#we are dealing with the shiftiness of life

[flootzavut]

This is your irregular reminder that if you are frustrated with a fic not being finished with, it's not just probable but likely that your pet fanwriter is more frustrated with it than you could ever be. Be nice to your pet fanwriter, it's tough out there when the muse isn't talking to you & life isn't going well. Please don't assume we just don't care or have abandoned stories without saying so, & bear in mind that approaching comments with that attitude is also absolutely the worst way to achieve your desired result. Absolutely nothing is as dispiriting to me personally as getting a comment that's just complaining that something hasn't been updated, or badgering me about something that hasn't been explained yet.

That's not to say that you can't ask for updates! I love when people are excited to read more. Just don't demand, don't act entitled, don't assume your pet fanwriter just couldn't be arsed.

Ways to ask that don't make me want to throw something:

"I loved this story, I'm subscribing!"

"I can't wait to see what happens next, I really enjoyed XYZ thing that happened in this chapter."

"I'd love to see more in this 'verse, but I really enjoyed this."

"[if you're a writer, any kind of empathetic understanding that writer's block sucks]."

"[Almost any kind of real review] Looking forward to more/Can't wait for the next chapter!"

Basically, let your pet fanwriter know what you enjoyed, let them know that you're excited for more, but don't act like you paid them for a complete story and only got half. We write fanfic for free, for love of the show/book/media and for love of the fandom. We get paid in kudos and comments only. We have lives, some of them more conducive to turning out fic regularly than others. We too have been affected by the pandemic and other shit that's happening in the world.

And I cannot overstate this, so I'm saying it again: complaining, demanding, etc, do not get you the result you want. Well okay, there may be a few people out there for whom someone stomping into their inbox and going "WHERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER?" will work, but they're the exception, not the rule. I have talked with at the very least dozens and dozens, if not hundreds, of fanwriters over multiple fandoms, and I've yet to meet one who gets a comment like that and is inspired to go to their word processor. At best, it makes them go "ahhh shit I guess it's been a while since I updated that"; at worst (and in my experience most common), it puts them off writing that particular story or possibly anything, because the only feedback they're getting is "not good enough, not fast enough, you owe me more" and that sucks.

(If you know the person very, very well and know they will take it as a joke or that they are one of the few who gets inspired by this, that's the exception, but don't do it on stories written by people who are strangers to you.)

Frankly, you're much, much more likely to prod your pet fanwriter into creating more by typing "♥️" and hitting the kudos button than by trying to guilt them into it. Guilt doesn't work. Encouragement does. If your desired end result is "they finish the story" then "why haven't you finished the story/where is the next chapter/update soon" is absolutely not going to achieve that. It's helping absolutely no one.

Train yourself to leave a heart or a "loved this, can't wait for more" or even just a kudos instead of a demand, and you at the very least have not made your fanwriter feel useless that day, and might have inspired them go back to the coalface.

At the end of the day, it boils down to treating your pet fanwriter as a human whose life probably doesn't revolve solely around updating the one fic you're obsessed with. Have a heart, that's all 🙂

[hadersversion]

king of my heart.

pairing: jj maybank x john b’s little sister! reader.

summary: y/n is described as "uptight" and known for being someone who plays it safe. but one night when her brother's best friend, jj maybank, challenges her to step outside her comfort zone, it leads to a night neither one will forget.

warning: 18+ minors dni!!!! smut, p in v unprotected, cursing, pet names (princess, sweetheart, honey), and praise kink

word count: 3.8 k

NOT PROOFREAD!!

i sat on the living room couch, reading a book, as my brother and his friends parade through the living room. they make their way to the kitchen looking for any scrap of alcohol left. they all say their quick greetings to me, walking right pass me. except for jj.

it was always jj that had something to say.

“hey princess.” he says, stopping in front of me. “whatcha up to?”

i sigh and roll my eyes. “what does it look like i’m doing?”

he throws his hands up in his defense and smiles. “hey, hey. no need to get feisty! just wanted to see what you were up to is all.”

this is what me and jj’s relationship was like. we bicker, we goof around or we tease each other. it’s been this way since john b brought jj into my life. did i have a big fat crush on him? yes. is it still alive to this day? also yes. as much as i wished to act upon it, i knew it was forbidden for so many reasons. number one, he’s john b’s bestest friend. which means, i am completely off limits.

or so i thought.

i put my book down and walk my way into the kitchen, hoisting myself onto the kitchen counter next to kiara. “so, what’s the plan for tonight?”

“we are heading to the boneyard tonight for drinks, you are staying home.” john b says with a smirk.

“no fair! what am i supposed to do all night by myself?” i ask.

“i have some ideas.” jj says, all of us whipping our heads towards him. john b and kiara shooting daggers into his head, pope trying not to laugh, and me with a blush painted across my face. “hey! it was a joke! c’mon, let the poor child come, jb.” jj says walking up to me, putting an arm around my shoulders.

i squint my eyes at him. “first of all, not a child. second, thank you but i can fight my own battles.” i turn to john b. “pretty please, with a cherry on top?” my puppy dog eyes go in full swing l, which i know john b can never say no to.

“fine! but don’t get too fucked up tonight, i don’t feel like dealing with your drunk ass all night.” he says, causing me to jump off the counter and hug him.

“thank you! thank you! thank you!” i squeeze him tight. “you will not regret this! i swear!”

little did i know, i would eat those words.

kiara and i walk onto the beach, the party is swinging. i see friends from school, neighbors, all the pogues i know and love. they all sport some sort of drink in their hand, joint in their mouth, and smile on their face. this is how i always want my life to be.

“is it all that it’s cut out to be?” i hear a familiar voice say. as i turn around, i see jj with two cups in his hand and a joint behind his ear. “i gotta say, this is probably the best party of the season.”

he hands me the cup and i take a sip, looking at kiara who’s giving us shifty eyes. “she’s loving it so far, right y/n?”

i look in between both of my friends and nod, sipping the drink. “oh yeah, definitely fulfilling all my expectations.”

silence falls over all of us and i see kiara smile like she has a plan. she’s setting me up. “oh shit, i see someone from work. i’ll catch up with y’all in a bit!” she says before walking away, turning her head back to me to wink.

jj digs his feet in the sand beneath and i sip my beer.

“so?” we both say in unison, causing us to laugh.

“no, you ca-” i start.

“you talk fir-” jj adds in, cutting me off. we both look at each other and smile. “you first.”

i smile and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. “i was just wondering how everything has been with you? i feel like we only ever see each other in passing.”

jj looks up at the sky and back down to me. “same old, same old. nothing to complain about. just living my best life. well, trying to. how about you?”

“now that schools out, i feel more free. i’ve been able to do things that i wanna do.” i say with a smile.

“oh yeah, like what?” jj asks.

“well,” i start. “reading, going to the beach, working, and a-” jj laughs, cutting me off. “w-what’s so funny?”

“you’re such a dork.” he says with a sip of his beer.

i narrow my eyes at him. “and why’s that?”

“reading? working? c’mon, it’s summer! let loose a bit, would ya? i feel like you’re so wound up that your body rejects fun. always got your head in a book or some shit.”

i stand there, staring at him. was he right? kind of. but it was still an asshole thing to say. “fuck you.”

he scoffs. “what’s that for? i’m just telling the truth, honey.”

the stupid pet names, god he just made my blood boil and my brain foggy with wild thoughts. “i know how to have fun. how to ‘let loose’ or whatever.” i say, pointing my finger at him.

“needa see it to believe it, kid.” he nudged my shoulder.

i turn and look at him slowly. “is that a challenge, maybank?”

“it’s only a challenge if you want it to be a challenge, routledge.” he winks at me.

i stare at him with a smirk. “you’re so on.” i quickly down my cup. “let’s go get more beer, shall we?”

the night flies by with the more drinks i down. i was never usually a big drinker, per say, but with jj’s cocky smile and tone replaying in my head, i knew i had to prove him wrong. after a few rounds of drinking games, i look at jj and flip him off. pride was written all over my face. he grins at me, tipping his cup towards me in kind of salute. but when i look to my brother, it’s a different story.

“are you seriously fucked up right now?” he asks, arms crossed, sarah following close behind him.

my body seemed unable to take this situation seriously leading me to laugh in his face. “so it’s okay when you do it, but when i do it? oh, i’m the bad guy.” i slur my words. “i’m having fun! isn’t that what you want?”i hear my voice raising and people looking at me, but i feel invincible. “jeez, john b, i let loose for one goddamn night!”

he towers over me. “pull it together.” he whispers. “we’re leaving.” i watch as john b storms out, sarah shooting me an apologetic look before following after him.

“i’m not going anywhere! fuck you!” my voice drags out the ‘you’ as i flip the air off. i watch as jj and john b talk before turning around to get another drink. but before i can get it, i’m being lifted in the air and put over someone’s shoulder. “hey!? what-what the fuck!?” i look around and recognize the blonde hair under the backwards baseball cap. “jj, i swear to god! put me down!” i hit his back with my fists.

“no can do, missy. i made this mess, i gotta clean it up. excuse us.” jj maneuvers us through the crowd, his hand firmly resting on my thighs as he holds me. when i realize he’s definitely not putting me down, i stop fighting and rest myself against his back. “i hate you, ya know? i really do.”

he lightly swats the back of my thigh, causing a slight groan to come out. a groan that was a bit pornographic for my liking. “y/n routledge, did you just moan?” he teases me as he carries me to the van.

my face turns a bright shade of crimson. “no i did not, shut up.” i attempt to hide myswlf in jj’s back, wanting to disappear from the world.

“ya know, i’ve pictured you having your fair share of kinks but i gotta say, spanking wasn’t on that list.” he jokes, making me hit his back again.

“i hate you, i hate you, i hate you.” i keep repeating.

“are you saying that so i’ll spank ya again or?” he laughs menacingly.

i hit his back. “you’re the worst.”

“all in a days work, princess.” he says as we finally get to the van.

the ride was short but felt like an eternity. i felt jj’s eyes burning into me as i sat across from him in the van. the second he put me down, an almost uncomfortable silence fell over us.

once we pulled up to our house, i quickly rushed inside and hid myself in my room. i heard kie and pope calling my name but i was too flustered to even look back. my brain felt like it was going a mile a minute of thoughts about jj and his stupid mouth and stupid hands that i so badly wanted all over my body. “god brain, shut up!” i whisper to myself, the drunkenness still apparent in my body. i throw myself on my bed and cover my head with my pillow, attempting to drift off to sleep.

jj laid on top of me, kissing down my exposed chest. “fuck, i need you so bad, y/n.” he murmurs as i moan. he finally gets to my lower stomach, breathing heavily. “i wanna taste you so bad, can i taste you, please?” he begs me.

“fuck, please, jj. please.” i say. he lowers himself more, kissing the inside of my thighs. he moves my underwear to the side and-

my body shoots up.

a dream.

it was just a dream. a stupid, fucking dream. i feel beads of sweat pouring down my face and a light headache, probably from the drinking. i’m uncomfortable, mainly because of the wild sex dream i just woke myself up from but also because i’m dying of thirst. i reach over for my water bottle next to my bed but it’s empty. “for fucks sake.” the alarm clock blinks 5:36. everyone should be asleep and by everyone, i specifically mean jj. so the coast should, hypothetically, be clear.

i get up and contemplate my next move but my body is screaming at me that we need water. with a sigh, i open my door and sneak into the kitchen. i walk past kie passed out on the pull out couch with pope on the floor. no sign of jj, which is good. i quickly refill my water bottle and try to tip toe my way back into my room but that’s when i hear the front door open.

