#I'm a guy who loves poring over details

[vividviolence]

you know what I think I'll make an entire writeup about all the leads of phtr6g's core mystery. I don't see why not

#snickspeaks #reread the entire comic for like. the fourth or fifth time today idk #I'm a guy who loves poring over details

[im-notbean]

Headcannons of; Quackity x Greek! Male! Reader

On god bro. I just really want somebody who speaks Greek on the QSMP. So in orderto cure this fantasy of mine I have now created this, sorry if you dont like the fact that Y/N is greek but I had to do it. Sooner or later okay-

⚠︎ Warning ⚠︎

Swearing

Some cultural things you might not understand

Might not be accurate to the cannon QSMP

This post has both Q!Quackity and CC!Quackity

Grammar mistakes

Characters might be a bit off to you

Mentions of Homophobia

Author kinda pools info about greek food-

If anything bothers you from above please, don't read!

CC!Quackity

・Your accent>>>>>>

・I'm sorry but he just loves it, especially when you pronounce certain words.

・Like saying yogurt and bread shit like that you know?

・If you say Alex in greek he gets scared- (Άλεξ [Álex] might not be accurate lol)

・Praise. Him. In. Greek.

・He get's so mad if you don't, goes full on Mexican on your ass-

・Quackity definitely respects your boundaries, so he'd ok with you not wanting to be public about your guy's relationship

・Especially with Twitter and shit (I refuse to call Twitter "X")

・Makes the funniest jokes and yall know those corny ass pick up lines

・Like "I wish you were my Xbox, cause I wanna play you all~~ night ♡"

・He definitely does those daily

・He can't cook for shit, so you have banned him from the kitchen

・It's always akward explaning that to your parents...

・Quackity loves it when you cook for him

・Especially Greek deserts (I'm just gonna fanboy over greek food for a hot minutes)

・Like tiramisu or like those almond cookies

・OR FUCKING BAKLAVA

・OR EVEN LOUKOUMADES

・Incase you don't know what I'm fanboying over, Tiramisu is an Italian dish so I'm not gonna go over it in much detail

・Basically a layered desert with espresso innit

・Baklava is one of the MOST iconic Greek deserts, it's layered with phyllo pastery, melted butter, and nuts!

・The most common are pistachios and walnuts by the way and theirs a layer of cinnamon-orange syrup pored over it once it is baked!

・Loukoumades are the Greek version of fried dough, their normally topped with honey, cinnamon, and walnuts.

・Anyway...

・He loves then sm

・If yall decide to make your relationship public, he wants you to decide how to do it.

・I personally believe you take over his stream one day as his "Special Guest"

・A cooking stream because y'know- it's iconic

・Your baking a classic greek disk.

・Gyro (Pronouced Yee-ro by the way)

・Basically Gyro is a dish that is a mix of lamb and beef (sometimes chicken too) that is made to fill pita bread.

・The sauce that is paired with is called tzatziki (it's really fucking good.) it normally has tomatos and onions and paied with greek fries.

・So your cooking the meat and stuff and Quackity just comes up behind you and you turn around right cause you know he's their

・So quickly, you bend down and kiss him.

・A little smooch before you kick him out th kitchen-

Q!Quackity

・You guys met on the train to the island.

・He tried talking to you but he seriously could not understand you, it wasas if you were speaking another language.

・When the government had paired people up, you didn't get a partner :(

・You also didn't really want an egg either, but you didn't mind babysitting them!

・Phil is so greatful for this-

・Quackity had heard about your egg sitting and decided to leave Tillin (I think i butchered this ngl) in your care

・Tillin loved you, she also liked the fact that she could understand you and offered as a translator.

・When Quackity came back he was surprised to see his own child translating what you were saying

・Once the new members joined you were assined partners with Tubbo (I am not sure if the new members have assigned parners ngl so...also are we getting new members today?)

・(Not even joking- ANYWAY LMAO)

・So y'know how Tubbo can get info out of Curchuro (prob butchered that again lol)

・You can do it also, sence your the only person on the server who can speak greek and not English he thinks the info he tells you is safe.

・You get Tillin to translate to Tubbo about what Curchuro tells you >:D

・Quackity learns about this and then he realized what the fuck is happening

・The he realized one day, you were gone.

・Along with the eggs.

・He never realized how much he liked you until you left...

・Quackity tried looking for you and the eggs

・But he never got far

・Tubbo also tried to help look for you, to no avail

・Not gonna lie, you and Phil got locked in a cage togther 😂

#im-notbean #dream smp #dsmp #dsmp quackity #quackity #qsmp #qsmpblr #qsmp headcanons #qsmp quackity #quackity x reader #x reader #y/n #x male reader #male reader #quackity x male reader #quackity headcannons #q!quackity #quackity x you #quackity x y/n

[honestlywtfisgoingon]

The Purest Love: An HoM One-Shot

OBI-WAN KENOBI x PADAWAN!READER

description: obi and little one’s first time 🥺 (towards the end of chapter 50 in House of Memories)

warnings: smut. like the whole thing plus a tad of fluff. also no protection (wrap it before u tap it guys) but i figured they weren’t that careful since…spoiler… oh and btw mention of ewan’s canonically huge dick

a/n: ahhh this was so fun to write! i literally could not stop thinking abt little one and obi during this scene and ty @meshlasolus for ur blessing lol. *words in bold are excerpts from the og fic*

words: 2,307

"Obi, I know I want this. I know I want you," you said, beginning to push his vest off of his shoulders. "I have trusted you with my mind, I have trusted you with my heart... And now, I'm trusting you with my body."

"I will take care of you, I promise..."

Obi-Wan was not only a man of his word, but a man who loved you; that meant not only would he keep his promise, but he would bind himself to it until the end of his days, and all the days after, just as he had bound himself to you.

you; who now lay beneath him in your barest form, not a single thread keeping him apart from experiencing every inch of your body. It was nothing short of ethereal, the feeling he had as he felt the softness of skin he had never touched before, fingertips grazing the very top of your inner thigh, so close to where you were inviting him tonight. You gasped loudly when he finally made contact with the heat in between your legs, your eyes widening.

The talk you had beforehand let him know that you didn’t want him to stop even when that flicker of nervousness showed on your face. It wasn’t that you were afraid, no, you were excited.

He introduced his touch carefully by drawing small circles on your clit. The way your eyes fluttered at the contact had him groaning already. Encouraged by your reaction, he sped up his ministrations until you felt a sort of tingling feeling. It flared up and down inconsistently between his kisses, frustrating you who was so close to being sent over the edge with this feeling you had never experienced before.

“Obi,” you called him

“Yes, my love?” he said while gazing down at your starry eyes and glowing cheeks.

“more,” you pleaded before lifting your head slightly to meet him in a kiss. While your lips were still on his, he honored your request and slipped his fingers between your folds. When he inserted his middle finger into you up to the knuckle, you moaned loudly into his mouth.

“Maker, it’s like a song,” he whispered in awe while placing small kisses across your face. You let out a small giggle at his compliment that was cut short when he curled his finger inside your pussy. You reached out and gripped his upper arm which was flexed as he continued to slide his fingers in and out of you, adding another and stretching you out even further.

“I want to make sure you’re ready,” he whispered as though he didn’t have you dripping on the sheets already, your body clearly aching to take him. He knew how painful it could be, but he wasn’t sure you were.

As you and Anakin’s guardian, he was obligated to give you two “the talk” but he gave as little detail as possible, preferring to be ran over by a bantha than have to explain the intricacies of sex to his padawans. He never expected that he would fall in love with the grown woman you became, and he would be the one to show you what it was, properly, with love and care. The thought of you in pain was the last hurdle in his mind before he let himself go into you completely.

“I am,” you nodded gently and squeezed his bicep for reassurance. He sucked in a breath and kissed you deeply, as though he needed you like air. In truth, he wasn’t sure that sentiment was entirely wrong.

He wrapped a hand around your waist to pull your body flush with his. You felt his heart beating against your chest, the rhythm vibrating through your pores and syncing up with your own to where you could barely tell them apart.

He lifted himself so that he could see you, wanting to look into your eyes as he finally made love to you. The image he was met with would be the death of him; your hair splayed out across the pillows, creating a halo that, combined with the moonlight caressing your features, made you look like a goddess. And he was going to worship you like one.

