#we called them kcs

[genghisthebrain]

never forget the great killer clown scare of 2016

#wait_no on ao3 #killer clowns #clown #kc #we called them kcs #I was terrified of these things #like they were a real and genuine problem for me #i keep seeing things #online #that are like #“quicksand's not been a big problem for me” #I didn't have that #I was too busy with murderous clowns #steven king #that guy fucked us up frfr #2016 aesthetic #nostalgia #but not in a good way #I remember seeing a red balloon and being scared shitless #thought they were in my area #closing in on me #hiding in a drain somewhere #icl even typing out these tags got me a big paranoid #2016 me is not as gone as I would like to think

[sinnersweets]

DogDay x Reader part 2

A/N: Highly requested so here you guys go! Enjoy!

<----part 1 part 3---->

DogDay led me outside of the Playhouse and back outside into Playcare. A few feet in front of us was a chicken. A tall yellow chicken. Ah, that must have been KickinChicken. “Hiya KC!” DogDay was still holding my hand but with his other he waved extremely fast to KickinChicken. “Sup DD! Hey, finally got yourself a helper now huh? ‘Bout time dude.” KickinChicken then handed off the kids too, I’m assuming his helper. His helper also matched him as well. Guess that was the uniform for us working with these...tall animal mascots.  

Kickinchicken walked up to me and DogDay. “Names Kickinchicken, the cool member of the Smiling Critters.” DogDay laughed when he said that. “Go on Angel, introduce yourself.” I wasn’t used to seeing animals so tall, it scared me a little. I held out my free hand to KickenChicken and summoned some courage to talk.  

“Hello, I’m Y/N or Angel, doesn’t really matter what you call me. Nice to meet you.” KickenChicken then slapped my hand with his and started to make a handshake with me. I mirrored his movements to understand this new handshake I was given. “Haha, she’s pretty cool DD, you got yourself a rad helper.” He then looked at me up and down. “Not bad looking either.” KickenChicken smiled at me. I was going to comment on that, but DogDay beat me too it. “Look at the time! You better hurry along to your group now KC, don’t want our little friends upset now do we?” “Right, well nice meeting ya Y/N, we’ll chat later.” he spoke as he walked back to his group and helper. DogDay squeezed my hand a bit before leading us to the center of Playcare. “On with the tour!” 

--------------- 

DogDay first showed me the statue in the center. It was all the Smiling Critters. There were eight of them in total: DogDay the leader, Bobby Bearhug the loving one, KickenChicken was the cool one, Hoppy Hopscotch the energetic one, CraftyCorn was the artist in the group, Bubba Bubbaphant the smart one, PickyPiggy the foodie, and lastly there was CatNap, DogDays bestest friend. He supposably makes sure that everyone else gets a good night's rest every day to ensure that they are ready for the next day.  

Next, we went into the Toy Store. DogDay was tall, so he had to walk on all fours. “This is where the children can come and buy some sweet toys of yours truly, and the others!” I smiled and looked around. Sure enough there were plushies of DogDay and the rest of the group. There were also some other toys like a blue limp doll, a dinosaur that matched the lamps outside, what looked like a cat and a bee mixed, and other toys. I picked up a smaller version of DogDay and looked at it. “You said the kids buy these?” “Uh-huh! We give them play money to use around here, that way when they get adopted, they’ll know about the real world and how to manage their expenses.” That was smart of them. I set the plushie back down and followed DogDay outside. 

We then looked at the consoler's office and school. DogDay told me that the consolers office was where the staff would put their belongings in and where parents would go to adopt a child. Only DogDay was allowed in the consoler's office, none of the other Smiling Critters could go in there. I’m not sure why but I didn’t question it. “The school is where the children spend most of their time. I’d take you inside so you could meet Miss Delight and her sisters, but I wouldn’t want to interrupt her teachings.” “That’s okay, I’m sure I’ll get to meet them one day.”  

--------------- 

It was now naptime for the children which meant that the Smiling Critters could step away and hang out all together and just relax. I was in the consolers office to check out my assigned office. Each helper had their own office to get away to when needed. Outside my door was a card that had ‘Welcome’ on the front. I picked it up and walked into my new office. I took a look around, nice office, however what stuck out to me was the big dog bed in the corner.  

I was about to walk over to it until I heard a knock at the door. I set down the card and opened the door, but no one was there. Suddenly DogDays head popped out from the side. “Hiya Angel!” “Ah-” I fell back in shock. As I laid on the floor DogDay hovered over me with a worried expression, his sun pendant laid against my chest. “Angel?! Oh gosh I’m so sorry! Are you okay??!” I did a double-blink and then slowly sat up. “Yeah, I’m fine, I just wasn’t expecting that at all.” DogDay then held out a paw towards me to help me to my feet. I took his paw into my hand and once my hand met his paw his tail started to wag. He pulled me up to my feet and got close to me.   I wasn't used to being this close to anyone, let alone a giant dog so I started to blush. This caught DogDays attention. “Angel your face is really red, are you sick?” I was starting to feel bad, not physically but mentally. I didn’t want him to be worried about me. “I-I’m fine! Really DogDay. So, um what brings you by?” I wanted to change the subject as fast as possible. DogDay then smiled and leaned away from me. “I wanted to see if you liked the card we made!” I went to my desk, picked up the card and opened it. ‘Welcome newest helper, we hope that this job brings you happiness and joy as we do to our children here. We look forward to working with you, signed everyone.’ I did like the letter. 

--------------- 

Me and DogDay started chatting for a while until out of nowhere, I yawned. “Oh my, sorry about that.” Guess I was starting to get a bit tired. “That’s okay Angel. There’s thirty minutes left of nap time; you should rest up!” A power nap did sound good. I nodded and told DogDay that he should go back to his friends, but he shook his head no and picked me up and walked over to the dog bed in the corner. Should’ve known it was his.  

“I’d rather spend my free time with you Angel, plus as your boss you have no say.” He stuck his tongue out and booped my nose with his paw. My face got warm again. He then laid down on his bed and laid me in between his front paws. “You can rest with me Angel; I’ve been told that I’m a very fluffy pillow.” He was very soft and the smell of vanilla on him was almost like a drug to put you to sleep, and it was working. I yawned once more and closed my eyes. DogDays head rested near me. “Rest well my Angel.” was the last thing I heard before drifting off to sleep.  

A/N: Thank you for reading!

#sinnersweets #poppy playtime #poppy playtime chapter 3 #dogday #x reader #dogday x reader #part 2 #smiling critters

[dcxdpdabbles]

Excuse me? I really love your work and I was just wondering if we can get another chapter of Passion for Fashion?? I really love that but no rush whether or not u wanna. (Also, I'd love to see the Batfam or croc or anyone be educated WHAT KC actually is lololol I just think it would be fun.)

Danny stares at the man across from him with barely concealed bemusement. Red Robin hides behind his menu, muttering about all the pizza toppings.

It seemed pineapple was a must, and he fought not to wrinkle his nose as various people shot their table side glances. He's noticed the staring since they changed, but Danny is tired of the lingering gawking.

He gets that his date looks suspicious in his get-up, but it's not the worst.

They had to stop at a second-hand store, where he went in to buy a trench coat, a pair of large sunglasses, and a fedora, per Red Robin's request. While inside the store, Red Robin somehow produced a blond wig and some makeup, changing his features just slightly so that he appeared to be a different person.

They both stop at a local gas station to change outfits and finish their prep work in the bathrooms.

Danny had gone in sweats, a stained shirt, and mismatched shoes—he had not been expecting a date—but when he left, he came out wearing an experimental style Dan had found.

It was called Corp Goth, and he secretly adored it. Maybe Sam was onto something when she said a pure black offit made anyone attractive.

It was a form-fitting black jeans, a top with a darker shade of black long-sleeve shirt, and a flowing black trench coat. Dan had included various jewelry pieces, with strict instructions on where to put them so that the style was "balanced," it gave him the slightest hints of old-style rock aesthetics.

Danny felt good about his clothes until Red Robin saw him. He didn't think he was that bad-looking, but if it caused the other to run into a streetlight, Danny would hate to think what other less kind people would say.

"Would Hawiian be alright?" Red Robin finally asks, his voice just a tad bit high. Is he that nervous to be seen by people?

Danny raises a brow. "If that's what you like. I'll do whatever you want me to."

The other teenager—is he? He looks older now with his make-up—a few years—and makes a strange choking sound. "Okay."

"Alright. So now that we know what to tell the waitress when she comes here, can we return to the fact you broke through my window?" Danny asks, leaning back in his seat and crossing his legs to get comfortable.

A girl nearby chocks on her water, making Danny's head snap in her direction. Her friends quickly pat her back and urgently speak to the blushing girl. When he confirms she is all right, Danny returns his gaze to Red Robin.

He is taken aback by the sharp attention now being aimed at him. Yes, he can't exactly see the other eyes behind those dark sunglasses, but he feels the heavy stare all the same. "I want to discuss your connection to Killer Croc and the Infinite Realms."

Danny considers it. On the one hand, he can't talk about his secret mission, but on the other, he needs to find some information about this place. He's gotten bored wandering around, tinkering with things while the fashion contest dragged on.

They have been here for months and have made no headway in helping Batman. Heck, Danny has yet to even see him. If anything maybe this guy will know some information.

But he thinks he shouldn't lay all his cards just yet. So, he needs to bend the truth a little.

"There isn't much to tell about Killer. He was involved in our kidnapping a few days ago. I guess they hired him without explaining what the job was since he came to apologize for almost trafficking us." Danny shrugs, thinking over his answer as he takes a small sip of his soda, missing his mouth slightly. He quickly catches some of the spilled drink with his tongue, mentally debating himself for being so clumsy. There is a gasp from the same girl three tables away.

Danny fights the urge to sink into his seat as he ignores her. "He said he sells drugs, not people. How he tracked us down is anyone's guess, but since he came all the way in person, I figured I should invite him in and offer him a drink."

Red Robin tilts his head. "Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why would you invite him in and offer him a drink?"

"Ugh, 'cause it's good manners?" Honestly, did big-city folks really have no sense of being civil? Amity Park has a small population, but there are enough people to be called a city, and none of them have ever been confused by the idea of being invited in for a drink.

Red Robin considers this answer before he leans forward. "How about your connection to the Infinite Realms?"

Here, Danny carefully selects his replies, ensuring that all his answers are accurate, just not in the way the others will get. "You can say it was my parents, but mostly my mom. She was the one who made the final step and connected the family to the Realms."

"Your mom? Where is she?"

"Dead," Danny whispers, thinking of his own mom, whom he hasn't seen in weeks. He wonders if she or his dad has noticed him missing yet. If they have reported it.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

Red Robin looks down at his hands in silence in a show of respect. Danny can appreciate it. However, that doesn't last long before he lifts his head again, this time with a stubborn little tilt to his mouth.

"That wasn't a full explanation of how the Infinite Releams involve you or your brother."

Danny shrugs. "It's how we got our meta powers. The portal to the other side opened on Dan and me, triggering our ice and glowing eyes. We've been inside it a few times, but the portal sealed shut the last time. We haven't been able to go back."

"That's why you here," Red Robin says in great realization. "Gotham has enough death in it that it helps your powers."

Not really, but they can work with that. Danny smiles, putting one finger up against his lips, and Red Robin is true to his name by turning a lovely red hue. Danny hasn't seen anyone blush that hard since Jonny 13 when the other asked him out on a date.

It's cute.

"That and it's also the cheapest living city. Dan really has his heart set on being a fashion designer so we need to save money on fabrics and stuff."

"You're his model. Have you always wanted to go into modeling?"

"Not really. I like mechanical engineering more. Maybe when I finish helping Dan, I'll look for a school to apply to." Danny shrugs, leaning forward to give the other a smirk.

Star once told him that Danny's slow up and down was his best flirting technique after he had done her math homework for her. In return, she agreed to help him get better at dating.

He's not sure how well her lessons had gone, seeing as he still struggled to get a date back home (with the living anyone), but he thinks some of it was right since Red Robin goes even redder, if that's possible.

"Enough about me. How did you get involved in smashing widows and looking tasty in spandex?"

"I-um- well funny enough I-" Whatever he was going to say is lost as a figure jumps down from the darkness, landing on their table. Danny yelps, pushing himself away, but in doing so, he falls backward since his chair is not meant to be leaned like that.

He crashes to the ground with a swear, closing his eyes at the impact. The back of his head stings a little, as Danny slowly cracks open his eyes and stares upwards- at...a man in a bat suit?

"Moby Dick! Are you Batman!" He gasps, finally feeling like they are about to make a step forward in their mission.

The man glares down at him before grunting. "Red Robin. Retreat to cave."

"But-"

"Now"

Then he throws a smoke bomb on the ground. Danny leaps up, but both men are gone by the time the smoke clears. "Wait! Mr. Batman, sir, I need to talk to you!"

There is no reply, just the girls filming with their phones and the sound of speeding cars. Danny kicks the ground. "Oh come on!"

When he wanders home, he finds Dan lying face down on the ground with various ice cream tubs surrounding him. On some pieces of paper are various-sized hearts, the initials "DF + KC" inside them.

Dan is singing heartbreak sounds into the carpet, muffled by his tears.

"Dan, man, have some dignity. You knew the EverBurning for like ten minutes."

The muffled crying gets louder, and Danny rolls his eyes. He slumps onto the couch with a sigh. "Listen, I think I got a lead on Batman. It's a man dressed like a bat. How hard can it be to find him?"

His clone-turn-twin raises one hand, pointing to a smashed button Danny missed when entering the living room. Upon closer inspection, he is startled to find out that it's a miniature microphone and tracker. There is a very tiny symbol on the side.

"Did Red Robin bug our house after breaking our window!?" he asks in outrage as Dan nods. "To think I flirted with him!"

Dan sobs louder. "I tried flirting with the best tail I have ever seen in my life and you got a date with a stalker! We're going to die alone!"

Danny really hopes they finish this stupid mission soon. He's getting tempted to let Clockwork's bomb take him.

#dcxdpdabbles #dcxdp crossover #fashion for passion #Part 5 #Dan is in the trenches #He found the bug after cleaning the glass #Bruce interrupted Tim's date #Danny unknowingly looking mind numbing hot

[huggybearluvr]

KC Road-trip

General Masterlist

series master list

previous part || next part

I am really spoiling y'all with 2 parts in one day!

----------------------------------------------

y/nkelce

liked by lukehughes, yourbestfriend, and others

y/nkelce i’m still not sure how i let the boys and gia talk me into taking them to kansas city😭

view all comments…

ethanedwards it’s cause u love us right?

markestepa more like luke

y/nkelce duker is actaully my favorite

adamfantilli the fuck? i’ve known you since we were like 4

traviskelce hurry up and get here

y/nkelce

liked by joeburrow, yourbestfriend, and others

y/n.kelce oh kansas city how i’ve missed you❤️

view all comments…

traviskelce good to have you back 😡

y/nkelce u stink

traviskelce i just played a game did u expect me to smell like daisies!?

y/nkelce yes.

yourbestfriend it’s the way the boys thought we were fighting when u tackled hugged me 💀😭

y/nkelce they will never understand us

markestepa you two are so fucking wierd

lukehughes dude u have to embrace it

jackhughes where was my invite🤨

y/nkelce omg lil jizzy commented on my post 🥳

jackhughes LUKE WHY DID SHE CALL ME THAT

lukehughes bro idk i’m not her keeper

jackhughes i don’t like it

patrickmahomes missed you kid

y/nkelce aww patty ☹️

jasonkelce the favoritism is real.

y/nkelce i still love u big bro!

lukehughes I personally begged to go to an eagles game but they out voted me

jasonkelce and now your my favorite hockey player

traviskelce NO he’s mine boy can party

jasonkelce nope, i’m older

y/nkelce Luke look what u did

kyliekelce girl if you aren’t at the next eagles game i’m removing your god mother privileges

y/nkelce ILL BE THERE BRING THE KIDS

#luke hughes #luke hughes x reader #luke hughes x y/n #luke hughes x you #luke hughes insta edit #mark estapa #nhl x reader #travis kelce #kelce #jason kelce #jack hughes

[0-kbelle-0]

KC: The more code I go through, the more I start to wonder. Am I a fool to believe they would change? Even so.

KC: To make them change fully, I'd be denying them their nature, One similar to mine, one I still struggle with. My child, we are very much alike.

KC: Rather funny, I want them to live a peaceful life, yet I can't seem to settle myself. How hypocritical of me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seemed Bloodmoon's thrist for blood was more ingrained into their base code than KC had originally thought, this would prove to be quite a challenge to undo, just as engrained as his Kill code was, it appeared their drive ran just as deep, an apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all.

But, that wouldn't stop him, maybe he could still find a solution, if not a true removal, he could tone it down, less a necessity and more something to be controlled and supressed. Alas, that was rather hypocritifal thinking on his part, for KC hadn't truly given up killing, he could only restrain his own code so much. He had been slaining, though he swore to make sure he was only targeting individuals who truly deserved it.

KC couldn't help but see so much of himself in the twins, that thinking led him to believing, maybe, they'd be willing to follow his footsteps, killing those who lurk in the shadows he once called home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annnndddd page 3! Seems bloodmoon's code is a bit harder to work with then KC though, bummer, but! Hey, that just gives pops and his kid more bonding material!

But ye, KC hopes that if he can at least lessen bm's thirst, it can make their lives easier, but, he understands that they enjoy killing, so, maybe he and them can have the best of both worlds, Just gotta see how it plays out!

Previous page here

#tsams #sun and moon show #the sun and moon show #tsams bloodmoon #sams bloodmoon #tsams au #sams au #tsams killcode #sams killcode #vigilante au

[galvanizedfriend]

KC Wip Wednesday

This is my humble contribution to WIP Wednesday! It's a scene from the rewriting of TVD S5 - Yokan's version. In it, The Originals never happens, most of the Mikaelsons remain in Mystic Falls and Klaus and Caroline are kind of a thing, but nobody knows (for sure). Remember that moment where Katherine locks herself up in a safe with Stefan to "cure" his PTSD? It's that, except it's Klaus, not Katherine. This alludes to a very Klefan past, btw. Be warned if you're not a fan.

Also, this is for @definedareasofuncertainty, who wanted me to write her Easter Klefan. 🤧 There you go, friend! And you know, not beta'ed and all that.

--

Klaus lies on his back, takes a calm breath as the heavy door is closed with a thud, engulfing them in absolute darkness. All in all, he'd say a metal box is hardly the most uncomfortable setting he's found himself in. He prefers the comfort of first-class accommodations, but he's traveled in worse. The grown man beating about beside him does make things rather unpleasant, though.

