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shrinkyclinksfest · 3 years

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That's a wrap!

Thank you all so much for another successful run of Shrinkyclinks Fest! Altogether the works add up to 150K words of new Shrinkyclinks content and six new artworks! We want to thank all our wonderful writers, artists, promoters, promoters, readers, and supporters. We will see you all next year!

Without further ado, the Masterlist:

Title: Nazi Punks Fuck Off [Shrinkyclinks AU] Creator: bleedxblack Medium (fic, art, podfic, etc.): digital art Rating: G Prompt #: 22 Warnings: N/A Summary: Local punk Steve Rogers goes to see his hardcore vocalist boyfriend, Bucky, perform with his band, Widow. Friend and guitarist Natasha took the first photo of them after the band had finished their set. Steve took the following photo himself while he watched his friends and lover play on stage.

Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33271081

Title: Steve has hot guy problems Creator: HeyBoy Medium (fic, art, podfic, etc.): digital art Rating: T Prompt #: 33 Warnings: N/A Summary: For the ShrinkyClinks Fest prompt: Meet-cute at the gym! Smol Steve is determined to work on his cardio and fitness. He reluctantly goes to the gym, feeling intimidated but ready to spit fire at anyone who so much as looks at him twice. He is going to get a good workout, damnit. Ignore the clunkheads. Ignore the gym rats. Ignore the super hot guy with long hair and stormy eyes who always seems to be using the equipment near Steve. That wasn't so bad! Now we can shower and go home. Wait, hot guy is also in the shower and… he's singing. WAIT hot guy just exited the shower and now he knows that I know he was singing!.

Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33271468

Title: asthma attacks, fire escapes, and chai Creator: beemotionpicture Medium: fic Rating: gen Wordcount: 6,657 Prompt #: 9 Warnings: none Summary: It happens because of his asthma of all things.

As soon as he feels short of breath he starts rooting through his messenger bag for his inhaler. Steve has a moment to think aha!and then fuck,before he’s losing his grip on the thing and it’s skidding across the pavement and into an alleyway.

He freezes when he realizes he’s not alone.

Steve hears a muffled sound coming from behind the dumpster, but that’s not what makes him look; no, it’s the metallic scent in the air which, with a creeping feeling of dread, he hopes isn’t blood. He looks. It’s blood.

And there’s a man sitting right in a puddle of it, leaning heavily against the brick wall and clutching his side with a metal hand.

How Steve finds an injured Bucky, nurses him back to health, and takes down a HYDRA agent while he’s at it. Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33272239

Title: Highway Ghost Creator: Neonbat Fic Rating: E Wordcount : 15820 Prompt #: 31 Warnings: Usual WS Bucky warnings Summary: Steve hated long drives, it was too easy to zone out, especially when you’re full of cook-out food and good times. Having someone fall out of nowhere right in front of his car wasn’t exactly something he’d ever consider a possibility. He had enough excitement already from his job as an ER Nurse. Except, where most people would have been laid out on the asphalt, the man dressed in black got up without a scratch and insisted medical care wasn’t needed. The fuck was his life? Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33283738

Title: He "Accidently" Picked A Hot Roommate Creator: rufferto Medium: digital art Rating: G Prompt #: 48 Warnings: N/A Summary: Steve needs a roommate. He thinks he will never find one but then he meets Winter Soldier Bucky who needs a place to stay while he recovers. Steve offers him the room immediately and it turns out Bucky is a great roommate. Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33279370

Title: special delivery Creator: @glim / glim Medium: fic Rating: Teen + Wordcount: ~6,000 words Prompt #: 30 Warnings: n/a Summary: Written for shrinkyclinksfest, Prompt #30: Steve Rogers has always been prone to sickness, but summer colds are the absolute worst. What he wants is a huge bowl of chicken noodle soup and some ice cream. What he gets is a food delivery guy who’s so built and hot Steve chokes on his tongue. That’s why he keeps ordering long after he’s recovered and how he finally gets Bucky Barnes into his apartment and his bed. Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33343828

Title: When the Pool Closes Creator: buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Fic Rating: T Wordcount : 1858 Prompt #: 36 Warnings: N/A Summary: Steve just wants to enjoy a day out in the sun by himself. That’s not too much to ask. Except it is, apparently. With such fair skin, sunscreen is a must, and there’s no way he can reach his entire back. He’s just going to have to find someone to help him apply it, and if the guy is ripped… Well, it’s not Steve’s fault that he’s got good taste. Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33341596

Title: To the Future and the Past Creator: buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Fic Rating: T Wordcount : 1465 Prompt #: 40 Warnings: Major character death Summary: Maybe a funeral isn’t the right time to admit to a gay love story, but Bucky doesn’t care. That’s what Steve wanted, and Bucky’s never been able to say no to the love of his life. Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33358726

Title: A Shot Across The Bow Creator: Author: Becassine Artist: Call_me_kayyyyy Art Rating: G Fic Rating: E Wordcount : 18382 Prompt #: 52 Warnings: Blood/Injury, Implied/Reference Abuse, Reference Slave Trade Summary: Bucky Barnes is a Pirate Captain, and one accustomed to getting his own way. When fate drops Steve Rogers in his path one lonely evening in Tortuga, his life is forever turned upside down. Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33265450/chapters/82597747

Title: Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet Creator: Girl_Back_There Medium: Fic Rating: Mature Wordcount: 6214 Prompt #: 45 Warnings: Some Homophobic Language, Instances of Sexual Harassment against women Summary:Bucky doesn’t know how his mother managed to Jedi mind trick him into dropping off Becca at summer camp this year, but she somehow did it. Despite his grumpiness at the unreasonable hour in which he was wrenched from his nice and cozy bed, Bucky is glad for this time with his little sister. Becca spends their time talking about the activities she got to do last summer that she hopes will be back again this year, all of which was organized by Steve Rogers. After she came home from Camp Marvel last year, all Becca could talk about was Steve Rogers, one of the counselors for her team, The Howlies. Steve Rogers was an amazing artist. Steve Rogers participates in all of the competitions despite his asthma, scoliosis, heart arrhythmia, and various other medical issues. Steve Rogers totally drinks his respect women juice. Bucky would be worried about his sister may be developing a crush on this Steve guy, but after meeting him, Bucky is more preoccupied with the crush he's developing on Steve. So preoccupied in fact, he ends up signing on to be a camp counselor for the summer. Link to work:https://archiveofourown.org/works/33339220

Title: The Way To A Man’s Heart Creator: Author: HaniTrash Artist: Kocuria_visuals Art Rating: T Fic Rating: E Wordcount : 11852 Prompt #: 53 Warnings: N/A Summary: Steve Rogers, skinny Brooklynite, is a college student who makes old recipes and posts videos of them on tiktok. When Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier and Avenger, sees one, he's instantly hooked and becomes Steve's biggest fan. What follows next is a story of food, flirting, and a very unlikely pairing. But much like Steve’s unusual recipes, what shouldn’t work often does… Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33312223/chapters/82722664#workskin

Title: Maybe A Muse Creator: buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Medium (fic, art, podfic, etc.): fic Rating: M Wordcount: 2871 Prompt #: 28 Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Summary: When Bucky Barnes needs extra money, he’s appalled that his best friends think he should become a model for the art department on campus. Shy, nerdy, and socially awkward, he’s not sure that’s something he feels comfortable doing. Still, he needs money, and he likes the idea of becoming someone’s muse. The problem is he had no idea two things would happen. First, one of the students in the class is exactly his type; second, he has to model nude. Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33393928

Title: Be My Breath Creator: Goosenik and clarkestetler Medium: Fic Rating: Teen and Up Wordcount: 44,575 Prompt #: 48 Warnings: N/A Summary: For the Shrinkyclinks Fest 2021 prompt: Steve needs a roommate. He thinks he will never find one but then he meets Winter Soldier Bucky who needs a place to stay while he recovers. Steve offers him the room immediately and it turns out Bucky is a great roommate.

Basically: Bucky moves in with Steve after he escapes from Hydra, and Steve begins the long process of helping Bucky remember how to be human again. Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33275848/chapters/82626394

Title: Tap-Tap Into Your Heart Creator: huntress79 Medium: Fic Rating: T Wordcount: 5k Prompt #: 6 Warnings: none, except for one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it mention of animal death Summary: When HYDRA finally fell, the Soldier was lost, in more than one meaning. And for the next several months, he, more or less, drifted from one former safehouse to the other, always avoiding to stay too long in one place. Until he comes to Brooklyn - and finds a new purpose, again in more than one meaning… Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33416524

Title: I'd be selfish but never with you Creator: Lacunalady on Ao3 Medium: Fic Rating: E Wordcount: 20k Prompt #: 32 Warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Prompted with: "Arranged marriage AU. Steve is a prince and Bucky is a newly crowned king of the neighboring country having conquered/overtaken the last ruler. In order to keep the peace between their countries, Steve's father decides for them to wed. Steve is reluctant for several reasons but mainly because he wants to marry for love and the fact that Bucky has a reputation for being exceedingly ruthless in battle (aka the winter solider)" by Bangyababy on Tumblr! Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33424936

Title: Just Peachy Creator: Erosanderis Fic Rating: N/A Wordcount : 1266 Prompt #: 34 Warnings: N/A Summary: Steve Rogers was not looking forward to meeting his soulmate. Ever since the day he was born, he had the worst possible words on his forearm. So of course he would meet them at work. Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33412060

Title: Knocking Boots with Sugar Creator: buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Fic Rating: E Wordcount : 4095 Prompt #: 29 Warnings: N/A Summary: In between summers at college, Steve Rogers wants a new adventure beyond his lonely life in Brooklyn. He ends up in West Texas working on a dude ranch where Bucky Barnes is a long-time employee. When Bucky offers to buy Steve a drink, they end up drunk on tequila and making out in public. For the rest of the summer, they're inseparable. As the summer draws to a close, Steve realizes he doesn't want to leave. Link to work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33499603

#shrinkyclinks fest 2021 #masterpost 2021 #shrinkyclinks #stucky #stucky fic #stucky fanart

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genaleah · 3 years

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ANSWERING WILDCARD QUESTIONS

For the first time in about a year maybe??? Some of these might be even older than that.

Yes, it is Korka! I definitely want her involved, she’s a wonderful character and there is a *lot* of fun paranormal stuff going on in this setting that she can help them research. Also, I’d just love for her and Nelson to become friends!

Thank you! I love him a lot, and it’s fun to picture him interacting with the other guys. They’d all make for some interesting uncle figures, but they might not be that great in terms of role models.

OHOHO. Devilish laugh. That’s a wonderful idea, and a good way to keep him occupied at some point. He’s a great character, but he’s incredibly powerful, and I want these dudes to solve their own problems whenever possible.

A good question! I don’t remember most of my dreams, but there’s usually a consistent look to the vivid ones. Lots of water, mountains, creeks, and high, winding roads. There are also a lot of buildings that are closely integrated with nature, even though I have almost never seen construction like that.

I had not, but now I have! Here’s a trailer, for anyone else that missed it:

https://youtu.be/33HXHaaagsw

I really like these new models! I’m looking forward to watching a playthrough when that’s available. Just like with Rhombus of Ruin, I don’t think I’ll be able to play this one myself.

DOUBLE FINE, I WISH TO SPEAK WITH YOU- no, I’m kidding! I think great minds think alike. But I’m really excited to learn more about that character and possibly involve them in this whole au eventually.

I’ve actually tried to avoid almost any info about Psychonauts 2 so I can go in mostly-blind, and a lot of the characters are vague to me. It’s fun to look forward to, but it’s also a little harrowing because I don’t know how to anticipate for it!

N...NO..... I NEED TO... Honestly those are old enough that it might be a good idea for me to re-make them, as well as the playing cards I made for the mega playlist cover. I think it’d be nice to remake them as vectors... that might make for a nice art stream sometime. I’ll mention publicly if I start doing that, and sharing any of these conceptual Wildcards arts when they’re done.

And if you’re just curious about what the tarot cards for the other characters are going to be, it’s this:

Eddie: Judgement, The Magician, The Emperor

Manny: Death, Justice, The World

Sam: The Chariot, The Tower, Strength

Max: The Devil, Wheel of Fortune, Joker

Although! I may actually give the Moon card to Max instead of the Devil, and replace the missing card from Nelson’s selection with the High Priestess? 🤔 I’ll decide when I get to it.

Could be! I’ve flip-flopped occasionally on if I want the split-a-cab gang to participate much in the story. I think they deserve a break, and splitting an apartment in New York seems like a good situation for the four of them.

Oh boy, that must be so disorienting for him. The Psychonauts deal with a lot of hippy-dippy weirdness in a seemingly organized way, but it seems like they’re not as paranoid about safety as a real federal organization would be. Not necessarily a good thing, considering one of their camp counselors went AWOL one day, and the head of the Psychonauts got kidnapped the next. They kinda need to get their act together.

Fun fact, in one of the earlier drafts of Chapter 3 I was actually going to make Nelson get scanned by the equivalent of a metal-detector for malevolent thoughts at the door and get really spooked by it, but I decided against it.

YEAH IT’S ON THE LIST

Honestly, a big bulk of the plot in this just regards characters having to face their mental health struggles... via facing it as literal internal demons, unstable powers, etc. It’s going to take a little while for any of Eddie’s teammates to realize how MUCH he has going on under the surface because he does a pretty good job of hiding it. “Needing to help others above ever helping themselves” is a hard issue to notice if you’re not looking for it. But it’s a guarantee that once they find out he needs help, they’ll give it; whether that’s making sure he’s not working himself too hard, or fighting off demonic cultists. Care comes in many forms.

SHE NEEDS TO REST.... POOR SYBIL (on the upside, they don’t TECHNICALLY work there, so she might be fine most of the time.)

Strong Bad isn’t a Psychonaut! He’s just a vlogger and a petty (psychic) criminal. It’s honestly not very different from canon.

Free Country, USA is a smalltown hotbed of psychic activity. Nearly everyone there has some mild capacity for supernatural powers, but nobody really notices or cares. Strong Bad just pops the tops off of cold ones and.... sometimes alters reality, a tiny bit. But mostly just in regards to media. The cartoons, comics, etc, that he invents and talks about have a tendency to suddenly voip into existence and nobody knows how. I swear, there’s actually a line of him saying something to this effect, but I can’t find it anywhere. Don’t worry about it! Nobody in town is ever going to do anything truly nefarious with their powers, so it’s not a high priority on the Psychonauts’ radar, just a weird footnote.

The only reason Homestar is an actual agent is because he seems like exactly the kind of guy to sign up for a job like that on accident and then stick with it. And he’s a talented telekinetic! None of his other friends know about his job or notice his absences.

And just for fun, here’s some weird instances of psychic overpowering that happened in the cartoon:

---

(Poor Strong Sad)

I’ve actually answered this one before! BAM Pretty sure all of it is still accurate.

Nelson: He sees floating sheets of paper containing notes, questions, etc. Anything that he wants to know more about regarding that person. The notes are subject to edits, cross-outs, ripped pages, etc.

Guybrush: He sees the item that the person is carrying that he wants most. As he gets to know people better, he sees them for their useful skills first.

Manny: His view of most living people is not very kind...

The people he’s closest to will eventually look a lot less garish. More like a flattering, camera-ready versions of themselves.

Eddie: Sickass sketch drawings that look like they belong in the margins of a composition book. The illustrations improve as he gets a better picture of where they’d fit in the internal lore of his mental world.

Sam: A lot like Nelson; Sam pictures case files, though his are a bit more in-depth.

Max: Max’s visions of people are highly personal and uncomfortable for those who witness them. He sees Nelson as a puzzle with a piece missing. Guybrush is a ripped up voodoo doll. Manny is a forgotten ofrenda. Eddie is a powder keg with a long, lit fuse. Sam is Sam, but he’s the wrong one.

I also got two questions that were pretty big subjects, or that I didn’t want to repeat, so I’m gonna cover them pretty broadly:

REGARDING [X] CHARACTER OR SERIES INCLUDED IN THE AU

Sure, I support it! I’ve gotten this question a few times in regards to things that I haven’t had time to delve into yet, or I’m not interested in, so I’m not going to include it into the AU myself. But if you want to explore an idea like that, feel free! This AU is pretty dang collaborative.

My main focus is just on the main 6 properties: Psychonauts, Puzzle Agent, Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Brutal Legend, and Sam & Max.

But my general rule of thumb for “characters that exist somewhere within the background of this story” are any other properties owned by Telltale, Lucasarts, or Double Fine. And considering all of the licensed games that Telltale was getting into before it kicked the bucket, that includes some really weird characters, even up to the Venture Bros. I loved that series, but I’m not really interested in doing anything with them for this story! Partly for my sanity, the canon I’ve picked are already a lot of content to play with.

ASSORTED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WILDCARD AU DISCORD

There’s no particular criteria needed to join the discord, and it’s not strictly on a need-to-know basis! Because it’s been a long while since anyone has joined, I've been hesitant about adding new people in... But I‘ve decided to try sending invitations again! Everyone who had asked about it in the past will be getting a ping by me in about a day or so, since I want to double-check if you’re still interested. If you’ve been nervous to ask you can reply to this post or message me privately.

Some things to keep in mind before asking or accepting the invite:

If you’re not a friend or a follower I recognize, I will likely double-check your tumblr along with some other current members before sending the invite.

Here’s the Rules page, so you know what to expect before you join:

Be Mindful - Respect other people's boundaries, don't do or say things that would cross the line. If your behavior makes other people feel uncomfortable or unsafe, I will remove you from the chat. In most cases I will try to resolve things with you and offer a chance to do better, but that will depend on the severity of the situation. And if you have any concerns regarding another member of the chat, you can contact me privately.

Health Boundaries - While discussions of mental health do occasionally pop up, do not rely on the chat for help. None of us are equipped to handle serious mental health concerns, and it will only cause distress for everyone. Please seek real help if it is needed! If you rely on people beyond the point that they have asked you to stop, I will remove you from the chat.

NSFW - Generally speaking, try to keep NSFW talk to a minimum. Swearing and humor is fine, but don't get too explicit please! Discussions should usually keep to a PG-13 / occasional R, but no NC-17.

Spoilers & Censorship - Please use the spoiler function to hide story spoilers, as well as discussions and graphic depictions of gore/excessive blood/body horror/severe psychological horror. Include a content warning so that people know what they could potentially be seeing when they click on the censored content. If the spoilered content is the subject of a back-and-forth discussion, please use another warning when you are switching to a different spoilered topic. (Note that these rules were added to the chat later, so be careful when using the search function or back reading.)

