Much more than what I’ve heard.”

Alejandro shifted his eyes to you. “You seem to know something about Las Almas.”

With his words, Soap and Ghost also settled their eyes on you, as if they were ready to do everything to get answers out of your mouth. “I’ve been to Mexico, and during my stay, I heard of things about Las Almas. Not exactly the good ones as you probably expected, but I didn’t know things around here would be this bad.”

“When did you come to Mexico?”

“Over a couple of years ago, sir.”

“I see.” He turned back ahead. “Well, things weren’t that bad back then.”

“I suppose those who tried to uphold the laws and resist corruption met their end as the time passed?”

“You’re right.”

You hummed. “Well, without powerful backing to protect them, I doubt they’ll last much in a society like this.”

“And ya also seemed to know things about politics and stuff,” Soap claimed, slightly shifting on his seat.

You met his blue eyes with a grin. “I had met quite a few politicians in my life. Assassinated an Austrian before, and the one who hired me snitched on me. That’s why I ended up on Shepherd’s shackles.”

His eyes narrowed with suspicion. “How much of that is true?”

You laughed loudly, although you already knew what would be his reaction. “Take a guess,” you told him challengingly.

“The last sentence,” Ghost joined in, his voice monotone.

You snorted. “Except that.” Then, you gasped, throwing yourself to the window at Soap’s side, making him curse out something you couldn’t fucking understand in whatever Scottish was that. “Look, look, Lt!” You motioned your hand on Ghost to look at the ridiculous sight of someone in a skull balaclava giving balloons to kids.

“What the hell?” Soap’s bright eyes also followed the scene.

You whipped around and smiled at Ghost, who simply stared at you. “If you ever want to quit the military, you can retire with me and live together.”

“How about living in Las Almas since Ghost might fit well in here?” Rodolfo suggested in a soft voice. Alejandro hit him on the side, whispering something, and from the corner of your eyes, you saw Ghost slowly turning to look at him through the rear mirror.

You tilted your head. “But Las Almas has a serious problem when it comes to crimes, so I don’t think it is very much suitable to live in unless you want to be a crime lord or still in the military. And I’m the type of person who likes traveling around. If I were to settle for sometime somewhere else, it would be where I would have already spent some time on, like London, Berlin, or California and—”

“It’s just a joke, please. Don’t take it too seriously,” Rodolfo mumbled, sounding like he wanted to bury himself on the ground at the moment and never appear again.

On the way to the destination, Alejandro had talked more about the way of Las Almas, and finally, what you and the 141 came here for, El Sin Nombre, the leader of the Mexican Cartel who was protecting Hassan. Quite a reputation that person had as Alejandro said they had eyes and ears everywhere.

Having eyes and ears everywhere was also something the one who raised you did. Even if your father was in prison at the moment, you knew he was still pulling strings. A mastermind out of everyone’s league, until he decided to invest in you. Guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, now that you were technically imprisoned as well.

You pulled out your balaclava and huffed, putting it on swiftly. You jumped out of the jeep right after Simon and you heard Alejandro spit out his commands in a low, serious voice. You rounded up with the soldiers before a gate and under the Colonel’s command, the group barged in. You frowned as you had seen no man in sight, seemingly the civilians had run away—or were mostly likely driven out by the Cartel.

Alejandro waved his hand to follow him up another gate, which this time, Ghost opened, and gunshots echoed in the air.

“Showtime,” you said under your breath, aiming your assault rifle and blasting a hole through a man’s head, vibrant red painting the dull walls around. You rounded a corner, cautiously looking out for an enemy. You spotted a couple of them, but before you could take them down, they had already fallen on the ground. Your head whipped at Soap and Ghost’s direction. “Showoffs,” you grumbled.

“Said the one who wanted to take two men down at the same time,” Soap remarked, giving you a look, and you heard Ghost huff.

You clicked your tongue and swiftly entered a house, but quickly moved back out as you saw not a soul in sight. Your frown worsened at the unusual lack of men to hold the group back. In these cases, either it would be a trap or they had escaped already.

You glanced over your shoulders. 141, some of Alejandro’s men and the Colonel himself were on sight. The walls obscured your view of the place, there were so many corners where men could be hiding themselves or something else, and such things as Cartels wouldn’t hesitate to destroy a run-down hide-out like this for their good.

Soap shot a man from the roof and Alejandro positioned himself in front of a door, motioning at us. “Secure the house, and we go for Hassan.”

Several voices echoed from inside the place, cursing and hushing one another.

“Take the door,” Alejandro commanded. Soap stepped forward, but you grabbed him, making him look at you.

Before he could utter a word, you kicked the door open, slid on the floor towards a corner, and struck a man awaiting in the hallway. You got up immediately, raised a hand so they wouldn’t follow you, and picked up a baby’s bottle on the ground, throwing it to a room through a slightly opened door. Shots were fired blindly right after and you countered it with a couple of bullets, and it stopped. You pushed the blasted door open and found a man lying on the floor, and the baby’s bottle rolling towards your foot.

“Room clear,” you announced, staring down at the bottle for a second, before moving to the next room. They followed you in and you braced yourself for another onslaught, but this time, Soap was the one who barged in, quickly shooting down the men inside without batting an eye.

“Room clear,” he said and put his hand on your shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

You looked up at him and raised a brow that he wouldn’t see.

Ghost sauntered in the room. “No sign of Hassan.”

Alejandro sighed. “They already moved him.”

You turned your attention to him. “They move fast, hm?”

He looked at you, letting Ghost and Soap rummage the desk across the room instead. “They do. Much more than I expected.”

“So they already know that we’re coming here,” you remarked.

“Highly possible. The Cartel has eyes everywhere.”

You narrowed your eyes and echoed, “Everywhere?”

