#this guy’s power fantasy that he’s living out right now is straight up

[sleepdepravity]

I appreciate that the protagonist of Again!! is such a loser. I don’t mean a normalcore loser. I’m talking Loser.

#liveblog #again!! #i guess the distinction I’m making is #well maybe my impression of the genre of anime losers is wrong or outdated idk #but a lot of protag losers I feel fall into the equivalent of ‘the geek table’ in American school films #they’re otaku maybe #or they’re wimpy #but they’re not necessarily completely alone they in fact fit in a recognizable social group #that other characters (and viewers) can recognize easily and react accordingly #this protagonist though is a loser because he legitimately has no social life #(which honestly is his fault. ‘everybody ignored me they preferred to pretend I didn’t exist’) #(dude your main strategy for dealing with bullies was pretend to be suicidal) #(wow I wonder why people found it easier to just ignore you) #the power fantasy of a normalcore loser is maybe stuff like ‘get the girl’ and ‘defeat the jock’ #this guy’s power fantasy that he’s living out right now is straight up #‘have an effect on the world’ #anyways the series does kinda just. does romance manga things… #it’s annoying honestly #sometimes you just tolerate things when reading manga.

[agirlwholovesrockstars]

𝖄𝖔𝖚 𝖒𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖒𝖊 𝖋𝖊𝖊𝖑 𝖇𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖓𝖊𝖜

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓣𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮

"𝘛𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯"

彡 𝓼𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓶𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽 彡

✦ 𝚙𝚛����𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 | 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 ✦

𝕾𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖞 : locked away from freedom yet again, you've come too far, you wouldn't let your guard down, won't lose hope because of one good reason

𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝕮𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙 : light and straight to the point, I promise

𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 : 18+ Knight!Eddie Munson x Princess!FEM!reader, language, reader and Eddie are both (21), Henry is (30+), Jason (my apologies), use of y/n, age gap, manipulation, arrange marriage, Jason is so eager to make reader give up- so, beware of how I made him so toxic in this, harassment, rumors, town gossip, denial, reader having trust issues

𝖂𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖙𝖔 𝕰𝖝𝖕𝖊𝖈𝖙 : the awaiting fluff will come over soon, the first chapters will be a lot of ANGST! , the story is set in 17th century, upside down exists in this series, dark fantasy, romance, drama, action, slight Wayne reoccurring, if you squint 🤫

𝕹𝖔𝖙𝖊 𝕿𝖔 𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗 : the frequent likes and the reblogs, keep em' coming because I'm literally so stoked to see y'all loving it! even though I'm still shy and couldn't believe that this little series of mine will be seen! 🥺🫶🏻

𝕬𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗 𝕹𝖔𝖙𝖊 : I'm honestly itching to literally jump to the big revelation of Eddie's character in this, just wait til' see you guys- good things comes to those who wait ;))

☆ EDDIE MUNSON'S MASTERLIST ☆

❣ AGATHA'S MAIN PAGE ❣

You woke up in your bedroom

Haunted

Haunted, by the fact that you came back here again, the place you once you called home

Now, the place, upside down, the one that many people say it's a horrific world

It is given that it's indeed scary to live there, you wanted to go back because you felt much more safer there

The duality of being in here, in your palace, where it's normal, you know it in yourself that you will always choose, the unusual place

The upside down

You're are now dreading to go outside with Henry and Jason

"You only lived there for a month, Y/N"

Jason's voice echoes into your mind, he told that to you while removing the bind from your wrist

You don't care

You really don't give a shit that he's talking about

You never felt more secured since your father disappearance when you're with Eddie

In all of your 20 years of life, funny, you've almost forgotten your birthday today

It's just not the same anymore

You loved your home, you really do

But ever since that night, it changed everything

Every corner, every room, every inch of your place is now tarnished and tainted by the creeps that is now roaming all over your home

"Miss?"

A knock from your door, taken you back into the reality

You begrudgingly sighed as you sit up

"You may enter"

"Morning, your grace" your maid arrives with a tray of breakfast

You eat up as you already planning to escape again

You've noticed that your maid hasn't left your chambers yet

You knit your brows together as you watch her hesitant to speak out loud

"Can I say something?"

"Go on"

She looks over at your door before she spoke up, she leans closer as she whispers

"I know- the king, your father has already warned you about people like them but he is right, your excellency"

You chew slowly as you listen

"I don't know, if you'll believe me but I saw Henry, he has the ability to lift things with his hands"

You blinked "I'm sorry? What?"

she struggles to explain as she stutters "I-I think, Henry has powers"

The last words that she told you, it's like only for you to hear as she speaks it so low

You stare at her as you try to rethink all of the interactions that you had with him before

"Don't worry, I believe you, thank you for telling me"

"Your most welcome-"

"Y/N, morning"

as if on cue, speak of the devil, Henry came inside your room unannounced, you covered yourself with blanket, conscious about his actions

"Is she troubling you?"

You and the maid looked at each other as you think for a better valid reason that'll work

"The eggs are a bit runny, I'm just explaining her how to cook it the way that I like"

You gave her the tray as she took it and leaves the room

"Don't you have any manners, Henry?" You cleared your throat

The way he looks at you, you can't really tell if he's being genuine or not

You don't see that when you look at Eddie

"Oh, pardon, my intrusion, princess- I just wanted to see you how you're doing"

You wrap your arms around yourself hoping that he'll take the hint that you're shielding yourself

Your white nightgown is so thin and see-through, you glanced at your vanity, there's your robe draping in the rim of your chair, god- you wished you've worn it, the only decent that's covering you it's your blanket but you can't help but feel naked in front of him

"I'm fine, thank you for asking" you briefly look at him straight in the eyes

"Accept my apologies on the behalf of Jason, I know he's taken you too far from any inconveniences, he can be so arse about his duties but he's a strong soldier and I trust him"

You tried your best not to roll your eyes at his utterance

He's a fucking asshole, alright- that's all he is

You lick your lips as you try to muster up "You have my forgiveness, but Henry, next time, you'll knock before you enter my room" your face expression has that strict look

He nods as he humbled down towards your tone

Your maid came back with your breakfast tray, Henry has still have something more to say but decides against it

"I'll leave you to it" Henry tug up a small smile to you as you nod at him

Why don't you bring the smile back at him?

Once he shuts the door behind him

You fall back onto your bed as you say while you look at the ceiling

"I am conflicted whether he is being honest or not, his aura is so questionable to me"

"Your highness, your food might get cold-"

"To you what can you say about him?" You raise yourself back up to your position before as you ask your maid

"Uh- he's plucky"

You snorted "Right on, I can agree with that"

"How can we passed the guards?" Gareth says as he carries his things

"People can recognize us!" Jeff puts on a scarf over his neck

"So, let's disguise then" Eddie covers himself a cloak with a hood and he gave the others the same thing

"Oh, isn't that just so easy to hide! I know you care for the girl but are you sure this is going to work?" Gareth sarcastically smiles as he reasons with Eddie

"Not that only he cares for her but also he loves her" Jeff shoots a wink at Eddie as he puts on the cloak

"I am going to skin you both alive" Eddie who is annoyed while the two starts snickering and an amused Enzo approaching them

"What's this that I hear? Now, I get it why she pulled that act for you"

"That was nothing- it's just these two are getting on my nerves" Eddie scoffs as he clutches his sword and went out first in the portal

"Oh my fucking great" Gareth frustratedly throw his hand up

"What is it?" Jeff questions him as he watches his friend stressed out

Gareth points to your castle that is literally miles away ahead from them

"Do you think we can still get there alive?" He looks over at Eddie who is squeezing his eyes, restraining every part inside of him not to annihilate- he is still annoyed at the thought that he might have feelings for you

"You gotta have a lot of faith, Gareth" Eddie told him as his friend rolls his eyes at him

"Good thing, there aren't people around to see us" Enzo looks around the woods that leads to town

"Let's get going" Eddie nods as all of them start walking

It's weird to wear your gowns

It's weird to walk around the halls of your home with your heels clicking

It's weird to have someone help you to get ready, you don't want this and you don't need this

You want to get out of here

You want to be with someone who can fix this whole madness

You're headed towards at the library that way you could avoid talking to them

But, the moment you turn on the other side, Henry is there

Shit

Before you could turn your heel around, he spoke your name as you shut your eyes as you sighed, you look back at him

He straightens himself up as he looks at you

From your face and your whole get up

"You look ravishing, Y/N"

You really don't wanna talk to him

"Uh- thank you, I should be going-"

"Please- don't" he took your hand in his as you look down at it and back at him

He saw your untrusting expression that is targeted at him, he quickly rips his hands from you

"I know we get off in the wrong foot, but, can we please- let's just start over?"

You want to believe him

You really do

But, something else is holding you back to get close to him

You cannot read to what he meant behind those eyes

Why do you get the feeling that he is hiding something?

Is he really being truthful to you?

"I-I don't know, Henry"

"But we could start slow- that's fine by me"

You shift in your stance as you finally look at him

His eyes are longing for you?

"How could I know that you're not tricking me?"

"I am not, Y/N, I just wanted you to know that I'm here for you"

"Can you give me some time to think about it?"

"Of course" his smile is hopeful and somehow you're still taking precautions to his actions

But, your words are promising to him

That's progress

"Oh- what a fucking picturesque that you're both going on, hmm?" A slurring Jason appeared before you

You rolled your eyes at his drunken state

"Let's not, Jason" Henry narrows his eyes at him as he shielded you away from him

"Did you asked her about the marriage?"

Your soft eyes went aflame as you glare at Henry

"No- it's not what you think, Y/N!" Henry grumbles as he looks at Jason

"Don't you see it? Y/N? He likes you!" Jason chuckles as he tries to balance himself

"Go to fucking hell, Jason" You spat as you leave them both together but before you could do that he blocks your path

"Now- don't you dare walk out of me!" He grabs your wrists as he hold you tightly

"Let me go! Jason!" You grimaced at his alcoholic breath as you tried to take off the grip that he has on you

"Jason- get your hands off with her!" Henry had enough of him as he hold him back off with you

Jason wouldn't let go as Henry fumed at him

He had no choice but to....

A sudden force that made he him move away from you as your eyes widened, knocking off Jason at the wall as he drops to the floor

Your maid earlier told you about this

But, seeing this in action made you feel shocked even you already knew

You're petrified as you blink rapidly as you watch Henry wiped off the blood from his nose with the back of his hand

You take a step backwards but Henry felt you moving away from him

"No- no- no" He moves closer to hold both of your forearms

As you start shaking in fear, you flinched at his cold touch

"Please, don't be afraid"

You tried to speak but you couldn't as you start to sob quietly

"I wouldn't let anyone hurt you, Y/N- I would never hurt you" he starts to cradle your cheek as you watch his movements

"This is what I fear of you, you being scared of me"

You let the ghostly tears fall as he uses his thumb to remove it, you try to gain back your composure

"Henry, please, I need a moment to breathe"

He blinks as he nods at you as he gives you some space

You look at Henry and then back at Jason who is unconscious

This is a lot to take in as you breathe out

"Can I be excused?"

"Yes, you can, Y/N"

You muttered a quiet thank you as you directed yourself towards your chambers

You cupped your mouth as you try to replay of what just happened, Henry watches you go with a look of worry on his eyes

As much as you wanted to handle this on your own

You can't help but to need someone beside you

You want him and you need him

You need Eddie

The four men, rest and build a camp as Eddie always

Always looking at your castle from afar

The journey that they're taking, they're in the middle of it, he's almost there

"You know she won't appear if you look at it more often, right?" Gareth swirls the ladle on the pot that he's cooking soup for dinner

He scoffs as he sits on the rock with arms crossed

"I'm just worried for her, man" Eddie deeply sighs

"Jason is such a dick, I swear" Gareth brings up the interaction that happened before

"But we haven't met Henry yet, we have no idea who he is, maybe he is not awful like him" Jeff suggests

"That young man has taken over her financial services" Enzo recalls as he cleans his weapons

"I take back what I said, they're both assholes" Jeff shakes his head to Enzo's remark

"Here, you have to eat- I know she'll be fine" he hands him a bowl of soup

"I know that she can but I just wished that I was there with her through all of it"

Gareth smiles at him

Eddie is confused at it as he starts to slurp the broth at the edges of the rim of his bowl

He swallows "What?"

"Nothing, I just- you always seem so serious and now it looks like because of her you had the another reason to live"

He tug up a smile as he says "As much you're a pain in the ass, but, yeah she is"

"You both know we could hear to what you're both talking about, right?" Jeff speaks as he pours himself another bowl

Enzo chuckles as he drinks from his cup

"Stop ruining the moment, man!" Gareth yells out to him as all of them shared a laugh

The firepit smoked off as the sunrise shines through out the area

"She's getting married!"

"To whom?"

"Henry!"

"Isn't he like too old for the poor girl?"

Eddie registered the sounds of the townspeople that is too close for him to hear

Good thing, there's a bunch of bushes around their camp

He sits up as he listens at them

"When did you hear it?"

"Just today, I think they're preparing the wedding soon enough"

Eddie buried his face with the palm of his hands as he runs his fingers through his hair

He looked at his companions, who are still asleep as he breathes deeply

Why would he feel disappointed?

He mustn't feel this way since

You're not even his

Maybe, your kindness and sweet demeanor towards him, he misinterpreted it

That's where it dawned on him, it hit him like a ton of bricks, his heart dropped when he finally comes to the realization

He loves you

He feels that he is running out of time, it's like he is trying to reach you but now he can't help but to feel that you're slowly slipping out of his touch

He remembers what you told to Jeff that you're about to married to him, but you didn't want to, you clearly told all of them that you don't want to be a part of it

But, you still don't want it until now? right?

No, he will not let the other people get into him, it mustn't be true

He let them get into his head and his thoughts

He will come and get you

He stood up and wakes Gareth

Gareth groaned as he uses his arms to propped himself up "Wha- What is it?"

"We're losing her, let's go"

Henry is startled by your presence, his face falls when he saw you so upset, watching you very closely with concern as he follows you behind your back

Enraged by the news, you entered the main room as you pushed the doors wide open with anger rushing through your veins

"Jason, I have the bone to pick with you, what was that about?!?"

If doesn't that make you feel mad even more, he is sitting in your father's chair

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, princess" he acts like he didn't do anything

God- you want to scratch his smug face off

"Oh, I know you're the main reason why everybody talks about it"

"About what?"

"You're the one who fucking spread it!"

Henry who is unaware of it all, he looks at you and to Jason who just shrugs at him

When Jason didn't gave you answers and that adds more to the fuel that you're having right now

You feel so freaking on fire that you could explode, you turn to Henry still having that frown on your face

"Are you on this? Did you have something to do with it?"

"Wha- What?! No- I don't even know what you're implying to"

"Your most trusted fucking dipshit soldier, he told everyone that we agreed on the arrangement which we're clearly not!"

The last lines you shout it out to Jason who is so smugly couldn't careless to what you're dealing with

Henry facepalmed as he says "Jason, what the hell?!?"

You lift your gown as you exit the room, you want to scream

"Is the only way to get her controlled!"

"Controlled?!? Do you have any idea to what you just started?!?

He scoffs "This isn't supposed to be big deal anymore, they already knew all about it and I just confirmed it"

"She is not ready! Let's give her some time"

"There is no time!"

Henry put his fingers on the bridge of his nose, he looked back seeing you aren't being there anymore

That's what he thought

You're hiding behind closed doors, listening to their argument

He exasperatingly sighs as he begins "I cared for her and because of you she can't even trust me completely because I'm with you!" He points at himself

"You thought me being drunk last night- I wouldn't know to what you just did to me? Okay, fine let's see she'll grow on you like you told me before" Jason pushes his chair back and stood up as he walks towards to Henry

"How did she handle it when she finds out that you had powers?"

You tensed as the memory flashes back at you

Henry sighs in defeat as he couldn't fire back at him

He chuckles "See? That's what I thought"

"It- It wouldn't change anything" Henry still believes that you can

He knows that someday you'll believe him

You couldn't bear to hear more of it so you walk away

"It wouldn't be the same once the truth is out"

Henry leaves him as he shuts the doors angrily

"We have to get inside here" Enzo opens the door that leads the way towards the dungeon

"Seriously, man? The dungeon?" Gareth roams his eyes over the prisoner's cells

"It's the only easy way to get inside" Enzo whispers as he ducks his down at the passing royal guards

"He knows what he was doing, let's just get on with it" Eddie told them as they went all in

It's nail-biting to get caught, but they managed to get further more

When the four of them passed the other prisoners

There's someone in particular that caught his attention

He looks more closely as he looked at the elder man who is asleep

Why do he felt that his heart is telling that he knew this man

He heard the clicks of heels that says someone is coming

He hides himself quickly, he looks over that his friends already far left ahead of him

He's about to leave until....

He heard your voice

You mentioned a name

The voice that he missed so much

He wants to hear it all the time

The tendency is very strong to make him self appear right then and there, if you could only see his eyes twinkle

He took a step but someone else is with you

"Y/N, what are you doing here?"

You came for him because you had no one else to lean on

"I was- just checking if anyone is doing their job"

He hummed "That's my job, princess, leave that to me"

Wayne stirred from his sleep as his eyes adjusts at the figure before him

His eyes sparked that he saw you in there, but you can't do anything to talk to him

Because of him, Henry

You glanced at Wayne who is directly looking at you

"Sire, there's a witness that someone came out of the portal"

You placed your hand over your mouth trying to be subtle not to react at the report that the guard just told Henry

Eddie went out? To look for you?

"What?"

Henry take a one last look at you "Duty calls, you sure you'll be fine by yourself here?"

"I will be so glad if you're not snooping around me so much" you think to yourself

"Yes, I'll be good"

Henry nods as he leaves by the door

You sigh as you kneeled down in front of the bars that Wayne's caged in

"Wayne, I'm sorry, I didn't knew that you're here- I wasn't aware that you've been here all along"

You can tell from his eyes, he is like candle that's melting- he's tired

"it's alright, Y/N, you don't have to feel sorry for me"

You turn your back and you saw the key that laying on the table "I have you to get out of here"

You inserted the key but he stopped you to unlock it

"Y/N, I'll survive but you have to leave"

"I can't just leave you here again, no- please there's so many things that I have to tell you!"

"What is it that you're trying to tell me?"

"It's Ed-"

Wayne placed a finger in the middle of his lips as he shushes you

You overheard Jason and one of his guards coming closer

"Where is she?"

"I think she's in the dungeon, sire"

"You let her in there?!? She must've been talking to-" Jason grunts as he quickly picks up his feet to get on to the other room

You hide yourself on the other side, you almost shrieked at the hooded figure next to you, so, you ran away from it- too freaked out at the person that you bumped

You almost saw him

You almost reunited

You almost met the eyes of the person that you're trying to get back to

Eddie could've stopped you but before he can do it, you already scurrying away from him

He followed you to where you went but he couldn't find you

"Eddie! Where have you been?" Gareth pulled him back in the corner to where no one can see them

"it's Y/N- she scurried away because it was dark inside she didn't even realized it was me"

"You saw her?" Jeff gasps as he looked over at the halls for you

Enzo sighs as he rests his back at the wall

"I-I heard him"

"Who?"

"Henry"

"Did you saw his face?"

"Not clearly, but you we're right he wasn't like Jason but Y/N is so wary of him"

"What else?"

"She was talking to someone, someone she called Wayne-"

"Wayne? Wayne is still alive?" Enzo held him by the shoulders, the three young men are astounded to his sudden action

"Yes, he is locked up in there" Eddie uses his thumb directing at the dungeon

"You'll look for Y/N, I'll handle Wayne" Enzo implies as he headed at the dungeon

"Let's go, boys" Eddie nods

You closed the door behind locked it as you catching up with your breath as you pant from running

You eyes land on the documents that are scattered all over your father's desk

You walked forward picked up the papers, you feel sick to your stomach

Jason, he forged a marriage document of you and Henry

Much to your dismay and out of anger, you crumpled the paper that you're holding, you throw the rest of the papers and push everything out of the desk, you screamed harder as you fell down on to knees

You breakdown and cry for the first time, you really don't want to be like this

But, you can't help but to release everything that is killing inside of you

You're too enervated by all of this

You went out of the room, you have to confront him once and for all

"Look!" Jeff points at you as they hide

"It's Y/N!" Gareth whisper-shouts

"She looks-" Jeff frowns at the look of your face

"Distraught" Eddie is disturbed by your state

Wrath and Despair are nestled in your enchanting face as you stomping around as you look for someone

If things aren't like this, he would've worshipped you of how beautiful you look

"Let's follow her" Eddie says as they tailed behind you

"Jason!"