The canon series involved with the Wildcard AU are Psychonauts, Puzzle Agent, Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Brutal Legend, and Sam & Max. Please be mindful of story spoilers!

Channel Organization - Also be mindful of which channel you're in and move a discussion over if need be! That way they don't get too clogged with unrelated info.

Creative Criticism - When it comes to writing, art, or character creation; try to be open to suggestions from others! Nearly all of the creative work in the chat is collaborative, so input from others is important! Creative criticism is not the same as judgement, and is not a personal attack.

Have fun! - Discussions move quickly in this chat! Don't feel bad if you ever need to step back, whether it's because of the speed or a disinterest in whatever current topic we're focusing on. If you ever want to come back, we're happy to have you and can give quick explanations if you feel out of the loop! :thumbsup:

We’re a group of approx. a half dozen to a dozen people, either posting very very quickly in a span of a few hours or barely anything for a few days. We’ve been in an activity uptick lately and there’s about a year and half of back content, too. If it’s hard to keep up on, not that interesting to read through, or you just have a hard time gelling with the group that's already there, there’s no shame in just lurking or dipping out if you need to.

We also talk a lot about Psychonauts OCs, so anticipate that.

#wildcard au #wildcard hcs

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smartguyreviewed · 4 years

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2x2 - Working Guy

Originial air date: September 17, 1997

Did anyone have an actual job when they were teens? I remember how embarassing it was for me, a high schooler in the mid-aughts, to tote around resumes in my little manila folder and then be told to either apply online or have some snooty white asshole at Eddie Bauer all but dismiss me because he was clearly racist. The only jobs I really “held” included being an election judge twice, once during that totally insignificant 2008 presidential race and the other being a summer camp counselor at the church I went to.

Those little jobs sucked but I chose them. The students of Piedemont High were not that lucky.

The setting for this episode is the work experience program that shows students what it’s like to have a job. I have a lot of questions. I’m sure some of these students fared better than me back then and already have jobs, so wouldn’t this make no sense? Would they have two jobs? Are all of these jobs suitable for minors? Why does Piedmont fund such strange things?

Mo, as usual, (or depending on the plot of the episode) only cares about the perks of whatever he’s doing. With the band, it’s the girls. With this program, it’s being able to leave school after lunch. Wait, what? They’re having the students skip multiple classes for this? Is this part of a class or an elective? I wonder because this seems like it takes up a lot of time.

TJ is more excited about working in the industry of his choice, but if that was the case, he’d already have a job assigned to him as opposed to having to pick what’s on the board, making it first come, first serve. This is dumb and I can’t believe I have this many questions about a fictional high school. Anyways, TJ is short so he can only grab what he can reach and it’s not what he wants at all because he has a menial blue collar job.

Meanwhile, at the crib, Floyd is pissed because his basketball buddy who is a doctor apparently has cancelled their game because he has to do surgery. Floyd is only petty every once in a while so I’ll let him have this one. Then Marcus comes in wearing a suit and even though we’ve definitely seen him dressed up before, the audience goes wild. I hate canned audience reactions! He says not to hate him because he’s wearing Armani.

I first thought Marcus was joking because it looks like a Sears original to me, but apparently he took Floyd’s credit card and had a ball buying clothes for his fancy schmancy job. Okay, I have more questions. Marcus had to buy a whole suit and shoes to enter his predominately white workspace. Is Piedmont paying for things the students need to even work at their job? What if you’re a natural black woman and you have to get your hair straightened if you have Marcus’s job? This is all for a part time job during school hours, so will these hours count towards credit since you’re not in class? I am so confused.

Floyd is surprisingly okay with Marcus running up his card because his next question is asking if he can help Floyd get ready for his game. Marcus jokes that he’s going to be drinking with the guys after work. Floyd doesn’t press further and says he’ll practice alone until Yvette offers. Marcus and Floyd have a nice kii at this because duh, Yvette’s a girl and girls don’t play basketball. I love how all the Henderson men (including Mo) are sexist in their own ways. This isn’t the first time Floyd disregards his daughter when it comes to doing “manly” things and Marcus and TJ bond over their hatred of Yvette when her feminine ways don’t align with their default male ways.

TJ comes in and doesn’t want to talk because he’s embarassed to have this job that was forced on him. Marcus adds insult to injury by informing him that he’s working at Marcus’s job.

Speaking of Marcus, this dude just doesn’t quit. He begins sexually harassing one of the women who works there, inquiring about what she does. She has to explain to him what a DVD is, immediately dating this show. Luckily, she has sense and shoots down his attempts. Sis can’t even do her job without some horny little high school boy bothering her. This program is stupid, by the way.

TJ enters, wearing his blue collar work uniform and ringing a bell. After fending off the usual “aww he’s so cute” remarks, he’s led into the office that needs the grub. The buffoons working there can’t seem to figure out whatever physics equation makes the DVDs run and of course, TJ is effortlessly able to offer a suggestion. He gets poached from this stupid temp position to help them out.

Floyd and Yvette are practicing in the garage when Marcus and Mo show up to gloat about their temporary yet important positions. Marcus has his own office. I would hate to be the person who worked there for years, sacrificed weekends, holidays and their sanity to get a promotion and their name on a door, only to watch a punk ass intern from high school get it instead. Mo is somehow working for a judge but I’m not sure for how long because this briefcase that was foolishly given to him contains a document that should have already been mailed off to William Renquist. Mo quickly dashes from that scene to deliver the mailpiece. Marcus makes an extremely dark joke that i didn’t even catch at first about someone getting the electric chair due to Mo’s carelessness. I’m sorry but I bellowed at that. However, I question how many lawsuits will be filed against Piedmont after this program is over.

TJ comes home and announces that he quit his blue collar job and is now working as a special consultant for research and development at DVD Electronic. That’s the name of the company? It’s so bland and generic that i sounds like an Amazon seller of used books and shit. Floyd is confused but TJ gets hired by a large company every other week so it’s whatever.

At work, we see TJ has his own office. Remember that person I would hate to be? They have to watch a fucking 10 year old get it instead. Maybe they did a mass firing or something because they seem to have plenty of rooms to just give to people. Of course, TJ likes the new digs. After his friendly secretary introduces him to his space, the resident hater shows up. I guess the person I was describing earlier is this white man, because man is he salty about having to share a cubicle when he started. White man is now attempting to get into TJ’s head and asks that he pitch all ideas to him first. How TJ, who is probably a psycho or sociopath didn’t see through this as a ruse for him to profit off his black ass ideas is beyond me. Or maybe TJ is faking dumb so that when he does reveal white man’s treachery, it’s more believeable?

Marcus barges in and the white man is two seconds away from calling the cops before Marcus lets him know they’re related. But white man thinks him calling TJ his brother is a “black” thing until TJ says they are related albeit with similar genetic coding. I assume this is an obvious reference to Marcus being darker than him? Funny because I just wonder if Floyd’s wife was dark or if they both have a dark skinned parents and it just so happened to manifest in Marcus and no one else? Or maybe Marcus is actually his half-son? Let me stop.

After the white man leaves, Marcus correctly assumes he is a piece of shit but TJ disagrees. He then gets a call to join a meeting. The head boss who is stationed in Zurich makes it a point to consider that TJ’s work study day ends at 5--wait, so they’re away from school for that long?--but quickly ignores that tidbit when some meeting gets pushed to 6. Of course, TJ shouldn’t be here unsupervised and out this late but we’re gonna ignore that even if the logistics of the Piedmont Work Study Program still boggle my mind.

So yeah, TJ is stuck at work and being asked about one of his ideas, the big boss says that the white man told him to filter all ideas through him. The white man is clearly displeased with TJ snitching but the boss man ends up making TJ the new head of the project. That’s how you use your privilege, even if it is child endangerment! The hating white man (whose name is Dick Ferrett by the way) comments to another coworker that TJ is toast. How dare this little black bastard be better than him?

Meanwhile, at home, Floyd is nursing an Yvette inflicted wound from when they were practicing basketball. TJ comes home acting like a middle aged adult, complaining about work and how bad traffic was. When Floyd notices how TJ is being affected by this job, he suggests that he quit. TJ whines for a little bit and Floyd relents. What the fuck Floyd, drag him by his collar and make him sit down! TJ promises to make Floyd’s game which means he won’t be able to make it because of work.

The next day, TJ is at work and discussing things with his secretary. The hating white man is just itching to fuck up TJ’s day and it shows. You might not be wondering who replaced TJ as the chow wagon boy but it turns out that it was Mo. Yes, instead of being fired from this program that he had no business being in to begin with, he was demoted to TJ’s job.

TJ is about to leave for the day when hating ass white man comes and dumps a bunch of work on TJ’s desk. See? Told you he wouldn’t be able to make Floyd’s game! Luckily, his secretary is going to film it for him.

Back at work, TJ is falling asleep trying to carry these stooges to a victory and the hating ass white man is actually calling TJ names. They even go back and forth for a moment. Floyd finally decides that enough is enough and he’s bogarted his way through security to get TJ because I’m sure it’s midnight at this point. TJ tells Floyd he must be mad that the game was missed. Floyd says he isn’t mad although the other guys’ kids showed up. Aww Flody. Parents have feelings, too.

The head white boss offers Floyd to hire TJ permanently but Floyd declines. TJ is able to get the hating ass white man fired before he leaves, in a move that is definitely petty but deserved. Fuck that guy, exploiting a gifted black child like that.

TJ is mad at Floyd according to a conversation between Yvette and himself. He thinks TJ is going to be mad at him forever but he comes downstairs and asks to play dominos with him. Aww. This is quickly ruined as per the usual. We all know TJ only abruptly forgives and forgets when he has an ulterior motive. This time, he’s going behind Floyd’s back to keep working with DVD Electronics. Floyd comes in during a session. I’m assuming he got his ass whooped after this but we just fade to black before an arms-folded Floyd can dole out any punishment. Eh, guess we’ll find out in the next episode. Ha. No we won’t.

Stuff I noticed:

- DVD Electronics video chat has a pretty stellar, crisp quality for 90s internet.

- Mo rewore this shirt from a prior episode. I really like when characters rewear clothes. It’s much more realistic than characters who seem to always have money for new outfits no matter how broke they claim to be.

- When TJ is bringing in the food, there’s an audience member who yells “You go, girl!” I have heard this woman in the audience of a Boy Meets World episode and another show that I can’t recall, but further proves that canned laughter is creepy and needs to be banned everywhere.

#tahj mowry #smart guy #marcus henderson #tj henderson #mo tibbs #omar gooding #90s #nineties #john marshall jones #floyd henderson #essence atkins #yvette henderson

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ev--writes · 4 years

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Master wip Intro Post (I’m so sorry lol)

I mentioned in my last post that I had notes for upwards of 15 projects in a ton of different formats (side note to myself:whyyyy). Ergo, I thought it would be helpful to do a short overview of all of them, as I’ll probably be doing update posts for all of these at some point.

Also: Thank you for 6 followers already??? I honestly didn’t think anyone would see my last post (especially as I had no idea how tags worked until after I posted it).

Novels

GRACE

“After the sudden death of her childhood best friend and crush Vicky, Robin is invited to spend the summer with her estranged father, his new husband, and her half-sister at their Maine cabin. As her relationships with her father’s family and a fellow vacationing teen Claire grow, her relationships with her remaining friends and mother back home begin to fracture.”

Oh boy does this book have a backstory.It’s a little complicated to get into right now (I’ll talk about it in my post for this wip), but I got the idea for the original version of this book in April 2016, and it’s been through three major overhauls since then. I’ve done enough planning to start drafting the newest version, but I’m waiting to get a few mostly-complete projects done before I jump in.

Attic (working title)

“The discovery of a dead body in the attic of Theo’s new house puts a damper on his fresh start. When a singular death becomes a series, Theo and his new friends decide to investigate and discover that the explanation isn’t able to be explained.”

This story also has a long history. I wrote this for NaNoWriMo 2017, overhauled it for NaNoWriMo 2019, and overhauled it again in the middle of that month. I’m currently stuck with a certain aspect, so I’ve put it to the side for the moment.

Pinewood Guild

“A group of scholarship students at an elite private boarding school obsess over the seemingly unexplainable death of a fellow student.”

This is very much a baby idea, from April of this year. I was having a grand old time writing a different project Three Can Keep a Secret (which I’ll get to later), and I wanted to write another book about terrible people being horrible to each other. I don’t have very many plans for this book at the moment.

Blood in the Water

“Paul returns to his hometown for the first time since high school to attend the funeral of his brother when he starts to receive anonymous letters. What starts as innocent and quirky quickly turns dark and potentially deadly”

I got this idea in February of this year, as I wanted to write a novel with the letter format. I was supposed to start this project as my “I’m Leaving Highschool Emotional Support Book”, but I’m not sure if I’m going to actually do that.

The Lion Tattoo

“Jordan bonds with classmate Cade over their shared foster care status. As Jordan starts to spend more and more time with Cade, they see a darker side to the boy. When one of Cade’s adventures ends with them sent off to different foster homes, Jordan must turn their life around.”

This is a very old idea that I honestly forgot about. However, there’s still a lot I want to explore with this story, so I’ll probably get to it someday.

Anthologies

Sunny

“August ‘Sunny’ finally gets engaged to her long-time girlfriend Tatsu, sending her back to the beginnings of their relationship as camp counselors.”

This is a short set of vignettes I wrote as a birthday present to a friend. As it was just for shiggles, it’s not my most sophisticated story, but I’m okay with it. You can actually read this on my Wattpad if you’d like (I’ll add a link here when I figure out how to do that). I also adapted it as a short film because I was bored, if I’m being honest.

Hypocrite

This is my poetry collection! Some of these poems are based on real life experiences (for example, the poem I named the collection after was based on a friendship that exploded), and others are completely fiction. This might just be my favorite project I’m working on, if I’m being honest.

Short Story Collection

I can’t title this wip for the life of me, so the name is relatively self explanatory. I’ve written four stories for this so far, and I have three brewing in the notes app.

Safety Orange

“When an accident kills her father and sends her mother into a coma, Angie and her brother Oliver are sent to live with their Aunt Marie. Romance should be the last thing on her mind when a local barista Natalie catches her eye.”

This was my “Quarantine Emotional Support Book”. I had two simultaneous itches--to write something cute and fluffy, and to try out prose poetry. These two ideas birthed this story. I want to get a printed copy for me and my mom, but I don’t have any plans for it after that.

Three Can Keep a Secret

“Hattie, her girlfriend Regan, and her best friend Vincent return from a weekend camping trip to discover their town has been ravaged by the undead. Sophie and her brother Joseph are driven from the military’s safety by a tragic accident. Aspen discovers something wrong with her younger sister Paris that might prove more difficult to handle than the walking bodies around every corner.”

This was my other “Quarantine Emotional Support Book”, written for Camp NaNo 2020. It’s technically a short story collection, although I structured the stories with chapters. I also enjoyed the little flash pieces that appeared in-between each story. Like Safety Orange, I want to get a printed copy of this book, but I don’t think I’ll seek publication for it.

Screen

Horror Web Series

“Outcast sisters Heaven and Eden make a new friend--one that gives them special abilities. While Eden is more timid about her powers, Heaven is almost too excited and drags her sister along on her quest for revenge.”

This is another one of my projects that I just Cannot Title.The description makes it sound kind of lighthearted, but it’s one of the darkest ideas that I’ve come up with. Right now it’s outlined on my phone, and really all I need to do is dedicate a day to pounding it out.

Video Games

I’m Sorry This Happened

“Archer’s attempts to cheer up her girlfriend Helena accidentally awakens Sylvia, a playfully violent ghost who convinces the girls to get revenge on the two boys that caused her death almost half a century ago.”

This is a visual novel my sister and I are teaming up with to create. We’re still not sure whether we’re going to publish it, but nevertheless I’m having a grand old time writing it, and I guess that’s what really matters.

Swanhill Convenience

“A misfit crew of the local gas station convenience store have a strong customer base. When new employee Pearl becomes suspicious of the group, the whole town’s careful facade crumbles.”

This one needs...more time to brew. There’s a lot of basic details that I’m having trouble making solid decisions on (for example, whether the store is a coffee shop or a convenience store), so this will probably have to sit until I have an epiphany or something.

[I can’t put the working title here because it’s a blatant spoiler]

“You should not have gone into the forest. Now escape, however you can.”

I debated whether to put this on the list because it’s so hard to talk about without ruining the whole thing. It’s a puzzle solving game that I think has some really interesting lore that I can incorporate. I think that’s literally all I can say lol.

Wow, that post was LONG. Thank you for reading all the way through! Each of these projects will get dedicated post when I start working on them more frequently. Moral of the story: I have absolutely no self control when it comes to starting projects.

Note: Any photograph used that I did not take myself came from Unsplash.

See you around,

-Ev

#writing #writers on tumblr #writblr #wip wednesday #wip #intro post #wip intro #novel #visual novel #poetry #short story

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undergroundkid · 4 years

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Prologue: Once we pass the gate

You nervously gripped your purse, trying to take a deep breath. Well, it’s not like it’s your first job interview, right? You worked before. As a camp counselor when you were sixteen for example. Tough work with kids not so much younger than you. And you handed out flyers for this new pizza place last summer. Small works for neighbours counted too? You looked at CV in your hands with furrowed brows. Well, you didn’t put such information there.. under what category would it belong? Experience? Volunteering?