He nodded to affirm it. “Everywhere.”

“You mean even among your men?”

He paused, staring at you for a good second. “No, I trust my men.”

“A weed is a weed, sir, no matter how good it looks in your garden,” you said in a monotonous voice, picking up a pencil from the ground. “Sooner or later, they’ll bring harm to your plants. And even the plants you put in your garden can bring harm to you if you don’t know what they are.”

Ghost and Soap shot an eye on you, before exchanging looks with each other.

He eyed you cautiously and his serious voice lowered. “What are you implying?”

You remained silent and so did he, until Rodolfo’s voice echoed in your headsets. “The army is rolling in!”

Next Chapter / Archive of Our Own

Taglist: @yyiikes, @the-faceless-bride @sarahedwards16, @kenma-izhu, @kkaaaagt, @cassiecasluciluce, @unicorngirly1, @thriving-n-jiving, @squidalapobre, @tallicaside

[wonhes]

why can’t yall just be happy for seunghan, yes sm still needs to take accountability and take legal action against those certain ot6’s but we all knew that fuckass company wasn’t going to add seunghan back to the group so let’s just be happy and support seunghan at least he’s still able to achieve some part of his dream and i say part bcs riize was his dream

also i’m not saying you’re not happy for him or wtv i’ve just seen lots of briize being disappointed in him debuting solo which i understand but there’s some saying they won’t support him u less he’s in riize which is just ???😭

hi! i think fans are unhappy for good reasons. i love seunghan and will continue to support him. however, i can’t help but feel like sm is doing this to silence the fans. it literally feels like “alright, here’s seunghan stfu!” pls remember that seunghan was unfairly put in an indefinite hiatus for so long. he was unfairly removed from riize. he was sent funeral wreaths. and sm allowed for all of that to happen. this simply just feels like they’re announcing his solo in hopes that fans will go back to supporting and they’ll forget about everything that happened

[agent-cakeshroom]

Thinkin about a Trolls au where Brozone never split. This is also under the assumption that during the scene right before going out to perform, they were not at home. They still fought, but as they're yelling at each other Grandma steps in and separates them to let them go clear their heads. Clay bursts into tears as his emotions crash down on him, and he runs out to go home. Spruce(no name change yet obv) quickly follows after shooting JD a dirty look, telling Grandma he'd go soothe Clay. Grandma picks up Branch, and Floyd offers to go gather her things so they can head home too. John Dory is still reeling, and blurts out that he's going to go stay with a friend. Before anyone else can say anything, he's hopped out the window. Grandma decides to leave him be, and heads home with the youngest two.

By the time they get back, Clay has cried himself to sleep in the room he shares with Floyd, and Spruce is dressed more comfortably while slumped over at the kitchen table. Grandma sets Branch in the high chair and gets to fixing them up some hot cocoa. Floyd grabs out the jar of shortbread cookies, and passes some to his brothers as he sits next to Spruce. No one says anything until they're all sitting and nursing a mug of cocoa. Spruce apologizes to Grandma out of habit, but she waves it off. Talks about how they're teenagers and children, that emotions are bound to explode. She talks about how JD should be back by tomorrow, and they can all try to work things out then. Eventually they all head to bed, Spruce in his shared room with JD, and Branch with Grandma.

Next morning, they all wake up late and John Dory is in the kitchen whipping up breakfast. Clay wakes up first, and just stops in the kitchen doorway to stare at his eldest brother. JD's eyes are puffy like his, and he looks like he'd barely slept. Without saying a word, Clay simply sits at the table to wait for the rest of their family. Floyd is next, still half asleep, and curls up in the chair next to Clay while leaning on the middle brother. Spruce is close behind, wearing a sweater he stole from JD's closet, but decides not to explain himself since no one was paying attention anyway. Last is Grandma carrying a sleepy Branch, setting him in the high chair just as food finishes cooking. She helps JD set out plates and dish out the food before they both sit, and the family eats in silence at first.

Eventually John Dory speaks up first, apologizing to Clay. He doesn't look at his younger brother, or anyone really, but they can all hear how close to crying he is. He apologizes to Spruce as well, and then Floyd. He tells them that he'll try to stop being so bossy, and he won't force them to do anything they don't want to. He says he loves them all the way they are, and he never should've tried to change that just for the band's image. He apologizes again, and tries to lighten the mood by commenting on his tears getting in his pancakes. It's gets a small laugh out of his brothers, and Branch pipes up with his own apology. He tries to say it was all his fault the concert was ruined, but all 4 brothers jump in to reassure him it wasn't his fault. John tries to explain that Branch is just a baby, and if it's anyone's fault it's John's. Grandma praises them for trying to work things out, and then tells them to hurry up and eat. Their food is getting cold.

Obviously all their problems aren't solved there, but it leads into John Dory announcing that Brozone is going on hiatus. They're taking a break to focus on their personal lives. He's terrified of the audience reaction, but fans were surprisingly supportive. Clay focuses more on school, and even starts sharing about his sad book club. Spruce focuses less on working out all the time, and instead convinces Grandma to teach him how to bake. Floyd starts writing his own songs, and has JD double check them just in case. John decides to ignore anything he wants to do, and focuses more on helping his brothers. Grandma notices and tries to get him to go and be a teenager, but JD refuses.

Timeskip to Grandma still getting eaten. Clay was off at sad book club, Spruce was inside trying to make lunch, and Floyd was working on songs with JD. Spruce hears Grandma yelling and screaming, and as he starts to run outside he hears Branch scream too. He barely catches a glimpse of the Bergen walking away with his Grandma, and he wants to collapse and wail but he can hear Branch crying from the ground. Spruce hurries down to his baby brother as JD and Floyd finally burst out of the pod. JD forces Floyd back inside, and crashes down beside his brothers to drag them back into the pod. He doesn't know what just happened, but he knows they're safest inside. Once inside, the older brothers see Branch's colors begin to fade and panic. Spruce explains that Grandma was taken just before bursting into tears himself. Floyd starts crying right after, and JD can feel himself start to shake. But seeing his brothers so distressed, the oldest manages to shove back his feelings and take all three brothers to his and Spruce's room to cuddle and process. Clay arrives not too long after, unaware, and JD tries to gently break the news to him. Clay is distraught, screaming and stomping before deflating into JD's arms.