"Hmm?"

"You better explain yourself!" you held up the now crumpled contract in front of him

"What- what the hell did you do to it?" He snatched the paper away from your hands as you scoffed

"What did I do? You should be punished for your crimes, Jason!"

"Why are you so stubborn? I am saving you from your debt!"

"You clearly missing the point here- don't change the fucking subject, I don't want any marriage!"

"You don't have anybody anymore, princess, you have no choice just face it"

"Whatever it is that you're trying to do, I will deny it!"

"Is it because of that boy isn't it?"

Jeff and Gareth looked at Eddie who is fiery watching you ranting with Jason

Don't crack

Don't let him see through you

"He has nothing to do with this-"

"You're so foolish, Y/N"

"No, I am not-" you're seething and you start seeing red as you move closer to him

He wanted to say something to make you even more furious as you didn't let him cut you off this time

"He held my life within his hands, Jason, you don't know anything what you just done to me- he created everything I am"

Eddie's eyes softens at your words, he tilted his head at you

You care for him as much as he cares for you?

You tear the fake marriage contract in front him into pieces as he watches in horror

You leave him at that as he throw words at you and you didn't even care to what he was saying

As you continue to walk, the same hooded man earlier hold you by the arms and pinned your back on the wall as you protest

"Quiet down, it's me"

You calmed as you heard the familiar voice

The man before you, he takes off his hood as his eyes yearns for you

The words caught up in your throat, you feel lighter as a feather as you take him in

Your eyes are rimmed with flooding tears

"Eddie?"

#Spotify #eddie munson #stranger things 4 #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson fic #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x y/n #eddie x fem!reader #eddie munson angst #eddie munson series #eddie munson supremacy #agirlwholovesrockstarsfics #henry creel #joseph quinn #jamie campbell bower

[bodyswapmischief]

TF Story Exchange: Can a Friendship Survive Swapmas?

@thegreatstoryteller I feel extremely greatful to have gotten a chance to write a story for you, this year. I have always loved your work. I wish you the best this holiday season and a great upcoming year. And, I hope I pleased you with this story!

Ned stared at the screen, as minutes passed by. His mind filled with worry. The same worry that always plagued his life. He couldn't help it; it was part of his DNA. Every choice in his life was a never ending debate of possibilities. Even this morning, he spent 30 minutes deciding whether or not he should eat a bowl of cereal. The same breakfast he had for the past 10 years. So, why wouldn't this decision be harder to make? The one that's currently staring right back at him through the screen.

A sense of pride hit was beaming through him. He was able to find it. It took months but he was able to find it. He was able to find a way to give his friend the best Christmas present in the world. A chance to finally be happy. A chance to give his friend a new life ... one that Ned really thought his friend deserved. He searched the dark web and now he was one click away from buying a body transformation serum. A serum that gives the drinker the body of their dreams. A few more moments pass and he weighed the outcomes. And, he clicks to confirm the payment. The page crashed. And, he searched for it again and again. But, nothing showed up. His stomach knotted up, as 10,000 dollars would leave his bank account. And, a part of him instantly became scared that he just got scammed.

Meanwhile, Theodore came walking through the front door of the apartment. His heart was broken once again, as he sulked through the apartment. The events of the night replayed in his head over and over again. Theodore knew that a night like tonight would be another reason, of many, to support the fact that his life sucked. He saw Ned on the computer. Ned's worry died as he saw the hurt in his friend's eyes.

"Hey, how did it go." Ned said with a huge amount of concern. But, Theodore just walked past him and straight into his room. Ned sat in the tense silence again debating if he should go talk to his friend or not. Ned cursed at himself for even having to think about this. Of course the right answer was to go comfort his friend.

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They were more than friends. They were best friends. Ever since grade school they were inseparable. While the other kids played house or sports, the two of them would play make believe. They'd pretend to live in their fantasy world. Where the two of them could be wizards that had magical powers, space agents looking for alien life, or one of the other many possibilities. Of course it wasn't all fun and games. They were constantly picked on a lot for being weak, scrawny, and dorky looking.

And, things just kept getting worse. Once middle school came, it was constantly filled with bullies that would harass them at any given moment. They spent many days eating lunch in their science teachers class room. They spent a lot of time running home after school. Although, they both hated it ... Theodore took it harder.

"I hate myself, Ned. Why are we like this? Why do we play nerdy video games, see baby shows .... Why are we nerds? Why aren't we stronger? Why can't we just be like the other boys..." Theodore would complain.

"Theodore, we don't need to be like them. You're cool like this. You're smart and they don't get that. One day they are gonna be working for us." Ned laughed to cheer up his friend.

But, for Theodore ... Those words didn't make things better. And, as they got to high-school, things would get a lot more complicated. The same guys that would bully them, in elementary and middle school, now became jocks. Their body's transforming due to the effects of puberty and working out. But, both Ned and Theodore stayed their scrawny nerdy selves. The bullying continued and the resentment Theodore had towards himself grew. But, all Ned needed was their friendship in order to survive this period of his life.

"I don't get it Ned, guys like them ... they don't deserve the bodies they have. They're villains. We are good guys. If we had bodies like that ... we'd be heroes." Theodore would constantly say. And, Ned would just listen. He would realize he loved Theodore. He would begin to write in his journal ... about their lives together. At the same time, Theodore was realizing there was more than just jealousy towards the "cool" guys. Watching them in the locker rooms and having their bodies pressed against him, was turning him on. He also was realizing he was gay.

Both of these young men tried to keep it a secret. But, it wouldn't stay so. Ned journal would get taken and copies of the pages would flood the halls of the school. As a result, the two boys would be outed and even more made to be outcast. They also had to work on maintaining their friendship. Theodore was furious at Ned. And, Ned felt a tremendous level of guilt. But, at the end of the day ... all they had were each other. Theodore made it clear that Ned wasn't his type. And, Ned needed to learn to be okay with that. But, despite all the mess, their friendship only grew stronger. And of course being to gay young man ... they still played around together.

Now, they were both roommates sharing an apartment as they tackled college. And, Ned finally saw hope. They had made it through the rough years. The bullying had stopped. They've found people and places that accept the gay nerds they were. So what if they don't get invited to traditional parties? They are a step closer to being the version of themselves Ned always knew they'd be one day.

But, Theodore did not see it that way. He continued to try and be something he wasn't. He'd go to the gym for short sprints of time ... to get that jock body. He'd try and get invited to frat parties. He still held on to the dream that he could change who he was. No matter what his genes or mind said, Theodore had a strong feeling that his life shouldn't be like this. He should be cool; he was born in the wrong body.

Seeing his friend grow more and more depressed as the years went on, Ned knew he had to do something. And, that's what led him down his months-long journey to find the transformation serum. And, all of this was the reason he knew he had to walk into that room and comfort his friend.

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"Hey, so ... um ... what happened?" Ned asked as he poked his head in to comfort his friend.

"I don't want to talk about it." Theodore said as his face laid into his bed.

"Come on ... it can't be that bad. So, he said no? There are other guys out there." Ned tried to reassure his friend.

"No, man ... It's bad. I really thought James was different." Theodore sighed.

"Why, what did he do?" Asked Ned.

"He was just like the rest. Maybe worst. I thought this whole time ... he might actually like me. I know I'm scrawny and weak. But, I thought he'd like a twink like me. But, these gym 'bros' always suck. At least the others were straight up. They'd make a proposition like me doing homework for a chance to touch them. But, James has been tricking me this whole time. Only he didn't have the guts to tell me upfront. Another dumbass jock that wanted his homework done. Worst is that he's straight. He couldn't stop laughing at me for thinking ... I thought he actually liked me." Theodore vented.

"Theodore ... that sucks. But, come on man ... we can't attract jocks. We are the definition of nerdy guys. There are plenty of guys that would like you. But, they aren't gonna be at the gym full of university jocks." Ned tried to help.

"I don't know Ned ... I just hate my life. I love you for always being there. And, I know what you are saying is true. But, this is just not right. I look at myself and feel like I should be ... no ... I need to be something else ... someone else." Theodore sighed.

Ned debated telling Theodore about the serum. He knew he should wait until it actually arrived. "Well it's no use just sitting and crying about it. Come on ... we have dungeons and dragons today. Let's get going ... slaying a dragon will get you in a better mood." Ned smiled. And, Theodore put on a weak smile.

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The days passed as Christmas got closer. And, Ned walked up to the apartment to see a small package sitting at the front door. His heart raced as he picked it up and brought it inside. He opened it up and saw a clear vial glowing with dimmed blue light. The colors were almost hypnotizing and inviting. He slowly picked up the vial and heard a voice telling him to drink it. He instantly knew what this was and was relieved that the 10,000 dollars was scammed out of him.

The sound of the door behind him snapped him back to reality. He turned to see Theodore, still sad with the constant reminder that he would never be happy in his own body. Ned shook his head and remembered who the gift was for, his friend. So, he hid the vial in his hand and walked to Theodore's bedroom door. His heart continued to race, as he took one last gulp and walked through it.

"Theodore ... I have to tell you something." Ned said as his heart raced through his chest.

"Not now, Ned. I don't want to talk." Theodore laid on his bed, as depressed thoughts raced through his head.

Ned raised his voice, not in anger, but in a frustrated excitement. "Theodore! It's important! Please..."

Theodore was shocked to hear his friend. Ned would hardly raise his voice like that Theodore sighed to look over at his friend. "What ... what do you want?"

Ned's heart continued to race and his face was red for giving the small outburst. "Um ... well ... um ... I was gonna wait for Christmas but, seeing you depressed like this ... I don't think I should wait." Ned raised the vial.

Theodore looked at the vial with the same hypnotized look that Ned had only moments ago. He sat up on his bed and slowly moved towards his friend. His hand carefully reached out and he took it from Ned's hand. "What is this..." Theodore said in a trance-like state.

"I know this is gonna sound crazy but ... I promise you this is real. It's ... um ... a potion ... to give you the body of your dreams." Ned's gulped hoping his friend wouldn't think he was crazy. But, Theodore knew it had to be true, as the voices in the vial began to talk to him. "Drink it. Drink it and have your dreams come true." The voices hissed. And, without saying a word Theodore opened the vial and drank it.

Ned looked in shock, as Theodore did it without hesitation. "How do you feel?" He gasped. Theodore just looked blankly. "I don't know ... I don't feel anything." He began to say as he felt a burning sensation growing in his stomach.

Theodore's eyes began to glow in the same dimmed blue light from the vial. Ned looked on in horror, as he saw the veins throughout Theodore's body begin to glow in a similar blue light. And then, Theodore fell onto the floor. He yelled out in pain, as the burning sensation grew and spread throughout his body. "Oh my God, oh my God ..." Ned cried out not knowing what to do. Theodore's body fell flat, as his body began to seize. His body moved as if things were crawling inside of him. His muscles were flexing and relaxing. His bones were breaking and reforming. He screamed for it to stop and fell into unconsciousness.

Ned looked in horror. The thought that he killed his friend began to fill his mind. He rushed down to flip Theodore on his back. He placed his hand on Theodore's chest and felt his heart racing incredibly fast ... as if it was going to explode. His body was still seizing and his skin moving. The sounds of bones breaking could still be heard. But, now there was shifting.

The look of shock began to fade, as Ned saw his friend transforming right in front of his eyes. The heat of the transformation began to tan Theodore's pasty skin. With each flex, Theodore's body inflated like a muscular balloon. His arms and legs flexed with power. His abs became chiseled from the blank canvass of his stomach. His pecs ballooned up. His shoulders become broad and strong. His face lost the nerdy qualities, as it became more chiseled and angular. His hairless body looked good stretched by the new muscle. And, his face was graced with a new beard that added to his new manly charm. He wasn't the same 5'6 lanky freshman nerd. Now he could pass as any of the other 6'4 alpha jocky seniors.

As the transformations ended, the glow in Theodore's body began to fade. But, he still remained unconscious. Ned looked in awe and blushed as he could see his friend's new body, especially since Theodore's clothes have been ripped from the growth of the transformation. An equally impressive cock hung from his exposed pelvis. Ned pushed on his muscular chest. "Hey ... um ... Theodore ... are you okay."

Ned began to awake to the voice of his friend. And, the weak force of being pushed on the chest. He felt his pecs flex as a response to being touched. But, his mind was still recovering from passing out and a fog of confusion clouded his mind. "Fuck! What happened?" He groaned in a deep new baritone. He jumped into a sitting position as he held his new muscular throat. "What's wrong with my voice?" He looked over at Ned. Ned looked back and just smiled "It worked!"

Theodore looked down at his body. He gasped. He began to rub his hands along the curves of his muscles. His cock began to harden, as he took in his new body. He was like a Greek statue that was carved by the gods themselves. He jumped up and ran to the mirror. His cock slapped against his thighs as he did. He felt his heart glow with pure happiness; he could cry. His face was perfect. He looked like the version of himself that he always wished for. This was his dream body.

Ned walked into the restroom after him, now towered by his friend. And, Theodore just turned around to hug him. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you." He cheered as he lifted Ned up. "I don't know how I'll ever pay you back."

"Maybe you can let me play with that cock." Ned laughed as a joke like they'd normally do. Even though there wasn't a chance for a relationship ... They both were young gay men. And, getting dates was hard so it wasn't strange for them to help each other out. But, Theodore felt a pit of disgust in his stomach. "Um ... sure man ... I guess ... it's the least I can do." Theodore said.

Ned smiled as he led Theodore back to the couch. Ned began to rub Theodore's body. He moaned, "Fuck I can't believe I'm actually rubbing the body of a jock."

Theodore felt weirded out. "Um ... yeah ... it feels good." He nervously laughed. His muscles flexed in discomfort, as Ned moved towards his cock. With Ned's hand wrapped around the cock. Theodore's cock began to get limp. There was absolutely no pleasure in having Ned worship him. "What's wrong ... you know I give the best hand jobs." Ned joked just thinking his friend must be tired. "You're probably exhausted from the transformation."

Theodore peps up as he finds a reason to end this. "Yeah, you're right ... I'm feeling really drained and my body is still kinda sore ... I should probably go to sleep." He lies and does a fake yawn. He stood up and walked into his room.

Ned looked disappointed but understood. "Maybe ... I can worship you later. " He weakly smiled. But, Theodore didn't respond. Ned just sighed but was glad his friend was finally happy. He turned on some TV but, moments later he heard deep manly grunting coming from Theodore's room. Part of him felt confused and the other part felt hurt.

Theodore in his room laid in his bed. His mind flooded with images of his new body. He closed his eyes and got hard feeling his new strength. His hand wrapped around his thick long cock. New images began to fill his head. For the first time, the thought of naked women graced his mind. He imagined touching their curvy bodies and sucking on thier breast. He'd imagined shoving his massive cock into their pussies and stretch them out. He pumped faster and faster. His bed creaked under his muscular weight. He couldn't help but groan in pleasure. His cock erupted in a burst of cum. Laying down, he catches his breath. He rubs the cum onto his thighs.

Energy rushed through his body. And, he knew what he needed. He got his gym clothes that were now tight on him and perfect for showing off his body. He rushed out of his room and headed to the gym. Ned tried to call out as he left the door but Theodore was too fast.

Theodore went to the gym and it was the first time he walked in there with confidence. He walked up to different machines and tested the amount of weight he could do with each. Other gym bros looked at him and gave him nods to show they were impressed. He smiled as he nodded back. A few of the frat guys walked up to him. They were impressed and asked for tips to get a body like his. He was shocked as he began to talk about knowledge of working out that he never had. He even joined in when they talked about hot girls, working out at the gym, and other topics he used to have little to no interest in. Finally he felt like one of the guys.

As the night came to an end, a group frat guys, that were keeping an eye on him, invited him out for drinks. He was beyond happy, as he agreed to hang out with them. He walked into the bar and people just came up to him; girls that thought he was hot and guys that were just impressed by him. The frat guys looked at him like he could potentially be a new recruit. And, this new life of meeting and hanging out with people would continue into the following weeks.

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Both men would realize that reality started shifting. The old Theodore never existed. He was always this hunky popular jock. Him being roommates with Ned was a glitch in the computers system. Him hanging out with his nerdy friends was due to bets he lost, with Ned. The only person that remembered the truth were Ned and Theodore.

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Theodore was getting ready to head out to party, as Ned walked into the room. "Where are you going ... it's D&D night. We still have to get the rest of the gang to remember you." Ned said with a worried tone.

"Ned! They don't remember me. They think I just lost bets to you and was forced to play. We can try to get them to remember later. But, I just want to go and party. I want to hit on girls. Those frat guys wanted to talk to me again ... I can't waste this body and not do the things I've always wanted to do."

"What girls? You're gay?" Ned said shocked.

"I'm not any more ... i don't really get it. But, i think my dream body is straight. I always thought it would be easier to live as a straight man ... so I guess thr vial even took that into consideration." Theodore explained.

"You know what? Fine! Just go ... be magically straight and have fun." Ned said annoyed. "But, you are still going with me to get presents for the gang tomorrow right ..."

"Yeah, sure ... just get out of my room" Theodore brushed him off.

Ned went off to play D&D. The thought of losing his friend filled his mind. All the missed lunch dates, not sitting together in class, and Theodore hardly being home ... made Ned regret what he did. He should have never gotten that transformation serum.

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The next day they both went to the mall together. Ned was excited to finally spend time with his friend. But, the whole day, Theodore was distracted on his phone, texting girls and getting details on parties happening tonight. Ned even caught Theodore stealing glances at his reflection. Everytime Ned would ask about a gift, Theodore would respond with "Sure whatever. And, as the time passed, Ned just got more and more annoyed. "Let's just go." He said after having enough.

"Good, I really couldn't stand this nerdy shit." Theodore yawned and stretched, as he was ready to go.

Ned waited until they got to the parking lot. "Your an ass ... you know that" He yelled.

"Bro, what the fuck is your problem. And for the last time ... I go by Theo now!" Theo yelled back.

"Really! BRO? Am I your Bro? Cause you could have fooled me. If you didn't want to come with me and do this nerdy shit! You could have just said so." Ned shouted back.

Theodore realizes what he said. But, it was true ... he didn't care about the things he used to he. He wondered if he even cared about them in the first place. Or was it just a product of looking nerdy and trying to fit in with the people he looked like. All he knew was that he finally be the man he always wanted to be. "Bro, it's nothing like that ... we are just different now. I mean ... it was bound to happen. Look at you and then look at me. We dont exactly fit in each others lives anymore. " Theo explained, poorly.

"What the hell does that mean? You don't want to be my friend anymore ... are you too cool now? Fuck ... THEO ... I guess fine ... you can have your wish. I'll leave you alone. Well just live two separate lives. And, then next year when you graduate ... I'll never see you again. Is that what you want?"

Theo felt bad. He still had these memories with Ned. But, he knew ... no matter how much it sucked ... they had nothing in common anymore. Maybe it was best for them to split ways. "It's okay Ned, I know your angry. I can never repay you for this life you gave me. But, it's true ... I don't think I can be your friend anymore. I was gonna tell you. I got accepted into the frat... I was going to be moving out anyways. You know, being around guys like myself. And, then switching my degree to sports medicine so I can be a trainer. Also, I have this girl I've been seeing. So ... I'll always remember you. But, I don't know were to fit you in my life." He sighed and paused. He didn't want it to end like this. He didn't want to make a scene. But, he knew he wasn't going to change. And, he knew that Ned wasn't going to change. He started again. "And, here take the keys to drive home. I'm going to the bar and I'll Uber back." Theodore sighed ... a bit disheartened that he isn't as sad as he should have been. He's losing his lifelong friend. But, he could see no other path.

