#i’m half-joking in the sense that i know they still have much to discuss and work out and heal from

[thats-entirely-too-much-tuna]

these frames are 37 seconds apart. for eighteen months we’ve been reading and writing and theorizing about their eventual reconciliation, and stede bartholomew bonnet managed to speedrun it in THIRTY-SEVEN SECONDS.

#ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd s2 #ofmd spoilers #ofmd #rhys darby #taika waititi #stede bonnet #edward teach #i’m half-joking in the sense that i know they still have much to discuss and work out and heal from #but you can’t deny how fast ed went from 😠 to 🥹 when faced with stede’s swagless whimsy and autistic charm

[kahlanmars]

BAD FEELING part. 5

HI. This is part 5, I really love this story. Perla in my mind is Alexandra Daddario and Lora is Alisha Boe, but of course you can imagine them as who you want them to be!

As always, english is my second language. Comment if you want me happy!

MASTERLIST

5. Protection

When you wake up it’s the middle of the night and Haymitch is still in your bed, you wrapped in his arms, his face buried in your neck. You don’t dare to move, not just because you are scared he could wake up angry at the enemy but also because the sensation of his lips on your skin is creating butterflies in your stomach.

You get that you are younger and naivé, but in these weeks you knew another side of Haymitch, the strategic, genius side. He is cunning, clever, he is brilliant. You never would’ve thought this situation could make you want him more. 

And gosh, his grip is strong, and he is handsome.  

«I have to go to my room.» He mumbles, half-sleeping. His breath is pure liquor, and you must be so screwed for finding it attractive. 

«I’m more comfortable than your room.» You point out and you indulge yourself stroking his blonde hair. «Am I so insufferable you don’t want to stay with me?» You joke, and since you are awake you move yourself a little, causing a friction with his body. Accidentally, of course. He grunts, you take that as a win.

«You always talk that much in the morning?»

«It’s night.» You can sense he rolls his eyes even if they are closed. He chuckles, but even if his hand is now on your tight and his lips still on your neck, his mind begins to work.

«We took a risk. I could have hurt you, even killed you- you are no match to me. I usually don’t wake up that peacefully.»

«Maybe because you sleep alone.» You open your eyes facing him. His proximity makes you blush, but in a good way. «You helped me. I didn’t have nightmares.»

«I’m glad sweetheart, but this is the last time.» He warns you.

«I like when you call me “Sweetheart”.» You let it slip from your thoughts. «You always called me Daisy in the district.»

«You worked for me in the district.» He gets up, not very firm on his legs - you have no idea if it is because of the liquor or the sleeping, but before he goes away he gives you a little kiss on the cheek. «See you in the morning, sweetheart.»  

     

You are actually happy when you wake up again, alone in your room. You decide not to think about your imminent death but to focus on the training. This is now or never: if you know something you have to use it now. 

You choose a pair of trousers and a simple t-shirt and you go ahead to have breakfast with your team when you recall two voices. Haymitch and Effie are arguing in the dining room. You know you should leave or appear, but this might be vital, so you eavesdrop.

«You two left the party without us last night.» Effie murmurs, clearly not amused. You didn’t think she would’ve cared, she was in her own element. 

«She was tired.» He explains in a dry way. She was having a panic attack, but it’s not an escort’s business. 

«You know, people wanted to talk to her. People wanted her.» What the hell does she mean? Who wanted you? The game-makers? 

«Before the games?» He sounds shocked. 

«They are older, this year.» She sighs. Not a good start.

«Effie you can’t possibly say-»

Even if you weren’t spying on them it would have been hard not to hear Effie’s squeaking voice right now. «It’s for her! They will lose interest in her if they can’t have her.»

«Or they’ll be intrigued.»

«Do you dare to bet on that? Because you are risking Daisy’s life.»

«I’m not selling her, it’s out of discussion.» Selling you. This is what Chaff said to you when you were at the party. People are going to buy you? Is this not an old scary story about Capitol City? Is it true?

«She is not yours!» Her voice cracks. «We’ve had an idea for Katniss and Peeta but I don’t know how we could, how… this year…» She begins to cry. 

«There, there, Effs.» He must be comforting her, because you can’t hear her anymore. «We will find a way.» 

«Find a way for what?» You go out from your hiding place, tears in your eyes.

«Nothing important, darling girl.» Effie tries to dismiss it, but you've had enough of this stuff, them not telling you anything like you were a little girl. You are an adult, twenty-four years old, you had a job before the reaping, a life. They cannot keep you in the dark to protect you. 

«You are crying.» You sound harsh. «Stop lying to me. I have heard you.»

«I don’t know what you think you heard but…» Haymitch begins, but you stop him. 

«You.» You face him, stepping closer, and this time you are angry. «You told me to stay close to you during the party, that you could protect me.»

«I will protect you!» He yells back at you, but you don’t care.

«From who? From Chaff? From the Capitol, from Snow? From the Games? Because I now know that my worst chance is to become a fucking exchange price and my best chance is to die!» 

They are speechless. You calm down a little, heavy-breathing because of the screams, then you take a puff cream on the table and you watch them deadly serious. «Now that I know everything, I will be very grateful if in the future you two decide to tell me the next torture Panem decides for me, since I am a fucking adult.» 

«Daisy-» Effie tries, but you are in no mood for a lecture.

«I’ll be at the training.» 

The first day of training is a nightmare. The other tributes have more skills, especially the careers, and you don’t know anything other than herbs and a bit of medical training. Watching the wall filled with tools, you can see skates, little rocket launchers, blades, any sort of things. Well at least you know how to skate, you chuckle. 

You have to focus on what you can do. You are strong, at least Haymitch told you so. You are still a bit upset that he didn't tell you the truth, but he succeeded with Katniss and Peeta so you better listen to him. You try to lift a big metal ball, and you slowly manage to do it.

«That’s impressive!» 

You turn around, and there’s a brunette girl standing next to you. The first thing you notice about her are the eyes, she has big bright ocean eyes. She is beautiful, you suddenly remember her from the videos of the reapings. 

«I’m Perla.» She greets you with a kind smile. «District 4.» 

To be fair she doesn’t look lethal like the other careers or particularly close to them. «Daisy, District 12.»

«I know, my mentor told me about you, you met him at the parade, right?» Yeah, her mentor must be Finnick Odair, you connect the dots. «He likes you, he proposed an alliance.»

«My mentor didn’t mention it.» 

«I said I wanted to meet you first, but after that? I want you on my team. I'm very good at swimming, you know, and with blades. And I’ve talked with the girl from District 11, she could be in the alliance too- she’s very good with fishnets, her name is Lora.» 

I don't want to kill this girl, you think immediately. She is bright, nice, and you think you could become friends. So maybe an alliance is what you need, it's rare that allies kill each other. You watch Lora, she seems like a nice girl too, her heart-shaped face is so similar to the girl Katniss made a deal with last year, little Rue. Maybe it’s her cousin or older sibling. Definitely younger than you.

You desperately want to go out with these girls, become a group of friends and think this is all a nightmare. But this is your reality now.

«Deal.»

«Deal? Great!» you are surprised by Perla’s reaction. You definitely don't want to kill this girl.

You go back to the penthouse for dinner. Your body is sore and you are very tired, and you don't have the strength for a lecture or a discussion. And you think if you see Clark you'd lost it, so you decide to eat in your room.

After a while you hear a knock on the door.

«It's open.» 

Effie Trinket comes into your room. You feel guilty about this morning, Effie was actually trying to help you the best she could.

«Darling girl…»

«I’m so sorry.» You get up and come to hug her. «We just thought, I don’t even know, that is new for us too. We are used to kids, and for years before Katniss and Peeta I was alone dealing with them because Haymitch didn’t even want to try. You two are adults and it’s… I thought it would be easier, but I knew you, and he cares for you, we wanted to protect you.» 

«I get it.» You place a hand on her shoulder. «But please, explain what the President wants from me.»

She deeply exhales before starting talking, her face is so serious under all that makeup. «When a Victor is considered beautiful or desiderable, President Snow gives them as a reward, or he sells them. It happens to victors, or to… people in the system.» Her voice cracks, and you instantly know why. 

«Effie.» You breathe out and hug her tighter. 

«It happened a long time ago.» She reassures you with a smile, but that doesn’t change anything. «If you don’t want to do something, he has some ways to make sure you’ll do that.»

«Or he kills your family.» Your thoughts go to your mentor, the way the Abernathys died in a fire after his win and his girlfriend soon after.

«When they told me he wanted you to be a reward before the games I panicked, Haymitch would have gotten himself killed and you… I didn’t want your mother involved in this, I didn’t want you to find out so soon.» 

She is clearly in pain right now, and you feel so close to her. You wipe out a tear from her cheek.

«You tried to protect everybody and I am so grateful. You are a special woman, Effie Trinket, I don’t think we realise it when you do something like this but you do it all the time. You try and try to make everything easier. I am sorry for today, and I am grateful we are friends.» 

And if in your room there are cameras, and you are mostly certain there are, Effie Trinket just became a target. 

There is still a person you have to make amends to. After staying a while with Effie, you grab a bottle from the kitchen and knock on your mentor’s door.

He opens it, clearly inebriated but still in control.

«I came bearing gifts.» You try, handing the bottle to him.

When you close the door behind you, you notice that the situation is serious. There are a lot, a lot of bottles on the floor and several pieces of glass, the bed is not made and the air is unbreathable.  

«What the hell?» You watch him, shocked. He shrugs like it’s the most normal thing he can do.

«I’ve had a bad day.» 

«All this in one day?!»

You grab all the bottles on the floor to throw them away and open the window, with a concerned look on your face. You can’t die because you have to babysit him.

«You are still angry.» He notices, barely standing. You guide him through the bed, although you should probably change it before someone could lie down in it, it smells like liquor. To be fair he smells like liquor too. 

«This is a different kind of anger.» This is you being worried. You know he is unstable, screwed up and brilliant, and you get why he became like that, but he is forty-one. He can’t go on like this forever.

«You are hot when you are angry.» He comments, and you can’t help but to blush and giggle a little. If he gets to be irresponsible, you get to be superficial. You like being called hot by the man you have a crush on. 

«Uh, I like you better when you are drunk. Oh- shit.» Throwing away the pieces of glasses you cut yourself. «Shit, I’m sorry.» You stained the bed with blood. Fuck fuck fuck. It hurts like hell.

You get up to clean yourself and the sheets, but he stops you. «I don’t think I have a towel.» 

«It’s ok, we can use paper.» 

«Come here.» He put his lips on your finger, sucking it. You try to act nonchalantly about it, even if you look each other in the eyes for a moment, and in that moment you can swear he wants you too. He watches you like he wants to eat you, like you are his prey. «Still hurts?»

«No.» You whisper, and he sits on the bed again. You follow him. «I wanted to talk about breakfast.»

«I figured.»  

«Effie told me everything.» You quietly begin the speech you prepared. «I don’t want to be left in the dark of what happens anymore. I’m capable of taking care of myself.»  

«That’s my job.» He argues.

«And you are terrific at it. But I needed to know that. What if Snow does something to Holly? To you? I needed to know that. We have to work as a team. Will you promise me you won’t keep me in the dark anymore?» 

«Ok.» He murmurs. 

You take his hand. You will die in a week, do what you want to do and stop being a coward!, you force yourself to think.

«And Effie said something wrong.» Your voice sounds more like a screech and less of a, well, voice.

«Mh?»