"Stop! Caroline! Get me out of here!" Stefan screams, smashing his fists against the iron safe's indestructible structure. The more desperate he gets, the more uncoordinated and weaker his movements become, thus making the effort completely useless, however accomplished in making the experience all the more miserable for him.

It's embarrassing how incapable Klaus is of saying no to Caroline whenever she asks for a favor. Locking himself up in a box with a traumatized Stefan has to be an all-time low. The things he won't do when she bats her eyelashes and says please.

"Oh, stop it," he remarks in a bored tone as he shoves Stefan aside. The old safe is rather spacious, but definitely not enough to comport two men, particularly if one of them won't stop bloody writhing like a worm in hot sand. "The more you scream, the more breathless you become." The more I want to tear your vocal cords to shreds.

"Get me out of here, Klaus, get me the fuck out of here!"

"Relax, Stefan. I'm here to help," he says. "I'm what you would call a greater agony to alleviate the smaller pain you feel being trapped inside the box. It's reverse psychology, or so Caroline read in a book. What do you think of a little werewolf venom high to speed up the process?"

"You're psychotic. You're fucking insane!" Stefan starts pounding on the box again. "Caroline! Caroline, open up! Open it now!"

"I'm sorry, Stefan!" comes her muffled apology. Even through the metal barrier she sounds thick with guilt. It was her idea, but already she's cracking. That bleeding heart of hers… "I'm sorry, I will -"

"Do not touch that box, Caroline," he commands with his full authority. "Leave it."

There's a long pause, the sound of Stefan's heart hammering away inside his chest in the box as they wait to see what she'll do. A beat goes by before she mumbles a final sorry and scurries away, likely to avoid the temptation of putting poor Stefan out of his misery.

Klaus' lips pull into a grin. "Good girl."

Stefan starts shaking beside him, his breath becoming even more labored. "I can't breathe," he gasps. "I can't - I can't -"

"You don't need to breathe, Stefan. It's all in your head," Klaus reminds him pointedly. "A vampire having a panic attack, honestly. When you think you've seen everything…"

"You're not fucking helping!"

"Pardon me. My bedside manners have gone a little rusty since the last time you've experienced them." Klaus casts Stefan a glance, sees the way his eyes widen in horror, his body growing stiff as a rod, and he can't contain the self-satisfied smile that draws across his lips. "We did once find comfort in each other's company, didn't we?" Stefan makes another panicked sound, smoothing his hands across the cold metal door above them, trying to find a way out. Klaus chuckles. "Don't worry, mate. Caroline can't hear us. Your sordid little secret is safe with me. It's just us here, alone under the cover of darkness. Nothing we haven't done a dozen times in the past. Ahh, the 20s…" he speaks around a dramatic sigh. "It was the roaring years, indeed."

"What are you doing?"

"Making conversation."

"I don't want to talk to you, I especially don't want to talk about that." Stefan nearly chokes on the last word, inching as far away from Klaus as the confined space will allow, as though the mere idea of touching him fills him with utter revulsion. Klaus knows better; it's the way he remembers exactly how it didn't what terrifies him.

Anybody who's met this watered down, colorless version of Stefan would never be able to tell how much of a free spirit he used to be. He was fun. A far cry from the shivering man beside him now. Tragic, really.

"I know you like to pretend it never happened. Frankly, you've become quite an embarrassment of your former self, so I wouldn't proudly advertise it either. This bunny-eating, crying in the dark skin you're wearing these days is someone is wouldn't be caught fraternizing with if you were the last human being on earth."

"Then leave me the fuck alone already."

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not here for you," he snaps back. And then, putting a leash on his rising temper, he continues, "But since I have to be… I can recognize that there was something about that time we had together that suited us both, more than just for the obvious reasons."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure you do. I was a tool for you."

"A tool for self-destruction."

Klaus huffs out a disdainful breath. "I was a balm to your tortured soul, Stefan, even at a time when you embraced your true self. I indulged you because you amused me, but at the end of the day, when we were together, it was all rather transactional. It wasn't about sentimentality or a shared appreciation for extravagance. It was about the hollow inside us. The fact we were always desperately seeking to fill it with… Anything, really. Whatever we could find. Passions. Pleasure. Violence. Cravings. But it never lasted, did it? Those things lack a purpose. They're all flitting in their essence, an immense explosion of satisfaction followed by… Nothing. We were both hungry, and we kept trying to find the thing that would sate us. You had lost your mind; I had lost my home. Like drawn to like." Klaus turns his face to Stefan, finds him staring back, eyes glinting with an emotion he can't quite read in the gloom. He always did fancy Stefan's eyes, though. There is something raw about them, something honest for a change. A little opening to the truth in his soul he tries so hard to hide from the outside world. "That's what the darkness is, Stefan," he continues. "Loneliness. It's what restrains us. The monster we cannot outrun. When it all stops - the laughter, the liquor, the hunger - and everything goes quiet around us, that's when we feel it. The curse of eternity. The weight of our years, deep in our bones. And the inevitable loneliness that comes with it. You had your names on the wall, I had my letters, but when all was said and done… We were both stuck in infinite darkness. Except for a few glorious stolen moments, in that repulsive room of yours." The corner of his mouth pulls up into a lopsided smile. "I was the bigger monster you needed in order to humanize yourself. Whatever you were, I was worse, and so I assuaged your guilt. Much like me being here right now. But then of course you found religion!" He laughs, closing his eyes and facing forward once more. "Your spiritual path towards the light. Elena Gilbert." He enunciates the name like it's coated in something toxic. His general distaste for Elena goes further than the fact she has thwarted so many of his plans. It's the boring saint act he cannot get over.

"Yes," Stefan says, his voice rough. "And then I lost her."

"Right. Because she chose your brother." Klaus chuckles. Stefan shifts uncomfortably beside him, the urge to hit him palpable in the air. It only spurs Klaus on. "How so very tacky. No taste, that one. Personally, I think there's no amount of blue eyes or good sex that can make Damon tolerable. What a wanker. I just want to bash his face against a wall whenever he opens his mouth."

Stefan scoffs. "Get in line."

"It's ironic, isn't it? You were at your absolute best behavior, weeding out all of your instincts, everything that made you fun and interesting in order to fashion yourself into a fairy tale prince for her, and what does she do? She chooses the dullard bad boy. Typical." Klaus shakes his head. "Ungrateful little -"

"Shut up."

"Martyr," he finishes with a smirk. "She probably thinks she's going to fix him, doesn't she? I bet he encourages it. But that's the difference between you and Damon, isn't it? Even with all your valiant efforts, you know creatures like us cannot be fixed. We're beyond salvation."

He gets a sudden twinge in his chest, an image flashing in his mind. A smile as bright as the sun. Hair the color of wheat. He sees her shifting under his sheets, feels the warmth of her touch, the brush of her rosy lips against his skin. It ignites a sense of joy inside him unlike anything else, a sense of possession, of belonging, of having found something that is far more precious or rare than any of the hundreds of treasures he's collected over the course of his life. But along with it comes the ever-present fear. Of loss. How long before he ruins her, like he's ruined everything else he's ever cherished? How long before he hurts her, even if he doesn't mean to? Before his darkness tarnishes her and kills that smile? Before she decides he's not worth it?

"How do you make yourself worthy?" he asks, the question tumbling out of his as though of their own accord. "How do you earn the affections of someone so…"

"Good?" Stefan finishes for him, reading his thoughts. "With sunshine and rainbows shining out of their eyes? Someone like, say… Caroline?" Klaus goes quiet, all his humor bleeding out of him in a second. "You don't," Stefan answers his own question. "You'll never be good enough for her, Klaus. Just like I was never good enough for Elena. Not really. The truth is they deserve much better than the two of us." He sighs, deflating with resignation next to Klaus. "I guess we did make quite a pair, you and I."

"Then perhaps we should die together," he says with an edge of aggression, his mood taking a sudden downturn. He's suddenly irritated. With Stefan, with this ridiculous situation, with himself for agreeing to that. "You and I, in a box, at the bottom of a quarry. Over and over again, drowning in suffering for all our sins and the women we don't deserve. How about that?" Silence stretches out between them, absolute. There's no response from Stefan, but there's also no pounding pulse, no disgruntled breaths. "Oh, look," he says dispassionately. "Someone's not having a panic attack anymore. Congratulations. You've conquered your fears. All you had to do was remember there are worse things than dying."

Klaus gives one violent kick on the door, sending it flying off its hinges. He pushes himself up, stepping out of the safe.

Caroline comes whooshing in, eyes wide as she takes in the state of the safe, the way Stefan is still down, cowering from the sudden burst of luminosity.

"What did you do to him?" she demands.

Klaus' mouth inches upward into the barest hint of a grin, no mirth whatsoever. "I fixed him."

#klaroline #klefan #yokan writes #wip wednesday #this is a very klaroline rewriting though you probably can't tell from this one scene #i'll probably never write this but i liked the idea #SIGH

[thatztyv]

Since Been

Description:

- Kordei and Oakley high school days

Word Count:

- 1.8k

Kᴏʀᴅᴇɪ Cᴏʀsᴏ

(core-dee-uh core-so)

"Girl if you don't stop looking at that boy", Remi said hitting my leg and making us all laugh.

"KC you still staring at that white boy?", Liyah asked after taking a sip from her water.

"First off he ain't no regular white boy", I said rolling my eyes.

"He's a white boy with an accent", Kass said sarcastically.

"I don't care what y'all say. That boy is fine", I said while opening my juice box.

"I always knew you liked white boys", Remi said while eating her tangerines.

"It's something about them", I said making Liyah laugh.

"Something like what?", she asked.

"I don't know but they make my lil cooter jump", I said almost making Remi scream.

People started looking at us.

"Y'all need to stop being loud", I whispered.

"You one to talk about somebody being loud. Don't act like you wasn't just screaming west side in the hallway as if you Tupac or somebody", Liyah said.

.✿.

"Alright everyone. Today is the day that we've all anticipated for in this class-", Ms. Walker started.

"Graduation today?", someone asked.

"Mane I wish BK", someone else chuckled.

"Well it's not graduation night", Ms. Walker chuckled. "Today we start the baby project. I have already picked partners for everyone. So when I call your name please come to the front."

After forever she finally called my name.

"Kordei Corso and... Oakley Caesar-Su", she said.

I walked up to her desk, along with Oakley.

"Baby name ?", she asked.

I looked at Oakley and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Tiana?", I asked.

"That's fine."

"First T name today", she said as she wrote it down beside our names on a piece of paper. "Take care of her."

She handed me the baby and gave Oakley the baby bag.

"Oh shit", I said when it started moving in my arms.

Ms.Walker arched a brow at me.

"My bad Ms.Walker", I chuckled.

"Okay now that everyone one has a baby", Ms.Walker started as me and Oakley walked to our seats. "You're all free to be single, divorced, or married parents. As long as the baby is cared for and healthy when it's time to turn them in then hey. See you all tomorrow!"

The dismissal bell rung and everyone jumped up, rushing out the class.

.✿.

(It's the next day and they're in the library by the way)

"Who did your hair KC?", Liyah said as she ran her fingers through my hair.

"I did and girl you know better than anyone not to just run your fingers through my hair", I said playfully rolling my eyes.

"Wait Kordei?!", Kass gasped pulling on my jacket collar. "What the hell is this on your neck?"

She pushed my hair behind my shoulder. I just suppressed a smile as I rocked Tiana side to side.

"Girl who been sucking on your neck?", Remi asked.

"Y'all gone make me drop my baby", I chuckled.

"Fuck that baby", Remi said reaching over the table and trying to slap her out of my arms. "Stop beating round the bush bitch."

"Tell us his name and give us the details", Liyah said.

"Well..", I sighed before Oakley approached our table.

"Hey KC, you think I can get Tiana? I'm going to Mr. B's class, and he said he'd give us extra credit if we were taking care of the babies", he said, unaware that Remi, Liyah, and Kass were staring him down.

"Sure", I said with a smile and stood up.

I gently handed her to him.

"Please don't drop her. She will literally scream and won't stop unless Ms. Walker deactivates it", I said reaching down and grabbing the pink baby bag off the floor.

"I won't", he chuckled while I put the bag over his shoulder.

"See you in sixth period", he said but more so asked.

"Yeah, take care of her", I said and squinted my eyes at him.

"Don't worry I will", he chuckled before walking off.

I sat back down and all three of them were staring at me.

"What?", I laughed.

"Was that white boy sucking on yo neck?", Remi asked before crossing her arms.

"Since y'all wanna know so bad", I said and playfully rolled my eyes. "Yes, Oakley was the one who gave me the hickeys."

"Oh my lawd", Kass said falling out of her seat.

"Jesus help us", Liyah said throwing her arms in the air.

"I would rather- I would rather go blind boy", Remi sang while shaking her head.

I laughed at them and rolled my eyes. "Y'all do the most."

"Did you enjoy it?", Kass asked sitting up.

"Yes ma'am I did", I said and nodded my head.

"Oh my lawd", she said again, throwing her arms up and laying back on the floor.

"I hate y'all", I chuckled after they calmed down and Kass got back in her seat.

"So how it all happen?", Remi asked.

"I was just over at his house so we could take care of the baby together...."

"Oakley I need a bottle!", I said as I rocked her side to side as she cried.

"I'm trying, I'm trying", he said and accidentally dropped the top on the floor. "Shit."

"You can't just pull a titty out and let her suck it", he joked as he picked the top up and rinsed it off.

"One, she's not an actual baby and two, ain't no milk in these titties."

He chuckled as he finally walked over to me with the fixed bottle.

"Thanks."

I put the teat in her mouth and she immediately started drinking it.

"God knows I wouldn't be able to handle a real baby", I sighed.

Oakley chuckled as he went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

"You spending the night?", he asked drinking his water and leaning against the counter.

I looked up at him and saw he had a smirk on his face.

"Your brothers home? I haven't seen them in a while?", I asked changing the topic.

He chuckled before answering. "Nah, my mom took them to visit our Nana for the week."

"Got the house to yourself for a week? No wonder you asked me over."

"I asked you over so we could take care of Tiana together."

"Mmm", I hummed.

She finished her bottle and I set it on the counter before I started to burp her.

I absentmindedly started humming 'hush little baby' while walking around the kitchen.

"Good girl", I said after she made a burping noise.

"How's your music going?", I asked after handing Tiana over to him.

"It's going great actually", he hummed. "I think it's time for her nap."

We walked upstairs to his room. He laid Tiana down in the middle of his bed.

He sat down in the chair by his desk before I sat on his lap.

He put his hand on my waist, caressing it lightly and locked eyes with me.

"You never answered my question", he started before I put my head in the crook of his neck.

"Fuck", he groaned as I lightly bit his neck.

I brought my head back up and pulled him into a deep kiss.

He slipped his tongue in my mouth making me moan.

"Why you been acting different around me?", he mumbled against my lips after pulling back.

"You be acting like I'm not there", I said making him smack his teeth. "I'd be wrong if I ghosted you though."

"Don't do that....Spend the night KC", he said before pecking my lips.

He kissed along my jaw and down to my neck.

"Mmm", I hummed as he sucked on my sweet spot, making me bite my lip.

I wrapped my arm around him and leaned into him.

"Girl you really let him do that?", Remi asked cutting me off.

"Y'all should see his neck. You'd think I was beating on him. That's why he had his hoodie over his head."

"Bitch", Kass said. "I can't believe you."

"KC did y'all? You know", Liyah said and motioned with her fingers.

"Oh nah", I said making them let out a breath of relief. "We ain't tryna make a real baby."

"Wait I just realized something.. you done been to his house before and ain't tell us?", Liyah said and hit my arm.

"It slipped my mind", I said making them smack their teeth.

"You stare at this boy everyday at lunch but it slip yo mind that you been done spent the night at his house", Remi said. "Woooow."

.✿.

"So today we're not going to be doing anything school work-wise. I'm just going to let you all focus on taking care of your little bundles of joy", Ms. Walker said after everyone sat down.

"You a real one Ms. Walker. Cause I don't think I could handle any more school work today", someone said making all of us agree.

I got up and moved to the back of the class, Oakley joining me soon after.

"This is getting too real. She pooped her diaper three times in Mr. B's class", Oakley chuckled as he sat next to me.

"She threw up on me this morning."

My phone started vibrating in my pocket.

Remi🩷

Y'all bet not be back there kissing 😐

Liyah🩷

I'll come in there and drag that white boy out of that room by his ear 👂🏻🤏🏾

Kassidy🩷

I got my eye on him 🥷🏿

Bet not be no more hickeys on yo neck

Kordei 🩷

Where the hell y'all at?

Kassidy🩷

Look at the door 🙂

I looked up and saw them looking dead at us.

Remi did a head-cutting motion then pointed at Oakley.

"Those your friends?", Oakley asked.

"Unfortunately", I sighed.

"Should I be worried?"

"No....Anyways", I said redirecting my attention to Oakley, ignoring them still standing at the door.

"You coming back to my house tonight?", he asked.

I squinted my eyes at him.

"You know so we both can take care of the baby. We want her to grow up with both of her parents", he said making me chuckle.

"If you just want me to spend the night again just say that."

"Spend the night", he said.

"You asking or telling me?"

"Kordei just spend the night again", he sighed.

"Ok", I chuckled. "Imma swing by my house and grab some clothes before coming over."

.✿.

"Seven years?! Time flies", I chuckled as I walked over to Oakley. "But one thing about it..."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and he put his hands on my waist.

"You get finer everyday", I said before pecking his lips.

"You still kissing up on that white boy I see", Remi said as she walked in with Liyah and Kass.

"We be doing more than kissing now", I said, receiving a chuckle from Oakley.

"Just nasty", Kass said shaking her head.

"You know it", I said and winked at her.

#wattpad #central cee #central cee x reader #central cee x black reader #uk rap #oakley caeser su #oakley

[m-writes-stories]

The KC Couple - Part 12

Warnings: labor, language

Word Count: 944 words

Week 11 - 11/20 vs Philadelphia Eagles

It was homecoming week. Eagles vs Chiefs. This meant the whole fam was hanging out in a suite on Monday night. Ed and Donna were both going to be in the suite. Kylie and the girls, who normally don’t sit in a suite will be in the Kelce suite at Arrowhead. 

You were excited to see everyone. You weren’t able to see Kylie and the girls often. You saw Donna and Ed throughout the season at games. But Kylie stays in Philadelphia for Eagles games. Travis was able to see them more often when he was close to them for other games. 