CV was almost empty. Basic informations, address, phone number.. looking at this, someone could think you didn’t do anything last few years. Graduated high school, did two courses at city’s Job Center and that would be all. You were thinking about putting something about college, but your mother advised you against it. „Do you want them to see you gave up?”, she said. You didn’t give up, you just left, because college became living hell – no friends, no interesting lessons, only slow suffocation. Without future plans, you started to look for a job, but you became a victim of a obvious, old cycle: no experience, no job – no job, no experience. Until now. Building on the opposite side of the street looked fancy even outside. Big glass doors with golden knobs, four floors, red curtains in the windows. Cars parked outside were definitely one of the best and newest models. People came in and out all the time, making the street pretty busy. It started to get dark already, so the sign above main door suddenly came alive with a bright light: Shangri-La Hotel****. Small voice at the back of your head suggested it’s time to come inside already. Yeah, of course. It’s cool. Your whole existence screamed it’s definetely not a place for someone like you, but you’re not gonna waste your chance for a decent work – why the heck they called you, anyway? For lolz, maybe? Surely not for your resume, so.. You crossed the road before your mind could register your movement. Squished between group of businessmen, you finally entered the place and barely could stop your jaw from dropping; it was a mistake. Golden chandeliers, deep brown wood, carpet in the richest red colour. And people around - ladies in elegant furs, gentlemen with leather briefcases. - Excuse me, do you need help? You tore your eyes from gawking at surroundings to meet a friendly, smiley face; young man in dark blue uniform kindly bowed his head. - You look lost, young lady. Can I offer my service? - Ah, yes, sorry – you bowed automatically too, even if it wasn’t really necessary. He smiled again, not full teeth, but it reached his eyes, making him more charming. That was when you noticed his bellboy cap and name Yoonho written in pretty cursive on his ID. Of course there would be a freakin hotel porter. - I am looking for a reception’s manager – you informed him, going straight to the point of your obviously unfitting presence in luxurious hall:- I was supposed to have a job interview today, at 6 PM. He smiled widely this time and you couldn’t resist the urge to do the same. - Oh, I see! Please, come with me then! * You left the building on little shaky, but otherwise light legs. Looking around, you didn’t catch the person you were eagerly looking for, so you quickly fished the cellphone out of your purse and clicked the numer with signature heart at the end. - Hey, you were supposed to wait for me outside hotel? - Yeah, I know love – your boyfriend’s voice was a little muffled with street sounds in the background:- But there was a horrible car incident in the city centre and the traffic is endless . Sorry about that, I am just getting out of my district. Didn’t you hear? - Oh, not really – you murmured, poorly hiding your disappointment:- I just came out of interview and was too nervous to watch any TV before.. - It happened about an hour ago, so it’s understandable – he sighed:- Some woman crashed her car on the main bridge. She was the only victim, but there were a lot of other vehicles included, so it’s a mess. - I see – you responded, crossing the road like earlier:- We won’t see each other tonight, then? - Oh no, no! We must meet! I want to hear about your freshly new career. You got it, right? You giggled, even if deep down you felt some kind of irritation. „Without college, you must find a job” was a phrase you’re used to hear almost everyday. Still, it didn’t stop to irk you everytime you heard it. Of course, your loved ones only meant the best, you knew it. Parents lived in their own world, thinking that without futher education you won’t make it far, but your boyfriend was always supportive. Last months though, he became more forcible on the topic. He even suggested you were purposely avoiding any possibility of work during one of more heated arguments you two had, but he apologised afterwards. Couples fight after all, you reasoned – it was just a bump on the road. You started dating back in highschool, scoring all the firsts together – first sweetheart, first kiss, first I love you. Something as trival as work won’t tear you apart. It’s just this, work – you will make money somehow anyway, why is everybody so pushy about it? But maybe you’re just chilldish and they’re trying to take care of you. With bitter taste in your mouth, you will fulfill their wish of you getting stale position. Maybe that will make their nagging stop. Maybe that will make you happy it the end, too. - Yeah – you breathed with relief, the air from your lungs visible in the chilly evening:- 3 months of mandatory contract, then full time employment. The happy scream of your boyfriend from earphone could be easily heard by random strangers passing by; they gave you surprised looks, which made you shrug your shoulders in response. - Congratulations babe! I am so happy for you! You really tried to not think happy for me or happy for yourself? - I knew you could do it, you’re the smartest girl and somebody finally noticed – he continued, which made your heart flutter. You shouldn’t be so hard on him, he was so lovely and caring as usual:- You’re totally gonna nail this. Isn’t that a perfect beginning? Look, maybe we’re going to be able to move out and rent a flat next year! As always when he mentioned living together, the butterflies tickled your whole body. It was a scary vision at first, leaving your parents, but now it only excited you; wall colours of your own choice, breakfasts together, bubble bath surprises, loud, explicit nights and silent, sweet mornings. Every girl’s dream. Alright, maybe you started to feel happiness about it all. And blooming hope for a better future, despite everyone insulting your choice of living. - We have to celebrate then! - Oh? – you chuckled, this time from the heart:- Should I buy wine or something? Champagne? - The plan may include those, but not only. Get your sweet ass here, we must dance as much as we can before your busy schedule begin. - Here? I thought only two of us, my place ..? - Tempting, I admit. But not today. Come on babe, it’s Friday night and you got your first real job! Let’s livin’ it up, we will become adults tomorrow! Or.. Monday if you allow, huh? You laughed at his antics, so opposing to his previous behaviour. It was refreshing and made you think you should start jobhunting with more confidence sooner. His positive attitude was infecting you too; so before you could think otherwise, you agreed to meet at your usual party spot. The stars shined brightly above you, even in this part of the town. Or maybe your free heart just made them look so – it didn’t matter. It was gonna be a long night and it was better for a stars to shine strong enough to witness it all.

thank you for reading

next chapter >

#My writing #shangri-la fc #monsta x fanfic #monsta x reader #monsta x imagines

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phoenixmaiden-reading · 4 years

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Apt Pupil Book Review

Apt Pupil by Stephen King

Read: February 14, 2020 - March 6, 2020

A really twisted piece of work, but that is what Stephen King does. It was another amazing work about a boy who discovers the truth about an old man’s horrible past, yet he wants details, not to turn him in. The boy then slowly over time loses his sense of right and wrong, good and bad and spirals until he loses control. I loved every second of the story and could really tell when the boy, Todd, starts to give in to the evil in his mind. Brilliant.

Stars: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Spoiler Summary Ahead!!

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The book starts off with a normal All American 13-year old boy riding his bike up to a man’s house to deliver a paper, but he calls him by a different name than what is on his door. The man, Arthur Denker, is who he is going by, but Todd Bowen exposes him as a former Nazi officer, Kurt Dussander. He is initially disappointed by the old man who reeks of cigarettes and stale food, and his house doesn’t have any Nazi memorabilia as he had built up in his mind, but he continues forth. Dussander denies it at first and tells Todd he is going to call the police, but Todd doesn’t leave, just smiles at him knowingly until Dussander gives up. He really can’t believe a boy caught on to him.

Todd tells him that he had gotten interested in history by finding a bunch of old magazines from World War II at his friend’s house. He found it all fascinating; that people actually did all those things- concentration camps, bloody battles, killing people for fun- and someone let them. He wanted to know more. So he went to the library and they had a lot more information on all the Nazi’s had done. Todd had found Dussander by chance at a bus station. He hadn’t been sure at first, but when he wore a black windbreaker one time when it was raining, it looked like an old photo in a magazine when he was in his uniform. After that, he shadowed him for a while and took pictures that he developed himself at home. He also got his fingerprints. His parents had gotten him a fingerprinting kit for Christmas since they knew he wanted to be a PI. So he got some prints off Dussander’s mailbox and doorknob and compared it to an old wanted photo that had his fingerprints and it was a match.

Dussander asked what he wanted, money? He didn’t have any. He had almost been caught twice after he ran. He had been part of a network before but he had to run. He ended up buying stock and fake papers through an accountant who ended up going to jail later for killing his wife. But he ended up selling the stock after a time to buy his house. So now there is nothing. But Todd never even considered blackmail. All he wants to know is the things he did: the gas chambers, the firing squads, the ovens, all of it. Dussander doesn’t want to. He wants to keep it in the past. He didn’t want to do it, but he had to follow orders or they would have killed him. But Todd doesn’t care, he wants to hear or he will go around town telling everyone who he was. He also told him that if anything should happen to him, he wrote a letter that he gave to his friend to hold explaining everything. So Dussander had no choice but to give in.

So Todd started coming over almost every day to hear stories about what Dussander used to do in Germany as Kurt Dussander, the Blood-Fiend of Patin. He went under the guise that he was reading to the old man Mr. Denker as a favor because he enjoyed it., it made his parents proud. But when he went over, he made Dussander tell him about the uniforms they used to give the inmates that were made of paper and when they died, it was passed on to the next. About the gas chamber and the different kinds of gas they used. How they used to scream. Todd was fascinated by it all. He was going every day that his grades started to slip. His father told him he was seeing Mr. Denker too much and needed to focus on his grades, but Todd told him he didn’t want to leave Mr. Denker by himself, he enjoys having his books read to him. He agreed that he will devote his Wednesdays to studying and his father let it go.

Only it didn’t happen, in fact, it got worse. Todd was now failing most of his classes and had to change his grades on his report card so that his parents wouldn’t get suspicious. Yet it wasn’t just his grades, he was losing weight and not sleeping because he kept having dreams of Dussander’s stories where he’s in them, one of the inmates or an SS officer with the smells and the screams. It was affecting him, yet he kept going back for more. Dussander wasn’t faring much better. Since Todd had come he hadn’t been sleeping well; remembering the times from before, seeing eyes in a Jungle that wasn’t there. It was stress, but in a way he was relieved. He had been running from those memories for years and now he could finally own them. Yet the nightmares persisted. One of the only ways to get to sleep was to wear the sham SS uniform that Todd had given to him as a Christmas gift. He hated it, yet it also comforted him in a way and he was able to sleep.

One day, Dussander was brought over for dinner at Todd’s house so his parents could meet “Mr. Denker” whom their son had been spending so much time with reading so many books. Dussander was charming and played his part of the elder, partially blind older man brilliantly, but Todd was on edge the entire time as his parents spoke to him about all kinds of things, including his war in the war. But Dussander had a perfectly well thought out answer and they were none the wiser. When Todd walked Dussander home he guessed correctly that Todd had been silent because he was afraid that he would slip up. Yet, of course, he would be careful, it was his life that was at stake. He also told him that even if they found out, yes they would think him a monster for what he had done in the past, but they would be even more disgusted with Todd because he had known for eight months but didn’t say anything. Todd didn’t know what to say to that.

Over the next month, Todd didn’t come over as often as before, 4 out of the 7 he used to come, not that Dussander minded if he did or not. He still had nightmares but they got better wearing the uniform and he had found a new way. He would lure a stray cat to his yard with milk then grab it when it got close and would burn it alive in the oven. It reminded him of the past and the screaming of the cat also sounded like how a young boy would and that made him smile. When Todd would come and smell it he would simply say he had burned his dinner.

One day Todd came to his house early and he was mad and a little worried and told him everything was his fault. He showed Dussander his Quarterly Report Card and they were all pretty much D’s and F’s, plus his guidance counselor had written a note to his parents requesting a sit down to talk about Todd’s failing grades. The report card could be easily changed but the meeting was a problem. He told Dussander he had to help him or his father would get the truth out of him. His parents would make him go see a doctor or something, but Dussander said they could send him to a reformatory. It wasn’t like he would stay quiet if they did catch him, no if Dussander got caught and deported and killed for his crimes and he will tell him that Todd Bowden had known for a year and wanted to know all about the gory stuff he had done, enjoyed it. They would go down together. So he will help him. They could say that Todd’s parents were having marital troubles, fighting and yelling, and it was effecting Todd’s grades. And he will go in their place as Todd’s grandfather.

So that was what he did. Dussander dressed in his best suit and went to Todd’s school to meet his guidance counselor, Edward French. While there as “Victor Bowden” he told the counselor that his son and his wife were having problems. His daughter-in-law was a drinker and often Todd had to take care of her and of himself. His son worked long hours so, he was never around either. It was why Todd’s grades have been failing. The guidance counselor said that Todd was a good kid and had great grades at the beginning of the semester, but now he wasn’t. He may have to go to summer school and he doesn’t want that because that was when all the bad kids go, not a good environment for Todd. French advised for Todd’s parents to go to therapy, specifically one that his friend owned, for help, but Dussander said they would prefer to try to solve it themselves first. But he made him a deal, that if Todd got a Flunk Card in May, he would have his son and daughter-in-law go to counseling. French agreed.

Later when Todd came to his house, Dussander told him what they had agreed upon. Todd was not happy and got mad saying he couldn’t pull up his grades in 4 weeks! But Dussander said he will study as if his life depended on it, which it did; that at every possible moment, Todd will study. He will come over and he will study until he pulled his grades up. If he didn’t Todd will fail and the guidance counselor will call his parents and find out that he was failing all his classes and had gotten the old Mr. Denker to impersonate his grandfather. It will all come out. So Todd did as he was told and studied. And on the first math test, he took he passed with a C+. He was relieved. In the meantime, Dussander had gone down to a shelter and got a dog…that does not bode well.

One night, Todd’s mother and father were in bed and started talking about Todd. His mother was worried about him. She said she noticed he’s lost weight and was having nightmares. But his father wasn’t that concerned. He said he was a growing boy and would be probably growing a few inches like he did when he was younger. He was even at the age when he would be “experimenting” so that was what she could be hearing from Todd’s room instead of a nightmare. Even though he was only 13, kids these days were doing everything earlier. Yet she was still worried and thought Todd was seeing too much of Mr. Denker. His father said that he would be worried if his grades were falling, but they weren’t so everything was fine. He was just being a good boy reading to an old man for nothing. So they left it at that.

Todd kept up his studying under Dussander’s watchful eye with disdain. He hated being stuck like this but had to keep his grades up or his parents will find out. But one night Todd had his first wet dream of himself raping a 16-year-old Jewish girl with Dussander watching. When he woke up he was horrified and knew he had to get out and the only way was to kill Dussander, then he will be free. He then planned to push Dussander down the stairs when he went to get more alcohol in the basement. No one would suspect him. Dussander was old and a drunk, he would tell people he went inside with his key when “Mr. Denker” didn’t come to the door and found him at the bottom of the cellar stairs. With that plan in motion, he just waited for his grades to come in. And when they did, Todd got lucky and is now passing all his classes. With some minor corrections on his average, his parents will be none the wiser.

Now he just needed to get rid of Dussander. So he went over to his house after school to let him know he didn’t get a Flunk Card. When Dussander ran out of his liquor and got up to go get more he started telling Todd a story. About a frightened old man and a boy. He told him that the man and the boy had each other by death grips with the information shared between them that they wished to keep secret. They were equal in this, but the old man was starting to feel like he was losing his footing and was losing sleep over it. One day after a sleepless night, he had an idea and spent the rest of the night writing every detail and conversation he had had with the boy, for his own safety. Todd who had gotten up behind Dussander when he went to the cellar, froze. Dussander continued with his story after telling him he had heard Todd get up. He said that the old man went down to the bank and rented a safety deposit box with 2 keys, one the old man had and the other, the bank. It can only be opened by the old man unless permission is given by him; the only exception is that if the old man died then it will be opened by the bank and the IRS where they will find the document inside that they will find very interesting. Todd was hysterical, his plan about killing Dussander ruined, he was now afraid because Dussander could die at any time because he was old and smoked and drank a lot. But now he was truly stuck with Dussander’s proof binding him.

A week later, Todd was at an old train yard thinking about what to do. That he should have still killed Dussander anyway, the man was going to die sooner or later, might as well do it himself. He had a pocket knife that he had bought, one of 5 hundred a year, no one would suspect him. As he thought, he found a wino under the platform and thought about killing him. It startled him when he suddenly had an erection from the thought. So he ran off when the wino woke up.

The next month, Todd went to Dussander’s house with his report card with all passing grades. Todd had the full intention to stop coming over now that his grades were back up. Plus his family was planning to go to Hawaii for a month and he had to think about his future. So he suggested that they just forget about it all and destroy the document Dussander had in the safety deposit box and the letter that Todd’s friend had. Yet Dussander said Todd didn’t understand the situation they were in and the consequences of his actions the moment he made him talk about his past. Sure he could leave and never come back, he was not stopping him. But he was kidding himself to think that this will all go away. They could burn their respective documents but they could never truly be sure the other didn’t have another copy somewhere. There will always be that doubt. And Todd now knew he was trapped. Dussander then told him that if the truth did come out, Todd may not go to a reformatory but his future would be ruined. It would be on his record. And the longer it took to come out, the worse it would get. If it got out now, they would say he was just a child and get a slap on the wrist, but if it came out years later while he was in high school, or college or getting a job…it could ruin his entire life. Also, Dussander told Todd he didn’t even believe he had a letter. He had been watching him for the past 2 years and he gave no indication that he had any close friends he would trust with that information. He could be wrong of course, but his was no lie, if he died, everything will come out. Only when he felt that Todd’s hold over him no longer matters will he destroy the documents. Todd was truly trapped, he could not find a way out. In anger and fear, he stormed out. Yet there was one thing that Dussander didn’t say. That it was all a lie. There was on safety deposit box or documents with everything that has happened. He just said it to make sure Todd didn’t tell anyone. He was safe, it was over. But it wasn’t.

Before Todd left on his trip to Hawaii, he went down to the abandoned train station and found a wino sleeping there. He then took out a butcher knife and stabbed the wino 37 times, killing him. He threw the knife in the river and went home and washed his clothes. He was sore the next day but passed it as having pulled something playing with his friends. He then went on his Hawaii trip with his parents. While he was gone, Dussander also was up to no good. He lured a wino to his house with an invitation or a bath, food, and drink and maybe some money after; he was a lonely old man who wanted some company. It was clear what happened to him after that.

Time skipped around after that. Todd went on to high school and would occasionally visit Dussander and they were able to converse civilly but only about mundane stuff. Todd was getting good grades and Dussander had taken up rug braiding to help with his arthritis. During that time, Dussander had lured and killed 3 winos at his home and buried them in his cellar where it was just dirt. It would smell during the summer so he opened the windows. He felt oddly alive after he was done; like he was finally living after fleeing Germany. Todd, on the other hand, had felt great after killing the wino, he had the best vacation in Hawaii after. But after he came back he would get nightmares of finding the dead wino bleeding all over his mother’s kitchen. But they went away when he killed a different wino in a culvert with a hammer. He determined that he may have to do it again to keep them away.

Todd went on through high school getting good grades. In his Junior year, he made the varsity team in football and baseball and won multiple games and was awarded Athlete of the Year. During that year, he also killed 5 derelicts. He learned from the last time, so he now wore 2 pairs of pants so he would have a clean pair to wear back home. He also didn’t visit the same place twice when he went on his “hunting expeditions” wandering around neighborhoods until a wino would try to panhandle him. Dussander had killed 2 during that time, using the same lure and getting them drunk in his kitchen. The second one had been more lively and had survived the initial stab to the back of the neck. The wino had managed to make it to the front door before Dussander was able to take him down. It had scared him that he had almost gotten away but he had caught him. So he laid low for a while.

When Todd was a senior in high school he joined the Rifle Club and was able to qualify as a marksman. He made All-Conference on the Football team, got a Merit Scholarship and was accepted into Berkley, and by the end of the year knew he was going to be either Valedictorian or Salutatorian. During the last half of the year, he started getting an impulse to go out to the highway with the rifle his father had gotten him for Christmas and shoot. It was crazy and he pushed it away, but a few weeks later he was out by the highway and dry shot at cars by the highway. He didn’t really do it but it turned him on anyway.