«Effie said something wrong.» You repeat, «This morning she said “She is not yours”.» You take the courage to look at him in his blue eyes. «She is wrong. Haymitch.» Cheesy? Definitely. You didn’t think about this part of the speech. 

He snorts. Not kinda the reaction you expected. «Nonsense.»

You feel the embarrassment through your body and if only you had a shovel right now you would bury yourself. «It’s ok you don’t have to, you know, return the feeling it’s just that I’m condemned to certain death so…»

«You don’t have to.» He stops you.

«I don’t have to… what?»

«You just found out about Snow and everything and you think you have to do some shit to survive, but not with me.»

You are shocked and a little offended by his implications. «Fuck off, Abernathy.» You say with a loud voice.

«Uh?» He seems confused, maybe because he is wasted but that doesn’t give him a free pass.

«Fuck off!» You echo. «You think it was easy for me to admit that I have feelings for you? I like you but I know you are an asshole.»   

«Geez, thanks.»  

«No problem.» You cross your arms around your chest and you suddenly want to leave. Leave and cry at the rejection in your bed like a normal 24 years old and not a Hunger Games’s tribute. 

He stops you, grabbing your arm to push you against the closed door. You are dangerously close right now.

«Don’t grab me.» You mouth to him.

«I can do whatever I want if you are mine, can’t I?» He licks his lips. Gosh, how is he irritating and attractive at the same time? There is something in the way he does certain things. 

«That’s not how it works.»

«So you say you have feelings for… this?» He observes the room with an unsure look on his face.

«This is not your best form but, yes. Can you stop making me repeat this? It’s humiliating.» You beg, but he only smiles.

«So that is why you wanted me to sleep with you.» Your face flushes red. «You know I’m a big fat mess.»

«I can confirm it.» You worked for him, you know all his dark sides.

«Mostly drunk, older than you, so… are you fucked in the head?»

Very classy. «Possibly.» You breathe, «But I’m sent to die in a week and I’ve wanted you for a year, so…»

«So you really are insane.» His hand caresses your hips, his lips come down to kiss your neck. «You know I should say no, tell you that you could have so much better.» He goes low, to kiss your collarbones. «But I’m a selfish man.»

«Please be selfish.» You agree with an almost desperate tone.

He crushes your lips with yours in a passionate kiss, almost violent. You were right, it feels like heaven, even if he tastes like burning liquor. And woods, he tastes like wood and forests and tobacco, it’s inebriating. His arms grab you so easily and you hook your hips to his chest. 

«Dear heavens, you feel so good.» He mumbles as he throws you on the bed, falling on top of you.

«I’m not sleeping in this bed.» You declare, and he giggles. 

«I don’t intend to let you sleep even for a moment tonight.»

#haymitch abernathy #haymitch imagine #fanfiction #haymitch x fem!reader #haymitch abernathy x reader #haymitch abernathy x you #the hunger games #haymitch x reader #bad feeling #woody harrelson

[sk8termikey]

Chapter 3 of 21 Questions

(better interface on wattpad)

Matt had just been chilling in his room when he heard his phone. His brothers – triplets actually – and he were spending the evening alone on their own as they had spent the whole day together filming for their YouTube channel. It had only been two years and a half since they started making content but they were already quite popular on social media. As Matt thought it was either Chris or Nick asking him to drive them somewhere – Matt was the only one among them with a driver’s licence, he took his phone, mentally preparing himself to get dressed and leave the comfort of his bed.

With an obvious surprise on his face, Matt unlocked his phone and saw that it was actually an unknown number that had texted him.

**********

Heyy stranger, wanna play 21 questions? :)

Matt was confused because he wasn’t used to receiving actual texts from random people, except for an occasional wrong number which he would never respond to. As he thought about how he didn’t have anything to do at the moment, why not play.