Obi-Wan used a hand to brush a few strands of hair off your forehead then cupped the side of your face with it. His thumbs brushed over your cheekbones, his freshwater eyes never leaving yours as he used his other hand to reach down and position himself.

He slid in slowly, but his hands, although large, could never have prepared you for the sheer size of him. You hissed out as his length pressed tightly against your walls. He added more of himself, inch by inch until pain quickly turned to pleasure. You almost found it a miracle that you were able to take all of him when he finally bottomed out.

His head fell in the crook of your neck as he let out a shuddering breath and continued to move. With every thrust, your reservations ebbed and gave way to a plethora of sounds you never knew you could make. When Obi sucked on the skin just underneath your earlobe, you couldn’t control the whimper you let out, or the way you bucked up your hips. The sudden movement on your end made him groan loudly…so you did it again. He met your thrusts and you continued to move against him until he placed a hand on your hip, pressing you into the bed.

“let me, my love,” he whispered before you let your hips relax, opting to pull him down for a kiss. This was something you were more experienced with, and you knew he liked it when you slipped your tongue in ever so slightly. He opened his mouth and greeted you with his own tongue, both of you enjoying tasting each other.

Obi’s hand slid from your hips to your thigh, bringing it up so that it was hooked on his waist. The new angle gave him access to a spot inside you had you throbbing around him every time the tip of his clock brushed against it. You tightened around him, every ridge of his dick imprinting your walls. He felt so good that it made your fingers pressed against his back retract, which no doubt scraped the broad plane of skin. You felt his brows furrowed against your forehead when your nails pressed into him.

You apologized profusely through your open connection with him in the force, but he wrapped his signature around you in reassurance. After all, he had sustained far worse than a little scratch, the evidence painted on his body through the scars you now traced.

A force bond was something you’d never thought you’d use in the bedroom, until now of course. Both of your minds were open to each other, and you knew he was thinking the same. Not only was the communication helpful, but it was beautiful, the way your bond had created a language only you two could understand. What was being spoken right now was more than I love you. Those three words weren’t even close to describing what was being exchanged by way of your dyad at the moment.

You saw flashes of images, and you realized they were memories of you and Obi from your mingled perspectives. The first time you kissed, one of the many times you crawled into bed with him after a nightmare, even the time you made him cry. Every single one was filled with love. The good and the bad, because there really is no bad with a love like yours. He was going to memorize every detail of this moment to add it to the mosaic of memories, the first out of many times he would make love to you.

Maker, felt him up to your stomach, filling you up so completely, so perfectly, as if your body had been waiting for him since long before this moment. He made your back arch and your toes curl as sparks once again crept over your body. It seemed he was feeling the same as he pulled your other leg up so that you both were wrapped around his waist, opening you up to him so that he could chase both of your pleasures. As he pumped himself in and out of you, you laced your fingers in his hair and used it to tug him down into a kiss. It worked better than you imagined, spurring him on with such fervor to where a sheen of sweat began to cover both of you.

His hand cupped your breast gently, his fingers then moving to circle your nipple as he did with your clit. Your mouth made a small “o” as he stimulated a new part of your body. You didn’t know if it was the way he was touching you, or the fact that it was him touching you, that made you feel like you were floating.

While his hands were busy, you dipped your head to the side, placing soft kisses all over his neck. You felt the subtle scratch of his beard. You loved that you could be a little buried in his facial hair when you kissed him there. He groomed himself to where it was soft and the perfect place for you to find comfort besides his chest. You felt his cheeks drag upward as he smiled at your affections. You traced your kisses from his neck up to the side of his face, stopping to brush the tip of your nose up and down with his as your eyes closed, savoring the moment. It wasn’t long after that they were rolling back into your head as he pinched one of your nipples.

Your breath caught in your throat and he dipped his head down to capture one of them in his mouth. You looked down and he was staring up at you with such intense adoration you couldn’t help but blush. It was funny, how he still made your heart flutter even though you had gone far past the beginning of a relationship, and had given yourself to him completely.

As he swirled his tongue around the bud of your breast, you sighed satisfactorily, your fingers lazily grasping at the sheets to ground yourself when the pleasure made you feel almost dizzy. As he moved back up to kiss your lips once more, he dragged his tongue up and along your sternum, leaving a wet trail that gleamed in the moonlight. His hands traveled with him, sliding along your arms and eventually lacing his fingers with yours. He held your hands to bring them up on either side of your head. You squeezed his hands, finding that holding them was your preferred form of finding stability while he made your hips roll and your back arch underneath him.

“such—a good girl. You’re doing—so well—little one,” he said the words between kisses placed in the shell of your ear. Although his breath was warm, it sent a wave of chills over your body. An incoherent sound of joy was the only response you could manage, and he wouldn’t deny he was rather pleased with the fact; that he was making you feel as good as you truly deserved.

His own words were lost as his hips stuttered from the creeping up of his orgasm. You were close to the edge as well, meeting his thrusts as he lost the will to hold your natural reaction down. With his last couple of thrusts, he found the will to say one last thing before your bodies fell off the tip of your building bliss.

“I love you,”

“I love you too,”

With your proclamations, both of you became completely overwhelmed by the euphoria that flooded your bodies. There was no possible way to hold back yours and Obi-Wan’s myriad of affections and moans. With his last bit of sense, he crushed his lips on yours, muffling the two of you, but the shared vibrations on your tongues only added to the experience. Every muscle tightened and every nerve sang as you felt Obi-Wan’s white-hot pleasure spill into the very deepest part of you. The legs you had wrapped around him pulled him close so that you might have every last drop.

When the adrenaline gave way and there was feeling back in your fingertips, you used them to brush Obi’s hair out of his face. The slick of sweat held the strands back for a moment before gravity caused them to fall again as he continued to hover over you. He pressed a kiss to your cheek before rolling off of you and onto his side. He propped himself up with his forearm and gazed down at you who was gracing him with the sweetest smile he’d ever seen. Your lips were plush and wet, eyes glossy post-orgasm, and yet you still looked the picture of innocence. Nothing was lost this night, only given freely. The purest kind of love.

“I’m so proud of you,” Obi said softly and tilted his head with a small smile. His words made your heart swell, and you replayed them in your head as you watched him get up to go find some water and a cloth.

He'd made sure you were cleaned up before pulling the sheets over you both and hugging you tightly to his chest, unwilling to let go for even a moment. Nothing compared to you, he was convinced. You'd given him the greatest pleasure he ever felt, and you weren't even trying to. That was the power you had over him, the bewitchment that he did not struggle against.

"I love you, little one," he whispered against your hair, kissing it and focusing his energy on lulling you into sleep along with him.

#obi wan #obi wan kenobi #star wars #obi wan kenobi x y/n #anakin skywalker #obi wan x reader #obi wan kenobi x reader #obi wan smut #house of memories #HoM #obi wan kenobi smut #obi wan fluff #obi wan kenobi fluff

[heda-heather]

:nervously off anon: So I watched the Anti-Hero video for the first time yesterday (I know, I know...SO behind the times), and I'm so curious how Swifties are interpreting the very clear symbolism. Like, Taylor is two selves. One of them (the "villain") is her exact presentation out in the world right now. Taylor's lyrics match up with her real self. Her public persona doesn't match up with her lyrics. Swifties don't acknowledge this contrast?

Also, what do they make of the bottle she's drinking from? The one with the Lover video's family crest. Do they not wonder WHY that crest is in a video that is otherwise not about romance? Like, I feel like with close attention to lyrics + close attention to videos + an ounce of attention to how her persona changes from album to album + THE ENTIRE LOVER Era = AT THE VERY LEAST that she is not who she seems (and is most certainly under the queer umbrella).

An even deeper dive will lead you to "she is with Karlie; that crest is signaling Karlie; her songs signal Karlie; Taylor is likely identifying as a lesbian now." Yet somehow they don't see any of it that way, and I wonder how. Maybe willful ignorance. Maybe selection of detail to support their own thesis. Maybe it's the English major in me that makes me pore over this stuff.