Time Skip

You were currently sitting in the suite watching the 3rd quarter. The score was 17-14 Chiefs. The Chiefs had not been playing as well as they could be. You had been cramping a little throughout the game but thought nothing of it. As the Eagle’s punting team went out to punt you felt a gush of liquid between your legs.

“Ky, I think my water just broke,” you said, scaredly.

“What?” she said.

“That or I peed myself.”

“Have you been having contractions?”

“I have been cramping. But I was just ignoring it. I thought they were Braxton Hicks.”

“Ok, we need to get you to the hospital.”

“But what about the game?”

“Y/N forget the game. Honey, you are in labor. You are going to meet your daughter.”

“Oh, my god. I’m gonna meet my daughter. Oh my god Travis never talked to Andy. What do I do?”

“I don’t know.”

“I have access to go down to the field and talk to someone and see if he can leave.”

You and Kylie went down to the tunnel and talked to a security guard and they said they would get him and he would head to the hospital shortly after you.

Time Skip

Jason saw Travis run into the locker room. He questioned what was going on.

Travis sprinted through the locker room, struggling to get undressed and redressed. He freaked out when the security guard walked to one of the team managers and he overheard that you were in labor. He was now trying to go as fast as possible to get to the hospital. His baby girl was on the way. 13 weeks early. He didn’t know what to think.

Travis was running to the car as he was trying to get a hold of you, but you were not answering. You finally answered on the ninth call. 

“Hello?” you asked.

“Hey baby girl. How are you?”

“In pain, where are you?”

“Driving. I am about 15 minutes away.”

“Well, hurry. I need you.” 

You were sobbing at this point. You had never wanted Travis with you so bad. You were most nervous that he wouldn’t make it. You didn’t know why he wouldn’t make it, because he is 15 minutes away and you are nowhere near pushing. 

15 minutes later Travis was sprinting into the hospital.

“What room is Y/N Kelce in?”

“Are you her husband?”

“Obviously what room?”

“1384.”

Travis took off running again. He burst into the room and to your side.

“Hi,” you said.

“Hey, how are you doing?”

“This is so fucking stupid. Why does it have to hurt this fucking badly.”

Travis looked at his mom. 

“So labor makes her cuss like a sailor. I don’t know. Just breathe.”

“The doctor should be back any moment,” Donna said.

Travis pushed your hair off of your forehead. He kissed your forehead.

“Do not kiss me right now. You put me into this mess.”

“You asked for it,” he whispered into your ear.

“Shut the fuck up and quit touching me.”

Your doctor walked in shortly after. “Mr. Kelce, welcome to a party.”

“What’s going on Doc. She’s too early.”

“We will do everything we can to make sure both mom and baby are healthy but we are going to deliver your baby girl today. We have a c-section scheduled if needed but we are going to attempt to do a natural birth. If that is ok with you two.”

“Yes, I don’t want surgery.”

“Then we are going to do everything we can to make this as smooth of a process as possible.”

Time Skip

15 hours later it was time to push. Jason and Donna were in the waiting room with the girls. While Kylie and your mom were sitting on the couch in the corner. Travis was standing next to you holding your hand encouraging you.

“Come on, baby. You are doing so good.”

“Shut up Kelce. I hate this. I don’t want to do it anymore.”

“It’ll be worth it once we see her.” 

“I know that. This just fucking hurts.”

Time Skip (again I’m sorry)

You were currently sleeping. You had given birth to a 2 pound baby girl. Who was currently looking at staying in the hospital for 8 weeks. The doctors said if they can get her weight up she can leave earlier. The doctors allowed your baby to be in your room with you. Travis was currently watching both of his girls sleep. 

In his eyes, his life couldn’t get any better. He had everything he had ever wanted. And you had given him all of it. You were his end game. You had given him his baby girl. He couldn’t ask for anything else. 

You were going to be discharged on Thursday. You had cried for an hour when they told you that you would be going home without your baby girl. Travis didn’t know how to help you anymore. All he wanted was for the two of you to be ok. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: OMG they had the baby 13 weeks early. Name will be revealed shortly...

TAGLIST:

@fanficfanatic15

@armystay89

#m-writes-stories #travis kelce #travis kelce fanfic #travis kelce x reader

[ukrfeminism]

Five mums have died after family courts allowed fathers accused of abuse to apply for contact with their children, a BBC investigation has found.

Some took their own lives, another had a heart attack outside court. 

One mother, whose child was ordered to live with a convicted child rapist, would no longer eat and drink and "gave up living", friends say.

A separate study has found 75 children forced into contact with fathers who had been previously reported for abuse.

In some cases, in the England-wide study carried out by the University of Manchester and revealed for the first time by the BBC, the fathers were convicted paedophiles. 

All the fathers in the study had responded in court to allegations of abuse with a disputed concept known as "parental alienation", in which they claimed the mothers had turned the child against them without good reason. 

Dr Elizabeth Dalgarno, who led the research, says the concept is a "handy tool for abusers" and its acceptance by courts is a "national scandal".

Family law barrister, Lucy Reed KC, says the term is deployed "increasingly frequently" - but doesn't always mean the same thing. "It's quite often used by fathers to mean pretty much anything that is in opposition to their demand for a certain amount of contact."

The 45 mothers of the children in the University of Manchester study all reported serious health problems which they believed were linked to the stress of family court proceedings - including miscarriages, heart attacks and suicidal thoughts.

For months, the BBC has also been examining stories of traumatised women as part of a wider investigation into the way the family courts handle domestic violence claims in disputes between parents. 

Because of the laws surrounding reporting of the court proceedings, intended to protect children, the women's names and some identifying details have been changed.

Dr Elizabeth Dalgarno says parental alienation is a "handy tool for abusers" in the family courts

Domestic abuse commissioner Nicole Jacobs says the "harrowing" cases uncovered by the BBC show there is a need for "urgent and wide-reaching reform" of family courts. Abusers aided by unregulated experts were using "so-called parental alienation" to "deflect from their own abusive behaviour", she says.

The BBC has learned the government is investigating whether further action is needed on "alienation" and - since we made the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) aware of our investigation - the judiciary has issued new draft guidelines for consultation on handling parental alienation claims in domestic abuse cases. But some experts say they don't go far enough.

Grace and the child rapist

Grace was madly in love with her partner at first - friends told the BBC - but later she discovered he had previously been jailed for raping a child. The friends said she was also abused by him.

After Grace and her partner separated, he refused to return their child and accused her of being mentally unwell. He said there was a risk she would "alienate" them from him.

In one message Grace wrote: "It's really bad. He kept my child"

The family court was aware of his conviction but believed the risk to the child could be managed.

One friend said Grace felt disbelieved throughout the court proceedings and "her soul just completely disappeared".

In one of her last messages to her group of friends, seen by the BBC, Grace wrote: "I'm unable to eat or sleep, it's a mess, I hate the family court. Dead dead dead."

Her health declined and she died after the final court hearing, in which her child was ordered to live with her abusive partner.

Another friend told the BBC: "When you emotionally and mentally give up, I suppose her body followed. It was almost like they signed the death warrant. It was 100% the family court."

Speaking anonymously, friends of Grace said her health declined after her child was ordered to live with a convicted abuser

Sarah's story

The case of another mother - who took her own life after two years of family court proceedings - highlights what a drawn-out legal process can do to the mental health of a vulnerable person. 

A published judgement of the case - of the woman we are calling Sarah - details extreme abuse. Before her death, the judge determined in a fact-finding hearing that she had been raped by her partner, who drank excessively and became aggressive. Her partner punched her in the chest, slapped her in the face and threw her against the bannister.

He put CCTV in the house to monitor Sarah and their two children and would not even allow them to use the bathroom without keeping the door open. He also threatened Sarah, saying he would reveal footage of her inside the bedroom.

After she left him, he also placed trackers in her car, the judge concluded. 

Parental alienation was brought up in proceedings, with the father saying he wanted contact with his children. Eventually the father was denied contact, but by then Sarah had killed herself. 

The judge said she had "huge regret" that the proceedings had taken so long and had "evidently been so difficult for the mother to cope with".

Medical emergencies

When another mother died waiting outside the family court, a doctor told the inquest into her death that her cardiac arrest could have been linked to "broken heart syndrome" and the emotional distress of proceedings. 

According to coroner's documents, seen by the BBC, the mother had alleged she was a victim of domestic violence. We understand parental alienation was not a feature of the case, and the woman's children had been removed from her care. 

In another case, friends of a mother who had spent time in a refuge for domestic abuse victims told the BBC she had been so traumatised by her medical records being discussed in the case that she later refused to visit a doctor, even when she had a serious illness.

One friend said the mother had felt like "her ex, an abuser, was in control" in the court - because her former partner had labelled her as mentally ill and accused her of parental alienation, turning their child against him. 

After her child was ordered to live with her former partner, the mother was afraid of being taken back to the family court and losing what little contact she had, another friend said.

The mother became unwell with a treatable illness but sought medical attention too late - and eventually died of sepsis.

Sheila: 'She never recovered'

Parental alienation was brought up by a family court judge in Sheila's first hearing, as a warning to her.

People close to her say she had suffered coercive and controlling behaviour for years from an abusive partner, and had been bombarded with emails, calls and messages at all hours - even after they split.

When her former partner applied for greater access to their child, loved ones urged her to see the family court as a friend - but they now say they bitterly regret that advice.

Before any expert reports had been commissioned, the judge said in their opinion the case involved parental alienation and the court took it extremely seriously.

People who knew her well said she was traumatised by the hearing - which went in favour of the father.

"She felt like she'd go to prison if she did anything wrong," the BBC was told. "She never recovered, she was now controlled by the family courts and her abuser."

Over a year later, she took her own life.

Suicide prevention charity the Samaritans says the causes of suicide are often complex and there may not be a single identifiable cause. But the judiciary in England and Wales has commissioned a report to examine the "potentially heightened risk of suicide" after involvement in family court proceedings.

Researchers studying the family court say they are concerned that claims of parental alienation appear to be increasing in private law cases like these - where one parent takes another to court, rather than an intervention by social services.

The University of Manchester found accusations of parental alienation were the common factor among the 45 women and their 75 children in its peer-reviewed study.

Carried out with the domestic abuse research group SHERA, and soon to be published in the Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody and Child Development, the research examined the health impacts on abused women facing family court proceedings.

Dr Dalgarno, the lead researcher, says the mothers in these private law cases were not supported in the court. "Credible evidence of abuse was diminished or ignored completely - and when I say credible evidence, I'm talking about criminal convictions," she says.

Labour's shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, Jess Phillips, says women's struggles with family courts are the "biggest issue" in her inbox

Dr Dalgarno says that based on self-reported surveys, it is estimated about 70% of the 55,000 private law family court cases each year involve allegations of abuse - but there is a shortage of reliable data on the overall prevalence of cases where parental alienation has been claimed.

There should be "emergency measures" to tackle the use of parental alienation claims in court, she says. "There are catastrophic health impacts with children and adult victims of abuse considering or attempting suicide."

Labour's shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, Jess Phillips, says she has been contacted by thousands of women who have struggled with similar experiences inside family courts. "It's the biggest issue in my inbox," she says. 

She compares it to abuse scandals such as those in Rotherham or the Catholic Church.

"This isn't a bad judge. This isn't a rogue court in one part of the country. This is a tactic of abusers that is being used across every part of our country." 

The secrecy and power the courts could wield over a person is "delicious to domestic abuse perpetrators", she adds.

In cases where domestic abuse, sexual violence or any form of child abuse is alleged, the presumption of contact should be earned, not given automatically, Ms Phillips says.

She says the use of unregulated experts testifying about parental alienation need to be banned and there should be more data collected on the outcomes of family court cases.

'Complicated jargon'

The term parental alienation was first coined by the controversial US psychiatrist Richard Gardner as "parental alienation syndrome". He claimed mothers in acrimonious divorces brainwashed their children to believe they had been abused by their fathers and recommended completely severing contact to "re-programme" them.

This concept has been criticised for a lack of evidence - but there are those who say it has now been rebranded simply as "parental alienation" and, supported by some psychologists, it has frequently been used by family courts.

Lucy Reed KC, who promotes transparency about the workings of family courts, thinks processes should not be diverted by "complicated psychological jargon" - including the term parental alienation.

She says there needs to be better oversight of how courts are handling such allegations. "If there is domestic abuse, that could explain why the child rejects contact," she says.

Sir Andrew McFarlane, the most senior family court judge, has said the label of parental alienation is "unhelpful"

The President of the Family Court in England and Wales, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has warned the parental alienation label is "unhelpful" - and the Family Justice Council has recently issued new draft guidance for consultation on how to deal with "allegations of alienating behaviour".

It provides a step-by-step guide for family courts hearing parental alienation claims, especially in cases of domestic abuse. It focuses on dealing with evidence and finding facts first before judgements are made. 

But some believe more needs to be done. Earlier this year, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls called for the use of parental alienation to be prohibited globally. 

The Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, Nicole Jacobs, says too often courts consider claims of domestic violence and parental alienation simultaneously - which, she believes, is an "unsafe approach" and can put women and children at risk. 

England's Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), which advises courts about children's best interests, referred to "parental alienation" in guidance as recently as 2021, but now adopts the term "alienating behaviours". But it told the BBC its advisers should first consider if factors, such as domestic abuse, mean the child's refusal to see a parent is justified. 

In a statement, the Ministry of Justice described the cases of the women as "deeply tragic" and said that its thoughts were with those who had lost loved ones. It added that improvements had also been made to the family court system to protect domestic abuse victims, such as preventing cross-examination by abusers, expanding legal aid and allowing them to give evidence behind protective screens or by video-link.

#This blog is currently on hiatus until I can regain access to my inbox and messages

[happysparklingshadows]

A Certain Hunger (3/?)

Chapter 2 ✿ Chapter 4

Summary: Everyone is trying their best out in the woods, and it’s paying off with finding the lake and then finding an old cabin. The only problem is that every step you take you are reminded how dire the situation with the sense of dread a mummy in the attic gives. 

Pairing: Surviving!Poly! Yellowjackets x reader (slow burn)

Warnings: Description of Death and Suicide, internalized homophobia, General emotional distress, and getting kissed while your eyes are closed.

Taglist: @g1rlsriot @zhivaxo @icabrth @h-doodles @somethingred7 @mika-kc @frasersgf @yaakooi @vstblrblog @jax1118 @oakwave @mmiah @dvrkhcld @wandasmainho @thewinterlunarhalo @vstblrblog @bbbexee

Word count: 14.3

‘96

The forest air was crisp and fresh as twigs snapping under your weight-birds' chirping in the trees above. It was very peaceful in an odd way for you. You have only been out in the woods for three days now, and although you were anxious about when the rescue team would find you the entire time, the environment was overwhelmingly beautiful and familiar. It's just a North American Forest with all the usual creatures like back home in New Jersey. All the lush green and brown overcome your senses with the natural odor of the wild it was comforting and made you think of your dad. It felt like you were with him somehow as you and Taissa walked through the brush to find a water source early in the morning. You close your eyes and take a deep breath, letting it out. 

“Doing yoga over there?” Taissa teased as she walked beside you on the unbeaten path of the forest ahead of you. A breeze hits you both in the direction you are walking.

You chuckle and shake your head to her, “No, I am just taking in the smell. The deep forest has a smell to it. It has like this rich dirt and plant smell.”

Taissa scoffs and shakes her head at your words, and she doesn’t understand why you are so calm about the woods. Tai was trying her best not to freak out about the fact she was currently trapped in the wilderness, and she just looked over to you and saw you just calmly walking in the greenery. “I never saw you as an outdoorsy kind of girl.”

“I’m not.” You say, very tired of the topic with the other girls. “You know me, and I am more into Journalism.”

“Yeah,” Taissa says as she looks over at you, pointing a finger, she remembers as she says, “Aren’t you going to NYU for journalism?”

You chuckle and look to your feet, seeing a familiar vine slowing your walking. “Yeah, I mean, go into where your good. I think I am pretty good at journalism.”

“Wanna be like Jay Lenno?” Taissa asked as she followed your movements, her eyes scanning around to see why you slowed down. “What?”

You point to the ground, and you crouch down to the vine. You follow the vine a few inches, and white berries with black that hang gently from a black vine. “Tai, Look," You urge with a wave of your hand to Tai. Taissa looks over your shoulder as you explain, "These are Rabit food berries, at least that is what my dad calls them, and are poisonous but can be used for bail for anything.” You say as you start to pick off the white berries. “Good news is that they normally grow around water. So, hopefully, we are close.”

“Oh, foesue,” Taissa says as she leans down and looks at the berry. She takes one in her hand and investigates the little thing. “These are called Rabbit food?”

“Not formally. But that is what my dad calls them.”

“You’re dad knows a lot about this stuff.”

You forced a smile and nodded; you didn't want to talk about your dad. 

As you stand up, a sharp pain shoots through your neck, and it causes you to yelp, "Ow!".

"You okay?" Taissa asked with her eyebrows furrowed in concern. You still have black eyes from the crash, and you still look like you took a beating. 

"It's okay. It's just my neck is still sore. Please don't worry about it." You sigh as you put the white berries in the bandana Natalie gave you that first night. Taissa and you both walk forward toward the breeze with more confidence that you will find water.

You and Tai had a somewhat complicated relationship. Tai was second to become valedictorian, and you always seemed competitive. Tai would ask you what you got on tests and essays, comparing the results to see how to spark more rivalry. There wasn’t much there, to begin with. Still, fighting with someone with your wit was fun because there would be no other competition if it were about physical ability. Taissa never took things too far with how you two fought for the top spot. Tai bit her tongue when it was called over the intercom two weeks earlier that you were the one giving the speech at graduation. Taissa wanted to break her pencil because she had worked so hard and never got to be better than you, but she always knew you were a worthy opponent. Taissa was your friend like the other senior yellowjackets. Still, your relationship was more superficial with her than with Shauna or even Misty Quigley. There was an air of performance and a level of standoffishness.

“Congratulations on the Valedictorian spot again,” Taissa says softly to you. You were always so pretty to her.

“Thank you, Tai!” you said happily. You were very proud of yourself for that, and you look over to her and say, “I guess it’s pretty good that we both are here to make sure everyone’s head screwed on right.”

Taissa chuckles at your joke as the both of you see the lake off on the horizon on the hill. It looked like someone would have to go down the hillside, and a few miles past a little more forest, you would get to the shore. Taissa doesn’t say anything before she runs ahead of you, closer to the hill's edge.