And so, as Matt replied to the stranger, he learnt that the girl on the other side of a screen was almost the female version of his brother Nick: she loved autumn and had a nose ring – ok it’s not much but this was enough to compare the two. The conversation was nicely flowing between the two teenagers until Matt ended up being called by his youngest brother as Chris was in need of McDonald’s at ten o’clock. Therefore, he had to quickly find a way to leave the girl he was talking to on his phone and took the opportunity of discovering that she was a cat person to funnily exit the discussion, hoping not to appear rude to her – well he was a bit, mystery girl and her best friend had judged him a lot.

~~~

During the next couple of days, Matt actually forgot about the girl who had texted him on a random evening. To be fair, his brothers and he had been busy filming – they had come back from tour last month and settled back into their usual routine. This was the reason why Matt hadn’t responded to the girl. Of course, he wasn’t feeling guilty as they weren’t even friends – yet – but when he saw on the Messages application that he had unread texts from her, Matt remembered that he actually had a good time talking to the mysterious girl; and the fact that his day was sort of over – over in the sense that Chris already ate and thus wouldn't be interrupting Matt again – pushed the middle triplet to get back to know the cat person who he had suddenly abandoned. Now opening their conversation, Matt finally read the last messages from a few days ago.

**********

I’m not apologising tbh

Bc i love my cat with my whole heart

He’s the best

I hope you were joking bc our convo was fun

Anyways, bye then-

Hi stranger, our convo from yesterday was really nice so I hope you might still wanna play even tho  I'm a cat person and you're a dog person but yk what they say: opposites attract :)

Matt had not expected her to re-engage the conversation the day following their first one but he hoped that it was not too late to come back to her.

*********

Good evening stranger, ig I’m a bit late to the party

Been a few busy days lately but if you’re still down it could be fun to continue our game

(dw ab the cat thing, it was maybe too much from me)

While Matt was waiting for the girl to reply – how long it would take, he had no idea as she could be living on the other side of the world and currently sleeping, he tried to make an effort of thinking about a couple of questions he could ask. Matt wanted to keep things engaging, even though they were just getting to know each other. In any case, it was either Saturday or Sunday for his chatmate so he would probably get an answer before the week-end was over.

Matt actually only had time to brush his teeth and change into his pyjamas after a short shower when he heard his phone. Curiosity took over him as he quickly grabbed his phone and a light smile appeared on his face when he saw the positive reply from the girl.

*********

Good evening stranger, ig I’m a bit late to the party

Been a few busy days lately but if you’re still down it could be fun to continue our game

(dw ab the cat thing, it was maybe too much from me)

Hiii!

No worries, we each have our life so you had some right to be occupied w smth else

(i think i can forgive you for that, we’ll see later)

Matt felt relieved in the sense that talking so light-heartedly to someone completely unknown was calming in a way. From the little conversation they had had a few days ago, he already knew that this would be a safe place where he wouldn’t be judged – apart from liking dogs more than cats. He decided to immediately write back for he wanted to get to know the girl better.

**********

Glad we’re ok now

By rereading our last messages, I see that it should be your turn to ask a question so I’ll wait for it

Ok ok lemme think quickly

We’re gonna start back w smth simple i hope

What’s your go-to comfort food?

My stomach needs to take over for this question

I feel like it’s an easy one but I have multiple choices rn

It’s ok, give me a top 3 ig

So I’d say tacos, nuggets and pasta

(in no particular order)

I want YOUR top 3 now

Yepp ofc

Mine would be pizza, sushi and fries maybe

No particular order as well

Yours are absolutely valid

I fuck with pizza and fries but not sushi sorryy

If I were fucking petty I would leave the convo like you did

But I’m not, soo :))

That’s low

I deserve it tho

Self-aware king!

We need to find common ground tho

Like a question we FULLY agree on

So much pressure on me rn

This is a serious question (like every other one honestly) so you can only choose the right answer

Damn pressure on ME now

It’s technically a double question if you answer negatively to the 1st one

Do you play pokemon? Or have you played as a child?

OMG

HAND IN MARRIAGE NOW

WHAT

WHY

(DO I NEED TO SCREAM TOO?)

BRO

I LOVE POKEMON

(AND YEAH WE SCREAMING RN)

REALLY???

YEAH OFC

MY ENTIRE CHILDHOOD

Even nowadays i still play sometimes

Wow

I wasn’t expecting that

I mean I was hoping

But it’s really nice to know that you do

Which ones do you like?

My faves are probably X and sapphire alpha

Honestly just the ones on DS bc they slay

Like

I don’t have the nintendo switch so I stopped buying the latest games

But i like to come back to them sometimes

And i also played a couple on game boy color as well

Ok ok good to know

I’m more of a pokemon go guy tbh

Like when I’m driving I have this thing that catches pokemon for me

That is so cool!!

I’ve never really been keen on pokemon go

But the whole universe in general has always looked amazing to me

Yeah I totally agree

See

This is common ground

Yayy you’re right :))

I thought of a next question but you don’t have to answer if you’re not comfortable

Go ahead dw I’ll tell you if I am :)

What’s your name?

I can even tell you mine first if you prefer

I just don’t wanna keep calling you the random guy I texted

And maybe putting a contact name would be nice😅

Matt unconsciously started typing his name when he paused to think about it: this was a stranger – a nice one though, there was no way she would find out who he was just from the information he had given her. How many Matts out there in the world have brothers, love pokemon and dogs? Quite a lot he hoped. This is fine, what are the odds? – turns out that the odds were actually pretty fucking huge from the beginning but let’s not spoil it and just keep the foreshadowing light.

**********

My name’s Matt

I don’t mind giving it out, it’s fine

Not like you asked for my fucking address lol

Bro I would never- this would be so messed up

I’m Lily btw

Nice to meet you Matt

Nice to meet you too Lily

As Matt and Lily were both finally able to change the contact name of the other, their faces were illuminated with genuine smiles due to the bond they were creating. And although it was simply the beginning of a blooming friendship, the door to a new chapter of their lives was about to open.

Thank you for reading. Votes and comments are always appreciated if you like this story :) The story is co-written w @/little_grapejuice on wattpad

#chris sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #chris #matt sturniolo #matt sturniolo fanfic #matthew sturniolo #matt #nick stuniolo fanfic #nick sturniolo #nicolas sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #sturniolo #nick

[ahsokaismyqueen]

A Not So Good Day

Pairing - Steve Harrington x HendersonSister!Reader

Summary - It’s Spring Break in Hawkins, and you can already tell that it’s going to be a great, relaxing time. Well, until you find out that your best friend might be dead and the gate to the Upside Down might not be as closed as you thought. 

Word Count - 2.1k

Warnings - None! 

Today was going to be a good day, and you knew it. 

Not only were you on your Spring Break for college, but you had also managed to snag the week off for vacation at work. Not to mention last night, you had started rekindling your friendship with Eddie. 

Most importantly though, last night was the first night you had been able to sleep in Steve’s arms in . . . you couldn’t remember when. This morning, when Steve’s alarm had gone off, you had to admit you put up a bit of a fight to keep him in bed for a few minutes longer, nuzzling into his skin and giving him lazy kisses. Of course, being the pushover boyfriend that you loved, he gave in for ten minutes . . . then twenty . . . then a half hour until a phone call from Robin who was waiting on him to open the store had you both scrambling for your clothes and running out the door. 

You had expected a lashing as soon as the two of you pulled up, Steve’s hair a mess and your shirt wrinkled, but Robin still had stars in her eyes from last night. 

A smile formed on your face as you sat behind the desk and watched the two stack videos, Robin talking about how she had made Vicki laugh. “Of course. It’s my Muppet joke. It’s hilarious. Right babe?” Steve called over to you. 

“Oh yes, it makes tears come to my eyes every time.” You teased, smirking at him as he shot a pout your way. 

“Stop flirting and pay attention.” Robin interrupted the two of you. “My point is that Vicki laughed and everything was just like . . .” 

“Perfect?” You supplied when she couldn’t seem to find the words, knowing exactly the feeling she was talking about. 

“It was perfect.” She agreed. 

Steve and you knew Robin well though, and he sensed what was coming. “But?” 

“But I’m having this problem where it’s like, I should stop talking. I have said everything I need to say. But then I guess I get nervous, and the words keep spilling out, and it’s like my - my brain is moving faster than my mouth or-or rather my-my mouth is moving faster than my brain. I’m digging this hole for myself, and I want to stop digging, I’m trying to stop, but I can’t. And I’m doing it right now, aren’t I?” 

While Robin had been rambling, Steve had finished stacking his tapes, and came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his head on your shoulder. “Yeah, you are.” He said. 

“I think it’s adorable.” You said, trying to make her feel better. “I bet she does too. I saw her smile at you a few times when you weren’t looking.” You told her, wiggling your eyebrows at her. 

“Wait - you did?” Robin said, hurrying over to you. “Tell me everything.” 

Steve let out a chuckle and kissed your cheek, “I’m going to find a morning movie.” He whispered in your ear, and left you to keep discussing with Robin everything that you had seen last night. 

You weren’t sure how long the two of you sat talking, you were trying to encourage the girl that Vicki was into her, because you were sure she was, and Steve was looking for a movie to put on the television. It was only when you heard Steve call out to the two of you that you even realized the tv was on. 

Your heart sank to your stomach, dread and nausea filling up inside of you as you listened to a reporter talk about the death of a Hawkins High Student inside a Trailer Park that you knew very well. Your ears started ringing, making you feel as if you were underwater, your hands gripping the edge of the counter as two faces flashed in front of your eyes, both two people that you cared about very much, one of who could be dead right now. Your knees began to buckle, but Steve was there in an instant, holding you up. “Hey, hey, talk to me. What’s going on?” Steve asked, concern in his voice as you kept your eyes locked on the screen. 

“Eddie and Max . . .” You managed to gasp as the world began to spin around you. “Eddie and Max both live in that trailer park.” You gripped his shoulders, trying to anchor yourself as the room continued to tilt and whirl. “What if it’s one of -”

At that exact moment the door burst open, and all three of you turned to see who arrived. Your brother was storming in like he was on a mission, and to your relief, you saw the girl at his side was Max. 

On unsteady legs you hurried over to her, pulling her into a tight embrace. It wasn’t until that moment you realized how little you had seen of her lately. Between your job, spending time with Steve, and her not hanging out with your brother as much, you couldn’t even remember the last time you had seen her. Guilty, you hugged her tighter. “I saw the trailer park on the news - I didn’t know if it was you -”

“I’m fine.” She insisted, muffled against your shoulder. “Just - can’t - breathe-” 

You pulled away, and looked over at Dustin who was staring at you with sympathy. If Max was okay, did that mean . . . “Eddie?” You said, covering your mouth in horror as you once again felt Steve’s hand supporting you. “No, no,” You murmured, shaking your head back and forth. Your best friend - he couldn’t be -

“Eddie’s fine!” Your brother quickly interrupted, but then exchanged a look with Max. “Well . . . he’s alive.” 

Relief flooded your body, and you collapsed back into Steve’s waiting chest, exhausted from the range of emotions you had gone through. 

“Henderson, what the hell is going on here?” Steve asked as Dustin and Max exchanged another look. 

“Eddie hasn’t been in contact with you?” Dustin asked, and you shook your head. “Do you have any of his other friends’ numbers?” 

“I mean I have the rest of the club’s, but that’s it. Dustin, what happened to him?” You asked. 

But he didn’t answer. Instead, he hurried past the both of you, over the counter, knocking several of their tapes off of it, and got on the computer. “I’m going to need those numbers. Write them down on a sheet of paper.” 

“Dustin, you’re my little brother, and I love you, but I swear to God if you don’t tell me what’s going on right now I’m going to murder you in your sleep.” You told him, frustrated by his lack of response about Eddie’s well-being. 

“Fill them in.” Dustin said, shooting a quick glance at Max, and then turning back to the computer. 

“Fill us in on what?” Robin asked. 

At the look on Max’s face . . . you were scared to know. 

_______________

For over two years now, you have tried to keep Eddie safe from this world. You were afraid that if he knew the sort of dangers you had fought, he’d want to do something to help. Be a part of the adventure. So you hid it from him, not wanting to risk his safety, and now, because you had done that, he was hiding somewhere, probably thinking he was crazy, after experiencing something that even if no one else was, you’re sure was from the Upside Down. 

Because there was no way that Eddie could have killed Chrissy. It wasn’t in his nature to kill anything outside of a mythical creature, but you knew that no one would believe that. 