FAST FORWARD AGAIN. After that JD starts helping with the tunnels to escape, and let's Spruce take on more responsibility over their younger brothers. When the time comes to escape, JD is in charge of carrying Floyd while Spruce carries Branch. Clay tries to stick close, but stops when he hears Viva yelp in fear. He glances back at his brothers, just in time to catch the horror in their faces as a pick axes smashes down between them. Clay is flung back, and smacks into a startled Viva. JD and Spruce are frozen for a moment, but rhe screams of their youngest brothers kick them into gear as they start sprinting for the exit. Floyd is hysterically crying and flailing, trying to reach out for Clay while Branch is inconsolable.

Viva and Clay end up in a similar situation to canon, the only difference is Clay is more soft and in tune with himself. He still enjoys boring stuff, but he's not as adamant about not being fun. The other four try to settle down in the new village with a new pod, but the older brothers catch Branch attempting to dig his bunker on multiple occasions. One by one they give in and help, and eventually the bunker is built with an extra room for Clay just in case. Branch isn't fully gray, but his color is severely muted, and his other brothers aren't much brighter. Floyd is the only one that really actively sings, but JD and Spruce will hum to themselves or to their brothers. Branch refuses to sing at all.

[elioslover]

Green-Eyed Monster- Harry Styles x Reader (kiss prompt).

[Premise: Harry has been pining over his best friend's older sister for as long as he can recall. Here's some angst when the band goes on hiatus].

Prompts: "You're jealous, just admit it, you want to be the one kissing me." // “If you wanted to kiss me, all you had to do was ask.” 

Word count: 2.6k.

More Grapejuice / Other Writing

🍷 the guest 🍷

There is no reason for you to feel as bent out of shape as you are in this very moment, zoned out of a conversation with an old friend because standing behind her is the man himself- leaning against the balcony with a collection of adoring guests gathering near, Harry Styles. 

Harry Styles; whose boyband had just announced a hiatus. Harry Styles; is properly back in his hometown for the first time in half a decade. Acting- as you deem- far too nonchalant for someone as global as he seemed to be. He had simply slipped back into his old groove as if no time had passed at all. 

But all you can think about is how much time has passed. Harry seems almost unrecognizable- hair and tattoos only increasing in length and number. It’s only when his face takes intervals to crinkle with glee- smile cheesing, eyes squinting with joy- that you see the Harry you’ve known so long it feels as if life never existed before him. 

Even as his life is about to change completely- a whole new chapter challenging his past and now his future- Harry seems to have little reservation about embracing happiness. Perhaps his nonchalance is the reason your observation stirs into frustration and confusion, causing a sort of panic you were sure to have never felt prior. Who is Harry Styles now? 

Then again, your sudden distaste may also be attributed to the adoring attention he has been receiving all night- particularly that of the beautiful people who were visibly blessed with the chance to praise and pet him… And they were indulgently taking advantage of the opportunity. 

Harry, by the looks of it was eagerly lapping it up, happily reciprocating touches and even looking at some of them with a gaze you had once noticed when it was dedicated to yours truly. 

He definitely isn't a teenager anymore, and it dawns on you how impactful and influential his introduction to stardom had been. 

Where were these thoughts even coming from? Your mind never wavered to the thought of Harry unless a One Direction song came on in public or Jack dropped him in conversation. 

All the questions you had never pondered were causing your brain to swell, your body stuck in a frozen frenzy of how much has changed- for all of you- starting with the obscene and sudden assessment of his features- had you ever considered him as anything other than just… Harry? Has he always been so pretty? 

All of those thoughts shatter as you raise your glass for a sip and across the room, Harry’s arm wraps around an unknown auburn-headed woman’s waist- which, at the least, makes your stomach clench and at the most, has you tilting your head back to empty the glass in one desperate swallow. 

Without consideration, you hastily dismiss the person still animatedly engaging in a one-sided conversation and turn your back on the oddly upsetting scene happening against the balcony railings. 

Ignoring the high possibility of tripping, agitation carries you to the kitchen- abandoned and almost silent in contrast to the party vibing merely meters away- and you immediately get ahold of the nearest bottle of chilled champagne, filling your flute to the brim and have a hearty sip before finally settling, taking a deep breath, trying to untangle your thoughts- hopefully rid yourself of them for good. 

A couple minutes- what sounds like the length of a song- pass before you feel grounded and sane enough to rejoin the festivities. So, with a deep breath and a final sip for good luck, your faithful docs exit the kitchen and trail into the chatty confinements of the living room.

Lo and behold, Harry Styles is everywhere you go, practically blocking your path with his body pressing up against Auburn from outside, and he looks mere moments away from engaging her in a kiss. 

That silly sickly feeling threatens to return if you stay a moment longer, so your stare meets the floor and your feet pick up their pace, heading directly for the barricade that is Harry. 

His eyes bore into your own with a fervour that you will never forget and for a moment he has you pondering how such a magnificent emerald forest, framed by the wispiest of lashes, could have gone unnoticed for so long- how had you granted his adoring gaze such little attention? 

🍷 the host 🍷

Harry is in two minds about this evening- he can’t help but indulge in the praises and doting that showers him from each and every direction, his pulse is racing with ecstatic at the relief of finally being home again. 