One day Dussander had once again lured a wino into his house, got him drunk and stabbed him in the neck. He died quickly and he put him in a trash bag and kicked him down the stairs to the cellar. Then he would follow and dig a hole to bury the wino. It was a routine he had done before. Only this time, when he was digging the hole a sharp pain went through his chest and down his arm; he was having a heart attack. He was able to make it back upstairs but the pain persisted. He couldn’t call an ambulance, there was blood all over the kitchen floor and a dead body in the cellar. So he called the only one he could – Todd. When Dussander called, Todd had to play it safe and told his parents that “Mr. Denker” had gotten a letter from a distant family member and wanted Todd to read it for him. So he rode his bike out to his house. When Todd got there, he was shocked to see so much blood. Dussander said it wasn’t his and told him to go to the cellar to “clean up.” So Todd went downstairs and found the body of the wino. He was horrified and judging by the smell down there, it was not the first one. So Todd set to work burying the body and mopped up the blood on the floor in the kitchen, and cleaned the knife. He then called an ambulance and his father because it was the right thing to do. Yet when he was on his way over, Todd suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be reading a letter to him, but there was no letter. So Dussander told him about some old letters in a locked box in his room. They were in German, but even though Todd couldn’t read in, he could still attempt to and “Mr. Denker” would understand. So Todd quickly went up the stairs and found the box; he had to break it open and get back downstairs before his dad came. Yet in all the excitement no one looked at the letters. But better safe than sorry.

At the same time, Morris Heisel was admitted to the hospital with a broken back. He had been up on a ladder and the neighbor’s dog bumped it when chasing their cat. He may be paralyzed from the waist down because of it. It was bad but not as bad as when he was in the concentration camps where he lost his first wife and his daughters. He was rooming with an older man who he thinks he’s met somewhere before but doesn’t know where. It could have been in Patin, but he doesn’t like to think about that.

Todd visits Dussander in the hospital, once with his family, and another time on his own. When they are alone, Morris his roommate is asleep, Todd tells him that he is not coming to see him again, they are quits. But he does ask about what Dussander had said the night of his heart attack. Dussander had told him that he was remarkably calm when he saw the blood and the body, that he had the first-hand experience. So Dussander said that he reads the newspaper and that there was a story inside saying that there had been killing off the local homeless that had been found stabbed and bludgeoned to death that has not been found. While Dussander was responsible for 6 of them disappearing he was not for the others. It made him think of another who was having a hard time after hearing certain stories. Todd said he had never killed anyone and Dussander said sure, he could be wrong but he had taken control of the situation that night with no problem. Todd wrote it off that he had been pissed off and had to help because of what Dussander had in the safety deposit box. Dussander then confessed that there was no document or safety deposit box, it had been a lie to keep himself safe. So they had nothing on each other. But Todd didn’t believe it. He could go through Dussander’s house for the key, or call around the banks to see if Dussander had a safety deposit box somewhere, but that would call attention to him. DUssander just said that as long as they trusted each other they could be quits. But Todd didn’t know if he could do that.

Back at the hospital, Morris was having a good day. His nagging wife bruised her hip and was bedridden for the next few days and he had some peace and quiet. And his favorite baseball team had won. He busied himself in just trying to talk to the old man, Denker, and tried to guess where he had seen him before. He thinks it may have been at the camps; there had been German Jews there, so it was possible. He didn’t want to just straight out and ask, there was no fun in that especially if he was paralyzed. So as he thought about it until it was just at the tip of his tongue, but he suddenly felt a tingling in his feet and it was forgotten as the doctor came in to see; he could move his toes. Later, a candy stripper came in to bring them their food and she revealed she had just gotten engaged. Denker said that she must “sit down and tell us all about it. Tell everything. Omit nothing.” That phrase was familiar to Morris, he had heard it somewhere before. In Patin maybe? And why did he remember lamb stew? Before he could remember, his wife came in happy to hear he had feeling in his feet again. It was during the night that he remembered. It was at the camps, but not as a fellow inmate.

Morris remembered a young man dressed in an SS uniform, his name hadn’t been Denker then. He used to say that phrase from before to get information from people. He would have a pot of lamb stew in the room so that the hungry inmates, with the promise of food, would answer all of his questions. He had been one such inmate. He had spilled everything he knew about other inmates; who was hiding jewelry and who had tobacco, and who was planning to revolt. Now that he knew, he cried because he was the one who killed his first wife and daughters. He didn’t sleep for the rest of the night.

One morning, Todd came downstairs to eat breakfast where his dad was eating. They carpooled to work together, but Todd hated it. It seemed lately that everything about his parents annoyed him. They talked about Todd’s girlfriend Betty and if he was treating her right. He said yes, but inside he was thinking that she was a slut. She was the biggest slut in town. When he had first started dating her he had just done it because it was a normal thing to do, to date. When he went on their first date he assumed they would at the most just kiss, but she put out immediately. And on the other 5 dates after that. Yet the more often they did it, the harder it was to get an erection. He would fuck her and she enjoyed it but he was just starting to view her as just a bag of flesh. In order to help, he would focus on a fantasy of humiliating her, abusing her in order to get off. The last time they had done it, he hadn’t been able to get it up. Betty had asked him if he was Bisexual since he couldn’t do get it up anymore. He had wanted to shoot her with his gun. His father then said that Todd had made the top Al-Stars for the baseball team. Todd didn’t care but he mustered up a response to shut him up. He envisioned getting his gun and shooting his father between the eyes. He told himself that he had to get a hold of himself and got ready for work.

It then moved to Ed French, the guidance counselor. He was at a conference and was on a break and was bored. He had read the paper and had seen Todd’s name. And he remembered that his grandfather was in the same town he was in now. So he decided to look in the phone book and found Victor Bowden’s name and address. On a whim, he called the number, but when he answered the phone, Ed didn’t recognize the voice, it was different from what he remembered. So he asked the grandfather if he remembered coming down to the school to talk about Todd’s grades. Victor said no, that Todd was a good kid. Now curious, he asked if he could go down to his house since he was in the area. He wondered if Todd had conned him, not that it mattered now since he had already graduated. But it still bugged him, so the next day he went to Victor Bowden’s house and had an interesting conversation with him. And indeed the man that had come to his office that day had been someone else.

When Dussander woke up the next morning to a well-dressed Jewish man sitting at his side. He was confused at first because he was the only one in the room now, Morris had gone home the day before. What was more, he was calling him by his real name, Kurt Dussander. The man said his name was Weiskopf and that the roommate he had, Morris Heisel had been an inmate in Patin that Dussander had commanded. He had recognized him. Weiskopf even had an old photo of Dussander in his youth in his SS uniform. Dussander said he was mistaken and continued to say his story that he had been a factory machinist and briefly fought in the war...basically the same story he had given Todd all those years ago. Yet Weiskopf wouldn't back down, he knew who he was and said that he will be in Tel Aviv paying for his crimes by the new year. He then left. Dussander was shaken, but he knew what he had to do.

Ed French meanwhile had gone back to the school on the weekend to look at school records. He was able to find Todd Bowden's report cards from 3 years ago and confirmed what he thought. It had been doctored.

Back to Dussander, he had gotten up out of his hospital bed and down the hallway. It was a shift change and all the doctors and nurses were at the head station, so there was no one around. He pretended to get water at the fountain then went across the way to a door where they kept all the medication. If they did catch him, he would just act confused and say he was looking for the bathroom. He would have liked to stake out the door for a week or so, but he didn't have time. The whole hospital would know who he was within a few days and would watch him. So he had to do it now. Once inside the room, he grabbed some pills and made his way back to his room with no issues. When he got back to his room, he took 9 pills with water, then waited until he started feeling sleepy and took three more. As he started drifting off he was relieved that it was finally over. It was funny that after all these years he had been discovered by a man he barely spared a glance at. He kind of wished he could write the boy (Todd) a letter, he had learned to respect the boy, but it would cast suspicion on the boy and he didn't want that. The boy would have a hard time at first, of course, thinking about the nonexistent safety deposit box, but in time it would go away. There was no way for the boy to be involved in it. He just hoped that there were no dreams as he fell asleep. That was his last thought. He was found early the next morning dead of an overdose.

Later that morning, the Bowden family was sitting around the kitchen table eating Saturday breakfast when the newspaper came. When Todd's father opened it he started choking on his coffee. On the front page was the old man Mr. Denker with the caption "Fugitive Nazi Commits Suicide In Santo Donato Hospital" with side by side pictures of the old man and a different picture of him in his SS uniform. His parents were shocked and looked at Todd in concern but he wasn't paying attention. He recognized the picture in the paper, it had been at Dussander's house which meant the police had been in his house. They would find the bodies of the winos in the basement soon enough. He then fainted.

At the same time, Ed French was sitting eating breakfast when he read the paper. He recognized the old man as the one who had come to the school posing as Todd Bowden's grandfather.

Once Todd had gotten control of himself again, he had called the police to tell them about "Mr. Denker" and a detective, Richler, came to ask him questions. He told the detective that he used to read Mr. Denker books 3 years ago, but when he got to high school he didn't have the time anymore. He would stop by time to time to read him the newspaper but that was it. Richler said that they had found 5 different ID cards hidden around the house and a storage box under the bed with stock papers and old photos. Todd thought it was weird that Dussander hadn't out it in the deposit box... but he left it alone. The detective then said that he was done with his questions but that a man, Weiskopf wanted to talk to him. Specifically, the say of Dussander's heart attack since Todd had been there at the time reading him a letter. But Todd had burned it, not that he told them that. Richler said that Dussander had been a big fish and thought he may have been in contact with others. Todd said that he wished he could help but the letter had been in German and he didn't understand any of it. Yet the detectives were very interested in the letter because it was gone. It may have been stolen since the house had not been locked, but nothing else was taken. Todd understood that it didn't make sense. The detective said that they believe that someone in town knew who Dussander really was and knew the truth and may have come in and taken the letter.

Todd tried his best to be confused and properly bewildered by it all while thinking that it was all Dussander's fault for pulling him into it with the letter. Richler and the other man, Weiskopf was still sniffing around. He suddenly wished he had his gun in his hands...he quickly snapped out of it. The detective asked if Dussander had any friends, and Todd said no, no one ever came over, but that he used to get phone calls every week. It was really just wrong numbers and telemarketers but Todd told the detective that he used to say to the person on the line that his reading boy was there and to call back later. The detective was excited and thought it might be the guy. He then said that he was going to have special forces go through the house attic to cellar for anything. He then left. Todd went upstairs to lay down and thought about his gun and shooting Betty and her screaming.

Later, Richler and Weiskopf met for lunch to talk. Richler told him that the kid, Todd was in on it somehow. He had tripped him up in some places but nothing that they could use in court. The kid was a smooth talker and really creepy. Richler said that Todd had latched on to the idea of Dussander getting a phone call every week but they knew that Dussander's phone rate was low because he didn't get phone calls and especially long-distance ones. Plus, he had jumped to the conclusion that the letter was just gone. Because he had been the one to go back and take it. What they thought was that Dussander had had a heart attack while burying the fresh body in the cellar- they had found dirt on Dussander's shoes- and had called the kid who flipped out and had cleaned up the mess and made up the story about the letter. So the letter had been a prop, taken from the box upstairs that they found smashed open. They had fingerprints on the box. But his fingerprints were all over the house. It could have happened because Dussander had told him to put something in it or to use the shovel to plant a rose bush or something. He was just so smooth that he could explain anything they threw at him.

Weiskopf just couldn't understand it all. He just seemed so clean-cut. The boy had been 14 when it started and he couldn't understand how or why he had gotten involved with Dussander. It could be just dumb luck. But Richler said that most kids would have called the police and turned Dussander in, but he didn't. He had probably found out by luck and had gone to Dussander. It wasn't blackmail since the old man didn't have much, so what did he want. They both didn't want to think about it because it haunts them. They then discussed how Dussander had lured the winos to his house, but it didn’t explain the others that had been found around town. Dussander didn’t have the strength to do such a thing, but there was already a detective on the case. Yet Weiskopf said he wasn’t thinking of Dussander for the other murders, but Richler couldn’t believe that a kid would do such a thing. Yet Weiskopf was an agent of the government and only cared about finding out from the boy if he knew if there were any other contacts that Dussander knew, but as a human being, he was interested to know what else he was into.

There was some perverse fascination that drew people to horrifying events like the camps. It would churn anyone's stomach to know what happened there. But even the most normal of people could be into things like that. It could be the same thing with Todd, he could have been interested in the camps and had found Dussander by luck and went directly to the source and had simply…gone down the wrong path.

Down at the police station, a wino named Hap came in wanting to talk to a Lieutenant Bozeman. He claimed he knew who had been killing the homeless around town. He had seen a young boy, white, with blonde hair talking to the last victim; had seen him leaving with him. But it wasn’t any news to Bozeman, many of the derelicts had claimed to see the same boy, but there were no leads. Yet Hap said that he had been collecting newspapers and had seen the boy in the paper. He then showed the lieutenant the picture of the All-Stars from the baseball team and pointed out Todd Bowden as the killer. Bozeman recognized the name, but couldn’t figure out where until later when he heard Richler and Weiskopf come back. He then realized that it was the same kid that was associated with the Nazi that had been in town.

Todd was at home by himself. His parents had offered to take the day off but Todd said he would be alright, so they left to work. When they did he took his gun out to the garage and took it apart and cleaned it and put it back together, he even loaded it. Not long after did his old guidance counselor Ed French pulled up. He wanted an explanation for what he had found in the paper. That the grandfather he had met had been an old German Nazi criminal. This wasn’t good for Todd. The police would be very interested in this piece of information. He had thought he would be fine, but Richler had been slick with the tidbit about the phone calls and he had gone along with it. He didn’t know if the phone company could track how often a phone rings. But not only that, he had unintentionally told Richler that there had been no robbery at Dussander’s house meaning he had been there since then. Plus, the detective didn’t say anything about the bodies. It was warm out and in the heat, the cellar smelled really ripe, there was no way they didn’t know already. So everything was not good. But Ed French was the link the police didn’t have. He would be able to prove that Todd was in on a conspiracy. But that wouldn’t put an end to it, they would take his picture and go around identifying him with the winos on the streets. But all that would be circumstantial and with lawyers, he would get off, but by then his life would be ruined just like Dussander had said.

So when Ed French asked how it happened that a Nazi criminal had come posed as his grandfather, how it all happened. Todd just said that one thing followed another and picked up his newly cleaned, loaded gun and shot him. It took 3 shots until he died whispering his daughter's name. Todd suddenly felt better than he had felt in years, clear-headed. Everything was going to be fine. So he went back in the garage and gathered all the bullet shells he had and went to the hill overlooking the freeway with his gun. It was five hours later that the police were able to take him down.

#phoenix be reading #Apt Pupil #Stephen King #Book Review #reading #books #literature #book lover #2020 Books

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sheithfictioncatalogue · 5 years

Note

Any more mermaid aus? I’ve blasted through your tag already....

Happy MerMay! Have a masterlist!

Stars shine bright above you, the ocean whispers below you - captainhurricane @aarnivalkeaa

16k. (Teen).

Keith keeps looking up at the stars, when he could be looking down at the ocean.

Baby I’m preying on you - reetsu

ongoing, 5/? chapters, 9k. (Explicit). Contains: rape/non-con, abo dynamics.

“Why are you doing this?”“Because Shiro loves you. That’s why I’m going to ruin you for him.”

[mermaid au where Kuro does something very terrible to Keith]

when freedom called my name - psyraah @shiroganedefencesquad

3k. (General).

Keith saves a merman. In the process, he saves himself.

“Let him drown!”

Keith winced. That voice was unmistakably Sendak’s. No one went against Sendak and, well, that was going to be that.

Deciding not to think about how much longer he had before they tossed him over the side of the ship, Keith peered through the hole in the hull to the wide expanse of the ocean outside, chains scraping on the damp floor as he shifted. He wondered where the mer had gone. Had he been able to find his family? Keith could only hope so—it had never felt right for the creature to be held captive. Keith had seen many atrocities in his years on the ship, but there had been something so wrong about holding the mer. The pained defiance in the creature’s eyes, the deep sorrow it held. It had been without its family.

Keith knew that feeling all too well.

So in the end, it had been an easy decision to make. An easy decision to choose freedom and life, even if it meant he condemned his own.

Stolen Fishes & Eggcellent Wishes - SuccubustyKisses

4k. (Explicit). Contains: NSFW content, oviposition.

“Keith, you know if I do something you don’t like all you have to do is say so and I will never do it again. I would never pressure you into anything.” Shiro lets out the same sentence he’s said many times before in many different ways.

The pufferfish drops into its new tank and Keith turns to Shiro, confusion knitting his brow as he holds the plastic bag to his chest. “I know that, Shiro. Why would you think you did something wrong?”

“Because every time I try to get intimate with you, you run away like I lit your ass on fire.” Shiro tries to not sound dejected, but he knows he fails as he looks up into Keith’s guilty face.

Sighing loudly Keith steps down from the stool. “I know, Shiro. I promise, it will all make sense soon. Just… please bear with me a little bit longer.”

Of Two Worlds - teicakes

16k. (Teen).

Shiro had always loved the stars.

He’d spent countless nights watching them twinkle overhead, spinning slowly around his head like a great distant halo. He’d tracked their patterns, followed his favourite constellations over the horizon and greeted them when the reemerged seasons later. Shiro had counted every falling star he’d seen, a running tally etched in the soft stones that made up his home. Some of them would spin around the horizon out of sight, or others would burn out in the middle of their path. No matter his best efforts, he’d never managed to find one that made it down to Earth.

Star 143 was different though.

Star 143 brought Keith.

Or else, Galra Keith crashes down to Earth only to befriend a stargazing merman who can’t take his eyes off him.

The Mermaid of Lake Altea - flukeloops @shiroisthenewblack

24k. (Mature). Contains: NSFW content.

The Mermaid of Lake Altea has been a story passed from camper to camper for almost ten years. It’s the tale of a lonely young mermaid who gets rejected by her crush when they find out she has fins. When camp counselor Keith hears it, he becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth. While projecting his own loneliness on the mermaid, he also tries to uncover his handsome, co-counselor, Shiro. Keith has fallen hard and fast for him, but there’s something mysterious about Shiro as well. What’s his connection to the mermaid? Will Keith’s quest for a mythical creature sabotage his quest to get with Shiro?