So you poured everything you had into trying to find him, ignoring the concerned glances that your boyfriend shot your way as you called every number that you could think of trying to find him along with Max and Dustin. It wasn’t until Max got a lead, and Robin figured out how to get the address, that you felt like you could take a little breath. You were sure in your gut that Reefer Rick’s had to be where Eddie was hiding. No other place made sense. “Okay, Dustin, Max, let’s go.” You said, reaching on the counter for Steve’s keys since he had driven today. 

He snatched them before you could. “I’m coming with you guys.” 

“You have to stay and work.” You told him, shaking your head. 

He spun the keys around on his finger. “Robin can take care of things.” 

“If you think I’m missing this, you’re out of your minds.” Robin spoke up. 

Steve shrugged. “Fine. Then we’ll close up shop.” 

You let out a sigh. “Steve . . .” It wasn’t that you didn’t want Steve with you. In fact, you wanted him there more than anyone. The problem was you had no idea what state Eddie was in, and the two of them didn’t have the best track record. For years Steve had looked at Eddie as nothing more than a freak, and Eddie looked at Steve as someone who stole his best friend away from him. There was no telling what kind of trauma Eddie had endured, and Steve seeing him in such a vulnerable state was one of the last things he wanted. 

Steve didn’t say anything, instead searching your eyes in a way that made you fidget. When you broke his gaze, he grabbed a hold of your hand. “Robin start to close up. I’ll get the back half.” He said, and without another word, dragged you to the back of the store. 

“We don’t have time for an argument!” Dustin yelled after the two of you. 

You both ignored him as Steve led you to the back door which he locked before turning back to you. “I don’t want you to go alone.” He said. 

“I won’t be alone. Dustin and Max will be there.” You argued. 

Steve didn’t even have to say the words. The really?  look in his eyes said it all. 

“We’ll be fine,” you tried to reassure him. 

“You realize we’ve been dating for eight months now, right? I know you, and I also know you’re barely keeping it together right now.” He whispered, and you had to fight back a little wince at the brutal honesty, and how easily he had read your emotions. “I’m not letting you do this on your own. Besides, I’m not going to risk anything happening to you.” 

You shook your head at him. “Eddie is not dangerous.” 

“He might be right now, and you know that as well as I do. We don’t know what the hell happened to Chrissy Cunningham. If it was something from the Upside Down, it could have possessed him, and I’m not putting you in the path of that.” He insisted. 

You didn’t want to admit it, but Steve had a point. No matter that you had been dealing with things from the Upside Down for years now, you knew very little about it. If something had taken over Eddie from there . . . the friend you knew might be long gone. The thought had tears building up in your eyes along with the guilt. “It’s my fault. I should have told him about this a long time ago.” You whispered. 

At once his face softened, and his hand reached up to cup your cheek, wiping away some of your tears with his thumb. “This is not your fault. You thought you were keeping him safe. We weren’t allowed to tell anyone about this.” He reminded you. 

“He’s my best friend, Steve! Or was . . .” You choked off, closing your eyes as more tears fell down your cheeks. 

“Hey,” His voice was soft, calming, and you felt his lips brush against your forehead. “He’s still your best friend.” He told you. “We just have to figure out what’s going on with him, and until I’m sure he’s not dangerous, I’m not leaving your side. We stick together, remember?” 

You leaned into the touch of Steve’s hand, opening your eyes to look up at him. You could see the worry on his face, and wondered if he was having flashbacks of the same thing as you, a giant monster attempting to kill everyone inside of a mall, and the look of terror on his face as it almost got too close to you. You couldn’t blame him for not wanting you to go alone, because if you had been in his shoes, you would have wanted to go with him as well. Besides, a part of you knew that you were going to need him. Placing your hand on top of his, you gave it a squeeze. “We stick together.” You agreed.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #stranger things imagine

[vixstarria]

Write your Tav (other characters' POV edition)

So I was going to do something similar to this write your Tav headcanon post by @spacebarbarianweird (hello!), but decided to postpone it until after I've actually finished the game. (Guilty of still being on Act 2 here, although much has been spoiled)

Still, I wanted to do something to flesh her out a bit, and ended up doing something entirely different, being short blurbs from the other characters' perspectives, to varying degrees of insight and self-interest, as though given sometime before the end of the game.

If anyone else wants to do this - I'd love to read it. My stuff under the cut.

Shadowheart 

Our good luck charm. I could never tell how old she is. Not just because she’s a half-elf – oftentimes she would act like an adolescent with a devil-may-care attitude, but then you would sense a profound world-weariness from her, that made you question the span and depth of her experiences... She’s gotten us out of the most perilous situations just by knowing which buttons to push, no matter whether with humans, goblins or any other assortment of abominations. Could it be just intuition? I’ve overheard her discussing books with Gale and Astarion that she had no business even knowing about. One thing is for certain: she’s no pampered court bard. I get the sense she’s been running from something. I wonder what. 

Gale 

She is the rainbow at the end of a bout of rain. A renewal of hope. Vibrant. Comforting. Refreshing. Delightful. ...Unreachable. Maybe if not for that blasted vampire... Although she’s certainly not the sort of woman I’ve ever envisaged my life with. Nor the type I would like to bring to meet my mother. Nor would she fare well within the collegiate circle. ...Come to think of it, she probably would not want the kind of life I could offer her, either. And yet being near her makes my heart sing... 

Lae’zel 

Weak. But courageous. Whelps like her do survive through sheer determination sometimes. She is lucky that Astarion took it upon himself to watch her back from day one. We all are. She is an inspirational leader. She has taught me that there are more ways out than ‘through’. To ‘think outside the box’, as the istik say. She has, truth be told, shown me the box, and rubbed my face in the fact I was in it. I am grateful and honoured to have met her.  

Wyll 

Oh she’s a good egg. Shame she never sang for us in camp. Too intimate, she said. What’s that all about? I suppose some things are more easily done before strangers... At least she played. I do hope we’ll write the story of our adventures together one day. Ballads, books... It all deserves a place in recorded history, written by her, with my assistance of course. Someone has to make sure the account is accurate. Wouldn’t want her to diminish or overinflate anyone’s role.  

Karlach 

My sister! I love her! I’m sorry I got us banned from that tavern, but I’m not one to walk away from a challenge, and ale had to be chugged, and tables had to be flipped. But she’s my best bud for all things debauchery. Skinny boy fangs, too. Him and his wine. Wait, was that wine in his goblet? Can vampires even drink wine? ...What the fuck was in the goblet and where did it come from?! I remember he was drunk... Actually, no, that was another time. SHE was drunk, and then he had her blood, yes. And then I eventually had to throw them both over my shoulders and haul them out of the tavern, because they had the bright idea to start a pickpocketing competition. And I say if you’re going to steal – steal responsibly, NOT while you’re hammered. Gods I’ll miss them both.  

Astarion  

My little dove. When I asked you why you let me bite you that night – you're not that naive and trusting after all – you said: “I had nothing to lose by agreeing to feed the strange sexy vampire – I couldn’t care less whether I lived or died anyway”. The joke fell flat. I asked whether you still felt that way. About life and death. “Not anymore,” you said, and took my hand.  

You are, perhaps, the only person worse than me at expressing their real feelings. Or at admitting them to your own self. It’s deplorable for a bard, darling. Even Lae’zel can get straight to the point, when she must. But I see you through the masks you wear. Just as you see me.  

Tav 

None of these fuckers know I’m the real princess of House Nightstar, married to a tarrasque named Johnathan.  

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #write your tav #bg3 tav #my tav #baldur's gate oc #writing

[cha0ticr0b0tic]

I just watched Manhunter – the 1986 Michael Mann adaptation of Thomas Harris’ infamous novel Red Dragon – and I have some THOUGHTS that I cooked up in the shower because this could not be more different from Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal, and that’s not a bad thing at all!

A little bit of context so I can explain where I’m coming from: back in late 2019 I was studying abroad in the UK and our professors took us to a Blake exhibition in London. As a writer, socialist, and avid horror fan, I was floored. I got really overwhelmed in there and spent the next couple days decompressing before I started digging into his work in earnest, as well as works revolving around his art. I bought a copy of Red Dragon not long after that trip and worked my way through it when I had free time. I also started working on a paper for class about Blake’s influence in my favorite movie, Blade Runner, which meant I was deep-diving into noir as well as this trippy artwork – lots of anticapitalist rhetoric, lots of body horror, lots of monsters. Sooooo many monsters. 

The pandemic hit, we all were sent home, and I watched a lot of crime shows – Twin Peaks, Mindhunter, and Hannibal were the main ones. I was really excited to get to the Red Dragon storyline in Season Three and I was not disappointed. By that point in the show, Hannibal had turned from a police procedural with supernatural undertones to a full blown queer Gothic romance. That also includes the Dolarhyde/Reba storyline, even if it didn’t last. 

Dolarhyde got a lot of attention in the show – more than I was expecting, honestly. Richard Armitage did SUCH a wonderful job portraying that character, it’s incredibly nuanced and sympathetic. Our first moments with Dolarhyde are where he’s working out, practicing his speech, and getting his infamous back tattoo of the Dragon. There is a lot of attention paid to his body, and his discomfort in his body. I’m half-joking, but the trans vibes are strong with this one: “Becoming” might as well be referring to transitioning, albeit into a giant monster (whatever floats your boat!). As an out-and-proud director making an out-and-proud show, it makes sense that Fuller is focusing on the queer elements of the Red Dragon – the coding was always there, but now he’s really bringing it front and center via Dolarhyde’s physicality/body language.

I was kind of surprised, then, that Dolarhyde was not as prominent in Manhunter. There was hardly any discussion of the Red Dragon artwork at all, which was also surprising – is it because it was too fantastical for a director who deals with grounded, gritty crime? Compared to the NBC show, this Red Dragon was kind of one-note, which was a shame. He’s the bad guy, after all. He’s the guy Will is supposed to catch. But then I remembered: Dolarhyde is this movie’s Waingro. He’s the destabilizing element. I’m not an expert in Michael Mann, but I know he’s very into the stability of the family unit (shout out to good dad Will Graham!) and Dolarhyde specifically targets stable families – this was already in the Harris novel, he didn’t have to make that up to fit his thematic interests. Dolarhyde only matters because he serves as a threat to our hero and his values.

This version of Will Graham is surprisingly grounded, privately tortured, and full of resolve and dedication. We see that he’s got a history with Hannibal – there are definitely some queer moments here (there are a surprising number of 80s love songs in the soundtrack, hmm wonder what that’s about), and it’s a bummer we don’t get much of Cox’s Lecter because he is delightfully funny. Still, I don’t see this Will succumbing to his inner darkness anytime soon; he’s got a very good relationship with his wife and son (Vincent Hanna, take notes.) He is very much a Michael Mann Protagonist, even if he comes from another writer’s mind. In contrast, Bryan Fuller’s Will comes across as a Gothic hero(ine) in that his sensitivities are always highlighted, he looks like he needs to be taken to the seaside for his health, and he can’t seem to shake his demons (Hannibal is, after all, difficult to avoid.)

In any case, both adaptations are valid and it’s kinda comparing apples to oranges. Manhunter leans way more noir, Fuller’s Hannibal is Gothic all the way. I am definitely going to be rewatching Manhunter to pick apart some of the queer coding & subtext hehe

#rant #hannibal #bryan fuller #will graham #manhunter 1986 #michael mann #the great red dragon #thomas harris

[sixth-light]

some actual thoughts on Nona the Ninth

I hesitate to call this a ‘review’ because even five days later I’m not sure how capable I am of coherent discussion of this book, but more or less: a review. Absolutely giant enormous spoilers for the whole book under the cut, etc. 

The one thing I can say coherently is that this was probably my favourite book of the series so far (I know, big call) and that is pretty much down to two factors: Some Of These People Liked Each Other to a much greater extent than the first two books, and the gore level was slightly toned down by being filtered through Nona’s highly selective PoV. OK, no, four factors, the third being that I really love a selective narrator/outside PoV story and this managed the neat trick of being an outside PoV story on the whole series to date - both in terms of being set on a non-House planet and largely featuring a new cast of characters, and being through the eyes of an amnesiac character who only knows what she’s been told about necromancy, the Empire, Resurrection Beasts, etcetera - and who hasn’t been told everything by a long shot.

