#i think im using the intricate rituals thing right

[lazyveran]

Oh lazyveran the fire squad is HORRENDOUS!!!! I love it. Please, elaborate on Azula's particular role in and thoughts on this awful little smorgasboard. Does she feel conflicted about how Katara is changing the dynamics? Dies she even register anything changing? Whats her relationship like with Zuko in this au. What does a day in the life of the squad look like and what does it look like to Katara, who isnt steeped in decades of intricate rituals. Please 

genuinely gives me such joy to make them so awful. terribly terribly nepo babies that will ruin ur life. long rambles below cut hehe

SO! azula is. well she doesnt think there's much wrong with it. i mean, on an intellectual, psycho-analysis level she knows ty lee is a insane, mai is also insane and her brother is [redacted]. but ultimately she doesnt see anything wrong with any of their dynamics because she has LITERALLY no one else as reference. the insane social isolation azula went thru as a child soldier and ozai's fav little nuclear bomb means its difficult for her to parse out toxic or harmful relationships she may have and ultimately, use and utility comes first in any relationship. the fire squad are simultaneously her most trusted confidants, her closest companions, people she'd entrust with her life and legacy and the weight of her father's, and later iroh's, missions to AND assets to be used, strings to be pulled, and loose ends to be monitored. plus she wants to gossip with them. shes the princess, it's her agni given right to bitch and moan abt the peasants!

azula's mindset is all layers of fucked, basically. im aiming for a vibe in which azula herself has no idea how she really approaches and feels for her friends. its emotionally complicated, azula is horrendeous at understanding that kinda thing. the fact that she's so hyperaware of her position as royalty means she locks herself desperately into that role and doesn't allow herself to go beyond it. that implies a distance between her friends she halfheartedly attempts to keep. but the bottom line is that she's insanely loyal because they invest that back into her. azula's a woman who values devotion above all else. she's desperate for it. You Have To Stay. Everyone Else She Loved Has Left Her. STAY. FOREVER. to do so will be to assist and witness her eternal glory and the shining legacy she will deliver to the nation. she will elevate them to the greatest heights, reward their loyalty tenfold!!! JUST STAY. DONT LEAVE HER. NOT LIKE THE DEAD ONES AND THE GONE ONES-

(also, azula is narrow minded in a sense. she understands people implicitly but believes her own personal goals are the Ultimate Ones. everyone wants power, glory, legacy and the love of a nation. they have to, right? why else would she strive to achieve them, if it's not the perfect pinnacle of all human endeavour? she wants to reward her most trusted friends with what she percieves is the ultimate prize in life, so does so from this weird half distance as a princess. shes really weird. her love language is probably acts of service (and all she knows how to do is kill))

azula and katara's relationship is awfully complicated. for a start, azula presumes domination within the relationship. it's sort of something azula just. takes for herself. as her nature, and because katara isnt initially someone she wants to dig her claws in to force them to Stay. she fully expects that she will simply have some new woman near her sometimes and she'll get on with Important Work with the besties. then katara KICKS HER ASS, FORCES her to look and see katara as someone equal, someone worth respecting and listening to. ultimately she does come to respect katara, and that unknowingly starts to change her. as in, azula gets bullied into it. repeatedly. and getting frostbite that one time. and in her draw towards katara, azula begins drifting from the (not at all realised) dependency on her squad and more towards katara. because she has an equal! and thats!!! azula never really thought she'd HAVE one! katara is her WIFE, there's no presumed distance to keep!!!!! so she gets super duper obssessed with that. she wants to eat katara alive, she's enraptured by this woman.

so.. the worst siblings ever... zuko and azula were alone in the palace with only each other for years after ursa's disappearance and azulon's death. it made them so tremendously dependant on each other. azula believes that her brother is the one thing she can protect, wants to save, is her final piece of family and something good and there's no one else, NO ONE else. HE HAS TO STAY. it's very intense. the fire siblings trust each other implicitly and convince themselves that they're going to be stabbed in the back by each other. they're tied together in blood and want to kill each other and constantly butt heads and argue and contradict each other. and they're the united front of the last of ozai's line. the only ones who understand what it was to be a child of ozai and ursa. azula wants to bite zuko's head off and zuko constantly wonders if azula has been sent by a dark spirit to bring endless suffering to his life. true terrible siblings that would raze a country to the ground for the other, then slide a dagger into their back while they watch it burn.

their day to day life is a little boring, really. ty lee flits in and out of the palace on whims. if court is fun, she'll go. if there's a gala, she's there. if its boring? she'll leave to some FN island for a month and a half making connections, meeting nobles, being entertained, probably picking up a WEIRD hobby and/or romantic partner for a week. she sends a bajillion letters back abt her travels - that azula diligently reads and that mai dgaf abt and gets the synopsis off of azula. then ty lee returns, and rinse and repeat.

mai is officially a political advisor, representative of her father and close confidant of the princess-general azula. in reality, she fucks around the palace pursuing whatever she wishes, and conducts a very very terribly obvious affair with zuko that half the goddamn nation knows about. she's happy coasting along, dipping her hand into politics and national affairs every now and then to keep up apperances, and acting as a spy for azula when she wants to. they have a nice little setup.

azula is quite literally busy from sun up to sun down. she's got one billion projects constantly; ranging from political, scholarly, artistic, so on. she manages her own little spy network, she manages half the nobles in court, she micromanages the nation's finances. she's so insanely busy, and thats how she likes it. she always has time for tea with mai and training with zuko somehow. and zuko is much the same. he's never alone in a room, and always has a pile of work to get through. as the crown prince he's heavily involved in all flavours of meetings and consultations. he usually leaves the noble shmoozing to azula, though. he hates them.

they all work together pretty cohesively, since they were born and raised into these roles of nobility. katara was. not. katara absolutely, desperately DESPISES the fn royal court. no one tells her fucking ANYTHING about the tiny intricate sublties. its all very ridiculous to her. the stubborn, proffessional distance everyone keeps with each other is the worst of it for katara, who grew up in a very loving community that has no issues about physical or emotional intimacy. it's terribly lonely. she's stubborn enough to keep bashing her head against the wall trying to work her way through it, bc she refuses to be excluded from the halls of power of her new life. she's also kind of upset that despite being married to azula, she rarely ever SEES her, hardly gets the chance to know her (and connect with the one person she's allowed to have in the endlessly lonely palace halls). azula is simply so absorbed into her duties (and avoiding katara) that they only glimpse each other in their shared quarters. to katara's irritation and mai's distaste, those two seem to be the only people who see each other regularly. its really not a fun time for katara. she stumbles and makes mistakes and it's only then she ever gets to see her wife - and it's always azula's ire that she gets to recieve. toxic yuri.....

SO. thank you for asking abt this. i hope my complete word vomit makes a lick of sense. i adore talking about this au. peace and love on planet azutara

#starrdio #political marriage au #azutara #ask #btw when you ask me a bunch of questions abt this au i jump up and down and go yipeee!!

[sol-flo]

so far my thesis has been a mix of very good (writing and reading and thinking about art i like!) and just awful (thinking about bureaucracy at 2:24am!)