My assumption is that many Swifties center their listening experience on how they relate to what Taylor's talking about, so it's more about their own experience and projection than what is actually being written. I know they'd say the same about gaylors, but there are CLEAR motifs in this discography. It's all fascinating but also driving me mad. LOL

Anyway, sorry for the novel. I am still a whole n00b to this fandom and mostly choose to engage with Taylor's world via this corner of Tumblr and through her lyrics. The wider fandom seems like actual hell. LOL

Whew ok I needed a minute to read and process before responding 😂

1. Swifties see the anti-hero more as her battle with fame I think, kinda missing the deeper meaning of her being a completely different person underneath that fame.

2. I doubt they think about the crest at all. I never noticed it until a Kaylor blog pointed it out and showed all the times it’s been displayed. They probably assume it’s just a random design.

3. Her persona changing from album to album actually gives them fuel to say she’s NOT part of the queer community because “the lover era was her activist era, just showing her support, then she moved on from it”

4. They’re NOT looking for signals to Karlie. And they take what she shows them (hanging all over football guy) at face value

5. Projection is a big piece of it. “Loving in secret” to us, is such an obvious flag to the experience of realizing you’re queer in a heteronormative society. I think a lot of them romanticize this instead. They see it as finding a love so special, you want to keep it to yourself. I think a lot of them are obsessed with her work because she describes this intense, earth-shattering love. It gives them hope to find it… but they don’t realize it’s a queer love. And the fact is… 2 women loving one another do share a different experience than a man and woman, because of how women express themselves and understand the universal female experience. Add that to the experience of being queer in anyway. So… they’re kinda holding onto false hope they’ll find a love like she describes. But also there is no other Karlie Kloss in this world 😍🥰

Anyway, my thoughts. Thanks for being brave enough to come off anon! Always love a good chat.

#note: I am referring to cis man and cis woman compared to two queer female identifying persons as Karlie and Taylor seem to identify

[stoopid-turtle]

Hey loving your blog so far , am a new turtle just recently watched the untamed with my best friend. I'm 100% convinced they were definitely a thing during filming even now I still believe they are still together. My bestie on the other hand doesn't think they were anything more than friends. I tried my best to convince her but she thinks I falling to separate the actor's from their roles they were playing. My question to you is that do you ever sometimes think us turtles overthink too much or misinterpret what was going on between them ? Forgive my grammar English isn't my first language

Hi there! (Your English is perfectly fine!)

Yeah, I do think turtles overthink some things. There's a lot on YouTube that falls into this category, tbh. I can see how it happens. With all the bts, it feels like its own show that we can pore over, slow down, watch from different angles, decipher the TRUTH from it to reveal that bjyxszd.

But the bts aren't scripted. While they're endlessly rewatched by us, they were one moment in time for the guys. One moment in a long, exhausting day of work. Stuff we may think of as being intentional and meaningful may just as easily be random, off-the-cuff, and ultimately meaningless. Think about jobs you've worked where you get bored and tired during a long day. If you're like me, you and a coworker/friend will start talking nonsense to each other to get through it.

One friend/coworker and I made dinosaur noises at each other between taking calls in a call center. Yeah, idgi either. And because I'm a flirty bisexual, we'd make lewd gestures and kissy faces at each other sometimes for fun. She's straight, so it wasn't serious. I am aware that this dynamic is different between guys than between girls (in the US. I can't speak to China.), so I'm not saying that what happened between gg and dd is like me and my friend. Just to show that...sometimes stuff just gets weird. I wasn't nursing a secret crush on my friend or anything. It was just random time-wasting.

So yeah, I do think some stuff is misinterpreted. As I've noted, we see very little of what was happening bts, and there was a lot going on outside of whatever was happening between gg and dd. It's inevitable that some stuff will be misinterpreted.

This is why it took a while for me to come around to bjyxszd. And I resisted HARD. I'm skeptical by nature and I'm double-skeptical of things that sound too good to be true (like that a popular BL couple was played by actors who actually fell in love and are now together).

But at the same time, I came around. It took me spending many hours reading, watching, trying to translate, etc. Even then, I had to write out a novel in tumblr posts to lay out my thoughts to establish to myself that I'm not crazy on this. Like you, I'm 100% convinced that they were an item during filming.

So I was able to get past the stuff I think is a bit of a stretch to believe in it anyway. Now, it just means I smile at the stuff that does seem meaningful to me, and leave the other stuff for those that enjoy it. I don't want to single out any particular thing that I think isn't as significant as some people think it is, bc I don't want to ruin anyone else's fun. We're all turtles so regardless of what path we took or what convinced us, we're in the same boat. There's no point squabbling over the details.

Especially with the bts, which happened years ago at this point. Odds are, even gg and dd don't remember the context of any one clip at this point. So the TRUTH is impossible to know completely. It can be frustrating if you're like me and dislike ambiguity and uncertainty, but we're all in this pit together. We just have to enjoy what we've gotten and what we continue to get.

I'll also just say, don't stress too much about convincing your friend. I know it's frustrating when you want to squee about something but your bf isn't into it, but people tend to dig in their heels when someone tries to convince them of anything. There's also no need to do so. BJYXSZD regardless of if people believe in it or not. Find some other turtles and do your squeeing with them and when with your bestie, focus on what things you do share with them.

#asks #yizhan #bjyx

[lustastarte]

♤ young & beautiful | jocaesar ♤

genre: angst/fluff (mentions of smut, no details)

joseph visits caesar every year for his birthday, yet each year, the goodbyes get easier and easier

published: 2020

song: young and beautiful - lana del ray

Joseph sat on the ground, squinting at the sunny, cloud laced sky. It was a particularly beautiful day, and he was glad he chose to meet Caesar then. He played with the grass and walked around, picking a bouquet of flowers for his best friend, and the one he loved the most. They've always's known it was right for them to be together, but the rest of the world thought differently. They may not be together in this life, but they will be in the next.

Joseph smiled when he spotted the other man sitting in the shade of a large white jasmine tree. He waved and sighed when sitting in front of him.

"I'm too old to be picking you flowers," Joseph laughed, rubbing his back and placing the bouquet on the ground between them. He appreciated the beautiful smile on the blonde's face, sunlight speckled across his nose and high cheeks, his signature markings highlighted by the nearly white locks of hair hanging off his forehead. Caesar didn't talk much now, but Joseph didn't mind. He never understood how Caesar avoided aging, he didn't look a day past 20, yet here they were, celebrating his 71st birthday in secret. He even had a special glow to him, as if made of gold.

"You still look as perfect as ever... I really missed you, Caesarino." Joseph grinned mischievously at the face he received from the older man. Caesar snorted and shook his head, then turned his attention back to Joseph, who knew what he wanted to hear.

I've seen the world, done it all

Had my cake now

Diamonds, brilliant, and Bel Air now

"I almost didn't get to make it this year," he admitted. "I went around the world, Caesar! I saw Japan and even Egypt!"

Caesar's eyes widened, then he furrowed his eyebrows.

"We- Well, my grandson, his schoolmate, a French guy, a dog, an Egyptian friend of mine, and I had to travel to Egypt to save Holly. There are these things called stands," Joseph paused to breathe. "-and you get sick when developing one, but Holly wasn't doing well at all. So we went to Egypt and ended up battling Dio! Oh- Don't look at me like that! I'm not kidding," he giggled.

"Really, I'm not! He stole grandpa Jonathan's body! Yeah, that's what I said," Joseph responded to Caesar's wide eyes and head jerk forward. "It was crazy as hell, man!"

The two laughed together as Joseph leaned his back against the tree and Caesar laid his head on the younger's shoulder.

"We lost the schoolmate, my Egyptian friend, and the dog, but they fought hard... yes, I know, I know I can deal with it but I'm not sure about Jotaro... He lost three good friends at 17, it's hard just losing one..."

They sat there in silence until Caesar turned his face up toward Joseph's with a nostalgic glint in his eyes. Joseph happily sighed and looked up toward the sky. 

Hot summer nights, mid-July

When you and I were forever wild

"Do you remember when we were young? The way we would- Okay, I won't say it," Joseph gave in to the blonde's stern look, but couldn't help reminiscing.