His fears of everything changing have long passed, leaving his worries at the door as he is embraced with excited and excessive welcomes from anyone and everyone who looks his way. 

With his oldest and best friend, Jack, by his side once more, Harry feels no different than he did at that farewell party at least five years prior, enthusiastically greeting familiar faces, accepting each praise with a gracious humbleness. 

But Harry can’t tell if humble is even an accurate definition anymore and it isn't long before he feels his social battery starting to stutter and it’s clearly time for a drink. 

By the end of drink number two, his body is as relaxed as his mind, and Harry is now encouraging the constant vying for his attention- his supposed importance- especially when it includes an array of beautiful people stroking his extremely inflated ego. 

Leaning against the balcony railing, Harry cradles a whisky in one hand and the waist of a dazzling woman in his other. He hasn't actually been listening to a word said around him, nodding every so often as the small group around him eagerly bantered on. 

He’s just happy to be here and doesn't think it could get any better until he spots the only thing on earth that could permanently put him on cloud nine- his greatest dream all wrapped up in the gorgeous physical being that is yours truly- and suddenly Harry feels as if all of the happiness he currently feels is merely an appetizer to the type of joy he could be feeling if he were only across the room staring into your eyes. 

Oddly enough, your eyes are already set on him, suspiciously staring him down with an unreadable gaze that fills his stomach with an odd sense of unease. You look older- the same, but older- and something about that freaks Harry out and reminds him of his own age, how different things actually are now, even if it doesn't feel that way. 

And as if he were seeing you for the very first time, Harry cannot stop staring with bewildered admiration- his eyes darting from your trusty Docs to the extremely fashionable clothing you donned, sternly studying the dips and curves of your body before settling back on your grumpy, but heinously beautiful face. 

He felt it unreasonable- borderline evil- how much better you seemed to get with each interaction, how the hell was he to garner your attention now when he was already hardly capable of doing so for the last decade?

After you disappear into the sanctuary of the kitchen, Harry is too antsy to keep it together any longer and he finds his legs blindly following after you. 

He’s hardly in the hallway by the time his female company comes from outside- he didn’t bother learning her name. Her auburn hair was identification enough- and she caught up and captured his bicep between her cold hand. 

She ascends to her tippy toes, puckered lips finding their place just below Harry’s earlobe, her breath fanning over his sharp jawline as she seductively slips sensual suggestions his way, her free hand trailing up along his torso, fingernails tapping his chest. 

For a good moment, Harry truly does start to forget what he had gone on the hunt for, easily distracted by the shower of affection drizzling all along his body by the unknown woman. 

But, with a sudden shock, the kitchen door violently swings open to reveal your rigid figure, eyes furrowed and lips trapped fearfully between your gritted teeth.  

You are the spitting image of a deer in headlights, staring up at Harry with a look that has him stopping in his tracks, realizing that fate has struck again and he has his elusive person right where he wants you. 

Except, his plan to finally confront you had not included a third party and Harry could feel his face swelling with red blotches of blushy embarrassment. 

For a reason he can’t pinpoint, shame creeps its way into the pit of his stomach, fists clenched as his body turns to brick, and Auburn, still semi-latched on, is becoming so suffocating he feels like a lobster about to boil inside out. 

Rudely, and far too obviously, Harry disarms himself, shrugging his body from beneath Auburn’s grip and muttering some dismissive promise of meeting up with her later on- praying that his words are muffled enough that you don’t hear them. 

You aren't stupid though, and by the height your brow manages to raise in suspicion, Harry confirms that his words did not go unnoticed. 

His dismissal of Auburn seems fine by her as she smiles hopefully, giving him a swift kiss on his cheek before slipping past Harry and disappearing back into the party. 

Unfortunately, he isn’t surprised as you attempt to pretend this interaction was even occurring by disconnecting your shared stares, glancing your focus to the living room, and planning an escape route. But there is no choice other than to pass Harry and there is zero chance he will let you get away with it. 

Harry steps and then tilts his body closer, hoping to encourage you to do the same, but you stay put and only glare up at him expectantly and impatiently. He ignores your frigidity as if it were just a farce- it is- instead his smile turns to a full-on grin, reaching his eyes and crinkling cutely at the corners, and it spreads along his features with a fondness so fierce that you find yourself working overtime to avoid your face from breaking out into the same smile. 

“Avoiding me, hm?” He muses with a precious pout, “Y’know that hurts my feelings, klutz.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is. You do it every single time.”

Arms folding across your chest, face frowning with the preparation of upping your defensiveness in the name of dismissing Harry- just like old times,

“I see you enjoy lying for fun now.” 

Harry nearly scoffs but it projects as a sly smirk and points it at your painful scowl, 

“Y’do. Dipping in and out of patios… kitchens… Yet you always meet me in the hallway.” 

The stomach-knotting realisation that this is factual- how many times had this happened before? How many times would it happen again? Have it your way, and this will be the last time,

“Meeting and cornering are not the same thing.” 

“Stop tryna be smart.” Harry slightly, but softly snaps as his lips smack together.

“You’re ruder than I remember.” 

All snippiness leaves as soon as it comes, Harry sinks back into a swell of adoring amusement, 

“You rate?” 

“Ignoring your guests is a party fowl.” Definite diversion on your part. 

“Avoiding the host is a party fowl.” He counters. 

Weakly attempting to walk past him, only renders your back pressed up against the red abstract wallpaper. He remains put- which, to you, is rather unnerving- and upset is racing along your prickling skin, 

“I told you, I’m not avoiding you.” 

“Why don’t I believe you?” He edges closer with curiosity. 

“Just because you’re used to people throwing themselves at you doesn't mean I'm avoidant." You spit and suddenly, he’s so close. 

“They don’t all do that.” 

“Sure, Harry.” 