You sigh as your feet beg you to stop moving and lie down. You needed to keep moving, and you needed to make sure everyone was okay. You had reminded yourself of everything your father said in passing on your many trips, and you knew a big one was water and then shelter on the list. The last couple of days has made you more adventurous than you ever like to be, as you had to do something as the anxiety was eating you alive. You speedwalk behind the very fast Tai, who stopped at the treeline that dropped off into a beach.

“If it weren’t so deep in these woods, it would be a private beach,” you thought as you panted behind Taissa. The air was sweet and relaxed with the breeze of the tide, and it didn’t stop the drop of sweat that rolled down your neck.

“Fucking finally,” You sigh out with a groan. You look around the water and see lily pads a little ways off, and on the side are rocks that a small turtle rests on. The lake looks promising and has everything that the group needs right now.

Taissa doesn’t show much emotion toward the water; more of a confirmation of its existence. She turns back and pulls your arm to walk the other 6 miles back to the plane. You while as you follow behind her, she says, “We have to tell the others and move camp there.”

You felt yourself pause a little bit at the way she said that. It sounded like a demand, and injured people couldn’t travel this distance without the whole team working together. There was a confirmed 15 people alive from the plane crash, luckily, all your friends survived with some injuries, but 4 of them were working with painful wounds. Ashely, a sophomore, was burned so badly on her face that her cheek is producing puss now; Misty is sure it is third-degree. Ashely has been in and out of pain and can’t walk even though she is fully intact, and couch Ben is working with one less leg.

“Tai, I don’t think we should move so quickly.” You say as you walk behind her, both determined to meet the others.

Tai scoffs and looks over her shoulder with a narrowed eye, “Why’s that? We’re running out of food and water by the hour.”

“Yes, but people aren’t going to do it so quickly. We have to think about the injured-”

“We’ll carry them, and we can’t stay put, (y/n).”

You roll your eyes as you say a little more transparently, “Tai, you are not going to make people want to move with that approach.” she stops herself to look at you. She is annoyed, and you can sense that you sigh and explain, “People are still in shock, okay? A fucking Plane crash happened, and no one has fucking found the box. Everyone is emotional about it still, and we cannot come at them like it’s a demand. Everything is different now, and we all need some time.”

“Then, they can stay there until rescue gets here.” She stood firm. She put her hands on her hips as she looked at you with a tilted head.

You feel yourself get even more frustrated, and you start to say with a sterner voice, “We’re not leaving anyone behind. We are leaving altogether or staying together, Tai; there is no other way it will work.”

“Okay, what do you think we should do if you think my idea is bullshit.”

“I don’t think your idea is bullshit, but it is insensitive to the people who just fucking lost everything.” You whisper yell to her, not even wanting the chance that someone could hear your argument from the camp. “The guys lost their dad, and we all lost someone we knew in the crash, Tai. People are emotional, and people are scared. We have to be united when we tell them about the water. We introduce it gently and let them all decide when to go.” Tai grew quiet as she looked at you, watching you continue. ”I think we should hold a vote on when we should go because you are right,” You nod to her, and Tai seems slightly taken back that you would tell her, “I think we should move to the lake.”

“Then what do we do?”

“We need to bury the bodies.” You remind as you walk up a slight incline in the path. “We can leave after we bury them or tomorrow morning. It’s not a question that we are going.”

“So, the ones that want to stay have to move with us.” Taissa agreed with a slight nod of her head. She then says as if it was a little painful. “You’re right.”

“Okay, So we will do that.” You diplomatically ask her again for confirmation before you start planning your morning announcements to the team. “We have food and water now; We need to build a shelter of some kind.”

“You think we will be here that long to need it?”

“No, I hope we won’t.” You say back, your voice trying to stay positive. “But what if a storm comes by? We’re not in a good place for that, even with the plane, which I don’t think I would even want to step in again.”

“Agreed… But how do we build a shelter? We'll make a teepee or something?”

“I am thinking like dig out and skinny fallen tree logs because this place is covered with them. And figure it out together because I don’t know everything.”

Taissa chuckle and shakes her head. She sarcastically says, “I don’t think that is true.”

“Trust me, I don’t.” You chuckle back and continue your way back to camp.

After walking for another 30ish minutes on your aching feet, you finally reach the group. Excited and happy to finally have some good news for them.

Van, Laura Lee, Travis, and Natalie have been working for a few days on digging pits. Today they were digging the last ones, trying to give their friends and even the people they didn’t know a “right” burial, as Laura Lee had Insisted we give them. A few days earlier, She came to the group while you were giving a morning announcement and said that anyone that is “abled body needs to help because this is the right thing to do. God would want us to do it, and I think even they would want us to do that.”.

And you did. How could you tell Laura Lee she was wrong?

You're panting as you stop walking and lean against a tree by the primary fire. The other girls work on their little things, discuss what they plan for the summer, and other helping others feel better with their wounds. Another pain shoots through your neck again as you turn it too quickly to the left to look around. You calm your breathing from your long hike and feel yourself have enough air to be okay again.

“Okay, let’s eat before I start talking.” You announce to the team as you pull out the ration box, and Van follows behind you, kneeling down to take inventory.

“This is all we have?” Jackie asks.

“Yeah,” Van says.

“We just have to ration. We split everything in half and eat until we don’t feel hungry. Let’s cut them up.” You say, reassuring everyone. You smile and say, “These are really calorie dense, so we will be okay."

Van comes closer to Shauna and shows her how to cut the rations. Shauna is listening to this very intently, and she starts to cut. You hand the water bottle to Akilah and say, “Split the water up evenly."

Shauna says to Jackie beside you, “Close your eyes and pretend it’s bacon.”

Jackie eats it; happily, she always was a food person. You remember when you were in middle school, and her mother passed out from too much Xanax, so Jackie cooked a late-night dinner that would make her mom go crazy to see her eating more than an almond before bed. Jackie made pizza out of dough in the fridge and stuff lying around, and to this day, you think it was the best pizza you ever had. You chuckle as you eat your share of the Mary cakes.

“I am more of a pancakes and syrup girl.” Jackie jokes as she finishes her breakfast of a Mary Cake. You chuckle and nod, “I am feeling pancakes too, Jackie. Shauna is just a carnivore.” You joke.

Shauna purses her lip and holds in a laugh at the joke, shaking her head. Jackie laughed and nodded, “You remember when Shauna ate that burger the size of your head?”

You all laugh at the joke, and you nod your head. You feel your first moment of ease. You didn’t feel pain in your neck and in your heart. Shauna laughed this time and covered her mouth, “Oh my god, it was like she unhinged her jaw!” You reminisce and laugh.

Jackie starts to scratch her thigh again, and both you and Shauna give her a look.

“Hey, Misty said, don’t scratch. It can get infected.”

“If poison Ivy’s what kills me out here, then I deserve to die.” Jackie joked. You pushed her arm and gave her another look.

“Hey, no pessimism. You’re too tough to die from poison Ivy… But please don’t go to the bathroom before you wash your hands.” You warned lightly with a chuckle.

“What will happen if I go to the bathroom, (Y/n)?”

“You will get it on your pussy girl.” You say curtly because you didn’t want to sugarcoat poison ivy on your vagina. “It would be excruciating.”

“Would you know?”

“No, I am not stupid, though.” You chuckle and smile at her. You take a drink of your water and eat some berries. Unaware behind you that Travis was stealing more than his share.

“Hey!” Akilah says to him as he walks over to her and steals a whole Mary cake.

“What are you doing?” Van asks.

“Uh, maybe you didn’t notice, but we’re in a situation here, Flex.” Lottie insults as Travis walks off with a whole Mary Cake instead of a half one. 

“Don’t,” Natalie warns sharply.

Travis turns back and glares at all of us.

“Who died and made him king of snacks?” Lottie whispers to the group.

“His dad, Lottie. His fucking dad.”

“Nat’s right. We should cut him some slack.” Jackie remarked to the group.

“I guess it’s fine if we all starve to death as long as Travis’s feelings are okay.” Mari sassed. 

“We’re not gonna starve to death. Okay? When the rescue team gets here-”

“IF it gets here.” Van cuts in on Jackie to make her point of pessimism.

“Okay, we’re not going say that.” You sharply say to Van. She looks up at you, surprised you spoke up at the moment. You shared a look of her telling you that you can’t say that, and you continued to speak. “We’re not going to kill the hope around here, okay? We must be there for each other right now, but we must be smart. Travis will not do that again because we need to ration. You’re right, Mari. But look around, you guys,” You stop to put your arms out like your dad once did when you were young. Everyone looks around like you said, “It’s summer in a fertile forest. We’ll be okay. We just need to be smart.”

You say as you put your backpack on your shoulders and look at the others. You stand up and say, “We’re all we have right now. We all survived a plane crash. We’re all on edge and emotional. We all must acknowledge that and try not to take things personally until the rescuers come, okay? Because I am a fucking wreck right now, and I know you all are too. We can do nothing but work together and be there for each other. Let’s try our best and be nice to each other now because if anyone will ever understand what we are going through is except each other.”

“Okay, Let’s do it,” Jackie says as she looks up to you with a smile. The others agreed with some groans and complaints, but they agreed.

“Okay, everyone, on another subject, Me and Taissa found a lake when we went out this morning. We saw it over the hill and thought we knew how to get to it from there. It looks about four or five miles away.”

“Do you think we can hike it, (Y/n)?” Shauna asks skeptically.

“Yes, We need to help Coach Ben and take turns carrying him, but we can make it. It’s a little rocky and goes uphill a few times, but yeah.” You say with a smile and look around the team. All seem ready to move and get some distance from the plane; however, Jackie is seemingly fighting with herself about how she will speak. “But, I want to leave it to the team to decide when we should go. We need to go to the water, but should we go after the burial or tomorrow morning?”

“Uh, we, uh, we can’t-we can’t just leave,” Jackie spoke as she awkwardly rose from her spot. She is hesitant.

“Jackie, I know it is scary. But we only have two days of water and don’t have enough food to go around. If it takes them a while to find us, they'll look for the closest body of water for us.”

“But what if the rescue team comes?”

“We’ll leave an SOS on the plane saying we are at the lake and make an SOS on the lake to let them know we are here.” You said before Taissa was going to speak. You didn’t want to kill hope; you didn’t want to kill your own, you just kept it together like you know how.

“What do you think, Coach?” Laura Lee asked him. You follow her voice to him, and you see Misty beside him.

“I don’t-I don’t know,” He says, “I mean, you’d have to leave me behind, I guess, but whatever-”

“That is ridiculous. That is never going to happen.” You shut him down and continued on to your point. “We will build a stretcher out of what we have lying around. Misty took a first-aid class, and they have shown you how to do it, right?”

Misty’s eyes widened that you were speaking to her in the circle like she was important. She smiled shyly and, slightly embarrassed, said, “Kinda-”

“Then we will make one and take turns-”

Jackie laughs in disbelief that we are still talking about leaving. “No. This-This is bullshit. No. No way.”

“Okay, fine. All in favor of waiting here until we don’t have any water?” You say, still twisting it to go to the lake. No one but Jackie raises their hand, she looks over to Shauna, and she doesn’t still. Jackie lost control of you, and now Shauna. She looks around, and no one does. Eventually, Mari and Laura Lee raise their hands.

“All in favor of going to the lake?” You say you raise your hand as Taissa beside you does as well. Everyone else raises their hand.

You nod your head and say as Jackie quiets herself in anger. “Alright, we’re going to the lake. All in favor of leaving tomorrow.”

Jackie, Laura Lee, Mari, Coach Ben, and Misty raise their hands.

“All in favor of leaving after the burial?”

Everyone else raises their hand. You nod again. “Alright, we are leaving after the burial. The vote is in. Let’s pack up our things, eat before we leave, get anything we can, and we will all help Misty with the stretcher. Okay?”

Everyone says “Yes,” “Sure,” and nods. Everyone leaves to do their jobs as Jackie seems to sulk away, and Shauna, knowing she angered Jackie, goes off to help Misty.

You look over to Jackie, who is sulking and feel really bad. It felt like a pit was growing just a little more in your stomach.

“Jackie-”

“Leave me alone.”

“I’m not like that, Jackie, you know that,” you say as you sit beside her. She is having a hard time right now, and you know she is more anxious than anything. You always knew how to talk to Jackie. “I’m sorry that we have to leave the plane.”

“I don’t think we should go. What if they get here and we’re not here?”

“Well, We’ll make a sign on the plane that we’re at the lake, and then we can make a sign at the lake. If anything, they could see the shore of a lake more than in these dense woods.” You say and look up to the leaves, it’s tough to see the sky, and even with the trees that cleared for the plane, the sky was not clear. Just the ribbons of light that sneaked in between the leaves. “Look up.”

Jackie looks up and looks at the trees. “A rescue plane or helicopter would have difficulty seeing the crash because it would look like a natural opening instead of a crash landing. But if there is a big opening and three signs, we were here. They will know we are here, you know.” You reassure.

Jackie nods but still looks conflicted. She itches her under the thigh and just sighs, “Fine. Whatever.”

“It sucks, I know…” You say as you look at her hand travel to her thigh. You then say, “Do you have anything for that? Do you want me to take a look to see what it is-”

“No, It’s fine.” Jackie declared and looked at you pointedly with her big eyes.

“Okay…” You say, but you move to your bag next to her, pull out your bottle of lotion and put it at her feet. You get up and move to see what you can do before the burial.

Jackie sighed as she took your lotion and put it on her thigh, it was Eczema cream, and it soothed the poison ivy on the back of her knee and thigh. She sighed in relief and felt more at ease with her childhood friend, “Still in the trio.” Jackie thought as she reluctantly spread the moisturizer on her rash.

Van, Misty, and you finish placing the last pile of dirt on the dead. Your hands felt like everything you touched was a dream. Almost everything was surreal. Even the greens around you seemed alien right now, and you didn’t have the will to speak. “Not now, not right now.” You remind yourself as you pat the dirt on Coach Ben’s leg. Tears fell mindlessly down your cheeks. You didn’t have the strength to hold back your tears, wordlessly putting the makeshift shovel onto the ground and standing next to Shauna and Jackie.

“Before we took off, I heard Reachel say she would see Oasis at the meadowlands next month. She was really excited… And she is never gonna hear “Wonderwall” again.” Van spoke when we all stood around the homemade gravestones made from scrap metal.

“Come on.” Laura Lee gently urged everyone. “Let’s join hands. We’ll pray for them. ”

You grab onto Shauna’s hand, feeling the soft skin of her palm and fingers as you squeeze her for comfort as she does the same. A familiar ritual of you ever since you two were children, holding and comforting. You hold Jackie’s clammy delicate hand, she squeezes your hand, and you squeeze back. Holding the hands of the girls you played with in the sandbox when you were just a little girl felt more reassuring than you thought. Seeing your closest friends were safe and holding hands together made you feel so much relief. Knowing that so many people, 23, have died in a crash that should have killed you all sobered your happiness.

“Rachel, you just moved up from JV, so we didn’t know you. But, in Trig, you never confuse your secants and your cosecants. You seemed really smart. Anyone else?”

“I saw her carry a flute case once,” Van blurted out.

“She wore Revlon Goldpearl Plum. She let me borrow it at Homecoming last year.” You added as fat tears rolled down your plumb cheeks.

“Oh, Lord, please accept Reachel Goldman into your arms so she may fill your kingdom with music.” Laura Lee said with closed eyes, and yu felt your heartbreak at those words. Rachel’s family probably would have agreed with Laura Lee and would have been happy to know people cared for her enough to give her a respectful burial. Still, they didn’t know she had died. They’re probably hoping she is alive, thinking that somehow like you, she was standing fine, just needing to be found, but it would never happen. You felt a sob nest in your chest. “Please accept Coach Martinez into your glory, too—and flight attendant Janet, Pilot Robert, and Pilot Fred. And the people we didn’t know the names of, please allow them everlasting peace. Even though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of death, take them into your kingdom, Father. Reunite them in your love. Amen.”

Everyone prayed, “Amen.”

Taissa left the circle alone, and everyone started packing for the journey to the lake.

‘21

Shauna

Jeff is cheating on me, and he is telling me anything. Just keeps saying that he is staying back for the data inventory. 

You

Okay 

You 

Wow

You 

You need to get proof. I would follow him and see what is up. And if he is, then you get even girl. 

Shauna

You read my mind lol 

Shauna

By the way, Callie wants to know what you think of her Instagram post.

Shauna

I don’t really know what she is talking about?

You

Girl, she looked great. I didn’t comment on it like I normally do lol! Tell her I think she looks gorgeous in purple! 

Shauna

What did she post?

You

A coffee shop pic with her boyfriend. She was wearing a little purple sundress!!! 

You 

Very pretty!! 💕🫶✨

You

Go on Instagram and like it for her

Shauna

Girl what

You

You are too attached to Facebook 

Shauna 

Don’t tell me what I am 

You 

Shauna, you need to use other social media to see all your cute daughter's pictures and stalk her location.

Shauna

You can do that???

You

Fuck yeah, why do you think I have a fucking Instagram lol

Shauna

Does Jeff have one? 

You 

It looks like you got a lead Shipmen Xxx

“(Y/n), your quiet back there? How is your dating life going?”

Natalie scoffed and looked over to Misty in the passenger seat. You sat behind Natalie in the car with your attention on your phone. You used yourself as a buffer for Misty to talk to and for Natalie to speak when she wanted to, but it seemed very noticeable when you silenced yourself.

“Um… Happily single right now and longtime committed to my purple rabbit.” You joke to Misty as you put your phone in your purse.

Natalie chuckled at your comment, and Misty seemed unhappy with how vulgar you were.

“Seriously, you haven’t been out dating anyone? You look amazing for your age.” Misty reassured you that it was why you were not looking out there. Acting like she didn’t know why you were so closed off from ever having to learn another person intimately again and why you would naturally be turned off from it.

“I know I do. My tits still sit on the top of my chest, just sometimes when I sit down, they hit my stomach.” You joke again about age with the two other women. Both laughing at the truth of the comment, Misty snorts a little and fixes her classes. “Tell me about it!” Misty laughed.

“How long till, uh, we get to Travis’s?” Natalie cut in and asks, clearly not enjoying her time in the car with either of you.

"Uh, Three hours and 24 minutes,” Misty reports, and Natalie sighs deeply at the answer. “I-I totally get it. You know, not dating anyone right now. At our age, it’s like all the available ones are crumbs at the bottom of a chip bag.” Misty chuckles. Misty looks down at her phone and says a soft, “Oh. Mostly.”