During the night, the empty, gaping hall grows still like a machine that's powered down. The bright airiness of Roman days fade, and darkness falls over like a downy comforter. All that's left is the low oil lamp lighting that throws short, yellow ochre beams across the polished floor, reflecting in some of the antiqued oak and glass cabinets. Not even a breeze disrupts the papers stacked upon the dusty lacquered desk, yet the slightest thought of movement momentarily blocks the low light, as a sheer swirling mist, with its soft, blurred edges, seeps through microscopic pores in the wall. The sort of movement that's seen on the ill-defined peripherals of anthropoid vision, the kind that breeds insomnia-instigating insinuations of monsters lurking in the dark, towing shadows along as if they weren't immovable. 

Joseph and Caesar stop in the shadows, their bodies shifting to solid in a sudden, dizzying rush. They press back against a cold stone wall deeper in the darkness, where it would have been absolute, save for the warm, dusty hue cast by the hanging oil lamp. Joseph closes his eyes, Caesar focusing on who, or what, could be emitting the unnatural pulsing. It was like ripples, ocean waves through the seemingly solid marble floor, vibrating under their feet, up through their bones and coming to a rest as a dull rumbling in their chests, their heads. They looked at one another in terror — Would they be caught? Surely Lisalisa and Suzie Q couldn't be awake at this hour — and attempted to calm themselves.

They stole out into the darkened, marble-laced rotunda which marked the centre of the building, the towering, vaulted ceiling gaping like an empty void, a black hole overhead. Silvery slants of moonlight pierced the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a magnified cross-hatched spotlight on the shivering teens. They gave it no more than a glance as they slipped past and out of the building with nothing more than the wind off the aged quilts they carried with them and the slight murmur of their bare, worn-out feet on the marble.

Giggling to one another, they ran across the courtyard and into the dark, yet comforting woods. Caesar grabbed Joseph's hand and guided him to a clearing, where they would lay for the next hour staring at the stars and talking about everything and nothing all at once. Falling in love could no longer explain this. This was like being flown into love at Mach 1, ear-splitting, eye-catching love.

"Joseph?"

Joseph turned to the moonbeam bathed boy laying next to him, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

"I... I think-," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I think- Joseph, I think I'm in love with you."

"You mean that?"

"I have been for a while, I just... tried to forget it. I'm sorry if this ruins our-"

Joseph leaped across the quilt, pulling Caesar into an intense, yet gentle kiss. He slid one hand into the other's soft, light hair, and softly placed the other on his chest. The kiss seemed to last for hours, their lips tingling as they pulled away and snickered quietly, foreheads pressed together. Caesar pulled the other quilt over them, the night breeze becoming a nuisance. They shared many soft kisses, before Joseph spoke.

"Do you want to- you know-? Tomorrow isn't promised, especially not now, and I want to give you all of me..."

Caesar nodded. "Come here."

Sloppy, uncoordinated kisses, tongues and lips crashing together, nervous touches, reassuring words, awkward attempts to be comfortable, shaking bodies, nerves begging to be lit on fire for the first time. Clothes hitting the dew-covered grass, hot, rapid breaths mingling with cool, steady breezes, locked eyes, comforting caresses. Slow, gentle movements, quiet, desperate noises piercing the air, tight grips, clasped hands, declarations of love, beautiful forms, coming together as one under the stars. Nothing had ever felt so good, so right, in every sense of the word. 

The crazy days, city lights

The way you'd play with me like a child

Even the worst training days were better with one another. When they finally got to eat, they sat in the floor of Joseph's room and talked as if they were lifelong friends. Caesar ate slowly, and Joseph ate quickly. Both were nowhere near messy eaters, but the blonde tended to have to wipe his chin down more often than the brunette, mostly due to Joseph's flirtatious antics. 

The wildest cities seemed much tamer when they were together. They could tackle anything, they were the definition of a superior team. When Caesar would describe his idea of an adventure to Joseph it would send chills down his spine, make his body tingle. He wanted to backpack his way across India, sail up the Nile in a small wooden boat and keep a journal of it all, trek through the dense Amazon and climb the towering Mount Everest. He wanted to explore rural China, dog sled in the arctic, tour all of Russia and deep sea dive. Joseph's idea of adventure was trying a new supermarket with Granny Erina, a different café in the city, or a new outfit.

Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful?

Will you still love me when I’ve got nothing but my aching soul?

Joseph flipped through the wonderful memories in his mind as he rested his head upon Caesar's shoulder.

"Caesar?"

The blonde turned his head toward Joseph.

"Do you still... do you still love me?"

The other flashed an angelic smile and nodded.

"I'm glad, I feel the same."

Caesar ran a soft, warm hand through Joseph's graying hair as the two drifted off to sleep.

I know that you will

In their deep sleep they become young again. They dream of things past, things that will never be again. In Caesar's dreams he has comfort, freedom and love. Sometimes Joseph can be visited by those he lost. For those perfect hours of sleep, Joseph and Caesar are whole once again. Sometimes Joseph has nightmares, but those are getting fewer and far between now that life has settled back into a rhythm. Joseph truly looks forward to turning in at night, he has thick duvets and the finest pillows, everything luxury. Not to mention, it's just one more way he can see Caesar, be it real or fake.

I've seen the world, lit it up as my stage now

Channeling angels in the new age now

When Joseph woke up, he was laying down next to Caesar with his head on his chest. They stayed there for a moment, just savoring one another's company.

Joseph snorted quietly. "You know the last time we got to spend some actual time together was before we fought the Pillar Men... I've missed this."

Caesar nodded and looked down, lifting Joseph's chin and planting a gentle kiss on his lips.

Hot summer days, rock and roll

The way you'd play for me at your show

It was the hottest summer on record in Italy, yet Lisalisa had them training harder than ever. Heat licked at Caesar's sunburned face and coiled around Joseph's limbs like a great, hungry hot-blooded serpent. The ground smoldered and sent up a disorientating haze, as if looking through water. Even the birds overhead were silent and the grass stood still as if too hot to move. The one day they had a break, they decided to go find a small lake or creek to cool off in, anything to get away from the heat. They ended up water fighting like children and slowly kissing one another in the shallows, taking advantage of the privacy. They sang their favorite songs and danced with each other, which is such a freeing feeling after the hardships of training. 

And all the ways I got to know

Your pretty face and electric soul

And there Caesar sat, with his feet in the clear, cool water, drinking in the radiant heat of summer. He let his eyes close in a way that appears restful, as if inviting, calling Joseph to imagine what his daydreams consist of. In that way, with such calmness, collectiveness of souls, content to dwell in that ever memorable moment, that they felt the joy of each other's company. Joseph stares at the blonde, a stupid look on his face, giving away how hard he had fallen. He looked away for a second and he found himself falling backward into the creek, Caesar having tackle-kissed him.

When he comes, tell me that you'll let him in

Father, tell me if you can

Caesar used to pray each night, and every night he would ask God to save them both a seat in the clouds, next to one another. He thought about death a lot, much more than normal because of the situation they were in. After he'd pray, he would smuggle cigarettes and beer into Joseph's room, and they'd go to the roof. Staring at the stars and sneaking drunk touches and smoky kisses, talking about their future together, holding hands and playing footsie, giggling like children. Times like these, when the world wasn't ending or they weren't fighting for their lives are the times Joseph would cherish forever. 

He's my sun, he makes me shine like diamonds

It always amazed Caesar how happy and carefree Joseph stayed, even in old age. He often thinks about the summer in Rome, how beautiful Joseph looked in the radiant, deep glow of the sunsets, how perfectly his hair caught his bubbles. He was proud to be the man who made such a perfect man smile and laugh like never before. Just the thought of it made Caesar shiver with pride and love. Joseph was more than just a friend, more than a lover. He was Caesar's world, a spot no one before him had been able to fill. 

Will you still love me?

Conversations neither of them had ever considered having with anyone else, conversations they wouldn't even have with themselves.

"Jojo?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you still love me even if we don't win this fight?"

Joseph grabbed his arm. "Caesar. I will love you until the end of time."

Will you still love me?

"Are you still going to love me when I'm not as pretty?"

"Caesar, I promise I'm always going to love you. Always," Joseph cooed, running his hand through the other's soft blonde hair. 

Will you still love me?

Joseph opened his door to find a crying, shaking, anxious Caesar carrying his pillow. The Italian dropped the thin cushion and latched himself onto Joseph as if his life depended on it.