Have you two ever been this near before? Most certainly, but you could always chalk that up to intoxicated confusion- at least on your end had it ever felt this… intense? Is there any worldly justification for the suspicious stirring of curiosity now that he has so calmly and tenderly crossed the threshold of your personal space. 

Harry knows he has never felt as satisfied as he does whenever your bodies threaten to blend into one, but for perhaps the first time, he thinks you may consider this palpitating chemistry as something more than a silly game. 

But, he does so fondly enjoy the game, and if he pushes even a moment longer, Harry knows your patience will wither and guide you away from him for good. He uses a tried and true tactic,

“I like your hair.” He does. 

“Yours is like longer than mine.” It is.

“D’you like it?” Harry is deep within your space. 

“It’s alright.” You shrug, lying through your damn teeth. And you could leave it at that, but the bitterness has clearly taken over, “I’m sure the groupies are creaming, though.”

Hell, Harry has missed the pleasure of being in your preference, how electric and alive his body expels excitement and the anticipatory flames you will surely attack him with. He loves it- hates how much he does, can’t help but prod and provoke, 

“I can tell you’re agitated.” 

“Does that make you feel special?” 

“Can’t put my finger on why…” He ponders- Harry’s missing context, the type you are unwilling to confess- the only evidence he has is your pointed stare flickering with fury- wait, envy? “Oh.” 

“Oh, what?” 

“Oh, you’re jealous.” 

Your throat chokes on your stomach as you croak out a spluttered, “What?” as Harry’s chest brushes your shoulder blade and his spearmint-scented breath fans across your neck, 

 “I think you heard me just fine.” 

“You are delusional.” 

Is he, though? Has jealousy been the reason for your distaste and discomfort this evening? Are you as delusional as you believe Harry to be? He seriously thinks so, skin tickling your own,  

“Maybe… Still think I’m right.” 

“Fuck off, Harry.” 

He won’t though. Hand coming up to play with a strand of your hair, twirling it around his finger as his righteous gaze bores into your own- frozen and wide with bewilderment- and finally, his lips threaten to brush the back of your ear, 

 "You're jealous. Just admit it. You want to be the one kissing me."

“No-” 

“Never looked at me like this before..”

You know, and you hate that he kdoes too. You should leave. Now. But with a compulsion too fierce to fight off, a culmination of fascination that ignores your conviction of moving away,

“I don’t-”

“If you wanted to kiss me, all you had to do was ask.” 

Harry says it so matter-of-factly that it shocks your body, and brain, into returning to reality and those succulent tingles swirling in your stomach twist sourly, threatening to suffocate you inside out. 

With disappointment that is mostly directed at yourself, your sudden enamourment switches to the act of pressing your palm to Harry’s sternum and pushing sternly until he stumbles back in surprise. You cannot risk leaving without gifting him a cruel and crushing tongue-lashing, 

“You’re a frat boy in the body of a former pop star. I would never want to kiss someone like you.” 

You slip past him with zero resistance, no consideration for confirming his reaction as your back turns to Harry. 

Well, Harry thinks he’s glad you grant him some privacy because the guttural disappointment melting his face into a frown is shameful enough.

He doesn’t understand the sudden stinging of his tear ducts, the shrill ringing in his ears. Suddenly, Harry doesn’t quite feel like celebrating his return. 

Head bows as he carries his hurt and frustration to the confinements of the kitchen. It’s about time to spiral. 

🍷

You can send me a couple numbers and a trope/dynamic to write about! (18, 26, 31, 32, 35,) em. Xo 💞

[fairytale-poll]

WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT POST!!!!!!!

The finals are over, so it's time to announce the winners for the Little Merpoll!

As always, thank you to everyone who participated! If you submitted characters and/or propaganda, if you reblogged the polls, even if you just voted, it was a pleasure having you! I've done fairytales poll before this & hope to continue for a while after this, and it's been a pleasure having you guys along for the ride!

Now, for our 5 winners.

The first winner to announce is the winner of the Mod's Choice poll! The Mod's choice poll is the "least important" of all the polls, as it has the least amount of contestants (this one had the last of any of the previous Mod's Choice polls) and are nominated simply based on which ones I like, but it holds a special place in my heart regardless.

This time, the winner was Sayaka Miki from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, who was also notable for being the runner-up for the Loser's Bracket. While I'm not as big of a fan of Madoka Magica as I used to be, I still love Sayaka, so it was delightful for her to do so well in the Mod's Choice poll & almost win the Loser's Bracket. Congratulations Sayaka and Sayaka fans!

But while Sayaka was the runner-up for the Loser's Bracket, she was not the actual Loser's Bracket winner. That honor goes to Mira from Dimension 20: Neverafter. While I haven't ever listened to Dimension 20, I was pretty about to see her take the win. After one Dimension 20 character won Red Riding Poll, no character from it ranked at all in Cinderpoll or in the main tournament for Little Merpoll, which is why I was glad to see Dimension 20 make a comeback for this Loser's Bracket. Mira's design is pretty cool, too, I love the pirate look. Congratulations for the win!

NOW, onto the MAIN TOURNAMENT WINNERS...

For our two bronze-place winners it's The Little Mermaid from the original Hans Christian Andersen fairytale & Ariel from Disney's The Little Mermaid 1989! To my surprise, it was actually the first time both the original fairytale and the Disney adaptation ranked! Honestly, these are some pretty good ones to rank, too. The original fairytale is a great read (and super short, so if anyone hasn't read it already, you should go do so) being both beautiful and poignantly tragic. Whereas the Disney adaptation holds up surprisingly well and is a beautiful piece of animation. Congratulations to these two bronze-place winners!