#i need to talk to people and fill forms and think up a provisory title #while also trying to minmax the best time to update my name #which is never and second best time is right now? #i despiiise bureaucracy wish i had a secretary handling this stuff for me #im in this for the art not for the intricate rituals #also god not to mention idk what name to use #like... sol is my casual name and all but it sounds ugly with my full name #but i dont want to complicate things further with a name no one knows or uses

[tigerdrop]

I think we should talk more about breeding kinks here specifically with whatever men you're currently thinking about. I finished read your snippets on your website so that inspired this anonymous question.

god. i have a lot of insane things i could say about it. WRT daniel and jamie. i want to put it under a readmore b/c im embarrassed but i dont want to use one b/c they dont work right on my theme (SO IVE LEARNED) so heres captain sisko cardboard cutout

this is probably going to get weird but daniel is a weird guy. full disclosure

uh. god. i had a whole long thing typed out justifying it but all u really need to know is that daniel is one google search away from being a massive furry. if he had any idea how much anthro knotting porn is out there on the internet he would never leave his fucking room. he has it so bad dude

so like. this poor fucking guy wants to come in something so badly he cant see straight (who doesnt) and the only thing hes got is another dudes mouth on a blue moon. it would be a lot easier if he could just sniff out who wants to fuck on the air like a big stupid dog. a big mean doberman fursona with a spiky collar and a stupid hat. yknow. whatever

i think the idea of being a thrall to instinct and not having to navigate impenetrable social norms in order to have sex appeals to him. hes learned the hard way that he cant wrap his head around the intricate rituals. so its really great for his, uh. self-actualization. that he ends up with a buddy who likes to play along and makes it really, really obvious that he wants to use daniel like a dishrag

the ultimate torture, though: being a guy with a breeding kink dating a guy who gets off on edging you and stringing you out. imagine

daniel: i need to come in you so fucking bad. I need to knock you up jamie: Thats great buddy. If you come before i do im going to fucking kill you

tbh jamies standpoint on it is that he both never wants to have kids and is physically incapable of having them in the first place so daniels whole breeding kink is. like. a little oddity to him. something he feels a little conflicted about, given, you know, the gender . its a thinker

but really in the end its the ideal scenario b/c he gets to indulge daniel and play pretend with no consequences. its the same as if he was a cis dude indulging him. and tbh its worth it to see how fucking strung out it makes him. daniel sweating bullets at the idea of nutting in some big muscular hairy dude..........its neat. to him. and not to me. i dont care

its also neat to have jamie be a big ol bully about it too. all demanding and pushy. treating him like a bit of an animal about it...............whatever. insane animal style sexo while jamie doms the unholy hell out of him. sweet and sour both. Whatever

ultimately tho the goal is to nut in jamie and to do it over and over again and i think thats great for him. i think its even nicer if he accidentally comes too quick. all sweaty and desperate......poor guy.

(as an aside: jamie would never be for-real mean about his dick because - and not to be a huge fucking dyke here for a moment - your dick doesnt need to work like a pornstars b/c you dont even NEED one to have insane screaming bed-shaking sex. his fingers work just fine, right? get in there, buddy. finger your cum deeper into him. Jesus christ man)

alternatively. overstimulation. jamie using his iron thighs to keep daniel right where he is after he comes while jamie gets off. its like a punishment in its own right.....making daniel stay in place, all raw and sensitive and trembling......he would whimper. i think. cant do nothin but feel it. really really cute. stuff. i think

ok. sorry. this went a lot of places. goodbye forever

#writin stuff #. whatever

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

Buncha takes about Girl in the Fireplace (by someone that doesn't like it)

trying to give it as much grace as possible... there's some stuff to salvage, i think

visuals: again very beautiful episode aesthetically. even the spaceship sections which under rtd sometimes look a bit glip, with the right lighting in this ep, they rlly "pop" colonialism / hegemony: it's really uncomfortable but i don't know enough about reinette to go in depth with it. just gonna highlight the whole "this is the royal court and we're french" which is .... fittingly the point we're most asked to see reinette as a "Strong Female Character (tm)" / Girl Boss ... really sour. The Timeless Child Retroactive Continuity Bonus: the doctor's loneliness is made more poignant by being not "the last of their kind" but "the only one of their kind"

recurrent s2 themes: (this is what i was talking abt in theo ther post...) the clockwork fail because "it has not purpose now" perhaps this could be symbolism for monarchism in general, in face of a new, modern world? monarchies are well-oiled, intricate machines, socially speaking. they have rituals and customs and complex genealogies (hey, stowe armorial... amirite ladies... #crackin'heraldryhumor). but w/ the advancement of the productive forces, they "lost their purpose". the uk continues to have a monarchy to this day, but it is not longer the effective, purposeful machine it was was, rather it is an appendage or a relic of a more advanced system (bourgeois capitalism). one it has to cannibalize in parts to survive. also, the obvious visual of a highly-intricate "machine" that is made up of depreciated tech (clockwork). here's another: i saw an interesting meta that this ep could be read as a mirror of school reunion: in SR we see rose gripping w/ the reality of the doctor eventually outliving her, and here we see via reinette the doctor's pov of having to endure watching all their lovers "witter and die"except romana bc she just dumps him lol

i think this improves a bit on the seeming disjointedness of both eps and how disjointed it feels from the rest of s2.

relatedly, im also headcanon fix-ing it that this whole stint 10 pulls of "finding a mistress" (as it's very pointedly parallel'd in several scenes like him showing up late and "drunk" and rose being casted as the "nagging wife")(oooo resist negativity urges RESIST), is a direct example of him having a classic commitment-phobic panic, following SR.

there's an interesting theme/repeating motif in this ep (And later we see it repeated in moffat's seasons) about dreams and nightmares. (clockwork guys as reintte's+ the doctor as the clockwork's) idk how to tie it together as a Meaning or Theses yet but some interesting implications about it:

- the monsters we see in this ep are framed as nightmares (the doctor looks under the bed of kid!reinette to find the first clockwork robot)... what are nightmares? nightmares aren't real, but they also tell us something real about what we fear when awake. when these stories turn the imaginary into the real, there's a kind of symbolism in that "any fear we have can be faced and defeated" - kind of stealing this from another meta i read lol but: the monsters as fantasy vs grief as a reality, and the metatextual tension of having very real things like unavoidable death in a show with a "dashing, scifi hero that always defeats the scary monsters",,, - there's a negative asshole way to point out how similar reinette's "tragic ending" / arc is to a lot of... other storylines in moffat's who lol but i'm gonna try to spin it in the more positive, curious, "good faith" way: what is moffat trying to explore or say when he has characters always "missing" each other by the whims of time? sometimes by displacement, other time by "missing the timing" / "being too slow"? perhaps it is a call to be more prescient, and these are not just stories about tragedies... but cautionary tales about not taking actions / living life when one's called to live it (see river, amy, reinette, sally's friends,,,).

AND FINALLY, i had to really dig deep, but this is the one that salvages the episode i think, and why i wont *totally* discard it from my mental canon in the future: the traditional, surface interpretation of the ending is that it is "tragic" because ten doesn't go to reinette because she's dying/has died.... and once he has landed there, it is too late. the fireplace was tragically out of synch with his life....

however, let's push that further why doesn't he just go back a lil' earlier? why doesn't eleven just tell amy and rory to write a fake letter and put up a fake tombstone? the answer could be [bc time travel lore reasons!!].,,, BUT there's a potentially interesting and complex alternative reading: ten chose to not see reinette in her sickness. there was nothing impending him from seeing her again once he was back in the tardis. but much like with their companions that they can always locate if they wanted to, the doctor knows there's it's kind of pointless, kind of artificial, kind of cheating to manipulate time to get as much out of a human lifespan as possible. and it is a pointless act, because in the end he'll have to say goodbye anyway. and like he told sarah jane... "he just couldn't come back". so this this a self kindness he gives himself. to let reinette be just a fiery affair with a tragically beautiful woman he had "no control over" and could not comfort in her sickness/withering. perhaps unconsciously, this is a way he finds to not Deal with what the implications of this little "affair" means for his relationship w/ rose, and how he may have to make the same choice again in the future.

#i may done the impóssible and managed to meta my way into liking girl in the fireplace #well.... mayeb not like like #but appreciate #like a ~classical piece #dw #dw meta #meta #60threwatch

[calleo-bricriu]

Breaking a Taglock.

(( This came after a short thread on Twitter in which a Grindelwald player took a taglock from @awizardmademedoit and, because I can, I'm putting the end of it here as well. ))

At nearly the same moment Aldig arrived, Calleo appeared in the same insignificant area; without a spoken word or outward indication to or from Aldig, the intricately wrapped pair of labradorite above the larger chrome diopside he held unraveled and fell to nothing.

"If this were reversed, Aldig, you'd never let me hear the end of it," Calleo spoke casually as the same, old, and often used athame appeared and seemingly got to work 'writing' in the air between them as Calleo largely ignored it in favour of clearing the area of any residual magic that might have been tagging along.

"Mah h'khos'hev s'hehu?" Aldig snapped in return.  (What does he think he is?)

"M'torzyf," Calleo's idle shrug made a clear path to the tone in which he said the word. "You can't expect rational thought patterns from those, especially the ones with an ego behind it.

(A lunatic)

A derisive sound as Aldig fell into the same pattern of cleansing the area of anything the taglock might have tracked. Eventually, satisfied that the Wizard had stopped going over it excessively, Aldig grabbed Calleo's arm and disapparated, leaving any potential trail from the blood that had been taken a dead end. 