Joseph wrapped his arms around the blonde. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Caesar said nothing, he only began sobbing, clinging harder to Joseph than before. He tried to take in a normal breath, but could only get sharp gasps and wheezes out.

"Come in here," Joseph pulled him into the room. "Go sit down, I'm gonna get your stuff for you."

Joseph picked the pillow up and grabbed a blanket and a water bottle on his way to his bed. He tossed that stuff at the foot of the bed and climbed up next to Caesar. It was dim, as all the lights were out, but Joseph could see the other's form. He pulled the other into his chest, laying them both down and slipping the comforter over them.

"What happened, love?"

"N-Nightmare- You we- weren't there- I-" Caesar began to sob again, a cry of absolute pain leaving his throat. Joseph held him against his chest tightly and stroked his back, reassuring him softly. 

"It's just a nightmare, it won't hurt you. I'd never let it."

The older boy just nodded and pulled him as close as possible, holding tightly to his shoulder blades and breathing in his scent. Something about that smell, that body, just makes him feel safe and secure. 

"J-Jojo?"

"I know what you're thinking and my answer is yes. I will always love you."

Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful?

Joseph grinned at Caesar when he finished thinking, planting a kiss on his cheek. He was full of joy, until his grandson's beat up SUV could be seen making its way through the field.

Jotaro climbed out of the car and beckoned for Joseph. The old man stood up with some trouble, bones popping like bubble wrap. 

The blonde looked up at him, gaze full of love. "I have to go soon..."

He pulled Caesar into a strong hug, beginning to tear up.

"Gramps, come on- What are you doing?"

"Telling Caesar goodbye. I won't get to see him for a while."

"There... There isn't anyone there."

"Okay, great one funny guy. He's right here."

Will you still love me when I got nothing but my aching soul?

Joseph hugged him tightly one last time before leaving. He wiped the tears from his cheeks as he stood up, bending down to kiss Caesar one last time for the year. 

"Goodbye Caesarino, I'll see you next year. I love you. I always will," Joseph muttered shakily before stepping back, watching the grand, marble tombstone lose it's magnificent lustre as Caesar's angelic form disappeared, materializing into golden bubbles before floating away.

Joseph observed how the bubbles floated away before turning to his grandson.

"Let's go home, Jotaro." He began walking toward the car, but just before reaching it, a gust of wind hit him from behind. Joseph whipped around as fast as an old man possibly could. In front of his face sat a large, golden bubble with a replica of Caesar's headband inside. Gingerly, Joseph reached out to grab it, and once in his hands, it popped.

The man let out a choked sob as he held the headband against the side of his face. Immediately he wrapped it around his head and turned his face up toward the sky, smiling.

"Thank you, Caesar. Remember, forever." A couple tears slipped from Joseph's eye as he climbed into the passenger seat. 

I know you will, I know you will

"Jotaro, have you ever loved someone? Someone you couldn't have?"

Jotaro gave him a side-glance. "Why are you asking?"

"I just don't want you to make the same mistakes I did," Joseph said, taking a deep breath. "If you love someone, don't let anyone stop you from being together. Please."

Jotaro harshly breathed out of his nose. "I think it's a little too late for me. But what are you even talking about?"

Joseph furrowed his eyebrows and looked out of the window at the passing landscape. 

"I fell in love with someone I wasn't allowed to have. We snuck around in secret up until the day-," Joseph closed his mouth and bit his lip, taking deep breaths in.

"Gramps- You don't have to keep going, I think I understand."

"Thank you," Joseph looked over at his grandson. "It still hurts even now... Which is why I'm worried about you-"

"I'm fine." Jotaro quickly shut himself down, he didn't want to talk about his own feelings on the subject. "But are you fine?"

Joseph sighed and touched the replica headband on his head. "I am now."

Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?

Each year on Caesar's birthday, Joseph was there, in the same spot. He talked to him throughout the year but this was the only time he could see him. He picked a bouquet of wildflowers, he sat next to the grave, and kissed the tombstone before he left, promising to be back. The last time he departed however, at the ripe age of 91, he kissed the large marble slab and said, "See you soon, Caesar. I still love you, by the way," before Jotaro walked him back to the car.

Later that year, Joseph Joestar passed away peacefully in his sleep. He woke up in a strange room, where a woman was waiting.

"Oh, finally! Can you tell me your name sweetheart?"

Joseph smiled awkwardly. "J- um- Joseph Joestar... Where am I?"

"The welcoming room for the afterlife! Here is where you would normally be given a place to stay and meet your friends, but I believe you already have a home!"

 Joseph furrowed his eyebrows. "Huh?"

"You already have a house! Someone requested you live with them," she smiled.

He shook his head in amazement.

"Are you ready?"

Joseph nodded, a grin covering his restored face. He was 18 again, and he felt amazing.

The woman walked him out of the door and the first people he laid eyes on were the crusaders that had passed.

"Avdol! Polnareff! Kakyoin! Iggy!"

"Who-?" Kakyoin and Polnareff whipped around, but didn't recognize him. Iggy stood still until Avdol charged forward.

"JOSEPH!" The two held onto each other, and once the others realized who he was, they too joined the hug. 

"Mr. Joestar! You look so young!"

"Thank you, Kakyoin, you're very kind."

"So you really DID look like that in the 1940s... wow," Polnareff's mouth dropped open in awe as he circled Joseph, who was holding Iggy, trying to get his used to his younger form.

"JOJO! JOJO!"

The crusaders began to look around for Jotaro, yet when they turned back around, Joseph was sprinting full speed at a blonde they had never seen before.

"CAESAR!" Joseph tackled the older man, their lips colliding, and their bodies immediately attaching to each other. They cried tears of joy until they heard a woman's scolding and a man's laughing.

"Joseph! Have some manners!"

"Get a room, lovebirds!"

"G-Granny Erina! Speedwagon!" Joseph got up and ran to them, grinning from ear to ear.

"Jojo, do you wanna see your house?"

Joseph nodded, looking over at the blonde. He waved goodbye to his family before turning his attention back to Caesar. They locked hands and the older man led Joseph through beautiful cobblestone streets and colorful houses before turning into the driveway of a small, light blue house. Caesar opened the door and pulled Joseph in.

"Welcome home," he said, smiling brightly.

"Where- Where do you live?"

Caesar smirked. "That's the thing... you get to deal with me forever~"

"I have no complaints," Joseph laughed, kissing the other softly, running a hand through his blonde hair.

Joseph used to fear dying, but now, he'd rather be dead than anything. There's nothing he would take to leave this place. He was finally where he was meant to be; Caesar's arms. And once again, both have been returned to their original forms, once again young, beautiful, and in love.

#jocaesar #caejose #angst #fluff #jjba #fanfiction #jjba fanfic #joseph x caesar

[tetrisfinished]

here's something i'm struggling with today. i have only very recently learned that people are not mind readers. that if i want something to be done (specifically i want it to be done my way) i either have to do it myself or else i have to communicate it.

and communicate it respectfully and kindly and with love (depending of course, on the audience).

specifically i'm talking about my marriage and communicating these things with my husband. and more specifically i am talking about communicating with him how i want to receive love.

so let me set the stage for you: 6 years into a marriage, where i've communicated time and again the things i want but albeit VERY disrespectfully and extremely AGGRESSIVELY. and...big surprise, it isn't working.

now i'm in a place where i've (maybe momentarily) given up. i've given up communicating with yasir altogether. i'm so triggered by everything he does or says. and i am noticing him change as well, but it feels just too little too late.

also another context detail that might be worthwhile mentioning is....i've given up hope and expectation from him to recognize and truly HEAR what i have to say. hence, the whole refusal to communicate with him anymore.

anyway, the thing that i've just realized i'm now struggling with comes from a tiktok video i watched earlier today. in it, the lady said..."you don't get to choose how you will receive love. you have to accept that it will be given to you the way that that person knows how".

and now i feel like all this communication that i've done so far has been useless!? if i can't ask to be loved in the way that i will FEEL loved....then where do we even end up!?

anyway. i'm here to say....i don't know if she's right or wrong. but i think she's wrong.

if you tell me you love me...wouldn't you want to please me the way i would be pleased?

wouldn't you care and listen and hear the things i have to say?

isn't that just something that happens by DEFAULT when you love someone? that you pay attention, you listed but you also HEAR.