Natalie scoffs as Misty texts the other person on the phone, “Got a whole chip?”

You chuckle at that, and you see her eyes looking in the review mirror at you. Your eyes meet for a second.

“Just a friend. For now.” Misty chuckles, then laughs softly as she texts the other person at the end.

You looked out the window as you watched the trees passing you by, not hearing any more of the conversation that had lulled now. You felt happy that Misty found someone. But you wanted to cut the person's throat on the other end. Would they hurt Misty? Make Fun of her? The thought of Misty getting used or taken advantage of makes you feel a part of you digress and growl. Something primal and not right, but you can’t stop how familiar it all feels and how safe you are in Its presence.

Natalie drives to a gas station before you can cut yourself out of your thoughts. You remain quiet as your phone vibrates with more texts from Shauna. You couldn’t muster the will to look down at them right now.

“I’m starving,” Natalie says as she takes the keys out of the car. “You want to go grab something while I gas up?” Natalie asked. Her voice gave off the edge and some kind of motive behind them. And Misty was too smart not to catch that.

“Oh!” Misty says and fixes her glasses, “Well, I don’t know what you like. Maybe you should come with me,” She smoothly lied.

You slightly smirk because you knew from reading the room that Misty was scared that you and Natalie would ditch her.

“Chocolate’s good.” Natalie bluntly stated. It didn’t ease the tension.

“Um. well, there’s dark and milk and white.” Misty listed

“Surprise me.” Natalie smoothly stated as she looked Misty down a little. Her black-lined eyes give her a sharper tilt to her gaze. She looked like she could take a bite right out of you.

“Okay,” Misty said very fakely. It caused you to chuckle and grab the back of the headrest of her seat. You lean forward and touch her shoulder.

“I’d like some spicy peanuts and maybe something salty.”

Misty grimaces as she looks at you with a pointed look, “Spicy food? We have another 6 hours on the road there and back. Let alone the time we will spend seeing Travis!” Misty countered you.

You raise an eyebrow and say, “That was very rotten of you to say that.”

“That was not rotten to say that- you know what! I will get you something good.” Misty says as she exits the car, looking cautiously at Natalie again.

Natalie scoffs as she sees Misty walk away, and she immediately starts looking into the glove box of the minivan.

“Okay.” Natalie mocks as she starts to look around the car as Misty walks into the station

“What did she do?” You chuckle humorlessly as you lean against the leather seat.

Natalie doesn’t speak to you as she looks in the front and into the glove box. She pulled out a car plug that had the words Porsche on them.

“Fucking knew it.” She whispers to herself and throws it back. She looks at you and says, “She fucking took my spark plug.”

‘What?!” You say as you lean back up forward.

“Misty can’t be trusted… That little snake.” Natalie sighs to you as she turns to look at you.

“When has anyone trusted that Misty Quigley wouldn’t do something crazy for attention.” You lamented with her; you took a deep breath and told her in the sense of trust between you two. “You should have known better than letting her think you want her back in some way.”

“I didn’t.”

“You did. And because you did, I did. So here we are.”

“I didn’t need you to come to save me. Just back off. I am here to check on Travis, and you can go back to your fucking cave.”

“You shouldn’t have let on you were looking for him, you gave Misty enough to follow you, and you should know better. We all know your dirt, and we all know you, whether you like it or not. You are a fucking bomb waiting to go off, and you have been running away for a long time.” You hiss at her and look at her sharply in the eyes. Her baby blue eyes stare back at yours. An old familiar primal surge comes over you as you feel like you have been in this moment before. 

“Well, I don’t need any fucking help, and I don’t need you telling me about Misty Fucking Quigley.” Natalie spat at you as she left the car with a slam of the door.

You sat in the car with pursed lips. You didn’t like the energy that was in the car anymore. You didn’t know why you had an outburst like that with her. But how fucking dare she talk to you like that. You have been kind to her, and she has been an asshole to you all day; you have had it.

Misty returns to the car with a grocery bag and jerky in the other. Misty chats with Natalie outside the car before she comes into the car with a snarl.

“Someone is in a bad mood.”

“A fucking horrible mood.”

“Do you need to curse so much?”

“What did you get me, baby cakes?” You changed the subject as you looked over her shoulder. She hands you two bags and an icy bottle of water. It is honey-roasted peanuts and Chipotle Jerky. You smile because at least she got you something spicy, and a craving was honored; she was very kind in her odd way.

“Aw, Misty, this is perfect, thank you. You’re right. I would have had a stomach ache if I ate all the spicy nuts.”

“I know.”

“Shh. Silence.”

Misty chuckles as she takes another bite of her jerky. You rip open your bag and greedily take the spiced meat to pieces into your hand. You sink your teeth into the dried beef as the strains separate in your mouth, with each muscle strain salted and flavorful. It was sweetly smoked by some kind of wood as the cayenne and chili danced on your tongue. It was similar to a Mexican taco you had in upstate New York that wasn’t that authentic but something that made you come back for more. You moan as you relish in the guilty pleasure of still loving a good piece of jerky even after everything that happened. Sometimes your thoughts haunt you. “What if I liked it?” you thought sometimes as you chewed down on the juicy meat that reminded you of them.

“Misty, try some.”

“I don’t like spicy food, honey.” Misty’s voice was plain with reticence as she took the meat from your fingers.

“Try it, please, Misty.” You say a little sweeter, and you eat another yourself.

Misty takes the piece into her mouth as Natalie enters the car; she sided eyes both of you as she says, “Jerky, really?”

“Yeah, it’s good.” You say back to her with an old tone you had thought you had lost. It felt odd having two of your old friends back, and it made some things come out of you again.

“Your right, honey; that is not bad.”

“Right!”

‘96 

Soon after the burial, people grouped up and prepared to leave from the plane to the lake. You walked in the back with Jackie, for a while, and Mari. The beginning of your hike was comprised of Mari talking to you and Jackie about Theo Stevens in her Bio class, who has been giving her a lot of side eyes, which as a good friend you feed into her fantasy that he was “so checking her out.”

The hike took as long as you remember, but it seemed longer for the whining of Jackie and Mari, who seemed to bond significantly on the trip through their complaints. Every step felt like a mile. Sores on your heels and big toe, but you didn’t even have the energy to voice your pain. You can see Coach Ben struggling for the last 40 minutes with Misty and Marissa ahead of you, the two girls having trouble moving him. It felt like complaining about a hang nail to someone with a bullet wound; it didn’t stop Jackie and Mari, but it sure as fuck stopped you.

After a while, you and Taissa were sure you were off the trail you found earlier, but you were going in the same direction; you two came to the conclusion that you all would “eventually get to the lake.”. Tai insisted that she would keep leading the hiking party and she could do her own thing with Van beside her. 

Every other minute, You take your pocket knife and cut a heart on the trees to make a guide back to the plane, and suddenly a rotten horrendous smell comes to your nose. You gag to yourself but caught the ears of Jackie and Mari behind you. 

“What?” Jackie huffed as she looked over your shoulder to see your twisted face.

“I don’t know, You don’t smell that?” You ask.

Lottie and Jackie, now even Tai notice that the back has stopped. “Smell what?”

“I don’t know-” You started and were cut off by Natalie.

“Holy shit.” She says, taken back. You look at what she is talking about as all the yellowjackets walk forward, a gutted bear. The sound of flies and maggots comes to your ear before your eyes can register what is in front of you as you all continue hiking. The chest of the black bear was torn open down to its navel, small and large intestines sprawled out of the wound with semi-dried blood seeping out of the pores of the organs, innards from up in the cavity shredded down to the bottom. The beast was abused by whatever killed it before it died from the exposed flesh under the thick brown fur. A crow proudly sits on top the dead animal, picking on the remaining leftovers of meat. 

“Oh, God, I’m gonna puke,” Jackie complained as she walked behind you.

“What could have done that?” Shauna queried the group, her brown eyes looking straight at the bear. Worry set in her eyes.

“Probably wolves. They move in packs and fight in packs. Nothing can survive them. Not even a bear.” You say, offhandedly, something not too problematic because it was only natural for wolves to be in these woods. You kept walking.

“They can kill a fucking bear?” Natalie was amazed and horrified.

“Oh, yeah. Wolves can kill anything if its pack is big enough.” You say your eyes haven’t moved an inch from the bloody bear. You blink a few times before you snap out of it. You start to lead the hiking team, “Let’s get moving. We’re almost to the water.”

“What do we do if wolves come, (Y/n)?” Misty asks you. She stares at the bear before looking forward again. Everyone seemed to be engrossed with the brutal proof of nature’s violence, it’s ugly and gross, but it was real. It seemed more natural to you than you being in those woods.

“We are a big pack ourselves. We would probably scare them away if we sitck together. Let’s not get too worried… We should only worry if it’s a pack of 30 or something.”

“Very comforting.” Natalie snarked as she walked ahead of you. And you didn’t have the energy to say anything more. You just look at your feet and walk, letting yourself be quiet momentarily.

The woods always had that kind of power. They make you still for a few moments to just breathe and let it in. It makes you think clearer because of the green, or the breeze, of the freedom in the trees. It used to make you quiet and grateful for the peaceful views, but only now, it seems to ground you differently.

You miss your mom and dad. You miss your mom a lot and just want to call her. To tell her that everything was okay, that you were okay. That everything was just a stupid mistake and you were alive, and coming home in a few days. Your mom should have taken her medicine a few hours ago, and what if your dad couldn’t give it to her? What if your dad was off at work, and they both don’t know anything yet? They will find out in a few days when none of you return. Or do they know this story? Is it all over the news with your parents demanding answers, worried sick about you? You know how much they love you and how much this hurts them because it is hurting you. It hurts more than your black eyes and your achy neck.

A sinking hole.

It felt like a dreading hole that burrowed into your chest. It felt neverending, and it caused your breathing to hurt.

Worst of all, when you felt the sharp jolt of pain of neck when you moved your head to the side too much or too fast, was becoming overbearing. Every deep breath or pant causes a pain to spread down your upper back. It was getting to you as you felt a thump with every step. You wanted to float in the water; sweat was on your brow and collecting in your shirt.

You just kept walking with your eyes on your shoes, looking at the moss and dead leaves, when your thoughts wandered. Thankfully, Van stopped your thoughts by finding the lake and screaming for everyone to follow her.

“Come On, Let’s go!” She squeals with the others. Shauna, Jackie and you just followed behind with a second wind of excitement. It felt like running with marbles in your shoes at this point, but you couldn’t seem to care as the water welcomed you with open arms from the Sun’s heat. Van starts ripping off her shirt as she runs in front of you. She takes the scrunchie out of her hair and haphazardly throws it with her shirt. You start laughing out of happiness, and before you can even think, before the words of your father come to mind, you take off your backpack and throw your luggage with it. You stop at your personal pile, snatch off your shirt, and tug off your bottoms.

Behind you were the girls that ran past you. Their eyes seemed to be engrossed by the view in their way. Many have known you for a long time, some from childhood, and they have never seen your body. Brown, green, and blue eyes are all seen to scan you as the first- and second-year students happily stripped to swim in the lake. The girls didn’t know what to do besides study the curve of your side, the way your body naturally plumped in places. It was beautiful. The way that your back seemed more sensual from this angle of your bending down to put down your shirt, then when you sway your hips side to side to tug the bottoms off of yourself, seemed to make a reaction out of some of them.

Misty, helping bring Coach Ben to the shore, felt a mass tingling at the sight alone. She saved the image in her mind forever. Shauna swimming out with Lottie, Laura Lee, and Van all seemed to lull their splashing as they tried to call to you but were silenced by how your skin looked bare in the sun for a second.

Shauna was breathless and nervous, guilty of what she did and what she felt for Jackie. Now something new came over her for you again. She wanted to bury it like she buried her feelings for Jackie. Shauna looks away quickly.

Lottie studied you without shame; she always knew of the pneumatic way your body was shaped and hidden underneath your clothes. However, she was ashamed of herself and didn’t want anyone to see her seeing you like that. She thought they would see she was in love with you with just one look.

As you pass Jackie, Mari, and Natalie, when Travis splashes them with the cold water, saying a blunt, “Travis, no one likes you.” before diving into the cold lake. Natalie scanned down your body. She has always admired you and your kindness, but as you made fun of Travis it made something tug in Natalie’s chest. Nat always knew that if there was a girl she would be with, it was you. She cowardly looks away and talks to Jackie and Mari. Natalie hides in the conversation with them about Travis. How he is hot, Natalie disagrees and wants to say something about you but bites her tongue.

You swim over to Shauna, Lottie, and Van and splash water onto them. Giggling and laughing out of control. You start playing tug of war in the water with Shauna on your shoulders. Shauna sightly squeezes her thighs and muffles your ears, she feels you against her, and she quickly moves to her position like she is adjusting her seat on your shoulders.

You and Van hold eye contact; she smiles at you widely and happily. Her emerald eyes shine back into your (e/c) eyes, and a small conversation is shared without words. It was just a little humor between you two, it made you happy, even when you and Shauna were pushed back into the water. Van is laughing and loving spending time with you but is happier that she won. Vanessa and Taissa share a look together, as Taissa rebraids Akilah’s hair. For a long time, they had been together, and for a long time, you seemed to be the only subject the two seemed to avoid speaking about. But when Van looks over to Taissa, who was checking you out just as much as Van was, the two seem to realize something at that moment.

You swim away with Lottie after everyone gets tired from playing. You two just float lazily in the water, holding hands. You feel relaxed for the first time in days, and the neck pain subsides. Lottie lets go of your hand to swim slightly off, but she stops. Standing on the sand with her toes buried into it to stand firm as she watched something in the distance, you stood yourself and saw a shining reflection of something in the trees.

“Guys!” Lottie shouts. She points with a wary smile, “Look.”

Everyone sees what you see. It’s a cabin up the hill to the left. It felt like some kind of prayer was answered this morning. It makes you smile and laugh manically as you quickly swam back to the shore. The others follow behind you with hope racing through them. You tell everyone as they are on shore.

“Okay, we found something up that hill. It’s some kind of reflections of a window. So, injured, rest here, and we will check it out and see if it is okay to go into. Misty, Uh, honestly, Anyone who isn’t a senior, stay here with the injured and rest. Senior Yellowjackets, Let’s check this place out!” You say excitedly and tell the girls, “We’ll come get you as soon as we know it is safe to go in there.”

“Girls, be careful.” Coach Ben says to you guys as you start running away. He doesn’t care much at the moment was you all run off, he is lost in his own head.

You and the others start running up the hill with your shoes wet from the lake and your clothes sticking to your body from the water. You and the other seniors rush up the incline to what could be the only break you have found in these dense woods.

‘21

As you expected, you were arrested shortly after when Natalie smashed the window of Travis's front door when you got there. It felt wrong going into his home unannounced, let alone breaking in, after not seeing him in decades. Misty was being a little detective and Natalie looked a little emotional looking over her old best friends things. You were out of place, you and Travis have no connection outside of the crash.  It felt like how it did many times out there in the woods, a dulling and distance that you built to cope with the horrors out there. But, it never left you after you were saved. You felt this way sometimes when you get too stressed or sad. You‘re on autopilot and you don't act out of character, even when you are fully checked out. When you check back in after your adrenaline dies down, you were sitting next to Misty and still talking. Misty was talking about her bird, Caligula, and how because he is a Hyacinth Macaw that he couldn't eat most bird seed.  Natalie was out taking her first call. 

“How is your dad doing?” Misty asked next to you. “I heard you put him in a nursing home.”

“Yeah, He started needing medication a lot and constant care. But he is still doing good for a 89 year old.”

Misty nods, “He is a good guy. He always helped me with my car when I came over.”

“I mean, how could he be not friendly to you? You were the one to come over to see his weird daughter.”

“You weren’t weird!” Misty protested and turned to look at you. Her ashy blonde curls bounced. “You were so cool! I came over every night!”

You chuckle, and you bump shoulders with Misty. You say to her, “We were weird together. Thank you for being my friend back then.”

“I am still your friend.”

“I know. I want to be close again.” You confess to her as you look into her brown eyes. She is flustered, and you can tell, “You have no idea how much I missed you in New York, Misty. I didn’t have my friend-” You stop yourself from getting emotional. You remember leaving for NYU in 2002 and how you had to leave your home.

“I-I would like that too.”

“You remember when you fed me soup after my neck surgery?”

Misty chuckled, fixing her glasses, “You spit soup on me.” She laughed.

“You made me laugh!” You giggle at her and lean on her shoulder again. Your neck aches slightly from the angle, but it didn’t hurt like when you were younger.

“Alright, Misty Quigley, you have your phone call.” The police officer cut into the conversation and held Natalie by the arm as he walked her back into the cell. Misty left, and You were left with Natalie.

You feel yourself come back to your body when you realize you will be alone with Natalie again, and right now doesn’t seem like a good time to be chatty.

“I don’t try to be a bomb, you know.” Natalie said to you randomly as she leaned against the wall. She is finally talking about what you said in the car. 

There is a moment you don’t know what to say. You didn’t even know if this is still real anymore. You simply say, “I know you don’t, Nat.”

“You were right. I shouldn’t have given Misty enough to follow me so you and her didn’t have to be in all this mess.”

You look at her with more softness than you want to. You felt a tenderness to the sound of her voice still. After all this time, Natalie still had her way with words to make you miss who she once was. Primal and passionate, with no fear except death. A free time and a time that seemed to linger in the words you spoke together. The roles you played never left your head, even as you saved yourselves in your own ways, and it still lingered in the way you talk together. 

“Uh, I don’t mind.” You joke as you smile at her, trying to make things better. You don’t know why she left you alone that night years ago, and you didn’t even want to know. You want her to be okay. “I would rather be here with you than you be alone.”

Natalie scoffs softly to herself and looks at her shoes, “Don’t say that.”

“Why?”

“You shouldn’t be here. You, out of everyone, don’t need to be here… I'm sorry.”

“All forgiven if you get us out of here.” You say and look over to the cops that work at their desks. You know you should be mad, even vengeful, but you couldn’t bring yourself to feel any of that. “I haven’t lived in a while. I have been a hermit for the last 20 years. This doesn’t hurt me too much.”

“All forgiven?” Natalie raised an eyebrow. She looks at you sharply at your choice of words. It seemed to hit something inside of her that she didn’t want to have poked.

“I-I didn’t mean-”

“We’re not there anymore, (Y/n). You don’t have the power to forgive anything. Or anyone.” Natalie said as she felt the need to remind you of your own part in the past. As someone who was ashamed and scared but always forgave others. You made them feel forgiven for something more significant. But you didn’t have the power. You never did. You can’t forgive the sins you all have done.