The fourth factor (deeply unsurprising given what I’ve reblogged/talked about with this book to date) is the way that Nona is gleefully, unrepentantly, truly madly deeply a piece of New Zealand science fiction where the first two books had the odd fun reference and a very Kiwi sensibility to them, but largely didn’t require you to know anything about NZ to engage. Clearly this one is still enjoyable if you don’t, but it does shit like dropping “Dilworth” in the first paragraph. You don’t get that? Not this book’s problem! It’s in large part about a bunch of assholes starting a murder cult in GREYTOWN in a cryo research facility that LOOKS LIKE A FREEZING WORKS. The antagonist STARTS THE APOCALYPSE BY NUKING MELBOURNE, which, I just cannot express enough how much this is in dialogue with our self-image as a country and people(s) in a way I find intensely gripping. The NZ literature scene is absolutely fucking allergic to sci-fi and fantasy fiction if it isn’t targeted at teens or children, and Tamsyn Muir is out here writing a gonzo space opera about lesbian necromancers in a space empire founded by Kiwis, in which someone makes a ‘spray and walk away’ joke. I would like to send her flowers, and also the head of Steve Braunias, whichever she would prefer. 

OK, where was I? Um, yes! I liked this book! I am not as big a Palamedes&/Camilla fan as some people despite writing my only TLT fic from Palamedes’ PoV but I loved them in this and I started crying so hard in Paul’s birth scene that I had to put the book down. Relatedly, what this book does with gender???? Absolutely fucking unmatched. Pyrrha is incredible. I want to know what her original name (& all the Lyctors’) was so badly because there is no fucking way a group of millennial Kiwis were ACTUALLY called Augustine, Mercymorn, Cassiopeia, etc (Nigella and Alfred???? maybe????). I had no particular horse in the race regarding Nona’s true identity - I was half-convinced she was Harrow for about half the book but also not fully convinced by a long stretch, and the Alecto reveal made absolute sense. I very much need her to murder John a lot. I’m not sure what is going on exactly with Gideon/Kiriona but it’s definitely something about her soul and also the fact that she’s much more of an asshole from an outside PoV, which is OK, I love her anyway, she deserves to be a bit of an asshole. Clinging to the idea that Muir’s “never ever ever getting back together” line is being clever about names or something. 

But in general I have no idea what is actually going to happen in Alecto the Ninth and you know, I’m fine with that, I’m just here for the ride and also Coke Zero jokes. Magnificent, outstanding, punching above our weight science-fiction speaking, frame it and put it in Te Papa (preferably next to Phar Lap). Did you know that it’s very meaningful part of Corona’s BoE name is “He Found It In Him To Forgive” because that’s a line from probably one of the most famous NZ songs about recovering from a breakup??? God I love these books. 

#nona the ninth #the locked tomb #ntn spoilers

[theuniversalscat]

Holy expletive! You know what I just realized about myself?! As much as I discuss being “all inclusive” in my life, I’m really not! Here’s why: I will no longer accept half assed behavior in any way, shape or form. I just won’t do it. And that means, that I am not “all inclusive” in the broader, general sense of the term, meaning energetically, and not pertaining to the color, culture, race, gender, or orientation of a person, because we, as humans, are much more than that. We are what we choose and believe ourselves to be.

I was more, “all inclusive” when I accepted people treating me poorly, ripping on me to my face and laughing it off like it didn’t bother me, gossiping about me, any form of slander, blowing me off, making things up that aren’t true about me, ghosting me (just learned that term a few years back, and was totally flummoxed when people did it to me…) like the first time I was stiffed while waiting tables. I was crawling on my hands and knees on the ground no joke, looking for my tip. What did I do wrong?!

Answer? Not one G.D. thing, that’s what. Sometimes you are going to run into people who are in a different vibrational state than you are. And when that happens, usually the givers are left feeling confused, bewildered and hurt. Sometimes there’s a good reason for the behavior, but most of the time you may never know why things work out the way they do. So I have learned, at 49, to be able to accept the behavior that doesn’t jive with my flow. So I take the hint, and move forward past it more quickly, and without as much mental investment.

I’m only writing about this now, because I literally had no idea how much this specific belief has been negatively affecting my life. I was accepting all kinds of whack energy that people would give me that wasn’t my own. And it certainly didn’t measure up to what I now know I deserve.

So, I discovered being more selective with the energy I surround myself with, which also includes the very loud and sometimes obnoxious “self loathing talk” that goes on in my head when I’m not concentrating or full conscious of it, is imperative to my mental health. And to my soul, which is pure, and deserves the best of support, backing, and care.

And sorry base level energy, but the bouncer at the door of my extremely high end and exclusive VIP room is ready to bounce you straight into the past where you deserve to be.

It doesn’t mean I have discount, minimalise, or shut out good intentions if they don’t match or aren’t the way I believe, think, or do things. I will recognize love in all forms and still appreciate it. It just means that I will make my way through the rest of my life including me, and not leaving me out of the VIP status.

#life blogging #love #me #feel the love #love is all around #love is #peace #my face #selfie #selfies #energy #exclusive #vip #love only #kindness

[custardcove]

First Memories

Chapter Five - Easy as Pie

The competition was to be held three days after their discussion. Alice spent that time getting ready, despite her ever-growing sense of dread. Knowing Queenie, they’d be working in front of an audience, she’d make it the biggest deal possible, and Alice would crack under the pressure. But there was no use being paralysed by fear, she’d just have to do her best…

She had looked online and in Pansy’s cookbooks for the easiest to follow recipe of the highest quality. Ultimately, she’d cobbled together a fusion of several methods that she thought would be best. Some said to precook the apples, others said not to, but she’d made her mind up to follow the latter. This meant marinating the peeled and cut apples in sugar and spices for an hour. It seemed like there would be a lot of waiting time between cooking it all … she wished Taylor had shouted out something less time-consuming.

“The kind of apples you use are important too,” Pansy said from behind her, making her jump. “Got word there’ll be a few to choose from tomorrow.”

Alice wiped her hands on her loaned apron, which had otherwise stayed relatively clean. “What would you recommend?”

“Hmm.” Pansy leant on the doorframe to the kitchen, rubbing her chin. “Pink Ladies? No—maybe Braeburn. Somethin’ I can tell what it is might be better; that’s what I usually use—it’s what you got there. I’d want it to be fair, but … Queenie’s not playing fair.”

“Yeah. I’d expect she might try something.” Alice sighed. A half-finished pie crust lay on the counter before her. “Even if I don’t win though, um. Thank you for taking care of me. I don’t know how to repay you, but I’ll try when I—”

“Aw, you don’t need to do that.” Pansy moved closer to clap her on the shoulder.

“I do! I can’t just take living here for granted. Not like with my parents,” Alice joked. It didn’t get much of a reaction, so she continued, “Thank you, though. Really. I’d be dead two or more times without your help.”

Arms crushed her middle as Pansy swept forward, full of sentimentality. “Aww, you big softie!”

“I’m just being honest—I haven’t done anything to deserve—”

“Simply be! You don’t need to ‘deserve’ being rescued, or fed.”

“I suppose, but that doesn’t make you any less kind.”

Once Alice had escaped the pseuman’s iron grasp, she proceeded to cook her trial pie. When it had cooled she cut a slice for Pansy and mashed up some of the cooked apple for Primrose to try.

“Well…” she hovered as Pansy ate. “Is it any good?”

“It’s not bad.” Pansy chewed on her words as she savoured the pie. “I wasn’t expectin’ my socks to get blown off, but it’s cooked fine, and you’ve spiced it enough. I’d only recommend cutting the apples a bit more even-like tomorrow.”

“Right…” Alice gripped onto the apron fabric. At least it wasn’t awful, then.

Pansy helped spoon some of the apple mush into her daughter’s mouth. “See, Prim likes it.”

“Prim can judge tomorrow instead of you, then.”

Laughing, Pansy put the spoon down. “You’ll do fine! Better yet if you taste it yourself, might give you an idea.”

Alice cut herself a slice, sitting at the table with a cloud of gloom. She put a crumb of the pie in her mouth. It needed custard. “So, if I lose…”

“We’ll just have to think of somethin’ else. Find a trinket she’s willing to trade for, maybe? I don’t expect Miss Dragonpants will be a spectacular cook or anything like that. Someone with that much money has staff to cook for ‘em.”

“I guess you’re right.” Alice felt like there was some crucial detail about Queenie that meant this wouldn’t be the case, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Oh well. “What should I be expecting tomorrow? Just so it doesn’t keep me up tonight…”

Pansy hesitated. “They’ve set up a sort of makeshift stage with kitchen appliances on it—it was still being done up when I went, but I was impressed. The only advertisement for it’s been word of mouth, but that travels fast here.” She paused again to take in Alice’s expression, in case her horror was too great. It was a manageable amount. “Taylor’s gonna MC—I’m starting to wonder if he ever goes to work! Apart from me n’ Tech, Queenie chose one of her maids as a judge. But tomorrow I’ll take you there, and all you have to do is cook.”

“Ugh … this better be worth it, then.”

***

In no time at all, the day of the competition was at hand. It was another bright and cheerful spring morning, but Alice trembled as she followed Pansy to Erryton square. They’d been to Pablo’s to drop off Primrose, but the wait only served to make Alice more nervous. She gained a bit of relief on arriving, noticing that the crowd there wasn’t very large, and was mostly scattered around food stalls and makeshift shops. The cooking competition was just an impromptu side-event. The stage, too, wasn’t huge like she’d expected – it was more of a flat platform, barely raised enough to stop people milling over it. Taylor was there, and he beamed at the pair, to which Alice offered a weak smile.

“You ready?” He asked.

“No.”

His eyebrows folded in sympathy. “You’ll do fine. Everyone’s here now, so we’ll start soon. Just stand near your kitchen area—the one on the left—and Pansy,” Taylor shifted his gaze, “You’ll be sitting on that table at the front with the other judges.”

Pansy smiled at Alice, patting her on the shoulder. A lot of people were trying to give her hope today… “Good luck.”

Mid-walk to her seat, Pansy whipped her head toward the kitchen area, pointing an accusatory finger. “Don’t think I don’t see you there, Queenie! You can’t just take Alice’s ingredients and throw the contest.”

Indeed, it seemed the noble had not-so-slyly swiped something from Alice’s setup, caught carrying it away to her station. “Oh, is this Alice’s sugar? My mistake…” She placed it back down on the counter, simpering sweetly.

 Alice frowned. That seemed typical, yes, but was Queenie so careless? Pansy seemed satisfied with this result, however, and doesn’t delay any further. Alice hurried to her cooking station. Everything she needed was here—a selection of labelled apples, flour, an oven and fridge—but there was one thing she was more concerned about. She could hear Taylor speaking to the audience, now, but where was the sugar Queenie had placed? There…

“All right, get ready—”

Alice licked her finger, dipping it in the sugar and tasting it. That wasn’t right, it was—

“—your time starts now!”

Salt.

Time had already started, and Alice looked around frantically to see if she had any actual sugar. To her relief, she still had a whole pot of brown sugar, and her own pot of salt. But Queenie’s sleight of hand had still delayed her start. She got to work, glancing at her hastily scrawled recipe from yesterday evening. Apples first, they had to sit for ages, then dough, which also needed to sit—but before that, preheating the oven. It wasn’t something she ever remembered when cooking for herself, but right now she needed every advantage she could get.

Alice then made the mistake of looking over at Queenie’s workstation. She was midway through peeling her apples and waved cheekily with her knife. Alice fumbled for the Braeburn. She needed a peeler, and the sugar and spices, and . . .

---

||Previous|| - ||Next||

#(tomorrow's post might be ................... late i have somewhere to be today which leaves less time for typing up) #Drabble #Custard #Pansy #Taylor #Queenie

[lovelandresort]

Urusei Yatsura 2022 OP "A-i-u-e" english translation and extensive translation/reference notes

I posted the tv size lyrics translated before, but I've made some revisions based on my renewed understanding of the entire song.

There are a lot of translation notes at the bottom of this one. The second half of the song has a lot of series-related jokes/double meanings that are just not able to be translated for reasons that will become apparent very quickly. I tried to prioritize understandability in my english translation, but some sections will sound a bit bizarre due to this onslaught of puns and wordplays.

I also feel silly that I didn’t realize until looking at the full version of the lyrics that the title “aiue” isn’t simply the Japanese vowels (usually a-i-e-o-u) or sounds that are being sung nonsensically, but 愛飢え means “love-starved”. Initially I thought maybe it was 愛上 (literally ‘top love’ or maybe ‘love is best/most important’), but that seemed a little nonsense to me last time, so I didn’t make note of it.

Lyrics and notes after the cut.

-

(A, a, ooeo, a, e, a, e, oo) (a, a, ooeo, a, e, a, e, oo)

Hey, um, I feel like you’re not all that interested in me? Ah, I see, then that’s fine Forget about it—no, actually, don’t

Ah, geez, even though I support you so much (1) You never notice me and it’s so frustrating!

(Chorus) Don’t say, “Huh? What?” “I wasn’t listening” “Who cares” I want you to understand every little thing about me “I refuse”? Even if you say that I won’t be hearing it!