Theodore began to walk away. "Fuck you Theo ... Theodore ... whoever the fuck you are." Ned said, as he walked to the car.

Theodore walked back to the edge of the mall and saw his new frat bros. "Yo bro, what the fuck was that about?" One of them ask.

"Oh, it's just some nerd ... you know how they can be ..." He weakly laughed.

"Hey, isn't he that fag ...yeah ... he's that loser. He's always checking you out. And, stalking you. We should teach him a lesson." Another adds.

"No ... guys ... let's just go get a drink. Look at him ... he can't hurt anyone." He tries to stop his bros. But, they ignore him and head towards Ned.

They begin to harass him and call him names. Theo is in the back looking at it all happened. They call him fag. They push him against the car and punch his stomach. Ned looked at Theodore with a sense of being betrayed. Theo looks away and hears Ned's cries of pain. He can't take it ... as his heart races. His hands ball up. Finally, deep emotion reaches his heart. He can't let his best friend go through this. He can't become the bully he always hated. It was his time to be the hero that deserved a body like his.

"Hey, Theo get a punch in ... show this fag you want nothing to do with him." His posse laughed.

Theo released his punch. Ned closed his eyes fearing the punch from his ex friend. But, the punch never came. Instead one of the jocks cried out. Ned opened his eyes to see Theo fighting off the bullies. The surprise attack gave him an advantage. "Hurry up and get to the car." He yelled to Ned. Ned ran.

The tides began to turn as the three guys begin to over power Theo. Theo took. punches to the face and body. But, he didn't know how much more he could take. Then a honk of a horn rang through the parking lot, as Ned charged the car towards the direction of the fight. The frat guys ran off, as Ned stopped in time. "We'll get you fags later." They yelp.

"Get in." Ned yells to Theo.

Theo stumbles to the car. Ned, quickly, drives drives off. And, they sit in silence.

"Thanks for coming back for me." Theo coughs.

"Well, thanks for saving me." Ned tears up.

"I'm sorry it was my fault ... if i never hung out with them ... they wouldn't have done that." Theo says guiltily.

"I mean you couldn't have known ... but, I'm sorry you lost your new friends and chance to be in the frat." Ned also says guiltily

"I mean who needs friends like them ... when I got a life time of memories with you." Theo smiles.

"But, your right we have nothing in common anymore ... heck you're not even gay anymore." Ned frowns.

Theo thinks hard. "We'll why don't we go play video games ... you still like call of duty right." Theo continues to smile.

Ned perks up. "Yeah!? Do you?"

"I mean yeah it got guns and killing shit with your bros ... so I guess we still got video games in common ... and we can work from there. And, yeah I might be straight. But, I've learned a lot of guys at the gym like twinky guys like you. I can hook you up." Theo smiles.

"That would be great ... so what does this mean? Are we are still friends?" Ned shyly says.

Theodore sighs, "If you still want to be ... I'm sorry with how I was acting. I let being cool go to my head. I won't lie our friendship might be a bit different ... but it been one we had for years. I'm still willing to make this work. And, trust I got other peeps I've been hanging out with ... not just those assholes. Some of them are actually really cool and wouldn't mind hanging out with you. I can get us invited to parties and shit." He paused and looked out the windoe. "I'm not like them ... the frat guys. I guess I was just blinded my suddenly being cool. I was excited that people wanted to hangout with me. But, I wasn't asking if they were decent enough to hang out with." Theo apologized.

"I mean ... I guess I understand. And, i forgive you. And, I don't want to give up on our friendship either ... so yeah ... we are still friends. And, Maybe your coolness can rub off on me." Ned laughed.

Theo rolled his eyes, "Yeah, Maybe ... but it would take a miracle." He tussled Ned's hair. As the two friends drove back to their apartment. Their lives and friendship might be different but, they new they'd make it work out some how.

#5thannualtfstoryexchange #bodyswapmischeif #thegreatstoryteller #body #swap #mischief #jock transformation #nerd to jock #tf story #transformation #story #jock #muscle #gain #reality shift #personality change #age progession

[film-score-simp]

OKAY FOOLS HOW YALL DOING IM BACK AFTER BEING DEAD FOR LIKE MONTHS-

See, I had a Thought which the Merlin fandom might be interested in. Especially the fanfic writers.

I was browsing Pinterest, as you do, and stumbled across a few tumblr posts instead of actually looking on the site… again, as you do.

And I came to a fun idea.

So y’know how with some pieces of fantasy media they go ‘oh with the amount of stupidity here this is totally a D&D game’?

Well… that, but Merlin.

Like we already have scenes that would totally fit the bill of a D&D game. The whole scene with old Merlin and the knights with the stepping stool onto the horse is just so unbelievably D&D, and I can imagine the scene with the “..reading poetry.” as just real bad persuasion/deception rolls from both Merlin AND Arthur.

Just imagine the chaos.

Here are my personal headcanons for their classes, but feel free to debate about it:

Merlin: Sorcerer. This man is too much of an idiot to be a wizard (though he DOES get hurt enough to be one), and I reckon being a wild magic sorcerer would totally fit the bill. He’s powerful, but hijinks must ensue- thus, the wild magic. Or perhaps not. People might assume it’s wild magic and turns out it’s just Merlin thinking he’s funny.

Arthur: Bard. Immediately. He’s got paladin energy as in like the ‘Chosen One’ and also he’s a knight, but he’s so stupid and also charismatic that he just gives bard to me. Like he’s so stupid and charismatic with literally everything, that Merlin ended up liking him. Like this man is a himbo that dresses brightly.

Morgana: Absolutely a warlock. She would have so much fun with eldritch blast, and being weird and spooky totally fits her vibe later in the series. She would probably be the one to sometimes have the braincell in the party and use her magic responsibly… but also eldritch blast. You gotta use eldritch blast-

Mordred: I don’t think he has chill enough vibes for the druid stereotype, but he definitely could be a druid. Giving funky nature powers to this kid would really be a hilarious idea. Like imagine Mordred with wild shape. I also think he has the possibility of being the Dionysus kind of druid… y’know, the greek god who turned people into dolphins just because? Yeah, him.

Gwaine: Barbarian. Or fighter. He may be a knight, sure, but with the amount of bar brawls he gets into? Absolutely. The fool definitely would fist fight someone in a dark alleyway at 2AM, it’s just what he’s like. He likes to hit people and drink alcohol- it just fits his whole MO.

Percival: Also a barbarian. His entire thing is strength, and the ‘little man’ comment just screams of a man with high intimidation. He may be a gentle giant and not going for the whole stereotype of angry rage beast, but this guy can totally scare without it.

Lancelot: Lancelot is a paladin. He’s the very epitome of ‘Good Boy.’ This guy is such a Righteous knight and just a generally cool person that I think that a god straight up WOULD get in contact to have him fight for the forces of good. I love this man so much. I also love paladins. Perfect combo.

Elyan: Elyan’s a cleric. He’s caring and loyal, as well as not bullying Merlin regularly. He’s also pretty cunning so possibly rogue there as well? I’d be more inclined to lean towards cleric the most though, cause he’s one of the most chill knights and also balances out the chaos of Gwaine and Percival as a duo… they’re nuts-

Leon: Also a paladin. Less of a ‘pure and true soul’ guy like Lancelot, but more of a ‘stands for what’s right and upholds the law’ kind of paladin. Like he’s totally a follower of chivalry with all the traditional ways of doing things- always respectful and polite but just kinda a little at arms length.

Guinevere: Stereotypical druid. Totally a tree-hugger and loves plants. Also she gets to be a Disney princess now and talk to animals in forests. Living out her best life in the forest with her whole cottagecore aesthetic. Even with her becoming queen, she’s totally still a druid. Albeit a royal one now.

Gaius: Oh he’s so gonna be an artificer. But specifically an alchemist artificer. He can make healing potions and mix weird medicines together, sure, but jesus christ the old man gets into just as many shenanigans as the main group. I mean, the whole possession fiasco with the goblin is enough proof for that-

(And before anyone tells me a character’s missing, it’s been a while since I watched the series, I’m trying my best hhhh-)

#merlin #bbc merlin #dnd #dnd campaign #dnd headcanons #merlin headcanons #dnd merlin crossover #headcanon #joke headcanon #fandom #merlin fandom #yes we’re still alive #we’re just lying in wait #like arthur- gkghkgkgkgk #but yeah these are my opinions

[asetoblog]

You know, Final Fantasy 7 is one of my favourite games ever (my top favs are HZD/HFW, all games involving FF7 and - although it's getting worse - Dragon Age) and I would like to write about something that doesn't sit right with me.

Warning: this post is a Sephiroth apology‼️🌸

So, remember the end of FF7 Remake, where Cloud & Co get to the end of the Midgar highway and they meet Sephiroth? In that exact moment, Aerith tells him "you're wrong", marking the word "wrong". She doesn't mean he's wrong about something, she literally means his whole existence is wrong and he shouldn't have been there or anywhere else in the first place.

Now, that remark rubbed me the wrong way, because Aerith is the only character connected to the Planet in this story and she's supposed to be very empathetic of what and how people suffer. She also lived in the Shinra building during her childhood and she hated it, she perfectly knows how things work there and she loathes - rightfully so - professor Hojo, because she knows what an unscrupulous and ruthless man he is. This would mean she met a younger Sephiroth at some point, and yeah she was still a child, but she must've noticed he was a kind and actually very submissive guy (maybe I'll get to this later???). I think she knows he too was subjected to experiments, just like she was, but this doesn't seem to bother her and she goes straight to saying something on the line of "you shouldn't exist".

In another moment in FF7 Rebirth, you can get a dialogue with Tifa in which she tells you she is "sick of Sephiroth cruelty [...]" and so on. Now, I agree with her, all she got from Sephiroth was her dad's death, wouldn't you be fucking pissed at him and hate him and want him dead? Yeah.

Thing is, I agree with Tifa and disagree with Aerith, but all of this makes me wonder: have they thought what a horrible and traumatic life Sephiroth had until that point?

Sephiroth:

-was born an experiment

-was taken away from his own mother, never met her

-doesn't even know his father

-as a child, he's shy and submissive, never gets any friends, he thus grows up lonely

-he spends most of his life in Hojo's lab, among Mako energy, needles and treatments

-no one ever showed him affection nor love, he was simply raised like a weapon in the hands of the most powerful corporation of the world

-his only two friends, as an adult, abandoned him

-one of his two best friends tells him the truth about him without the hint of some tact, he also calls him "monster" not knowing he's feeding the "insane gene" (let's call it that) in him

-the only new friend he gets, a recruit, jumps straight to conclusions instead of trying to help him

-he always said he wanted a "normale life" and he was forced into that. He also was one step away from leaving Shinra before the accident of Nibelheim happened

There's actually more to point out, but let's just take a step back and think about how an entire life of traumas, deprivation and loneliness can drive a person wild and cause Personality Disorders, Depression and Psychosis. I'm honestly surprised he even endured so much for so long and that would mean he'd be ok if only someone really cared for him and didn't see him as a "hero", a "star" or someone unreachable. His snapping point was reading all the history of Gast and Hojo's experiments and learning more about Jenova. That, sadly, adds up to the trauma he has to face and he even cries about it, meaning he was definitely still (emotionally) sane. Perhaps, it would have taken only one word of comfort but not even Zack was there for him, instead he acted a little harsh, in my opinion.

By this I don't mean things had to go differently, because otherwise I wouldn't have had one of my favourite stories out there, I'm just trying to point out how deplorable Aerith's comment sounds, especially knowing she's so caring and empathetic. I just don't like tha fact that such a dialogue line was written, but at the end I am but a humble Sephiroth apologist.

"You're wrong". No, Sephiroth is not wrong, all the people who surrounded him were.

#sephiroth #ff7 #final fantasy 7 #ff7r #ff7 rebirth #final fantasy 7 rebirth #sephiroth apology #aerith was harsh man #i love his character

[rusted-icicles]

*Stares at Luz, Belos and Hunter* Damn, I love that delicious, delicious Chosen One (except its all a lie/delusion) Trope.

Philip believing that HE'S God's chosen one to wipe out the sinful creatures of the Boiling Isles. He stumbled into the Boiling Isles, a realm filled with witches and demons and magic, by pure chance and is now enacting his personal witch hunter fantasy upon the isles. He fully believes that he'll go home to the Human Realm and be met with glory too! Because of course he will, he's the Chosen One, he's the one that saved humanity from the evil, evil witches!!! And anyone that tries to tell him otherwise gets removed from the story (Caleb getting stabbed, the Collector being dropped into the failure pit, Luz almost getting petrified), because there's no way that he's wrong. There's no way that he spent 400 years fulfilling his "destiny", even going as far as to mutiliate himself and turn him into something not human, only for it all to be for nothing. But it is for nothing. Not only did his plan fail, but the Human Realm has moved on from his ideals, and either wouldn't care at all about his efforts to "save humanity", or would actively despise him for it.

Luz trying to search for her "fate", trying to find the start of her epic fantasy story when she first arrives at the Boiling Isles, only to get tricked and almost killed by Adegast. She is told, straight to her face, that she is not a Chosen One. That she is just a regular person, and that believing that she has a grand destiny awaiting her is just going to lead her into trouble. But even as her dreams of being the chosen one is crushed, she still clings to her fantasy of becoming a witch, a fantasy that does become a reality. And in her journey to making that dream come true, she finds friends and happiness and a family. She didn't have to be some 'chosen one' to get all the perks that typically come packaged with your usual "Chosen One's Epic Journey To Save The World". But then, just as she had let go of "chosen one" fantasy, when she's starting to let other people help her instead of doing it all on her own (Reaching Out, which is right before Hollow Mind), it gets thrown in her face. Philip Wittebane tells her that "Perhaps you and I were destined to meet," and she has to deal with the possibility that maybe she did have a "destiny", that she was meant to arrive at the Boiling Isles. Except that "destiny" was to aid her greatest enemy, to aid the man that's trying to destroy her home.

Hunter being told that "The Titan has big plans for you", over and over again throughout his childhood. The Titan having big plans for him is the whole reason why he's here, why he's given the privilege of artificial magic, why he's the Golden Guard at such a young age. Hunter living with the pressure of being the chosen one, and wishing that he wasn't ("At least you've got your future figured out now." "At least you can figure out your own."). Hunter grew up believing that he's special, believing that he is important, that he is doing "something or someone good", only for it all to be a lie. There is no Titan's plan. He isn't special, he isn't important, and he is literally the latest in a long line of near-clones. He has no grand fate awaiting him on the Day of Unity, only a death sentence.

Special mention to King Clawthorne, who is simultaneously this trope and actually kinda a Chosen One if you squint. King spent most of his life believing that he is the King of All Demons, a feared and respected tyrant ruler that just got shrunken down into the size of a child. He believed he was special, unique, powerful, only for that to be a lie made up by Eda and perpetuated by the rest of his family (even if they're well-meaning).

Then, once he starts to come to terms with the fact that he is just a regular person, just a little guy, he finds out that he is special, that he is unique, that he is powerful. He is all of that and more, because he is literally the last of the Titans, the son of the Boiling Isles itself. And he immediately gets shackled by the pressure and responsibilities of a chosen one, even if it was well-meaning (Lilith's worship of him and focus on the fact that he is a god) or accidental (Darius's "Titan, help us" nd King's ensuing "I'll... do my best").

Something that defines a chosen one is their ability to save the world when no one else can, and on the Day of Unity itself, even after his family's attempts at keeping him out of the fight, it really turns out that King is the only one that could save the day at that moment. The CATTs's plan to stop the draining spell went wrong, the Hexsquad was under the impression that Belos could stop the spell and focused on defeating him, and King found himself in the right place, at the right time to meet the Collector and convice him to stop the draining spell. Hell, King even has the "heroic sacrifice" trope going on with him sending Luz and the rest of Hexsquad to the Human Realm!!

And it's tragic. He's a kid, he's not even supposed to be there. King literally just wanted to play catch with his dad by the time Edge of the World happened. He doesn't want this power, nor did he want this responsibility. But he's the only one that can free the Collector now.

This was mainly just a stream of thought so I have no idea how to end this properly or offer up a conclusion, so TLDR: Philip, Luz, Hunter and King all share a theme (if thats the word) of "believing that they are fated for greatness" that needs to be torn down. But out of all of them, King is the only one that got what he wanted, and by the time he got it, he didn't even want it anymore.

#the owl house #toh #toh hunter #emperor belos #philip wittebane #king clawthorne #luz noceda #hunter wittebane #its 'feeling emotional over toh's 'chosen ones are bullshit' schtick' hours! #i love these four so much #rusty ramblings

[vertebrae-entertainment]

1.25.23 - ‘Anchor’

Hi y’all! Its been a while since we did a proper blog update, so i figured it was time i talk about the thing people usually talk about when i bring up the main character of our fishing game: “whoah, he’s a big dude huh?”

Designing a tough guy

When me and Åge first discussed this project, I told them two things would make me automatically passionate about it. The first was that the main character should be a hot dude, and the second was that he should be transgender. Now, at a glance it doesn't seem that complicated (and it really isn’t). I like hot dudes, I like to draw bulk, and I am a trans man myself. Seeing as we are a two-person team, there’s no CEO to tell me what I can and cannot do, so naturally this was how the basic concept ended up.

Following from there I started designing. I took some amphibious inspiration, building him sort of like a frog- top heavy and with long legs, lending itself well to animating acrobatics. I wanted to make him tall and menacing, with a shadow covering his face to make him seem mysterious. At the same time I couldn't forget his fishing lifestyle. In the end he ended up somewhere between Batman and Popeye, with a sprinkle of elegance for good measure. It turned out to lend itself really well to build him like he was hunting monsters for a living, as that was what the game was turning into.

After settling on a color scheme of black, white and red, and taking inspiration from the simplistic designs of the UPA-revival movement for ease of animation, I figured he needed a tattoo- both to top off the design and hint at his marine connection. The anchor seemed obvious! A symmetrical object right on the middle, plenty of body hair, and our main man was ready for the screen!

The tough guy through a queer lens

I have a huge soft spot for towering tough guys, it's no secret. From Conan to the T-800, this hyper masculine archetype may seem dated and boring to others, but personally I cannot get enough of it. What kind of pressure does it take to make a man two steps from a monster? In an odd sort of way, I suppose I find it relatable. Furthermore, I always find masculinity as a topic lends itself really well to a transgender lens- it's like free nuance! It is one thing to be born into this cruel, limiting role.. But what does it tell of a character, their story, when it is a choice?

Some people express confusion learning that this fisherman is transgender, which drives the question: should you be able to tell? Frankly, I think there should be a hell of a lot more trans men in media before we tackle this question. Assuming someone can’t be genetically tall and bulky due to the gender assigned at birth is an awfully dated idea to begin with, in my humble opinion.

I am out here making what I  would like to see a trans man in a videogame do, which is be huge, wrestle monsters and kiss cute guys. A topic me and Åge started tackling back in the Liquid State days was the concept of a trans power fantasy- which is exactly what it reads on the tin. While there are few men (trans and not) who fit into the shapely mold of a hyper masculine, sword-swinging barbarian god, many admire these characters and live out their fantasies through them.

Besides, you can tell! We specifically make excuses to show off his shark-teeth patterned top surgery scars because we want people to know. Hey, are you a trans guy that likes bulky dudes? This one’s for you!

In conclusion

While my inspirations are deceptively simple and reasons are uncomplicated, I often catch myself thinking about this design. Is it realistic? Is it alienating? Is it empowering? Is it wise? Even if he was designed straight from a trans man’s gut with no worries about the greater question of good representation, I often find myself thinking as though the task of representing all trans men lies solely on my shoulders. It is an unrealistic, unfair expectation. I am not all trans men, neither is he. 