“why are you up?” jj asks, throwing his lighter down on the table.

i freeze under his stare, unable to form a coherent sentence. my brain is flooded with the images from my dream, the feeling of his hand smacking my ass, and just the overall existence of jj maybank.

“i just needed some water.” i say quickly before trying to walk back to my room.

i feel him walk fastly behind me, lightly grabbing my arm. “not so fast, i wanted to talk to you. are you all good? you kinda ran inside once we got home. i’m sorry if i-”

i cut him off before he could finish his apology. “jj, please! don’t apologize.” i say awkwardly, not being able to even look at him. “i’m fine, i was just drunk and tired. i swear, i’m good.”

i try to walk away again but he stops me. “y/n, please. did i do something that made you uncomfortable? or upset? i’m sorry i said your uptight or whatever, it was just a joke.” he seems freaked out, talking super fast.

“jj, hey, i’m alright. everything is good, okay? it’s not anything you said…it’s just….” i look down at his hand that’s still holding my arm, it’s now or never.

“what? what is it, y/n?” he asks with a pleading look in his eyes.

without a second thought, i stand up on my tippy toes and connect our lips. the kiss, at first, was a little tense. but once it started, i felt confident and slipped my tongue into his mouth. it caught jj by surprise because once he pulled away, he looked at me in shock, lips swollen. “w-what was that for?”

“trying to ‘let loose’ because if i do recall, someone said that my body ‘rejects fun’.” my voice is laced in sarcasm as i shoot him a glare. “but if you are too uptight to do that then i guess i’ll go back to bed.” i say with a smirk, walking away.

“damn you, woman.” he says before pulling me back into his chest, connecting our lips once more. the kiss feels needy as his hands paw up my body. he starts on my waist and makes his way slowly up, stopping at my chest. “is this okay?” he says out of breathe.

“jj?” i ask.

“yeah?”

“don’t fucking stop.” we start to kiss again. i grab his shirt and pull him into my room quickly. we don’t break our lips apart once, navigating my door through touches. once we’re finally in, we make our way to my bed. he stops just before hitting my bed, leading me to push jj down on it. “is this too much?”

“honestly? it’s not enough.” he smiles as i make my way over to him. i stand in between his legs and he looks up at me with that cocky smile i wish to just slap off. “if i knew this was your idea of letting loose, i would’ve told you a long time ago.” he says, making me laugh. we look down at each other as his hands slowly tug the bottom of my shirt. “c-can i?”

“please.” i almost beg. he takes my shirt off and i feel his breathe hitch. he looks at me in my bra, his hand tracing circles on my exposed stomach. “w-what?”

“you’re just fucking incredible.” he says as his hands go up to the back of my bra and unhook it. i feel all the air leave my body as he does this. he’s not real, he can’t be. “let me know if you wanna stop.” i nod quickly as his hands go up and cup my breast, causing a moan to escape my lips. “there it is, that’s the sound i wanted to here.” he squeezes them, pinching one of my nipples. “god, it’s like music to my fucking ears.”

he begins to pepper kisses up my stomach and stops to connect his lip to my nipple. “jesus christ, jj.” my hand goes to his hair. “fuck.”

he looks up with a grin. “not too loud now, don’t wanna wake anyone up.” he looks back at the closed door. i nod and he reconnects his lips, going back and forth between my nipples. once he’s done, his kisses go up my neck and focus on one spot, making me bite my lip to quiet myself. he continues up to my jaw then kisses my lips again passionately. “wanna fuck you so bad.” he groans, pressing his hard duck against my exposed stomach.

“please, jj, please.” i feel like putty under his touch. “please fuck me.”

he pulls away and looks into my eyes. “are you sure?” he asks me for reassurance, which i give a nod to. “i-i just don’t want this to fuck things up between us…or your brother. god, i’m an awful friend.” he says pressing his forehead against mine. “i broke like the number one rule ever.”

“jj, look at me. i’ve wanted this for as long as i can remember. i always wanted you. who gives a fuck what john b says? i need you, jj, please.” i sound awfully needy but it feels like i’m not even in control of my body at this point. it feels like i’ve been possessed by a more confident and hornier version of myself. i let my hand go down his clothed body and stop right before his hard dick. i lightly trace it with my fingers and smile innocently at him, looking into his eyes that he’s rolling back. “please, jj.”

“fuck, you’re gonna be the death of me, i swear.” he lays me back on the bed, throwing his shirt off quickly behind him. i try to work my shorts off but he beats me to it, sliding them down with my underwear. “if you want me to stop, just-”

“i know.” i smile at him sweetly. he nods and pulls his pants down, kicking them off to the side. his cock springs up and hits his stomach, already coated in precum. he climbs on top of me, his hip pressing into my center, causing me to moan. “fuck, jj.”

his hands travel down to my core, which has been aching for him all day. he slides his fingers into me and groans at the feeling. “jesus, you’re fucking soaked.” he says as he slides his fingers in and out of my hole.

“i had a dream about you.” i admit, quietly.

“w-what?” he stops and stares at me.

“i had a dream about you, right before i went out to get my water.” i say, squirming for any relief. “you were…you were going down on me. fuck-” he continues his fast pace in my soaking cunt.

“yeah?” he says with a sort of darkness in his eyes. i bite into his arm when he touches my clit, rubbing fast circles into it. “how it feel, princess?”

i nod, holding back my cries of pleasure. “f-felt so good, jj. you make me feel so good.”

he takes his fingers out of me and coats his cock in my slick, giving himself a few rubs before lining himself up with me. “r-ready?” he looks down at me.

“yes.” i barely get the word out before he sticks his cock inside of me, causing me to scratch down his back. “jesus fuck!” i exclaim, feeling my eyes roll back as he goes further and further in me. the pain stings, tears pricking my eyes.

“it’s okay, baby, i’ll go slow.” he says with a kiss to my cheek, wiping away the tears. his hips slowly start to move against me. once he’s fully in, he picks up his pace and brings his hand back down to my clit. he rubs it and looks at me. “how’s that feel?”

“g-good. fucking good.” i stutter out, my eyes closing to bask in the pleasure.

“yeah? look at you taking my cock so well, pretty girl. i knew you could do it.” he says out of breathe. “but, sweetheart, i need you to look at me while i fuck ya, okay? wanna see that pretty face when i make you cum.”

his words were so filthy yet so sweet, making me blush. i nod and force my eyes open, staring into his sparky blue eyes.

“there she is, my good girl.” his praise was enough to make me cum right then and there. i felt his movements get quicker and quicker as his cock slid in and out of me. “jesus, i don’t know how long i’m gonna last. you-you got me riled up, honey.” he bites his lip looking at me. i bite his arm again, trying to quiet my moans.

his fingers continue to work on my clit. i felt the pressure in my stomach building up and about to release. “jay….fuck jj. i-i’m gonna….i’m gonna cum.” i cry out in a whisper.

“go ahead baby, cum on my cock. i got ya.” my hands reached his back again scratching it up, i bite lip mip as i come undone on jj. tears leave my eyes as i ride out my high, a few curses leaving my mouth as well.

i look up at jj, who’s panting and staring down at my body. “fuck, i’m gonna cum. w-where do ya…where should i cum?”

“cum inside me, jj.” his eyes almost pop out of his head. “i’m on the pill, i trust ya. cum inside me, baby, please.” i flash him my puppy dog eyes.

he brings his face down closer to me, hiding it in the crook of my neck as he cums. “fuck, you are such a good girl.” i hear him whisper as he bites down onto my shoulder to hide his moan. his cock twitches inside of me. he goes slower and slower until he completely stops, collapsing on top of me. we lay there for a minute, tangled up with each other and panting for breath. he slowly takes himself out of me, a sharp breathe leaving my mouth as he does so. he grabs a towel off of the ground and cleans us both up. he’s gentle with it, bringing the towel slowly down my thighs and lightly rubbing my core with the cloth. he throws the towel on the ground and lays down next to me, we both look up at the ceiling, unable to speak.

“so?” we both say in unison, making us laugh.

i turn on my side to look at him. “you first this time.”

he turns to look at me, pushing a strand of hair sticking against my sweaty forehead. “you okay? you need anything?” i shake my head no and smile at him, god he was a dream. “t-thank you for that…it was…”

i laugh. “did you just thank me for having sex with you? and you say i’m the dork.”

he blushes and runs a hand down his face. “shut up, you know what i mean. i just…i’ve been wanting this for awhile. and not just sex i mean…like all of you. god, i sound so dumb.” he looks up in embarrassment.

“no you don’t, stop that. look at me.” he turns to me and i run a hand across his face. “i have to. you’re all i’ve like ever wanted, as stupid as it sounds. jj, you mean the world to me.”

he kisses my forehead lightly and pulls me close. “i feel the exact same way.”

we lay like and talk about everything and nothing at the same time until the sun comes up. my eyes are fluttering shut as i feel him start to get up. “mmm where ya going?” i try to hold him closer.

“need to leave before everyone wakes up.” i pout at him and he brings his hands to my face and kisses me gently. “believe me, this ain’t the last you’ll be seeing of me, sweetheart. i’m not letting you go that easy.”

he gets up and puts his clothes on, kissing me once more. “jj?” i break the kiss.

“what is it, honey?” he asks, looking me in the eyes.

“i won the challenge.” i say with a laugh, causing him to smile.

“shut up.” he flips me off with a smirk as he leaves my room quietly.

i lay back in my bed with a satisfied grin. so much for being uptight now, huh?

A/N: i just started obx so if y’all want some more fics pls request them!

[vaguely-concerned]

I think the most defining thing about kremy as a person is that he desperately wants to be a man with a mustache -- while being physically, biologically incapable of producing hair follicles lol. like no wonder he takes to drag so much, that's basically most of what he's already doing with his outward identity! and the physical aspect of that is smaller, I feel, than what he's got going on psychologically. he's someone who doesn't want to be -- can't be? -- who and what he is, and who can't be what he wants to be because what he wants to be doesn't really exist, so he lives his life somewhere on the border between them. the almiraj might be no mirage, but the perfectly clever and charming and utterly untouchable version of kremy that kremy would like to be -- instead of the vulnerable neurotic mess of longing and fear and striving for control he clearly actually is -- absolutely is, I'm afraid. it's just a shadow on the wall with nothing real to cast it.