"Atah y'khol lo khashaveta sh'zeh ya'avvd." (He can't have thought that would work)

"I wouldn't bet on that, Aldig; though he'll find out what he's got now is functionally useless.” The contract break had not only fundamentally changed what's present versus what he took and the rework would be entirely different on the magical level.

Now that they were back indoors, Aldig stretched out in a much too large (for a Goblin at any rate) chair and examined his claws, "Mm, well, then let's just hope neither of us is interesting enough for him to take a second swing."

"You realise if you'd stayed off the continent like I've been telling you to for the past four years, he wouldn't have gotten near enough to you at all, right?" That was, perhaps, a dangerous thing to say but, spoken or unspoken, it's likely Aldig would have heard it eventually. While he couldn't necessarily be angry or even annoyed by the statement he could channel that energy into reworking the contract into something heavier on the protection feedback loops around potential taglocks--blood, hair, skin, bone, anything from a person that could be used to find them physically or magically--and keep it a never ending quagmire of confusion and misdirections to dead ends or simply nothing at all.

"Yeah, yeah," dismissive as ever, though that wasn't at all unusual for the Goblin, "overall same as before with the mixture of magics and blood that will only share the similarity with what he took with the fact that it's blood, then?"

"More or less. Get over here, this can't be completed with you on the other side of the room lounging in that old armchair, you know."

"It's a good thing I am over here,” Aldig had barely taken two steps toward Calleo as he spoke, “now that I can see what the hell it is you're doing; you can't possibly, in any reality, believe that offensively tiny amount of blood is going to do anything in terms of upping the defensive aspects of the contract." He moved swiftly, catching Calleo off guard as their previous levels of communication were temporarily cut while the ritual was redone. A sharp, clawed hand snatched Calleo's forearm, dragging it over the small area set up for the ritual. 

"This isn't one of your silly little bonds to the people you're sleeping with, nobody's continued life is on the line with those watered down human rituals. Eyn-u mishet'a meshiym basaki-im."

Aldig didn't leave Calleo with the time to even think of asking what he meant by 'we don't use knives' as four much-sharper-than-he-recalled Goblin claws ever being claws sliced vertically from the middle of his forearm down into the palm of his hand and the pointed look Aldig gave Calleo's now bloodied hand and arm made it clear he was expected to reciprocate the gesture.

While Calleo kept his nails long and sharp, they certainly weren't claws! He was also well aware that there was no modification that would be accepted here; that often happened when the lines of Human ritual magic and the Goblin equivalent crossed. The intent was the same but the magical mechanics behind it had vastly different end results, and Aldig's statement left no room for argument or trying to wriggle in little scraps of Human magic at this point.

It'd be awkward if a nail snapped off--a fleeting thought but, in the end, Calleo was still Calleo.

Thankfully, that didn't happen despite the fact that Calleo had to use significantly more pressure to cause the same depth and length cut; based on what he could feel under his nails and what he noticed missing from his own arm it wasn't just blood involved here.

By this point, Aldig had fully taken over the spell-work involved; these contracts, despite the passive-aggressive wording earlier, were markedly different from what human blood magic required for what was (in comparison) a much weaker, more easily broken bond. The Human version only took one person to break it, and it was easily done even with a fleeting desire to do so. These–were not.They did not and could not break without exceptionally clear and matched intent from those involved. Possession is eleven points in the law, and they say there are but twelve, after all. Tying the ritual itself off to the original written contract only served to keep it hardened where magical and personal security were concerned.

Further consent had long since been rendered unnecessary by the existing written contract so, for the next twenty or so minutes Calleo simply followed unspoken instructions. In the end, the set of copper wrapped labradorite and chrome diopside re-formed, soaking up both the magic surrounding it and the blood required to pull it back together.

#v: fbawtft #hp rp #stories #hp oc

[sillyposter21]

izzie making up the forehead promise in the episode literally all about rituals......... they are INTRICATE

#i think im using the intricate rituals thing right #cazzie #casey x izzie #izzie x casey #casey gardner #atypical #atypical netflix #mine #izzie no last name

[greylunar]

Sorry there have not been many asks answered from me/I haven’t been that active on here lately, I thought about Jaskier from the Witcher so hard that my brain powered off for two weeks 😔

#taliesin blathers #oh fuck that tag just reminded me i havent checked on my animal crossing town in a year either #were all just vibing right now so i am letting it be okay with myself that im bad at consistently using any social media platform #but i will answer more asks today c: #side note i Am thinking about writing a Witcher fic thats just like #The Witcher But If Everyone Was Just OOC Enough For Things To Occasionally Go Right #featuring #Trans Jaskier bullying me through making me google choral and music theory things again #Geralt Gets To Say Words Sometimes As A Treat #the coast (The Coast) #the intricate rituals of two acts of service love language gays being dumb for 25 years #Jaskier Isnt Immortal But Boy Howdy Will Two Determined Boys Fix That #One Scene I Keep Dreaming About Thats very Laura Croft for some reason #the influences of my partner and I’s obsession with obscure mythical creatures #Yennefer.... But What If Instead.. She Got Character Development That Wasnt Intrinsically Tied to the Idea of Being A Subject of Male Gaze #i dunno what else #lute crimes

[raskolni-kin]

i have a lot of thoughts while watching the nero-sporus scene but i didnt take note so here we go, some idea i can still remember lol

first, they’re wearing the exact same striped dress shirt

the way tom telling the story after talking to greg about *greg getting a magical castle*, it’s like he wanted to remind greg that he is still the emperor nero and greg is still his slave boi

also the fact that he (and the writers) chose the story that nero killed his wife instead of another version (his wife died from childbirth and nero used sporus to cope), i feel like they really wants to show that tom is this 👌 close to gone girl shiv right now. he looked so tired, so *i want a divorce* lol (i was even surprised to see him wearing wedding band this ep tbh)

“I’d castrate you and marry you in a heartbeat” ,,,do i even need to explain😭 it’s like tom saying he’d rather be with greg than anyone else in this situation (whether bc he thinks he can still control greg or whatever, *it’s complicated). it’s the closest thing we ever have to tom’s love confession and coming out.

then greg responded with a silly rabbit smile, thinking it was a flirtatious joke as always before he slowly realized that ‘no this is not a joke. tom is dead serious,,, shit’. he felt it. he felt something’s cooking and he was WAITING FOR IT. he even ASKED TOM FOR IT.

but then tom immediately turned to wrestling (very intricate ritual) imo it’s like his first instinct after saying something that is NOT STRAIGHT AT ALL is to conceal it with toxic masculinity, violence, anger. it reminds me of water bottle scene last season,,, internalized homophobia.

this made the next part even more heartbreaking

greg: i don’t wanna do it.

tom: *after mocking him* NEITHER DO I, GREG.

tom also doesn’t want to do it, but do what? bc there’s so many things he didn’t wanna do right now. i feel like this sentence was more of a general statement to everything he’d told before.

he doesn’t wanna go to jail.

he doesn’t wanna castrate and marry greg (= he doesn’t want his homosexuality, more equal power dynamic… not really but i hope u get the point lol)

BUT he also doesn’t wanna start this wrestling fight (= he doesn’t want to conceal his homosexuality, have power, dominance, anger)

and yet he still ended this exchange with more angry talk of business and executive blah blah blab. there’s A LOT to unpack here. tom is having a BIG big gay crisis.

im so normal and not losing my mind at all

#maybe im reading too much into it but #how can you blame me? im english major student lol #succession #tomgreg #tom wambsgans #greg hirsch #cousin greg #nero and sporus #nerosporus tomgreg

[gorseflowers]

actually no im not done so in relation to this post right and what i was saying earlier about izzy and ed’s relationship has dissolved and there’s nothing he can do about it

the thing that's getting me I think like truly for this man to move on he HAS to disentangle himself from Blackbeard and from his Role As The Gloved Right Hand and like, there would be a healthy way to do that which would involve leaving, accepting that its over but also that theres still a place for him in eds life and on the crew if he adapts to the new tone and the new rules and just generally chills out a bit. but Losing That Hand????????? instead of turning it into something good, turning the role that once gave him purpose and consumes his identity into an absence?? Its like an inverse of John "always had one leg out the door and then they chopped it off" Silver

but then the idea of replacing it with a HOOK?? the service and the loyalty and the violence being his Intricate Rituals through which he got as close as he possibly could to affection with Ed, and all that being represented and condensed into his ideas of being The Right Hand, through that, he got as close as possible to love in his own fucked up way. That's the hand he tried to hold Ed's face with while he choked him out. That’s the representation of the person he made himself into in order to get that close in the first place. And to replace that with a cold sharp piece of metal that can only be used for violence. okay NOW im done