For the runner-up of the tournament is Bug from Starship by Team Starkid! I know that Team Starkid is very popular in certain parts of the Internet & the Starship itself did very well, but even then it felt like Bug was an underdog going up against giants like Disney, Studio Ghibli, and the original fairytale the tournament is based on, so I have to congratulate this guy for getting so far regardless! Good job, and I hope your fans are happy for you getting the silver!

Now, finally, the moment of truth-- the winner of the Little Merpoll, the certified best Little Mermaid as voted by Tumblr--

CONGRATULATIONS TO PONYO FROM STUDIO GHIBLI'S PONYO!

I watched this movie for the first time during the course of the tournament and it is truly a breathtaking marvel of animation, one of the best visuals I've ever seen for a movie ever. I will quote the propaganda submitted for Ponyo and say this little ham-loving girl deserved the win simply for the fact that there is no force more powerful than 5-year-old girls!!!

Our next tournament will be Best/Worst Modern Fairytale Adaptations. I'll open submissions up after a short hiatus, as I am in midst finals & will be graduating soon, which will take up most of my time in the next 2 weeks. See you for the next tournament at the end of May!

[taegimood]

ANNOUNCEMENT

———

i know i haven’t posted for nearly 2 months already at this point, but i’m here i guess to announce an official hiatus or, i guess i’ll call it a semi-hiatus ..

i didn’t bother to mention it before cuz honestly i think my community here has just become pretty dead and not very salvageable atp unless i work my ass off to try keeping it alive. and this is NOTTT to sound all emo teenager “woe is me” but, during these last 2 months i haven’t gotten any asks or messages from anyone noticing that i was gone except for the one anon i just responded to a few hours ago, so i honestly just figured it wouldn’t really matter whether i made a hiatus post or not 🤷🏻‍♀️ it is what it is.

my blog and the community i had here never really returned to what it used to be after my last hiatus no matter how hard i tried, and these days unfortunately the only way to stay remotely relevant or on anyone’s radar is to devote all of your spare time and energy here which i just simply cannot do.

even if i could afford to do that, i just have zero desire to fight to put in so much effort just so that people don’t forget about me or my works. that’s not what tumblr was supposed to be about. i’m tired.

a lot of it is also me at war with my own thoughts, and i hope that one day i can reach a place again where i’m happy just writing for myself even if my work doesn’t feel as appreciated as hoped for. and i hope as well that writing can be what it used to be for me: a passion and not a burden. these are mindsets that i need to start working on for myself.

anyways. i’m not leaving leaving, i still come on here at times to read stuff and see what my moots are up to so, i’ll still be around to interact on posts and stuff.. and as for writing i guess i’ll just.. post something if i happen to feel like it or when i have enough energy 🤷🏻‍♀️ idk i really do miss it but my drive for this blog is just down the toilet atp as well as my general mental health and i haven’t even written for 2 months now so.. (although i have been considering trying to write again recently so we’ll see)

i love you all, i thank you for all the support; my dms and inbox are ofc still always open for interactions but i guess this is now an indefinite semi-hiatus.

see you when i see you.

xx minji

[trubblegumm]

THE (REAL) 3K DTIYS WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

Thank you everyone for your patience! It took a long time because of my hiatus + there were so many entries to go through, THIS WAS REALLY HARD!!! By the way I’m now almost at 6k followers so um. 6k dtiy—(I get booed off stage)

There’s going to be a few honourable mentions because there were so many good entries I couldn’t just leave it at one winner and not showcase some faves 😭 bear with me. FIRST PLACE WINNER IS AT THE END OF THE POST!

📣 Category winners

🥉 TOP LEO: @dianagj-art!

Runner ups: @iooiu, @manga-toons, @shiftdrawwing

🥉 TOP DONNIE: @claraghost22!

Runner ups: @doodlebug4fanart, @s0fti3w1tch

🥉 TOP MIKEY: @less-depresso-more-espresso!

Runner ups: @beanstalk-nicholas, @astaartista

🥉 TOP RAPH: @quewp1!

RUNNER UPS: @averagehomosapien, @scribble-hell

And before we have our first place winner, one more runner up entry I was obsessed with…

🥈 SECOND PLACE: @itz-me-drawz

🏆 FIRST PLACE: @fundeadasylum!

Everyone better follow all the users mentioned in this list… NOW!

Thank you to everyone who joined my dtiys; all the entries were absolutely phenomenal and it was SOOOO HARD choosing. There were seriously so many more entries I wanted to showcase but simply didn’t have the space or time 😭 If you can, please check out the dtiys tag! Support artists guys I loved everything. I didn’t expect Bloodbath to get as much attention as it did, especially with how it started as a silly concept I mostly took as a joke. Every entry meant so much to me!!!!!

Not sure what happens now. I need to message the winner about the prize then finally finish this commission I neglected for a month PEACE OUT LOVE YOU GUYS

[toonvrai]

TOON HL:VRAI: RECONNECTED

Introducing: the ever-so-wacky world of Toon HL:VRAI: RECONNECTED! We hope you enjoy your stay. However: please read this post before we go any further!

INTRODUCTION

Toon HL:VRAI (short for Cartoon Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware) was a HLVRAI AU ask blog ran from July 2020 to January 2021. This shiny new blog will be an UNOFFICIAL continuation of Toon HL:VRAI, picking up right where the original left off! NEW CONTENT! NEW ART!! NEW SILLINESS!!!

Much like it's predecessor, this AU takes place after the events of HLVRAI itself. The tone of Toon HL:VRAI is very lighthearted, and it’s all mostly comedic and sometimes strays away from canon. Put simply, Toon HL:VRAI was silly and chaotic, and this UNOFFICIAL continuation will be more of the same!

Speaking of the same: all future parts/story arcs will be separated into episodes instead of chapters, and all hiatuses/breaks will be called commercial breaks, just like the original! How quaint!