It eats you whole.

“You’re right. You’re not forgiven, Natalie.” You chided as if you had no control over your tone and words. It felt exposing to have her see through you and see you still holding onto the comfort in your old power. The power in who you thought you were when you 18, with the powers that you all thought you found in the mountains, that had never truly left you. But you know she hasn't let go of the past too. “I don’t have the power to do so, but you have wronged me like many others. You can’t make my forgiveness anything more than it is, You already did that, and it didn’t take you that far, don’t make me your scapegoat again.”

Natalie scoffed as Misty came back with a smile with the same police officer. “Looks like it’s your lucky day. Someone posted your bail.”

You didn’t even feel real. You weren’t supposed to be here.

‘96

Your feet are numb as you try to run stiffly beside the other seniors to the cabin up the hill. The only sign of human hands that have ever touched these woods for what seemed to be thousands of miles. As you all rush to the wooden door, you start screaming, whining, moaning, crying for anyone there to help.

“HELP! HELLO! WE NEED HELP! ANYONE HOME?!” you yell to the cabin. You and Jackie work on the door. You look behind you and see Lottie looking on with horror at the cabin, scared of it.

You and Jackie overpower the door to open with teamwork, and your weight on it. It opens to old dusty decorations and furniture laid out in the space like it was once a home of some kind as you cautiously entered the home.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” Jackie called out into the home.

“Maybe they just went on a hike?” Mari asked behind you, walking further into the home.

“Yeah, like a decade ago.” Jackie sassed. “It reeks in here.”

Cobwebs and a sour smell you couldn’t place lingered in the home. It smelt like old antiques and some kind of leather. The rotten smell of wood or meat from long ago stained the atmosphere. It was creepy and old, with bones of deer on the mantle placed above the fireplace.

“You two, look in the Pantry for any food. Everyone else, look around for stuff we can use,” Taissa says to the girls in the cabin; Travis walks in from the door. “First aid, Flashlights, tools.”

Jackie walks out with a can of beans in her hand. She starts to open it as she walks into the living room. “What the hell? Jackie, that’s not your personal buffet.”

Jackie stills and gags, dropping the rotten beans onto the floor. They shined with a green hue that made you want to gag yourself. “See, this is why we should’ve stayed in the plane!” She snaps to you.

You look at her wide-eyed and say, “Yeah, well, we didn’t. We all decided to leave. A can of rotten beans is why we should have never found the cabin?”

“This is a fucking nightmare.” Jackie storms out of the house with a stomp with every step. She is not having any of this.

You and Shauna share a look, urging her to go follow Jackie. Somethings never ends, like you two always having to comfort jackie after she freaks out. 

From the back of the kitchen, Van calls out to the group with a massive pile of Playboy Magazines before slamming them down onto the dusty kitchen table. Dust flies into the air like smoke from a fire. “Well, hello.” Van comedically calls, “Don’t worry, guys. We might be stuck in the middle of nowhere, but there’s porn.”

You giggle and walk over to the magazines, seeing tits and thin women posing on pages. Not your thing, but seeing boobs and the female form that wasn’t your friends was excellent. “Nice tits.” You say as you scan the pages of the old 1968 issue of Playboy.

“Holy shit,” Mari says as Natalie and Akilah look over Van’s shoulder to view the porn. It was kinda freeing to be so openly entertained by porn with your "normal" friends. The friends don’t feel like their cheeks are burning or that they feel turned on by how some of the girls smile on the paper, but they all seem to like it nonetheless—admiring the beauty of another woman.

Travis looks over, eyeing up what we got, and acts like he is not interested with an unmistakable shine to his eye.

“Hey, this guy kind of looks like you, flex.”

“If only any of you actually looked like her.”

“Well, talking like that is why you are a virgin and will always be a virgin, Travis.” You joke back to him, looking over the pages.

“Do guys, like, actually jerk off to this stuff?” 

“Nah, We-we hate that shit. You know, you can’t even tell what her favorite book is.” Travis lies, trying his best to seem like a sensitive and not meatheaded guy, but at the end of the day he is just some guy who looks boobs. Because you know that you will be touching yourself later to those images, and you don’t doubt he will.

You laugh loudly at his words before he can speak more, or the others can either. You slam the magazine down and wipe a tear that formed from his atrocious acting. Van is trying and failing to hold in her laughs, Mari and Akilah giggling. As you leave them alone, you just snicker, “I’m checking out the pantry.”

You chuckle to yourself as you look around the empty cabinet. In the corner, you find a comforting sight. It was a fishing pole, a fisher box, and two rolls of big fishing line. It looked like something you would find in your dad’s garage. Your dad liked to work in there with his truck. He would handle work at his workbench and play old music on the radio. He fished for a living, always smelt of the sea and cigarettes. The image of your dad sitting on the bench smoking a cigarette as he works on something your mom bought from Goodwill, as he just quietly did his task. Sometimes he would feel you staring at him and let you sit on his lap as he worked, holding his tools, and you just loved sitting against his muscular chest as a kid. You and your dad were best friends when you were little, you were his little helper, and you never were more grateful as you found a food source for everyone. Yeah, the rod is a little rusted and old, but you were sure you could find some oil and something to scrub the rust away.

You, alone, keep looking around the near-empty cabinet, and you notice the stairs that go up to a door for an upper floor. You don’t think much before stepping up the steps, the girls talking and walking around in the other room.

You don’t think much before you put your hand on the old handle of the attic door, and you don’t think much as you open it that it’s empty at first glance. You look to the ceiling as you step up the steps, half your body in the level before you look around the ground, and your eyes stop on a shape in the back of the room.

Your heart stops.

The girls voice sounds like echoes down a few feet from you.

The sweat on your brow dries to a cold sweat.

Your eyes widen as a gasp holds in your throat, your mouth open as a scream is stuck inside you, a hand covering your mouth.

A man's mummified body sits in an old rocking chair with a hunting rifle in his hands. His head was opened from the back, and it was clear as day what his fate was. The man had shot himself in the mouth, and he was never found until you opened that door. The smell of leather and decay was strong in this room. 

It was the fate you felt in your bones that was now yours.

“(Y/n)-” Van says behind you, and you quickly shut the door with a bang, and you turn to look at her. Her lighthearted face drops as she looks at your face. She cringes at the loud sounds of the bang. “(Y/n), What’s wrong?”

“Um, I need to call a meeting.” You rush as you leave the cabinet and grab Van’s firm bicep. She was flexing her arm as she quickly followed you, and you quieted and seemed unable to speak.

“Guys!” Van called for the others as she followed you. You look at the others with a pale face. You felt scared. But you couldn’t let go of the only shelter in the woods. Everyone, worriedly, circles you.

You couldn’t do this anymore.

This is so fucked up. 

Fat tears fill your eyes as you look at each of the seniors, croaking, “There is a dead body in the attic… He killed himself decades ago-”

“What the fuck!” Natalie whispers to herself, completely freaked out.

Jackie says with eyes like saucers, “Are you fucking serious, (Y/n)?!”

A chorus of shock and disgust, and you let your tears fall, but you pull yourself together very quickly. “Okay. Okay.” You start as you wipe a tear with your palm. “The cabin is in fucking great condition for being left alone for so long. It needs little fixes. We need this cabin to survive before the rescue comes and gets us.”

“No, (Y/n), I say no. We’re going back to the plane.”

You feel your patience run thin as you tell your childhood friend, “Jackie, we have no other choice. This is the first shelter we have found here, and you are telling me we shouldn’t sleep somewhere warm and dry at night?”

“No, We shouldn’t sleep in a house with a fucking dead body!”

“I agree! This place has such a bad feeling.” Lottie says.

“No, we need to stay here. This is a fucking home. We need this.” Taissa fought back.

“Okay, Let’s vote. All in favor of staying at the cabin.” You say and raise your hand. You, Travis, Taissa, Van, Laura Lee, and Natalie. The ones against were Jackie, Shauna, Lottie, Mari, and Akilah.

Majority rule.

“We need to do this the right way. We need to bury him.” Laura Lee says to the group. She nods to the cabin and says, “There is a shovel in there.”

“Can you and Van start digging… I don’t one the others to see this. Anyone go tell the others to come if you want, and you can leave to get everything and the stuff at the lake if you don’t want to see this.” You ramble. You knew what you had to do for the group. This is your only chance of survival, and your dad’s voice echoes in your mind.

A dull feeling comes over your neck. It felt like a hand comforting a pain underneath. 

“I need help moving the body. It's ancient…”

“I’ll come,” Taissa says, putting a hand on your shoulder for comfort. You only then realize you are staring a thousand miles away and look at her face.

“Me too.” Shauna jumped in, she comes closer to you and holds your hand.

“Shauna-”

“I’m not letting (Y/n) do it alone, Jackie.” Shauna pleads to Jackie as she comes over to you too. Her warm brown eyes hit your face, and her arm wraps around your waist in a hug.

Jackie, Mari, Lottie, and Travis leave to get the others and everything left behind on the shore of the lake. You soberly enter the house and quickly walk up the stairs to the attic. You confront the sour smell of mummification as you stop at the door to the second level. Taissa and Shauna were behind you, not wanting to do the dirty work that was about to happen.

You take a deep breath as your father's voice comes to your mind.

“You’re not a little girl. You can’t cry anymore.”

Don’t cry.

Don’t cry.

You take another deep breath and ball up your fists. You rush over behind the chair of the corpse.

You push the chair, scraping on the floor, eerily groans in the home. You hold your breath, keeping out the dirty air, as you push it toward the stairs.

Shauna and Taissa gasped like you did when you first seen him as you pushed the chair to the door. Their hands are over their mouths, and they watch in horror as you move infront of the body.

You try to keep your eyes off the body, but you can’t help but glance up at his face.

Empty eye sockets look back into yours. They were burning an unsaid truth of the two of you.

This was your fate if you were never found.

You grab under the arms of the body, and you lift the body with surprising ease. The leathery and weathered skin of the body rubbed against the soft skin of your hand. You felt the epidermis of the skin slide unnaturally from the muscle of the body, it slip with the pressure of your hold. It shook you to your core. You quickly pull the body down as you move down the latter steps. You don’t say a word before Shauna and Taissa grab a limp of the leathery body to help you carry it down. All of you run outside with the very light body.

The skin was flaking off with every step you took.

As you walk outside, Van is working double time, throwing the dirt behind her to make a 4 foot grave. Laura Lee took Van to move as they both, with horror, looked at the three of you carrying the body and laying it gently down into the grave.

As you crouch with the other two, you can’t help but have a sob come out of you as you let go of the body. This was someone. This was a man, a son, maybe a brother, father, or husband. And he is a fucking mummy in the Canadian forest out in the middle of nowhere.

You slump down from your exhausted legs, laying beside the hole in the ground, and cry infront of the other girls. This was all too much. You just wanted to get away from all of this. You get up and try not to touch your face before you can at least put on some hand sanitizer.

You stand still as you try to swallow the tears. You look up into the sky, hoping that all these feelings can get you out of it. The blue sky seemed to urge you to pray to something for help. It worsens as you look up because the fat tears fall down your cheeks.

You look at the other girls as you try to stop your sobs and walk away. You walk behind the cabin and cry into the air as quietly as you can. You never wanted to know how a mummy felt. You wished he never was in there. You wish you were never in these woods. You wish you were home cuddling with your mom in her bed in the living room. You weren’t supposed to be here.

You see Van and Shauna come from the side of the house and turn to see you, both deeply worried and with tears in their eyes.

You welcome Van and Shauna into your arms as they do you. You don’t stop the tears as you cry into Shauna’s shoulder like a little girl again. Vanessa kisses your forehead and says into your ear, “It’s all okay now. He is buried and gone. It’s all okay.”

As the night settled, the tingling inch on your skin didn’t. The girls around you slept, Shauna beside you and Jackie beside her. You slept in the dark corner of the living room of the cabin. It was a very emotionally high day for everyone. From the hike, and happiness of finding the cabin, to the horror of seeing the mummy. You didn't feel like you were really processing anything really afterwards, because you didn't even react when Coach Ben had a freak out and punched Misty in the nose. 

Your hands twist the semi-rusted fishing pole together. It was still in great shape but needed some TLC.  You lined the wheel, put on a bait without the hook, and had the white berries from the morning. You felt hope come over you slightly as it looked familiar and good. You weren’t the best at fishing, but you knew how to do it. “I can do this. We got food and water.” You thought and sighed.

You place the rod against the wall as quietly as possible, not to disturb the others' sleeping. You needed a moment. The air was too thick in there. So stuffy. 

You slip out of the room without a creek and feel the cool spring breeze hit your face. But as you walk around the porch on the other side of the house, you confront the back of Lottie.

“Hey, what are you doing out here. Having a hard time sleeping?” You ask Lottie as you come up behind her. You stand beside her as she crosses her arms and looking into the wilderness. 

Lottie looks at you with manic eyes and says, “I just have a bad feeling about this place.” She whispers to you emotionally. Like she was scared to say anymore. 

“Yeah, it is pretty stinky.” You joke and sigh as you lean against a pillar. “And there are spiders that could eat your face… But it’s our only choice to sleep somewhere warm.”

Lottie isn’t convinced, and you feel slightly annoyed as you sigh, “Lottie, I am not letting you sleep out here for bad vibes. I am sure we can find some stuff in the woods tomorrow to help clean the place of all the bad vibes” 

Lottie looks over to you with her eyes looking unmoved. She doesn’t want to move. 

You approach her and grab her shoulders to look at you, “Lottie, close your eyes.” 

“Why?” 

“Just close your eyes. And take a deep breath of air.” You say, eyes closed, and take a deep breath of air. “Let’s both just ground ourselves for a moment.” 

You hear Lottie take a deep breath with you. And you two do this back and further a few times. 

"Just feel the wilderness with you. It breathes you in as you breath it in." You say and take the finally big breath with her. 

Before you can open your eyes, you feel lips against your own. You open your eyes to see Lottie kiss you with a hand coming up to cup your face. She sucks onto your lip sweetly and leans into your body against the pillar. She quickly pulls back and says, "Sorry-I’m sorry I was so wrong for that-”

“No!” You squeaked, your body feeling hot as she kissed you. You look at her guilty face and think it was a straight girl wanting comfort. You get it. The kiss was nice. “It’s okay. Let’s just act like it never happened, okay? No weird feelings.” 

“No weird feelings,” Lottie says back to you with a smile. The both of you walk back into the new nest the Yellowjackets have claimed as their own. 

‘21

Misty was very tired and wanted to go home before she wouldn’t have any sleep for work the next day. You sweetly told her you understood, and Natalie dropped her off at her cute little house. Misty opens your door with a smile, and she hugs you before you can get your keys out; you close your eyes and hug her back.

“You are leaving me with Natalie.” You whisper into her ear, groaning that you have to spend more time with Natalie when you want to be far away from her.

Misty chuckled and rubbed you back up and down with her tiny hand, a mocking pout as she said, “You’ll be okay for another twenty minutes, honey. You got this.”

You smile, pull back, and say to her as she enters her house. “I got this.”

And as you thought, you didn't have this. The drive with Natalie is at tense as you thought it was as you drove down the drive to Natalie’s hotel. You felt dirty for how you spoke to her. It was so wrong what you said, and you said it because you believed it. Every word you said had venom.

And the worst part is that Natalie isn’t even mad. She is a fuck up. She fucked so many things up, and just because you owe her your life, it didn’t mean how she acted was right. How she acted to you since she knew you have never been fair, and she knew that. She couldn’t help it. She never wanted to see you leave her, so she left you first, and Natalie needed you to stay away from her heart which always seemed to bleed when she saw your beautiful face. You never did make her feel judged. You made Natalie feel checked. And she didn’t want to feel that all the time, but she also knew she needed that now more than ever. She is lost. Travis is gone.

You feel the urge to speak and be honest. For a moment, you see blonde hair in the corner of your eyes and the awkward teenage nervousness with the coolest girl in school. But you knew her. This is your Natalie. You must explain yourself before not seeing her again; You know what is on her mind now that Travis has killed himself.

“I don't think that I have ever really gotten you, Natalie…” You confessed with a prolonged breath. You felt a weight come off you when you just said it plainly to her, and a sadness tugged on your twitching eye. Knuckles white, holding the wheel as you continue in a calmer breath, “You change all the time and I can never get a clear look at who you are. Like if I thought you were a solid, you are actually a gas, but before I can accept that, you become a solid again. I may not be the most accepting, but I have always tried for you. Because the one thing I know about you that never changes is that I love you, and you love me in your own way.” You almost whisper at the end; your eyes peek over to see her staring straight into your face.

Natalie was silent as she watched you, she knew she was that way, especially towards you—her doe. “I’m sorry, (y/n). I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know. I know, Nat. That is why I never closed the door to you.” You say as you pull into the hotel. You wanted to say more and let the years of frustrating confusion and love just come out. But you know better. You know Natalie, and you know yourself. This is as far as it will go. “I told you back then, and I will tell you now, I will always love you."

You look over when you parked and finish what you said, and her face looks like something came over her. Natalie usually was guarded and cagey when she was emotional. But, in this moment of honesty with you, it felt good even though it was not all good. 

You and Natalie were the only reason that the yellowjackets' survived. The pride of it sank from the weight of the price that it was to survive out in those cold woods. The decisions, the projects, and the goals twisted and darkened with the reality that once was. Natalie was your rock as you were hers, but you were more of an island that housed the girls lost at sea with a lighthouse welcoming them with a smile. Natalie always envied that about you, never to admit it, but to be able to comfort the way you do.

The nights Natalie cuddled into your stomach for warmth, how her lips kissed your skin gently with reverence of the world, and how she held your face to have you fed.

You know her best and worst, just as Natalie knew yours.

“I’m sorry,” Natalie whispered, trying her hardest not to let the tears fall.

You felt your nose tingle and your chin quiver as you look over at her, water lining your eyes. You were slightly overwhelmed with emotion, longing for a different ending to your story and mourning the girls that once were you two.

You whisper to her, “I love you… I want you to love yourself to be better. Not just the rehabs and the AAs, but, like, better, Natalie. I had to do that. I was locked in my house for years before I thought about being “normal” again.”

“I have never been normal.” Natalie jabbed as she took off her seatbelt. But she didn’t move from her seat because even she knew this needed to be said.

“No, you are cool. That was better.” You chuckle lightheartedly, trying to ease the weight you feel for her. The regret never fail to get you emotional. Natalie chuckles, and then she starts to cry quietly. “You know I am always there even if we are miles away, okay? I am still the same (Y/n).”