His design and background is a love letter to one of my favorite types of characters, no doubt mixed in with years of queer, man-loving brain soup. He is what I like, and what I want to see in a video game. At the end of the day, I can only hope that what I enjoy also appeals to others.

So far, all signs point to yes. :)

This is our fanart wall, right by my desk at our office. I put them right where i can see them every day. Thanks for the support, folks- it means the world to me.

-Hauk Want to know more? Follow us here or on Twitter for regular updates on this project- or click here to join our discord!

#untitled fishing game #gamedev #indie game #lgbt gaming #gay pride #trans pride #transmasc #queer #GameMaker #fishing game #fishing rpg #fishing platformer #character art #character design #character concept #devblog #indiedev #ever wanted to do hardass fishing as the most shredded trans guy in existence? this game is for you too

[morningstarinc]

Because Faith is Mine

MorningstarInc

Summary:

Eva never had much faith in anything. Christianity had let her down. But one night, her friend invites her to a "Ritual" where they are sequestered by Papa Emeritus for a unique proposal. Eva's life begins that night, she hits the road with Papa and the Nameless Ghouls, power struggles ensue, sexual favors follow, and three ways are had. Eva finds meaning in life and it turns out he wears a mask, oh, and happens to be a demon rockstar from hell.

Notes:

First work, I'm looking for critique on writing style, etc. This is a tester for an unrelated novel I am working on. Any help is appreciated and I hope you enjoy the fantasy.

Chapter 1

God. There was no god, or rather, if there was, what had he ever done for me? Never had any of the thousands of prayers whispered over the years been answered. At this point in life, I had begun to consider that there was no such thing as a higher power. Until I received an invite to something called a “Ritual.” A girlfriend of mine had invited me to a show, I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was always down for a night of fun, though I had to admit, the thought of a “Ritual” had intrigued me. My friend Grace and I had grown up in extremely religious households, so it was just natural that the two of us were drawn to one another with our rebellious tendencies. Grace was currently pacing the living room of my small apartment.

“Evangeline Flewelling! We need to go! We're going to miss the show!” my friend yelled at me. “God dammit Grace, you know I hate my fucking name, I'm almost ready,” I yelled back to Grace. “Oh, pardon me Princess Eva, would you mind hurrying your ass?” she rebuttled.

I settled for a vampy chiffon crop top with long puffy sleeves, slung my purse across my chest, and stomped out of my bedroom in my black chunky heels. Grace ran to the car demanding that I walk faster. Maybe I was nervous, who knows, something felt odd in the air tonight and it made me hesitate with every step. Strapped into the car I pulled our destination up on my phone. “So, what should I be expecting at this ‘Ritual’ exactly?” I asked Grace as she sped down the highway, swerving around other vehicles. “Girl, it's everything!” She squealed in excitement. “Alright, well that tells me absolutely nothing...”I replied with a laugh.

“Ok, soooo, think sexy guys and girls wearing masks and all black while rocking out to satanic metal worship music?” she said with an uptick of her voice. “Jesus, so it’s a cult?” I asked sardonically. “No, no, no it's not a cult, it’s this satanic pope named Papa Emeritus, he goes around to different cities performing ‘Rituals’ and sharing their stories. Look we're just going to a concert Eva; you always overthink things. Just relax and have fun tonight. It's going to beeeeee, let's say, spiritual,” She finished with a wink. I inhaled deeply and shook my head and replied, “Whatever you say Grace, I'm in your hands.”

We pulled up to the Arena in the next town over. Every parking lot was overflowing with cars. I had no idea this “Ritual” was going to be so popular. Grace was giving me the lecture right now about how we should have left sooner because she knew parking would be an issue. I try to calm her, but my attempts are clearly futile. We settle for a spot a few blocks from the venue and Grace takes off at a run-walk speed screaming over her shoulder for me to ‘hurry the fuck up.’

“Bitch, I swear to Satan if I miss Kaisarion I'm going to murder your face!” Grace says in a panic, I know she’s joking but the people walking behind us most definitely did not think she was joking. I picked up the pace a little bit and we finally made it to the Arena. Once again, Grace was freaking out for nothing, people were still making their way in for the show and the opening act was still playing. Grace grabs my hand, and we head straight for the front of the stage.

“Oh, hell no Grace, you know I hate the front, I don’t want to be smooshed!” I plead with her. Grace turns to face me, grabs my cheeks and looks deep into my eyes. “Trust me Eva, you're going to love this show, just calm the fuck down,” she says as she stuffs her pen in my mouth, I take a deep puff. The herbal taste fills my mouth and lungs, I breathe out deep and remember that tonight is supposed to be fun. I smile between her palms, and she releases me only to pick up my hand and continue dragging me to the front. We waited there for what seemed like an eternity, and thankfully I had used the restroom.

The opening act plays their last song and everyone around us is vibrating with excitement and its contagious. The room is filled with fog and the lights are dim. Suddenly the lights went out and guitars began to play. Curtains drop and the lights come on and figures cloaked in black stand on the stage. I have to admit, I gave an initial chuckle of amusement but watching them stalking across the stage with their guitars was more than enough to sway my mind. They wore black masks connected to hoses with two small horns atop their heads. They were dressed in tattered black military suits which gave a striking silhouette.

I wasn’t prepared for what happened next, a man in a skeletal mask ran onto the stage and began to sing. It’s hard to describe the way I felt in the crowd. I felt safe. Everyone was on the same level of excitement, and the more the crowd's excitement grew, the more the bodies on stage had to give to the crowd. The sound of the guitars coursing through the air, the boom of a cannon, drums pounding, lights flashing, and the masked skeleton singing, it was just as Grace had described it, Everything.

I was drawn into the crowd and began to dance and jump to the music. Grace was beside me going ape shit. She grabbed me by the neck pulling me close to her lips. “What the fuck did I tell you! Isn't this fucking awesome? she yelled into my ear. I turn to her and yell back, “is that the guy you called Papa Emeritus?” pointing to the masked skeleton man. She nods to say yes.

I turn my focus back to the stage in time to see the man named Papa is standing so close to where Grace and I are in the crowd. He looks down at us and tilts his head. The song is ending, and he finishes the last verse. Papa began to speak to the crowd.

“How are we doing tonight children!” Papa yelled, the crowd erupted in cheers and fists went flying into the air. “Good, Good!” Papa replied. “Then put your fucking fists in the air!” The masked man yelled into the microphone and the crowd obeyed. The next song took off and I turned my focus to the figures in all black roaming around the stage. I tapped Grace’s shoulder, tearing her away from the show. “Who are they supposed to be?” I yelled into her ear.

They're the nameless ghouls! They're kind of like Papa’s henchmen, I think? They're sexy as fuck!” she screamed, leaving my ear ringing. I watched as one of the ghouls stalked forward. I could have sworn he was staring at us. He stopped and stood a few feet away, staring. His head fell to the side slightly and he stood stoic as his hands slid over the strings of his guitar. I briefly imagined what it would feel like to have those deft fingers touching me. It’s as if the other ghouls picked up on it because soon three ghouls were standing before me staring. It appeared as if they were whispering to one another, and suddenly they broke apart, retreating to different sections of the stage.

Grace was staring in shock, she grabbed my hand and yelled into my ear once more, “I can't believe that just happened, they were totally staring at us!” She released me and began to dance and sing again. I turned back to the show. I have to admit, I found myself lost in the beauty of the ghouls. Their striking uniforms, their bold masks that border terrifying, the way they prowl. Yet they had a lightness to them too, they were playful on stage and had a way of controlling the crowd.

I began to understand what everyone was so worked up about. This was something I could truly get behind. A group of people gathered to worship satanic metal music together free of judgment. No one is angry, no one is hurting, everyone is on the same page, just here to celebrate and have fun. I began to think about my childhood. Growing up in such a religious household had certainly left its mark. Sometimes I felt a pull to darker things. I had spent so many years trying to fit into the mold my parents made for me. But I just couldn’t do it. I wanted more freedom for myself than that.

So, I broke away. I had always considered myself an atheist, Christianity didn’t cut it for me so why believe in anything? But I could believe in this, I could believe in Ghost and what they stood for. Another song began and this time Grace pulled me close to tell me it was called “Mummy Dust” and that the ghouls go crazy during this song. Not really understanding what she meant I just shrugged it off.

Papa was running around the stage singing and tossing his mic, keeping the energy high at all times. The ghouls were prowling around as usual, when one of them approached me again. The song began to slow. The ghoul was tall and slender, he stood in front of me stroking his white guitar. I watched as he let go of the guitar to run his hand along his cheek, dragging two fingers across his tongue. My pulse quickened and I felt my lips turn into a grin. I was loving this, just like Grace said. The ghoul kept running that hand all the way down his chest and to his guitar where he began stroking. And to his “climax” cannons erupted and confetti fell everywhere. I was so blown away by what I had just witnessed and extremely turned on by it.

Everyone was so distracted by the confetti, and I soon realized why, raining down from the sky was what appeared to be dollar bills. I snagged one out of the air and examined it, it appeared to be fake and had information regarding joining the “Clergy” to become a “Sister of Sin.” I barely had time to stuff the bill in my pocket before I felt myself being pulled backward. I felt a cold bar drag against my back before realizing that I was being pulled over the guard rail by a security officer in all black. I glanced behind me to see that Grace was in tow as well. I was relieved to not be alone in this situation. I didn’t have long to wonder what Grace and I had done wrong to be removed by security, when I glanced up, the same ghoul that stood before me touching himself was walking along the stage as security dragged me away. The last thing I saw before being removed through two double doors were the ghouls staring and Papa waving at me, the crowd still distracted by the confetti and fake money.

Once behind closed doors the rather large and muscular security guards sat us down and explained that Papa had requested a meeting with us. Grace squealed in excitement while I stood there confused. Why would the lead singer of a metal band want to see the two of us? It’s not like Grace and I are anything special. A woman came to the room to offer us a beverage while we waited for Papa. The woman wore a skintight black maxi dress with a black chiffon veil draped behind her head. She was adorned in all kinds of silver jewelry and was absolutely gorgeous. She introduced herself as Sister Katie and explained that she was a member of the Clergy and was herself a Sister of Sin.

I of course had no idea what was going on, but Grace was going ape shit next to me. She briefly explained that Papa Emeritus was a Demonic Preist. His mission in life was to tour around the world accompanied by his band of Nameless Ghouls to spread the word of the Clergy. She also went on to explain that her job is to take care of whatever Papa needs.

“So why are we being sequestered Katie?” I asked sarcastically. “Sister Katie,” Grace corrected me. “Ah, sorry, Sister Katie...? I amended. “It’s alright,” Sister Katie replied shaking her hands fervently before continuing. “You’re being summoned likely because Papa saw something in you tonight and he needs that something,” she went on. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, the three of us turned to see Papa Emeritus enter the room in his blue sequined vest. He threw his hands in the air.

“Ladies! Welcome, I am so glad you have chosen to join me for a chat.” He spoke. I found that comical given the fact we were dragged in here, but I kept my mouth shut. I was actually interested in what he had to say. Papa’s head tipped to the side, and he looked confused. “You do know why you’re here? Don’t you?” he asked. I folded my arms taking a deep sigh, “I know we were dragged here by two security officers before the show was even over.” I spoke evenly playing that I wasn’t enjoying this bullshit. Deep down I felt curious, I felt a pull, as if something big could happen from this one encounter. “Ah, I see,” Papa said as he shrugged and looked dejectedly at the floor before once again throwing his hands up in the air. “A simple misunderstanding! Please, please,” he said as he gestured to a modern sofa and chairs in the middle of the room.

I took a seat and Sister Katie made her way to a minibar against the wall. She began working on drinks, Papa interrupted my gaze by sitting down just across from me in an armchair. There was something comforting in his presence. I felt as though I could bare my soul and that nothing I could ever say would scare or startle him. I could feel something seeping into the depths of my soul. But I needed to know why we were here so I waited in silence for him to continue.

Papa broke the silence as soon as Grace took her seat next to me, “Ladies, are you familiar with my mission with the band Ghost?” Grace’s hand shot in the air and Papa smiled, “Yes, cherub?” he asked. Grace took a big breath in, “Ghost is a metal rock band preaching the freedom of Satanism and guiding people to being better human beings.” Grace stated confidently.

Papa nodded, “Ah, yes, yes my cherub, but we are also so much more than that. We fight for freedom, womens freedom, sexual freedom, freedom of expression, we accept all.” Papa continued. Sister Katie had returned to the party and sat a tray of beverages down on the coffee table between us. Four champagne flutes sat infront of us, bubbling with a red clear liquid. I waited until Papa grabbed a glass and took a sip before following suit. Grace was already sipping her drink.

“Sister Katie, could you please bring in the Ghouls my love?” Papa asked glancing over his shoulder at Sister Katie, she nodded taking a small curtsey before leaving the room. So, now was the time we would get to see the Nameless Ghouls up close. Now this I was excited for, something about them up there on stage got me fired up. One of them did more licking than anything else on stage, so needless to say I was more than intrigued.

Papa cleared his throat, “Ladies, you seemed to have quite the effect on my Ghouls. They spent most of the night on stage in front of you! This is a rare quality, you, see? My Ghouls are very, shall we say, mischievous. They require, supervision you understand, yes?” Papa waited for us to nod in response. He kept explaining, “The Sisters of Sin are some of the most prestigious members of the Clergy you, see? They are the Matriarch, they are the ones that keep us together, the ones that keep us running. We very much so love and respect our Sisters of Sin. Ghost has begun to pick up in popularity, with that means more touring. My Ghouls have been on the road before but never this long, I fear they may need more guidance.

I am recruiting Sister’s to train with the band. I have some ideas regarding our show. I would like to see our Sisters of Sin represented on stage. Yes, I want our Sisters of Sin to not only watch the Ghouls and ensure they behave, but I would like to see Sisters dancing and singing on stage with us. My Ghouls were enthralled with you two tonight, and it struck me, this was a sign. You two are perfect for the band. And so, without further ado, ladies, will you join us, will you join the Clergy to spread the freedom of Satan's way?” Papa was beyond excited at this point. He sat and waited in anticipation.

At that moment the door opened and Sister Katie walked through followed by one after another Nameless Ghoul. They seemed to come in all shapes and sizes. The first to walk through the door was a tall male with a runner's body, I recognized him as the one that liked to lick. Grace nudged my rib and whispered and pointed “that one is Alpha, but I like to call him Fire.”

The Ghouls were dressed in head-to-toe black. Now that I was closer, I could see that their masks were incredible, they appeared to be some sort of post-apocalyptic gas masks with small horns protruding through the top. The next through the door was a woman with a perfectly curvy body, one I would have killed to have. She walked in and took a seat on the arm of the chair that Papa sat in and began to play with his hair. Next through the door was a larger male figure with a stocky build, his sleeves were rolled up and I noticed he had several pieces of silver jewelry adorning his fingers and wrists, he seemed bold. “That was Beta, but he prefers to be called Aether. He’s second to Alpha in command of the Ghouls.” Grace whispered quickly.

Lastly through the door was an athletic built male with broad shoulders, strutted up to the other Ghouls taking his place behind Papa. “Thats Rain, he’s the Bassist, and the sexiest in my opinion.” Grace said louder than a whisper this time. She quickly turned red and began fidgeting in her seat. Papa chuckled. “Where are the other Ghouls?” Papa asked.

Alpha’s voice came through his mask deep and rich, it sounded almost otherworldly, “They’re currently indisposed Master” The other Ghouls chuckled under their masks, all except Aether who lightly smacked Rain on the back of his mask. I swore I heard a deep groan from under Rain’s mask. Papa cleared his throat snapping everyone back to the conversation at hand. “See ladies, this is why I need you; I need someone to keep my nameless Ghouls in check.” Papa pleaded with us.

I was looking at Papa but Alpha stole my attention as his tongue slowly came through his mask licking his lips, I felt a shudder deep in my stomach, or perhaps deeper than that. Finally this close, I could see that the Ghouls wore black scarves over their mouths during the show, but now they had them pulled down exposing what appeared to be human flesh. So, Grace was wrong, they weren't otherworldly beings, they were just people in masks.

Grace screamed yes so loud my ear began to ring. The one called Alpha had not yet broken eye contact with me. I stared back at him, he tilted his head and suddenly this felt like a pissing contest. So I tilted my head in return and to my surprise, I said “yes.” I saw a smile form on Alpha's face and Papa shot out of his chair. “Hail Satanas, Sister welcome to the Clergy and welcome to the band. While I am saddened by the fact that not all the Ghouls are here to witness this moment, I know they will be excited to meet you as soon as possible.” Papa said walking around the table to embrace both Grace and me. He snagged both of us placing a kiss on each of our cheeks before turning to leave the room. “Sister Katie will arrange your transportation tomorrow, we hit the road at dusk for Illinois!” Papa hollered back at us shutting the door behind him.

Sister Katie had already made her way to us and embraced us both at the same time, “Welcome Sisters, I am so excited to have you with us!” she said. Let’s get your information and then you ladies can head home to get your affairs in order. I will arrange your ride tomorrow. Remember, dusk.” she finished.

As we exchanged information the Ghouls had taken over the couch. I glanced back to see them lounging. Aether sat in the armchair, while Alpha sat on the sofa. I was slightly surprised at the fact that Rain had his head resting in Alpha's lap but I figured they were a tight group. The female Ghoul, whose name I had discovered earlier, was Cirrus, she was sitting on the top of the couch playing with Alpha’s horns. They seemed drawn to him; I suppose that’s why he was called Alpha after all.

Sister Katie had taken down all of our information and we finally parted ways. Grace and I left the building in a daze. I felt as though I had no recollection of what just happened. My mind was buzzing with the impossibility of the situation. Grace and I had just been asked to babysit the nameless Ghouls while performing with the band Ghost as backup dancers and singers. Fuck, what if I couldn’t sing?

#fire ghoul #dewdrop x reader #dewdrop ghost #dewdrop ghoul #dewdrop smut #aether #nameless ghoul #fanfic #smut #ghost bc #ghost fanfiction #papa emeritus iv #the band ghost #rain ghoul #cirrus ghoulette #cumulus ghoulette #nameless ghouls #ghost sodo

[zarasu]

Ok but in all honesty? I love scum villain. Because, well, it really took the most repressed, unlikeable character ever and gave him the best possible coming out story he could have gotten.

Now, I'm not saying the plot itself is easy for him. Obviously, he died a lot, was afraid and went through a bit of character development.

But the coming out aspect of it? Please.

He transmigrated into a world that is relatively accepting of gays (at least from what we saw), into a person who's hot and in a position of power and wealth and was immediately surrounded by attractive guys.

Even more, he got to build an emotional bond to Binghe and be affectionate with him before any romance ever started (at least for Sqq). So when Binghe came back, Sqq was afraid, but he was also sure that he loves him, in a way.

But seriously, to have the hottest guy of the world chasing after you, desperately wanting your booty? All the scenes where Binghe just took what he wanted, dominantly overwhelming or cornering Sqq, while Sqq could pretend that he didn't want this at all.

And then the end scene where Sqq literally saved the world(!) by having gay sex(!!) What was he supposed to do? Say no?? Even a straight man would have taken it up the ass to save the whole world.

And after, he practically had to marry Binghe! Lest he do it all again!

Everything that happens in the story conveniently absolves him from any responsibility for his feelings while, in the end, he still gets the hottest man alive as his husband without losing the position or prestige he has.

It's so perfect that I'm sometimes wondering if it isn't a little too perfect. Even his deaths happen right when he's in a gay situation but not ready to commit to it yet!

If I didn't know better, I'd almost say that sv reads like a fantasy Shen Yuan came up with himself.

(Do I know better?)

But regardless, I'm grateful that I discovered scum villain, as funny as that sounds. It's such an incredibly kind story for a character who is as fragile and afraid of his own wants and identity as Shen Yuan.