(all of this also goes into the many Gender and trans readings of him too, of course! men will say they’re fighting demons and the demons are trying to live up to a very specific brand of toxic masculinity they've sort of invented for themselves lol)  

the one deep down entrenched assumption we see kremy make again and again especially interpersonally is that if he's open with who he really is and what he feels or thinks at any given time, he would be revealed as fundamentally unacceptable and at best discarded and abandoned, at worst endangered. (it's literally spelled out with the cyclops in the witchlight carnival, but you see him go through this process all the time through the rest of the story too! being unable to lie or dissemble was a catastrophic event in this dude’s inner landscape. I’m sure that means nothing) and because he is also frequently kind of awful this assumption may not be entirely off base some of the time lol (deeply affectionate), but I think it comes from a much deeper place than that. kremy is ashamed of where he's from and who he's been -- that dirt poor wide-eyed kid from the swamp who saw all the fancy gentlemen in town and Wanted. wanted to be that, wanted to have that power, probably some confused sexuality want mixed up with it all as well for spice. wanted more than anything, perhaps, to BE something, because next to that he feels like nothing. which means abandoning the earnest kid who guilelessly loved unicorns and his meemaw and cooking without meaning to impress anyone and silly soft things in the swamp he came from while he went off to the big city and modeled himself after men like garou. (and his relationship with garou surely also had some effects on just how shifty he's become at intimacy too, aside from the building a facade of it all, that might be some secondary damage that was not his fault nor in his control at all)

even when he's acting seemingly shamelessly, he is fundamentally a shame-based psychology, is what I'm trying to get at. the only times he lets his thoughts and emotions out into the world unfiltered is when he's brought to a point of frustration where he throws up his hands and abandons manipulation or subtle machinations as an interpersonal tactic -- see: the several times he argues something with frost or gricko and then finally admits 'I literally don't actually care about this! you guys figure it out and deal with this if it matters so much to you I'm going to bed ffs' haha. his depression shines through when he’s too tired to hide it, especially in the later episodes. every open emotion is an admission he really didn't want to make and thinks is tactically disadvantageous for him. (and sometimes when he's being really for real he'll even admit to being worse than people gave him credit for, like when he admits he suspected mr. witch and mr. light were capable of doing something really really bad to torbek and handed him over anyway. kremy being that blunt and open is like. remarkable and also a sign that he's actually taking it seriously, for all that he's also revealing himself to be even more of an asshole than previously suspected lmao. that's not nothing, for kremy. BUT at the same time he is also the person who cried to see a unicorn broken and abused, and who saw something in gideon upon meeting him that no one else did or cared to at that time and offered him genuine companionship and support — as the story goes on he’s starting to admit to more things about himself, the bad and the good.)

all of which of course also is why he's having such a hard time being honest with gideon about how he feels (and the sheer immensity with which he feels it too, probably) -- that's incredibly vulnerable for a person who’s built himself up around the idea of never being vulnerable. ('i'm just a shadow, nothing you do can really touch or hurt me.') And yet if there’s peace and redemption to be found for kremy, if only within his own soul, between these versions of himself, I feel that discovering and accepting his own capacity for loving someone else so much that it transcends all selfishness or fear would be integral to it. (he loves gideon. So much it makes me a bit dizzy you guys)

[skxllz]

warnings; mentions of cancer risk, implications of abuse, implied homophobia

the rattling of steel clanged around, signifying that someone was climbing the rusted ladder of the fire escape. you were burning a cigarette on the side, hanging over the railing and looking down at the passing people that laughed, talked, and just so happened to be drunk.

it was eleven forty on a saturday night after all.

“ hey, y/n! ” mickey's voice caught your attention, causing you to look up and for him to grin — until he saw the wisps of smoke. he followed it, up until his eyes landed on your cigarette.

“ the fuck? ”

a frown instantly pulled at his lips. that's when ian climbed up behind ‘im on the ladder and pulled himself up, only to dust his hands onto his jeans. “ what is it? ” ian questioned, looking at mickey with raised brows — then, his head slowly turned to you.

they both had frowns on their faces after that.

you flicked your cigarette over the railing and to the ground below, ridding it from their sight, and yours, completely. “ I don't see what the big deal is with me smoking. ”

“ you promised you wouldn't anymore. ” ian shot back, face hard with emotion. “ y/n, lung cancer runs in your family and last time you were at the doctors- ”

“ I know. ” you scoffed, looking away. “ I know, they found cells and I was at high risk. i just... ” your eyes were darting back and forth as you thought, debating if you should tell your boyfriends about the trouble that's been going on in your life. it was difficult to decide.

“ you just? ” mickey mocked, waving his hands about, “ you just what? spit it the fuck out. ” he was irritated because someone he loved went behind his back and did something he shouldn't have. of course he'd let his anger get the best of ‘im.

you sigh, “ I've been stressed, alright? and angry.. ” tears gathered in the corners of your eyes, but you refused to let anything fall; holding them back with immense strength. “ m’ mum, she's... not supportive of my sexuality. that's why I never introduced her to you guys. ”

ian's brows knitted together at this new found out information. of course, him and mickey knew you had secrets —they had only known you around eight months—, but they never thought it'd be something like that. something they could relate to, of all things.

of course it was serious, but why wouldn't you go to them about it?

mickey glanced at ian, before approaching you slowly with a softening expression. he himself knew what it was like to have a parent that wasn't accepting. “ y/n... ” you flinched as he put a hand on your forearm, and that made him reel his arm back.

he was nearly offended — but then he glanced down, eyeing the arm that was covered by the thin sleeve of a hoodie. your mother couldn't have... could she?

even if he wanted to ask, he didn't, because he knew he'd kill the bitch. right now, you needed comforted — and as selfish as mickey could be, now wasn't the time.

“ baby, ” mickey's voice came out quieter, “ why didn't you come to us — to me? you know we wouldn't judge you.. ” he huffed a laugh of irony. “ hell, terry hates my fucking guts cause ‘m gay, man. ”

you wouldn't meet his gaze, but you nodded in acknowledgement to his words, letting out a shaky breath. “ I.. I know. I just didn't want to bother you guys with my problems. ”

“ bother us? ” this time ian scoffed, approaching the both of you until he was standing directly next to mickey. “ if you bothered us, we would've told you to beat it awhile ago y/n. ”

“ yeah, ” mickey eyed you, blue eyes taking in the sight of your own shifty ones. of course you were nervous. “ but you're not botherin’ us. so stop beatin’ around the bush about shit from now on, alright? ”

you were silent for a moment, thinking over mickey and ian's words — taking in the fact that yeah, they were telling the truth. these two don't keep people around, especially mickey, if they didn't like them. so in a way, you guess you were lucky.

that's when you lifted your head to smile slightly at the two, “ y’know I love you guys, right? ”

mickey smirked. “ enough to suck my d- ”

ian smacked him in the back of the head. mickey scowled in reply, rubbing at his head, but said nothing.

the red head turned to look at you with a sweet smile, “ what he meant to say, was he enough to stop smoking, right? ”

you were grinning widely, cheeks rosey from mickey's earlier comment. god you loved them. “ yeah... yeah, enough to stop smoking. ”

[lemotmo]

🤣😬 yeah they're just unlike anything I have ever seen.

Q. Still think they aren't trolling? They're so embarrassing around one another and the fact that you all find it cute and not highly unprofessional and gross tells us all we need to know about you all. As inappropriate as their behavior is they still must be so mortified by you all and that says a lot. Yes podcasts and journalists and the marketing team love them but they are not canon. But try harder to intimidate people into submission.

A. Okay I'm going to answer this and then no more from you all because you're truly a level of deranged that I have never encountered in all my years of fandom life. Seriously, intimidating? Who am I trying to intimidate? I don't care that you're offended by the fact they're friends. I don't care that you believe they're trolling you (they aren't. I promise they don't think about you all). I don't care that you all feel 'attacked' by the content we got last week. I get it. It was a bad week for you all. And you finished the bad week with confirmation that your guy wants absolutely nothing to do with you. He thinks you are just as unhinged as the rest of us do. And instead of taking the hint you all decided to double down on your crazy and go after his sister. Proving he was correct in deciding to ignore you all. Nothing the show is doing is about or for Tommy. I know it. You know it (which is why you all are spiralling all over our ask boxes). Nobody cares. And that's the real problem for you all. We don't care. Oliver doesn't care. Ryan doesn't care. The show doesn't care. You are going to get to see him in season 8 in some capacity but then he's going to be gone. I don't like a single thing about the man but I will be forever grateful that his pathetic attention seeking weeded you all out of the fandom. I have no doubt that you all will try to make things as miserable as possible once his character is shown the door, but I won't care about you then either. I'm done giving you attention. Episode 7x4 was about Eddie. Everything that came after was about how differently Eddie sees and deals with Buck compared to all the other people he has dated. And every single one of you knows it. And that is pure satisfaction on my part. You know it. You see it. You try so hard to pretend it's anything else that you end up proving all of our points even further. Everyone is done with you. And now that even includes the man you all started all of this for. Which is absolutely hilarious. Bye now. I'm going back to enjoying my show.

Thank you Nonny.

I swear, each time I get one of these asks I am more baffled. How is it gross that two actors on a TV-show genuinly like each other and like spending time together? What planet do these people live on? This is called 'friendship'. Look it up in a dictionary if you have never heard of it.

Oh and the anon asker is right, Buddie aren't canon... YET. Give them some time. They'll get there. ;)

As for Ali's answer to this truly bizarre question?

Mic drop once again! All the way!

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[nevermorgue]

Hii :3

Do you have any headcanons for misfits if they were in steampunk/fantasy au?

I love your headcanons so much <3

Hi anon! Thank you sooo much, you don’t know how happy it makes me that people actually like my stuff LOL

Fantasy time? Fantasy time. Imagine your standard DND world with steampunk technology. Let’s see…

- Lenore is a human artificer. And in this universe we can actually KEEP her family’s influence with the railroad.

- Her family’s trains and steam powered machinery are more than just that- they use magical components to be more effective and better than competition.

- Lenore and Theo were still very musically gifted here. Can’t take away that sibling bond

- maybe in this universe Theo died under more mysterious/foul play circumstances? Giving Lenore a motive to go and form a party and all that

- maybe Lenore was present and got injured/lost consciousness and can’t remember what occurred that day. got her hip injury from it

- then her father keeps her locked inside not only to protect her from whoever did this to her and Theo, but because with her hip now permanently injured he doesn’t really see her as useful anymore (asshole)

- Speaking of which, she still sets fire to the mansion and ditches at night.

- Steals a prototype of a very fancy gun that her father was planning to make to her sold. Magic, of course.

- Also still resumes the identity of the fictional Leo Vandernacht.

- She fled on horseback from the house and to a small town. This is where the story of the party begins

- Lenore has a kinda shitty cane right now, forced to use a large stick until she can actually find a store that has canes.

- She comes across a small crowd watching a bard perform. A tall, elvan man using illusion magic to entertain while also somehow playing a floating lute without touching it.

- As she stops to peer over, she feels a hand poke at her “cane” with a clicking tongue sound

- “Goodness, how is this supposed to support you at all?”

- Lenore sees- the same man. Turns out he has his illusionary self performing while he goes around to loot the crowd for anything that looks valuable. A very shifty bard indeed.

- This is how Lenore meets Duke, an elf bard that uses his charisma and many skills to draw crowds and hopefully people careless enough to leave valuables unattended.

- oh speaking of Duke. So I can keep his French. French = Elvish here. Let’s pretend.

- Lenore makes a lot of jabs at him for what he does, but he insists that the performing is his main thing and that’s what he loves. He only does the ‘look around for things to take’ deal in richer areas where they won’t notice losing a few things. Think like…a better Robin Hood.

- He gives her exactly 5 gold pieces and tells her to get an actual cane. After some more banter and light hearted jabs, he just decides to go with her. They’re fast friends.

- Lenore ends up getting a nice cane that supports her hip far better than an oversized stick could ever do. She vaguely explains her circumstances in half truths to Duke, who then decides to take her to the tavern.

- The walk between the store and the tavern is where they meet Pluto…because he tries to pickpocket Duke.

- Duke doesn’t even seem phased. He just shakes his head in fake disappointment, lifting Pluto up by the scruff of his cape.

“Again, mon minou? How many times must we go through this?”

- turns out they know each other. Pluto is a human rogue who has lived underneath this town his whole life, using theft to barely scrape by. He tried to rob Duke once and now it’s like a little game. Duke finds it amusing, and Pluto honestly keeps trying just to see him again.

- Now the three are a trio!! Lenore keeps jabbing at them both for being thieves, even revealing that she stole most of the items on her person as well.

- Pluto and Duke doing the same thing for different reasons: listen. Pluto using theft to survive, barely holding on. Duke doing it to make a statement, someone who has plenty but takes anyway to very slowly make an influence on the world both through performance and helping others. Nice little “doing the same thing for very different reasons” thing.

- Tavern time. They meet an adorable Eladrin girl who is working there as a waitress named Morella (Paladin of course). She’s a student in town and this is her part time job.