The Alien at Camp Marmora - flukeloops @shiroisthenewblack

ongoing, 6/10 chapters, 19k. (Mature).

Shiro and Keith are back at Camp Arus and madly in love. Alfor has to take a week off to tend to personal matters and has left his friend Kolivan in charge. Kolivan presents the staff and campers with Camp Marmora: a grueling 5-day challenge that tests their bodies and maybe even their minds. Will Shiro and Keith’s fairy tale romance stand through it all? What will the challenge reveal about both of them?On top of it all, the longer Shiro stays in human form, the worse his legs hurt. He’s afraid that he and Keith’s worlds will drift too far apart if he has to live in the water.[SEQUEL to The Mermaid of Lake Altea]

The Aquamarine Oath - gingayellow

584 words. (Teen).

Keith is rescued from the ocean by a stranger who seems friendly, but won’t leave his spot by the rocks.

Siren Song - TheAnxiousAce

ongoing, 6/? chapters, 6k. (Teen).

A Mer’s rite of passage, their transition into adulthood, is simple: choose a human, captivate them with song, and drown them.

What’s not so simple is what happens when a Mer chooses not to. And slowly falls in love.

Or: The Mer!AU nobody asked for.

no luck in swordfishing - shoutz @shoutzwastaken

6k. (Mature). Contains: graphic violence.

There are giants out there in the canyons, and a good captain can’t fall asleep.

“Hello? Are you okay?” Shiro calls as he sets foot on land. This island, unlike the bigger coast, is covered in sand from years of waves lapping against the shores. Shiro can see drag marks in it from where the stranger must have pulled himself onto land, disappearing where the tide has washed the indentations flat.

Shiro doesn’t think about why he had to drag himself onto shore until he gets a better look at his legs.

What he had thought were shiny or wet pants of some sort aren’t actually pants at all. He steps closer, and freezes. The guy doesn’t even seem to have legs, instead sporting one long appendage where two should reside. Tail is the first word that comes to mind, but it’s a ridiculous thought. Right? Mermaids aren’t real.

Right?

in the deep, deep blue i found you - captainhurricane @aarnivalkeaa

2k. (Explicit). Contains: fem Sheith, NSFW content.

Keith has been a diver all her life. She’s never found anything or anyone quite like Shiro.

series: Ocean of Storms - radiofreekerberos @radiofreekerberos

ongoing, 4/? works, 17k. (Teen).

When Shiro was ten-years-old, he lost his right arm in a boating accident and found a mystery. Part one of the Ocean of Storms series.

A light rain began to fall and the sea turned choppy, dark waves sloshing over the sides of the boat. Shiro barely noticed, his eyes cast unseeing at a fixed point on the horizon until something suddenly caught his eye, a luminous spot in the water. His brow knit as he watched it slowly gliding towards him; a lavender glow just below the choppy surface. It veered off at the last minute to glide alongside the boat, and Shiro tracked its movements with fascination. Whatever if was, it wasn’t very big. Maybe roughly his size, though most of its length seemed to be made up of a long and powerful tail.

series: Land and Sea - Angelicat2 @iamstuckinfandom

ongoing, 2/? works, 8k. (Teen). Contains: graphic violence.

When Shiro almost drowns in the ocean, he remembers waking up to the person who saved him. Months later, he finds him again.

“Thank you,” Shiro muttered as he grinned, feeling relief flood through his body, “For saving me. What’s your name?”

“Keith,” Keith stated with a somewhat raspy voice as he watched Shiro, “What’s yours?”

“I’m Takashi Shirogane, but everyone calls me Shiro,” he felt his cheeks warm up at the look Keith gave him, “But you might know that already.”

“I guessed,” the boy shrugged as he glanced away, “Heard…rumors.”

“Are they bad or good rumors?”

“Not sure,” Keith raised a brow, but Shiro could see the slight grin on his lips, “But the one about you being a damsel-in-distress was right.”

Cold Corners - catpoop @swummeng-geys

1k. (General).

Sheith Month ‘17 - 10/8: Prosthetic

(Merpeople!AU) Keith remembers Shiro’s capture like it was yesterday

Indigo - LittleKazoo

5k. (Explicit). Contains: NSFW content.

Shiro’s world was literally turned upside down when he was saved from drowning by a certain ocean beauty.

A Hidden Treasure in the Sea - TheNightOwls

2k. (General).

Nothing ever goes as planned, does it?In which Shiro is met with a mysterious figure when going out for his early morning jog.

Waters Of Red And Black (Sheith Positivity Week 2k17) - bisexualinspace

6k. (General).

Everything I wrote for Sheith Positivity Week 2k17!MerKeith and MerShiro.

every breath you take - arahir @arahir

ongoing, 4/6 chapters, 25k. (Explicit). Contains: NSFW content.

Keith takes a swim, gains a secret admirer, and finds something to live for.

There’s a cut on his bottom lip, a row of tiny lacerations that smart when he pulls at them to get a better look.

He doesn’t notice the bruise on his upper arm until the next day. He catches the edge of it at the corner of his eye when he’s pulling on a fresh shirt: blue lines, like stripes, but when he turns and twists to see how they ring his arm, he realizes what they look like.

The lines are like fingers. It’s a handprint.

#anonymous #mermaid #mermaidkeith #mermaidshiro #masterlist #mermay #rape #abo #abodynamics #violence #recs

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helenarlett-rex · 4 years

Text

Goosebumps Review #8

*Grumbles* I guess it’s time for another review. Do I really have to? *Sighs* Okay fine… Moving on with reading all the Goosebumps I never got the chance to read as a kid…

(Spoilers)

Creature Teacher: The Final Exam

Goosebumps Most Wanted #6

Dear god this book sucked. And it’s a real shame because I really loved the original Creature Teacher. But what is the most mind boggling is that this is more or less the exact same story as the first book. It just copied the plot from the first book almost to the letter, and yet despite being the same story, this time it sucked instead of being awesome. So how do you manage to retell the same story but make it bad this time around? Well let’s go through all the problems in the order they appear and I’ll show you.

The first problem is our protagonist, Tommy. He’s bland. There’s not a single thing interesting about him. He has no personality. He doesn’t have any defining characteristics. This kid is just a total blank slate who is uninteresting to read about. Back in the first book, Paul Perez was the class clown. He was always joking to the point where it finally got him in so much trouble that his parents sent him away to boarding school. And even when things got bad he still kept it up because joking about his misfortune was the only way he could deal with it. He had a personality and he was fun to read about. Tommy doesn’t have that. In fact, his parents and sister show more personality in the 2 short chapters they are in than Tommy does the entire book.

And that’s also a problem, because Tommy’s family is the worst family ever. There are a lot of really aggravating characters in this book, but his family are some of the worst. They are all super overachievers who only care about winning and feel the need to compete over everything. And I mean everything. This kid’s parents can’t even sit down to eat breakfast without being like, “I ate the biggest breakfast!” “Oh yeah, well I ate my breakfast the fastest!” They are grown adults acting like annoying five year olds who feel the constant need to show off and be better than everyone else at everything even when it’s things that just don’t matter. Tommy’s sister is the same way and their parents encourage it while shunning Tommy for not acting like a petulant five year old. If this book had ended with Tommy getting a gun and blowing his family’s brains out it would have made for a more enjoyable ending and no one who read it would have been able to say he wasn’t justified in his actions.

Just trying to get through the first 2 chapters of this book was painful and a little hard to do because Tommy’s family aggravated and sickened me that much. But as bad as that was, how else do you take a story as good as Creature Teacher and make it not good? By changing the setting and pretty much merging it with one of the worst Goosebumps ever written. Yeah, the title of this book should have been “Mrs. Maaargh Goes To Camp Jellyjam”.

Okay it doesn’t actually take place at Camp Jellyjam. It takes place at a summer camp called Winner Island. But it may as well be King Jellyjam’s Sports Camp. Winner Island is a summer camp dedicated to making your kids into winners. It’s a sports camp where everyone is totally obsessed with winning all the time and not winning is shunned. (Which is why Tommy’s parents forced him to go there.) Sound familiar? It’s the exact model of Camp Jellyjam. The ideology of this camp is so disgusting to me it would have been hard to read even if I hadn’t already read The Horror at Camp Jellyjam and hated it. There is one part where Uncle Felix, the guy who runs the camp, actually tells Tommy, “Helping others is for losers. A winner doesn’t care about others. A winner takes what he wants for himself.” So now we get to add Uncle Felix and the rest of the camp counselors to the list of highly aggravating characters who need to be shot in the head.

The only improvement Winner Island has over King Jellyjam’s Sports Camp is the fact that the kids all at least have a reason to be so obsessed with winning this time. Because Mrs. Maaargh is one of the camp counselors and whoever is the biggest loser at the end of camp gets eaten.

The setting in the original book was perfect. Having Mrs. Maaargh as the headmistress of her own boarding school out in the middle of nowhere worked. She was able to set the school up like a prison where the kids weren’t able to get out or have contact with the outside world. She was the one in charge of the school so she had final say on how things were set up and how things were run. On top of that she was very clever on how she did things. Only the kids in the school knew she was a monster. The other teachers and staff were kept in the dark about this. Mrs. Maaargh could just say, “I have a medical condition. I’m very sensitive about it but the kids all make fun of me because of it.” Then any kid who tried to tell any adult that she was a monster was scolded for being insensitive. She even worked out a plan where once she had picked out which kid she was going to eat she started contacting his parents and telling them that he as acting up and having problems at school. So when she finally ate him no one would question the story if she told the police that he ran away into the woods surrounding the school.

But with this new setting nothing works. Winner Island may be an actual island where the kids are cut off from the outside world, but she isn’t the one in charge now. Uncle Felix is. That means he had to actually go out of his way to get this camp set up to imprison kids for the express purpose of letting a monster toy with and eat them. And he is doing just that. Mrs. Maaargh isn’t hiding the fact that she is a monster from anyone this time. Uncle Felix and all the camp counselors know she is a monster. They know she will eat one kid at the end of camp. And they are actively helping her and making sure the kids can’t get away. And they have apparently been doing it for years. Other than their warped mentality of what a winner is, the book never gives us any explanation as to why they are working with and helping this monster.

Nor is there ever any explanation given as to how they cover it up when every year one kid doesn’t come home from camp. In the first book they showed us how Mrs. Maaargh was a master at manipulating people and how she handled that, but this time they just don’t seem to worry about it. So I have to wonder how this camp hasn’t become the focus of a full blown police investigation and been shut down yet. One kid goes missing at this camp every year? The FBI would be all over that place. And they would be sure to notice that the whole island was wired with the surveillance cameras Uncle Felix uses to make sure none of the kids escape and demand to have those tapes handed over. And between Mrs. Maaargh constantly bragging to the kids about how she is going to eat one of them, and the camp counselors forcing the kids to play dangerous games like Dodge The Javelin, 90% of the footage would have to be edited out before handing it over and that would just tip off any investigation even more.

Changing the setting from “The Caring Academy” to a summer camp was one of the worst decisions R.L. Stine could have made with this book. Not just that, but it doesn’t even fit! The book is called Creature Teacher, not Creature Camp Counselor…

But I’m ranting too much about this one aspect. Let’s move on to the next problem with this book. The first book created a psychological aspect of horror. Mrs. Maaargh manipulated and toyed with these kids. They were always trying to please her but no one ever knew if whatever they were working on would make her happy or not. It was all up to her whims. Any given project could be just a likely to put them at the bottom of the chart as it could the top of the chart. This created an atmosphere of paranoia that became the true horror of the book. That’s gone in this book. With the sports camp setting it’s all a matter of how you preform in events. There is no aspect of uncertainty. You either win and she approves, or you don’t win and she doesn’t approve. Even Mrs. Maaargh’s son is gone. In the first book her son was always lurking around, spying on the characters, adding even more to the paranoia as you were never quite sure what he was up to… if he was trying to help them or trying to hinder them? But he’s been cut out of this book entirely. Stine took the scariest aspect of the first book and just removed it.

I’m not going to even bother going into any detail about what happens in the story because as I said it was just a retelling of the first book. So if you already read that one you already know what happens in this one. It’s like he just went down a check list checking off all the plot points from the original. Protagonist is enrolled late, putting him far behind all the other kids? Check. He makes two friends, a boy and a girl, who are both secretly sabotaging him to make sure they stay above him on the food chain? Check. He tries to escape but his escape is cut short because of bad weather? Check. The story was interesting in the first book but now we’ve already seen it done before so it just becomes boring.

Even the twist ending is so underwhelming it’s sad. After Tommy defeats Mrs. Maaargh with a Chekhov’s gun we saw coming a mile away, the whole camp decides to spend the last few days of camp celebrating. Campers and camp counselors alike. Everyone except Uncle Felix who locks himself in his office and then comes out two days later to introduce everyone to the new monster he got to take Mrs. Maaargh’s position. And the new monster is… No, it’s not Mrs. Maaargh’s son. That would have been a call back to the first book that would have made the ending of this book actually enjoyable. It’s just some random two headed monster who announces that at the end of camp he is going to be eating two kids. Which happens to be in two days…

So instead of finishing the book by saying, “Wow. I did not see that coming.” I instead finish the book by saying, “Huh… Uncle Felix is a dick for no good reason…”

I really hated this book.

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gayoongles · 6 years

Text

Summer Love

Pairing: Suga | Min Yoongi/Park Jimin Rating: T POV: Jimin/3rd Words: 3.3k Summary: Yoongi and Jimin are camp counselor boyfriends

ao3

A/N: This is my Submission for the Pretty Boys Network’s Secret Summer Love Project, I hope y’all enjoy it! :)

**moodboard made by @taetaetrashhh**

“Hyung, come on we’re gonna be late, it’s the first day we can’t be late!”

“Sorry, Sorry, coming.” Yoongi walked out in the outfit they have to wear; a blindingly bright red t-shirt with ‘Camp Counselor’ in big white letters on the back and ‘Camp Jin’ on the front pocket, a name that Yoongi had complained about, saying that it’s the least creative fucking camp name that Jin could’ve possibly come up with, to which he received a slap on his arm and a “respect your hyung, hyung” for from Jimin.

Jimin giggles at the annoyed look on his boyfriend’s face, which just results in the latter rolling his eyes at the younger boy.

The two finally get out the door and drive the 20 minutes to the summer camp, arriving at just before 9am; right on time.

They walk into Seokjin’s office holding hands, for which they immediately get scolded for, causing Jimin to jump from the sudden yell.

Yoongi scoffs, “Good morning to you too, hyung. Was that necessary?” He wraps an arm around his boyfriend’s waist and pulls him closer to him to comfort him.

“Yah!” Jin rushes forward, “I’m sorry Jimin-ah, I didn’t mean to scare you! I ah, must’ve forgotten to talk to you about that, s’all.” He trails off and rubs the back of his neck nervously.

Yoongi’s eyes narrow, “Talk to us about what, exactly?”

Jin gestures to the two boys, “That. You two. You’re not allowed to act couple-y around the kids.”

Jimin pipes up from his place in Yoongi’s side, “Why not, Jin-hyung?” He frowns, instinctively pressing closer to his boyfriend.

“Uh, why? Do you have a problem with us showing our affection towards each other?”

Jin scowls, “Min Yoongi, I really hope you’re not insinuating that I’m homophobic, because you know full well that I’m head over heels in love with your best fucking friend.”

“How could I forget? Every time I go to the studio to work on our songs with him, all I hear is ‘Jin-hyung did this’, and ‘Jin-hyung took me on the best date this weekend!’ it’s exhausting, honestly.”

Jin rolls his eyes, “Well, no, to answer your questions, I don’t have a problem with it, but just no PDA of any kind in front of the kids. While I don’t think the kids themselves will particularly care, we are still in Korea and I don’t want to have to fire you two if a kid tells their parents about the ‘two boys kissing’ and they file a complaint; or what happens if they see you two being intimate and they try it with another camper and tell their parents? You two will have to be fired and a kid might get beat or kicked out by their parents if they think their child is gay, and they’re only 4-6, Yoongi, they’ll literally die if they’re kicked out and have no one to care for them!”

Yoongi flinches at Jin’s accusatory tone, “Okay, okay I got it. No PDA in front of the kids. Try not to have an aneurism over it, hyung.”

Jin immediately smiles and nods, “Great! Here’s your nametags and you know all the other rules, you can join Namjoon-ah and Hoseokie in the main room, the kids should be arriving at any moment.

They leave Seokjin’s office and detatch from each other, walking awkwardly next to each other with at least one foot of space in between them.

They make it into the room and give each other one last loving gaze before going their separate ways; Yoongi going to stand near Namjoon and Jimin near Hoseok.

This is gonna be a long summer.

The kids start arriving at exactly 9:15 and once the last kid arrives and checks in, Jin starts speaking, “Good Morning campers! Welcome to Camp Jin! I hope you enjoy your summer here and make great memories and friendships. I’m going to split you up into groups and assign you a certain counselor, who will be your advisor throughout the entire summer. Lee Taemin, Kim Taehyung, Lee Seokmin, and Wen Junghai are with Mr. Park.”

Jimin raises his hand, a big smile on his face as the four kids rush over to him.

“Lee Jihoon, Jeon Jeongguk, Choi Hansol, and Kwon Soonyoung are with Mr. Min.” Yoongi raises his hand.

“Choi Sungccheol, Yoon Junghan, Hong Jisoo, and Jeon Wonwoo are with Mr. Jung, and Kim Mingyu, Xu Minghao, Boo Seungkwan, and Lee Chan are with Mr. Kim. Your counselors have your activity schedules, so please go to them so you can start your fun-filled day!” Jin claps his hands together and the remaining kids rush over to their assigned counselors.”

After 2 hours with his kids, Jimin loves all of them, he really does, but he maybe likes Kim Taehyung the best. Yes, the 6-year-old is extremely energetic and always running off, but the other kids aren’t, so Jimin likes him the best.

The opposite can be said for Min Yoongi. Now Yoongi likes kids, don’t get him wrong. He wouldn’t have agreed to work for his hyung if he didn’t, but three of kids are always yelling and running off and Yoongi is tired. 4-year-old Jeon Jeongguk is the only calm one, keeping to himself for the most part, barely even speaking and playing by himself instead of with the other kids.

Namjoon and Hoseok were having too much trouble with all their kids individually, however, since they got more of the older kids, so they decided to combine their groups, with Jin’s consent, of course.