Since I joined the scum villain fandom, I learned so much about myself, mostly by projecting onto Shen Yuan as hard as I could😂 I've grown more comfortable with my own wants and identity and the people in this fandom played a big part in that.

So, thank you to Shen Yuan for allowing every repressed queer person to live vicariously through you, and thanks to the fandom for making this such a welcoming space<3

#svsss #svsss meta #shen qingqiu #cheesy as fuck #read at your own risk #coming out story

[msunitedstatesjames]

Frances Hardinge is a criminally underrated author. If you've never heard of her, I'm not surprised. Even though I'm in several fantasy book groups on Facebook with thousands of members, I've only ever seen one or two other members post about her. And yet, since I first read one of her books in 2020, I've bought every book she's published and read most of them.

Frances Hardinge, for those who've missed out, writes fantasy young adult books. Her books are extremely well written, romance free, unfailingly unique, and somewhat dark, all of which are qualities I find to be more and more rare in today's YA fantasy market (not to hate on YA, I've read tons of it). If you need a comparison, I would say aspects of her books remind me of YA/middle grade books by T. Kingfisher or Neil Gaiman.

If I haven't convinced you yet, here's a little preview of some of her books that I've read:

A Face Like Glass (my personal favorite): A girl named Neverfell lives in a world where people have to be taught how to show emotion in their facial expressions. She has to wear a mask at all times because, mysteriously, she naturally shows facial expressions and if people found out they would freak. If that's not unique enough, this society is underground and produces magical artisinal goods, such as cheeses, wines, and perfumes that can do some wild things. If that still hasn't convinced you, the book critiques the privelege of the wealthy, as in this world only the rich can afford to hire Facesmiths to teach them expression, while the poor languish along with one or two facial expressions for their entire lives.

Fly by Night and Fly Trap (these might have different titles depending on where you are in the world): In a world where reading is illegal and seen as revolutionary activity, Mosca Mye escapes her awful life with her aunt and uncle by forcing an infamous conman (Eponymous Clent, this world has cool naming conventions) to take her under his wing. Joining them is Mosca's only friend, Saracen, the murderous goose. Yeah, you read that right. Highlights of the series include a heartwarming found family tale, an accidental revolution, a city that literally changes its population, personality, and shape when day changes to night, and, of course, an extremely violent goose. I mean, if you've read Pratchett, Saracen the goose is basically the Luggage. There's more than one scene in these books where all hope seems lost, and Mosca is like, "I guess it's up to you now Saracen," and she just straight up lobs her goose at the enemy and he utterly wrecks their shit. If I recall correctly, this happens once during a pitched river boat battle over an illegal printing press.

The Lie Tree: Faith's father, who refused to recognize her potential as a scientist, mysteriously dies. Faith discovers a tree he kept hidden that grows when you tell lies and reveals secrets in its fruit. The bigger the lie you tell the world, the bigger the secret that will be revealed. You can imagine the chaos that eventually ensues. This book critiques gender roles and discrimination, and tackles both the dangers and the necessity of telling lies.

Cuckoo Song: When Triss wakes up after apparently falling in a lake, everything seems wrong. She's missing memories, she has an insatiable hunger, dead leaves are mysteriously appearing in her room, and her sister claims she's a monster. Triss must piece together what's happening to her before it's too late. This book deals with the complexities of life with overbearing parents, siblings who've been pitted against one another, and families that have been torn apart by tragedy.

Verdigris Deep (another one that goes by different titles): A group of friends are cursed by a well witch after they take some coins from her well. She forces them to work for her by granting her wishes. Working with the witch gives them powers, but the wishes are getting increasingly complex. Does that guy really want a motorcycle or does he want to be someone else? And if he wants to be someone else, does that mean what he really wants is not to exist at all? This book deals with issues of self worth, power and control, and toxic friendships.

She has a bunch of other great books as well. So if you're looking for a unique fantasy story with adventure and no romance, definitely check some of Frances Hardinge's books out!

#frances hardinge #a face like glass #fly trap #fly by night #Twilight robbery #Cuckoo song #The lie tree #Verdigris deep #Well witched #books #booklr #Mosca mye #eponymous clent #Neverfell grandible #Faith sunderly #Triss crescent #Saracen the goose

[kinetic-elaboration]

October 24: Bellamy + Zombies

I wrote this last night but couldn't post it because I had no internet for some reason.

Bellamy-cenric, ~900 words

For the prompt: “Zombie AU” from this list of Autumn/Halloween prompts.

*

These guys are just the straight un-dead. In all the arthouse zombie flicks nowadays, all the re-told classics, all the daring and creative re-imaginings, the zombies are the product of disease, and the metaphor is slapped on thick. A virus, spreading: contagion. Maybe they’re not really dead at all, just decaying, and crazed with some inhuman need, and mindless, and shuffling, and not-too-slow. And the disease spreads and the living decay to living dead things and everyone pretends they’ve never heard this story before.

The monsters that shuffle around the countryside now are real, re-animated corpses crawled up out of shallow graves. They were fully dead, and now they’re something else. Bellamy would not call them alive. He wouldn’t call them diseased, and he doubts they’re contagious. They may or may not eat brains. He’s never gotten close enough to one to tell.

He and his sister still have power in their little farmhouse at the edge of town because the coming of the zombies has not brought on the end times and the basics of life still go on. So he watches the news every night to hear the latest on the creatures. They’re not everywhere, but they’re round and about the country now. He figures several have probably been captured and are in some government lab right about now, being prodded and studied, but no one would ever go on national TV and admit it.

Octavia thinks they should capture one of the zombies and put it to work, not that the farm really functions anymore, and this state of affairs has nothing to do with the apocalypse and everything to do with the Blakes not having been farmers in seventy or eighty years. Bellamy’s a teacher at the elementary school in Arcadia, third grade, and Octavia’s been doing odd jobs while she figures herself out. She has these fantasies about farm life that have about as much basis in reality as the concept of harnessing zombie power for good, but maybe eventually something real will materialize out of all of that imagination of hers. Then he’ll know if he should be placing blame on or giving thanks to her new boyfriend, Lincoln, and his fun facts about the original zombies, the proto-zombies, the reanimated almost-dead who work in the fields.

“We have fields, Bell,” she tells him. He reminds her that they’re meadowland now.

Dark falls earlier now that fall has settled in over Arcadia, not quite seven when he pulls all the blinds and turns on the extra lights. He flips the light on in the kitchen and the long, twin fluorescents buzz to life above his head.

And then, Bellamy pauses.

He senses it before he hears it. He senses it beneath the buzzing of the light, and Octavia’s footsteps on the stairs, and he feels it in the way his hand stops all on its own, hovering there above the light.

The crackling of leaves, shuffling against each other, whispering against each other. Pushed aside to form a path for heavy, slow feet. One step and then another, dragging, and heavy.

He lets his hand fall down from the light switch, thinks again, reaches up to turn it off. With only the haloed edge of the living room light behind him, he sees the room as almost utter inky blackness, stamped with the vague outlines of remembered shapes. He steps where he knows he can step, heavy on his own feet, until he reaches the window above the sink. Then he twitches aside the curtains and squints out into the dark. He can’t see a thing but he can he hear that same shuffling still, that weary dragging. He imagines he hears a moan coming with it, but that’s a sound in his own ears. The rhythm of the steps is so slow, so unfaltering. His breath is held waiting for the pattern to break.

Maybe for the heavy step to suddenly go still. Maybe to look up and see that rotten face looking at him.

Out on the edge of town, he’s seen plenty of them, the zombies, but almost always at a distance: pairs of them against the trees where the farmland gives out, or trains of three or four dragging their heels through the dust on the side of the road, heading toward the setting sun. Like wild animals, they keep their distance and he keeps his. He’s not sure if they can see, what they can smell, how close he’d have to get before they noticed him or what he’d have to do. He’s learned to live with them and around them, as he’s learned to live with so many other things.

Through the window, peering up close to it so he can discern past his own reflection, he watches as the figure enters the round splash of yellow from the back porch light. He sees details of it first, before he can fully grasp the whole: tatters and decay, in a skeletal shape. It drags its own foot behind it like a club. Its skin is picked over and scavenged, rot on its own fingers—this one is old, deep buried in the earth for a long time. A long time. It doesn’t turn to look at him and Bellamy doesn’t let go of his breath. Only after it’s long shuffled out of sight does he realize that he never did look at that old man’s face.

#the 100 #bellamy blake #mine #my writing #the 100 fanfiction #the year 2023 #2023: free write #i don't know what this folksy bellamy voice is btw #i think it's consistent within the 900 words but not really with the show but also whatever i wrote this at 1:30 am #and i actually rather like it #not bad for something i started without a n y idea where it would go

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 5/5

Book Blurb: The god of the forge…Life was good in the Neosphere District. I’d made a name for myself as a renowned supernatural bounty hunter, holding the record for most harpies slayed. But the best part about living in the future? Avoiding the other Olympian gods. Banishing a guy from Olympus because he was “imperfect” tends to make one hold a grudge. Go figure. And no other god possessed the means to time travel. But I did. Thanks to the portal hopping device I forged.Yup. Life. Was. Grand.Until a bounty popped up on a certain love goddess. Aphrodite and I had been friends since we were wee gods. I’d be lying to myself if I never thought our “innocent” flirting banter were real on occasion—kidding myself if I said I never wanted things to go beyond platonic. Hence, why I recently kept my distance. For my own sanity. So, of course, I made the grave mistake of taking the godsdamned bounty.The goddess of love… Since reconciling with my son Eros, after centuries of bad mojo, I’d decided it was time to clean up my act. Ride the straight and narrow. My companion service, Sans Solo, became just the ticket I needed. And it allowed me to use my powers in disguise in modern California under the name Vena Milo. With the aid of my best friends, and fellow goddesses, the Graces, we ran a legitimate business. All was right in the world. Until the volcano god showed up. Hephaistos. Heph—a lifelong friend who never failed to confuse me mind, body, and soul. Especially when he showed up with a magical pair of handcuffs. His audacity pissed me off, but the mere sight of him, the smell of him, made my stomach flutter. That…I couldn’t deny. And when Heph's plan goes to Tartarus things got even dicier and we became...the hunted. -A cyberpunk fantasy Hephaestus x Aphrodite romance that defies myth but answers true love's call-

Review:

A new cyberpunk take on Hephaestus and Aphrodite? Sign me up! In a world where the Greek Gods live in the modern world, the god of the forge lives in the Neosphere District, a grimy, cyberspace time in the future. Rather than live in the modern world, Hep has decided to live in the future, a place where he can make a name for himself as the most renowned supernatural bounty hunter. Life is dirty, bloody, and good. Well it was until he gets the bounty for the one Greek God (or rather Goddess) he never expected to see... the goddess of Love, Aphrodite. Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love who currently live sin the modern world, after finally reconciling with her son Eros, she is on the straight and narrow, running her successful companion business. Yet she has one little secret... her powers are nearly gone... they’ve disappeared and she has no idea why. When her childhood friend and someone she’s had a crush on since forever shows up to claim a bounty on her after not seeing her for years... to say she’s mad is putting it lightly. Hep has always been in love with Aphrodite, but she is the unattainable, he’s tried to nip his crush in the bud. How can someone so beautiful and perfect love someone as grim, dirty, and scarred as him? When Hep shows up to collect the bounty for Aphrodite... things take a turn and he is definitely going to have to turn the client down... which means now they’re both on the run from the client who has now placed a bounty on both of them. Now Hep and Aphrodite must work together to figure out how to end their bounty, save themselves, and finally face the feelings they have for one another. They’ll have to fight off against hunters, harpies, ancient beings, old enemies, and vengeful individuals from their past. This was such a cute and fun retelling of the relationship between Hephaestus and Aphrodite. The romance was great and the chemistry between them was adorable. The cyberpunk storyline mixed in with Greek mythology was so much fun and definitely such a unique take on the story! I can’t wait to read the rest of the retellings from this author and see what her next couple/story goes!

*Thanks Netgalley and Carly Spade, World Tree Publishing, LLC for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book review #bookish #greek mythology #hephaestus x aphrodite #romance #romance book

[empty-masks]

Book Two, Chapter Ten - Leon

CW: Strong Language, Sexual References, Graphic Violence, Fantasy Bigotry, Smoking, Alcohol Use, Light Body Horror

PERHAPS I UNDERESTIMATED QUITE HOW SMALL YOUR SHARDS ARE, TOURMALINE. IT WILL TAKE MUCH TIME TO RECONSTRUCT YOU-- I ASK FOR YOUR PATIENCE ON THE MATTER, PLEASE.

The five of them stand, dumbfounded, staring at a single solemn tree amidst the warm, vivid hues of the Eternal Autumn. Its branches are leafless, jagged, and broken-- and the bark is a light-trapping black, darker than any coal they had ever seen in their lives. Among a world of stunning colors, it is a black gash across their vision from its peak down to its base, where even the underbrush is scarce and the earth is dark and cracking.

Leon frowns. “We’re here. Dragon territory.”

“Looks like we aren’t goin’ straight for Fusillade, shame.” Azariah shrugs his shoulders, looks up to gauge the place of the sun in the sky, considers his directions, and then points to their left. “Let’s head west, then.”

“Hold on,” Leon interjects. “What’s west, Azariah? That stone town?”

Azariah laughs. “Kiln, kid, to the west is Kiln. Great place, interestin’ environs and such. I don’t exactly know the way on foot, but you can’t miss the place for miles and it isn’t in the territory of an ornery lizard with wings.”

“Well, the Fusillade Wyrm is a Wyrm, so it’s actually closer to being a snake with wings. I think they have legs?” Olive readjusts her now well-scuffed hard hat. “I have to agree with Azariah here, Leon. I’m not all that interested in marchin’ through dragon country— but I gotta point out Fusillade itself ain’t actually in the wyrm’s territory, just the closest town to it. All that said, still gotta cut through if we want to head straight for it. I think goin’ to Kiln might actually be safer regardless, since it ain’t a part of your old route.”

“We’ve also got numbers, too,” says Cherry.

Everyone’s heads turn to focus on the young man, who offers a smile of consolation. “If it finds us, we’re together. A Dragon might overlook one or two people walking through, or a few people in a car if they take the right road, but five people marching through on foot in similar outfits screams—”

“Adventurers.” Judith puts her head in her hand. “It’d attack us on sight if it saw us, and we’re not exactly stealthy. You know, with this group being an old man, a guy with a lung condition, an anxious owl, a dumb kid, and then myself with a missing fucking hand. The only reason we haven’t been caught yet is that nobody’s going to bother to look in the woods for a bunch of nobodies without any fucking experience getting by in here, barring Olive. And even then, the timer’s up. Our head start runs out today.”

Leon steels himself. “Then I’ll go it alone. Meet you four on the other side, get us set up in Fusillade.”

Azariah shakes his head. “Not your finest idea, Leon, and you’re a smart guy. We’re better off makin’ this march together, even if it means we have to head somewhere else. There’s safety and power in numbers.”

A thought crosses Leon’s mind, but he doesn’t air it. Azariah can see it in the way he’s looking at them, though. Safety in numbers only exists if the other numbers are reliable, and this has burned him before. He shakes his head. “I appreciate the thought.”

Judith cringes, then scowls and wraps her arms around herself for the time being.

Cherry clears his throat. “We don’t know if the thing’s still around. Dragons are dragons, they’re big name targets for adventurers. For all we know, it might be dead. It’s not like it comes down to talk with people all the time.”

The Owl nods. “He’s got a point. Though I think it’d be big news if the wyrm croaked, he is makin’ a good point, Leon. No reason to make a decision like this without all the information we might need, y’all.”

“Let’s check, then. Olive, come with me. I don’t want anything sneaking up on us.” Leon rubs the back of his neck, standing a bit straighter.

Olive, adjusting the way her hatchet hangs at her side, steps up to begin walking with Leon, saying, “Well, I don’t think any Trunts would be inclined to live in a region run by somethin’ that likes burnin’ stuff, but it’s better safe than sorry and they still got Azariah, so as long as we get back before they up and fall asleep on us…”

On the trip itself, Olive and Leon talk little. This is an obligatory outing, needed only so that when they return and Leon tells them, straight-faced, that the Fusillade Wyrm is still up and sizzling there’s no chance that they’re wrong. A local big timer like a Dragon dying tends to be a big deal, and the fact that the Smokestone Location hadn’t heard of its demise before they fled leaves Leon without any doubt that the serpent’s still out there. It’s still very tempting to go it alone, perhaps waiting until the others are asleep to dart off in the right direction and make it on his own again.

Heading west isn’t safer, not really, not when he doesn’t know what could be out there. Azariah’s even admitted to not truly knowing the footpath to Kiln, so even if they don’t screw up and miss the place by miles at least they’ll have to deal with anything that might get in their way on the trail itself. They’d already had run-ins with a Skitterbear and then there was Olive’s fight with a Trunt, the latter having put him on edge for the rest of the trip. If it’s true, then the woods are a lot more dangerous than he ever knew when he ran in the first place, and if she’s lying, then he can’t trust her— and aside from Judith, Olive’s the most trustworthy.

Trustworthy. Wrong word, wrong concept, wrong everything. It isn’t that he can trust her, it’s that he’s got a good idea of the way she acts, the way she reacts. Olive is predictable. He can predict her response to things, generally. For similar reasons, Judith is predictable, but rather than generalized anxiety he’s certain the main reaction she goes for is anger, and he can understand that. Out of all of them, despite their fights, Judith is likely the only one whom he truly understands.

The Hare’s nothing but mysteries wrapped up in folksy old sayings and sappy crap. Cherry’s predictable, sure, but cloyingly sweet even on the off days and it makes him think that maybe it’s all an act and that at some point the kid’s gonna disappear with their gear. Those are the options with Cherry; the kid’s either a damned amazing liar or quite possibly the most naive person Leon’s ever met.

What’s keeping him from running while they’re all asleep, swiping his gear and sneaking out through Wyrm Territory while they meander off to Kiln, where it’s likely the corporate bastards are all already headed? People would never assume that a group of miners might try to cut through the Wyrm’s stretch of forest to get to Fusillade, not after how it went for his last group, or any other runaways.

It’s either a lonely trip under the stern and cruel gaze of that Monster or a journey into the unknown, with the most reliable people he knows being an anxiety riddled owl and his former boss, now sans her dominant hand thanks to that fuck up back on site. He can’t rely on the kid, he’s a kid, and can’t rely on the old man— he’s an old man.

And ultimately it comes down to whether or not he can even rely on himself. He could’ve made it alone last time, and back then he was just hauling stolen product, not made out of it. This is a unique problem. He’s not only a valuable product asset now, but if folks beyond Shepherd bounds learn about that it’s another big scandal for the company. Nothing life threatening, not when their hands are in so many pies, but something scary enough to impact their local bottom line. It doesn’t matter how big or small something is when it’s Shepherd’s.

As long as he doesn’t overwork himself and rations out his food, he could get by. They would still have Olive, so she could keep trapping food for them. They’d be fine.

A feathery hand darts out and presses against his chest, stopping Leon in his tracks. He hasn’t even opened his mouth to speak when Olive shakes her head and presses a finger to her beak, eyes wide. Afterward, Olive points up toward the clouds.

Leon stares up alongside her, and between those sweet pillows of fluff that cover the heavens they see a long, dark, writhing shape slither, moving at speeds no bird for miles could ever muster even in a blitzing divebomb. His heart sinks in his chest at the sight of it swimming through the clouds on fiery red wings, like a winged sea-snake.

A display is put on; from this distance all they can make out are bursts of flame, bright against the faint and pleasant whites and off-whites of the clouds. The scaly, slithering form of the Wyrm is too far to be made out closely, but even so far away as the clouds they can see the vivid light of its flames.

“It can’t hear us,” states Leon, getting a hand on her shoulder. “Worry about it seeing us instead.”

“That some kinda matin’ display? Tryin’ to be all bright and fiery for some lady Wyrm? Like how birds dance or make nests?”

Leon shakes his head. “No. It’s probably barbecuing birds mid-flight for shits. It’s a power move. Let’s leave.”