isn't that what it means to give love?

if i have to accept the love that my husband is giving me when it is not even a little bit of what i crave or want...is that love? or is that him self-satisfying whatever need he thinks he's fulfilling of mine?

is giving love really truly that selfish an act?

i don't believe it is. and i don't believe that it is how i give love. i hope to God that i can be the person who gives love the way that the next guy likes to receive it.

i'm 32 and i've only now realized this - i won't lie. i've only now started paying attention and take truly care and consideration. and i'm doing it because i'm finally observing how others around me like to be cared for.

i don't know how well i'm explaining what i mean or what i feel. but i get it. i think.

another thing i've noticed happening recently...is i've been praying more. actually praying salah. and it is the WEIRDEST thing that comes over me when my head hits the ground in sujood. without fail, in sujood or afterwards in dua....my heart explodes and i bawl my eyes out on my jaye-namaaz.

and you know the wildest thing? the dua that escapes my mind and heart and lips and every single pore of my whole body during this time is.....forgive me Allah.

i guess recently....as i've finally come to a breaking point in my life and my ways and my marriage, i've come to terms with the fact that actually i'm upset with my life. and for a moment there, for the blink of an eye, i was truly and honestly upset with Allah. i cried myself to sleep for a full week with the final thought as i closed my eyes always being "i do not deserve this so why is it happening to me?".

and you know the thing i'm realizing is....i'm right. i do not deserve this. i only realize now. all those times in the past when i started to drift towards this feeling that i was being jipped of something or being pushed into something not worthy of me...i used to invalidate my own feelings. i would tell myself to suck it up buttercup or to get over it or it's really not that big a deal.

and today i'm here to tell you - all those things might still be true, but that doesn't make my feeling of not deserving this any less valid. and you know the other thing i finally had to come to terms with is an irrevocable realization that actually i am worth my feelings. i'm worth my opinions. i'm worth it all.

Allah swt made me with worth and it is literal under appreciation of His work when i tell myself i am less than i think i am.

so i think that's why...the first and strongest dua that leaves my body as i bawl quietly on my prayer mat is for forgiveness.

forgive me Allah for doubting. forgive me Allah for not seeing myself as the worthy human being that You made me. forgive me for not letting myself heal and feel the feelings i want and need to feel.

in my darkest hours i've found myself coming out so much stronger and sure.

but even now, it feels like a house of cards....with any quick wind, my whole transformative change might just drop and fall to the ground just like that. and that's fucking scary.

anyway. urgh. okay. i'm done for now.

much love,

komal

[antipodeanpineapplelump]

Shisui Uchiha and the Lost Treasure of Asura - WIP Wednesday

I realised it's been quite a while since I shared any updates on Shisui Uchiha and the Lost Treasure of Asura (mostly thanks to work--in case you haven't noticed by now, I'm basically married to my job, and it's very needy).

Aaaanyway... in the spirit of the first WIP Wednesday of 2022, and in celebration of finishing the 5th chapter (which is actually now the 7th chapter, because I have never once written anything concise in my life, and having two random 20,000 word chapters in the middle of a bunch of shorter ones offended my sense of order), I've decided to share a bit about how it's going, and another sneak peek.

In short, this thing is a behemoth. It's proving to be hands down the most difficult story I've ever written. If I didn't love the characters and world as much as I do, I would have smashed it into a million tiny pieces by now, set those pieces on fire, smashed them some more, then possibly ordered an exorcism for this entire project.

I have literally spent hours poring over Google Maps and Street View, and researching everything from haikus and local foods, to world famous buildings, to the intricacies of Japanese law, to world history and historical figures - both real and legendary, and honestly, just far more other shit than I care to recall (also because a lot of it would give away the story).

The scope of this thing is wildly out of control at this point. I'd hire a research assistant if I could, so I could ask them, "What types of cactuses grow in Joshua Tree National Park? How do you belay when rock climbing? Is there a map of XXX location so I can bullshit my way through writing it? What's that Japanese legend about the rabbit in the moon again?" just so I didn't have to do it all myself.

*Deep breaths*

All of which is to say, the writing is progressing normally.

If that leaves you imagining I write my stories in a flaming dumpster while telling myself "this is fine," then congratulations... you now understand my creative process.

Anyway, I have about 72K words, and I'm estimating 110-120K by the time I actually finish. So including editing (noooooo), this story is probably still months away from being published. If I don't smash my computer first...

On that happy note, here's an excerpt:

As the conversation rapidly degenerates into an all-out argument, Shisui concludes his participation in it is likely to be more inflammatory than it is helpful. Having long since learnt that it’s a bad idea to get in Izumi’s way when she gets riled up, he beats a quick retreat to the entrance of the office, intending to examine Itachi’s assembled artifacts in greater detail. As he stops beside the pretty shield, a suspiciously loud thud from outside of the office catches his attention. A series of them, in fact, accompanied by raised voices.

Frowning, he glances back at Itachi and Izumi. Mid-squabble, it doesn’t seem like they’ve even noticed.

Shisui sighs. Of course, it could be Itachi’s students marching en-masse down the corridor to beat down his door, complaining about poor results and nitpicky marking. Which would be highly entertaining. But that seems a whole lot less likely than the other possible explanation. Resigned to fact that some new unpleasantness is most likely about to insert itself into his day, Shisui takes a deep breath and carefully cracks the door open.

What he sees makes him close it again just as fast.

Fuck.

Waving his arms wildly to get Izumi and Itachi’s attention, he calls across the room in a hoarse whisper, “Hey, Izumi… any idea why an angry guy who looks kind of like Two-Face from Batman is kicking down office doors out there with a band of anaemic green-haired thugs?”

Immediately, Izumi’s face pinches in a way that almost certainly indicates she knows the answer. “Uh…”

Covering the distance in a couple of short strides, and doing his best to ignore the delightfully startled look that seems to have taken up residence on Itachi’s face—and possibly rent-free in his brain—Shisui forms a circle between the three of them and the desk. Snatching up the Key, he waves it in Izumi’s direction. “How did you say you came by this this again?”

Izumi folds her arms defensively. “I acquired it…”

“Yes, you said that. But where?”

“At a party. In New York.”

Enunciating every syllable with pointed clarity, at a speed completely at odds with his racing heart, Shisui pushes on. “Whose party?”

The ruckus in the corridor gets louder.

Making an irritated noise, Izumi finally gives in. “Okay! I stole it from Madara Uchiha, all right? Are you happy now?”

Itachi glances between them—taking in Izumi’s dismissive expression, and Shisui’s well-contained but not entirely smothered irritation—clearly processing the turn this situation is taking, and realising it’s not in his favour. Something sharp needles the pit of Shisui’s stomach as he watches it, realising his fabled reputation for chaos and destruction seems to have followed him through the door within fifteen minutes of their first meeting. Even for him, that’s got to be some kind of record.

But there’s no time to dwell on it. Or to apologise. Slamming the Key on the desk, harder than intended, Shisui drags a hand over his face. “Hijo de puta! Madara Uchiha? The Mad Mercenary? Of all the people you could’ve pissed off, Izumi...”

Rolling her eyes, Izumi cuffs him on the shoulder. “I don’t speak Spanish, asshole!”

Oh for fuck’s sake… Barely missing a beat, Shisui repeats himself. “Why the hell would you piss off someone like him!”

Izumi throws up her arms defiantly. “I didn’t think he’d trace it back to me!”

Shisui rolls his eyes. “No, because apparently you just didn’t think.”

She makes a face at him, beyond unimpressed. “Oh, like you can talk.”

“I’m not the one who orchestrated a surprise family reunion.”

Interrupting them with a surprising level of confidence and composure for someone whose office and person is under imminent threat of harm, Itachi clears his throat. “Madara has been disowned,” he points out helpfully. “For his unbecoming behaviour.”

“Great!” Shisui exclaims sarcastically, any ideas he might have been harbouring about Itachi being some profound genius evaporating instantly. “I’m sure that’ll stop him shooting us. Maybe if we just ask nicely.”