You put your hand to rub her back, and she lets you. She cries in her hands for a few seconds and doesn’t push you away.

“I don’t know what you think of me, and I don’t really care. I need you to know that for me knowing you has been so important to me. Thank you for being exactly who you were and are, Natalie Scatorccio."

Suddenly, like she remembered why she was there, she opened the door and left the car coldly, without a word.

You take a deep breath, close your eyes, and nod at the behavior. You love her but can’t help; she wouldn’t let you. It’s a lost love for a good reason. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t fucking break your heart. You take another breath and tell her, even though she can’t hear you, “It’s okay. I get it, Natalie.” 

You pull out of the parking lot and don’t want to be on the road anymore. And you drive to the closest place you know and park in front of their house like you usually do.

You knock on the door politely and feel yourself mask the sadness until you can talk about it better. You look at your old watch, the handy-down watch your dad gave you on your 30th birthday; seeing it was 10:30 pm, you sigh when you hear the footsteps at the door.

Warm brown eyes look into yours, and your lower lip quivers slightly.

“Hey, Stinky.”

“Hey, Smelly.” You smile and lead forward to Shauna, Hugging her deeply.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were coming tomorrow? Callie is at Ashley’s, and Jeff is “at work” and-”

“I just wanted to see you.” You sniffled and pulled back, giving her a tight-lipped smile, “Coffee?”

“Fuck yeah, let's have some coffee.” Shauna smiled, pulling you into having your weekly gossip and venting session with her best friend early.

As your body walks into Shauna’s home, someone watches the back of your head as you enter the house. Their eyes looked onto the back of your body. She remembers you, thinks about you often, on that day at the lake, and how you swam beside them and laughed. You tried your most challenging at that time, and she remembered how beautiful you were when you became someone who saved everyone. You were a crucial part of her survival, the whole pack's survival. She leaned against the white leather seats of the van, and she lit a cigarette as she watched you do your weekly routine with Shauna. Her fingers rub the leather wheel of the car, and her knuckles are white as she holds in something darker that has plagued the last 25 years. She was fucked up, and she knew it. She wanted to own you. She would be lost without you to ground her, to reassure her of reality and what it meant to be free now. The urge to go out of the car and try to get you back, pull into the car to keep you once again. She says softly, with her eyes blinking uncontrollably, “Goodnight, (y/n), Goodnight.” they then start the black van and drives out of the suburb.

#yellowjackets #yellowjackets x reader #lesbian #taissa turner #taissa turner x reader #shauna shipmen #dark! yellowjackets #shauna shipman x reader #lottie mathews #lottie mathews x reader #van palmer #van palmer x reader #vanessa palmer #vanessa palmer x reader #misty quigley #misty quigley x reader #natalie scatorccio #natalie scatorccio x reader #yandere! yellowjackets #yellowjackets fanfic #A certain hunger series

[skippyv20]

I agree with dflogerzi that Charles is not fit to be king and that william has been treated badly. Actually very very badly.

Harry should have been dealt with once he started this nonsense, then rounding of with the scobie book, while having the audacity to call their children prince and princess, change their website name and surname, while Charles turns away as the world watches in astonishment.

I think William has truly had enough of this fiasco.

Hang tight William, we got your back. You have more fans than the loud mouth Sussex idiots.

The BRF are not supposed to have fans….this is one of the problems.  “Fans” is for celebrities….they are not that.  I don’t know what the King should do….he has stated the Sandrigham orders are still in effect.  The BRF have disassociated from them, it is so obvious.  As for the rest, perhaps after KC has finished with his treatments he will do more….😔

#Ask Skippy #submission

[socksandbuttons]

i love ur bloodmoon thoughts sm and i agree with all of them ‼️‼️

they squandered his character sm and theres barely been any development since he got brought back to life… especially on the KC side. id love to see how youd rewrite it tbh- or if you want feel free to just use this ask as a bloodmoon thoughts dump

ALRIGHT SO We can run along with bm2 But also them going 'no their NOT the original thus we dont need to think about their charascter' as they seemingly established a bit with that but also not? Like that kinda furthers BM's whole arc of being treated like a murder machine (he was LITERALLY rebuilt for that, nothing more than tool!), and yet instead of USING THAT (which like.... we kinda got a bit of that with Eclipse, no i wont get into that.) they go 'HMNNN no, we dont wanna develop this further hes just villain' LIKE. SURE. ALRIGHT. BUT... YOU LITERALLY HAD SO MANY SET UPS WITH LIKE... His weird attachment to monty that one TIME yknow the 'hes my dad!' even tho hes not and its very debatable with Eclipse and KC depending how you wanna go about it (In terms of WHO made bloodmoon its Eclipse whos derived from KC and Moon and SUN.) Where was I YEAH HIS THEME OF NO ONE IS FAMILY BUT BLOODMOON. Only THEY understand that theyre not a tool or worthless! (Yknow just completely missing a way to use their codependence to help further their own coping of SEVERAL THINGS.) Yet he still STILL seeked out and called KC father, he still somewhat has thoughts on family. He's going after EARTH who's just vibin' trying to be accepting, even jealous of LUNAR for 1) being brought back and two) survived Eclipse and lives happily (sorta) and while begrudgingly i must say forgot bloodmoon. (WHICH LIKE. THATS THEIR OWN FAULT FOR NOT DRAGGING LUNAR INTO THAT PLOT EVEN THO HE HAD ALL THIS BLOODMOON INFO DURING THAT WHOLE THING. not used it ONCE. they purposely left lunar out of that and thats annoying. chaos sibligns 4 lyfe) Anyway you COULD so still use that in regards to Sun trying to reach out to them ('I wouldve loved another brother' will forever be brought up. also literally in the same convo sun does admit hed kill em again but WE'RE FOCUSING ON THE FAMILY PART GUYS) I'd have to scrap some like... lets see here.... UmMM i CAN use the attacking lunar thing still. Cause whole jealous thing they didnt understnad their own thoughtS (THEY THOUGHT MONTY WAS THEIR PARENT WHICH LIKE??? a stretch honestly. cmon we know this. theyre definitely making their own excuses) iDK ABOUT attacking earth, cause by that point everyone is kinda dead set on murdering them its actually pretty bad by that point unless KC comes back jesus style and goes 'NO. I'll handle this' proceeds to drag bloodmoon off into the desert for family bonding time (and rehabilitation.) Which he wont but we also gotta remember Bloodmoon is deliberately being used a scapegoat (despite yknow... he did DO all that by his volition still like he WOULD NOT have gone after kc like that if not for ruin going 'hey u wanna see ur dad who totoally didnt care for ur ass' or 'you should totally go kill a bunch of people. and then threaten lunar and earth BUT WAIT no killing ill shock u!' im losing focus but THEY WERE... sort of going somewhere with Bloodmoon not wanting to be a tool. AND having solar interfere (I still hate that whole 'he reminds me of my moon thus he must die'. Retcons... everywhere. Remember when he wanted to save his moon?? yeah? cool cause ill never forget that actually.) KC dying actually WOULDNT have been so bad (aside the... suddenly being an ass about it. But he was direct to bloodmoon about 'BRUH UR BEING USED.' and them never actually... bringing that up too much) angering BM enough to kill KC is actually pretty solid way to use the whole 'Bm not satisfied with Killing' as a very direct way KC's words last on BM especially BM's whole unstable emotions of NOT understanding the feelings theyre going through because of that other than anger (denial, grief, confusion and conflict of how Hurt that mustve been they wanted more family) oh this is getting long and im losing focus.

#anyway. love the idea that u could USE the fact theyre not the original as a whole them coping with their emotions 'we are better!' but like #hes got more trauma than the og by this point #already IMPLANTED the moment they were made #sams bloodmoon #ill... we'll come back eventually

[glade-constellation]

I was thinking about the narrative implications of Eclipse and KC both being from the kill code a couple of days ago.

When KC first shows up as his own character, both he and Eclipse mention the fact that they are both kill codes. They are, theoretically, the same exact thing. Eclipse was made when Moon tried to rip the kill code out of his head, and KC was rebuilt from the leftovers that Moon couldn’t get rid off. KC called Eclipse his son, but in all honesty, that’s technically incorrect. They would have been more like twins.

Anyways, relations aside, Eclipse and Killcode were the same thing. The biggest difference between them, the thing that started KC’s redemption arc? He was shown kindness. Just pure, simple kindness, from someone he technically barely knew.

A lot of people like to say Eclipse was shown kindness when he first showed up. Once again, loud incorrect buzzer noises. He was trapped in the back of Sun’s head for 10 months, if this was calculated correctly. Nearly a year of stewing in abandonment, neglect, and torment. Sun and Moon did try to offer help once Eclipse made himself know, Moon offering a new body and Sun offering friendship, but there wasn’t much else. A new body wasn’t going to help, he felt Moon had his body. And Eclipse was too hurt to take the offer of friendship. Plus, he probably felt like it was given just to pacify him for a time, so they could figure out a permanent way to get rid of him behind his back. It does not matter if they unknowingly did it, they both hurt Eclipse in terrible ways. His trust issues are through the roof. In his mind, either what they offered simply wasn’t enough to excuse their actions, or they were handing him a ticking time bomb.

So no. To Eclipse, he was never offered kindness.

But here’s Killcode. Glamrock Freddy may have thought he was talking to Moon, but he was being kind. There was no reason for Freddy to be kind to KC, and yet he was. He showed him how much Moon, and KC inadvertently, was still loved by the children he used to care for. That one little interaction helped KC see good.

We already know Solar is meant to both parallel and contrast Eclipse. He’s supposed to show what Eclipse could have been had Sun found him sooner. But he isn’t the only one. Killcode was also a very strong parallel to Eclipse, and showed Eclipse’s potential had kindness been given sooner.

I feel like I keep repeating this over and over in this post, but it’s literally all Eclipse needed. One moment of compassion that he would be able to understand underneath all his hurt and paranoia. He’d probably latch on to that person like a leech without even understanding why he’s doing it. Having some sort of mediator between Eclipse and Sun and Moon would have been a huge help too.

He just needs someone to care about him.

#🌟 Ten Talks #tsams #sams #the sun and moon show #sun and moon show #tsams eclipse #tsams killcode

[morningstargirl666]

what are your top ten favorite klaroline fics?

Ooooo let me think... in no particular order:

The Lost Prince & The Eternal Queen by @3tinkgemini /3tingemini

Oh this is a beloved favourite. Caroline's a werewolf alpha and Klaus, fresh from breaking his curse, searches her pack out to turn them into hybrids. Instead of forces them to turn, Caroline makes a deal with him, teaching him what it means to be who they are, offering him a place in her pack and if by a certain amount of time her pack want to become hybrids, he may turn as many as he wishes. It's got some great lore and delves nicely into Klaus' werewolf side. I adore it.

The Stubborn Grace of Being Loved Regardless by @helpless-in-sleep / perfectpro

Also an all-time favourite, this fic is beautiful. Caroline isn't turned into a vampire and when Klaus rolls into town, she's still human. That doesn't deter his affections. AND DID I MENTION YOU GET TO SEE HIM IN WOLF FORM? NO? WELL YOU DO AND I AM STILL NOT OVER IT 😭😭😭

Wisteria by @little-miss-sunny-daisy / sunnydaisy

Caroline meets Klaus before he comes to Mystic Falls, without realising he is in fact, The Klaus, The Original Hybrid. A beautiful love story unfolds that leaves you all soft and gooey inside.

The Howling by @bellemorte180 / BelleMorte180

I LOVE the idea of this two-shot. It's a werewolf mate au - wherein both Klaus and Caroline are werewolves. There's also ✨Damon murder✨ Need I say more?

From The Eastern Mountains by @cupcakemolotov / Cupcakemolotov

Read this not too long ago actually and kicked myself for not finding it sooner. In between grieving her mother, travelling and finding her own place in the world, Caroline keeps bumping into Klaus. The scene at the market haS changed me on a fundamental level, i even don't know why that scene's the most vivid for me but it is. There's just something so mundane about it. AND HELL YES WE GET KLAUS IN WOLF FORM!!! Go forth and read.

Their Nightly Ritual by bellamywinchester

A fic from my ffnet days, this has got to be a contender for my favourite kc fic of all time. Again, there's just something so mundane about it, even with all the supernatural shenanigans - I guess I have a type? I NEED THE DOMESTICITY OKAY? Caroline and Klaus exchange phone calls while she's in college, diverging from season 5 canon.

Blood and A Quick Murder (and isn't that how it always is?) by @ks-caster / KS_Caster

A beautiful character study on how Caroline will always come first in Klaus' books. It explores a really unique idea I've never seen before, and if you like this one-shot you should definitely check out ks-caster's Red Queen series too, which diverges from canon at season 4.

Till I Tasted You by @kirythestitchwitch / KiryTheStitchWitch

GOD this fic is a favourite because never have I ever been ruined so severely by one line of dialogue: “As if I could be jealous of a boy who has no concept of what it is like to touch the sun and then spend a millennium looking for daylight in every strangers’ face.” YOU SEE??? HOW WILL I FIND LOVE NOW THIS IS MY STANDARD???

[muffled screaming]

Wicked Schemes by willowaus

This one is probably on every klaroline rec list, but eh, I don't care. It's a good classic. I love that its set in New Orleans and Caroline gets her own powers. It also has Klaus in wolf form and any fic that has that instantly earns my seal of approval, as you should know by now.

the fate makes for a lousy poet by @stars-and-darkness / for_darkness_shows_the_stars

I binged this in a morning and after I finished it I was left shell shocked, in that high state after a fic has completely changed you on a spiritual level where you don't know how to move on with your life. I just remember lying atop my bed and staring at the ceiling like??? What do I do now??? What was I doing before I read this??? Fuck if I know. It's an amazing fic, canon divergent from season 3, a tattoo soulmate au with brilliant appearances from Kol, Elijah and Rebekah as well. And hey, in my shell shock after reading it I left an essay-length comment on the fic and now I'm best mates with the author. Our tastes literally align so perfectly it's like we share the same brain cell, so I could probably make a top ten klaroline fic list out of Ella's fics alone - every fic of hers takes all my hopes and dreams and weaves them into art. So check her stuff out, and not just the popular ones either (she's also got an amnesia au in the works which has me FERAL so come help me pester her to finish it)

#klaroline #klaus x caroline #fanfiction #klaroline fanfiction #fic recs #fic rec #fanfic recs #caroline forbes #klaus mikaelson #anon ask

[sourwolf-sterek32]

Broken Without You

Summary: After witnessing the death of your best friend Henry and his little brother, you're close to giving up and ending it all. Until Joel asks you to join him and Ellie on their journey across the country and gives you a reason to keep fighting.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: language, blood, suicidal thoughts

Previous Chapter

Chapter 4-

"His brother might be in Wyoming, that's why we're going there." Ellie randomly said, breaking the silence.

The three of you followed the old freeway north of Kansas City, putting as much distance between you and the horde of infected that were no doubt taking over what used to be the QZ.

"Ellie." Joel hissed, shooting her a warning look.

"What? It's not a secret."

Joel looked like he wanted to argue that statement, but kept his mouth shut. You looked between the two of them, but Ellie simply rolled her eyes at the man before you focused back on the scenery around you.

The just-risen sun shone softly on the green pastures either side of the road, bringing with it the melody of birds chirping. It was a beautiful morning, and you hated it. It shouldn't be beautiful, not after what happened in KC. In the movies it was always dark and miserable outside when people were grieving, but in real life? Mother Nature didn't give a shit about your feelings.

The bright shining sun felt like a punch to the face, so you looked away, staring at your feet as you walked.

"We don't know where exactly in Wyoming he is. Last Joel heard, Tommy was somewhere in that state, but then he lost radio contact." Ellie continued to ramble.

"Wyoming is a big place." You pointed out, glancing over at the girl. "Have you tried to contact him on the radio recently?"

Ellie looked over at Joel for an answer, but he seemed to be actively ignoring your conversation while he walked a few paces ahead.

"Joel?" Ellie called out, awaiting an answer. "Don't act like you're not listening to everything we've said."

Joel sighed, "I don't have a radio to try contact him on."

He didn't bother turning to look at you as he spoke, instead he kept his head straight while he walked, and Ellie opened her mouth to probably say something sarcastic before you spoke up.

"What if I took you to a radio tower?"

Joel stopped dead in his tracks. You and Ellie nearly walked straight into him, not expecting him to come to a sudden halt. He turned to face you properly, his brown eyes locking with yours.

"You can get me to a radio tower?" He asked in shock, and you nodded. "How?"

"FEDRA have a radio tower between KC and Omaha. Last I heard, it was still up and running."

Joel frowned, "how do you know FEDRA have a radio tower there?"

"It was common knowledge back in KC." You easily lied.

Joel eyed you cautiously, almost as if he could somehow sense you weren't telling the truth. He kept his expression blank and for a few seconds you feared he had figured it out, but then he was simply nodding before he continued walking.

The last thing you wanted was for Joel to find out who you really were. If he did, he would take Ellie and leave. He wouldn't let you stay with them, and to your own surprise, you found yourself wanting to stay with them.

Earlier, you were happy for them to leave you behind, but you're glad that Ellie came back for you because if she didn't, there was no doubt that you would be dead by now. Whether it be by your own hand or not was still up for debate.

The single bullet in your jeans pocket felt warm as you thought about it. Joels words from earlier this morning ringing through your ears.

'…if you plan on using that thing, I ain’t gonna stop ya. I get it… but just think about that kid over there. She’s already lost enough.'

You weren't sure how you felt about his words. But every time you thought about Henry and Sam, the more you wished you could be with them again. Just one shot and all your pain and suffering would be gone.

It was tempting, but you'd never do that in front of Ellie or Joel.

You'd never put them in that position, especially after Henry did it to you.

-

By late afternoon the following day, you were walking through the main street of town towards the radio tower looming high in the sky on the far side of the suburbs.

The weather had done a full 360, almost as if Mother Nature had heard your thoughts from earlier. The sun had been hidden behind the stormy clouds since you woke up and it had been raining steadily for the last three hours.

Your hair was drenched, and clothes soaked through completely. Ellie had her hoodie up, but it didn't do much to stop the rain and Joel wasn't faring any better, although the leather of his jacket was probably doing a decent job at keeping the water out compared to your flannel shirt.

"What is this?" Ellie suddenly questioned, pointing at a vehicle to your left.

You looked to where she was pointing to find a very old and faded ice cream truck parked beside the curb. Wait, had Ellie never seen an ice cream truck before?