#our flag means death #izzy hands #thank you once again jim for making me Post Thoughts

[audreyimagines]

i’m so glad you enjoyed the god reader scenarios i sent, they were really fun to think of and i loved how you expanded on them :D

so here i am, with some more-

i like to imagine during Technoblade’s execution Reader thought it was a super intricate/realistic play- like they stood next to Ghostbur and handed him some popcorn saying something like “well we can’t enjoy a performance without some popcorn!” and after the whole thing goes around giving everyone involved some netherite blocks as a gift for an extremely well done performance and asks them to do it again so Reader can invite the god of theater to enjoy their show!

imagine Reader sees Wilbur and Tommy being exiled and decides to create a ravine where a field was before like “since you’ve been exiled i think you should get a cool ravine base! look it’s perfect, dark and gloomy to reflect on your current circumstances! and it’s stone like parts of your hot dog van! :D”

when Dream kills Tommy in prison Reader thinks it’s a ritual people do after an argument to make up with each other so they proceed to do the same to Dream and when Dream asks why Reader just responds “well i was mad at you about that one time you blew up part of my temple so i did what you did to Tommy to show i forgive you! let’s be friends now :D”

in las nevadas Reader offers to create some slot machines and makes them always hit jackpot when someone uses them because “don’t humans go to casinos to make money?” and when quackity explains how they work Reader’s like “oh, okay” and makes all the slot machines rigged so no one ever wins money but quackity tells them sometimes people should be able to win money and Reader’s just so confused and blows up the slot machines since “well everyone here blows up things when they don’t like them why can’t i do the same D:”

philza’s wings get partly blown off? Reader just casually hands philza a double chest full of elytra to use and doesnt understand why he’s so shocked. “philza why are you so shocked? i was gonna give you gliders but my parent says that i can only give you commoner air travel.. are you crying?!?! oh no did i do something wrong D:”

when fundy’s upset about wilbur not being there for him as a kid reader’s just there like “my parent threw me off a cliff when i was born and tried to kill me a few times before abandoning me when i turned two centuries old, and you’re telling me what wilbur does isn’t considered good parenting? humans really are strange”. fundy’s just sitting there like 🧍🏻

clueless god pt 2

pairing - another whole half of the smp x gn!reader

notes - yay yay yay thank you <333 i didn’t do philza just bc it felt like a lot, hope that’s okay

—————————————-—————————————

execution - the musical

“what happens next?” you whispered to ghostbur

he glanced over at you, polite but confused

“hmm?”

“oh you don’t know this one either. well here’s some popcorn, it seems like this act will be long.”

you summoned popcorn out of thin air and handed it to ghostbur, who happily ate some

after the attempted execution happened, filled with your gasps and shouts, you clambered out of your seat to go congratulation everyone

“great show!” you said with a smile, handing a netherite brick to tubbo. he was breathing heavily, and took it without question

you handed them to fundy as well, who gave you more of a confused look

“you’ll have to invite me to the next one! i’ve sure the god of theater would adore to see your plays!”

everyone just stared at you

finally, you appeared next to techno, who drew his sword before he saw it was you

“here you go! amazing performance!” you beamed as you handed him the netherite block, and he hesitantly took it

ravine! (c!wilbur n c!tommy)

“hurry up!” you called. wilbur and tommy were lagging behind, bodies exhausted, while you floated

finally the three of you reached a huge ravine, and the boys gasped

“how’d you find this?”

you blinked at them

“i made it!”

“what?”

“i made it,” you repeated, “i thought you guys could use a base. it has stone like your odd little van thing had! and it’s kinda dark because i figured you guys were sad, and also because wilbur’s trench coat is dark colo-“

you were cut off by tommy’s crushing hug

death (c!dream)

“there. he’s dead,” dream said through a tight smile. you glanced at the unmoving body

“you killed him after an argument right?”

dream nodded, not paying you much mind

suddenly, he was keeling over, unmoving as well

you waited a few hours. that’s what dream had done with the other people he killed

then, you snapped your fingers, and instantly both boys came back, gasping for air

“what the fuck?” dream was choking on his own spit. tommy was dragging himself to the other side of the cell

“we argued the other day! so i killed you! that’s what people do after arguments right? it means i forgive you!” you beamed

dream looked fucking exhausted and so so bewildered

casino luck (c!quackity)

“but don’t people come here or make money?” you were really trying to understand, and quackity was really trying to explain

“but they can’t win EVERY time,” he said patiently

you brightened up

“oh!” you flicked a finger

“what’d you just do?”

“made it so they can’t win,” you said happily

quackity breathed out

“they have to win SOMETIMES,” he said

you frowned

this was so fucking complicated

another flick of your finger, and every machines glass shattered

quackity let out a yell

“WHY WOULD YOU?”

“too hard. wilbur was gonna blow up stuff when everything got complicated! why isn’t it the same?”

bad childhood (c!fundy)

“so where are your parents?” you asked

you and fundy were sitting on a cliff looking over the beach

“my dad abandoned me,” fundy said quietly

you looked over at him, not nearly as upset as he was probably expecting

“oh! my parents threw me off a cliff when i was born and tried to kill me a couple times. then they figured out they couldn’t and left me when i was two centuries old.”

you said this all very brightly, and fundy stared at you

“oh my gosh i’m, im so sorry.”

you looked over at him happily

“what do you mean? that’s normal god childhood.”

you stopped to consider

“wait is abandonment not normal human treatment?”

#c!fundy #c!dream #c!tommy #c!wilbur #c!quackity #dsmp imagines #dsmp imagine #dream smp #fanfic

[heyjude19-writing]

Im the list anon again and boy do I have more for you but this time I also have some questions as well if your time allows and you are willing to answer of course. First with the other things I loved:

1) the fact that Ron warmed up to Draco so quickly! I genuinely think thats so much in character. Ron is not a distrustful person and as a middle child as they come is very easygoing and would for sure make stupid jokes at Draco

2) The patronus. My god the Patronus. I seriously put the phone down and made a small slow clap during that chapter. At first I was like hmmmm *insert unsure kombucha girl face* because almost all fanfics have him with a dragon patronus and leave it at that (and lets be honest at this point my expectations of you were quite high dont blame me blame your bloody brilliant writing) but then, and I dont know if you did this on purpose or not (I have a feeling you did) but the fact that the dragon was the same (pale white) wounded but still feral dragon that Hermione FREEED (!) from a bank (£££) dungeon, malnourished and used for its nature, surrounded by darkness, wealth and misery!! And it was Hermione who broke its chains!!!!! Is just *chefs fucking kiss* slow clap*

3) the way you describe sex scenes are so natural! Ive never read a fanfic or book that doesnt make me gag a little bit (I am not a fan of smut at all but ill go with it because of a good story) until I read yours. Its so simple but yet intricate and you make the entire act so intriguing and normal and intimate. Bravo.

4) I LOVE SASHA. I love that Theo fell for her head over heels and the way you portrayd her reminded me of a friend of mine who works as a sous-chef in London so I always pictured her when reading it!

5) Dracos inner voice is ON POINT. Like I genuinely think you shoud own the rights to that character now.

6) Ill say it again. I love Ginny. You should also own the rights to her character too.

7) my interest for Quiddich (even when reading the books/wathcing the movies) was on par, if not lower than Hermiones. You managed to get me interested in that too so yes another slow clap to you

7.1) Also such a clever career for Draco!! Made si much sense!

Now to some questions

A) What was the deal with Malfoy referring to Ginny as Weasly and refusing to aknowledge her Potter surname. And why did everyone kept correcting him? It was hilarious granted but I wanted to know whether the reason you included this time and time again had to do wih something deeper? Or was this included as just a funny recurring joke?