“Absolutely terrifyin’,” is all Olive says before the two turn and trot back down the trail they’d taken.

When they return, the others are no less anxious than they; it’s quite the feat, reaching the same level of general, ambient terror that Olive seems to be in constantly. Sitting with his back against the burnt tree, Azariah has since begun gently plucking at the strings of his mandolin again, with Cherry sitting right beside him and Judith pacing in front of the two.

It’s as Leon walks around said burnt tree, past the strumming rabbit and the young man, that Judith turns to ask, “Where have you two been? Did you see that? Something’s burning the fucking sky!”

Azariah scoffs. “No need to beat around the bush, Judith. Surprisin’ that you’d bother bein’ so concerned as to try and not freak Leon and Olive out about it. You two saw the Dragon?”

Judith scowls. “It could be something else! And we don’t know how either of them might react to hearing about it— if it is it, anyway.”

As Olive nods, Leon straightens out and says, “Yeah, we saw it too. It’s the reason we headed back this early. No mistake, that’s the thing we were looking for. At least it seemed preoccupied.”

“Right, we start worrying once we’ve decided on a plan of action.” Cherry smiles up at the rest of the group, smoothing out his jumpsuit. “Though, Leon? What about you? We’re set on heading to Kiln, has there been any revelations since earlier?”

“Not particularly.” Leon walks over to sit down on a fallen tree. There he’s joined by Judith, who grumbles about logistics and rationing and the likelihood of dying via forest fire under her breath.

Azariah stops playing to lift only a single finger, pointing up. “Don’t be so worried, Judith, we’re not gonna be headin’ through that way. We’re goin’ to Kiln, remember?”

“What about Leon?” She asks, raising her head and turning her gaze to the Orc. “Do you feel like ditching us and taking your chances with the snake? You think that’s the sensible thing to do?”

Leon holds up a hand. “I haven’t decided on what I’m doing yet. I need to think.”

Olive shakes her head again. “A single person might be able to get by without gettin’ its attention but I don’t have much faith in your survivability on your own regardless. You’re a smart guy, Leon, but think about it. You wouldn’t know how to make heads or tails of anythin’ out there and in the case that there is a problem, you’re not in any condition to be makin’ last stands. Numbers, Leon, numbers!”

“Safer to head west, bud, but it’s your decision. I’m a firm believer in that if even one of us gets caught it’s basically over for all of us, but I’m also a champion of personal freedom.” Azariah chuckles, keeping his eyes trained on Leon.

With a tilt of her head, Judith scoffs. “Personal freedom my ass, old man. Last thing you were champion of was probably sometime before any of us spawned— or were born.” Afterward she looks to Leon again, one hand moving to grab at his jumpsuit. “It’s a stupid idea to go through those woods and you know it. You’re not in a state to make it on your own and even if you were it’s still dangerous, plus like they say there is at least strength in numbers. Don’t go, Leon. Don’t leave me the one sane person in this stupid group of fuckups. Cherry might make me lose another hand if Azariah doesn’t talk me to death with some inane story.”

His voice is absent in his throat for a moment before Leon finally croaks out, “Fine.” “Fine?” “I said it. You have your answer, fine, we’ll go west, myself included. I’ll leave my life in the old fart’s hands. Even though that city’s probably a trap.”

Olive snickers, glancing conspiratorially at Cherry. “Nobody questionin’ why that’s what convinced him?”

“Oh, I think it’s pretty obvious as to why. But that’s none of our business, right?” Cherry says, giggling. “Either way, it should be easy to find the place. We’ve just gotta head for the funky looking rainbow mountains.”

Judith and Leon both stand, brushing bits of old wood from their jumpsuits. “I guess we should start heading west, then,” he grumbles.

Chapter End.

==============================================================

[[ Table of Contents ]]

Blondie & The Smokestone March is © 2020-2022 Empty Mask. All Rights Reserved.

#b&tsm #empty-mask #writing #original content #oc #fantasy #adventure #creative writing #writeblr #original writing #original novel #b&tsm-cherry #b&tsm-judith #b&tsm-azariah #b&tsm-leon #b&tsm-olive

[comic-bastards]

Review: Deal Breaker #1

By Dustin Cabeal

Sometimes when a creator has a high concept, they focus too much on the concept and leave their characters severely lacking. That seems to be the case with Deal Breaker a story that has a main character that is forgettable, but also not very believable given their setting.

The gist of the story is easy to sum up, a man makes a wish with a coin in the fountain and gets a better life. Suddenly he’s not at a dead-end job being a security guard at a high school working with a pedophile. He has a successful career, a beautiful wife and two kids. He receives a random message saying it’s time to pay his debt which he promptly ignores because who answers messages from unknown callers? The next day his family disappears from existence one after the other until we arrive at the stereotypical scene of the husband filing a missing person’s report for his three missing family members.

Listen, I know that it’s a typical trope of movies and TV shows to say that you need to wait 24 hours to file a missing person report, but that’s not true. They’ll take the report, they may not react to the report if they feel the person isn’t in danger, but I’m pretty sure that a man showing up saying that his entire family has been abducted would light a fire under the police and it would be gross negligence for them to turn him away. What’s worse is that they tell him to wait 48 hours which seems to match up with the timeline of the story and nothing else. It’s a tired, bad trope that doesn’t hold any logic in the world anymore. It’s been done to death so if you’re a writer out there… don’t do it. Don’t use it, write your story better than that because the second I hit this page I checked out of the story. I had zero interest in finishing it. If you’re going to throw in real world elements like this on your fantasy story, make them at least realistic. Obviously, I finished the issue for the review, but if I was reading this recreationally then I absolutely would have put it down unfinished.

The husband leaves the police station and receives a phone call. The voice on the other end tells him to keep walking and not involve the police. He tells him to walk, and he’ll demonstrate his power. Suddenly a man falls from the sky and lands in front of the husband. This is enough to convince the husband who heads to the docks to meet the man that granted his wish and is now calling for the debt to be paid… by having him kill another man that didn’t pay his debt.

Let me get this straight… he can make a man throw himself off a building to their death, but he’s worried about the cops. Okay, problem number one right there. The second problem, why the fuck would the husband feel like he must go through with this given the guy he’s after is also a “deal breaker” and the deal maker can’t touch him? I would just give him the finger and tell him to do it himself, mostly because I didn’t sign a contract or agree to the terms and conditions. Why they hell does he owe him anything, which is the third problem. If anything, this deal maker has demonstrated his lack of power and control with this situation. The fourth problem I have is why would he trust some guy that’s lived a soft perfect life to suddenly become a cold-blooded killer? Especially, when the story has done nothing to show how desperate he is to get his life back.

A suggestion, maybe have the husband and family get into a minor fender bender and the husband goes off on the guy that hit them telling them that if anything happens to his family, he won’t need a lawyer he’ll need an undertaker. Something that shows that he’s serious about his family and lifestyle to the point that he loses sight of checking on his family. He just cares that they’re there. The contract that doesn’t exist bothers me further, just have them sign a contract so at least he’s aware. Cut out all the fat, have the family disappear and the deal maker just shows up with the target and the contract and then forgettable husband grabs his gun that he’s used at the gun range every weekend preparing for this moment. I’m not writing the story, and these are just things I’m spouting off while writing the review, but the concept isn’t strong enough to be interesting. It’s just the “deal with the devil” storyline paired with a forgettable husband character.

The artwork and coloring are okay. The characters lack a lot of facial details and forgettable husband is very forgettable because of this. He’s too generic looking and doesn’t emote with the exception of when a dude splatters on the ground in front of him and even then, it’s more like a “hey, who pulled on my headphone cord” type of look rather than “dear god, I’m going to puke my guts out now having seen this.” The coloring is all muted. It’s lacking a lot in the coloring department. It reminds me a lot of another publisher who pumped out a ton of books that all had this same color set. It lacks in detail; it hurts the atmosphere and overall, it doesn’t give a consistent look to the book.

I don’t like dumping on small indie books like this, but if you’re going to take the time and money to make a book and send it out for review, you’re going to get honest and sometimes harsh feedback. I’m not a friend, I’m not a family member, I’m not a close colleague and so I will not pull my punches. That said, I wouldn’t read anymore of this series. There is nothing unique or interesting about the story that I haven’t seen done a dozen times over. The art is forgettable, which makes the characters forgettable as well. You can see the love and the desire to tell a good story, but again, it’s like the creators were lost in the concept and forget to check the rest of the story for problems.

Story by Marcel Dupree and Joshua Metzger Art by Jonas Scharf Colors by Marco Pagnotta Letters by Brant Fowler

Score: 2/5

#Deal Breaker #Inide Comics #Comics #Dustin Cabeal

[bangtangalicious]

death valley (m) | part 8

summary: welcome to death valley. once you’re in, there’s no telling whether you’ll make it out alive. a summer internship turns wild with blurry nights of dangerous men, dirty money, and extremely hot sex. you soon get caught in a savage game of greed, power and obsession, only to find out that you are the grand prize

pairing: ot7 x f.reader smut ft: jin x reader, jungkook x reader, taehyung x reader

genre: smut. yandere. mystery. thriller. gang!au rockstar!au fightclub!au

wordcount: 9.0k

warnings: reader discretion advised. rough sex, physical roughness, sadism kink, pain kink, breast play, fingering, elevator sex (semipublic), praise kink, dirty talk, unrealistic endurance (this is one day LMAO), attempted fire play, bondage, guns, attempted shootings, knife play if you squint, spanking, degradation (name calling, slut shaming, being really mean lolol thanks jin), crying kink? lot of crying, toxic and manipulative behaviors, jin steps on you so there’s that, character death, heavy drug use, paranoia/fear, voyeurism, sex while intoxicated, me trying to put some humor where i can, sweet dom!jungkook, wild dom!jin, and a sprinkle of dom!taehyung ;) ALSO eyebrowpiercing!jungkook. very important. 

a/n: s/o soowoozoo!bts for being my inspo. 

part 0 | part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 | series navi | masterlist |

F L A S H F O R W A R D--

Goosebumps spread across your skin as the silence set in. The room was chilly, air conditioner buzzing in contrast to the slick humidity of the summer night waiting for you outside. The white light made your eyes ache, the walls were plain, dry, empty.

You stared blankly at the table in front of you. The sound of the pen scratching paper made you ache, remembering kinder days when you and Hobi would be goofing around and writing songs. How did you get here? How did you let this happen?

The previous night, you had dreamt of being at a concert, somewhere far from Death Valley. Losing yourself to music and molly, a soft pair of hands on your hips as you danced the night away, singing at the top of your lungs. Those same hands wrapping around your waist, nose tracing behind your ear to whisper to you how pretty you were. How hot you looked and how badly he wanted to tear your clothes off with his teeth. 

You allowing him to pick you up so easily, take you back to his car where you scrambled into the back seat. Like children. The first kiss was magic, you were glued to him and could barely move on. He wouldn’t leave you for a second, he wouldn’t let you breathe. Your lips were hot on each other, soft moans and giggles. Swallowed smiles as you drank one another in, bodies like waves crashing against each other.

Hands wandering until he had you where he wanted. Where you wanted. He loved you down so incredibly good. How he was able to tear you apart while still being so sweet, you could barely even fathom. His teeth dug into the flesh of your breasts, fingers hooking around your panties. 

His tongue ravished your figure. There was no part of you left untouched, no part of you that wasn’t completely ablaze with arousal. You would arch your neck back as he lapped away at the sweetness dripping between your legs, your hands combing through his wavy black hair.

His tongue knew where to go, he knew how you liked it, and your fist clenched as he fucked you with his mouth through and through. He always made sure you came first. Always. Every single time.

Whether you had mere minutes or long hours, he loved the way you tasted, making sure you knew that at every chance he got. Sloppy wet kisses traveled up your stomach to your chest, up your neck, hands caressing your ass, scratching your back, holding you close for a moment. 

You were whisked away into heaven, just briefly, as his thick cock would push into you. Your pussy pulling him in, wanting to feel the familiar but oh so incredible stretch that only he gave you. 

Taehyung. You sobbed as he fucked you, allowing him to kiss the glossy tears off of your cheeks as he rolled his hips, angling so perfectly to nudge deep within you. His sinister grin, his giggles, his chaos. You were in the hands of disaster but you never felt more safe. 

Why are you crying dumbass? He would find your state amusing, continuing to fuck you, thrusts long and smooth. Quick, but slow enough for you to savor each second. Your whining lost behind the wet sound of your bodies colliding.

Where are you? Are you watching this right now? You’re not really dead are you?

Stroking your cheek, he leaned down to whisper against your mouth. The words he would keep on saying, echoing back to you. Play along. I won’t hurt you.

What exactly you were playing, you were unsure. 

“Look at me” Your eyes darted up to meet Jin’s deceivingly innocent eyes. “I’m gonna ask you again, did you kill Kim Taehyung?” 

You gulped, sweat collecting onto the cold handcuffs around your wrists. Jin glanced at the mirrored wall, before letting out a heavy sigh. 

“It appears that Kim Taehyung was murdered about two hours before the party. We found your gun near the body.” Jin holds up the custom weapon Yoongi had given that was unmistakably yours. “Where were you at that time?” You felt your eyes getting heavy.

“I was” You lips were chapped, mouth clammy with a bitter taste. You looked him dead in the eye, stomach sickened by the amusement glistening within them as you struggled with your response. You knew he was getting a kick out of it. You wanted to spit on his face. You wanted to slap him, to scream, to flip the table and break out of the windowless room that caged you.

“I was with...y..” Jin smirked, leaning back. You cleared your throat, mind running a mile a minute.

“With who Y/n?”

You glared at him. He was treating this as some sort of role play. You felt queasy at the thought. Someone was dead. Dead. 

“You. I was with you”

F L A S H B A C K--

The morning rays slid through the expansive glass wall of the hotel room, causing Yoongi’s eyes to flinch, squinting as they opened and took in the day that presented itself. He sighed heavily, the weight of the previous night still on his mind. You were still asleep, but he could see through the chaffing beneath your wrists that you were not comfortable. He took the leash and fastened it to the headboard, ensuring you had no escape. 

Grabbing his keys, Yoongi quickly got dressed in a white hoodie and left the room. He needed to find out the truth for himself. He couldn’t afford to have you lying to him already. 

It was so frustrating to him that you couldn’t just be honest with him. He had been immensely open with you even if he was not proud of what he had to share. Why would you hide things? Hadn’t he proven himself to you? Hadn’t he done everything to win your heart?

Yoongi sighed. His anger issues were core to his being. It was part of his true self, but he had spent years trying to become someone you would fall in love with. All he wanted to do was make home in your heart, but no matter how many of your suitors he ended up threatening, beating to a pulp, and forcing them to bail on you, there was nothing in his power that could tear down that goddamn Park Jimin poster on your bedroom wall.

There was nothing he could do to stop you from writing small fantasies in your journal that you kept stashed in your bedside drawer. 

Yoongi would be lying if he said he didn’t come close to killing Jimin multiple times before. But he realized that would not have delivered him a solution. If Jimin died, you would mourn. You would still harbor that love for him and never have an opportunity to see what he really was. It was because of this Yoongi, with Taehyung’s helpful insight, had orchestrated a way to destroy Jimin in your eyes. 

Jimin was then introduced to Yoongi’s two weapons of destruction, Taehyung and cocaine. Yoongi worked hard to build himself up as a successful music producer. He had to be better than Jimin, had to make sure he could offer you everything Jimin could and more. 

To his surprise, you did move on from Jimin, at least the reality of him. But this fantasy of who he used to be remained pinned to your heart. After Jimin quit music, the mention of his name would still cause you to blush and smile. It made Yoongi want to throw up.

You had to see for yourself. Yoongi learned what it was that attracted you to Jimin and embodied just that. You liked that you had to chase him, you liked that he didn’t give a shit about you. You liked that he never noticed you and you had to pine for his attention. You liked that he was dedicated to his music, you liked the lifestyle he was associated with. You liked his lack of emotion and fantasized of him showing his true colors to you and only you, a sensitive, sweet, charming guy. Anger was not a part of this persona at all. 

When he felt like he had driven Jimin crazy enough with the drugs, he decided to plant rumors on stan twitter that Jimin would be signing with his label. Using his personal relationship with the singer, he was able to sign him on. He conveniently then offered you a summer internship, knowing full well you would be coming for one reason alone. Park Jimin.

Yoongi wanted you to fall straight into his arms. He rented out every available apartment for the months you were searching for a place to live, forcing you to reside in his building. He wanted to win you over naturally. He wanted you to work with Jimin, hook up with Jimin, and end up loathing him. Loving Yoongi instead. 

Jimin’s gang activity was getting on Yoongi’s nerves. Taehyung told him Jimin was in Death Valley, that you saw Jimin at Death Valley. When Yoongi heard from you, not Taehyung, that you had been kidnapped, along with Namjoon nonetheless, Yoongi had enough. He was used to giving Taehyung plenty of unsupervised jurisdiction, so Jimin’s accident was not a surprise to him. 

But you sympathized with Jimin, which was not what he wanted. He then decided to take things into his own hands, threatening Seokjin into throwing the fight to leech Jimin of every cent he had. He broke into your apartment, fucking everything up so that you had no choice but to come to him. To need him. 

And when Jin didn’t lose, he had no choice but to reveal to you who he was. Even after all his honestly, all his trust, you still lied to him. 

Yoongi was furious. He arrived at Death Valley, using the front entrance. Pulling a mask over his face, he barged in, surveying the silence as a sign that the bar was empty. Through the kitchen he arrive at the back storage room, accessible only by key, where all of the surveillance had been set up years ago. 

Monitors were spread across the wall, but Yoongi’s eyes narrowed in at one that was coming up with no feed. Your apartment. Someone had fucked with the cameras. Yoongi types away at the main monitor, enlarging your apartment footage and reeling back to find the moment the device was destroyed.

He sees Taehyung, whispering something to you. Next thing he knows the stream is blank. He grits his teeth, as all the pieces fall into place. He was a fool. How could he have been so blind? Taehyung must be in love with you. He must have, after watching you for so many years. Yoongi scowled at the thought of the ways Taehyung may have seen you, naked, vulnerable, ways that only he should. 

He had trusted Taehyung. Taehyung had only ever shown interest in money and Yoongi thought that was enough. Taehyung must have fucked you over and over again once the cameras were dead. What a whore. It made sense then that he had cut the line through his branding on you. He was the only one who could have. He had access to you and he was psychotic! He must have forced you to lie. You wouldn’t ever hide anything from Yoongi, no, Yoongi was the man of your dreams. You felt grateful that you had him, didn’t you?

He tilted his head, cracking his knuckles before he punched the glass screen, causing the feed to go haywire and sparks to erupt. Kim Taehyung. You are dead to me.

Yoongi growled lowly before picking up his phone. “It’s me. I need to see you. Now” 

-

Hobi kept his hand on the small of your back as he led you down to the hotel bar. The two of you nodded politely at the staff members who were busily preparing for the big event. The bar was empty aside for a few guests enjoying their brunch-time mimosas.

Hobi couldn’t really revel in the fact that the two of you were getting drinks together, almost like a date. His mind was too caught up in the initial shock he felt when he saw you tied up in his boss’ bedroom. He felt upset, but moreso he felt violated. He wondered if you were getting taken advantage of. Did he promise you a promotion? Was he manipulating you?

Punishing someone like that, Hobi was never one to kink shame, but it seemed a bit much. The name burned into your skin did nothing to ease his concern. Someone who was possessive, violent, impulsive. It reminded him of...

Hobi didn’t know. He didn’t know who gave him orders. He really didn’t care once the cash rolled in, but it began hitting too close to home. He wasn’t thrilled about hurting Namjoon, but two duffel bags of cash were enough for him to momentarily set aside his morals. 

“What should I get?” You surveyed the small menu of cocktails. “What’s gonna fuck me up the fastest?”