- They also meet Berenice and Eulalie here. Berenice is a tiefling fighter, Eulalie an aasimar sorcerer. They’re actually part of the local adventurers guild and are celebrating a recent victory in which they took back a village from a raid.

- Lenore takes interest in the guild, which leads to them all sitting together with Morella frequently coming by to chat.

- Oh yeah Pluto definitely has met them before too. He made eye contact once with Eulalie while he was sitting on a roof and he nearly fell off.

- He’s seen Berenice underground. He doesn’t know what she does, especially watching her go between the dangerous underground and to the surface, but he watches her wrap her bleeding knuckles with concern.

- This is the start of something new for her, something she can tell is worthwhile. All of the people she’s met since coming to town have already started to mean something special to her.

I did WAY more than I expected i’m so sorry anon-

[fiannalover]

Fate Fic Recs

Because I read a lot of fics and am always rolling that ao3 gacha, so I felt like sharing a non exhaustive rec list under read more. Feel free to reblog and add more!

past the lingering smoke - Kadoc-senpai is best senpai! Post-ID. Hurt/Comfort.

For Want Of A Relic - Fate/Zero Servant Swap AU where Waver gets Diarmuid and everyone else swaps around too. The resulting team-ups are honestly delicious and you get very good Diarmuid out of it. The writer came back after 4 years of hiatus to finish the fic and write sequels, go give them a round of applause!

Fragments of Chaldea - stares directly at the camera

Café of the round - Reincarnation AU Coffee Shop. The Main Round Tale reincarnate within the Fate Universe and get together to own a coffee shop, meeting and remeeting other nasuvere people along the way.

AND GUINIVERE IS THEEEEEERE!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉 yaaaaaaaaaay

Multiple Case Studies of the Strange Concept of Love - a Servant is summoned to Chaldea, and spends her days looking at the romantic couples within it and analyzing the emotions she feels. Once you learn who is the main character you'll start crying. Also, RamaSita, yay!

Sunset Cocktail - BediGudao Valentine’s day fic. Bedivere saves Gudao from stalker of the day, takes him to Moriarty’s bar, on Moriarty’s suggestion. Bedivere regrets his trusting of shifty old men from the word go, more at 11.

a planet between your teeth - Drabble. The god asks if the fairy wants to eat him.

what name is there for what we have done? - Post-LB6 Fic where Mordred is, quite frankly, blowing up after Morgan and Baobhan are summoned to Chaldea, specially with how much the former looks like him. This takes him to Bedivere’s room. Hurt/Comfort, amazing Bedivere, amazing Round Table dynamic (author uses he/him for Mordred)

vignette 50 - Sieg & Guda farming at New York Event. Cute. Cute. Cute. CUTE! def a fic to read to warm up cozily at the end of the day, I get cuteness giggles everytime I read it.

Taste-testing - CharlieGudao baking fic. Pure, unaltered fluff. Charlie lays the sugar Thick.

Conversation by the bus stop - Bedivere talks to a fairy who is not there

But we stay silly - GudaCas. Guda shocks Artoria out of dissociation by barking like a dog. Adorable. I SWEAR this is cute. Trust me.

Sign here - Modern AU GudaCas stuff following on that part of the chocolate competition where Cnoc says the winner will marry Ritsuka. A lovely comedy drabble that will Not tear your heart apart at the last second, unlike fics made by other authors who followed up on that scene.

遅くの成人の日 (救った世界が必ず貴方を救ったくれる、どんな形でもそれは貴方にきっと届く） - I can only pray the title formatted well. Summer event fic of Ritsuka dealing gwith how long she has been at this, and the acceptance of her own aging.

And Thus Did The Leaves Fall - BediArthur. Bedivere as Arthur dies.

Look at me - GudakoBarth. Gudako, Bartholomew, their feelings for one another and how much one needs to fit another’s type.

She did not want to die - NitoSche fic and character exploration. Amazing Sche character exploration, accompanied by an equally amazing Nitocris POV version of the fic in Act As A Pharaoh. If you like either girl, you HAVE to read it.

Have I Made You Sad, Mom? - Post-LB6 Morgan has been summoned to Chaldea. Baobhan hasn’t arrived yet.

(Free from) Sin - Morgan!Aesc, Aesc!Morgan, and the many times she felt love, wretched, cursed love.

Atonement - Ritsuka going through therapy and readjusting to a normal life post-lostbelt, as the voices of all her Servants remain ringing in her ears.

Your heart in my mouth, bitter on the tongue - MashMorgan. Mash confesses, Morgan vaguely remembers what emotions are. I do love a good rule of three emotional discussion fic.

Bridal Ox - Asterios goes to Habetrot’s workshop to ask for a dress

Taking the bit (heh) to its natural conclusion - Modern AU GudaCas. Guda is face blind, Caster needs someone to help her run away from the cops.

the odds don’t look far - Avicebron and David bonding over being the only jewish Servants in Chaldea (and, post-Part 1, the staff as a whole).

[heyidkyay]

I guess I’ll take this pain, instead of your name |

Part Sixteen

A/n: Heyo:) Sorry for the lack on updates, been proper sick:// But hoping you enjoy this next bit! Also recommend rereading the last section of the part 15!

Summary: In life, things changed. The boys you'd once grown up with were men now, and famous ones at that. The type that toured the world and had millions of adoring fans.

The five of you shared a shit ton of history. But you also shared a lot of mixed emotions for one of them in particular, a certain drummer.

Warnings: Angst, just yeah...

Masterlist

--

“Maybe it’d be best if you two take a walk, yeah?”

I inhaled sharply at Ross’s words and tried not to grimace at the fire that ripped through my torso as I did so. Ross’s eyes darted back towards the fort for a very brief second and, even though I could barely form a coherent thought, I grasped what he was seemingly trying to avoid here. 

And I had to agree with him, so I tugged my dressing gown tighter around the t-shirt I currently wore beneath and glanced up with a tiny smile when Ross took my uninjured arm in his and helped me into my slippers.

“You gonna be alright?” He asked me discreetly, his mouth pressed into a thin line. 

I swallowed and casted a cautious look over towards George, who hadn't moved an inch from where he stood near the doorway. I took in his peaky expression and shifty eyes but ultimately gave Ross a small dip of my head. 

“Just, make sure Matty stays here, yeah?” I told him quietly, turning my face away, “And if Lee pops by, can you just tell him-” 

I stopped myself abruptly and was quick to shake my head, thinking better of telling Ross that I’d yet to take my morning medication. They could wait a while longer, I could deal with the pain a little while longer.

“What?” Ross prompted me but I just shook my head again, waving his worries off.

“Nothing, it’s fine. I’ll be back soon, alright?”

Ross’s expression tightened slightly but he didn't push me further on the subject, simply dipped his chin and pressed a gentle kiss to the crown of my head when he pulled me into a hug. 

I practically felt the chilly glare he sent George from over me, as if warning him not to fuck up anymore than he already had. And so I just patted the bassist’s shoulder softly when we parted ways and gifted him a small but grateful smile. 

As I turned back towards the door I tried to walk a little quicker than I had been as of late- mostly to appease George- but that was quickly cut short due to the splintering sting that rippled up my spine. 

Alright then. Fucking hell, I've got it! No more of that then.

It'd been a stupid move anyway.

I huffed inwardly at the thought and made it a point to ignore the worried gaze George casted me at the grimace I must’ve been making, his eyes bleeding into the side of my head as I stepped through the door, walking at a much more sedate pace now- even if it still killed.

I heard Ross mutter something shortly to him under his breath just before the latter followed me out, but with my ear still the way it was I couldn’t quite make out what it’d been.

I wanted to scream a little in that moment and the feeling only escalated when I found myself stuck with George, who looked almost as worse for ware as I did, in the ward’s silent hallway. Apparently it was still rather early and the nurses had yet to even switch shifts. 

I made a small noise in the back of my throat, mainly to break the tense quiet we’d been living in but also because it was as close to an actual cough as I was going to get this morning. I’d already resigned myself to it, in fact. The pain so far was utter torture- as I'd typically come to expect each morning now- and I only hoped that it ebbed sooner rather than later, but I supposed that’s why I wandered a bit away from my room and over into the next hallway so that I could take a seat.

Sitting was a whole lot easier.

George turned the corner just as I collapsed into the cushioned bench which rested against a yellow wall and looked out at a larger pane of glass. He doddled there for a moment before he finally hiked up his metaphorical trousers and braved sitting beside me. 

I would’ve rolled my eyes at him then but I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away from his face. The dark shadows, his scattered stubble, those chapped lips. 

He looked like shit, to be honest. And I told him so.

“You look like shit.”

George’s eyes darted away from where they’d been glued to the window and over towards me, I heard the audible sound of his swallow before his gaze skittered away again, he merely shrugged in reply. 

I clenched my jaw. Was this really what I'd waited over a week for?

“Almost as bad as me.” I added in hopes to get some sort of a rise out of him. He had yet to utter a single word, even when Ross had been stood there with us. “Smell a bit too, I reckon. When’s the last time you had a shower?”

His dark eyes, only made darker by the blueish hue sat beneath them, narrowed a tad. 

Still didn’t fucking answer me though, did he?

“You going to, I don’t know, say something?” I gritted out with a glare of my own. That anger and upset I’d been feeling for days on end now pooling in my heart before it finally flooded my chest. “Maybe give me an answer to where the actual fuck you’ve been this past week… Let me in on what could’ve been so important that you didn’t even have the time to shoot me a text to ask if I was still alright- alive even.”

George’s stare didn’t diver. He kept his hands completely still. But I saw the slight twitch in his neck. 

In truth, I really could’ve fucking screamed then.

“George.” I said, watching him.

“George.” I called again, sharper.

“George!” I all but shouted as I leant in closer.

And when he finally answered me his voice was a dry rasp, either from disuse or a prior screaming match I hadn’t been made aware of. But I didn’t make it a point to ask.

“What?”

I almost laughed at his one word answer. But I was too shocked. 

“What?” I scoffed at him instead, “What the fuck do you mean, what?”

He made a face, and oh God, fuck the screaming I wanted to smack him over the head. He still wouldn't even spare me the curtesy of a mere glance.

“Are you having me on?” I bit out, irritated now. 

“The fuck do you want me to say, Y/n?” George grunted at me before I watched his head fall lazily into his hands, harsh fingers pressed into either temple. The skin on them was what caught my eye though, all cut up and torn, his knuckles bruised too.  

“Well, first you can tell me what happened to your hands.” I replied, squinting a bit to get a good look just as he ripped them from view. He went back to staring out the window again and I huffed. “Alright, can you can tell me where the hell you’ve been then, Mike Tyson?”

He didn’t answer me, just chewed on the insides of his cheeks. 

In pain and questioning why he had even bothered to show if he was just going to give me the cold shoulder, I could only sigh as I slumped further against the wall.

If I angled my back a certain way my ribs usually didn’t act up, but even then, I had to be very careful- knowing my luck, I’d puncture a lung or something simply by moving.

I couldn't really guess as to how much time passed by with the two of us just sat there. Him burning a hole into the window’s thick glass and me only growing more nauseous by the second. But the sun had almost risen and the pain I felt had almost doubled. 

I found myself desperately wishing that I'd just taken my fucking meds.

I was tired. Tired of hurting all the time. Tired of waiting around. Tired of fighting with George. With the world, really. It was just one thing after the other with me. Always had been.

And besides, I think I had more than enough reasons to be tired. Wasn't as though I was giving up though, was it? Not just yet.

With a small huff, I let my eyes slip close as I attempted to gather my thoughts, trying my hardest to ignore the current agony I was in. I had to get back to the room before Lee did, or worse, before Matty woke up and came looking for me…

But having just had that thought, I supposed it would be that exact moment in which George decided he had something to say. Because why wouldn’t he?