B) Why did you choose for Draco to have a “fantasy” to produce a patronus and not for example for him to have had to do that after theyd exchanged “i love yous”. Very interesting angle and i liked that it was sort of a loophole to all the ‘death eaters cant have patronuses’ but quite curious on the thought process

C) Why did you opt for Draco to remove his mark? Do you think that stands as reward for him more or for Hermione? Very smart solution by the way

D) if you have the time- Could you please elaborate a tad more on what the soul-bonding means? Why was it so taboo? At furst hand it seems like a very romantic/amazing thing to do with your partner right?

Lastly- Do you ever itch to make a second part to this? And in the most acceptable case that you dont, I always wondered what you had in mind for them in the future- because of the soul bonding thing, you mentioned that the generational curses will be erased, which means I guess that the Malfoys can have more than one child now, and girls as well. (I cannot believe im asking for this as I am the one to avoid any pregnancy fanfics but) do you imagine them with children and if yes, how many? How do they integrate muggle devices(I know youd agree wit me that Hermione would definitively bring some muggle stuff over!) and which devices would Draco really secretly like?

Pleasewriteasecondpartwhereyouelaborateyourthoughtsonthisthankyou.

Ok rant done. :D

List anon! You’re back with another amazing ask. I’ll do my best!

1.) I like to think Ron matured a lot post-war (not enough to stop making terrible jokes, though.)

2.) Regarding your beautiful analysis of my specific dragon breed for Draco’s patronus: How many points would you like for your Hogwarts house of choice? I will add that according to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the Ironbelly’s scales are normally a metallic grey. I will also add that I subscribe more to book canon than movie canon. In the book version of events of the Gringotts escape, Harry breaks the chains and Hermione (with eventual help once the boys catch on) destroys the ceiling so it can have a way out. The partially blind dragon does the rest of the work on its own.

3.) Thank you, that’s very flattering.

4.) Does your friend also get you into fancy restaurants and can they make salted caramel bread pudding???

5.) Thank you, it was one of my favorite aspects of writing this story.

6.) Thank you, she’s so fun to write and flesh out from her book portrayal.

7.) Haha, I felt so validated by that line of dialogue in Cursed Child when Draco tells Harry he wanted to play quidditch professionally, but wasn’t good enough.

Now to some answers:

A.) It’s definitely a recurring joke. It’s up to the reader to interpret Draco’s actions here: is he doing it to be a massive troll? Or is he genuinely not retaining the information of her married name because he considers this fact so unimportant that he does not bother to keep it in his brain? Troll, snob, or both, you can decide!

B.) I’ll address the second part of this first, because it was not intended as a loophole. I 1000% do not understand the “death eaters can’t have patronuses” thing. It makes absolutely no sense. Snape has a Patronus. But beyond that… Umbridge has a Patronus (a cat). If we’re letting that woman have a Patronus, then yeah, I think Draco can cast one. As for the vision that Draco used to conjure it… up to you whether that’s a fantasy or a glimpse of a certain ritual actually working. Draco’s thoughts on the matter: “An image of such striking tangibility that he might have already lived it, or perhaps experienced time in such a way that he lived it now.”

C.) I wanted Draco to have a choice, obviously a recurring theme for him in RN. For my characterization of him, that symbol on his arm causes him nothing but shame and self-loathing (see the end of chapter 36 during his heart-to-heart with Hermione). He’d already exercised almost every known avenue to rid himself of it before Hermione entered his life (he lists these in chapter 44). Hermione already loved him (and has told him so) by the time she’s figured out how to remove it: “I love the man you are today and I will love that man tomorrow, bare forearm or not. I simply wanted you, for once, to have the choice. It’s your body.”

D.) Ooh anon, you are tempting me here. I really hate to be coy, but you might see some future writing on this very topic.

I can at least answer the taboo part: I think soul magic in general (horcruxes, the use of unicorn blood) is quite taboo in the HP universe. As no one knows what happens after death (not even ghosts, Nearly Headless Nick says as much when Harry asks him point-blank in OoTP) I think most magical folk would think the intense ritual (blending magical cores) an unnecessary thing anyway. As Draco explains in chapter 48, since no one actually knows the effects or if it works, it’s considered a bit over-the-top since it’s probably futile anyway. It is also not a Vow with a death component; Narcissa is obviously alive in this story even though Lucius is already dead. I wrote the generational curse protection theory in as a dig at Cursed Child for the way they handled Astoria’s character.

The idea of it I think is romantic, but I will stress it is very dependent upon the intent of the two participants. To quote Draco in chapter 48 again: “To twine one’s soul to another showed a willingness to not only physically tether one’s self during your time here on earth, but to commit to a blending of your magical cores, putting faith in your magic to recognize its bonded counterpart in another life. Should other lives even exist.”

If you re-read Draco’s experience during the bonding ceremony in chapter 51 (starting from this bit: “The cognizance of his own powers never felt sharper, more familiar, but suddenly another power pulsed within to join with his.”) you might find it bears a resemblance to the trajectory of their relationship.

Lastly- I’ve left Draco and Hermione to their wedded bliss. I’ve got nothing planned for them beyond where they are in the final lines of chapter 51. I don’t have that itch to write more into their future because it would feel forced. Draco laid out his two envisioned futures with Hermione in chapter 48 when they discuss having or not having children. They are happy and content in the life they chose together. That’s all I ever wanted for them.

You will see more from this story though. I have an entire series of one-shots and outtakes from the published Remain Nameless timeline that I’ll start posting soon.

Thank you so much list anon! These were fun to answer!

#remain nameless #dramione #list anon #asked and answered

[following-the-fairy-lights]

They were walking through the “dark drippy murder cave”, as Lup had dubbed it, all three of them with weapons out and on high alert for any necromactic energies (or nec-reepies and crawlies, as Lup had also dubbed them) emanating from the necromancer cult that supposedly used this cave as a base of operations. They had been tracking this cult for a few weeks now, with varying levels of success, but Kravitz had finally nailed down a promising lead from his raven retinue that he still would not let Barry utilize, even though he’d promised not to feed them full-fat suet again, it was an accident, Kravitz, he just hadn’t read the label right-

when he saw the fragment of the ritual circle on the floor.

It was hidden away, under black and rotting ivy, and for a split second Barry wondered why the damp hadn’t rubbed it away, until in the next second he realized several things simultaneously-

it wasn’t written on the stone, it was carved into it, meaning-

it was woven into the stone, it was powerful, really powerful, old too, probably, only old spells pull that kind of heft, so what does it say-

really old, Infernal, wow, that was the sigil for capture, and the sigil for enslave, and the sigil for-

LICH-

and

(carved recently, and concealed, the analytical part of his brain whispered in a calm, detached manner)

as all the other parts of his brain screamed-

LUP LUP’S GONNA STEP ON IT SHE’S RIGHT THERE-

Because Lup had taken point with Kravitz, she was moving forward with her eyes glued to the looming darkness ahead and not the intricately carved ritual circle right under her feet that had been designed for the ensnaring and torture of liches, and she was going to walk right into it-

And Barry Bluejeans made a decision not in a split second, but a decision that he’d already made, when Lup had kept not letting go, a decision made over a century of falling in love with the most perfect woman in any world and knowing that he would do anything for her-the only decision he could, or would ever, make.

He lunged forward, grasping Lup’s left arm, and yanked her back as hard as he physically could, pulling himself forward and off-balance in the process.

He twisted his body as he fell, as Lup yelped in surprise and fell in the opposite direction, away from the circle, so he could see her face. He wanted to see her, before the shit the fan. Before something really, really bad happened and he wouldn’t be able to anymore. He didn’t know what was about to happen, really, but he wasn’t afraid, because he knew that Lup would find him. He knew that she’d look, and she wouldn’t stop looking, for as long as it took, because the love they had for each other was so strong it bound them to their continued existence. They’d do anything for each other. And they both knew it. So it was OK. It would be OK.

Barry thought all this at Lup as hard as he could as he fell backwards towards some real bullshit, and then-

He felt himself fall into a field of crackling energy, and as it came alive around him he thought oh boy I hope krav’ll let me grow another-

and then existence was red and pain and him an outline in the center of the unbearable weight of it-

and blackness.