This blog will be active as can be, though it may take a little while to get back to asks sometimes due to work or potential ~life stuff~ that may occur, so please be patient if your ask doesn’t get answered in a timely manner!

Tags:

All posts are tagged under 'toon hlvrai', which serves as sort of a general tag.

Any posts/asks that include certain characters are tagged under '[*character name*]' (ex: if a post includes Benrey, it will be tagged under something along the lines of ‘[ benrey ]’).

Hiatus announcements/posts made during hiatuses are tagged under '[commercial break]'.

Any posts made by the mods, or any posts that are out of character in general, will be marked '[ ooc ]'.

RULES:

Please read these before reading onward or sending an ask!

Do not send NSFW asks. We're trying to keep it PG-13 here!

Please do not re-send an ask you know you've already sent. It can get very confusing, and will slow the creation process!

If you wish to discuss/post about anything like plot points that happen at later points of this continuation/the original story, please tag your post with the tag ‘toon hlvrai spoilers’. Even if it’s something minor! We don't want to ruin the magic, would we?

Don’t send bigoted and/or weird asks.

Whenever a commercial break (a hiatus) happens, please refrain from sending me asks like “hurry up” or “when is it resuming” as that stuff is weird! And stuff! Don't do that! Thanks!

Please play nice, and please do not be weird. You can be weird (👍), but if you are weird (👎), you are not allowed to participate! Capiche? Basic DNI, etc.

...and with that, we are ready to continue the show! Re-continue? You know what I mean. Either way, we hope you enjoy Toon HL:VRAI: RECONNECTED! It’ll be a fun ride, and it’ll be even more fun with you alongside us! Feel free to reblog/share to get people "in the know"!

Oh, January 1st 2025, by the way. See you then. :)

[genericpuff]

This whole "LO is ending" thing makes me a little sussy baka-

There are currently four ways for fans of LO to find out about it ending.

1.) Articles online , of which there are only two, from Cosmopolitan and Popverse

2.) A user who got to ask Rachel questions at NYCC and posted their findings to the official Discord which has recently re-opened

3.) The Lore Olympians IG page (a fan page for LO)

4.) The antiLO/ULO communities

Notice a pattern?

None of these are official sources.

Rachel hasn't tweeted it or posted about it to Instagram. "But she's busy with NYCC" might make sense, but the official Webtoon pages haven't posted about it either.

And despite the fact that Rachel HAS posted about the series returning, it HASN'T included the reveal that it's returning for its final arc.

And this makes me suspicious.

Why?

Because this isn't how you market a final season.

City of Blank is currently on its final season. We know this definitively because it's been marketed as such since the premiere.

They knew from the start that this was going to be the last season, so they marketed it as such. Which makes sense, this is something you SHOULD do when marketing a final season, it lets people know that if you want to read a series, NOW is the best time to do it! If you're someone who fell off the series, now is the time to check back in and catch up on what you missed!

LO, meanwhile, hasn't had that marketing. This made a lot of us suspicious that S3 wasn't going to be the final season (which was a common belief for a while) because if it was the final season, why wasn't it being marketed as such? Why were so many new plot threads being established if this was meant to be the last season?

It's tinfoil hat time-

I'm feeling very certain that the signs of S3 not being the final season were true - but the decision was made to end the series with the third season regardless.

When you really think about it, it makes sense:

The popular opinion of LO has shifted to negative, with many people calling the comic out on how silly and poorly made it is.

Every time Webtoon Official announces new awards for the comic, the general opinion is, "Why?" and not just from the antiLO/ULO community, but even from other webcomic creators and users of the platform.

Its average numbers have been rapidly dropping with each episode and they'll surely continue on that downslide after it returns from the longest hiatus it's ever been on.

Its rating on the app has been slowly but steadily dropping, and its viewcount has hardly risen despite all the marketing it gets from Webtoons.

The fans haven't had access to any sort of space since the closure of the official FB page, Discord, and subreddit (the latter of which was already dying in activity by the time it closed).

The newest releases of the physical copies go on sale literally less than a week after release. There's still no news of the TV show and it's becoming painfully obvious that the production rights are simply sitting around waiting to either be sold to another studio or abandoned entirely. And the longer time goes on, the further LO ends up being in the rearview mirror of WT culture, the less interest there will be in adapting it.

It's already barely discussed outside of the platform, people who traditionally read comics have no idea what LO is despite WT's rabid attempts to inject it into every corner of comic culture.

It's safe to say that much of WT's audience is very over LO, and many are simply sticking with it to see how it sticks its landing. Now we know that landing is coming in 2024, but we didn't know that until now, and it was very silently announced. Not a single word on Rachel's or WT's social media. No big hoorah or hype marketing to get people excited for the finale. Chances are fans have found out about this reveal more from the anti's than their usual sources of information.

This really casts an implication that LO was going to go on longer than a third season - but Webtoons decided to put down its golden goose instead.

Now Rachel has (according to the answers at NYCC) until 'early to mid 2024' to clean up the mess she's made.

(my personal theory is it's going to end just in time for the first day of Spring/Rachel's birthday).

Even her answers about her future projects and how the series will end are incredibly vague. Most of the time she's describing exactly what she's guilty of doing without ever owning up to the fact that she's largely the root of most of her work's problems. It's very much "take your own advice for once."

(^^^ Notice how she doesn't actually talk about the show here, she redirects it entirely to the books. Exhibit #2385902 that the show isn't happening and they just don't want to take the L.)

There's also an accompanying tinfoil hat theory that the reason they're being so vague about it is because they haven't actually committed to an ending. Which would be very Rachel of them to do. Rachel is notorious for saying she's doing one thing and then doing the complete opposite. She's often written entire plotlines as vague as possible to make it easier for her to either bury them or retcon them down the road, so I wouldn't be surprised if she wound up retconning the comic's entire finale if it's just a matter of her trying to decide if she wants to continue the comic or not.

