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Heads up Seven Up

Rules: post seven lines, then tag seven people

Snippet:

“Nat,” he said, and it was a curse and an oath and a prayer.

She just stared at him, running her eyes over his face.

God, she loved him.

His hands went to her arms, but his eyes stayed trained on her face. There was pressure on her wrists, and she squirmed in discomfort, pins and needles breaking out. He hushed her, finally looking down at her arms.

She opened her mouth to say anything, I love you, hey, just his name.

Thank you for the tag @meadowofbluebells

@jay-avian @oh-no-another-idea @imaginativemind29new @clairelsonao3 @ettawritesnstudies

The 1989 TV vault tracks just cured my depression, kissed my forehead, and handed me a lit match.

Here's a prompt for you: write about a mask someone wears. Can be fiction, nonfiction (about yourself, an experience, people in general), maybe a poem. What kind of mask is it? What does it look like? Why are they wearing it?

“You can stop, you know.”

The villain froze for a moment, smile almost slipping, and set down their lunch tray. The hero leaned against the table next to them, knuckles white.

“In case you haven’t noticed,” they gestured to themself. “I’m reformed. I already stopped.”

The hero waived a hand. “Not that. I know that, I’m the one who helped you do it.”

The villain kept smiling, even as the edges began to crack like fine china.

“Hero,” they said as gently as they could. “Are you alright?”

The hero stared at them for a moment, as if they weren’t sure what was happening, as if the villain’s very existence confused them. They blew an angry breath out of their nose.

“I’m fine,” the hero said pointedly. “You aren’t.”

The villain ignored them at that, sitting down to stir their lunch. It was half cold and entirely unappetizing, but happy people ate the compound rations and were happy about it. And the villain was reformed, and good, and happy. So they ate.

Their bowl disappeared from in front of them, and they studied the plastic of the table for a moment. When they looked up, the hero’s eyes burned into them.

“Stop. It.”

This time, the villain was the one who sighed. “Can I have my lunch back please?”

The hero threw the bowl an unimpressed look. “What, this crap? Nobody likes this, and I can especially tell that you don’t. Your face is exactly the same as the first time you met me, and you tried to stab me directly after that. So. Stop.”

“I don’t know what you want from me,” the villain grit out. “I’m smiling, I’m contributing, I’m doing good things. No more murder, no more crimes. That’s what you wanted, right?”

“I wanted you to want that. I wanted you to have that. I never wanted this.”

“This what, hero.”

The hero gestured to their face.

“That. That smile.”

The villain gave them a dry look, even as their smile faded. “What, I can’t smile?”

The hero regarded them, fingers laced together under their chin, food abandoned. The villain picked at a hangnail and tried to look calm. This was why they had been avoiding the hero—the villain could read them like a book, but the hero could read them just as well.

Someone clattered down the hall, laughing, and then it was just the two of them again.

“You don’t have to be happy,” the hero said quietly, “to be good.”

The fine china, the mask, shattered.

The hero sighed, but it wasn’t triumphant. Relief, maybe. Or sadness.

“Why couldn’t you have left it alone,” the villain’s voice wobbled traitorously. The hero smiled, just slightly. A smile for a smile.

“Because you were drowning in there. And you don’t deserve that.”

“I’m trying to be good,” they murmured. The hero reached out and stilled their hands before they could pick them bloody.

“You are good. But you’re also hurting. You can do both. It’s okay.”

The villain shoulders loosened, as if the hero had stolen some huge burden from them.

“Okay?”

“Okay,” the villain agreed.

The hero smiled, a soft thing.

“Only smile when it doesn’t feel like a burden to do so,” the hero stood, leaning over the villain for a moment.

They left the villain in the lunch room, staring down at their hands.

Months later, when the hero told an awful joke, the villain laughed. They smiled at the hero, and it was warm. So warm.

And the hero smiled too.

I’ve done this to people

And I enjoyed every moment

She was on that episode and a very stupid opportunity presented itself

My childhood is actively coming for me these days I’m like a small feral animal being chased through the woods by my past (my owner who I ran away from who loves me dearly)

I see a consensus has been reached

Nora updated her bio on twitter and she listed out her books (TFC, TRK, TKM and Elysium)- i know what they are but what the hell is TSC? Any ideas? 🤨

Any clues?

New book?

At the moment, we don't know what TSC is!!

Some are speculating it could be a fourth AFTG book, some think (due to some tweets Nora made recently about finding songs that fit Jean and Jeremy's characters) that it might be a new spin-off book/series focusing on jerejean. Others think it might be a new, completely unrelated series altogether.

Personally, I am keeping my expectations low! I would LOVE for it to be a new book focusing on Jean's story and/or making jerejean canon, but the evidence for that is mostly just conjecture at this point. I would much rather be delightfully surprised than terribly disappointed if it turns out to be something other than what I had expected.

I also doubt it will be a continuation of Neil's story, and frankly if it is in the aftgverse I doubt it will follow the Foxes much at all. I'm fairly certain (though don't quote me on this bc I haven't read most of the EC myself) Nora had previously talked in her EC about how there were the beginnings of a fourth book at one point, but that she decided to scrap it because she was already happy with the series' existing ending.

At this point, there is a lot we don't know. What we do know is that Rainbow Crate is teasing us with special edition hardcovers of the English versions, planned for release in early 2024. It's possible Nora's breadcrumbs are related to that, and it's possible that they are not. It's too soon to really speculate much yet. Only time will tell!