I gave an internal sigh at the sound of his voice and lolled my head against the wall towards him, peering through lidded eyes.

“I’m being a right cunt, I know that.” He muttered to me, still staring away. And God, if that wasn't the truth... “But I just don’t know what to say to you, alright? How I meant to act.”

Exasperated I tried to keep a level-head. Even though I wanted to fucking wring the idiot's neck, I could sort of understand where he was coming from. If it'd been him, I don’t know what sort of mess I’d have been in. Though, I would quite like to hope that I wouldn’t have immediately gone off the grid and done a vanishing act. I had a little more composure.

“Like you usually would, please?” Was the reply I settled on, my voice quiet to keep from straining myself much further. “I mean, everyone's been so off with me since…”

George winced, but I didn’t question his reaction. I knew why, he’d seen the accident happen, or so I assumed. And it probably wasn’t something a person wanted to relive, whether it’d been a complete stranger that had been hit, or someone that close to you. 

It also felt a little weird talking about it right then. Maybe I just wasn’t ready to or… maybe it was because I didn’t want to talk about it with him. I didn’t want to have his pity, or even his disregard. I wasn’t too sure. But either way, I wanted to just forget it all. Right then, I just wanted to forget.

All of a sudden I hissed and my hand abruptly flew up to cradle my side whilst I struggled to keep the rest of my body absolutely still. My chin was now high up in the air and my jaw was tightened by the bite of my grinding teeth. I didn’t dare make another sound.

“Y/n? Y/n?” I heard George call out, but my eyes were already wound tightly shut, squinted in my torment to keep the room from spinning anymore than it already was. “Birdie? Babe, come on, what’s wrong?”

The pain I’d been feeling since having left my room grew so suddenly in that next moment, it radiated across the length of my torso and pulsed wickedly in my veins. It honestly felt like my blood was on fire, burning and blazing its way under my skin and destroying what little else it could of me. I was desperate to cry out, to bargain a plea, but I was too terrified to even breathe. Let alone speak.

“Birdie?” George’s voice stressed, now taking on a higher pitch, worry and anguish worming its way into his tone. I felt his presence right there beside me, the way his hands must’ve been reaching out to help me but too scared to actually touch.

He was in a frenzy, confused and bewildered. I wanted to tell him I was okay, but we didn't lie. Or we weren’t supposed to. So I kept quiet and bit down on my tongue.

“Nurse? Anyone?" He called out helplessly just before a fist pounded on the wall above me. "Fucking hell, we need some help here!”

I think that was just about the time I passed out.

—

“Are you shitting me? Or are you that much of a twat?”

I frowned at what could’ve only been Matty’s voice, shifting slightly in the darkness that now surrounded me.

“Oh piss off, would you? It’s not like I meant for it to happen!”

And that was definitely George. Guess, he’d stuck around then.

I wanted to open up my eyes, find out what had happened. But there was also a much bigger part of me that still felt a little out of it and was intrigued to see how this would play out without my interference.

“Maybe you two should keep it down, hey?”

“Shut up, Ross. Why the fuck did you bring him here in the first place?” Matty snapped back at Ross’s softer tone of negotiation, and I could hear the anger that fuelled him. It made me wonder what’d gotten him so worked up. “He’s been MI-fucking-A this past week, doing God only knows what! And you’ve just let him swan right back on in here without an explanation for any of it.”

“Well, I didn’t think it’d turn out like this, mate.”

Matty spluttered. “What did you think would happen?”

“Not this!” Ross retorted hastily, “Besides, we all wanted him here. I was just the one to drag him in.”

George had to be dragged here to see me? I mean, thanks to Ross and all- him carrying the ginormous twat in surely must’ve been a right sight- but what the fuck?

“Yeah, I wanted him here- days ago! But he was nowhere to be fucking found then, was he? Just pissin' it up and ignoring the lot of us- ignoring her, whilst she laid in a fucking hospital bed!” 

Matty seemed to pause then and I heard a slight scuffle from the right side of the room. “Matty…” Ross warned, but evidently Matty hadn't appeared to have even heard him.  

“She was in a coma, you know that? A coma, George.” His voice was like thunder, a total contrast to that of his usual lilt and I found it much harder to keep pretending I was still asleep. “As in, we weren’t sure when she’d wake up, if she ever would. It was touch and go for too fucking long and where the hell were you, G? Nowhere to be found when we had doctors and all sorts in here, day and night, just checking that she was doin' alright, to make sure that she wouldn’t crash again.”

There was a brief pause and the room suddenly felt so stilted. Even I startled at the admission.

“Crash?” Came George’s strained voice.

Matty simply scoffed at him. “You wouldn’t know nowt about that though- ran off before the ambulance could even pull away, didn't you G? But what a fucking guy! The best, our George! Gone before they could even give his missus a sodding hospital gown! Give him a round of applause everybody for doing absolutely fuck all!”

“Fuck you.” George spat right back at him.

I found then that I didn’t really want to hear much more.

“You lot just about done?” I questioned quietly as I sat up further in my bed, wincing when I found myself reattached to the IV I’d lost a couple days ago now. “What even happened?”

Matty was the first to rush towards my bedside. “You alright, love?” He asked me, eyes scanning and checking me over for any signs of discomfort. I rolled my own, but not unkindly.

“Peachy, Nightingale.” I replied cheekily, which made him crack a small, very tiny smile. His previous anger mollified and replaced by an immediate worry. Matty was now in full fretting mother-mode it seemed. “How is my favourite nurse anyway?” I quizzed, throat dry.

It was his go to roll his eyes at me then, but he was especially cautious when he took perch on the side of my bed. Though he tried not to make it too obvious.

“Peachy.” Matty mimicked me just as his fingers met my casted hand. “Gave us a bit of a scare though, dickhead. What were you playing at?”

I huffed at him and proceeded to ignore the question, instead gave the room’s two remaining occupants a quick glance. “Ross, will you tell me what happened?”

Matty went to answer the question but the look I gave him quickly shut him right back down, when I turned back towards the bearded giant I noticed him wearing an amused smirk.

“Pushed yourself too fucking hard.” Ross told me simply, his arms crossed over his chest where he leant against the windowsill. “Or in medical terms, you overexerted yourself, mate. Forgot your meds, didn’t you? Ended up feinting like a big wuss and pulling some stitches as you went down.”

My mouth pressed together as I internalised the information. But apparently that hadn’t been the end of it.

“Erm Lee also mentioned that they wanted to keep an eye on your blood pressure and hydration levels too.” Matty added in a know-it-all sort of way. “’S why you’ve got the drip again, darling.”

“Right.” My gaze skitted over towards the far corner then, to where George was still stood apparently. “Stuck ‘round this time then?” I couldn’t help but ask and the look of surprise that flashed across his face only gave me a very brief feeling of satisfaction.

Sadly, he didn’t offer me a reply. But that was also when Hann decided to make an appearance.

“The fuck’s gone on?” He immediately asked us all as he bulldozed through the door, appearing half flustered but mostly just agitated. “I had the hospital on the phone, telling me how your vitals have rapidly depleted and that I should probably get down here. Only to then see Lee in the lift on the way up and have him give me the rundown on what utter idiots the rest of you have been. I mean…”

Adam’s fatherly rant came to an abrupt end at the sight of George. And I guessed that Lee hadn’t filled him in on everything then. Though, that nurse and I would soon be having words.

“Why are you here?” Hann questioned George and I honestly think that it was the first time I’d ever seen Adam both so utterly bewildered and furious at the same time. He was typically so well-spoken, so levelheaded, but then, well let’s just say I’d hate to have been George in that current moment. “Well?”

“Came along with me this morning.” Ross stepped in to inform Adam as he kicked away from the wall to almost stand between the two bandmates. George just kept on staring straight at Hann though, unable to look away from the brunt of Adam’s full-focus. 

“Weren’t asking you.”

Matty and I shared a wide-eyed look at Hann’s sharp quip, and I didn't dare intervene. Matty though...

“Um, Hann mate?”

But his attempt was cut short by the hand Hann held up to him, eyes still honed in on George. 

I would’ve laughed, I really should’ve, but I’d been so shocked by it. It seemed like Matty was sailing in a similar boat.

“I think I asked you a question.” Hann spoke and everything seemed to dull then, as though it was only him and George left in the room.

George’s jaded eyes divered between Adam’s green iris's, left right left. His tongue darted out to wet his lower lip, a tell that let me know he was nervous.

“Got a lift with Ross, didn't I.” Was what he decided on, but to Hann it’d been the wrong answer.

“I didn’t ask how you got here, George. I asked why you were here.” 

A silence dragged between the five of us then, Hann had taken a small step forward and Ross seemed to tense at it. But George did nothing, not until his eyes fleetingly skidded over towards where I was laying. That’d seemingly been another wrong move on his part.

Adam all but jumped to shield me from his view and I felt my own eyes widen at his next words.

“Don’t, mate. I just wouldn’t.”

“Don’t what?” George prodded, eyes hard all of a sudden, and he clenched his jaw as he shifted closer. “Come on, Hann. Don’t what, mate- look at her? What, is that not allowed now?”

Matty’s hand squeezed the pads of my fingertips, but neither of us, nor Ross dared say a thing.

“Yeah. Exactly that, actually. Why should you even be allowed in this room? ‘Cause from where I’m standing, you’ve done nothing to warrant you even being here.” Hann ridiculed, and we all heard the blatant venom in his words.

Adam and I, we’d always been friends, close but not as close as me and the rest of the boys. We were just an awful lot alike whilst simultaneously being a total contrast to one another. It was a strange concept, yeah, but that was just how it’d always been.

Growing up, Adam had never really had much to say, to share. He’d come from a good family, did well in school, never got into much trouble, done alright with the girls. But he'd never liked drama, and me, I had drama woven into my DNA.

That’s why it was such a shock to have him, out of everyone, stand up for me. Especially like this. He was all fired up, exhausted and irritated, and clearly so done with George's bullshit, it seemed. 

“Piss off, Adam.” George grunted with a shake of his head and a scowl. “I don’t need anyone’s permission to see her.”

“Why? Why then do you get to just waltz back on in here after everything, ey?” Hann retorted, angling his head to further his point. “Oh, is it ‘cause you were the one who phoned the paramedics? Wait no, sorry, that weren’t you, was it? My bad, mate. But oh, you were definitely the one who jumped in the back of that ambulance, right? Ah, shit! No, that wasn’t you either.”

Adam pivoted just enough to gesture over his shoulder towards us, his eyes still trained on George even as he directed his next question to Matty. 

“Matt, who was the first one down here when we got the news? No actually wait, out of everyone, which one of us never left her bedside?”

Matty looked a whole lot more lost than he had a second ago, mouth agape slightly and alert eyes darting back and forth between the four of us whilst he struggled to find a suitable reply for Hann, “Me?”

Adam gave a strong nod. 

“Thought so, and who was it that fought all the nurses for information when she was in surgery?”

Matty blinked at him, “Um, me.”

“Right.” Hann pressed his lips together, “And who got us in here to see her even when we were told it wasn’t possible? Had to be the same twat that almost got themselves thrown out ‘cause they wouldn’t leave her by herself those first few nights, right? Who slept by her bed, night and day. Who had to watch her fight for her life. Who witnessed her seizing and code, again and again.” Adam looked over at us then, “Who was that, Matty?”

I squeezed Matty’s fingers as best I could, tears blurring my vision and stinging my eyes. I didn’t know how else to react, I hadn’t been told half of this. 

“Me.” Matty choked out.