 ***************************************************************************************

Kravitz turned as Lup suddenly cried out with a, guys, this is a serious mission, no goofs!!!!! ready to snap out in a highly annoyed whisper, only to see Lup and Barry falling in opposite directions, and Barry looking at her with a face full of love and the unique im sorry you have for the person you love when there’s no other choice, and then the ground underneath him glows and Kravitz has only a moment to think oH SHIT before he throws up a weak-ass hurried shield that he knows Lucretia would call “superheated garbage”-

And then a blast throws him approximately the length of one of Angus’s soccer fields down the cave before he slams into a cold stone wall and the world goes sideways and blurry for a minute.

 *****************************************************************************************

There’s a voice.

It’s distant, but it’s there, and it sounds a little urgent, and it’s getting slowly closer the more she

wakes

up-

and suddenly there’s pain and dust and a horrific smell and she’s groaning-

“whaug?”

“Oh, thank the Queen. You’re not dead.”

“Augh…Krav?”

“Yes. Are you alright? Is anything broken? Can you sit up? Sorry, that’s a lot at once-“

“Take a chill pill, Skeletor, I’m fine. I’m in one piece and my brain isn’t Lup-soup.” She giggled at the rhyme, and then frowned. “OK, maybe a tad soupy.” she groaned. She sat up slowly, Krav shifting her to lean against the wall.

“Thanks, Kra-“. Her eyes snapped open. “Barry. Where is he, is he OK?” She looked around wildly, but Kravitz leaned forward and grabbed her shoulders.

“Lup. Lup, look at me.”

But Lup wasn’t looking at Kravitz. Lup was looking down what remained of the cave passage. Lup was looking at the collapsed passage, at the smoldering rocks, at the smoke and dust and sizzling remnants of arcane energy. Lup was straining, straining to see Barry, his body, his lich form emerge from the rubble sheepishly, rubbing his incorporeal neck and saying, whoops, totally my bad, guys, that one’s on me. And she’d run to him and be very annoyed only because she’d been so worried, even if it was only for a second, even if he was totally OK as a lich, even if she knew he’d never leave her, never, never again he wouldn’t leave her he wouldn’t-

(and she was also remembering Barry pulling her backwards and falling into a glowing circle and smiling, smiling at her the whole time with that dumb, stupid, infuriatingly loving expression of his and she was reaching, reaching for him but she couldn’t catch him-)

The cave kept on smoldering and shifting as rocks collapsed and spewed more dust and that awful deathly smell-and Barry kept not emerging.

And Lup kept on staring.

“Lup? Lup, I-there was no time. Barry, I, I couldn’t stop him, I couldn’t-there was a circle, a ritual, a necromatic ritual-I didn’t see it, I didn’t know-Lup I’m so, so sorry-“

And Lup tries to not let go, but there’s nothing to grasp onto but the screaming fear that beats where her heart used to be.

****************************************************************************************

this is kinda inspired by @marywhal who doesn’t know me, but has really been inspiring me lately. their writing for taz is so amazing, and it got me off my butt to finally write something i’ve wanted to for a long time!!!! (if you mind that i directly tagged you, please let me know and I can remove it!!! also sorry.) 

i hope what happens here is mostly accurate. my apologies if anything is wonky. i am a gal that loves d&d, but unfortunately i can never play it cause i am tragically not in a d&d group.

i may continue this if i can manage not to procrastinate really bad!!!!!!!

thanks for reading!!!! <3

#OH wow my first official taz fic!! #i've wanted to do this for a while and i finally made myself!!! #i love writing but i feel like i never have the time #i haven;t written in so long #and i wanna change that #im trying to get back into it #and this was step one i guess #hope everyone likes it!!! #maybe i'll post it on my ao3 if i'm feeling brave #we'll see i guess!!! #my writing #taz #the adventure zone #taz: balance

[ambitionsource]

S1 Rewatch: Lena’s Take [1.07]

whew! what an episode! also, i hope it’s no trouble that i send my rewatches in a day late... sorry!

favourite scene: this episode has SO many good scenes... my god. I have to say the paint balloon war scene, though, just for the a) pure chaotic energy and b) good character moments. farkle getting absolutely HAMMERED with paint balloons. isadora screaming war cries (if you imagine this scene without music it would be HILARIOUS), riley being so scared of getting hit she pulls a me back in third grade playing dodgeball. dylan taking a dramatic slow mo paint balloon to the chest. zay and charlie working perfectly together as a tactical team 🥺, ending with both of them absolutely MUCKING lucas as he tries to choose between the revolution and his blooming feelings for riley.... they have NO time for straight nonsense. plus charlie having an ANEURSYM when zay literally HUGS him is so funny (i literally said out loud “charlie sweetie”)... the “intricate rituals that allow you to touch the skin of other men” energy it has... WERE YOU AWARE THAT I LOVE THEM? a good scene on so many comedic and emotional levels! it really demonstrates the boxes the students are stuck in, and how hard they’re going to have to work to get out of them by the end of this ep, and, on a larger scale, the end of the season.... the Nuances.

favourite performance: the amount of ICONIC performances this episode makes it SO HARD TO CHOOSE! maya leading the performers with team.... riley’s melodramatic but still heart-wrenching rendition of cry and you cry alone... farkle’s emotional struggles showcased in control... honestly, it’s a so close for me between thnks fr th mmrs and come out and play... but despite the incredible power of thnks fr th mmrs and the fact that i LOVE the techies’ family dynamic the MOST, especially when they perform together because it’s so few and far between, i have to give it to come out and play. a) i LOVE that song, b) it undercurrents my favourite scene in the episode.... and c) its a zc duet. im SORRY but like i think it serves REALLY well to highlight the frustrations and core of the scenes: a taunting, frustrated battle between two sides who want nothing more than to be kept separated. also, for two characters who still don’t know each other SUPER well... zc really work excellently as a team, directly contradicting the isolation and separation from others they both discussed feeling last episode... They CLICK... n that hug.... i love them so much. however i must point out the POWER thnks fr th mmrs has to be led by dylan and asher. like PLEASE. theyre baby. i love them so much and the joy pumped into my soul whenever asher gets to sing? unmatched.

favourite character this ep: lucas fucking friar ABSOLUTELY RULED this episode. king stomps back into school in his giant stompy boots and stages a giant stompy revolution. lucas’ ability to just show up and throw places into chaos is WONDERFUL, and focusing on it means he ran this episode. outnumbered by enemies and returning late, he staged a full-fledged week-long revolution... and it was successful. he also had some of the best lines this episode, and i love how, despite the fact that he pretends not to care about ANYTHING, he has such a dedication to his friends that makes it only obvious how much he actually cares about everything. this episode was lucas in his element, showcasing the way he’s softening around riley (i LOVE they) and how steadfast and determined he is in his beliefs, stances, and endeavours. lucas cares, okay? he cares a LOT. i love lucas a lot and if i had more energy i would go into an unnervingly deep psychoanalysis of him... but i don’t, so i’ll say i love him the MOST and i’ll leave it at that.

favourite line: lucas: It’s like they say, you know. “If we burn, you burn with us.” That’s classic literature, right? jack, deadpan: The Hunger Games. | also “white nonsense”. EXCELLENT, zay.

an underrated moment: yindra and nigel being absolutely iconic this episode. the two of them plus jade are the three side characters i feel unfairly attached to. the moment where they go to meet lucas and isadora to straight up say they’re tired of the bullshit.. they were actually real standouts this episode and it really goes to show how much main character drama effects the sise characters, which isn’t discussed very much and is ALWAYS nice and refreshing to see. plus nigel as mulligan made my little heart sing.... HIS BREAK DANCE JUMP UP!! get nigel on america’s got talent, i DARE YOU.

something i missed the first time around: FARKLE STARTING TO RANT AT ISADORA WHEN HE FEELS UNFAIRLY TARGETED, FORESHADOWING HIS DIVA MELTDOWN IN THE FINALE... BRILLIANT. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT. we get a subtle warning that we do NOT heed. i also think i overlooked how clearly farkle’s mental health issues are showcased this episode, which improve as he gets friends later on, but are ripped wide open again in the finale.

first impression vs your reread impression: loved it both times, more this time. this episode is a major turning point for the main conflict of the season (techie & performer divide) and is SO goddamn intense, especially with the end scene... the bit where we get shots of EVERYONE alone on their phones, ensuring it could be anyone at school? INCREDIBLE. SHOWSTOPPING. love love loved this ep.