“A mysterious phenomenon” “Beyond comprehension” (2) “What’s do you see in him?” people say to me all the time, but None of that matters All you need to know is I’m overflowing with love, so never let me go! (3)

(A, a, aiue, a, e, a, e, oo)

Agh! It’s no fun if it makes too much sense (4) This tireless romance discourse of ours (5) Now, what’ll be your next move, my darling? Hmmm? (Ah, ah, love-starved)

Ah, geez, I know (6) That you can’t help being starved for my love But I can’t stand to walk on eggshells around you (7) My heart comes and goes

It’s exhausting when you cry all the time No matter how long you wait for me, I don’t know how to answer you Today, I’ll run from you yet again

That was close You know you’re my fated one So please forgive me, I just can’t take this anymore!

I mean, well, I told you I can’t decide, I can’t choose just one I want to love whoever I want, as much as I want (8) Even if you tell me that I’m just the worst, I’m well aware of that already

In a love song, (9) Jokes need further discussion (10) “What do you not like about me?” you ask me all the time, but, well It’s got nothing to do with me Even if love beats me down, I’ll just stand up again (11)

Unbelievable! Do you understand? (12) People are saying all kinds of things about us Do you know the taste of love? Is it like cherries? (13) No, not at all (14) Girls are plenty trouble enough as is (15)

In a flurry of cherry blossoms in bloom, or a furious snowstorm (16) Even if they make their minds spotless (17) And exorcise themselves of bad luck, (18) These two are still nothing but trouble! (19)

Filled with half-belief and half-doubt (20) Isn’t a heart in love a disastrous thing? Teach me more Of this ceaseless love-starvation Even if you’re single-minded or unfair about it

Huh?

You weren’t listening? You don’t care? Don’t you want to know every little thing about me? “No, I don’t”? Even if you say that I don’t know what you mean!

“A mysterious phenomenon” “Beyond comprehension” You’re so hopeless, I have no choice but to rain divine punishment upon you! It’s fine by me if you’re just a bit undisciplined I’m overflowing with love, so don’t let me go Enough of running, enough of retribution, give it a rest already!

(A, a, ooeo, a, e, a, e, oo) You don’t get it, what’s up with that? Then let me explain it nice and clear (A, a, ooeo, a, e, a, e, oo) For now, just look at me and only me, ‘kay! (a, a, ooeo, a, e, a, e, oo) I won’t forgive you if your heart strays (21)

Even if just for a moment, just for a second I want to make you fall for me (22) So stay by my side

-

Translation notes:

(1) The opening sequence of Urusei Yatsura’s reboot is set in modern times, despite the show itself still being in the showa era. The word “oshi” is used here, which is a very modern slang word used a little bit similarly to “stan” or “bias” in fandom spaces. Your “oshi” is the character/person/musician/etc you love the most, and the act of oshi is engaging in whatever given act of showing your love and support for them. So in the lyrics, she is essentially, “Even though I stan you, you never notice” (LOL). This modern slang usage seems to be an intentional prod at the modern setting of the opening sequence, because this word was not used at all back when Urusei Yatsura was first conceptualized.

(2) These aren’t necessarily puns, but I think they’re more so meant to be wordplays that have a similar sound/cadence. “Fukakai genshou, ijou joushou”; it’s phonetically playful, but again, not really a pun. Translated, it sounds a little nonsensical, but there’s not much to be done about that without outright changing the meaning. There’s a few other lines like this.

(3) Some more slight wordplay; “ai de afurete afurete, aa, furete, tomaranai dake” is literally “Overflowing, overflowing with love, ahh, touch me, just don’t stop”. Afurete = overflowing, aa furete = ahh touch me.

(4) “Do-seiron” is slang usually meaning that an argument is so sound, there’s no use fighting against it. The kanji for “sei” is usually 正 but it’s replaced with 星 here, meaning star/planet because the same pun is used in Urusei Yatsura. Urusei means noisy or annoying. Replacing the “sei” with the kanji for star/planet alludes to the extraterrestrial elements present in the series.

(5) I’m not sure if there’s a double meaning here that I’m missing, but I also think this turn of words is just meant to be harmonious with the previous line’s “do-seiron” phrasing. “Do-seiron, ren’ai-ron.”

(6) From here, the perspective shifts from Lum to Ataru.

(7) This is the beginning of a string of references to the names of characters in the series, and I might miss some. Shinobinai = can’t bring myself to do. Reference to the character Shinobu.

(8) “I want to love” is written with the kanji for “like” but sung out loud as “love”, perhaps meant to be a play on Ataru’s desire for casual love, and Lum’s desire for genuine romance.

(9) “Love song” written out in english (rabu songu) here is almost certainly a reference to the very first Urusei Yatsura theme song, titled “Lum’s Love Song” (Ramu no rabu songu).

(10) “Jokes need further discussion”: I’m not sure if there’s a reference here I’m missing, but it seems like another turn of phrase that’s emphasizing the similar phonetics. “Joudan, yousoudan”.

(11) “Atatte”, or to be hit by, referring to Ataru. “Kurattemo”, or to be on the receiving end of a blow, might be referring to Kurama (might not be though since she isn’t considered one of the main characters).

(12) “Unbelievable!” = kisoutengai, literally “fantastical beyond the heavens”, might be referring to Benten as she also has the kanji for heaven in her name…

(13) “Do you know the taste of love? Is it like cherries?” Written out as “ai know aji? cherry aji?”, with ai being a pun on love and the english word “I”. Cherry written in english is a reference to the character Cherry. Kisses being the taste of cherries also seems to be a bit of a trope in Japanese romance.

(14) Tende means utterly, absolutely, or not at all. The “ten” in it is written in katakana, referring to Ten-chan.

(15) “Girls are plenty trouble enough as is” — I took some liberty with this line. You can read it a few different ways. “Mendou” means trouble or troublesome, and is referring to the character Mendou.

(16) The cherry blossoms refer to Nurse Sakura (and possibly Ran due to “ranman”?), the snowstorm refers to Oyuki. 

(17) …Or maybe the heaven kanji in this line is the one meant to be referring to Benten? “Reisei”, or calmness/composure, refers to Rei.

(18) Referring to Cherry’s constant attempts at purging Ataru of his bad luck.

(19) The word “yatsura” comes up in this line. Also, “yatsura” is ambiguously plural and can refer to any number of people, but in this case, I took it to be about the couple (Lum and Ataru) having a conflict in this song, so for the sake of flow, I wrote “these two”.

(20) “Half-belief”, written as “han-shin”, might be a reference to the Hanshin Tigers, a baseball team with whom Urusei Yatsura has collaborated with many times due both to the fact that they have a tiger stripe motif, and they’re Rumiko’s favorite baseball team.

(21) Kyorokyoro (glancing around) is a word used in the original Urusei Yatsura theme song, Lum’s Love Song (“anata wa itsudemo kyorokyoro” = “you’re always glancing around [looking away from me]”).

(22) Sowasowa (fidgeting nervously) is also used in the original theme (“anmari sowasowa shinaide” = “don’t fidget so much”).

One more note: I was on the lookout for a line referencing Ryuunosuke since she’s usually considered a core part of the main cast, but I didn’t see anything that seemed to directly point to her name. If I missed it and you figure it out, please let me know. Some of my pulls for which names are being referred to might be off, but the point hopefully comes across that the second verse of this song is meant to be a playful tribute to the cast of characters.

#aiue #urusei yatsura #maisondes #translation

[asukaskerian]

monthly wordcound - september

TOTAL: 6 722 words. POSTED -Days on a wire chapter 7 - Madatobiizu fraternat poyamory ABO (4 013 words) IN PROGRESS -bleach suburban ot4 (1 161 words) -bleach grimmichi superheroes (1 548 words) hmrmrm. lowish wordcount BUT, lots of editing happened in there, so that's still writing work.

also family stuyff stole my last weekend è_é -- teasers thataway (only bleach ofc)

superheroes AU -- "Oh hey, a hollow." "--What?" The girl leaned over his feet, squinted through the glass. "I thought it was a cat at first, but, so many legs." Grimmjow watched it shuffle under a car and out the other side. Mmh. Nowhere near big enough to break into the house. Safe. "Probably ate a cat, yeah." She grimaced. "Ugh." Like it's a surprise that a hollow would be hungry. They weren't named that for nothing. "Probably gonna eat more." "Ugh! Be right back, I'm gonna catch it." --Huh. "And do what?" he asked, baffled. "Keep it for Zangetsu's lunch?" "Gross! No, I'm gonna put it in a crate and call Animal Control, they do hollows when they're that small, right? Dad? It doesn't need a hero team, right?" Engetsu came, wiping his hands on an apron, to squint through the glass with them. Grimmjow gathered his legs, watching him warily. He didn't track the small hollow. He could feel it, barely there, at the end of his range; it would break everything it used for teeth on his armor. Engetsu felt like he'd be more of a problem. "Probably not," the man allowed. The hollow skittered up a garbage bin, peered in, didn't deign to climb in. "Okay, then, Animal Control." "Or you could save them some time and kill it yourself." The look she gave him, her sour, suspicious face so shocked -- "... Did you think they did anything but put them down? They're hollows." It had never made sense to him that humans would bother to care for dogs and cats, even those that ended up on their own in the street, but at least they were tameable, if you were into that. He stared back, letting her see his bafflement. Her face fell. "I thought they had, like, wildlife preserves...?" Even as he barked out a laugh he knew it was the wrong response and she wouldn't like it, but he couldn't help it. "Oh my fucking god." "What!" "Putting a bunch of hollows together in a space they can't escape where their only choice for food is each other." Engetsu winced. Curtains looked betrayed. -- suburban ot4 -- "Looks like your kids were right about your harem, Ichigo!" "His what?" Grimmjow demands, eyes glittering in delight. "Oh, I have got to hear this." "Oh nooo," Orihime whimpers again, face in her hands, and Ichigo knows her, and it looks like embarrassment, and it is embarrassment -- it's embarrassment because she thought about it and liked it. But Nel doesn't know that and is generally nice, so she relents, goes "Sorry, honey, is it too much?" in a gentler voice, and Ichigo's wife (still whimpering) walks back down the stairs with Kazui still dripping merrily in her arms and goes to slump forehead-first against Nel's shoulder. "Not too much," Orihime mumbles, face scarlet and eyes still scrunched closed against Nelliel's exposed shoulder, half-hidden by cascading waves of teal hair. "I just, um, sultan Ichigo." All of Grimmjow's teeth are out, but he doesn't laugh, just grins so wide Ichigo wishes he would and get it over with. "Ooookay, honey, let's discuss cosplay some other day. Let's get this miscreant in the shower before he pees again, yeah?" he cuts in, and -- Almost -- Almost leaves it like that, retreats with her up the stairs, almost follows without saying anything more past this polite 'that was funny but let's drop it', because it's such a dangerous thing to joke about. But Nelliel and her boyfriend have the exact same way of waggling their eyebrows and leering smugly, and that cannot be borne. "I'm sure we can find Grimmjow a good sequined bra his size to go with the pants." Grimmjow opens his mouth to protest, even as Ichigo herds his wife and child away; then he yells after them, offended, "It had better be a good one, Kurosaki, you think I'm putting these puppies in an inferior one?" and when Ichigo glances back he's cupping his pectorals in both hands and squeezing up to give himself cleavage. Ichigo has regrets. Like, he still laughs his ass off, but very regretfully.

#teaser

[7ndipity]

Oooooooh shipping game?? How did I miss that you’re doing this! I haven’t participated in one in so long, so hopefully I’ll be able to give you something to work with 🙈

Zodiac sign: Pisces

Chinese zodiac: Wood Dog (94 liner, and I actually turn 30 this year and hoooo boy the crisis is real)

MBTI: whichever one is the (turbulent) Logician type, sorry I don’t remember the abbreviations

She/her pronouns.

I’m an introvert (not the shy type) who routinely gets adopted by extroverts and then has to withdraw from society to recover. I love dogs (but irl I actually have a cat, because my dogs were too big to move them with me when I moved out for uni, so I literally googled ‚cat breeds dog personality’ and got one for myself).

I’m also a bookworm, although uni kinda killed my love for reading for a long while (literature major) and my favorite genres are fantasy, sci-fi and supernatural horror. I’m drawn to things that are a bit (a lot) darker than the usual, books and movies that explore the complexity of human nature and our place in the universe (I feel like I’m setting myself up to be shipped with Namjoon by writing this). I was raised as a metalhead and still listed to metal and rock a lot, I actually got into BTS and k-pop in general in early 2023 because my extroverted friend nagged me for six months and the rabbit hole just opened up one day. Other than BTS my favorite group is Stray Kids.

I’m pretty independent as a person, often come off as closed off or straight up bitchy, but I’ve been told that once people get to know me better it’s like I’m fluffy on the inside. My best friend would probably tell you that I’m like a tunnel: once we’re friends and you betray my trust, the tunnel collapses and there’s no going back. My other friend claims that I have goth/witchy vibes and that I’m a grinch (which tracks, actually). It’s not easy for me to make friends but I found out in the past year or so that I have a lot more of them than I thought possible.

Other than that, I love dark humor and dark comedy. I rarely make jokes, mainly because I don’t think I’m that funny, but I do enjoy banter. I find it really hard to let go and let loose (anxiety is a bitch and a half), but I try my best to be better at just being myself and vibing with other people.

I’ve been told I’m a decent cook and have some tattoos (and planning on getting more). And I think that’s about it really 🙈