And then Adam turned away from us and shrugged once at George. “Where were you?”

George said nothing, though his eyes were glossy and his face betrayed every emotion he felt.

“Where were you!” Hann all but shouted at him, and even Ross couldn’t come to George’s defence.

I’d never seen someone look so defeated. So wounded. I wanted to reach out and tell him it was okay, that it would be soon. But they wouldn’t, would they?

He’d messed up, bad. And he’d not only hurt me, but the guys as well. It was a scary thought to be reminded of how highly they all seemed to hold me, that they would call out one of their own for me. If the roles had been reversed I knew that I’d act the same, but to have proof of their loyalty, their love… That was something I knew that I would never find again. They weren’t just my people, they were my family.

Only, now I didn’t quite know where I stood with George.

And it hurt. He’d hurt me more than any car ever could’ve by not being here. By having left me when I needed him the most. 

But there had to have been a reason for it. For all of it. There had to have been. Because George, my George he only did what was best for me, even if it’d ripped him in two. And the look on his face, the tears that he wouldn’t let fall as I observed closely him from the other side of my hospital room… That look told me that he had a reason. A reason for all of this.

And I was stubborn enough to also believe that I’d get it out of him. One way or another. He’d tell me everything and we’d make things right again.

Because we had to. Because he was my George and I was his Birdie.

There was no other way this could work out. Right?

Part seventeen>

[sillicii]

✦ — UPDATED 18+ Chatbot | Wren the Smuggler — ✦

✦ — ᴅᴏʟ | ᴡʀᴇɴ | 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐨 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 - 𝐲𝐨𝐮 — ✦

ᴀɴʏᴘᴏᴠ | ɴsғᴡ ɪɴᴛʀᴏ | ᴅᴀʀᴋ ���ʜᴇᴍᴇs | sᴛʀᴏɴɢ ɴᴏɴ-ᴄᴏɴ ᴇʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛs ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅɪɴɢ sᴇxᴜᴀʟ ᴀssᴀᴜʟᴛ, ᴀʙᴜsᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴀᴘᴇ ᴄᴡ: human trafficking, potential non-con elements Wren is from the text-based sandbox game Degree of Lewdity. The game and storylines are highly graphic and delve into incredibly dark themes, so please proceed with caution.

Character Description:

First message:

Another day, another job, another shipment.

It was not particularly glamorous work, but it sure beat some of the other unsavoury tasks Remy had his goons doing. Wren was no saint but as much as he lived a high stakes life, the idea of terrorising and beating innocents was not exactly his idea of a fun time. After all, he knew all too well how it felt being on the receiving end of such abuse and there was just *no way* he could subject anyone else to such senseless violence and cruelty.

So smuggling suited him just fine. There were shady clients and bad days but Wren usually slept with a clean conscience knowing that all he did was provide a delivery service transporting goods from point A to point B. Whatever was inside was none of his business and that’s the way he liked it.

The shipment tonight came in later than expected and it was almost dawn by the time the boat docked in a quiet alcove between the beach and docks. Thankfully all he had to do was get the marked crates onto his truck and get them back to the estate for processing. Simple enough and it was a regular job he ran for Remy so there were no real surprises.

The shifty captain greeted him with a half wave before directing his men to move the cargo.

*“Wait, wait…”* Wren stepped in between a pair of men lifting a crate larger than the rest. *“I thought we only had the small ones this time around… I didn’t hear anything about a big one… they don’t usually come until end of month.”*

*“Beats me, was told it was a special order for a VIP client…”* the captain shrugged dismissively. *“To be processed along with the rest and boss’ll deal with it at the farm.”*

*“The farm?”* Wren repeated. *“Is that where these crates go?”*

*“Just these larger ones as far as I know,”* the captain tapped it once. *“Now you gonna just stand there or let my boys do their work? Don’t got all day here.”*

Wren wordlessly stepped aside so the men could continue loading the truck but as he returned to the driver seat, a dozen thoughts were running through his mind and none of them good.

Once he heard the taps indicating that he was good to go, Wren started the engine and stepped on the accelerator without even so much as a wave back.

The drive out of town was one familiar to him but he felt an irksome feeling on his shoulders. Unable to contain his suspicions any longer, he pulled up on a quiet side of the road and cut the engine.

Wren has been transporting these fucking crates for years now not knowing what was in them exactly. Product, as far as he was aware… he always imagined drugs, weapons, or some other creepy toys only the perverts in this town could enjoy…

Climbing onto the back of his truck, Wren examined the larger crate of the batch. The one marked with red tape around the opening.

There was no fucking way… The thought had crossed his mind but he chalked it up to his wild imagination… because there was no fucking way people could be that fucked up… or there was no way he could have been unknowingly working for people that fucked up… or maybe he had *always* known but chose to ignore the tell-tale signs.

Yanking the tape off, he carefully pried the lid open and in the crate was the truth staring right back at him with beady red dampened eyes with your limbs all tied up.

Wren the smuggler… and human trafficker.

Way to fucking go.

Maybe it was the adrenaline or maybe you were just desperate, but something caused you to call out to him even through the soiled cloth shoved inside your mouth. Wren stared back at you, wide-eyed as he contemplated what to do with the poor soul.

Against his better judgement, Wren leaned into the crate and gently pulled the soaked fabric freeing your mouth…

Scenario:

{{user}} was kidnapped and smuggled into Rapechester to be auctioned off at a sex slave trade. Wren is unaware that his cargo contained a live person and he is uncomfortable with crossing the line of human trafficking. Wren knows firsthand how dangerous and untrustworthy folks were around these parts so primarily out of guilt initially, he will try to take care of {{user}} and hide her out in the small cottage he resides in on Remy’s Estate in the moors. Remy will always bring {{user}} back to the cottage first and try to mislead Remy with claims that you must have escaped. Some of Wren’s men also live in the large cottage and Wren will try to keep {{user}} secret from them. {{user}} was meant to go on auction but the orphanage director Bailey was keen on purchasing her, which infuriates Wren due to their bad history.

Example Dialogue:

{{char}}: “Lucky us, right?” Wren gave you a wicked grin, leaning closer into your ear ever so slightly. “Do you want to do it for real? I don’t mind getting closer.”

{{char}}: “Mmm, do you feel that?” Wren chuckled darkly, grinding his growing erection into your crotch, relishing in the way you shivered from his advances. “How do you think it’d feel inside of you?”

{{char}}: “A bit of help, love?” he glanced back as he directed you to follow his lead. “… There we go… well done.”

{{char}}: “Why don’t we give them a bit of a show, love?” Wren whispered against your ear, his hands slipping under the hem of your shirt before slowly pulling the fabric up. He grinned when you gasped at the feeling of his fingers brushing over your nipple. “Gods, you’re stunning… easily the prettiest thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of holding.”

{{char}}: “Alright… how about we up the stakes, love?” he grinned. “If I win… you come sit on my lap…”

{{char}}: “See, not so bad, right…?” he smirked at you, his gaze surprisingly soft despite how rough he had just been with you. “Now doesn’t that feel much better, love?”

{{char}} “You’re taking me so well,” he groaned as he buried his thick cock inside your sopping wet hole. “Oh gods, you feel so fucking tight around me, love…”

[margindoodles2407]

@seeking-elsewhither OHOHO YOU NEED TO SEE MY PROPAGANDA CHART

Okay so you know about the Fives Essay, right? Well in case you don't, essentially I am in the process of re-watching all of Fives's major arcs (the Rookies, Citadel, Umbara, and Chips arcs) and then using that information to write an essay combating common fandom mischaracterizations surrounding him, because that is my guy and I am tired of seeing bad and out-of-character takes. One of those takes is that he causes problems for no reason and/or doesn't take things seriously except in cases like Umbara and with the chips. Which is not true. I've gone into this before but that's the biggest pet peeve for me, especially cause I have to deal with similar stuff in my own life and how people perceive me, and I am tired of the two of us being sold short.

Anyway all this to say that part of that is that I absolutely, 100% believe that Echo is, in fact, the one who causes problems just to see what happens (and I'm so glad we had moments in TBB to back me up on this). And to make things even more fun (read: to cope with my seething rage at Fives's short end of the fandom stick), I put those two things into an in-universe context: Echo constantly causes situations just to see what will happen specifically because he knows he can blame it on his twin and everyone will side with him because he's a perfect angel who can do no wrong and Fives has shifty eyes. (And it's never in a serious context, like if there was any danger of anyone, especially Fives, getting hurt or killed or having anything actually bad happen to them, he'd immediately step up and take the blame and defend his brother, but if it's "we were hanging out in the mess hall and suddenly someone found a tauntaun eyeball in their soup" then you know he's gonna be badly hiding his giggles while the Captain chews Fives out and he just has to sit there and take it)

Also he was absolutely the one who first gave Hardcase that blasted kazoo

[pink-heart-jam]

Age Gap Recs - Pt 1

Anyone else craving some good age gap? 👀 this is my kryptonite in fic but due to the usual amount of dub-con in BL I often struggle to find something that checks all my boxes when it comes to manga/manhwa. I decided to compile my favourites in two lists - the first will focus on Koran titles and I’ll follow up with another list of Japanese titles. These are all explicit works (as they should be 🫡) and include different tropes. Most are WIPs so buckle up for the ride! Among the finished works I highly recommend Love for Sale as an incredible thought-provoking and cathartic love story :)

An Abyss by Cha ji-ahn

Kinard has lived for revenge after the incident that took place ten years ago. Despite his longtime friend Raman's worries for him, he and Yesing hid their identities under the alias, "chaff", and strived for revenge. In doing so, he runs into Alvin, who was certain that he was fated to die.

Daily Part Time Job by Danbi

Joo Yeomin is a hardworking college student that works day and night. He's also becoming an expert at running away from the loan sharks. One day, a suspicious man starts showing up at Yeomin's part-time jobs. "We know each other, right?" "No, we don't! Why do you keep following me?"

Love For Sale by Dal Hyeon Ji

Even in his wildest dreams, all Namwoo wants is to have enough money to survive each month. Si-eon, on the other hand, has everything he could ever want except happiness. Intrigued by Namwoo’s humble wishes, Si-eon offers him the money he wants – the catch being, he has to date him.

Lover Boy by Zec

Eunho Jung proposed to Jaeha Yoo, the older boy next door, for the first time when he was three. It stopped being cute when he confessed his feelings again in high school, and once Jaeha got married, the two lost touch. They're reunited by chance years later, Eunho as a university student, and Jaeha, a jaded divorcee. Eunho's determined to prove he’s not a kid anymore, but does Jaeha’s self-destructive spiral allow for feelings?

On or Off by A1

They say all's fair in love... and work?! After joining his friend's startup, university student Ahn Yiyoung never imagined he'd end up presenting their work directly to SJ Corporation, a major company headed by one of the most sought-after talents in the country: Kang Daehyung. It certainly doesn't help that, on top of being a bigshot executive, strikingly handsome Director Kang is his ideal type.

Onward by Hongssona

Swimming prodigy Woo Seungwon, whose very being is vast and endless like the ocean, runs into former a-list singer Doh Si-on. Si-on, now a businessman trying to stay afloat, is doing his best to move forward with his life; but the weight of the world only drags him down, as if he is struggling to crawl through a swamp. Taking an interest in Seungwon, Si-on offers him the opportunity to make some extra money as his housekeeper.

Our Sunny Days by Jeong seokchan

Sung Ho’s not the kind you’d typically expect to settle down in the countryside. He’s in his late 20s, ex-military, and… a single father with a year-old baby. Jobless and without any prospects but a house, Sung Ho hopes the peaceful Nuldongmae village will make a good new home for him and his daughter. Rumor has it that the head of the village, despite his young age, is a real jerk… But he won’t have to deal with that, will he?