Jimin also got consent to let his group hang out with Yoongi’s, they’re not allowed to combine permanently, though. Now, Jimin isn’t having trouble with his kids to warrant him needing to combine with Yoongi, he just misses his boyfriend and feels like he might go insane if he doesn’t so much as see the older boy for nearly an entire day;

And that’s how they find themselves sneaking off into a secluded part of the building during lunch time to catch up on everything they weren’t able to do for 4 whole hours. If they can’t even deal with not being with each other for more than a few hours, how they’re supposed to survive the next 3 months of camp is a mystery.

“Hyung!” Jimin giggles, “What if we get caught? Jin hyung will kill us.”

Yoongi rolls his eyes and stops near a wall in one of the dimly lit hallways, grabbing one of Jimin’s hands in his own and running his thumb over the younger boy’s knuckles, “He’ll only kill us if he finds out, Jiminie.” He grins and traps his boyfriend against the wall, one hand on the wall and the other on his waist, leaning in to capture Jimin’s lips with his own.

Jimin reciprocates immediately, humming contently and moving to deepen the kiss, bringing one hand up to cup Yoongi’s cheek.

They continue this routine every day; sneaking away at lunch time to a secluded hallway to make out until it gets too heavy for them to continue.

One day, however. They catch the attention of a certain dark-haired boy as they’re walking off.

Yoongi and Jimin are kissing heavily in the middle of the hallway when they hear a small voice speak up from about 10 feet away from them. Jimin’s eyes snap open and he pushes Yoongi away from him, barely sending him an apologetic glance before his eyes lock on the source of the voice. Jeon Jeongguk.

The 4-year-old has his head tilted and a confused look on his face, “Mr. Park? Mr. Min?”

“Ah! Jeonggukkie!” Yoongi says in a strained voice, walking forward until he’s right in front of the boy, kneeling down so that he’s face to face with him, “What are you doing out of the lunch room, kiddo?”

“Um…” Jeongguk starts nervously, “I-I saw you and Mr. Park leaving the caf-caf…cafeteria and I got worried.” He frowns at himself, obviously frustrated for still having difficulty with some words.

“Oh, well we’re okay sweetheart.” Jimin pipes in, appearing in the spot next to Yoongi, “How about you, me, and Mr. Min head back to the cafeteria, okay? I’m sure everyone is wondering where you went.”

Jeongguk nods and starts walking back with them when he speaks up out of nowhere again, causing Jimin to choke.

“What were you and Mr. Min doing in the hallway?”

“You-You saw that?” Yoongi breaths out hoarsely.

“Ah, just, don’t tell anyone alright, sweetheart? If you promise not to tell anyone I’ll bring you a cookie tomorrow to give you at lunch time, okay?”

Yoongi glares at him with a ‘why the hell are you bribing a kid??’ look, but Jeongguk doesn’t notice, or care; he simply perks up and nods excitedly, a big smile on his face.

Jimin smiles back at him, “Good!”

They get back to the cafeteria and sit Jeongguk back at his table, walking towards an empty table afterwards and sitting down with a huge sigh of relief.

“Not to be that person, hyung, but I told you so.” Jimin giggles at his hyung’s affronted expression.

“Yah! Park Jimin you’re such a brat.”

“Mhm but I’m your brat.” He says quietly, a smug grin on his face.

Yoongi can’t help but look at him with that of pure adoration, “That you are.”

The next day at lunch time, Jimin and Yoongi walk into the cafeteria, Jimin with a large chocolate chip cookie in his hand. He’s about to walk over to Jeongguk when he notices that he’s not alone. No, he’s sitting with Kim Taehyung, and the two are talking and giggling and pointing at Jimin and Yoongi. Jimin’s eyes widen and he turns slowly to Yoongi, who’s completely oblivious to what’s going on.

“Um… hyung?” He whispers.

Yoongi turns to him, confusion etched onto his face, “What is it Jiminie?”

Jimin points to where the two boys are sitting and laughing, and Yoongi’s eyes go comically wide when he sees them still pointing at the pair, “You don’t think…”

Jimin nods solemnly, “I think we may have a problem hyung.”

Jimin pulls Yoongi into the hallway right outside the café and starts pacing back and forth, “What are we gonna do? Jin hyung is gonna kill us oh my god hyung, I’m too young to die.”

Yoongi grabs Jimin’s shoulders and turns the younger boy towards him, “Calm down Jiminie, you’re so dramatic, hyung isn’t gonna kill us. We just have to talk to Jeongguk and Taehyung and convince them not to tell anyone else.”

Jimin takes a deep breath and nods, “Y-you’re right hyung! We just need to talk to them.” He breaks away from Yoongi’s grasp and marches back into the cafeteria and towards the table that the two boys are occupying.

“Yah, Jeongguk, Tae, can Mr. Min and I talk to you outside, please?”

Both boys’ eyes widen and they nod robotically.

When they’re all outside, Jimin resumes his pacing for a moment before stopping in front of the two boys, kneeling down to be at eye level with them.

“Ah, Jeongguk, I thought we told you yesterday not to tell anyone, I even brought you the cookie I mentioned.”

Jeongguk looks down sadly, “I-I’m sorry Mr. Park-ssi, I just wanted to tell Tae Tae ‘cuz- ‘cuz we’re best friends like you and Mr. Min! So I thought it would be okay. I didn’t mean to make you angry. Can I still have the cookie please Mr. Park? I promise I won’t tell anyone else!”

Yoongi steps in, “Ah, me.. me and Mr. Park aren’t best friends Jeonggukkie, I- we’re boyfriends. Best friends don’t do what you saw me and Mr. Park doing usually.”

Jeongguk seems to consider this for a moment, “So.. could me and Tae Tae be boyfriends then?”

Taehyung perks up at the words, “Ooooh please pleasee can we be boyfriends Ggukkie?? Then- then I’d get to be both your best friend and your boyfriend.” He holds up two chubby fingers, “That would make you and me extra special because most people only have one!”

Jimin’s eyes widen and he hits Yoongi’s arm, “N-no! You guys can’t be boyfriends.”

Taehyung pouts, sticking his lower lip out, “But, why not? You and Mr. Min are boyfriends and it seems really cool and special! I wanna be boyfriends with Ggukkie too, right Gguk?”

Jeongguk nods excitedly, looking back and forth between Yoongi and Jimin, “Please Mr. Park and Mr. Min?”

Jimin shakes his head quickly, “No! Me and Mr. Min are boyfriends because we’re older. Once you and Taehyung are older like me and Mr. Min are, then you guys can be boyfriends if you still want to be.”

Jeongguk’s frown deepens but Taehyung faces Jeongguk with a bright boxy smile on his face, “It’s okay Ggukkie! We can be boyfriends later! I’ll still be your best friend though, right?”

Jeongguk nods, a small smile beginning to form on his face, “Of course Tae Tae! You’ll be my best friend forever and ever! I can’t wait ‘til we’re older though so we can be boyfriends too.”

Jimin sighs and stands up, taking the cookie out from his backpack, “Good, now that we got that settled, you two are allowed to go back to your table now.” He hands the cookie to Jeongguk, who takes it excitedly, “And remember, no telling anyone, okay?”

“Got it Mr. Park!” Taehyung yells as he drags Jeongguk excitedly back to their table to eat the cookie.

Once they’re out of sight, Jimin turns to Yoongi, a glare on his face, “I can’t believe you told them we were boyfriends! Hyung you could’ve made that so much worse than it was by doing that.” He frowns.

Yoongi rolls his eyes, “But I didn’t, did I Jiminie?”

Jimin huffs, “Well, no, but-”

“Well then we’re okay, they won’t tell anyone, okay?”

Jimin frowns and crosses his arms over his chest, “You better be right about that, hyung.”

Yoongi was, in fact, notright about that. They walked in the next day to see Taehyung and Jeongguk sitting next to each other and holding hands.

Jimin pales and walked over to them, “Ah, Taehyung, Gguk, what.. what are you guys doing?” He’s not sure he’s ready for the answer.

Taehyung perks up and smiles big at Jimin, “After you and Mr. Min left us at the table, me and Ggukkie decided we wanted to tell out mommies and daddies that we were gonna be boyfriends when we were older.” Jeongguk nods excitedly next to him. Jimin pales more.

“What, um-”

“And, and our mommies said that- they cood ‘nd asked why we had to wait, so me and Tae Tae are boyfriends now!!”

“Mommy said that boyfriends hold hands ‘nd kiss on the cheeks ‘nd stuff too.” Taehyung says proudly and kisses a giggling Jeongguk’s cheek.

“So now we get to be super ex- extra special!” Jeongguk grins proudly.

Jimin feels like he’s gonna pass out, and Yoongi must sense that, because he comes and stands next to Jimin to take over, “Your- your parents… toldyou that you guys could be boyfriends?”

Taehyung nods, boxy smile taking over his face, “Yep! They cood and told us that it was super duper cute that we wanted to be boyfriends. They seemed shocked at first so I told them that I just wanted to be super best friends with Ggukkie cuz’ it would be more special ‘nd they started smiling and cooing ‘nd calling us cute!”

Jimin sighs in relief and smiles softly, “Well then I’m happy for you two then!”

Jeongguk blushes, getting shy all of a sudden, and hides his face in Taehyung’s neck.

Yoongi nearly dies at how cute the scene in front of him is and turns to Jimin to see his reaction, only to see the younger looking at him with love and adoration in his eyes.

Yoongi gives him the same look back.

The moment is ruined, however, when Yoongi sees Jin out of the corner of his eye, looking between Jeongguk and Taehyung and Jimin and Yoongi with an irritated look on his face.

Yoongi taps Jimin on the shoulder, “Uh, Jiminie, we might have a problem.” He points to where Jin is standing.

“Hm, what is it hyu-” He turns to look where his boyfriend is pointing and freezes when he sees his hyung’s expression.

“Oh God we’re so fucked.”

Once all the kids have gotten picked up, Jin silently motions for Jimin and Yoongi to follow him into his office, vlosing the door once all three of them are inside.

“Do either of you want to explain to me whyexactly Jeon Jeongguk and Kim Taehyung were holding hands??”

“A-ah, well you see Jin hyung, me and Yoongi may have possibly sorta gotten caught making out in the middle of the hallway by Jeongguk, who then told Taehyung. Then they uh… we- Yoongi explained to them that we were boyfriends but that they could be ‘cuz they’re too young, so uh, they told their parents that they were gonna be boyfriends when they got older, but they think that being boyfriends is just being best friends that hold hands and kiss each other on the cheeks, so they um… they got their parents blessing to be “boyfriends” and now they hold hands and stuff…”

Jin’s gaze softens and he lets out a sigh of relief when he hears that they aren’t actual boyfriends, which would be obsurd anyway since theyre 4 and 6 years old, but rubs at his temple anyway, “Aish, what am I supposed to do with you two?”

Yoongi grins sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck, “Not fire us, hopefully..?”

Jin rolls his eyes and shoos them away, “Get out of my office before I actually dostart to consider firing you two.” He says jokingly, chuckling to himself when the two boys’ eyes widen and they rush out of the office.

It’s the end of the summer, and the four couselors are sending their campers off to their parents sadly.

Jeongguk and Taehyung are two of the last campers to get picked up, Jeongguk sitting next to Taehyung, obviously tired, as the young boy is resting his head on Taehyung’s shoulder.

Jimin “aww”’s softly and watches them for a moment before Taehyung perks up and shakes Jeongguk awake when he sees his and his best friend’s parents walk through the door.

The two run to their respective parents and give them a hug.

They’re all about to leave together, when suddenly there’s two small bodies running towards Jimin and Yoongi, small arms trapping the two of them in a group hug.

Yoongi’s eyes widen in surprise before his face morphes into a soft expression and he’s hugging them back.

“I’m gonna miss you and Mr. Min, Mr. Park.” Taehyung sniffs, “We’ll be back next summer though, right Gguk??”

Jeongguk nods, a huge smile on his face.

The hug is over much to soon for Jimin’s liking. He’s gonna miss the two rascals a lot, no matter how much stress they gave him in the beginning of the summer.

Taehyung is running off again but Jeongguk stays a moment longer, staring at them with a look of indecision.

Yoongi is about to ask what’s wrong when Jeongguk opens his mouth to speak, “Thank you Mr. Min and Mr. Park.”

Then he’s running back to where his mom and Taehyung are, and the four of them walk out of the building and towards their cars, leaving Jimin and Yoongi staring after them in silence.

They both have soft smiles on their faces.

They return their name tags to Jin after the last kid leaves, then walk out to Jimin’s car, hands intertwined.

Neither of them can wait for the next summer, already excited about what the three months of camp will bring them.

ko-fi

#pbnproject1 #prettyboysnetwork #networkbangtan #hyunglinenetwork #daeguboynet #yoonmin #yoonmin fanfiction #yoonmin ff #yoongi #jimin

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carlford0 · 3 years

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Having Infant Cpr Certification Proves You Just Can Save A Child's Life

We laid the foundation for a camp counselor position through sure he went a good approved CIT program. If you research CIT programs, you are able to well discovered that some are less detailed than some other people. Ideally, Counselor in Training classes help potential camp counselors realize how to solve problems, make important decisions, plan safe activities and view the needs of various age groups of summer journeymen. C.I.T. classes are often offered over the YMCA or other youth or camping organizations throughout the UK.

Make there is constant adult assistance. Pool parties are fun, however it is not practical to expect a many adults if a close eye on twice because many young your children. Of course, this also holds for trips to the river or other bodies water. Assigning children 'swimming partners' - kind like the pairing up done during field trips - also limits potential risk of a child slipping under the water unobserved.

Can you visit? Do you have an open house or opportunity to go to a school located close to you? If not, does the college have a long list of students in which have taken will give you? Is there an possibility for ask questions before admitting? Are you satisfied with the resolution your basic questions?

Prepare nearly as much as you can ahead your own time. If you have never been around a baby, a child care course can do some useful. Texas Health Plano offers an absolute of six hours of Baby care/CPR AED Training Classes Denver for $75 per couple either weekday or Saturday. Prepare the nursery with party supplies. Basics include diapers, wipes, diaper cream, and most burp cloths (old wash cloths work great). A bottle warmer the actual nursery guide so you shouldn't go within the house part way through the night to cook a bottle. Obtain a breast pump if in order to breast giving them. It is very hard for just a baby to suckle on engorged breasts. Lanolin for your nipples if you happen to breast supplying. Texas Health Plano also offers breastfeeding classes and support groups.

An AED is a modest device that functions supply an electrical shock on the heart to try and re-start it. The great thing about them is which talk you thru the process and an individual exactly exactly what you need do and also the proper order. Within the last few 10 years AED's have been places a lot more and more public sections. They are located in malls, airports, schools and in most police truck. I firmly believe that there must be an AED in every public apartment.

Learning tips on how to dial 911 in scenario of a desperate is crucial! Children as young as 2 have been known to dial 911 when their parent needed help. Just as your son or daughter is placement to understand what 911 is for, train them how to call for help should a parent or adult not show up.

CPR certification is crucial for parents especially should you have a premature baby. In fact, your doctor is more likely to recommend learning CPR. The CPR class will take 6 hours to pass. You can always take an online CPR class if your local class isn't an option.

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rainbowglittr · 3 years

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Love and Marriage - Chapter 7 (Mature - Minors DNI)

Description:

After a loss in the family uncovers a family secret, Jaleia and her husband Jesse are forced to balance one family crisis after another along with their budding careers and their plans to expand their family. Will the pressure to keep everyone else together ruin their own relationship? Can ruined relationships be fixed before it’s too late?

tw: pregnancy loss

Chapter 7:

"JESSE! JESSE! COME HERE RIGHT NOW!" I yelled from the bathroom. I heard his footsteps get louder.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?"He said, looking worried and out of breath.

"Look at these." I showed Jesse the pregnancy test I had hidden behind my back.

"You're????? Preg-What?" He said, his faced was so shocked. He picked me up and spun me around.

"I don't know what made me take the test, I'm only like two days late but I just thought might as well and, well. I'm pregnant!"

"Oh my God!"

"We're gonna have a baby!"

"We are gonna have a baby!"

"But you can't tell anyone. I don't want to tell anyone until I'm past the first trimester. In case, you know. " I told him,

Holding his hands.

"Not even my mom?" He said.

"Definitely not your mom! She would tell everyone, and she'd want to give me advice I didn't ask for, she-" He kissed me, his hands holding my face close to him.

"I won't tell anyone, I promise."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I looked around Starbucks, before my eyes found who I was searching for. Her maroon purse sticking out from her perfectly coordinated black pantsuit. She hadn't seen me yet because she was on her phone so I snuck up behind her.

"Ahhhhhhh!" I screamed as I jumped out at her.

"If you don't stop doing that, you crazy person!" She said as she slapped me on the arm. I laughed and sat down next to Kiara. My very best friend since the second grade.

"Hey sis, what's good?" I said smiling like I hadn't just acted a fool.

"Don't give me that after what you just pulled!" She said while giving me a hug. We hadn't seen each other for way to long. Over a month and I really missed her. We both picked careers that had us extremely busy. While I went to medical school, she went to law school and now works at a law firm that does hundreds of cases a year. She specialized in Family Law. It was great when we both went to med/law school because we both understood how busy we were and although we could barely hang out we were still super close. Now we are both Married- after being maid of honor at each other's weddings. (That caused a huge argument with my sisters cause I didn't choose them.)

"Did you order yet?" I asked her.

"Yeah, but I ordered for you too." She said.

"It's these moments when I realize how much I love you. So what's been going on?"

"I have a crazy divorce case. Sis, they are tiring me out, drugs, cheating, pettiness, kids! I mean this case could drag on for another six months! I'm tired of dealing with them."

"Well, as you know divorces are messy. Are these the ones that keep posting everything on Instagram Live?"

"Yes! No matter how many damn times I tell this woman, 'stop putting everything on Social media, this can and will be used against you, it doesn't matter what he posted on Facebook,' she won't listen and it's making this more difficult than it has to be!"

"Aww, I would say it'll get better but she ain't gonna listen. How's your mom, how's Mike and the kids?" I asked. Mike is her husband.

"Everyone's good. Mike is getting on my nerves as usual. But really he surprised me at work a few days ago with flowers and lunch. It was sweet! The kids are fine."

"Awww, he surprised you?"

"Yeah, but not as much as I surprised him later!"

"Nasty!"

"Its natural! Our drinks are ready." She said. I got up.