--

literally NO TROUBLE AT ALL lena dear, we love to read them regardless of when you send!! the fact that you’re being so diligent about participating is like impactful as it is <3 and lucky us bc your thoughts are always so GOOD. i literally don’t even know where to start because you just said so many good things. what i WILL say is that you may get the chance to talk to nigel or yindra or jade v soon... and also i WILL be looking forward to that deep psychoanalysis of lucas james sometime in the future,, but SHOUT OUT to you pointing out another foreshadowing moment... but also ma’am your descriptions of things are just so poetic. like where is your aaa fandom blog in the fake aaa universe so i can follow and reblog all your meta posts as the seasons unfold being like damn... yeah... points were made,,,,

#S1 reread #S2 countdown #submission #its the truth luv! its the truth!

[abnormalpsychology]

The Bully (the thrilling conclusion)

[aHhHhHhhHhhHh] [im deceased and I’m scheduling these posts] [imagine the anxiety when I post them] [its 11:30 my phone is on 5% and I haven’t done my homework yet] [TYRUS HAS DESTROYED MY LIFE THANKS JOSHUA]

The kind lady had explained to T.J. what had happened and led him away. Buffy was there now, sitting next to Cyrus on the park bench. Someone had given him a water bottle. Everyone had been kind and understanding.

“Happens to the best of us, kid,” the lady had said, grinning, although not unkindly.

“Thanks,” he’d mumbled, closing his mouth.

“What the hell happened?” Buffy asked for what was probably the twentieth time.

“I told you, nothing happened, Buff. I just... fell off the swings like the clumsy idiot I am.”

“You couldn’t hang on to the swings? You really expect me to believe that?” She crosses her arms, and huffed quietly. “You don’t have to lie about it.”

“I’m sorry, I—“

“I know, you didn’t want me to get mad. It’s fine, Cyrus. We don’t pick our… soulmates. Although I’d like to think that maybe the universe made a mistake this time.”

“Because… he has weird hair?”

“Because it’s T.J.!” Buffy shouted, then threw her head into her hands and groaned for a long time. “My mortal enemy! The bane of my existence! Your future husband!”

“Oh.” That was certainly… a thought.

“I don’t care who you like, Cyrus. I’m happy as long as you’re happy. This… this will just take me a little while. But I will… think about it. And try very hard to be happy for you.”

“I’m sorry for lying.”

“Yeah, you should be. But I get it. I can be difficult.”

“Understatement of the century.”

“Oh, shut up! Just because you hit a life milestone doesn’t mean you get an automatic noogie pass, Goodman!”

“I…”

He gulped, tears returning quick to his eyes as he stared at Buffy. Gently, like a person handling a baby animal, she took his shaking hand.

“Hey. What’s wrong?”

“I’m going to have to talk to him. He’ll… he’s gonna think I’m a lame little nerd! He’ll never like me. This is really bad timing; I just got used to the whole Jonah thing, and now—“

He went quiet. She smiled reassuringly in that way that always made Cyrus want to cry from how good a friend she was.

“Cyrus. Again. Because you seem to keep needing to hear this— you’ve always been weird, but you’re no different. And I won’t treat you that way because of T.J. Maybe you’re right, about… about soulmates getting better. About changing. One thing I know for sure? This day is going to pass, and it’ll all be okay.”

He smiled tearfully and hugged his best friend as hard as he could, not wanting to let go.

“I love you.”

“Awww, stop being all mushy on me,” she laughed. “It’s what any friend would do.”

“Also that was two things.”

“Stop ruining your moment... I love you too.”

They stayed like that for a while, both processing everything that had just occurred. Cyrus was okay. If he had Andi and Buffy to get him through this, it was going to be okay. He had a whole future ahead of him. It was inevitable, yes, but it was also all going to be just fine. He was going to be so happy.

“Thanks, Buff,” he said, pulling away. “I think I have some explaining I have to do.”

“You aren’t the only one,” Buffy sighed, looking past over his shoulder to the park.

And there was T.J., sitting alone on the bench opposite the playground, keeping the same cautious distance he’d held at the beginning. The smile was gone. Cyrus and Buffy watched him for a second, thinking about how differently they both saw the same kid. How different he must feel, too.

“I’m gonna tell I’m secretly Spider-Man,” Cyrus whispered, breaking the tense silence. “That’s why I glow; the radiation. Not because we’re destined to be together or anything.”

Buffy broke off her laughter to shoot him a toothy grin. “I’ll kill that boy if he messes with you.”

“I thought you already had plans to kill off T.J.”

“That would be why this right here is so difficult, yep. Exactly that.”

He smiled. “He really isn’t so bad. You should sing him the Swing Song. That’s how he ended up touching me— an underdog.”

“But you hate heights?”

“But… T.J. doesn’t. I was trying something. He made feel a little less afraid.”

Buffy stared at him.

“What?”

“You’ve just… never said that before.”

“Because I never tried.” Cyrus shrugged.

“Hmm.”

“Yeah.”

“Go get him, then.”

“Buffy!” His face promptly turned into a raspberry. “Stop that!”

She smiled as she got up from the bench. “Text me if he tries anything shifty. I love you, C.G.”

“What, so I tell you a secret and get a cool nickname now?”

“Nope, just this once. It’s a special occasion. Your parents are gonna throw a party.”

“Ugh,” he groaned. They probably were going to make a huge fuss when he told all four of them, which is why most kids didn’t tell their parents when their marks glowed. That was a decision he didn’t want to consider right now. “Bye, Slayer. Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

She disappeared down the path, past the swingset, heading in the direction of the Spoon. Now Cyrus had another fun conversation he had to have, he thought as he proceeded in the opposite direction.

“Hey.”

T.J. looked up, eyes wide and expression of concern stretched across his face. The kind woman must have not told him everything— he still seemed to think he was injured terribly. This was going to be fun.

“Cyrus, hi. You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m totally fine. Actually, I know why that whole weird thing happened over there. I’m not actually hurt.”

“Oh, good. I… I thought I might have done something on accident there for a little bit.” He smiled faintly. “You scared me, Underdog.”

“Two nicknames in one day, wow,” Cyrus muttered to himself. “You really get some cool stuff when you meet your soulm—“

OH NO.

HE’D SAID IT.

And now T.J. was watching him frantically try to stammer his way out, to take back the words not at all presented in the careful, all-feelings-considered manner he was going to say them with. It had all gone wrong.

“I’m so sorry.”

“No, no, no! It’s okay! It’s fine! I knew already!”

“What?”

“W-when you, uh, fell and I was trying to keep you from dying or whatever, that was kinda stupid of me—“

“Keeping me from dying is not a stupid thing, T.J.!” Cyrus laughed. “I would much prefer that to the alternative!”

“Well, um. Not. Sorry then.”

“It’s fine, you don’t need to apologize for anything.”

They stared at each other for a second, both shell-shocked by all of the weird bonding rituals they’d been forced through today. If anyone had told Cyrus that this was how his day was going to go, he would have never believed it.

“Just when… you pushed me off, because you were fine—“

“I’m sorry—“

“No, no, you’re-you’re good. You just touched my hand… and it lit up too.”

“Oh.” They both looked at the intricately lined handprint on T.J.’s palm, now thankfully just tinted darker then normal skin instead of the bright, toxic-waste color the glowing had been earlier. It really wasn’t that bad, actually— it was a green that reminded Cyrus of tea, plants, and calm things. It reminded him of relief from worries, moments when he felt like things really weren’t so bad. Moments like now.

“So, yeah. I didn’t know I was gay, actually,” T.J. told him, rubbing his neck. “I… just thought I’d eventually like girls. Like a phase… that had lasted my whole childhood and life. But it never happened. I guess it never will.”

“Wow.”

“Wow.”

“I actually have a crush on another guy,” Cyrus blurted, scratching his neck nervously. “I know that’s probably awful to say right now, but I do.”

“That’s not a problem, Cyrus.”

“Really?”

“Nah, no way. I’m not gonna, like, propose on the first day we meet.” T.J. laughed, face red. “This is so weird. Not you, just… all this.”

“I can definitely get how finding out this way would be weird.”

“I hope you don’t… hate me now.”

“Why would I hate you?”

“Well, there’s Buffy and I’s whole thing. And then this on top of it? Not exactly a recipe for the best friendship.”

“True,” Cyrus said, nodding professionally. “But don’t forget that you got me a muffin. Don’t underestimate the muffin, T.J.”