I would love to see who you’d ship me with if you have the time! Thanks so much for all the hard work you put into your writing this past year, when I dove into the BTS content your blog was like a headcanon central for me 😹

Lol, I know you joked about it, but I do genuinely ship you with Namjoon, as well as Yoongi!

You have a lot similar interests and traits as both of them that I think would make it easy for you to connect, and although Joon is an extrovert, he really respectful his and other people's boundaries and space, so I think he'd be good at helping you open up a bit more without being draining or exhausting for you.(Also lowkey think they'd both really be into your style)

Yoongi's also has that 'tough outside, soft inside' vibe, and also isn't afraid to discuss darker topics or the different aspects of the human experience, and I think he'd appreciate someone he can talk with easily about those types of things.(He also has/had a slightly dark sense of humor, so I think you'd be able to bounce off each other well)

Hope this was okay!💜

#7ndipity speaks #7ndipity 2k celebration #ship game

[caffedrine]

Rio Ortiz Dramatic Chapter 21 Summary

This is mostly a summary for me - I make no promises on the accuracy of what’s happening. I’m not nearly fluent enough to get half the jokes/innuendo much less accurate plot points.

Emma has grown to hate the rain. At first, she thought it was just because it had been raining so hard that time three years ago when she had first found Rio and then begun to associate rain with his bleeding, dying body. And then the sound made her aware of the fast-approaching day when she and Rio would part for good. There had been a brief ray of hope when Rio had brought up the possibility of them continuing on as lovers, but as that turns out, it was just Emma being stupid and naïve. She should have learned by now that rainy days heralded nothing but trouble and danger.

This particular rainy day sees Emma trussed up like a chicken for dinner, lying immobile on her side, with a piece of cloth stuffed in her mouth. She’s tied up in a way where she can’t even sit up straight and can feel every single bump of the road.

From across the carriage, Silvio tells her to watch her gaze, or he’ll feed her a sleeping pill, and kicks the seat Emma is laying across for emphasis.

Emma’s impression of Silvio has changed. She’s never had a good impression of him, per se, but he’s now winning the prize of ‘worst prince ever’. Everything about this turn of events, from the comedic way he snuck into her room, to the way that he dragged her out, past obviously bribed servants and guards who made a point of looking away, goes to show what power money really has in this world. The knowledge that one could literally do whatever they wanted if they had enough money was overwhelming.

The carriage bumps over what had to be the largest stone in existence, and Emma finds herself falling to the carriage floor. The sudden pain that shoots through her is perhaps the worst physical pain she has ever felt, and Emma realizes that something is really wrong with her arm. Still, with everything going on, she squeezes her eyes shut and promises that she won’t cry in front of Silvio.

Silvio makes a frustrated noise and violently grabs her, only to pull her up to sit next to him. He finally removes Emma’s gag and asks if she’s hurt. Emma desperately sucks in her first real breath since this ordeal has begun and demands Silvio tell her where he’s taking her. Silvio snorts and tells her that he has no reason to tell her, then redirects the questions to whether or not she’s injured. Emma tells him that this isn’t the time to discuss her injury. Silvio tells her that he doesn’t need the reputation for being needlessly violent, so yes, this is the time.

Emma admits that her left arm hurts and Silvio immediately rolls up her sleeve. Emma thought that the pain was bad, but upon seeing her arm rapidly turn a dark red, she wonders if it was worse than she thought.

Silvio tisks at her arm and tells her that this is a bad time to get injured, he can’t take her to a doctor right away. Emma demands to know since when was it her fault that Silvio kidnapped her, tied her up, and placed her unsecured on a carriage seat.

As much as they’re griping at each other, Silvio is being noticeably gentle with her, carefully rolling her sleeve back down carefully, though with a look of disgust on his face. Emma asks Silvio again where he’s taking her, and again Silvio refuses to answer.

Silvio grabs Emma’s face, complaining about how her eyes are as insolent as that dog’s. For the first time, she takes a good look into Silvio’s face and compares his eyes to Rio’s. Rio’s eyes were blue like the sky, full of hope and promises. Silvio’s eyes are as blue as the ocean and looking into them makes Emma feel anxious. Silvio muses that Emma is now officially that dog’s woman.

As evidenced by Silvio kidnapping her in full view of servants and guards, with no one even pretending to stop him, it was clear that he had been bribing a good deal of the castle. It makes sense that he would have heard the gossip of her and Rio getting together.

Silvio wants to know what is that dog even good for. Emma replies that she can tell him, but it would take about five or so hours. Silvio grumbles for her to not even start, he was an idiot for even asking. He complains that she and the dog are too much alike for his comfort. Emma notes that she and Rio have spent a lot of time together, so it makes sense for them to share some mannerisms. Silvio tells her to at least stop smiling like an idiot.

Emma tells him that what she really likes is that Rio and Silvio do not have anything to do with each other. Silvio asks what she’s talking about, after all, she must know by now that they’re brothers. Of course, that means that she’s going to have to start calling him her honored ‘Brother-In-Law’. He looks forward to her subservience. Emma is not prepared for that nightmare.

Silvio tells her that rather than talk about Rio, he wants to find out more about the events going on. Like, for example, the poisoned tea served at the embassy. Emma tells him that he’s the most likely culprit.

Silvio: Oh, so I did it then?

Emma: . . . honestly, I don’t think you did.

Emma recalls the brief meeting she, the foreign faction, and Rio had with Emidio when he revealed that Silvio was behind the original carriage accident. She asks Silvio what happened in the past between him and Rio that would make Silvio the prime suspect for the poisoning. She thinks this is important to know before deciding and wonders if Silvio will ignore her question.

Silvio responds with a question of his own. What happened to Rio three years ago? Emma is confused, and Silvio explains. When he managed to get Rio alone back when he was serving him, Silvio couldn’t get anything out of Rio. Emma quickly summarizes the events of three years ago when she first found Rio.

While she talks, on autopilot, Emma starts really thinking about it. She remembers the Bookstore Owner’s story about Valerio/Rio disappearing from the Benitoite castle one day, and no one seeing him since. Since the king especially doted on him, no expense was spared in searching for him, but all for naught. At the time, the rumors were that his disappearance was due to an accident, death, or elope.

Emma asks Silvio if anyone at all knew what happened to Rio after he disappeared. Silvio tells her that Rio had completely disappeared, and he himself had spent a lot of money to investigate. This is the first time he’s heard of a carriage accident. He muses that Rio must have the worst luck with carriages, after all, if Emma hadn’t been there at the right time, he probably would have really died.

Emma realizes that only she, the bookstore owner, and Rio ever knew about the carriage accident.

Back when they were asking around about Rio, they had left the carriage out of the story – just that they had found him, alone and injured in the forest one day. They had even avoided talking about the noble’s jacket, sword, and ring. Emma wasn’t sure why, but since the Bookstore Owner had deliberately omitted telling people about those things, she had followed suit.

So how did Emidio know about the carriage accident?

Emma tells Silvio that the carriage accident wasn’t an accident at all. Someone tried to kill Rio by tampering with the carriage – and that person would have been Emidio.

Silvio agrees with such ease and certainty, that Emma knows that it must be true.

And, in that case, Emidio was probably behind the poisoning at the embassy as well. She still doesn’t know what kind of person Emidio is, but even when she first met him, something had been off. Emidio had smiled so gently and had appeared as a kind and sweet prince. He must have been faking to the point that Emma only had a vague suspicion that ‘something’ was wrong.

Emma asks Silvio if Emidio has a particular grudge against Rio, and Silvio just shrugs. Something probably did happen; he just doesn’t know about it. Either way, Emidio is maneuvering to kill both him and that shit-dog. Even if there’s no grudge, Emidio has his own ambitions that his brothers are in the way of.

Emma digs through her memories, trying to understand events and words now that she knows that Emidio was always hostile towards Rio. She thinks that Emidio’s plan was to kill Rio and frame Silvio, which would mean that he would be the only prince left who can become king.

Silvio doesn’t think it’s that simple, there must be something else that is lost to Rio’s forgotten memories. Emma thinks that if he gets to Benitoite, Rio might remember it then.

It suddenly hits her; the carriage Rio is riding in was prepared by Emidio. Silvio notes that it sounds like Rio is going to die in a carriage accident. Emma curses herself for not noticing it sooner, this hurts more than when she injured her arm.

Silvio tells her that Valerio must be aware that it’s a trap too. Besides, she can’t do anything to help him in her current predicament. Emma knows it’s true, all Silvio did was ungag her, she’s still tied up and immobile. Still, she tries to keep as much distance between herself and Silvio as possible. While she is worried about Rio, she first needs to protect herself. She reminds herself that Rio is strong, capable, and clever. She can trust him to handle himself.

Silvio grabs her chin again and moves his face, which seems to resemble Rio’s more and more, closer to hers. He has no obligation to tell Emma anything, but he’s willing to tell her this.

Silvio does not like Valerio. If he can, he would love to make him cry all the time. And Emma is the perfect person to push Valerio into the depths of despair. Emma asks if all the royal family brothers are on bad terms. Silvio agrees, especially compared to Rhodolite. Silvio doesn’t like Emidio either, but he likes Valerio even less. If Valerio has anything important to him, anything he loves and cherishes, Silvio will take it from him. He officially welcomes Emma to their family’s problems, asking if she isn’t happy to be included?

Emma wonders who could be happy about that. Besides, isn’t Silvio supposed to be the older brother? Why doesn’t he stop Emidio? Silvio wants to know if this is how Emma begs for favors. Emma spits out the word ‘please’.

Silvio doesn’t do anything for free, but if Emma is willing to pay a fair price, he’s willing to consider it. Emma’s hopes rise, then dash as Silvio releases her chin, only to flick open the top button of her blouse. She asks if he’s kidding, and Silvio replies that this is a shitty time to start joking. Emma refuses, and Silvio guesses that he’ll just have to let Rio die then.

Emma: Why are you like this?

Silvio: I just really hate Valerio

Emma wonders who is worse, Emidio who wants to kill Rio, or Silvio who wants to emotionally destroy him. She’s beginning to understand why Rio was running away from his memories all this time. Silvio reminds her, that either Valerio dies, or she becomes Silvio’s woman. Emma refuses both options, and Silvio asks if she understands the situation she’s in. Emma understands perfectly, Silvio is a lowlife. With a smile that would put an arch-villain to shame, Silvio looks forward to seeing how much longer Emma will hold out.

The carriage comes to a stop, and someone opens the door from the outside. There is a man with glasses, looking so timid Emma can’t believe he would willingly associate with Silvio holding the door. Silvio tells him to put Emma into their prison. The man balks, this is not what he was anticipating. Silvio tells him to stop being lazy and just do it. Until Emma changes her mind, she’s not their guest, but their hostage.

Emma swears at Silvio, calling him a Gilded Devil. Silvio tells the man to collar her as well, announcing that every time Emma says something impertinent, she loses a new freedom.

Elsewhere

Tampering with carriages is a very easy way to cause an ‘accident’. But what people don’t consider is that if your target is anticipating an accident due to tampering, it’s easy to avoid. Rio had threatened the coachman into stopping early, and when he exited the coach his ‘escorts; finally bared their fangs. One by one, he managed to knock them out by striking them with the hilt of his sword until there was only one left.

Rio asks him who gave the orders.

The man swears that he doesn’t know, and Rio asks if they usually don’t check who their employer is as long as they get paid. He pins the man to the ground with his foot and stabs his sword into the ground next to the man’s head.

The man calls out that it was Silvio who hired them. Rio asks if he saw Silvio’s face, and the man says that nobles never show their faces to thugs like him. Rio tells him in that case, anyone could have hired him and just used Silvio’s name. Is there even any point in him asking more questions? Rio pulls his sword out of the ground and knocks the man unconscious with the hilt.

As Rio sheaths his sword, a muscular young man approaches him from behind a nearby rock. The new man notes that Rio has a very ugly side to him. Rio shrugs, it can’t be helped if it comes to protecting Emma. He then praises the man for how quickly he responded to Rio’s plan.

Once upon a time, this man had beaten Rio out of concern for Emma. When she found out, she had demanded that he apologize to Rio. Now this man approaches Rio in an open and friendly manner and gestures to the forest. He has prepared a carriage to take them back to the city inn. Rio thanks him and apologizes for getting him involved in this mess. The man demurs, after all, what are friends for? He was honestly happy when Rio approached him, needing his help. There was nothing in the man’s manner to suggest he had ever been hostile to Rio.