"You ordered and paid, I'll get them, sit!" I walked up to the counter to grab our drink and brownies- there is no way I would ever leave Starbucks without a brownie. As I was walking back to our seat I saw the cutest little girl- only about 1 year old. I had to stop and say how cute she was. Her mother had the prettiest dreads with beads and her little girl had the cutest afro-puffs. In nine months that would be me and Jesse. Our little baby was growing inside me and it took everything in me not to tell Kiara. But if I made Jesse promise then I couldn't tell either.

"Your daughter is so cute!" I said to the mom.

"I guess you didn't see me trying to get her out of the car. Thank you, I'm Alicia. "

"Jaleia, she's so adorable!"

"Thank you, Ari say hi!" Her mom said. Ari looked at me and waved her hand. I waved back.

"Aww, I better get out of here before my fraps melt. Bye Ari!" I said waving again.

"Say bye Ari!" Her mom said. I waved again and got back to my seat.

"So what did you stop for?"

"A baby, she was so cute! Don't roll your eyes! Babies are very distracting!" I said handing her a drink and her cookie.

"Anyway, how's Jess doing?"

"He's much better, Diana is staying with us temporarily. His mom is selling the house, and poor Di can't stand to be in it. So she's staying with us until Aiesha finds a new home." I sipped my frappuccino.

"How that been going besides scaring her for life?"

"First of all it's not funny. I have never been more embarrassed. You know what we should do?"

"What?"

"You should come over and have a sleepover!"

"Girl! Who? I have two kids!"

"So? I want this so it should happen." She laughed.

"Maybe some other time."

"Oh come on! Please?"

"Maybe."

"Please."

"You're never giving this up are you?"

"Nope!"

Kiara sighed. I could tell I could wear her down if I was persistent enough.

"I'll think about it."

>>>>>>>

"Babe, I'm home!" I yelled as I walked through the door after meeting with Kiara. Usually I hear Jesse respond back but all i heard was yelling. I couldn't make out what they were saying but I could hear Jesse and Diana yelling at each other. I put my stuff down and started climbing up the stairs.

"Well you're not my dad! You're my brother, why can't you just be chill about this?"

"I'm not dad, but while you live with me, I am responsible for you and you cannot stay overnight in New York! Are you crazy?"

"Are you? Can you get out my room?" Diana asked. I peeked into her room. I could practically see steam radiating off of Jesse at this point. I put my hands on his shoulders and said, "Maybe we should give her a little space."

"How much space does she need? She's in my damn house." Jesse said, but allowing me to steer him out the door. We went downstairs to the living room.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"She's mad at me because her and her little friends want to camp out in Central Park overnight to see the free Trevor J concert and I said no. Can you believe it? Central Park, at night?" He said as he started pacing.

"Wow, yeah that's crazy. I would never. Overnight?" Central park is NOT the place for sixteen year olds to be at night. New York was my favorite city but the people there are crazy as hell. There's no way she thought that through.

"I offered to take her and her friends early in the morning but apparently that's not good enough."

"Calm down babe, you're going to walk a hole in our carpet."

"Who the fuck does she think she is, talking to me like that? Damn right I'm not dad or he would've knocked her teeth out for talking to him like that. She must've lost her damn mind." He said still fuming. I grabbed his hand and pulled him close to me. I kissed his cheek gently.

"Give yourself and Diana a few minutes to cool down. Once you compose yourself maybe you can talk to her and work that out. When's the concert?"

"I don't get it. I have been nothing but nice to her. What the hell was that?"

"Babe, I know that this is frustrating but don't forget she's not herself. She's still struggling and this whole brat thing is just a reflection of that. She's a teenager. They're crazy." I said as I wrapped my arms around him. He sighed, and looked at me.

"Yeah, you're right. How was your day?" He said, rubbing my back.

"It was fine. You know I met with Kiara today."

"Yeah, how is she?"

"She's good, Mike is going to have some sort of kickback, or something I don't remember but you're invited. Text him. We have a doctor's appointment this week."

"Are you excited? What time?"

"I am so excited! We're going to have a girl and she's going to have your face, and your voice, and my brain, and she's going to be so cute and-"

"Wait, You gotta tell me when and where, Love."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot. Um let me get my phone. I think Thursday at 6:30. Does that work?" I said looking around for my phone.

"Anytime works, love. I'll be there no matter what." He said kissing me.

"I'm so excited!" I said bouncing up and down.

"I can tell," he laughed, "You wanna hear my new song?"

"Yes! Carry me!" I said. Jesse bent down and I climbed on his back.

"You know there's going to be a time when we're both too damn old for this, right?"

"But that day is not today, to the studio!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

After a long discussion about respect, Jesse and Diana had come to an agreement. The concert was on Thursday at 7am. It was one of those morning show concerts. They would get up really early in the morning, meet up with her friends, go to the concert, Jesse supervising of course, and would spend the rest of the day at Jesse's studio in the city. All Diana had to do was not catch an attitude. I admired how much Jesse was really trying with his sister. Even though she kept pushing the Hell of out his buttons he still tried to be fair and understanding. I could tell he was going to be a really amazing father and that made me even more excited. So far we both were able to keep my pregnancy a secret even though I felt like I was about to explode.

Jesse's mom scheduled Diana with a grief counselor. Jesse was supposed to take her every Saturday. When they told Diana, she blew up on them and her mom almost snapped on her. Jesse had to keep Aiesha from slapping her into another century. Eventually she agreed to go, (as if she had a choice) and everything calmed down. She had been really moody lately and driving Jesse crazy but I guess since he was going to take her to the concert she had been calm for the past few days.

Jesse was in the basement with his friends playing 2K or whatever game they were into this week. Naim, Dre, and Jamal have been his best friends since college, Mike got along with Jesse as soon as they met. We used to do a lot of double dates with Kiara and Mike. I was never a video game person, so I didn't know what the difference was between 2K, COD, or whatever. Jesse didn't play that often but when he did, you could not get him away.

I was doing the laundry, which meant I had to keep going up and down to the basement where our washer and dryer were. Jesse and I took turns with a lot of the chores, and it was my week to do the laundry. Every time I came down I would watch Jesse with his friends for a bit. They were so cute. They would have their snacks and beers on one table, videogames on another. Half the time they would argue about sports. Jesse was a big kid again.

As I took the clothes up, I stopped and yelled, "Do you guys need anything?"

"Nah, they can get their fat asses up!" Jesse replied.

"You just mad cause you lost!" One of his friends said.

"Shut up, man! Can we get some more wings?" Jesse asked, looking up from the TV for just a moment.

"Sure babe, I'll be right back!" I said and started climbing up the stairs.

"You need help?" He asked, eyeing the basket of clothes.

"Relax, I'm fine, it's not heavy." Once I got upstairs I put the clothes down on a chair, when I looked up Jesse's mom was sitting on our couch.

"How did you get in here?" I asked in disbelief.

"My key." She said as if it was obvious. We never gave his mom a key to our house. Did we?

"Who gave you a key?"

"Where's Jesse, I have to square a few things away with him."

"Downstairs. How did you get a key to our house?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She said smugly as she walked into our kitchen. What the hell is wrong with her? I stood halfway down the stairs.

"Jess, your mom is here, and did you give her a key to our house?"

"It was supposed to be for emergencies." He said not even looking up from the game.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"I didn't think I'd have to, I never thought she'd need to use it." He said, still not looking up.

"Jesse!"

"Jaleia!"

"If you don't get your ass up here in the next thirty seconds!" I yelled. He hit pause, to which all the guys groaned, and started to come up the stairs.

"You know I'm just kidding with you." He said.

"I know, but did you really have to give your mom a key?"

"I didn't think she'd actually use it." I rolled my eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me."

"Or what? What you gon' do? Huh?" I said, slightly pushing his shoulder.

"Come here!" He said and I ran behind the couch. He chased me, almost caught me until I jumped over the couch. I ran into the kitchen where I had to make a hard stop, just to avoid running his mom over. Jesse came behind me two seconds later, putting his arms around my waist and his chin on my shoulder.

"Sup mom." He said as we both tried not to laugh at her look of confusion.

>>>>>>>>>>>

It was Thursday evening and we were driving to my OB/GYN appointment and Jesse was telling me all about how great the concert went with Diana.

"Yeah, she had a great time! Not a single complaint. She said at the studio that she wanted to spend the summer there interning for me. I was shocked, I didn't think she would be interested but I guess seeing it in person is different."

"That's great! Maybe it will be good for her. She can sing like you, maybe she will grow that talent."

"Yeah, I would love that. But I already told her that she would have to be professional, and listen and do what I told her. So if she can handle that, it'll be lit."

"Lit? Really lit?" I said side eyeing Jesse. I turned into the parking lot of the Doctor's office.

"What? I can't say lit?"

"Not after turning twenty-five, no. Ready?"

"Wait, can you turn around you got something on your-" He said so I moved closer to him and he kissed me.

"Now I'm ready." he said.

"You so silly!" I said smiling.

>>>>>>>>>>>

Jesse sat in a chair next to the exam bed. He held my hand while we waited for the doctor to return. He started to softly sing Lost Without U by Robin Thicke. I smiled as I listened to him sing. The door opened.

"Hey Doc!" Jesse said. I slapped his arm.

"Hey guys, I got the results of your blood work back." Dr. Carter said.

"And?" I said, my heart speeding up because the look on her face wasn't exactly a positive one.

"I'm sorry but you've had what we call a chemical pregnancy." Dr. Carter said.

"Chemical pregnancy? What does that mean?"

"That I'm not pregnant anymore." I said looking down at my lap.

"Unfortunately, the embryo never implanted in your uterus, due to some sort of issue during development. Sometimes genetic or chromosomal but most of the time we'll never know. Your body recognized that it wasn't a viable pregnancy and stopped the pregnancy from continuing. There was nothing that could've prevented this from happening I'm so sorry Jaleia."

I didn't say anything. I felt Jesse kiss the side of my head.

"Um, when could we try again?"

"I would give it about two weeks just allow everything to return to normal but really as soon as your ready to try again you can. As long as there are no abnormal symptoms, you can try again whenever your ready."

"Thank you, Dr. Carter." I said.

"I'll have a nurse prepare for at- home instructions for you. If you have any questions or anything concerning happens call me, I want to call me. I'll see you again in a week for a follow up. I'm so sorry."

"Thanks again, Dr. Carter." Jesse said. She walked out the door. Jesse squeezed my hand.

"I'm sorry baby." He said, kissing my cheek.

"I don't know what to say." I said. I got off the exam chair. Jesse held out hands and I fell into them. I could feel the tears flowing down my cheeks as he rocked us back and forth.

"I just wanted this so bad." I said.

"I'm so sorry baby. I know how excited you were." He said, rubbing circles into my back.

"Let's go, I want some ice cream." I said. Jesse chuckled, and grabbed a few tissues and wiped my face with them.

"Then ice cream is what you'll get, Love. I love you."

"Love you too babe."

#love and marriage #original story #writer on tumblr #black writers #black characters #tw pregnancy loss

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arielsojourner · 6 years

Text

Skywalker Family Values

Think Parent Trap mixed with Addams Family put in a blender with Star Wars, the Original Trilogy. I know I just posted part 4 but part 5 just CAME to me. Not sure when Part 6 may come. Again, warning, this is a very ROUGH draft.

Part 1 and 2 (along with the prompt that woke up my muse in the first place) are HERE.

Part 3 is HERE.

Part 4 is HERE

Part 5 begins . . .

/// Dear Father,

I hope you got my last message. I haven’t heard back from you yet. I hope you’re not still mad about what happened at the end of school. I didn’t mean for things to get that out of hand. Really.

Nevermind, if you are too busy to comm, just stay safe. But could you just send me the things on my supply list? If you can’t send them all, just the first 5 things on the list would be a big help. Or you could just come and get me and bring the things yourself. We could do the plan together. The plan really needs 2 people. Please? I really need to see you and ///

Scowling, Luke erased the entire message and tossed his datapad aside. He couldn’t send that to his father! He needed to handle this himself! He wasn’t a baby. He was 11 years old!

He started to pace back and forth, trying to think what to do, but he was just so angry. He had a deep seated urge to raze all the buildings to the ground and lay waste to his fellow campers and the camp directors. It would serve them right if he did it! Once the care package from the Executor arrived he would show them. He’d show all of them that he was really his father’s son!

Especially the Princess.

Luke stopped in his tracks and took several deep breaths. No, he told himself. He needed to be calm. He needed to remember that just because people said horrible things or were mean and thoughtless didn’t mean he had the right to teach them a bloody and violent lesson in manners. Just because they whipped defenseless creatures, murdered innocents for sport, caged mothers and babies, and enslaved sentient races didn’t mean they deserved to die horrible painful deaths, begging for mercy, screaming that they were sorry for being horrible, cruel, thoughtless, bigoted, evil–

He needed a project, Luke thought to himself suddenly. That would take his mind off things. He just needed something to distract himself with until he could think about things calmly and rationally. That was what Obi-Wan would suggest and he always gave good advice.

He wished Obi-Wan was here.

He wished his father was here.

He could go work on the scanner, that needed some work. Luke hadn’t been able to meet up with Han and Chewie last night because of his fellow campers, but he could work on it now. Working on the scanner would be productive and calming.

Mind made up, Luke double checked that Artoo was still charging comfortably and started hunting for his spare boots. He had just found them when the comm system blared to life.

“Hello, campers! Just a friendly reminder from your helpful camp counselors Gary and Becky Granger that those interested in participating in today’s sport hunting activity should start getting ready for our 1100 hour departure time. The hunter with the most confirmed kills will be specially honored at tonight’s dinner dance event. Those campers who wish to remain onsite can participate in jewelry making, swimming, and archery. Riding lessons will resume next week when new animals are delivered so until then, please enjoy using the canoes and other watercraft during your leisure time. We hope you all have a wonderful day here at Camp Chippewa, the Empire’s foremost summer camp for privileged young adults!”

Then again, Luke thought with a growing sense of righteous anger as he shoved on his boots, sometimes being calm and rational was overrated. Sometimes all you needed to do was to take action, and damn the consequences.

Digging into his suitcase for his favorite tools, Luke headed out to perform some sabotage.

“They’re sentient beings and you have them in cages! Cages! Those are mothers and children in there! You’ve been committing murder!”

“Princess, I think you’re confused,” Becky Granger said with a smarmy smile as she tried to lead her out of the stables. “Yes, they look like cute little pets, but they are just animals and they can be dangerous. We don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Besides, you really shouldn’t even be here, your Highness. This is hardly the place for a young woman of your background,” Captain Greg Granger added even as he looked around with sharp eyes. He was sure that Erso was somewhere nearby but he couldn’t find her. He’d only found Princess Leia and her droid when he’d gotten word of another disturbance around the barn and stables the day after the incident with the fathiers.

“It’s a mistake, the Senate got it wrong!” Leia argued. “I just had a conversation with several of the Ewoks. My droid translated their speech. You need to let them go right now.”

“Your Highness, I–“

“Gary, is that smoke?” Mrs. Granger said suddenly, cutting her husband off, pointing in the distance.

“Smoke?” he echoed and then turned. “What in the ‘verse?”

A guard came running into the paddock. “Sir, the speeders and the bikes, they’ve been destroyed.”

“Destroyed? Are we under attack?” Captain Granger demanded.

“Lock the camp down. We must protect our campers,” Mrs. Granger said with breathless worry. “Oh, Gary, we have to makes sure everyone is safe and happy.”

“It looks more like sabotage, sir,” the guard offered.

“I guess that means no more hunting trips,” Leia said with a pleased smile. “Good, that gives us time to fix this horrible mistake. I’m going to comm my father right now and he will look into this immediately.”

The Grangers shared a look and then rounded on the Princess. “I’m sensing something friction here. I think you’re not quite embracing the Chippewa spirit, Your Highness,” Captain Granger said with a slightly deranged smile. “Not to worry though. All you need is good friends, good fun, and a little time in the Happiness Hut.”

Luke kept his head high as he was “escorted” to the tiny cabin surrounded by a picket fence and flowers by Captain Granger and a cadre of armed guards. He was pushed through the door with a chirpy “have fun” and the door was locked behind him.

Prepared for the worst, Luke stepped inside a room decorated in pastels and propaganda posters of Imperial might. It was like a Imperial Navy recruiting center had been decorated for an audience of kindergartners. A massive picture of the Emperor on his throne surrounded by smiling happy children and genuflecting adults dominated one wall.

It was enough to make a person want to gouge their eyes out.

A holoscreen was on, piping out a cheery tune as animated human children sang songs about how amazing the Empire was. Sitting on the couch in front of the holoscreen, two throw pillows pressed against her ears and her eyes tightly closed was Princess Leia Organa.

Great, not only was he stuck in this torture chamber but he was stuck inside with the privileged stuck up two faced prig from Alderaan. Rolling his eyes, Luke fished out his multitool which the guards had stupidly failed to take from him when they’d caught him at the scene of his crime. He used it to pop open the back of the holoscreen and shut the entire system off. The Happiness Hut was plunged into blessed silence.

Leia carefully cracked open one eye and then another and gently lowered the pillows from the side of her head.

Luke stood there next to the silent holoscreen and scowled at her.

Blushing under his gaze, Leia set the pillows aside and tried to straighten her mussed hair. “Thank you,” she said in an overly polite tone.

Luke rolled his eyes and grabbing one of the chairs, dragged it over to a window, as far away as he could from the Princess. He then proceeded to sit down and ignore her.

Leia huffed, embarrassed and upset. How dare he just ignore her when she had been polite! Well, two could play that game. She was going to ignore him right back! She sat back into the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. In silence her eyes wandered over the paintings and posters covering the walls, proclaiming cheerful slogans of Imperial xenophobic might. She wished she had her datapad with her but at least the holoscreen was off.

She shook herself suddenly, realizing she’d closed her eyes and nearly dozed off. Sitting up a bit straighter she looked over at the boy in the chair. He hadn’t moved from his seat by the window. There was no chrono in the room so no way to know how much time she’d spent trapped inside nor any idea how long they’d both be stuck together.

Fed up with sitting, Leia stood and came over to look outside the window. Luke continued to ignore her. This far away from the main camp, it was hard to tell what was going on.

“What’s happened?”

“They’ve ordered the repair and clean up of all the speeders and bikes so they can resume their fun in the forest,” Luke said tersely.

“It’s barbaric!” Leia hissed. “I talked to the Ewoks in the barn. They’re sentient and terrified. This is mass murder. We have to do something about it.”