The two boys smiled at one another, the bully and the nerd. Soulmates. Swinging buddies. Friends.

Maybe this was a terrible way to meet. Maybe it was the most uncomfortable way ever. But, sitting there, something profound and epiphany-like occurred to Cyrus Goldman for the first time in his life; maybe the Universe knew what it was doing.

#my fanfic #andi mack gift exchange #andi mack #ajjknnk #sorry for the tag spam guys

[harelan]

1-10 for Matilda, 11-20 for Rosanna!

owo thank u griff !!!!!!!!!

matilda

1. What does their bedroom look like?

at home, not at skyhold: light wood floors, whitewash walls or very subtly patterned wallpapers. a big-ish bed with a Lot of blankets, quilts, pillows on it, but all mismatched. one wall is all bookshelves, and one wall is mostly window. lace curtains.cluttered to hell.

2. Do they have any daily rituals?

she tries very hard not to, just because circle life was so structured. especially during inquisition, what she’d being doing or when she’d wake up was pretty unpredictable. she makes breakfast every single day though, no matter when she eats it. sometimes she’s up early enough to help skyhold’s servants prepare it. sometimes she saunters into the kitchens at 11pm and makes pancakes for herself. a true enigma. 

3. Do they exercise, and if so, what do they do? How often?

k. kind of? she uses her staff like a quarterstaff or even a spear sometimes, because she figures she needs to know how to fight if she gets purged by a templar. so she trains with that. but she doesn’t go running or anything. just combat drills. 

4. What would they do if they needed to make dinner but the kitchen was busy?

depends on her mood. good mood, she’ll just squeeze in and help. bad mood, she’ll squeeze in and do whatever the fuck she wants. she’s usually considerate though. 

5. Cleanliness habits (personal, workspace, etc.)

she’s clean but not particularly attentive to her looks. like, she takes a bath and then gets distracted and just lets her hair drip dry. she might remember to brush her hair. she makes her own perfume, though! 

she’s organized but not clean. like someone will be like “oh i need a quill” and she’ll be like “oh theres one under my bed just to the right of the bottom post closest to the door” she cleans up every few weeks and puts things back so it doesn’t get too bad, but in her day to day she cannot be arsed. 

6. Eating habits and sample daily menu

OH HOHOHO matilda eats Lavishly but she cooks it herself so it’s ok. she makes a lot of sweets and even if it isn’t supposed to be sweet, she makes it sweet. so she cooks pork a lot, just because it can handle being sweet. 

breakfast: honey amaranth bread with apricot jam, fresh raspberries, one (1) fried egg, and either bacon or beans depending on what’s available 

lunch: potato fish cakes, lemony asparagus, n a cream cheese griddle cake 

tea: lemon-cream tart, or sugar pears, or rosewater tea cakes with tea or juice

dinner: roasted duck, baked brie, idk some kind of veg, and meringue cake (like a pavlova)

i spent way too long in this and now im hungry. 

7. Favorite way to waste time and feelings surrounding wasting time

she usually wastes time by reading or going for a walk/ride. but she doesn’t really have a job so most of the things she does are like...useful in some way. except the kind of stuff she reads is wonderful trash sentimentalist make-you-cry novels. 

she knows the importance of taking care of herself and most of the other stuff she does is for other people, so she gives herself a day in bed with a book every now and then without any guilt. 

8. Favorite indulgence and feelings surrounding indulging

sweets, definitely, or otherwise decadent foods. and she doesn’t give a single shit. she cooks and she shares so people can die mad about it. 

9. Makeup?

naaaah. i mean, she wouldn’t even know where to start. josephine does her makeup for her before halamshiral. but on her own? she’s not at all invested in being pretty. i mean, she’s already just naturally pretty and it hasn’t exactly benefited her so. no. 

10. Neuroses? Do they recognize them as such?

she’s pretty chill and reasonable idk? she keeps her study as she likes it and gets irritated if people move things around. 

rosanna

11. Intellectual pursuits?

she’s very much not an intellectual. she has some theological opinions, but they’re just opinions and she’s not some kind of chantry scholar. 

12. Favorite book genre?

she....can’t really read. she’d read romance novels if she did read, but tabloid magazines are more her thing. 

13. Sexual Orientation? And, regardless of own orientation, thoughts on sexual orientation in general?

all my characters r bisexual, though rosanna definitely has a preference for men. she on that internalized heteronormativity. she’s one of those liberals who wishes everyone would just shut up about their various marginalized identities, so she’s not particularly sympathetic and....maybe a leetle homophobic. 

14. Physical abnormalities? (Both visible and not, including injuries/disabilities, long-term illnesses, food-intolerances, etc.)

she has faded scars on her hands and a tomato allergy. 

15. Biggest and smallest short term goal?

biggest, divorce her husband (oh hi i decided she and her creepy artist amoroso got married)

smallest would be like. humiliate lord so-and-so at this upcoming party. 

16. Biggest and smallest long term goal?

biggest, and i mean big ambitious thing she doesn’t even think about because it’s too big and scary and impossible, is to topple the institution of slavery in tevinter that literally ruined her life. 

smallest, visit antiva. 

17. Preferred mode of dress and rituals surrounding dress

whatever is fashionable. she’s known for personalizing her clothes, usually with intricate embroidery or hand-made lace. she wears lingerie a lot. 

18. Favorite beverage?

she drinks a lot of black tea with honey, but her favorite drink is champagne. 

19. What do they think about before falling asleep at night?

upcoming social events, generally? or like what she has to do tomorrow, what she neglected to get done today. 

20. Childhood illnesses? Any interesting stories behind them?

answered here

#talking about what matilda eats really did make me hungee jfkldsj #carly tells tales #carly's ocs #oc: matilda #oc: rosanna #greyedwardens

[pvndvwitch]

Happy New Year

…to my fellow witches! I hope everyone had a great holiday. Unfortunately for me and my family we were all sick during the holidays. We’re feeling much better now but I still feel weak and lethargic. Since my last post I've felt my connection to the moon grow stronger as well as my connection to water. I’ve finally gotten an altar going as well so now I don’t have to keep all of my things in a box in the corner of my bedroom. I’m really quite loving it, I’ll post a picture soon. 

I’m super excited about the Full Moon coming up this month. Super moon, full moon, lunar eclipse all in one. What a great way to start off the year, don’t ya think?! I was thinking about doing a protection spell for that, not sure yet. Last full moon I did a psychic abilities/awareness bath ritual followed by my first Tarot reading for myself. I think that was my most intricate or in-depth ritual I've done so far but I honestly feel like it was my most powerful. If you’re interested, here’s what I did:

1. Take a shower. To me this is a pretty important step as you can wash away the dirt and all from the day. 2. Smoke marijuana. If you’re not a weed smoker, just skip this step. Weed helps me to relax both my body and my mind 3. Set up my Tarot reading for afterwards. Since I have an 8 and 6 year old at home I like to keep my things portable I guess. I have a small wall mirror that I covered in a bed of dried roses, lavender and black obsidian chips. I laid my deck on top with 3 candles* (white, blue, purple) and crystals** (lapis, fluorite, rainbow moonstone, sodalite, clear quartz, citrine & selenite) 4. Set up bath. For my bath soak I used pink sea salt, powdered milk, a cinnamon stick, calendula petals, anise EO, and lemongrass EO 5. While my bath was filling I brewed a cup of Pu-erh tea (my favorite) with just a bit of honey. 6. Put your bath soak in after the water stops running. I sat in the tub for about 20 minutes chanting (personal***), meditating, and sipping my tea 7. When finished, save a cup of the bath water to dispose of later. Make sure to air dry as much as possible to keep the bath herbs from being wiped off 8. After I finished my bath I simply wrapped a towel around me and did my reading immediately after. Give the cards a good shuffle, used a 3 card spread

*you may use more, or less, or different colored candles **I don’t have enough crystals to do an actual crystal grid, but I did lay my crystals in an upside down pentacle shape (excluding my selenite) with my Lapis (favorite!) in the center. I realize that for some people that might be a little off putting, that’s fine. For me, everything I did had a purpose toward my intent. Always go with what feels right! ***I write my own chants, it’s more personal to me. I think it’s great when people share ideas and I do get inspiration from them, but it just feels more natural to write them myself.

Well, that’s about it for now! Given the new year and all, I’ll try to post more. No promises though.