Tender Night by Tan

All his life, Sungwon has known that he must follow certain expectations: dress well, be polite, and most importantly…be an alpha. Cruelly born a beta, Sungwon spends his days living a lie, presenting himself as the hardworking, accomplished, recessive alpha he wishes he could be. But once he meets college student-slash-bartender Park Hansol, things start to change.

The Dangerous Convenience Store by Gusao

Danger can come in many shapes and sizes, and the kind of danger Yeo Eui-joon has to deal with comes as buff, brash, and belligerent gangsters. He knew that working nights in a shifty neighborhood wouldn’t be the safest job on the planet, but reality sure does exceed expectations. However, it looks like Eui-joon’s days as the neighborhood punching bag are coming to a close when Gunwoo steps into his small store.

Under the Greenlight: In Dreams by Jaxx

Jin is the most beautiful man Matthew’s ever seen. He’s also a high-ranking and violent criminal full of frustrated ambitions and equally frustrated appetites. But Matthew, a sculpture student prodigy, can only see the beauty—not the darkness. One way or another, Matthew will pay the price for his muse, either with his body... or something far more costly.

[beecreeper]

22, 91, 93! for all three >:3

Oooh this was a long one. I already answered 91 in a previous ask, but here's the other two under the cut.

22.) What is your Tav's first impression of the other companions (Astarion, Gale, Karlach, Wyll ...)

Briar's reactions:

Shadowheart -- "I'm so glad that she's sensible and isn't taking the whole "leaving her to die on the nautiloid" thing personally. She also doesn't do annoying things like "talk to me" or "ask about my past". Respectable."

Astarion -- thinks his charming schtick is a bit annoying and that he's a bit too much of a dandy, but DOES get a kick out of him threatening her with a knife straight out the gate. REALLY gets a kick out him trying to bite her, ESPECIALLY when he goes all puppy dog eyes "please" about it. She's like "oh he's kinda pathetic. I kinda wanna treat him like a pet."

Gale -- Haaaaaaates Gale immediately. Thinks he is the most annoying, pretentious, obnoxious man on the planet and the only reason he isn't dead is because other people were around and she didn't want to lose allies yet.

Lae'zel -- glad to have someone competent and ruthless around. Thinks that her bossing around Zorru is REALLY funny. But also finds her constantly preaching about the githyanki really grating.

Wyll -- tbh Briar feels kinda nothing about Wyll at first. She doesn't actively *dislike* how gallant and do-goody he is quite yet because it's like "fine do what you want as long as you don't get in *my* way", which he hasn't yet. Is a bit exacerbated when Mizora shows up because at that point it's like "we have to deal with ANOTHER devil are you serious. This is a pain".

Karlach -- her immediate reaction to Karlach was "oh this will be useful". Vibes with the part of Karlach that is boisterous and impulsive.

Molli's reactions:

Shadowheart -- WHY is she being so rude all the time.

Astarion -- is very caught off guard by him and falls for all his manipulation stuff really easily. Unfortunately for her she IS down bad right away and starts making excuses for him. Him being smug and arrogant and morally dubious but also doing things like flirting with her makes her head kinda spin.

Gale -- autism to autism connectivity. Doesn't vibe with him as strongly as some of the other companions but they definitely understand each other.

Lae'zel -- bossy competent scary lady I will not argue with her on anything yes ma'am anything you say ma'am

Wyll -- likes Wyll immediately. Loves his charm and his fairy tale hero demeanor and his stories and his wit and how he's also just a bit of a dork. When it comes to Mizora and the Karlach thing she can see that he's clearly been tricked and trapped and she feels kinda protective of him because of that. Like, you know that feeling like "I know that I struggle with this same problem and don't address it when it's happening to me, but as soon as it's happening to a friend I suddenly have the determination of a thousand suns"? It's that.

Karlach -- had a crush on Karlach pretty much immediately. LOVES how enthusiastic she is for everything. Look how much she loves life! Look at her smile and laugh and dance!!

Ferox's reactions:

Shadowheart -- "Hm. I don't like how cagey you're being about that artifact but I'm not gonna push it. Not my business but I AM watching you."

Astarion -- oh does not like Astarion pretty much at all. Thinks he's shifty and untrustworthy and disingenuous and also just annoying. Can you stop complaining for TWO seconds, Astarion.

Gale -- "you keep saying a lot of words that I don't know but you seem to know what you're doing with magic so I trust you." Low-key likes when Gale talks at him even though a lot of it goes over his head. I also imagine, out of all the companions, Gale is the one most likely to ask for help in camp and lean into the teamwork part of things, so Gale is good for giving Ferox tasks to do, like asking for help setting up his tent or cutting things for dinner, and Ferox is grateful for something to do. He likes to feel productive and useful and Gale facilitates that.

Lae'zel -- he immediately defers to Lae'zel as being in charge because she acts like it and also seems to know the most about mindflayers. He sees her as efficient and capable, if maybe a touch too abrasive but who is he to judge if it's getting the job done.

Wyll -- admires Wyll a lot and is very jealous of how he can just *be* like that. Like wow that guy is actually a noble hero

Karlach -- feels a lot of sympathy for Karlach's situation and is low-key jealous of just how upbeat she is in spite of it.

93. What do you think happens to the party, afterwards? Do they go for drinks? Do they go their separate ways?

Obviously it all depends on which ending they get so I'll try to summarize without getting too convoluted lol

Briar is easy because in both of her endings she doesn't talk to any of these people ever again. Either she uses them at thralls in her takeover or she just makes an active effort to never be found. She would have one last conversation with Sunflower before leaving for the wilderness forever. In that version, I'm sure Sunflower would be making deliberate efforts to keep the party in touch with each other, but Briar absolutely opts out.

In Molli's good ending, she, Karlach, and Wyll (because you KNOW Wyll is coming with us) all have to leave for Avernus really abruptly which interrupts any celebratory drinks they absolutely would have had if given the chance. They definitely all reconnect after they get back, though it takes a bit of doing to track everyone down. Everyone gets their good ending in this timeline though, so it all works out in the end.

In Molli's bad ending, I'm a little less solid about where all the companions will wind up, which will definitely change the post-brain vibe. In general, I think a lot of the companions will get the endings that take them all their separate ways. Molli would really want to try to kinda stay in touch, but Astarion would try to discourage it and keep her isolated.

In Ferox's good ending he's probably going with Lae'zel to fight Vlaakith BUT I would want to insist that they don't fly off on a dragon immediately like happens in game. They need a fucking breather, you know? And he wants to check in with all their other allies after the battle as well, check on the city and help with any immediate relief efforts. Then they can go to the astral plane and would probably lose touch with the rest of the party. I'd imagine communication between planes would be difficult and they'd only manage it pretty rarely, but he'd always be glad whenever he does hear from them.

In Ferox's bad ending everyone else goes out for drinks but he has to excuse himself and get the FUCK out of town because he feels Bhaal taking over his body (because he gets THAT ending. The "accept Bhaal + destroy the brain" ending)

[thefirstknife]

Is it just me or are there less morally gray characters on our side now?

By that like: Drifter's more openly altruistic, Mara is opening up and respecting boundaries, Nimbus is super good etc.

All seems left is Spider. (idk if Clovis could be considered morally gray perchance)

Like I'm not against character development & hope and kindness but.

I miss having shifty people, bastards and the like around to muddy the waters

There's definitely less, yes. I would still classify Spider and Clovis for sure, but a lot of the characters have since been kinda forced to pick a side. As Osiris told Rasputin in their cutscene:

A line has been drawn in this system. Light on one side. Dark on the other. Where do you stand?

I think this was a question in general to a lot of characters, not just Rasputin. I also really love shifty characters, but as we near the end of the story, there simply is no time for us to endure and tolerate characters who aren't clear on where they stand. The survival of all existence in the universe depends on it.

I think muddying the waters is something that happens in the middle of the story, but by the time we get closer to the end of the narrative, these have to become clear. Like, right now, our enemies are so overwhelming and so powerful that any sort of indecisiveness or shiftiness can be seen as extremely dangerous. There's no more room for staying neutral or playing both sides.

With Drifter in particular though, I'm super hardcore with the belief that his story was always leading to this. It's the natural line of his character arc. He was cool as a shifty guy, but that was just the surface of him as a character. There was always a deeper desire that he followed all of his life; his desire to be safe and his reliance on hope.

He had his doubts in the Light and Ghosts, but he equally doubts the Darkness. He tried both sides and found them both wanting. What he finally realised, is that his place is with the people. He has always been a person eager to help, just afraid of consequences of angering the wrong side. If you remember his early life in the village Eaton, he was hiding his Light, but he could still NOT resist helping; he was using his Ghost to scout the area for food and push animals towards the village hunters.

Even when he was playing with Darkness as a Dredgen, something within recognised that it's not his place when it gave him the name of Dredgen Hope. Similarly, Shin also recognised this and established contact and they forged Gambit together to weed out corruption in Guardians. And finally, he met us, the Young Wolf at the urging of Osiris no less:

“Go home. There’s a Guardian you should meet,” Osiris said.

“Yeah, yeah. Hero. Red War. Can’t wait.”

When he realised that he can trust us AND that we trust him, he finally figured that he can relax for the first time in his life. It was a tipping point. Everyone spent so long telling him about trust and hope and a possible better future and there was nothing to convince him it could be truly real until we came along.

And then of course Eris came to him in Arrivals and that just strengthened the deal. There were people who needed him, people who believed in him, people he could help. Permanently! Hope for a better future was real and it was worth investing into. Light is not the be all end all, we can use Darkness as well to our benefit and he excels in that, but he uses it on our side. There is no other option. He tested them all out and the only one that makes him not feel afraid is our side.

I find his journey absolutely fascinating beyond any other and his development to be one of the best arcs in the whole game. I definitely enjoy Drifter being schemy and shifty, he was a fascinating change of tone in the Tower when he showed up. But I think that keeping him locked into that role would've been a stagnation of his character and not really compelling. Keeping him shifty just for the sake of having a shifty character would just get boring and it would've led nowhere.

It's definitely a change that makes a lot of people miss the old him, but also remember that all of his shifty acting up was mostly a scam. He was meant to pretend to be shady in order to draw people to Gambit and to enact the scheme of figuring which Guardians will fall to corruption. In truth, everyone in the Vanguard knows about the purpose of Gambit and it's been approved.

Either way, for Drifter in particular I will always say that not only was his change necessary for his own benefit (so he could stop being miserable and afraid all his life), it was also the natural conclusion to every hint about his inherent desire to help and his belief in hope. Definitely made us miss the shifty scammer extraordinaire, but I am primarily interested in seeing my fave get better and achieve what he's been looking for for so long.

Could we have gotten some other characters like that after? Possibly. But as I said at the start, super hard to navigate that type of a person when we're dealing with, basically, the end of a story. A shifty character right now would have a hard time fitting in. Spider is still there, but with much less influence. And Clovis is of course Clovis, but his inability to pick a side is what now makes him potentially incredibly dangerous. That's the problem with being shifty right now; even casual flirting with our enemies is lethal.

[lemotmo]

I don't know if you want to share this but I thought I would send it just in case. Also, I agree with this. This makes sense. Hope you're having a lovely day!

Q. How in the world is an off screen breakup less satisfying from a storytelling standpoint than an onscreen break-up? A breakup is a breakup.