Hobi snorted, “Tequila” He twirled your hair as your gaze remained glued to the menu. The thought of you being in danger upset him greatly “Y/n...when did Yoongi brand you?" You called the bartender ordering a line of shots to which the they glanced at the clock before giving you a weird look.

“The night of the rematch” You told him, reacting before you realized what you had said. Your lip tucked between your teeth as you tried to conjure an excuse. A row of shot glasses was placed in front of you. You took one, gulping it down before letting out a heavy sigh. The bitterness burned down your throat. You basked as the liquid hit your mind, easing you slightly.

“Yoongi was at the fight?” Hobi recalled the wild night that the three of you had been at Death Valley. It was the first time he ever saw the man giving him orders. The man was tall, broad, had dark hair and wore dark clothes, face covered in a mask. Could it have been...Yoongi?

“Y/n!” The two of you turned to see Jungkook approaching the bar. He had changed his hair, the blue swapped for a short black cut, and you couldn’t help but double take at his new eyebrow piercing. 

You downed another shot, glancing at Hobi who had raised his eyebrows seeing the drug dealer. Jungkook gave you a light hug, waving timidly to Hobi. You smirked, another shot down the hatch. “Easyyyy Y/n” He placed a hand on your back as he slid into the seat next to you.

“The fuck are you doing here?” Hobi sneered. Jungkook rolled his eyes, used to the condescending treatment of gang members. "Didn’t you get stabbed or something?”

“I did!” Jungkook grinned, “In fact, that’s exactly why I’m here. I think I figured out who Mr. Bossman is, and I wanna fucking kill him”

Hobi rolled his eyes, “Oh really”

“Kim Seok-motherfucking-Jin baby. He stabbed me. He’s the one who showed up and threatened me to move out of Y/n’s apartment, so he’s probably also the one who called for the kidnapping. And he might have called for Jimin’s accident. It makes so much fucking sense”

Jin did what? There was not enough alcohol in your veins to act like you didn’t fully understand what he had just said. Jin had Jungkook move out? It wasn’t impossible. And that’s what scared you. You blinked at Jungkook incredulously, “But he’s literally a police officer”

Jungkook’s grin widened, “Exactly! It’s fucking brilliant. He’s a cop, he fights for the other side. He wins no matter what and can never get caught. No one would ever suspect him. Winning despite being threatened? Who threatened him huh? It’s a fucking ploy. You’re not dead and neither is he I bet. Kingpin. Boom”

You felt sick, knowing that Yoongi was not the only person you needed to be worried about. It was almost funny how blatantly misinformed Jungkook was. “Wow you guys are idiots.” You muttered under your breath, taking another shot before coughing roughly. Should I tell them? Why did Jin lie? Is this even the truth? Jin always tried to pin things on Jungkook, but you defended him. Hearing his words now made your head spin. He’s lying. Jungkook is lying. You wanted to scream, frustration flooding through your veins as you clenched your fists.

“I’m gonna tell Jimin and Taehyung what I know. They will give me so much money dude.” Jungkook chuckled, “And then they’d kill him, oh God finally”

Hobi pursed his lips, mouth feeling dry as he reflected on Jin’s eerie words before he shot him in the leg. He didn’t know where Jin was anymore, handing him off to be taken somewhere. It didn’t make sense. His orders were to seize Jin if Jin won the fight. Why place an order like that all? Why do any of this?

“Y/n, come with me.” Jungkook tugged at the sleeve of the oversized Nirvana shirt you had thrown on after your shower session with Hobi. You giggled, the thought of Taehyung coming into your slowed thoughts like a hurricane, tearing up any understanding you thought you had of the situation. There was only one thing you believed. Only one thing you knew with full certainty and it was all you could hold onto.

“Oh my goodness it’s Yoongi. It’s Yoongi. It’s always been Yoongi” The words spilled from your lips like the tequila that dripped down the side of your lips as you took yet another shot, giggling like a ditz. Jungkook and Hobi exchanged confused looks with each other, only making you laugh more. “I would fucking know okay!” Your laughs grew loud, “I was locked up in his fucking apartment and where the hell were all of you huh? Dumb fucking idiots!” You buckled over, laughing into Jungkook’s chest.

“Jungkook” Hobi sighed, “I gotta get back to work. Can you get her sober please?” Jungkook nodded. He held your waist tightly helping you stand, walking with you carefully to the hotel elevator.

The laughter wouldn’t stop. Passerbys shot the two of you dirty looks as Jungkook pulled you into the elevator easily. Through it’s glass walls you could see the midday skyline, where outside people hustled through life as if everything were normal. Must be fucking nice. “Y/n” Your laughs began to choke in your throat, turning instead to the sobs you tried to suppress with whatever will you had left. 

Jungkook placed his soft lips on your shoulder. Hands sliding onto your waist as he peered at you curiously, “Y/n, is everything okay?”

You shook your head, the elevator door closed as tears began forming in your eyes. Your voice croaked, “I’m dead. He’s gonna kill me. T..taehyung is gonna kill me. I...I know he will. He’s everywhere. Everywhere.” You looked around frantically, suddenly feeling hyperaware of the security cameras littered throughout the public space. “I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone...I” You hiccuped. Jungkook pulled you into a tight hug.

“It’s okay ssh” He stroked his thumbs them across your cheeks, cupping your face affectionately. “I’m here aren’t I?” You sniffled, nodding lightly. “I got you okay. No one is gonna hurt you”

You stared into his kind brown eyes. You did not trust him, your entire body was screaming at you not to trust him. His fingers danced down your figure, freely gliding over your heaving chest, desperately trying to breathe with the fear that choked you from within.

You blinked at him, eyes glancing down at his pouty lips before finding his eyes again. “Y/n” Jungkook whispered, barely inches from your lips. “I won’t let anyone hurt you okay. I promise”

Fat tears rolled down your face at his words. Jungkook clicked his tongue, cooing at you as he continued to wipe away your hears. “Oh you poor thing” He held you to his chest, kissing the top of your head, before tilting your face up to his. 

He leaned in, eyes fluttering shut as his lips landed on yours, swallowing you into him. The taste of tequila was evident on your lips as he kissed you softly, and you allowed yourself to surrender to his warm touch.

You felt heat pooling in your chest as his fingers trailed up your legs. He traced circles into the inside of your thighs, letting his fingers tease the edge of your shorts. 

“Jungkook” You inhaled sharply, his hot breath tickling your neck as you tilted your head back. He licked his lips before sloppily latching onto your collarbone, sucking down to litter your skin with wet kisses as his fingers slid down your shorts, just barely so that he could roll his hips into you.

He pushed you back against the glass, fingers trailing across your bare thighs before sliding beneath your panties. Jungkook ran a finger over your clothed folds, making you clench down. 

“Y/n” His voice sounded equally as desperate as yours, barely audible over the sound of his heavy breathing. “Fuck I missed you” You gasped as his fingers slid under the fabric. He pushed a finger in, allowing your tight cunt to accustom to it before adding another finger not long after. 

His other hand slid beneath your shirt, pushing your bra up so he could run his thumb over your nipples, his touch featherlight, leaving you breathless. You rolled your eyes back in pleasure, bucking your hips up as he slowly pumped you with his fingers.

“That’s it baby, just like that” He whispered, lips pressing into your neck. You let out a shaky moan as his fingers quickened, pumping in and out of you as you latched onto his shoulders. “Look at me. Look right at me baby”

He brought his lips over yours, just brushing them across your skin so he could gaze deep into your eyes as you fucked yourself onto his fingers. You cried out his name as the friction began to overwhelm you. His fingers easing you right where you needed them, pleasure searing through you as he watched your every move.

"So good for me” He pulled his fingers out, doused in your sticky arousal before he placed them into his own mouth. Your eyes widen as he licked of every last bit of you and smiles. “You taste so fucking good baby”

He kisses you again, harsher this time as his hips roll against you. Your fingers grip his hair as he pulls down his sweats, allowing his cock to spring out. 

“You want my cock?” He ran his tongue over your lips, tugging at them slightly as he stroked his cock. You could feel his hand moving between your legs. “You want my big cock in your little pussy?”

You gulped, nodding as Jungkook looked down, lining his tip against your folds, pushing in only slightly before meeting your eyes again. “So warm and wet for me, fuck” He pushed in further, groaning as you spread your thighs wider, allowing him to thrust as deep as he could. He stilled briefly, kissing you again “You take me so well baby fuck. So fucking tight for me. My pretty baby” He stroked your face, thumb pushing into your mouth slightly.

“Does it feel good?” He mumbled, pulling out just slightly before rolling his hips back into you. He picked up a rhythm, fucking you deep and slow, hands clawing at your breasts.

“Yeah...feels really good” Your eyes fell shut, enjoying the fulfilling pleasure of his movements. He pulled your shirt up, burying his face between your breasts as he continued to fuck up into you. 

“Mmm yeah I bet” He pushed your bra up, allowing his fingers to pinch you nipples. He took one into his mouth, wrapping his tongue around the small bud as he began to suckle you, looking up to your face and enjoying your reactions. “You’re so fucking pretty you know that right?” He sucked on your breast harshly before leaving it with a soft kiss and moving onto the other. “So perfect for me”

His thrusts quickened, driving you up the wall as his hands fell to your hips. You burying your face in the crook of his neck as you felt your high approaching. “Jungkook...I’m...”

“Yeah?” Jungkook’s voice was raspy with lust, “You wanna cum baby? Cum for me baby, cum all over my cock, wanna hear you make those pretty little moans when you cum”

You cried out with every thrust as he pushed you over the edge, and you felt your pussy burst with pleasure as you came, the sloppy sounds of your arousal echoing through the small space. Jungkook groaned as the hot liquid covered his cock, allowing him to slide in and out of you with ease. 

“There you go. Good girl. Good fucking girl, just like that” He gasped, feeling his cock twitch slightly, buried deep in your cunt, “Want me to cum inside you baby?” You nodded, whining slightly, “Yeah? You want it baby? Huh?” Jungkook’s hips thrust furiously at you, and he cupped your face, bringing his forehead against yours so he could look into your eyes as he came. “Want my cum? Want me to fill you up baby?”

“Yeah. I want it. Jungkook please,” Your whiny voice was enough to have him spurting through you.

“Holy fuck” Jungkook buckled over, holding you tight as cum shot out of him, filling you up and leaking out onto the floor.

He pulled out of you quickly, pulling up his sweats while you fixed your own clothes. Sweat painted his forehead as he looked at you, panting with a big smile on his cute face.

“I missed that” He confessed, pulling you back into him by the waist. He knelt down and pressed his lips on yours, letting his hands slide to your ass and squeeze them softly. 

You heard a familiar ring as the elevator door reached it’s destination. You jumped away from Jungkook, unable to get far as the strong boy’s hold on you remained steady. 

"I see stabbing you once didn’t really drive home the message huh Mr. Jeon Jungkook” 

You felt goosebumps spread as you heard the sinister tone of Jin’s voice. He stood leaning against the elevator as if he had been waiting for you, twirling his knife around aimlessly between his fingers. “Too bad, I unfortunately can’t kill you yet” He turned to you and winked, “Both of you come with me”

-

Sweat trickled down from Namjoon’s neck, his eyes glued to the tattered punching bag in front of him. His muscles were still sore, bruises still spattered across his bare chest. He didn’t care. He was sick of feeling helpless. Under the dim lights of the boxing gym, he pushed himself, another hit, more force, ignoring the pain shooting through his limbs with every strike.

“Don’t overdo it” Namjoon rolled his eyes at the sound of the familiar voice. “Last thing you want is to get injured again” He turned to the sound of loafers echoing across the concrete floor.

“What do you want Yoongi?” Namjoon sneered. The producer smirked slightly, patting the punching bag playfully before pacing around Namjoon.

“I’m gonna kill Taehyung, and I know Jimin is gonna break hell. I need you to protect Y/n for me. Can I trust you, Namjoon?” His voice was stern.

“Man, fuck you Yoongi” Namjoon groaned, “I put my life on the line for you constantly and you still have to fucking ask? Promise me. I want out after this. Promise me a record deal”

Yoongi shrugged, “Okay fine. I’ll sign you. Don’t let her out of your sight.” Yoongi inhaled sharply, “And I swear to God Namjoon if you even think about touching her, you’re dead to me. And I will know if you do.”

Namjoon rolled his eyes, lips parted, desperately trying to catch his breath. “Yeah okay. Just get me my fucking record deal”

Yoongi pursed his lips, pulling out his phone and handing it to Namjoon. “Paperwork is ready. You have one job. Don’t fuck up again” Namjoon clenched his fist as Yoongi chuckled in amusement. “I have some business I need to deal with personally. Keep her safe Namjoon, please”

-

You gagged, a puke-ish feeling clogging your throat as you coughed out. Your head was throbbing with pain as you squinted against the gleaming lights from the chandelier above your head. Glancing around, you realized you were back at Jungkook’s place, large dark wooden floors adding to the ambiance that just screamed rich in your face. The plushness of his large bed evident beneath you. 

You get up slightly, peering across the room where you see Jin handing a large duffel bag to Jungkook, whispering something into his ear. Jungkook nods eagerly, shaking Jin’s hand before exiting. He turns back to you, smiling as he realizes you are awake.

“Hey party girl. Recovered from our little day drinking session have we?” Jin chuckled. You scowl, searching around you as your throat desperately demanded water. Jin handed you a glass. “I just got Jungkook caught up, but you and I need to have a little talk” 

You exhaled before emptying the entire glass down your throat. “I know everything” You scoffed in spite, “I know everything you did, you fucking maniac”

Jin smiled wide at the term, “I know. Jungkook told me you think I was behind all of the stuff that’s been going on, stabbing him and kidnapping you. I mean,” Jin laughed, a tinge of condescendence in his voice, “You don’t actually believe that do you? Like, seriously how dumb are these guys. At least you’re smart”

You frowned at his tone, unsure of how to respond. Jin raised his eyebrows at your silence before continuing, “Oh come on Y/n. Use that little brain of yours hm? What the hell would I be gaining from all this? It was Taehyung.”

He extended you a hand, helping you out of the bed and pulling you up to stand before him, “What did he tell you huh? That he’s Yoongi’s friend or some shit? Taehyung doesn’t give a fuck about Yoongi. And I know you know about him screwing over Jimin. He’s trying to take over both gangs, not just Jimin’s, and he’s been lying to you this whole time.”

The bargaining chip. “What do you mean?” You followed the flat echoes of his footsteps down the hallway into the same office that you had Jimin tied up only a few days ago. You suppressed a smile as you noticed the curtains were still torn.

“He’s distracting Jimin and Yoongi with you. He wants them to get up against each other so that he can sway the gang loyalties towards him by showing that their leaders priorities are off. Look here” Jin motioned towards a laptop on the large desk, playing security footage of what appeared to be Death Valley’s parking lot, where people were loading bags of cash into what could have been Taehyung’s car. “He’s robbing them. And you know what else Y/n? When he’s done with all of this, he’s gonna kill them both.” 

No. No way. Betrayal stung you as you process Jin’s words, “You’re just a pawn in his game. You were bait. He just needed to you get Jimin and Yoongi to fight amongst each other. And you let him, didn’t you?” Jin chuckled, patting your cheek. “I know he kept telling you that you could trust him. That he wouldn’t hurt you. It was bullshit Y/n. This man only cares about one thing. Himself”

You thought back to the first night you laid your eyes on him, back when his hair was a faded green, his sweaty tan skin contrasting his dark leather jacket. The look of familiarity in his eyes and the gleam from his diamond studded watch. You were a fool. He strung you along.

“Where is he?” You growled, “I wanna hear it from him. I wanna ask him myself”

“Absolutely. In fact, if you’re up for it, I was wondering if you would be down to do another little mission for me” Jin winked at you. You scowled, folding your arms over your chest, “If we don’t kill him first, he’s planning on killing Yoongi tonight before the party. I know because I got him to let me in on his little coup” Your heart dropped, “You don’t want that do you?”

"No” You blurted. 

“So let’s kill him first. Come on, let’s go get you dolled up for this party”

As you left the office, you couldn’t help but notice a familiar figure standing at the other end of the hallway.

Namjoon? Your eyes locked with his. He pressed a finger to his lips before pointing at Jin and shaking his head. What is he trying to say. Namjoon seemed to have a warning look in his eyes. You simply shrugged at him, before running down the hall to catch up with Jin.

Namjoon exhaled, watching from a window as Jin and you drove off, likely heading to the hotel. Looking at his palm he saw the way his nails left imprints in his skin from how hard he was clenching his fists. Namjoon wasn’t necessarily a fan of Taehyung, but he knew a thing or two about him from Yoongi. Taehyung would never kill people. He was averse to it for some reason, Namjoon always thought it was ironic for him to be a gangster given that quality. Taehyung could torture anyone, threaten anyone, but he didn’t have it in him to take a life. 

Which meant that Jin was lying to you. Namjoon never liked Jin. Even aside from all the hits he had taken from the strong man, he always felt something was off about the guy. He feels uneasy about what he had just seen transpire, and decided to go find Yoongi. 

-

“Do you want some coke?” You were in the middle of washing your face when Jin walked in with a bag of powder. “I could use a hit, I don’t know about you”

“Oh hell yes. Thank you” He poured out a line on the bathroom counter using a quarter, watching with a small chuckle as you inhaled the drug, nose pressed against the cool marble. You sighed, wiping your nose and flashing a big grin in the mirror “Damn. I needed that. I didn’t know that you use”

Jin bit back a smirk, “I do.” He poured another line on the same place, this time taking a hit himself. “A lot”

“Oh. Officer Jin is a druggie like the rest of us huh” You teased. Jin poured himself a gin martini, taking a sip, eyes alight with amusement. “Does that turn you on ever? Do you ever have a hottie cuffed up and they’re like please Officer does that..you know..turn you on?”

Jin’s eyes widened at you “Not any hottie, no. Now if I had you cuffed up saying that” He chuckled, pulling you to him by the waist “That’s a whole other story” You pushed him away playfully.

“What?” Jin said mockingly, “Don’t remember that night where I gave you the best orgasm of your life?” His traced his lips up your jaw, and you could feel his smile against you.

“Wow. Cocky are we?” You raised your eyebrows. “I’ve had some pretty good sex in my life. Hard to say if that was the best”

Suddenly, Jin pulled his knife from his back pocket, glancing in the mirror as he traced the blade across your neck just enough for you to feel the sharp cold metal glide on your skin, pinching without actually making you bleed. “Don’t even lie. You loved fucking me. Don’t you remember? How fucking wet you were?” His breath was hot against your lips, but it was the look in his eyes that had you weak in the knees. 

Taking his knife, he slit clean down your shirt, tearing it off of you to reveal your bare chest. “On the floor slut” His whispered, flirty demeanor now shifted into something dark. Something feral.

You gulped, taking care to slide your bottoms off, not wanting him to slice them up before lowering yourself down onto the tiled bathroom floor. 

Jin set the knife aside, pulling out his lighter and setting in on the counter before shedding his own clothes, even he kicking off his shoes. He lifted his foot, and you watched with a curious gaze as he placed his foot on your chest. He kept the weight off of you, much to your relief, and you couldn’t help but feel absolutely filthy as he rolled your breasts under the sole of his foot. You had never done anything like this. It seemed so dirty, but felt so good. 

“Oh my god Jin” You gasped as he switched onto his other leg, taking his foot and shoving it into your mouth, watching in amusement as you gagged over his toes.

“Look at you. On the fucking floor. Naked little whore. Letting me do whatever I fucking want.” He removed his foot from your mouth, letting you catch your breath before you looked up at him with quivering eyes.

He felt blood rush to his cock at your expression. Licking his lips, knelt down, climbing over you to gently trail his fingers where his foot had been moments ago.

“And you love it” He sneered, letting his nails dig into your breast, “You love the pain don’t you you fucking slut?” When you didn’t answer he grabbed your jaw, pushing his fingers into the edge of your mouth. “I asked you a fucking question”

“Y...yes” You exhaled. You felt his fingers tease your clit, teeth tugging on your lobe as he laughed darkly.