"That is an ice cream truck." You answered watching her brows furrow in confusion.

"An ice cream truck?"

"Yeah. I don't remember a lot from before the outbreak, I was just a kid, but this..." You said, stopping beside the truck. "Oh, I remember this. They'd sell ice cream out of these bad boys."

"What? No way." She said, shaking her head in disbelief before glancing over at Joel for backup. "Joel?"

"It's true." He admitted, sparing a quick glance at you before focusing on the truck and if you weren't mistaken, there was a slight twitch to his lips as if he was fighting back a smile. "This thing used to drive around and play real loud creepy music and kids would come running out to buy ice cream."

Well, when he worded it like that it sounded super weird, but it was true.

"You're totally fucking with me."

"Um-mm serious."

"Man, you lived in a strange time." Ellie said, staring at the truck like it was a spaceship.

You smiled softly watching her before a thought hit you hard.

If Ellie didn't know what an ice cream truck was, that meant Sam never knew what one was either. There was so much about the old and the new world Sam never knew after a lifetime inside the KC QZ. Walking around in some random small town and seeing things like ice cream trucks and never-ending green pastures would be like Disney Land for him. But he wasn't here to see it.

"Let's keep moving. This rain isn't going to stop anytime soon." You instructed, looking away from the truck abruptly before you turned and marched on towards the tower.

If Joel or Ellie noticed your sudden change in demeanour, they didn't comment on it and instead silently followed as you led them in the direction of the tower.

It wasn't long before you were opening the door to the small shed next to the radio tower. There was a spare key hidden under a brick around the back, but like hell you were going to use that. Joel was a lot of things, but he wasn't stupid. He'd put two and two together. So, you used a crowbar that you grabbed earlier while you walked past the hundreds of abandoned cars in the neighbourhood knowing you'd need it for this moment.

You stepped inside first, the crowbar clutched in your hands tightly as you scanned the small room for any infected, but other than a few spiderwebs there wasn't anything in there. It had been a long time since you were last here. So, you hoped that the radio was still in working condition.

Joel and Ellie followed you inside and looked around while you went straight to the front desk and flicked on the switch for the radio, hoping, praying that the little green light would turn on.

A few seconds ticked by, but the light wouldn't turn on. The old radio had finally died.

"Shit." You cursed softly under your breath, flicking the switch a few times just to be sure, but it wouldn't work.

Joel appeared beside you, his eyes scanning the radio before he leant forward and began fiddling with the wires at the back of it. You stood back, giving him room to work before you glanced over at Ellie who was standing by the window and looking up at the tall radio tower beside the shed.

"Imagine the view from up there." She whispered, her eyes wide and full of curiosity.

"Got it." Joel suddenly said, bringing your attention back to him to find the little green light by the power switch was now shining brightly.

"Thank God."

You stepped forward and began scanning the frequency channels searching for any radio chatter out of habit more than anything. Back when the KC FEDRA was still up and running, the channels were full of people talking and relaying information. It was kind of eerie hearing the radio so silent.

"What channel did you used to talk to your brother on?" You asked, glancing over at Joel.

He opened his mouth to answer but didn't get a chance before Ellie suddenly cut him off.

"Uh, guys? There's a group of people with guns heading this way."

You had never moved so fast in your entire life. You ripped open the top draw of the desk and grabbed the pair of binoculars that you knew were inside, hoping Joel was too distracted to wonder how you knew it was there.

Raising the binoculars to your eyes, you looked out the window Ellie was standing by, and your stomach dropped in realisation.

They were survivors from Kathleen's resistance group.

You couldn't recognise most of them, but the woman leading the way was one of Kathleen's best friends. Shit. They must be here for the radio tower as well. How the hell did they even survive that horde of infected back in KC?

"We need to leave." You quickly ordered.

"Who are they?" Joel questioned sternly, catching onto the fact that you had recognised them.

"No one good. C'mon, there's a back door."

Joel and Ellie followed you without hesitation, the three of you rushing out the back door and running down the street in the opposite direction. Rain continued to pour down from the sky above you, but you didn't even notice.

"They're getting away!" A voice yelled in the distance before gunshots suddenly erupted from behind you.

"This way!" You shouted above the gunfire, ducking down between two houses and out the line of fire.

The three of you ran along the outside wall of the house before popping out onto a different street. You scanned left and right trying to get your bearings before you took off running across the street towards a small alleyway.

"Do you know where you're goin'?" Joel questioned, breathing heavily as you crouched down behind a large dumpster in the alleyway and he did the same, pulling Ellie down beside him.

"We can't go south, that’s where they are. So, that’s out the question, but all other roads out of town lead to the same place, the bridge."

"The bridge? Like a freeway bridge?" Ellie asked in confusion.

You shook your head, "no. A bridge over a river. If we can cross the bridge then we can disappear into the woods on the other side. They'll never be able to find us in there after dark."

You glanced up at the sky as you spoke, taking in the dark clouds. The sun was nowhere to be seen, but you knew it had to be close to setting which meant it would be getting dark soon and the woods would provide the perfect cover.

"If all other roads out of town lead to this bridge, wouldn't they know that's where we're heading?" Joel questioned, and, shit. He was right.

Kathleen's resistance group was smart. They had to be smart if they somehow escaped that horde of infected. Joel was right. They'd know exactly where you were heading. What were you meant to do?

"We should double back. C'mon." Joel muttered, grabbing Ellie's hand and leading her back out the alley before you could stop him.

Damnit.

You had no choice but to follow, however just as Joel stepped out onto the street, a car suddenly sped around the corner, and he was hurriedly backtracking and ducking behind the dumpster once again.

The car came speeding down the street, and you quickly knelt down beside Joel, peeking out from behind the dumpster just as the car pulled over and four men with guns jumped out.

"I saw them. They're around here somewhere. Search the buildings!"

The three of you remained hidden as the men all dispersed and began sweeping the streets and buildings trying to locate you.

"Anyone else got any other bad ideas?" Ellie questioned, a hint of amusement in her tone causing Joel to glare at her.

"Just one." You muttered, taking a deep breath before you took off sprinting.

The only way Joel and Ellie were getting to the bridge was if the resistance were distracted. If they were distracted, they wouldn't go to the bridge and then Ellie and Joel would have a clear shot out.

Joel shouted your name, but you ignored him as you ran straight to the car and jumped into the driver's seat, relieved that the keys were still in the ignition. Rookie mistake.

You turned the key, bringing the car to life with a roar before you revved the engine trying to draw the resistance attention towards you. Joel and Ellie were still hidden behind the dumpster, but you could see them watching you before bullets suddenly sprayed into the side of the car.

"Time to go." You said to yourself, pushing the gear stick into drive before you put your foot down on the gas and sped off.

You could see the men running after you through the revision mirror as you drove in the opposite direction of the bridge. Gunfire rained down on the car, smashing the back window behind you.

You managed to get a few streets away before the tyres got shot out and the next thing you knew, the hood of the car was slamming into the light post on the side of the road.

The airbags went off instantly, hitting your face harder than you thought they would. Pain blossomed across your nose, and you could feel something wet trickling down your chin. You didn't need to lick your lips to know that your nose was bleeding.

"Son of a bitch." You winced, pushing the already deflating airbag down.

The hood of the car was bent up so high from the impact that you could no longer see through the front windshield, but it didn't matter because the car was dead now anyway.

Suddenly, your car door swung open, and you were met by the barrel of a gun.

Your fingers twitched, itching to reach for the rifle that was looped over your shoulder with the gun strap, but you knew that would be pointless. So, you simply closed your eyes and leant your head back against the head rest and waited for the person to pull the trigger.

Joel and Ellie were probably at the bridge by now, they would be safe, and now you got to be with Henry and Sam again. It would all be okay.

"Hold your fire!"

You opened your eyes in confusion just as the man standing in front of you stepped to the side and Kathleen’s best friend appeared behind him.

Of course, it was her. Kathleen was dead, almost all the resistance was dead, but of course this woman survived and of course she found you. Fucking typical.

She didn't say anything, instead she leant down and grabbed your arm, hauling you out of the car with more strength than you thought she had. She shoved you down onto the road and your knees hit the bitumen, hard.

The gun strap was yanked off your shoulder, your rifle falling to the ground a few metres away before Kathleen’s best friend stepped in front of you. You couldn't even remember this woman’s name, but it didn't matter, not anymore.

You glanced around, noting three men standing off to the side with handguns strapped to their thighs.

"I am so glad we both survived that horde, so I can do this." She said, drawing her pistol from her holster.

"Just kill me and get it over with." You sighed, tilting your head up towards her.

She eyed you for a second before shaking her head and holstering her pistol.

"Don't worry, I will kill you. Just not yet. I want to capture your friends first."

Your heart stopped at her words.

No. Joel and Ellie were meant to be safe. That was the whole point of you distracting the resistance so that they would be safe.

"They're not part of this. They're just random innocent people-"

"No one who's friends with a FEDRA soldier are innocent." She snapped, nostrils flaring as she glared down at you. "My men are already hunting them down as we speak."

Shit.

-

Next Chapter 

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MASTERLIST pinned to profile 

Commissions open! Link in bio & DM for enquiries 

A/N- This chapter and the next are inspired by a certain 'bridge' scene in the video game, but the rest of this story will be more based on the show (yes, I know the show is based on the game, but I'm basing this fic more from the show)

Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying this story! I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments ❤️

#joel miller #joel miller series #joel miller x reader #joel miller fanfiction #joel the last of us #tlou #the last of us #the last of us fanfiction #Pedro Pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction

[galvanizedfriend]

what are your top ten favorite klaroline fics?

Hello, nonnie! I see your asks have made the rounds. Really nice to see lots of rec lists circulating!

I had to give this a thought. It's very hard to come up with just 10. I could easily do a part II. 😂 But without further ado, and in no particular order, 10 of my favorite KC fics:

. The Parisian Deal by Borzoi

I honestly vary between The Parisian Deal and Paradise Lost as my favorite Borzoi fics. It depends. I think I'm in my Parisian Deal era, though. I've recced this a few times over the last few months, whenever someone's asked me for my favorites or humanity-less Caroline fics. For me, this is the best one that comes to mind. Borzoi's fics are all brilliant. I love their writing style to bits. It reads like a novel, it draws in and it grips you by the throat until the very end. This one features Klaus being called to the rescue by a desperate Salvatore clan when Caroline turns off her humanity and fucks off to Europe. Unlike her friends, Klaus doesn't threaten her, doesn't try to force her to feel; instead, he offers her a deal. And it's perfect. I love this story with my whole heart, I can't even tell you.

. In the Backseat by Lila2

After leaving Hayley as a wolf in the Bayou and earning the hatred of his entire family, Klaus shows up with baby Hope on Caroline's doorstop. He has no idea what to do with a baby, is too proud to apologize and is in desperate search of some validation, which invariably leads her back to her (just like in 5x11). Caroline is torn between being mad at him for having a baby with freaking Hayley, and also the fact that she loves kids and there's a part of her that resents him precisely because he gets to have them, when she never will. In her own way, Caroline puts him in his place and convinces him to make amends and go home, take Hope back to her mother - but only if she comes with him on the road trip. And boy, is it worth it. 🥰 It's a fic that has the baby as a catalyst for everything, at the center of everyone's woes in different ways, but it's not about the baby, in case you're a baby fic hater. And the writing is just chef's kiss.

. the birth and death of the day by @little-miss-sunny-daisy

For a good while there, this fic was my entire fandom personality. Whenever anyone gave me a second of their time, I'd preach about the birth and death of the day. I was obsessed. Kelly is a brilliant writer, so, so, so talented. I am not kidding when I saw I wish I could write like her. And the greatest proof of that is how this fic was everything to me, in spite of not being at all my cup of tea on the tin. I don't like Supernatural, I never watched more than two episodes, and the Klaroline bit here kind of takes on a secondary role to the end of the of the world. But it's such an intense and brilliant character study on Caroline that it had my whole heart from the start. Her relationship with her BROTHERS Dean and Sam is so heartfelt, and it exposes so much of who Caroline really is as a character. The plot is INSANE and AMAZING and HUGE and it's so incredible how it ties in so seamlessly with the Mystic Falls shenanigans. And then there is Klaus! When I saw secondary, I don't mean irrelevant. I just mean there's more to the story than just their relationship. But it is still brilliantly developed. Honestly, just writing about it brings me back memories. I love it so much.

. Quiet Light by @definedareasofuncertainty

I am biased when it comes to Luiza's fics because I'm a fangirl and I have been one since day one, before we even became friends. But in the years (years 🥲 we have been here so long, friend) we have known each other, her writing has only gotten better and better. It's atmospheric and understated and it has this mindfulness about it that I can't really explain. It really feels like being in the characters' stream of thinking, you get instantly pulled into it. It evokes emotions without it ever having to be minutely described, and I think that's such an incredible talent. I wish I could write like this! And Quite Light not only brings all of those things forward, but it also brings COMPLEXITIES and MORAL QUARRELLS and it was also WRITTEN FOR ME. 😌✨ Luiza thought she was getting revenge on me by torturing Elijah, but LITTLE DID SHE KNOW I actually loved it. I went into this thinking it would be just a rom-com style story (which I love), but it's so much more. By the end I was crying real tears. 🥲 It becomes such a beautiful story about the relationship between Klaus and Elijah. Honestly brilliant.

. light years by @definedareasofuncertainty

Honestly, this fic has a very specific target audience, and that target audience is ME. I'm not even exaggerating; this is one my favorite pieces of fic ever written in the KC fandom. The way a Klarolijah fic speaks to me can be so personal. 🥺 I love the Klarolijah dynamic. I really do. But it takes a very specific balance for me to feel it. It can very easily go from me loving it, to me wanting to throttle someone. And this! THIS!! This is absolutely it. 🥲 And it's just about my favorite thing ever. This is actually three mini drabbles combined into one. Each of them is written through a different POV - Klaus', Elijah's and Caroline's. And the combination of all three, the way they tell the same story through different eyes, is just !!!!!!!!! Honestly, I don't have words. This has ✨Yokan my beloved✨ written all over it and I feel it very much. Luiza has a ridiculous talent for writing things on the spot. She got prompted to write an Elijah piece, and then a Caroline piece, and then a Klaus one, and she wrote them all in like 30 minutes on one of her mini drabbles challenge, and OH MY FUCKING GOD. I hate her for how good she is. 😭 (I don't, I love her, but I also v much envy her talent).

. this is a harvest by @highgaarden

I spent a solid few minutes here thinking about which of Hannah's fics I wanted to list, because she has this huge catalogue and I've basically read all of them and have gushed over almost every single one over the years. But even though there are others that could easily be in my top 10, I always end of going back to This is a Harvest. I remember when I first read it, I closed the tab at the end and was just… Done. Not in a 'I can't stand this story/ship/fandom anymore', but in a 'this is the fic to end all fics' kind of way. And it's not so much about the style or the writing, which are both stunning, but the way the story is told. It's a canon divergence that spans over years and I felt it in my heart that this was where the story could've gone. The choices they could've made. The way Caroline's story could and should have ended. And I was satisfied. I started writing and reading KC fanfiction after TO was over because I was so indignant about the way the show ended, so unhappy that I needed to give it my own spin, and read other folks doing the same, and when I read this story I felt like I had achieved that. This is it, I can put this to rest.

Obviously, I was way too deep by then that I couldn't really abandon the fandom (even though, just between us here, I kind of wish I could), but for a whole week or two, I was at peace. This fic gave me peace. That's it.

. Into the Woods by @jinxedwood

"But Yokan, how would you like to see Klaus' part in Legacies play out?" Like this. Exactly like this. This story accepts the finale we were dealt in The Originals, and then makes something absolutely amazing with it. I love the premise, I love the mythology involved, I love how unique this take is, and I love how even though it's poignant and bittersweet, it still packs up everything about Kc that made me love this ship so much. Caroline has been in Europe for years trying to find a way to help her daughters with their Gemini situation, and then she ends up stumbling across something else entirely. While she thought the thing she most wanted to see on a brief stint on the Other Side would be Gemini witches, her heart betrays her by taking her to who she really misses the most.

. it takes a while to settle down by theviolonist

This story is so old school it was written before Steroline. It's about Tyler. But we all know who Caroline ends up marrying, so in my heart, this is really what happens before Caroline marries Stefan. And honestly, it works just as well. This story is a punch to your stomach, but it is PERFECTION in 8k words. It's hot, it's bittersweet, it's SO in character. Caroline's denial, telling herself that Klaus is there to see her because he still ones revenge on Tyler, when it becomes very obvious, very fast, as it always does on the show, that it's never about Tyler, it's all about her. UGH. Honestly, brilliant. (third fic on this list with a The National reference on the title, I SENSE A PATTERN).

. As One Wishes to Live by @lalainajanes

I had never in my life read a genie!AU, and simply could not wrap my mind around anything of the sort that wouldn't be extreme crack!fic. Imagine my surprise upon reading this story. It's bittersweet in the best possible way. At the same time it's endearing and adorable (and so very IC) to watch Caroline fumbling for a fair and non-insane way to handle Klaus, the genie Katherine accidentally gifted her with (and who just happens to look incredibly alluring), it's so very poignant to read Klaus' POV. He's Klaus in the way that he's suspicious and dismissive and kind of snobbish, really, but he's resigned to his fate. This is a Klaus who has been broken by years of enslavement as this prop who's there exclusively to serve others. Every time he mentions one of his past masters, you just get that stab - and so does Caroline. Laine is one of the most prolific and talented KC writers ever, and I have read and enjoyed so, so many of her fics, but this definitely has a special place in my heart.

. Psychedelic Kicks by @notalittlebutalottie

This is an ensemble story that has Klaroline at heart, but that gives every other character a moment to shine. And shine they do! Everyone gets their own side stories, and absolutely loved following every single one of them. Lottie made me care for characters I hate in canon, like Katherine and Kol. Even Stefan and Elena had my heart here. This fic is a journey, full of ups and downs, and it has such a satisfying end. It's also incredibly original in its setting and tone, which I think it's one of Lottie's greatest talents. It's very are for historical fics to be set in the 60s, and not only did Lottie choose this very particular time, but she also did such a remarkable job incorporating the decades' aspects into the story. Not just the fashion, and the music, and Woodstocky vibes, but the social and political unrest as well. This is a story with LAYERS, my friends, and it's incredible. I could totally see this being a TV show or a movie tbh. It's that good.

#klaroline #klaroline fic rec #klaus x caroline #yokan answers