“We?” Luke asked with one arched brow. “I’m already doing something about it. Chewie and Han and Ghosh and the other “help” at the camp have been doing something about it. Don’t you worry about it. People of your quality and breeding can just continue to be outraged while you enjoy your camp experience. No need for you to take action. You leave it to us nothings.”

Leia wanted to snap back at him for that. But those had been her words. He was only reminding her of what she’d said. Taking a deep breath she fought down her anger and tried to respond calmly.

“I can help. I can plan and organize the campers to protest this. If I can get to a long range comm unit, I can comm the Senate offices for Alderaan and fix this.”

“The Grangers aren’t going to let you near a long range comm and all other messages are read and censored before they are sent on for long range transmission home. Everything shipped in and out of this place is searched. You’d need some sort of prearranged back door slice through a point to point encrypting source to get around that and unless Threepio is built with something I don’t know about, you don’t have that. Besides,” Luke said sitting back in his chair. “The Senate is utterly useless, don’t kid yourself. It was useless under the Republic and it is even more useless now. If you really want to save lives Princess, protest is just going to keep you locked up in here, and stop us from saving the Ewoks.”

Leia wanted to argue as a matter of principal but struggled to think of how. Luke had good points. It was so infuriating. Strangely enough he reminded her of her mother (her real mother), and her efficiently ruthless planning of the Rebellion against the Empire. Leia knew from long experience that arguing didn’t get her anywhere with her mother and it wasn’t likely to get her anywhere with Luke. It was time to concede and maybe, just maybe, apologize.

She hated doing both, especially when the other side was right. But she wanted to be a Rebel, the best Rebel there was, and the best Rebel there was would help regardless of their pride.

“I still want to help. If you have some sort of plan in the works, I want to be a part of it. I want to help the Ewoks. Just . . . tell me what to do.”

Luke finally turned to look at her. The black eye on his face had darkened and his soot stained hair was a disheveled mess. He said nothing. He just stared at her, waiting.

“And,” she continued feeling a burning knot of shame inside. “I’m . . . sorry for what I said to you. I shouldn’t have said those things.”

“But you still believe them,” Luke said evenly. “You still believe I don’t have a family.”

Leia opened and closed her mouth in frustration. Anything she said now would either be a lie or start another argument. She thought back to her lessons with Auntie Breha and Uncle Bail. What would they say?

“I don’t know,” she finally said. “I don’t know you or Lord Vader enough to say. I just said things that were rumors, that other people were saying. I said them because I was angry but that didn’t make them right or necessarily true.”

Luke tilted his head to the side, considering and then sighed. “All right, you can help.”

“Good, what’s the first step?”

Luke pointed out the window. “There will be a signal when the Grangers are on their way back to let us out so I can turn the holoscreen back on. When they get here we pretend that we’re pacified.”

“And then?” Leia asked eagerly. She had hoped to spend the summer with her mother on a Rebel base. She hadn’t expected summer camp to give her the opportunity to fight against the Empire. “How are we going to free the Ewoks and stop the campers from killing or kidnapping anymore?”

“I’m waiting on a few things at mail call, but even if they don’t come, we’ve got a back up plan. Threepio could be a big help, though. I’ve been looking for some way to communicate with the Ewoks.”

That was not the level of planning detail she wanted to hear but she tried to be patient. “Threepio will help too, but what about me? What do I get to do?”

Luke thought for a long moment and then a devious light lit his blue eyes. “You can play nice. You can pretend to be reformed. You can kiss up to A’Man’Daa and her friends and Mrs. Granger. You can be our spy on the inside and help cover for us and distract them as we get everything ready. With me busting up the speeders and bikes, they aren’t going to trust me at all anymore, not that they ever really did. But you, you can be just like one of them and fool them all.”

“A spy,” Leia breathed in excitement. Now that was more like it. “With a code name and secret code phrases and everything so I know who’s on our side.”

“Exactly,” Luke said with a growing smile. “Can you do it, Agent– er . . . Agent Sand?”

“Agent Sand?” Leia said in disgust. “What kind of a name is Agent Sand?”

“Sand is coarse, and rough, and irritating, and gets everywhere. It’s the perfect name for a spy and the perfect name for you,” Luke insisted cheerfully.

“It’s a horrible name! I refuse to be called Agent Sand!”

“Too late, its done,” he said standing up and walking over to the holoscreen. “You’re our spy, Agent Sand. No take backs.”

“Why you-you scruffy looking, laser brained–“

“That’s good, that’s exactly how you have to talk to me when you’re spying,” Luke praised her.

“–slime ridden–“

“Don’t peak too soon, Agent Sand.”

“Nerf herder!” And with that she swooped up a pillow and smacked it into Luke’s face.

#skywalker family values #star wars au #luke skywalker #princess leia

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myycamp · 3 years

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Guest Blog: Barath on his camp experience

The following is excerpted from Camp Counselor Barath Vrishabhendra’s recent paper for English class. Barath is a sophomore at the University of Kentucky.

“You should definitely sign up, it’ll be worth it”, my friends told me.

Before then, I had done only day camps, or at most a single night stay. My older brother had never even done overnight camp. For these reasons and many more, I was extremely hesitant. But it seemed like such a good opportunity, and I suffered from F.O.M.O., or the “fear of missing out”, too much not to go.

I distinctly remember the thirty-minute drive feeling like hours. I started getting extremely nervous and told my parents I did not want to go anymore. We got to Cabin I, my cabin, a cool half-wooden, half-metal place where the older campers got to stay for the week. I unloaded my tub full of clothes and essentials, made my little twin bed, and got ready to endure the week’s festivities.

The next week, my mom and dad drove up at around 10am, looking for me in the mess of 14-year-olds running around everywhere. I ran up to them, looking tired, but high on the adrenaline from the past week. The entire car ride home I told my parents about all the new things I got to do: go ziplining, ride horses, go down a 100-foot water slide, along with an endless amount of other things. I made a hundred new friends, all from different backgrounds, from all different sides of the country. I remember the weather being perfect the entire week, which added to the euphoria.

Fast forward... (now as a counselor) I have had over 200 campers, ages ranging 6 to 14, from all different corners of the tri-state. I have worked side-by-side with amazing people from whom I have learned valuable life-long teachings, and people who have left a lasting impression on me. This is what made leaving this summer incredibly bittersweet. On one hand, it was very difficult to let go of the childhood memories I had created at this place. It had opened me up to new opportunities, growth, and friendship. On the other hand, I was eager to take the treasures I had gained and move forward in life reminiscing on a place I once called home.

I wanted to use my narrative and my years of experience at a summer camp to stress the benefits for children at these particular camps. The ACA, or American Camp Association, highlighted four “C’s” as areas of growth when in a camp community, these being compassion, contribution, commitment, and character.

Kids learn compassion for other people, animals, and wildlife, being in a mostly outdoor space for over a week with their peers. This compassion is a cornerstone in their growth as individuals and will define their character for many years to come.

Regarding contribution, teamwork is a key aspect of childhood summer camp, and working as a cabin allows for collaboration from every team member. There is a sense of belonging on these teams and will show that every person has a contribution to a cause.

Commitment is the third “C” and refers to the dedication a child has to a place and an activity. This helps children discover their love for the camp experience and drives them to become counselors and staff members. They become people who want to pass their positive childhood experiences onto children and want them to continue the cycle.

And finally, character. Character is who we are to others. As children, we are not aware that the character we have represents us as a whole and can be perceived negatively and positively. At camp, we learn to interact with others, develop our character, and treat everyone with the kindness and worth they deserve. Character combines compassion, contribution, and commitment, as well as many other factors that give a summary of ourselves.

Every person who comes through a summer camp has something new to offer, and children are the greatest benefactors. Being in their formative years, summer camps allow for new and exciting experiences to help shape a child’s future and allows them to consider others in addition to themselves.

Parents sometimes do not have a full understanding of the benefits that a summer camp gives to a child. The old joke is that they are sending their kid away for a week so they can avoid responsibilities and relax. However, the advantages are vast.

The Journal of Youth Development, or JYD, conducted a study titled “Understanding the Role of Summer Camps in the Learning Landscape”…to find attribution between experience at summer camp to development as an adult. Individuals who were in one of these (camp) programs at an earlier age reported a higher level of independence, responsibility, appreciation for difference, and teamwork. “This study reaffirms that camp is an important learning setting and that many of the outcomes associated with camp participation last into adulthood”. So, even according to scientific research and data collection from hundreds of unrelated people, the answer is always the same.

If I could sum up this essay with a letter inspiring parents to send their children to a summer camp for at least one week a summer, I think it would read something like this:

Parents, as a previous camper and staff member at a summer camp, I know first-hand that your child is the most important thing to you. It can be difficult to let strangers take care of your child for a week in the middle of the woods with 300 children they have never met before.

Additionally, it is hard to realize the true benefit of a summer camp before sending your child. I am here to tell you: it is the greatest thing that ever happened to me.

Going to a summer camp gave me a sense of belonging and acceptance. It was able to broaden my horizons and allow me to try things I would never have dared to do. It allowed me to open myself up to new people, and realize they are not as scary as they seem. It gave me the greatest job I have ever had.

Your child will be able to do all this, then continue to share it with future campers. They will carry the learning objectives of teamwork and contribution with them fully throughout their lives. They will develop an appreciation for nature, history, and sociology.

Lastly, and most importantly, it will make them a better person, and teach them that one’s character is their greatest asset.

***Want to share something you’ve written about your camp experience? Email it to Eli: [email protected] for possible inclusion in this blog!

#camplife #camp summercamp #ymca #friendship #campernst

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theartofdreaming1 · 7 years

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B99 Fanfic Recommendations (Peraltiago Stylez)

Since I’ll be off to visit my sis for about a week now and then will be busy with an internship for the following 6 weeks, I’ll probably not be able to post much during that time. So I decided to assemble a nice, mostly fluffy collection of b99 stories centered around Jake and Amy I very much enjoy :)

Canon (or canon-divergent or possible-future fic... just non-AU ;) :

One-shots

Enigmatic Easter Bunny by huffellepuff (“The Nine-Nine does a Secret Santa of sorts, and Jake gets Amy.Takes place very shortly before 2x21, Det. Dave Majors.” This is so sweet!)

Untitled Prompt 1 by @elsaclack (”What if Amy and Teddy got engaged during Jake’s undercover op and when Jake’s back the wedding preparations are in full swing and he tries to be supportive but can��t bring himself to go to the wedding?“ It’s by em, so of course it’s friggin’ amazing, duh! ;)

Untitled Prompt 2 by @elsaclack (”The night of Captain Latvia, Jake talks to Amy about his thoughts on what Boyle said about Jake never becoming a dad.” Aaah, I love this one so much! So great!)

Untitled Prompt 3 by @elsaclack (Amy finds Jake’s folder about her Dad while he’s still in prison. It’s... so... great? And the ending is super sweet!)

Untitled Prompt 4 by @elsaclack (Jake moves in with Amy and Amy finds a box with his mixtapes... one of them labeled with the date he went into witness protection. Good lord, this is so amazing! Just... amazing.)

Untitled Prompt 5 by @elsaclack (A father’s day fic. I squealed so hard reading this the first time! It’s super cute!)

Oxford Comma by grapefruity (”She’s got a system, and it isn’t going to come to a standstill just because her messy, disorganized, wreck of a partner makes her sometimes feel things.” The evolution of Jake and Amy’s relationship from Amy’s perspective. Really, really great! I also really love the description of their first encounter - heelies are involved; it’s amazing ^^)

Untitled Prompt by @haylestorming (”Amy and Jake talking about their future after the Rosa/Pimento (cancelled) wedding” ADORABLE!)

Untitled Prompt by @hotelsweet (”Random girl at bar starts flirting with Jake, Jake is clueless and it all goes right over his head, Amy steps in and gets her to back off” Do I really need to say more? It’s glorious. ^^)

what’s a home without you here? by @jcobsperalta (”amy comes home, jake is still in prison.“ Oh boy, my heart! But great!)

you’re a sky full of stars by @oceanvirus (”Jake discovers Amy's secret stargazing spot, but he can't seem to focus on constellations as much as he can focus on the one excitedly pointing them out. Takes place between Boyle-Linetti Wedding and Det. Dave Majors.” So. Friggin’. Cute.)

it’s amazing what baking can do by @sergeant-santiago (Jake and Amy face their biggest challenge yet: baking a cake for Charles. Whee! It’s super fun and cute and awesome!!)

all the way home i’ll be warm by @the-pontiac-bandit (“We’re in an abandoned lodge in the middle of nowhere. Sure, you’re totally right, nothing bad could ever happen here.” Cute Christmas fic with all the Santiagos and Jake. Sooo adorable! Get ready for pure joy!)

Multi-Chapters

breaking the first rule by @heart-eyes-santiago (“When did Jake Peralta fall in love with Amy Santiago? And when did she fall in love with him?” Soo good! Really sweet insights on Jake and Amy’s thoughts throughout the show. Complete. 4 Chapters.)

and all my world is losing light by @jakelovesamy ("Day one is listening to Captain Holt telling them not to give up hope, but then overhearing him calling Karen, and telling her in a quiet voice that her son has been sentenced to 15 years, telling her not to cry. Day one is spent filled with fear, and tears, and she punches a wall in their bedroom (because it is still theirs) so hard that the skin on her knuckles splits open. Day one is a cold side of the bed and a thick silence filling up the space where Jake used to be. Day one is overwhelming, plain and simple." Amy finds out she’s pregnant after the end of S4. Get ready for an emotional rollercoaster of awesomeness! Incredibly good. Complete. 2 Chapters.)

it’s only me who wants to wrap around your dreams by @oceanvirus (”In which Jake Peralta showing up at Amy Santiago's door in the middle of the night in need of a place to stay is simultaneously the best and worst thing that's ever to happened to them.” temporary roomates... Oh yeah! Excited for more! In-Progress. 1/6 Chapters as of yet.)

Nothing’s Normal in Texas by @okayokaycoolcoolcool (”She started feeling something in Texas. Maybe it was the mind-numbing fear that came with being locked in jail unarmed with murderers. She probably could’ve blamed how annoyed she was at Jake and his tendency to jump in and make her job harder. Although, now that she thought of it, it was probably just the fake pregnancy that was making her mind funny. It was probably nothing.” Or was it?! ;) Very cool. Complete. 8 Chapters.)

What to Expect by @three-drink-amy (”After a crazy night together, Amy finds herself pregnant with Jake's baby. They have to learn to be parents while navigating their partnership. Set in season 2.” Really interesting read! In-Progress. 9 Chapters so far.)

AUs:

One-shots

you, me, and the moon by @heart-eyes-santiago (“Amy Santiago's whole world is turned upside when her brother, Manny, invites his best friend and college roommate to stay for the summer. Enter Jake Peralta, his inability to win a game of scrabble, and his ability to win Amy's heart.” Cuuute!)

it’s shaking the sky, and I’m following lightning by @hotelsweet (“jake + amy + meet-cute on a plane = loveliness” Amaazingg! So fun, so cute!)

Untitled Prompt by @the-pontiac-bandit (“Meeting in the ER AU“ Amy is a young doctor and Jake is her patient. *wiggles eyebrows* It’s super fun and flirty, yay!)

Multi-Chapters

if you want me to stay, i will stay by your side by @elsaclack (“For someone whose job requires an unusually large amount of personal risk on a near daily basis, Amy Santiago has not dedicated much time considering how she might one day die. The vague assumption that it will probably happen on the job - via stray bullets or careening cars or massive explosions - has been enough to satisfy any musing.She never imagined doctor's visits or specialist consultations or diagnoses. She never imagined hospital gowns and thinning hair and chemotherapy. And she never, ever imagined cancer.“ 50/50 AU.The Ultimate Angst fic, but it’s amazing! (Better have some tissues ready, though.) In-Progress. 6/11 Chapters as of yet.)

Amy and Jake’s Epic Detour by @hotelsweet (”When 18 yr old Amy Santiago needs to make the trip to New York City for her first year of college, family friend Jake Peralta steps in as a favour- but the week that's about to follow is one that neither of them could have predicted.” THIS. This story is an experience, my friend, and you really should read this because it’s amazing and has an awesome playlist for every chapter and is just AMAZING, okay? Okay. Complete. 10 Chapters.)

everything is easier when you’re home by @sergeant-santiago (”Amy Santiago loves her new apartment. One bedroom, one bathroom, good neighborhood and decent rent. One thing she does not love? Her neighbors. More precisely, whoever lives in the apartment that shares a paper thin wall with hers.” Neighbor AU. Awesome! In-Progress. 4 Chapters so far.)

Camps Safe and Amusing by Talking_Bird (”Amy Santiago was NOT excited to be a camp counselor for a bunch of bratty twelve-year-olds, but she was even less excited to have a jerk like Jake Peralta be her group partner. A fluffy, slow-burn fic with awkward, nerdy Amy and cocky, insensitive Jake.“ Really cool and sweet, it has an awesome bet and everything! Complete. 8 Chapters.)

You’re the Only Song I Want to Hear by Talking_Bird (”Amy is having a really hard time adjusting to college life as an Art Major, but a mysterious pianist in the music conservatory keeps her sane // Jake just wants to do what he loves, but everyone else wants him to be practical. Everyone, that is, except for one person...College AU.” Highly recommended because it’s stupid good. Really. Plus, there is a great piano piece to go with each chapter. Complete. 10 Chapters. )

The Detective and The Squad by @three-drink-amy (”Amy Santiago is a brilliant detective, quickly burning out on her job. Jake Peralta is a famous actor recently relocated to NYC for his new TV show "The Squad." What will happen when Amy is assigned to be the police consultant for Jake's new show?” Goood... Really good. In-Progress. 6 Chapters so far.)

around my heart like a coronary artery by @the-pontiac-bandit (”Amy Santiago enters NYU Medical School with prep books, a 60-set of colored pens, and a plan. Jake Peralta walks in with gummy bears and orange soda.” Medical students AU. Every chapter represents a year. AMAZING! In-Progress. 2/5 Chapters so far.)

Sooo... this is a fic rec of quite respectable size, huh? ^^; Would anybody be interested in me continuing/updating this? Let me know! (I assembled this in various stages of consciousness/being awake, so I’m sorry if some of my “reviews/thoughts” on some of the fics are a little too rambly or short - I love them all so much, my dear writers; you are all incredibly awesome! 💕 )

#b99 #b99 fanfiction #b99 fic #peraltiago #peraltiago fanfiction #jake peralta #amy santiago

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