Since his formal attire would stand out, Rio changed into the prearranged clothes in the carriage. When the rain stopped, they were able to make it back to the inn, where the innkeeper hurried up to him. The innkeeper had just received a letter for Rio from the royal court, in the 7th Prince’s handwriting. Rio is surprised and wonders how far ahead Nokto had anticipated his actions.

Smiling in amusement, Rio accepts the letter and begins to read it. His smile fades and the muscular man asks Rio to explain. Rio tells him that it’s no problem, they just need to change their plans. Rio crumples the letter in his hand, the light in his eyes fading, and he grabs his head as if he was in pain.

His brothers always take away everything he loves.

#ikemen prince #ikepri #Rio Ortiz

[desiderium-eden]

“So why’re you here? Thought you hated Gaea.”

“Hate is a strong word … though I would rather be elsewhere, yes. Not that I don’t enjoy your company-”

“But you’ve got someone else you’d rather be with right now~?”

“Ha … I’m not too sure about that. A bit of fun, yes. But so far, that’s it.”

“Ooooh! You have to tell me more someday. But right. Why’re you here then?”

“I wished for you to pass a message to your … brother.”

“...?”

“His mother’s territory has been suffering under her absence. Family is being gathered to discuss how to handle things. There are whispers of something happening and everyone’s getting antsy… Especially if they plan to lockdown Hell like they might here.”

“Plus, it’s about time someone did something about the damage your father did to the castle.”

“Yeah… I’m surprised they left it like that until now. So when do we have to be there?”

“... You don’t have to go. It is only your brother who was summoned.”

“Aww. I don’t get an invite~?”

“This isn’t a party, Lazuli. It’s to discuss the estate. And … no offense. This is what I adore about you. But you’re not one of us. Not our blood.”

“Maybe not yours. But Mika’s still my brother. And someone’s gotta be a budder between him and the others. Hell, even just between you two.”

Lys tried to find a retort, but couldn’t. She was at least right about his … dislike of Mikhail. He supposed he could argue that he could behave… but he hated making promises he wasn’t confident he could keep. So he bit his tongue. Trying to find something else to hange the subject as his eyes fell to her hands. Or rather the bangle around her wrist…

“You know what they say about you.”

“I’ve … heard a few things. Luckily, they’re smart enough not to say anything too loud. Or close to the capital. I’m sure they aren’t the only ones who think the same.”

“True. You’ve got half of them wrapped around your finger, don’t you~?” he joked. “... Don’t take what they say to heart. They’re probably jealous he’s off the market now. How’d you manage to pull that off?”

She started fiddling with her ring. Looking down at at the table. “Honestly? No idea. Still feels like a dream really. Like one day, I’ll wake up and he’ll come to his senses…~”

"Lazuli…” He frowned. Before reaching out to grab her chin in his palm, forcing her to look him in the eye. “You are much more charming than you admit. Don’t you think it’s time you realize that?”

“... That’s … really creepy hearing it from your uncle… But thanks.

“And ... I understand it’s not the best time to bring these things up. But if something’s bothering you, you can at least talk to me you know. I’m not too busy these days.”

She seemed … off today. Preoccupied maybe. Then again, he hadn’t actually seen her in years, so he may be assuming things. She had a kid now. So of course she wouldn’t be as energetic as he remembered. Still, the feeling of unease was only got worse as she smiled. The same one he’d remembered. 

“I’m fine. Really.”

#{Record of Our Sins} drabbles

[waeirfaahl]

The absent identity and face of the High Priestess issue

In my previous post I already discussed about every problem of this character and her followers/tribe/servants. No motivation, no goal, no personality, no explanation of who they are, where they came from and what they want. Absolutely unexplained and random fangirls, who literally caused the entire 5 season.  Keep in mind that the cult queen a.k.a. the high priestess is the most cruel and f*cked up character in the entire show. If you merge Zira from “The Lion King: Simba’s Pride” and Margaret White from “Carrie” into one being, you will get this psychopath bitch. Here I’ll talk about one moment I can’t understand why it was written and presented this way.

Look at this sequence, how they dress her up and put a mask on her face.

Also notice that the mask and the crown are the two separate accessories:

Did you notice something? First of all, why their masks resemble a geisha face? Second, why the colors of the masks of these worshipers and the seven sisters remind Yin-Yang thing? One half is darker, another one is lighter. And third — why this entire scene teases like “Look at how she hides her face and identity, the mystery and very important character with big role”, if in the end neither her identity nor her face were revealed? I’m not joking, the 1 episode throws the intrigue about her, but other episodes give nothing. So, what’s a point of such focusing on hiding her face in this sequence?

Look at this now. In Aku’s assumption scene she still has no face. Moreover, the mask itself with horns, i.e. not the crown and the mask. So, is it a blooper or it is another proof that Aku knows nothing about her and her followers, i.e. he never saw her face and never knew her identity, and literally left his blood for absolutely random women for absolutely no reason? I've lost count of how many times 5 season has already turned Aku into an irresponsible idiot. Might I remind you, Aku ignored Jack all these 50 years and just waited his death. And he always used robots and demons against Jack (once Imakandi warriors). Although, much more effective way for Jack’s death would be creating some inner demons-illusions out of Jack’s negative emotions like despair, depression and guilt (Aku did that in classic episode, creating Jack’s evil self out of his fury)

Unfortunately, even in animatic of 9 episode we can’t see her face. But, at least, here she took off only her mask, while the crown is still on her head. And, at least, in animatic she drinks among her followers. Why the final version created the blooper with the horned mask, I have no idea. If in animatic for 10 episode Jack’s parents were old and grey-haired, I’ll laugh, ‘cause the final version again made a huge blooper.

Working on the cancelled animated movie with the same story, Genndy wanted the new villain, while Aku already was killed off-screen even before events of the movie. Probably exactly she was this new main villain. If Aku died, then in such conditions it would be understandable for a fanatical cult to appear — well, you know, a gang of so-called nostalgic zealots for the deceased dictator, who wish either to bring him back to life and restore order due to the anarchy and power struggle that has come, or to finish his desire in the form of Jack's murder and to rule the planet themselves or whatever. And in such conditions there would be an explanation and a sense of why she always told her daughters that Aku is a god and a patron, and Jack is the pure evil. And since we’d know her motivation and goal, there would be no need to show her face. She would perfectly work both as a symbol of fanaticism and as a character with own personality and motivation and goal. In 5 season she, her followers and daughters have absolutely no relatioships with Aku whatsoever and can’t have at all.

#samurai jack #samurai jack 5 season

[written-in-flowers]

😎 rules: post 3 snippets from published work, and 3 from your wips

thanks to @theharrowing for tagging me in this! I love doing things like this lol

No pressure tags! @moccahobi @here4theheartbreak @m-yg93 @magicshopaholic

Published!

Baby Blue: CEO!Namjoon x SugarBaby!Jimin

You’re okay, right?” Namjoon asked for the millionth time that night. Sitting beside Jimin on the sofa, he saw Jimin upright with his knees to his chest.  “I’m fine, Namjoon,” Jimin reassured as he’d done an hour or so ago. “I really am. It’s not like you went that hard or did it for too long.” “But we never discussed it. I just sort of did it.” “My sexual preferences and fetishes are listed in my portfolio and your application,” he told him matter-of-factly. “You already know what I like in bed.” “But still, we never discussed consequences or reward systems or anything like that. I shouldn’t have done that without talking to you about it.” Jimin put his carton on the coffee table and slid to Namjoon. Taking away the half-eaten food, he made Namjoon focus on him. “Namjoon, you think too much about this. You need to stop worrying so much.” “But when we do things like that, you’re trusting me with your body,” said Namjoon. “I need to know everything you’re okay and not okay with. I should know all your hard stops and your boundaries so I don’t push them. I don’t want you to feel forced to go along with it because I enjoy it. If you don’t like that sort of thing, we don’t have to do it again. We can stick to regular sex if you want. I don’t need to do-” “-It relaxes you.” “What?” “BDSM. It relaxes you. It gives you a physical outlet for all that tension inside you.”

His Wilted Flowers: Fuckboi!Yoongi x Virgin!Reader

He continued watching Hoseok set up for the get-together. Once a week, Yoongi and his friends met at someone’s house and hung out. They’d chat, joke around, play video games or watch movies together. Yoongi did not socialize much outside of his job, so these meetings with his old friends became a highlight for him. Putting a bag of popcorn in the microwave, Yoongi knew the subject of his newest exploit would come up. He’d told them all over a group chat text. He couldn’t keep his cheeks from reddening as it came back to him.  “You’re thinking about her right now, aren’t you?” Hoseok teased, dumping some fresh guacamole into a bowl for the tortilla chips.  “Maybe,” he smiled.  “I don’t blame you,” he said. He sampled the dip with a crisp crunch, nodded his approval, then he continued, “I would be too if I got a piece of her.”  ‘Her’. Hoseok meant you when he said it, and that word alone brought you back to him. “She’s special,” Yoongi grinned. “It’s been forever since I had one like that.”

Fly Way: Young!Aemond x Young!Velayron!Reader

"What?" The word came out before you stopped yourself. You stared at your mother from across the table in disbelief. She stared back with a mixture of expectancy and slight irritation. You sensed she did not fully approve of the match either, but saw no other choice. She'd be insulting the King, your grandsire, and the Queen, her stepmother, if she declined it.  "This match will strengthen the bond between our houses, and relieve any strife that has come between them. The King agreed with me," she continued. "He believes it will heal the bonds that have been damaged for so long." "Oh please," you scoffed, crossing your arms and leaning back in your chair. "They have no interest in mending anything." Your mother hesitated for a moment, not looking away from you but not seeing you either. She appeared to have drifted off. You thought for a moment she’d consider your words, run off to The Queen, and say ‘no’. The subject of betrothal had hung in the air around The Red Keep for some time. Girls younger than you are promised to young lords, and married soon afterwards. You’d always hoped you might be given a choice like your mother, even though your grandsire eventually picked for her when she became indecisive. You knew it’d come up eventually, you just hoped she might provide a list or send you off to meet suitors.  "You are my eldest daughter," she finally came back. "You are three-and-ten, and have already begun your flowering. It is time you married, and who better than Prince Aemond?"

WIPS!

Guardian Knight: Arkham!Jason x Wayne!OFC

He didn’t answer her, but instead guided her into the elevator and let the doors close. “Don’t do that again,” he told her, ignoring her question. “You’re going to get yourself killed pulling stunts like that.” “I would’ve gotten out,” she remarked, though she knew this to be untrue.  “Oh, really? How? You can’t talk your way out of rubble,” he said. “And where would you have gone? That place was crawling with my men. They would’ve recaptured you and brought you to me.” Mia smirked, “And what would you have done? Spanked me?”  She saw him pause at the suggestion, body stiffening and standing a bit taller. For a goal-oriented man with a simmering rage beneath the surface, sex is the last thing on his mind. If she can’t escape him, she could at least make him wish he’d never kidnapped her in the first place. Her laugh ended up being cut off by him reaching his hand into the back of her jeans. She swatted him before realizing he’d withdrawn the gun pressed to her tailbone. 

Ateez: Poly!ot8 x Reader

You’d come to the set in a simple t-shirt and jeans, since you’d be changing eight different times today. The stylists recommended you come as plain faced as possible, since any makeup you wore will be removed. The prospect of a photoshoot excited and worried you. The last time someone took photos of you, it’d been for your Companion portfolio and resume. A photographer took a bunch of boudoir pictures with a few headshots thrown in to attract potential clients. You didn’t mind dressing down for a camera, since the outfits and makeup helped you hide behind them, but the photographer won’t be the only one present. A staff of at least twenty people will be filming, monitoring, adjusting, lighting, and observing your every move. Your Companion show, YNTEEZ, is supposed to have a suggestive element to it, so these strangers will be seeing parts of you that would’ve been private otherwise.  “There you are,” a voice said when the door opened. Seonghwa came walking into your dressing room, pecking your lips and looking over your face. “We’ve been looking for you.”

Poly!Yunho x Poly!Reader Smut

"I've always liked tickling you," he sighed, nuzzling your ear, "You're so cute when you’re ticklish." "Yuyu-ah," you whined, mouth falling open when he tugged down the front of your bra, "Here?" "Yes," he said, rolling your nipples between his fingers until you whimpered, "I can't wait anymore. I want you now. Nobody is going to come in." You saw him smirk in the mirror, "And if they do, they'll get an eyeful of the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." 

#tag game #game tag #wip game #sorry it took so long lol