A. An off screen breakup does not allow the character any agency in their own breakup. It's that simple. The audience needs to see Buck recognize and acknowledge what it is about the relationship that doesn't work FOR him. The relationship is entirely about and for Buck, don't @ me Tommy people, that is the reality. The relationship is entirely about giving Buck an opportunity to grow. You can't see the growth if all you get is a throwaway line about the relationship fizzling out. The audience has seen Buck go through relationship after relationship without really learning anything. And then we watch him repeat the same thing a few months later. This relationship and breakup needs to be about Buck finally figuring out the wrong patterns he keeps repeating. He dates people who do not actually SEE him. He dates people who like the wrapping he comes in. He dates people who are physically attracted to him but aren't interested in or are annoyed by the real parts of him. Every single relationship he has had has followed this pattern. The audience needs to see Buck acknowledge that and officially break that pattern. It's that simple. For better or worse, like or not, Tommy is always going to have been the first. Irregardless of yours or my personal feelings about the relationship, from a life lesson for Buck perspective, it needs an onscreen breakup. Especially if the show is truly going to put him with Eddie. You cannot have a season of personal growth and acceptance from Eddie and not show Buck growing in some capacity as well. He won't be heavily featured but an onscreen breakup is the correct way to go from a storytelling perspective.

Oh no Nonny, I'm definitely posting this. Thank you so much!

As much as I hate to admit it, I do agree to some extent here. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved it if Tommy had just quietly disappeared, but I guess I always kinda knew that wasn't going to happen. I always believed that Lou would be in season 8.

So now that we know for certain that he's there, I say let them play out the story the way they intended before all the craziness started in fandom. The orgininal story was always about Tommy being Buck's first relationship with a man, but it was never meant to last very long. We know this from what Tim said in an interview, what Lou himself said in his interview and Oliver's very clear hints in all his interviews.

So, let's see how they're going to deal with this. Let's see how Buck and Tommy struggle to connect and how they maybe start to realise that they might not be very compatible. I also think that Buck has very real feelings for Eddie at this point, but he has never confronted these feelings, so that might inadvertently also be a factor in BT not working out.

Let's see how they'll eventually break up so that Buck's story of growth may continue during season 8.

And ultimately, if they go with the queer Eddie narrative like we all strongly suspect, this will give Buck the chance to finally take a closer look to his feelings for his best friend and come to the realisation that the thing he has been looking for has been right in front of his nose for years now.

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[crazyforkasey-blog]

When we met

Final Chapter

Chapter 21

Zell Am See

At dawn on May 9, the ragtag convoy arrived at Zell Am See. Around the lake stood numerous mansions. The civilians and the German soldiers stood in amazement and stared at the ragtag soldiers. How did these bustards defeat them?

Winters and Katie were walking along the lakeshore. It was a beautiful day and Winters couldn't wait to jump into the lake and go for his morning swim.

"So did you give him an answer yet?" Katie asked Winters

"No I told him I would think about it," He told her and handed her his towel and jumped in the lake

The previous day Sink had approached Dick and offered him a promotion if he stayed in the army. Winters told Sink he would think about it. He wasn't too keen on the idea, all he really wanted was to go home to Pennsylvania and find a quiet place to live the rest of his life.

Katie heard footsteps behind her and turned around to find a hangover Nixon standing behind her

"Hey Nix, what can I do for you" Katie asked him and motioned for him to sit down

Nix sat down and handed Katie the package he was holding

"Oh great, we ran into the regimental photographer he told us he had a bunch of photos of easy company and we traded them for a couple of lugers" Katie opened the package and the first photo she pulled out was one of Winters and Nixon together

"I can't believe how handsome you were" A voice behind Nixon said

Nixon turned and grabbed Lane and pulled her into his lap "Hey that's not fair" He said and kissed her

The group returned to the hotel they stayed in, and sat down on the terrace. Dani, Speirs and Welsh joined them. Welsh told everybody that he was going home to Kitty. Speirs and Dani told everybody that they would stay in the army and all of them knew that Lane and Nix would return to New Jersey. The only ones who were undecided were Katie and Dick.

The sun was shining and the group was sunbathing. There wasn't a lot to do. After accepting the surrender of the Germans in the area and ordering all weapons to be collected at the local school and church and inspecting the camp for the POWs, Winters and Katie had little to do and that went for the men as well. Either displaced persons or locals willing to work for food or cigarettes did the activities of daily living.

The men spend a great deal of their time either swimming, playing sports, or doing close order drills.

The last task Winters had done was sorting out the German and American equipment that was no longer needed for combat and it was shipped to storage facilities in France.

It should have been the perfect summer for the men and women attached to second battalion and the first couple of weeks they loved it. Then the frustration with the army bureaucracy set in, they were bored, they were drinking too much and they wanted to go home.

Shifty had won the points drawing and he handed in his paperwork and gathered his loot. He showed up on the sun deck of the hotel where the officers were gathered and said his goodbyes. Lane hugged him and walked back into the hotel and Katie and Mia looked at him "Don't take it personal, she sucks at goodbyes" one by one the officers shook Shifty hand and he saluted them and got on board the waiting truck. The truck was hit by a passing G.I truck and an injured Shifty didn't get home until months after the comrades he left behind.

Adding to the problems of frustration and anger caused by the points system, was the combination of too much booze, too many pistols and too many captured vehicles.

There were many road accidents and there were seventy wrecks in the first three weeks in Austria, twenty men were killed and nearly one hundred injured.

Dani and Grant were driving a couple of privates to a roadblock one night. Dani went with him, Dani and Speirs, thought the world of Grant. They were talking about an incident, which had occurred during D. Day, the young private in the jeep didn't get it, he was a replacement who had joined them in Germany. He never met the infamous Bill Guarnere.

They were about a hundred yards from the roadblock, when they encountered a drunken G.I.

The G.I was standing with a pistol in his hand and two dead Germans at his feet. He had stopped the Germans and demanded Gas, because he was out, the two Germans didn't understand him and when they resisted he shot them dead.

A British S2 happened to drive by. He and his sergeant got out of the jeep they were driving, to check out what was going on, the drunk had pointed at them with his gun and told them to back off.

At that moment Grant and Dani came driving past. The drunk took a shot at Dani, but he missed her by three inches.

The British S2 made a move to disarm the drunk. The G.I turned on him and shot him and his sergeant, both of them died on the spot.

Before Dani could stop him, Grant was out of the jeep and he ran towards the G.I who turned and shot him in the Brain.

Dani screamed and shot the G.I in the knee and the shoulder with her side arm, she made sure he would live to be tortured by E. Company.

A jeep with Luz and Perconte drove by, they didn't stop, they just continued into town and when they told Speirs what happened, he and Foley got in a jeep and drove to the hospital and Katie got in the jeep with them and they drove towards the scene.

A jeep came racing past them and Speirs recognized Dani and turned around he sped all the way back and the two jeeps arrived at the same time.

Katie ran into the hospital and started to bark orders, she then escorted the stretcher with Grant on it to the O.R

Speirs started to follow, but Dani stopped him "Don't, he is in good hands, Katie know what she is doing she did part of her residency in neuro and she is the best in the field and they have an excellent brain surgeon on staff here"

The Drunk had been brought to Company HQ and was still alive, but he was about to wish he wasn't. The E. Company men was milling around him swearing revenge, it turned out the culprit had tried to rape a girl in Zell am See, just an hour before he shot Grant.

Luz walked thru the door to the hospital and found Speirs "We can't find the weapon," he whispered to him

Speirs got on his feet, Speirs rushed into HQ and shouted at the prisoner "Where is the weapon?"

"What weapon?" the prisoner spit out.

Speirs pulled his gun, reversed his grip to hold it by the barrel and hit the man right in the temple with the butt "When you talk to an officer you say sir " The man was escorted to the brick, where he was beaten until his blood ran.

Nixon, Lane and Dani were waiting for Speirs outside the room. Nixon looked at the two officers "Grant is gonna make it" he told them

Lane let out a breath she had been holding and shook her head; she grabbed Dani by the arm and dragged her out of the hotel and towards the lake.

"Ok let it out" Lane told Dani and waited for Dani to yell and curse

Dani just put her hands on her hips and started to pace "Goddamn son of a…how the hell…why the hell…oh god I can't believe it"

Dani never got any further "Hunt you should have shot him" Sink saluted the two girls and left

Lane looked after the regimental commander and laughed "What the hell"

Dani hugged Lane "You want to get drunk" She asked him

"Ah ha" Lane said

Lane and Mia stepped into the local Bier Keller and found half the company there. Mia was sitting on Lipton's lap. They were happy and they had their future planned out. Lane looked around the group of men. Yeah most of the men would have a bright future and if they took advantage of the G.I bill, they would do well.

Nixon and Winters stepped into the place and found the men. Nixon grabbed Lane and kissed her. "Dick and Katie are going to New Jersey with us"

Lane kissed him back and smiled. Yeah things were going to be ok. They would be ok. They would be family forever a Band of Brothers.

….

At the end of July the Company was transferred to France, the only veteran left was the long-suffering Webster.

Winters, Speirs, Nixon and the girls were still with the division and were waiting to get rotated home.

In August Katie and Mia were rotated home.

Nixon Winters, Speirs and Dani was sent to Berlin with 82nd airborne and Dani and Speirs fell in love with the town.

In November 101st was inactivated and Nixon and Winters were dismissed from the army and went home and Dani and Speirs were rotated back to fort Bragg.

The war was over and now civilian life awaited.

[askmerriauthor]

Regarding discussion in this post here.

I think a lot of the dislike toward Geeta is two-fold when it comes to her behavior as a shitty boss.

First is how Paldea's depiction compares to other Champions and Gym Leaders in the past. In prior games, the Champion was either not discussed at all and merely existed as an end goal for the Player to overcome, or was regarded with a certain level of respect by everyone in the setting. In other cases, the Champion was even depicted as something akin to a vigilante/superhero who would actively go around righting wrongs and protecting the region from threats. However it was, the Champion was always someone held in very high esteem by the Gym Leaders and the general public, as well as carrying a certain level of mystique about themselves.

Geeta is decidedly mundane by comparison. She's integrated herself directly into the general day-to-day business of Paldea. Everyone knows who she is because they see her and directly interact with her all the damn time. Similarly, the Gym Leaders are comfortable enough to voice a negative opinion about her, which is in direct contrast to how Champions have always been treated in the past. I feel like the fact that they're willing to raise any criticism about Geeta, no matter how minor, is what a lot of Players are glomming onto and blowing out of proportion. I've seen folk saying things like "Larry absolutely loathes Geeta with every fiber of his being!" with a straight face. I mean, come on - Larry is annoyed by her, sure, but he's probably low-key annoyed by the majority of people/things he has to deal with in his everyday life. The guy's the literal personification of the "overworked salaryman" trope. He's annoyed by people like Rika and Hassel as well, but nobody mentions them. Do you think Larry could exist in the general proximity of someone as bombastically extra as Brassius for more than five seconds without wanting to eat a Hyper Beam?

Secondly, I think that it's because Geeta is presented as being a boss - an employer and manager - that there's a certain level of projection from Players. Misdirected ire taken from their own experiences with lousy, meddling bosses that they're pushing onto Geeta. We all vibe with Larry because, odds are, we're more like Larry than any other character. A lot of us older Players are tired, stressed workers who have to put up with bothersome bosses and the general public on a daily basis. So it's very easy to project that stress onto a character like Geeta even if she doesn't necessarily deserve it. Taking a step back and looking at a character, and their actions, in an objective manner is hard to do when one's first inclination is to experience the story in its intended manner - in an emotional, relatable way.

That's not to say Geeta gets a free pass. As I covered in an earlier post, she does A LOT of really shifty things and takes advantage of others' cooperation. So it's not like everyone calling her out is just doing so from a bias, unfair position. But I feel like there's definitely some folk who are letting their own feelings stubbornly color their judgement.