#my writing #my art #wip wednesday #Shisui Uchiha and the Lost Treasure of Asura #caution salt #did I need to vent? #maybe I needed to vent a little #I love all my stories really #but holy hell I'm writing something shorter next #or finally finishing the Stucky long fic I've had 90% done for the last two years

[coronerandundersheriff]

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts" - Eleanor Roosevelt

And they really made it!

They had actually solved an old cold case. What joy overcame the entire team. Many of them had not been in the team long enough to know the whole story down to the last detail, but they knew about it. 

Trevelyan was a new member of the team back then, full of energy and keen to solve cases and this particular case was a shadowy point in his young career and some of his colleagues and superiors despaired of this file. 

But now the new forensic scientist had taken up the cause, had pored over books, read the marginal notes and re-examined old evidence. And, he had found what he was looking for. 

He was a far too modest man to take all the credit alone. He knew full well that years of groundwork had helped solve the case, as had the simple fact that times had changed rapidly. What possibilities they now had to pick up traces. Modern forensics was like a magnificent puzzle, like a weird but interesting construct - not immediately obvious, but there was always a solution, it just had to be found, maybe not today, but possibly tomorrow. 

And this time the puzzle fell into place. 

Beforehand, there was great excitement. People were questioned, new witnesses were sought. It had been a long time, some of those involved had already passed away, some simply did not want to be remembered, they had personally come to terms with the unsolved case. Some residents blamed the team of the time, the sheriff and deputies were simply not capable of solving this case. Behind the scenes, there was talk of hanky-panky, bribery, dilettantism. But it was simply the times, the lack of technical tools. The knowledge acquired was once already considerable, but nowadays there was so much more.

Even Vivienne was called in. She was a great help, she didn't know the case from the beginning, but the file had already caused her sleepless nights and headaches in her time. 

Cold cases were really the worst! 

It was nice to see Pavus and Vivienne sitting together and talking and making progress. A great team, albeit a totally mismatched pair. As colleagues they acted very matter-of-factly and politely and courteously, but during breaks they seemed very distant, sometimes you thought they were deliberately picking on each other, so different were their personal views on trivial matters.

The mayor himself, some high officials and members of the municipal council invited to a small ceremony of honour. Chief Rutherford and his coroner were the invited guests. 

Both were absolutely embarrassed to be honoured alone for this teamwork. Everyone from the department, all the former members of the team, all the witnesses, the medics and many private people who had been involved and were parts of the solution - what was with all of them? 

It was so typical! Only the people who were presentable, eloquent and dapper were invited. The press was also invited and even a camera crew from a television station.

The hosts didn't want to honour, they wanted to show off. They weren't proud of the hard work of the deputies and sheriffs in this country, they were proud to have cracked an old mystery. 

There were more silly half-truths in the papers about the success of this single case than simply a few nice words about the skill of the executive power in the state. 

The night before the tribute, Dorian and David spoke on the phone. 

"Hi honey, how are you?" David's distinctive voice made Dorian smile on the other end. 

"Honestly, far away from brilliant." Came the reply. 

"I almost thought so. You were very quiet in the office today, you seemed insanely tense. I'm so sorry." David sighed.

"You're sorry? You're sorry?" Pavus spoke up.

Silence at the other end. 

"Sorry, David, I didn't mean to get loud. You should be apologised to! Jesus..."

"If you mean the nonsense in the papers, forget it. They set out a long time ago to either rip our department to shreds or shower it with saccharine praise over nothing and nothingness. Pahaha..." David laughed into the phone. 

"I can read between the lines, these are direct attacks on you, some of the team have been denounced! It's a disgrace!" Dorian puffed angrily. 

"Some of us just don't conform to the community's world view. Wrong gender, wrong education, wrong inclinations... it's all cold coffee, darling." 

"David, you've been a deputy for so long. Have you never doubted your job?" Pavus asked disappointed. 

"Nope, never! I sometimes despair at the stubbornness of some people, but not in mankind itself. It is important to me to provide law and order, I took an oath and I stand behind it fully, Dorian." 

Trevelyan sounded so honest and so down to earth that it made Dorian's heart heavy. He liked this normal guy so much that it almost hurt. But the circumstances here in this small county sometimes made him so angry that it was unbearable. And it was not only this tiny county that almost made him despair.

Texas was beautiful!

Texas was fascinating!

But Texas was also just the opposite - uptight, arch-conservative and cruel to dissenters. 

"Dorian, darling, give yourself a good night's sleep and tomorrow everything will look very differently. You'll bring everyone to their knees with your charm and sharp wit, I'd love to be there... tehehe. You will rock it, honey! Now sleep tight and sweet dreams. Love you!" And David kissed loudly into the phone. 

Dorian would have loved to tell David how much he loved him and that he wanted him to be by his side tomorrow, but he was far too blocked and so he only wished his colleague and boyfriend a good night. 

Dorian Pavus was a clever man, well-read, full of energy, curiosity and drive, but real life, everything between people and love were still great mysteries to him...

#wip wednesday #dragon age inquisition #modern au #the new guy #Dorian Pavus #Cullen Rutherford #Vivienne #David Trevelyan #Pavelyan #Davidorian #my precious boys #my writings #cold case #Eleanor Roosevelt

[frumfrumfroo]

how do you think so many people missed the reylo in tfa? do you think they went too subtle with the ship or was it audience bias about the other theories like rey/sky? i'm asking cause i was one of those unaware people, tlj reylo hit me like a truck and now i'm shipping it in a weird anxious way, like i'm seriously worried about canon for the first time in any of my fandoms because antis will be more smug and horrible to everyone if it isn't endgame.

I think it’s mainly that most people just take movies at face value and aren’t going to notice much foreshadowing until after the thing being foreshadowed actually happens. Which is the normal way to watch movies! Casual audiences don’t consciously consider stuff like narrative structure and what each plot development would be ‘saying’ in the wider context of the story. The majority of fans who were poring over the film weren’t reading it as a piece of storytelling setting up a SW-appropriate overall message and an emotional arc, they were reading it in light of all their baggage with the GFFA universe and trying to ‘outsmart’ the film. But these are simple epic stories, not intricately plotted world-building-heavy political thrillers. The big ‘twist’ in ESB is character-driven, it challenges Luke more than anything else could have, and it sets up the ultimate themes (love and compassion will triumph over hate and violence, it’s never too late). Obsessing about details without looking at thematic coherence is how you end up with the exact bad takes so many people had such unwarranted confidence in. How much did the OT explain about the Force or Galactic politics? Practically nothing. It doesn’t matter. Fans combing through looking for bloodlines and Snoke origins and esoteric Force lore were focussing on something the films have never cared about.

How would being a Skywalker challenge Rey? It wouldn’t. It hands her what she thinks she wants on a platter with no struggle or character growth necessary. It’s narratively useless and leaves us with no stakes. The bad guy is… your cousin!!! isn’t dramatic. It doesn’t radically redefine her worldview or force her to re-evaluate her choices, values, and place in the universe. Vader being Anakin did all of those things for Luke. The point isn’t ‘secretly related’ as something we tick off on an obligatory checklist of clichés, in the OT that reveal kicked the protagonist off a cliff and changed everything. Shock value isn’t what makes it effective, it’s the implications. People who insist on these convoluted theories are failing to think about it as A Story and to ask these questions about ‘why?’. It’s character-driven, it has very limited screen time, it has to be accessible to children- they don’t waste time building relationships which don’t matter. Rey’s most significant, most challenging relationship is with Ben. They are the thematic centre of the trilogy.

When I say it’s obvious, I mean it’s obvious in an out-of-universe, English major kind of way. The way the film is structured, the way Rey and Ben are contrasted, the use of classic imagery, the very standard way he is cast as a sympathetic, romantic figure who must be saved in order to not… ruin the OT, basically. The careful way their interactions are handled, especially that being in her presence always makes him more vulnerable and reveals more of his humanity. They married Rey’s arc to his and that can’t be backed off. If it wasn’t going to be romantic, they would have had history. Either they’d have been siblings or they would have been childhood friends (now that would be a rehash). The most powerful storytelling connection for unrelated strangers on opposite sides of a conflict is a romance, particularly when platonic love has already failed both. Coupling that with Rey’s driving desire being to give and receive the unconditional love she was denied as a child and both of them having the defining lack in their lives be loneliness… I mean, guess where this is going. Two sad, lonely, attractive young people with isolating special powers who don’t know their place in the world but do profoundly understand each other when no one else does in an epic fantasy space opera are not going to be just buds.