That said, I think the former is a bit more plausible, knowing at least somewhat as to how WT works with their contracts. It really feels like she either suddenly decided not to continue, or WT cut her off entirely by not giving her a series renewal for a 4th season. I've seen series get sudden finales in the past due to WT cutting them loose, and those were series that were, unlike LO, actually enjoyed by many and didn't have an entire critic community based around them. It would explain why not even Webtoons is announcing the ending of the comic.

But we'll see what happens after NYCC ends and LO returns November 4th. I don't think LO is going to be able to stick the landing that it's been crashing towards for two years now, but you bet your ass I'm gonna be here to watch.

[triptychgardener]

A Little Update On The State Of The Early June Project

Hey y'all. Been a while since there's really been any word on EJ, and about 6 months since the last update, and I figured I owed you all a little explanation for what's been going on with that, and, more broadly, us as a creative team.

To put it simply, Early June's production has been... really slow to nonexistent, for reasons that are more personal than anything else.

Starting out Early June, I was in college, had a lot of free time, and was riding a creative hyperfixation that I had basically never experienced before. I managed to write out at least the structure and outline for what would become the rest of the major EJ project in the first few months, and basically up till the start of the Intermission, that was that. Intermission was supposed to be a one-chapter interlude that quickly turned into a 10+ chapter sidefic, during a time when I was intending to recover from burnout. I at least managed to build up a pretty decent backlog during that time. But I could already feel the burnout starting to set in.

And around the time I got started on Act 2, I had added another person to the team, which meant I basically had to take a much closer look at my writing from more points of view. Previously, my strategy was pretty much always to write it up late at night, format it as soon as it was done, and publish it right then, little to no editing (which you can probably tell.) Changing that to a more rigorous approach I believe absolutely improved the work, but also slowed things down due to some... unhelpful writing habits I've developed over the years.

But all that kind of pales compared to the fact that my production slowed down a lot once I graduated and started working. Needless to say, I have a lot less free time, very little mental energy, and even less emotional energy to work on this project anywhere near consistently.

So I'm announcing what was probably already visible, but as of now Early June is on a loose hiatus. I cannot promise when it will be back, or even if it will. I would very much like for it to be. I have a lot of plans for this fic, through Early June and subsequent projects. But I don't want to make any promises I cannot keep.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for sticking with us.

[bettyfrommars]

hi loves

a wee announcement/bit of reflection below the cut

nothing heavy, just some thoughts & updates

First of all, I want to say I love this fandom so much. Truly I do. It has carried me though possibly the hardest, loneliest year of my life (and this ol' girl has been though some dark times). I've made friendships here that I hope to cherish for the rest of my life.

I came into fanfiction in October of last year, after not writing anything substantial for almost a decade. My dear friend at the time said she was looking for a specific Eddie Munson story, so I wrote it for her. I wrote it in first person because I didn't even understand how "reader perspective" was a thing, that's how wet behind the ears I was to this world. My friend, on the other hand, is a well-versed fic reader, and I distinctly remember messaging her like, "okay, what the hell is a Y/N??"

I spent that entire dark, cold winter writing and passing it to her in parts like notes in a classroom. The rush of getting back to something I loved so deeply after so much time away turned me into a monster. I lived and breathed that story. We sent endless messages back and forth every day about what each character would do next, imagining ourselves in that world, with Eddie. We made playlists, we cried. We screamed and giggled and kicked our feet when they finally kissed. We mourned the loss when it ended and moped around a bit before going back to read it all over again. Some 40k words and four months later I realized, holy shit, I think I write fanfiction now?

In a way, fanfiction saved my life. It brought me back to a part of myself I had buried, a part of me that worried it might never see the light of day again. It came crawling out of the ground, gasping for air like, "you better stretch your fingers bitch because I have a lot to say."

In April, I started posting here when the fandom was notably beginning to wane, but I was happy to see there were so many still going hard for our man. I kinda creeped in, like a little scuttling crab, and was grateful to find that a handful of you embraced me.

Long story short, I am NOT leaving, not at all. I know the tone is there, but that is not what this is, lmao. I will hopefully keep this blog for as long as you will have me. I plan to finish writing I'm on Fire and Death Becomes Us, as well as maybe another bit for gargoyle!Eddie, and nightmare!Eddie, but the other series I've started (or planned to start) will stay on hiatus for a while, possibly forever. I will continue to post blurbs and hc's and whatnot, but I won't be committing to any new series or long fics.

My masterlists will remain intact for the time being for those who want to enjoy what is there. That being said, The Nightmare Factory and Stop the World and Melt with You, might be taken down in the future only because I plan to re-work them into original stories. I have a second non-fandom blog in the works that is dedicated to monsters, nightmares, and magic realism, and I will let those who are interested know about it when the time comes.

Mostly, I wanted to let you know that, even if you notice some changes, I will continue to persist with "My 2 Joe's" delulu era, possibly until the earth swallows me up. I am no longer taking requests, but my asks will always be open for thots, blurbs, obsessions, etc. You know how much I love hearing from you.

That's all really. Perhaps this is simply one of those "end of year" thought dumps, but I also wanted to say a heartfelt Thank You to those who continue to support me, enjoy my work, and share it. My Ride or Die monsterfuckers and biker Eddie enthusiasts. My nightmare Eddie dreamers, my Twilight Zone Eddie pineapple heads. My gargoyle Eddie romantics who cheer on our Stone Boy, and my Hybrid Steve lovers who leave their windows open at night. My True Blood friends who appreciate a vampire Eddie who is nothing like Bill Compton. My darlings, my fellow rebel rousers and misfits, my friends.

This is a very symbiotic relationship, and I could not/would not do this without you ❤️