Jin reached for the martini glass “Turn over” He growled. You found yourself with your breasts pressed flat against the floor, Jin’s cock pressing into your ass. You gasped as he poured the drink onto your back. “This is gonna burn. And you’re gonna take it like a good girl. I know you are, you let Yoongi do it so I can too”

“Wait what” Jin pressed your face down with one hand while the other grabbed his lighter, “Jin. Hold on.” Your voice rose in fear, which only turned Jin on more. He watched as you writhed under him, trying desperately to get away. “Jin seriously. That’s not funny”

“Shhh. You can take it” He cooed, flicking the flame on he slowly lowered it to your skin, bringing it nearer and nearer to the doused skin. You yelped as you began to feel the concentrated heat. Your entire body was petrified. “Enjoy it baby. You like it. You love it. You let Yoongi do it so why can’t I?”

“Jin. It’s not you, I'm just not ready for something like this please” Jin cocked his head aside in irritation, stopping the lighter before it actually touched you and tossing it aside. “I didn’t let Yoongi brand me he just did.”

Jin stilled momentarily. “And you still love him? Even though he did that?”

You didn’t answer. That alone was enough for Jin to rage. He slammed your face back down, the blow giving you a dizzying sensation that hat you getting wetter by the second. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He growled, “How can you love someone like that?” He pulled your face up, bending you back until you were flush against his chest. “I don’t want any of them touching you again. You understand me?” He let go, giving you whiplash as you fell back to the floor. “Ass up. Now” He spanked your ass hard, causing you to yelp. The stinging pain vibrated to your core. You couldn’t help but love every second of it. 

Jin knew that you were scared of him, he could feel it. He could also see the way your thighs would clench whenever he did anything to you. You were his favorite drug. He was going to ruin you.

He grabbed his belt from the pile of clothes on the side, “Hands under” He demanded, rolling his lip through his teeth as you obeyed him right away. He took the belt tying your wrists to your knees under you.

He took a moment to admire his work, your shivering body all his for the taking. You had no where to run. He had you now. “Who gives it to you the best him?” Pulling you towards him by your thighs, he didn’t care that your knees would burn against the smooth tile as he lined his cock up with your folds. He spat down, a glob of saliva landing on your ass before he used his cock head to rub it all over you. He could hear your shaky breath, your whiny moans that made him want to fuck you even more. 

He slapped his palm  onto the curve of your ass, bending over your to growl into your ear “Filthy whore. You disgust me. You let them all just do whatever they want to you, don’t you have any fucking self respect?” He could see his words were hitting close to home. You pursed your trembling lips as Jin smacked you again in the same place. 

“When will you fucking learn huh? This pussy” He reached his hand to harshly cup your cunt, shoving two fingers inside you without warning. “This pussy belongs to me. You’re mine. My cockslut whore” Taking his fingers out, he shoved them into your mouth “You taste that? That how desperate your needy little cunt is for me”

Your legs were strung together, making it all the more painful when he finally began to push his cock inside you, using his fingers to scissor you open so that he could get deep inside you. His length pushed against your tight walls, your cries and curses only motivating Jin to push further. 

“Who owns this cunt huh?” Jin pulled your hips back, burning your knees each time as he pulled you on and off his cock. Your ass slammed into him with each blow. 

“You do. Holy fuck, you do” You gasped, practically screaming as your whole body ached with pain and pleasure. 

“That’s right baby” He pinched your clit, making you yelp as he flicked at it, pounding into your relentlessly. 

“J..Jin” You mumbled, lips still half pressed on the floor, “Jin please. Feels good” Jin scoffed, “Gonna cum...gonna cum” You inhaled loudly as you felt your high approaching. Your eyes clenched shut as he edged you closer and closer, fingers furiously attacking your clit until he stopped.

You let out a loud sob as Jin yanked you up by your neck “You really thought I would let you cum whore?” His grip tightened, cock twitching at the way your voice sounded choking, the water streaming from your eyes and the drool at the edge of your lips. He kissed you, licking it all up in the process.  

“Look in the mirror. Look at how pathetic you are. I want you to remember the only person who’s ever gonna let you feel this good” You looked at your reflection, seeing only your faces and the way Jin’s nails dug into your neck. He pushed you forward so that your chin was on the countertop. You coughed out, watching as he resumed his thrusts, punishing your clit with the jarring movements of his fingers. 

You screamed, pleasure crashing over you in a wave of tantalizing heat. You gushed onto his cock, tears falling from your eyes due to how overwhelming the sensation was. Jin continued to whisper filth right into your ears but you could no longer hear anything. Your vision became hazy, not minding the blow when Jin shoved you back onto the floor and pounded you to his own release.

On the other side of the wall, Namjoon leaned his head back and sighed, glancing down to see his cock in his hands, now completely covered in cum.

-

Taehyung chewed on his gum nonchalantly as he paced around the luxurious hotel, checking out all the fun features. The pool deck was nice, the lobby exquisite, and his favorite part, the cafe, smelt delicious. 

Yoongi had asked to meet him in his suite. On his way there he ran into you, and you knocked his breath away. He always thought you were beautiful, but tonight you looked elegant. It was such a surprising contrast to your usual getup, but you looked amazing. He was about to tell you just that when he finally registered the hurt look in your eyes.

“You liar” You slapped him with everything you had. Taehyung backed away in surprise. “How could you use me like that? Over and over again. I trusted you. You were really the only one I thought had my back. Without a fucking doubt” You lunged towards him for another hit but Taehyung held your wrist firmly.

“What are you talking about? When did I use you?” Taehyung looked around frantically, “Calm down okay, let’s go somewhere and talk this through.” Your eyes flared in anger. 

“Don’t fucking tell me to calm down! You’re gonna kill them!” You screamed. Taehyung squinted, noticing the slight redness in your eyes. He sighed in understanding, pulling you by the wrist into a corridor. 

“Y/n. Breathe. Tell me what’s going on” Taehyung attempted to calm you down but you were enraged. “And what the fuck are you on?”

Admittedly, you and Jin had ended up doing many more lines of coke, perhaps even molly, you were no longer sure, but you washed it down with the bottle of gin, finding it unprecedentedly hilarious that Jin liked to drink gin martinis. 

“You used me! To fuck with Jimin! And Yoongi! You lied to me! Everything you said was a fucking lie, everything you did, every stupid word that came out of your stupid mouth was a lie! You just want power. You’re selfish, and...and...you’re gonna KILL them” A dramatic gasp left your lips, Taehyung almost laughed, “You’re gonna kill Yoongi. I...I can’t let you do that”

You pulled out your gun, cocking it and pressing it against Taehyung’s chest. He instantly put his hands up. “Y/n. Y/n stop. That’s not true okay you’re not thinking straight. Don’t do something you’ll regret”

Your hands trembled around the gun “You’ll kill them. You’ll kill them both...I can’t let you do that”

“Hold on!”

Too late. You pulled the trigger.

-

Hobi wandered through the parking lot looking for his car. His eyes narrowed on a familiar vehicle, thinking back to when he had loaded the drug money from the last fight. 

So. Is that guy Yoongi then? The one I kept seeing? Hobi wandered over to the car. Peering inside the passenger window, his eyes locked on a small item on the floor of the car. He squinted to read it, it appeared to be some sort of credit card.

He stepped back, realizing what the name on the card was. He glanced around before taking the end of his gun and ramming it into the door handle. The door creaked open, allowing Hobi to swipe the card up. He slid it into his pocket, before hurriedly returning to the hotel. 

-

Namjoon’s eyes widened as he watched you pull a gun out on Taehyung. He had been thoroughly entertained as you yelled and slapped him, knowing full well that you were high out of your mind. 

Namjoon couldn’t understand Jin’s plan at all. He had eavesdropped on everything so far, as per Yoongi’s orders. Why would Jin ask you to kill Taehyung, why wouldn’t he just do it himself? He knew you would hate yourself if you actually killed him. 

He had also been thoroughly disappointed at how easily Jungkook had bought into Jin’s agenda as well. The things people do for money. Namjoon sighed, realizing that he was pretty much acting on similar motivations. 

You were ready to pull the trigger, and Namjoon was almost certain you wouldn’t do it, until he saw your finger begin to curl. He ran towards the corridor as fast as he could.

“Hold on!” He yelled, but it was too late. Taehyung’s eyes flew shut.

Namjoon blinked, not hearing the familiar gunshot sound. You looked equally confused, glancing down the barrel of your gun. Taehyung let out a shaky sigh of relief, sliding down the wall.

“It...was a blank” You mumbled. Namjoon rushed to your side, pulling you away from Taehyung. “What the...what was I just about to do?” His heart clenched as your lips parted in shock.

“Taehyung are you okay?” Namjoon asked. Taehyung nodded, clearly shaken up but managing to get a hold of himself. 

“What the fuck is going on?” He growled, “Who gave her a gun? And who gave her drugs while she had a gun? Fucking hell”

Namjoon stroked your back as you let the gun drop to the floor, the weight of your actions finally hitting you. 

“I’m so sorry. Taehyung I...” You looked into his eyes. Those eyes that always left you questioning what was really going on in that pretty head of his. 

“Yeah. Jin fucking fed her some interesting stories about how you’re using her. At least I hope they’re just stories” Namjoon peered at him. “I’m Namjoon by the way, we haven’t officially met”

Taehyung shook his hand “Hi Namjoon. I heard you make pretty decent music” He chuckled ironically, “Y/n, I need you to tell me everything Jin said. There’s been some sort of misunderstanding, I promise you I wasn’t taking advantage of you.”

Namjoon made a face, exchanging a glance with you as you nodded slowly. Namjoon was not entirely sure he should believe Taehyung. He supposed it wouldn’t matter, when he knew that Yoongi was planning to kill Taehyung anyways. The more information he had, the better he could at least keep you out of trouble. 

P R E S E N T  D A Y--

Security escorted you and Jimin out immediately as the media broke into a frenzy trying to figure out what had happened. You had hoped your acting skills had convinced him. 

After Taehyung sobered you up slightly, the three of you had sat and schemed. Using everything the three of you knew, you were able to figure out that it really was Jin behind Jimin’s accident, your and Namjoon’s kidnapping, as well as Jungkook’s attempted murder. He was able to do all of this using Hobi’s help, but Hobi seemed not to know that he was receiving orders from Jin.

The question remained how and why. 

“I know you’re not going to believe me. So I have proof” Taehyung pulled his phone out, pulling up a recording of Jin tied up somewhere.

All I ask, is that when the dust settles, Y/n is mine. And I get to kill them. My way

You felt queasy seeing his earnest expression through the film. Namjoon’s jaw clenched, recognizing crazy when he saw it, wishing he could have knocked the guy’s brains out beforehand.

“Listen to me. This guy is dangerous. I don’t really understand why he’s doing all of this. He said he wanted to help me, but clearly there’s some other motive here. Otherwise he wouldn’t go behind my back.” Taehyung muttered.

“The only way to know what he wants is to see what he does next” Namjoon pitched in. 

You glanced between the two men, feeling weirdly relieved that you finally had some solid answers. Having Namjoon by your side after so long was the best thing you could ask for at the moment, and you clung to him, hands wrapped around his arm tightly. He thought it was cute.

“Let me fake my death. Let’s see what he does.”

The drivers took you and Jimin to the precinct. You looked around for Namjoon but he was nowhere to be seen. Your eyes met Jin’s briefly as he signed some paperwork. He winked at you.

“Can I have the body taken to get an autopsy report please?” You weren’t phased by this. Taehyung had said he had enough contacts to make it truly believable that he had died. Jimin’s face was void of emotion as he watched the stretcher go past with the body on it.

You left the hold on his hand, your blood running cold as the body nears you. It was loosely covered with a white sheet, but the arm hung out limply from the sight.

That watch. That’s his watch.

Jimin pressed his lips to the top of your head, sliding his arm around your shoulders to pull you closer to him “You okay babe?” 

“I...no yeah, I’m just shocked” You stammered. You looked up at him, allowing him to place a loving kiss on your lips.

Jimin felt for you, he really did. He himself was generally an emotional person, it was not something he ever tried to hide. But he always felt like his emotional energy was valuable. He didn’t feel the need to cry. Not for Taehyung.

Jimin stroked your back softly, “It’s scary, I know. I know baby, but don’t worry” He licked his lips, eyes briefly meeting Hobi’s from across the room. Hobi gave him a knowing look.

“Don’t worry. It’ll all be over soon”

ᐊ——[ previous ] series navi | masterlist | [ next ]——ᐅ

a/n: WOOHOOO. the fun is really gonna start now. did you miss yoongi? don’t worry, he’ll be back. drop your theories in my asks! who killed taehyung? what’s jin’s deal? 

smut pairs are up for next week! poor oc, she really needs to eat some food. yikes.

see you then & thanks for reading <3 happy juneteenth! 

taglist: @imluckybitches @gee-nee @missseoulite @hcneybees @kooookie​ @queenmasterxx @crustycaitlin @virgo-and-libra @un2-verse @winter-melontea @equivocacies​ @infernal-alpaca @shrimpmsg @meowmeowyoongles @rjsmochii @liltangerined @littlrmills14-blog @issysor @arandomblackgirl @adoringinsanity @giadalin @jeontier @kaithezaftig @jinssexytoe @nonnis97@minyoongiboongi @happygirl62304 @just-me-and-myselfs @purplepebbles @channiespup @lilacdreams-00 @kianam @thmrdrs @kpoppin-mel @namjooningelsewhere @lolzerss @planetsope @ohmykim @xyahrinx @bangtan-army @you-are-my-wind

#jungkook smut #jungkook x reader smut #taehyung smut #taehyung x reader smut #yandere taehyung #dom!jungkook #yandere seokjin #yandere bts #yandere bts smut #bts smut #bangtan smut #bts smut recs #seokjin smut recs #jin x reader smut #bts mafia au #seokjin x reader smut #yandere!bts x reader #btswriterscollective #btswriters #jungkook smut recs #taehyung smut recs #ot7 x reader #ot7 x reader smut #yandere!bts x reader smut #bts smut central #bts smut net #yandere bts fics #jungkook fic recs #taehyung fic recs #dom!taehyung

[heavymetalchemist]

I think it’s easy to forget that Wei Wuxian is strongly villain-coded. We see the story from his perspective, we know his reasons and justifications, if you’re watching CQL and paying attention you can figure out the core transfer before the reveal. We know that Wen Qing and Wen Ning are good guys. We know that the Burial Mounds gang is a bunch of tired uncle/aunts trying to grow some stupid radishes, a four year old, and the Disaster Bi Gang (none of whom have swords, even!) We know that Wei Wuxian has his heart in the right place, that he feels an incredibly strong debt to the Wen Siblings and by extension their remaining family, that he has no golden core and has no choice but to forsake the sword and cultivate the demonic path, that he defects from the Jiang sect in a fake fight with his brother so that the Jiang sect won’t suffer the consequences of his actions, even though they have Secret Soup later.

But if you’re not us, the audience? If you’re, for example, Sect Leader Yao?

Hey did you all hear about how Wei Wuxian got kicked out of the Cloud Recesses for violently lashing out at the Jin sect heir?

Hey did you all see how he doesn’t carry his sword any more and claims it’s because he’s so badass that he doesn’t need it? And he has that Stygian tiger seal, so maybe it’s not bullshit? Can you even fight against that with a sword?

What kind of power does this guy even have? He’s a teenager! He drinks all the time and he’s moody and surly and holy shit did you hear what he did at that Wen outpost? He tortured all of them to death! Ugly stuff, man. Gruesome way to go. Maybe even worse than what Wen Ruohan did, at least a hot poker doesn’t make you claw your own eyes out.

Oh shit, he just stormed into this banquet and just SAID “if I want to kill someone who can stop me” and he still has that tiger seal I think we should be worried???

He just busted a bunch of Wen cultivators out of prison! And then he ran off to the Burial Mounds??? And his sect leader didn’t even know anything about it? Is he going rogue? Is he starting an uprising? This demonic cultivation stuff really seems to be corrupting him!

Oh man he got kicked out of the Jiang sect? You mean even the man he grew up with, who he was raised with practically as a brother, can’t control him any more? Did you hear about his fierce corpse? They call him the Ghost General! He’s unstoppable! What are we going to do if he comes for us?

He could be building a whole army in there, Sect Leader Jin said so! Who knows what kind of sick, twisted stuff he’s getting up to! Don’t forget all that horrible shit in the Sunshot Campaign, remember when he was raising the Wens’ own dead to turn against them? He could do that to us! He’s working with the Wens now, even! He’s gone totally crazy!

We can’t let some outlaw have all this power. It’s putting the safety of all of us at risk. What if it’s just another Wen Ruohan waiting to happen? (especially applicable if you’re thinking he’s using Yin iron as in CQL!) If we let him consolidate his power too much, then he’ll be unstoppable!

HOLY SHIT he murdered the Jin sect heir and his cousin with his fierce corpse! That’s the man his former shijie married! The one he punched in the Cloud Recesses, remember when the Lans kicked him out because he was so unruly and disrespectful? Yeah! It was probably revenge! Have we done anything to him? Oh gods what if we’re next???

A major point of MDZS/CQL is how important reputation is, and how that affects everything. Wei Wuxian’s reputation is straight-up villainous. We, the audience, know that he’s trying his best, that he’s a traumatized teenager with a shitload of emotional baggage trying to do the right thing and repay a colossal debt, that he’s made choices that he now has to try and live with, etc. But to the rest of the world this guy has fucking lost it, he’s gone off the deep end and he has an incredibly powerful weapon and a mode of cultivation that seems to corrupt you and turn you into a monster, and frankly, they’re not wrong! It does affect his temperament and he does end up killing a lot of people and he is out of control!

MDZS/CQL is interesting precisely because we’re getting an entire Villain Apology Story. A long time ago I read a post by someone on here saying they find Jiang Cheng challenging to write about because he’s the protagonist of a different story, and he really is. He’s the guy whose former shixiong turns into a villain in pursuit of power, the Obi-Wan to WWX’s Anakin, the one who sees how incredible power corrupts and is obligated to fight against it. Having to fight against a former ally who was seduced by “the dark side” (in this case, demonic cultivation) is a story that gets told over and over, but always condemning the one who went to the dark side. He’s the blackened protagonist, the aren’t you tired of being nice, don’t you want to go ape shit power fantasy, where we as the audience can justify his actions because we know he did it to save his brother, his sister, the Wen remnants he owes a debt to. He isolates himself from the people who love him to protect them, he refuses Lan Wangji’s help because he’s convinced he just wants to lock him up and stop him from using demonic cultivation because he’s a righteous upstanding Lan (totally unaware of LWJ’s intense crush, obviously). He jokes about it but he knows he’s being painted as the villain, and he’s in denial about how much that will affect him, because after all… he’s the Yiling Laozu, and he knows his power. But so does everyone else, and they’re rightfully terrified!

And yet? When he comes back, LWJ still wants him, still cares for him, will move heaven and earth to protect him. JC cares about him so much he’s having a Constant Crisis about it. And WWX has not forgotten his shijie or shidi, immediately cares about Jin Ling, and still is the man who really just wanted to be free and grow some goddamn radishes. He accepts that he paid for what he’s done with his death, and just wants to start over.

It just drives me nuts when people pretend like WWX was an angel who did nothing wrong because the whole POINT is that he was a villain-coded gay (well, bi) and the man you had to really watch out for was the polite, thoughtful, soft-spoken one that worked his way up from a tragic backstory. It’s a whole subversion and it’s awesome!

#mdzs meta #wei wuxian #yiling laozu #of course wwx has a good heart but remember when that kid shot an arrow at him and he threw it right back through his heart? #remember when JC and LWJ walked into that Wen outpost and were like oh fuck oh man what the fuck? #remember when he almost busted out chenqing to murder JZX over a SOUP MISUNDERSTANDING? #this is not a wwx hate post this is a pls understand complex characters and nuance post #that audience knowledge is NOT character knowledge #is this a lowkey NMJ defense post? yes.