I understand being worried, because even though I am 100% confident that a redemption and happy Reylo ending is where the story demands to go and that it has been deliberately set up, writers can and do make horrible nonsensical decisions. They could fuck it up. It seems vanishingly unlikely that would be allowed to happen because if they were cowards they wouldn’t have gone there in the first place, but I understand the fear. The Internet would be unbearable and the smug assholes would declare themselves right all along.

But, as long as they aren’t hacks and the writing is intentional (and… it has to be. I mean, I didn’t think it was that debatable even after TFA, but now it’s really not debatable) then there is every reason to be optimistic they will follow through. If they have any respect for the message of the franchise at all, any integrity, they gotta.

ETA: And I should probably say, the reason they write things like this, with symbolic foreshadowing etc. is because it makes the eventual resolution feel inevitable and more deeply satisfying. You picked up subconsciously that track was being laid for this before it happened, so when it does it feels ~right~. And with Reylo in particular, it needed to be subtext first because it’s a) part one of a trilogy and b) a high concept enemies to lovers ship for which we have to establish the stakes/obstacles/thematic weight before making the attraction explicit. It’s a grand love story about healing, not a ‘bad boys are sexy’ Harlequin novel; we don’t want the impression it’s just sexual or shallow.

Also, I mean, compare them in TFA to Act 1 of Beauty and the Beast. If not for the prologue telling us the Beast needs to find love, it’s pretty much exactly as explicit with the fact that there will be a romance between those two. That is, you could absolutely fail to see it coming if you take everything at face value.

#reylo #redemption #rey #writing #go big or go home

[loveyboyslovin]

I have a soulmate au I haven't seen done yet I'm just gonna throw it at you and see if it inspires you ; Everyone is born with their soulmates favorite word tattooed on their body. One half of your ship spends their whole life wondering why their own name is written on their shoulder.  (bc aleks complains that james calls him aleksandr an absurd amount)

Ok.. Wow, I love this idea!!

Obviously this would be incredible with any ship, but seeing as you used the Aleksandr example, let’s make it NovaHD, shall we? :p

Aleks was thoroughly confused, and just a little pissed off, when he grew up with the word ‘Aleksandr’ printed on his wrist in a simple, yet elegant, cursive script.

It was a bad situation for him because a name instead of a word was almost unheard of when it came to soulmate tattoos. Furthermore, having it be his own damn name seemed like some sort of sick practical joke. To make matters worse, the smug little mark was written in English, which stood out like a sore thumb from all the Russian on everyone who surrounded him.

He was a target for bullies at school, and he got beaten up for no other reason than they could see something different about him and took the opportunity to pounce on it. He grew to hate the tiny name bound to his skin, this innocent little word that made him the target of so much ridicule.

Deep down, though, he knew there must be a reason behind it, a reason that his soul mark had manifested in this way. He clung to that hope, pushed himself to get up every day and search for the meaning he’d been craving for such a long time.

His search eventually took him to America.

It made sense, in a way; the language of the writing on his wrist making it pretty clear that his soulmate wasn’t Russian. And somewhere, deep down, the United States just felt right to Aleks.

He knew him as soon as he saw him.

Their eyes locked as he was letting Mishka off her leash for a run at the dog park, and across the way, the guy froze as well, not even flinching as the corgi next to him raced after Mishka on her stubby little legs, yapping and barking all the while.

It was more awkward than Aleks had expected it to be, especially seeing as this guy was the one he was destined to bond with on an almost spiritual level.

They met in the middle, neither saying a word, and Aleks just took a second to take it all in.

The guy was beautiful, ok? His hair was long and dark, pulled up into a tight bun, but Aleks could see the little wispy curls that escaped at the nape of his neck, and something about that had his stomach twisting in knots. His skin had a moderate tan to it, though Aleks couldn’t quite place the origin. The contrast between Aleks’ own pale skin and that of his...his soulmate, was nevertheless something that Aleks took comfort in for some unknown reason.

And God, he could safely say that this man had the most beautiful eyes to ever exist. They were a deep, chocolate brown, maybe a few shades darker than Aleks’ own, but somehow swimming with so many emotions that Aleks was having a hard time keeping up.

“So…” Aleks started, having to force his gaze away from his soulmate’s perfect lips and back to his equally perfect eyes, “uh, hi?”

“Hey…” the guy eventually replied, and Aleks could already feel himself getting addicted to that voice and the rest of the man it belonged to.

“Look, dude, I-” Aleks tried again, but it just petered out into another heavy silence. Neither of them seemed to know what to say after all this time, and the irony of that had Aleks chuckling just a little. “It’s not supposed to be this awkward, is it?”

That at least got his soulmate to crack a smile, earned him a small huff of laughter that instantly lightened the mood between them.

“Probably not,” the guy chuckled, scratching the back of his own neck, so close to those little curls that Aleks had been dying to touch. “With my luck, though, I wouldn’t put it past the universe to make both of us socially anxious fucks.”

Aleks couldn’t help but laugh, despite the fact he was a little distracted by how white and straight the man's teeth were as he beamed.

He looked radiant, like the Sun had been bottled up into a single person, and that light just shined from his every pore, brightening the world around him.

Aleks had never fallen in love so fast. 

“I’m Aleks.” he said, holding out his hand, just a little overwhelmed.

His soulmates’ eyes immediately lit up as he sighed out “Aleksandr” dreamily, almost like it was an afterthought.

Aleks immediately froze, wide-eyed, and he watched as the guy regarded him curiously.

“How did you…” he tried to keep his breathing calm, even though the thumping of his heartbeat suddenly felt deafening.

“What can I say, man?” he shrugged, “I’ve just loved that name for as long as I can remember. I had a feeling it was probably my soulmate’s, but there was no way to test the theory until now.”

All Aleks could do was nod, but his mind was racing with the same thought, over and over.

He loves my name.

“You have a lot of fucking explaining to do, uh, damn, what’s your name again, dude?”

“James.”

Somehow, that sounded perfect, even though Aleks had only heard the name a few times in his life.

“You know how much I got bullied because my soul mark was my own name? And not even the short or Russian version!” Aleks whined, and James doubled over with the strength of his laughter, wheezing like a goddamn kettle, and Aleks really didn’t know why it could be that adorable.

“Don’t laugh, asshole!” Aleks pouted, crossing his arms as James slowly straightened up and wiped the tears from his eyes as his giggles died down.

That smile, though? It didn’t move an inch.

“Oh, you’re one to talk! I had to deal with everyone wondering why my soulmate loved ‘Dude’ so much.” James grimaced, holding out his forearm where the word “Dude” was in fact printed—clear and proud—in stark black ink. “At least in my case it was super romantic and shit! You know how romantic that crap is? That’s like, straight out of The Notebook or something, man.”

Aleks felt his eyes rolling for the heavens, but he couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up from somewhere deep in his chest. It felt so great to finally let it out, like releasing a caged bird that had been trapped for far too long.

He felt like he was light as air, like he was bursting with so much happiness that he’d simply float away if James didn’t grab him round the middle and ground him.

For the first time in his entire life, in this country that he’d only just gotten used to, standing in the middle of a fucking dog park with his soulmate, Aleks finally felt like he was home. 

NSFW Bonus

Aleks goes slow.

They really need to slow down with something like this. It’s something you simply can’t rush, and honestly, Aleks just wants to savour every single detail of this moment in time.

He gets to watch James’ eyes as he carefully presses into him, gets to see them go all soft and wet as he gets used to the stretch, a hand gripping at Aleks’ wrist.

He’s making the most beautiful noises Aleks has ever heard, little gasps and whimpers that are forced from him as the two of them slowly rock together, fitting like two puzzle pieces becoming a whole.

He knows when he first hits James’ prostate, because his soulmate arches, grips tighter to him as a moan slips past his lips.

“Alek- sandr… Fuck…”

Maybe this ‘name as a soul mark’ thing wasn’t so bad after all.

#i used the wrist instead of the shoulder #sorry anon #i just thought it was harder to hide there #also i love this au and i love you!! #and i'm just completely honoured that you thought of coming to me with this?? #crying in the club ;-; #<3 <3 <3