#auntie rabbits helpful hints

[talesfromsiteredacted]

Dealing With Fae Entities, a Helpful Guide To Managing Elves, Faeries, Pictsies, and Other Annoyances

Hi, kids! This is Dr. Snow here, your friendly neighborhood Fae expert, as of this afternoon. After several very irritating encounters with the Fae, Dr. Clef and I agreed I should record some tips for dealing with them.

First thing first, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE, NO MATTER HOW FRIENDLY A FAE MAY SEEM AT FIRST ENCOUNTER, GIVE THEM YOUR TRUE GIVEN NAME. Names have power, give them yours and you are screwed.

Second, never enter any contract without reading it three or four times and running it through both Legal and Ethics first. Dr. Venser failed this crucial test, and had to give up her first born child. Don't be like Venser. Fae contracts are almost as hard as Hell contracts to break.

If cornered, bonk the bastard relentlessly with cold iron. Burns them worse than a bloody flamethrower, plus the added hilarity and embarrassment of being nearly clubbed to death by cookware. Skillets are the best option, but never underestimate the humble fireplace poker.

Do not, no matter how hungry you are, or how good the food or drink look, accept "free" gifts from the Fae. That's how you wind up in their debt. Plus, the Fae are worse cooks than Clef, which is saying a lot. THERE IS NOTHING FREE WITH THE "FAIR FOLK"! Bunch of scheming, cheating arseholes. Again, remember Dr. Venser!

Never believe a word they say. They lie more than Clef.

If a Fae raiding party approaches, throw candy at them then call in the MTFs. They're distracted by sweets, much like children. Plus, they are compelled to pick up every single piece of thrown sugar. Candies that shatter against hard surfaces, like jawbreakers, are ideal.

If captured, AGREE TO NOTHING, EVEN THE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS. Agreeing with the Fae on anything is practically giving them consent to torture you.

Carry silver on your person at all times. To think, Dr. Harrigan laughed at me over my silver snowflake Scranton pendant. She's not laughing now, seeing as she's now the Fae King's newest plaything. Silver burns Fae like cold iron, plus it renders their unicorns too weak to do much.

Trust nothing in the presence of the Fae. They bend reality just by being here. Cold iron jacketed hollow point magazines will be distributed by Munitions. Treat them like your average Bixby, aim for their head once distracted.

To ward against the Fae, salt the entryways and windows. While this works on vampires due to the purity of salt, the elvish arseholes will be compelled to pick up every last grain of salt spilled. You may then headshot them to your heart's delight.

If attacked by six inch tall blue pitcsies with red hair and a tendency to fight, steal, or drink anything they come across, offer copious amounts of alcohol, and hide. The Nac Mac Feegle may be tiny compared to him, but those scunners managed to kill SCP 076-2 with minimal effort. One of them even climbed in his loincloth. Look, if even ABEL is afraid of these guys, don't try to take them on. Abel barely lasted ten minutes.

Refuse ANY item offered. We do not need another "Anomalous Ring Of Inconsistent Waterbreathing" incident. Poor Dr. Mariner needs a tank now, and that damned thing is fused to his finger.

Unicorns, while beautiful, are... not very nice. How not nice? They'll gore you as soon as look at you.

Do not look at the Queen of the Fae. Two reasons: one, she's incredibly vain and will pester you to no end on how beautiful she is, and then... she'll try to get you into bed with her. Bad decision. She's got a higher (dead) body count than a black widow spider, and like a preying mantis, bites her victims heads off. Two, the King is hella jealous and you may not even live to accept that invite to the Queen's bed. Bigger dick than the Scarlet King.

Glitter also distracts the Fae long enough to dome them easily. Especially if 035 coats his junk in it. Wasn't ever expecting Disco Dong Dyo to be helpful, but the bastards were so confused killing them was easy.

If all else fails to repell the elvish dickheads, threaten to summon Dr. Clef. Not even their King wants to hear his ukulele.

If, for some reason you are tired of life, you decide to really annoy the Queen, insult her appearance. Again, she's extremely vain. She'll be so busy trying to become your version of the "perfect" woman it's easy to distract and kill her. Use their weaknesses against them.

Those perfect, 7 foot tall walls of elvish muscle in the invading forces? That is not at all how they really look. The average Fae's no taller than 5 feet tall, max. And uglier than a Hollywood divorce. It's a glamour, pretty convincing one too. Distract them enough, and it crumbles.

Speaking of distractions, these dickheads are compelled to dance whenever they hear music. You can thank Dr. Myriad for this one, they had the entire army grooving along to the "Safety Dance". Yes, there is video footage. No, the Fae do not have rhythm. It was like watching the most awkward mass dry heave set to '80's pop.

Grimhounds, much like Wu-Tang Clan and the Ethics Committee, ain't nothing to fuck with. Think hellhounds on massive doses of steroids, pcp, with the most advanced and aggressive case of rabies, with teeth sharper than Abel's swords. They are fast, relentless, and the only sure way to get them off your arse is to blow them off the map with high explosives.

While it is possible to bribe the Fae... they're not trustworthy. Just don't bother.

Mousetraps work well against smaller entities. As do cats; Liam caught one last night. Was really funny to see my fluffy boy dragging this cursing little sod all around my kitchen like my cat was doing a victory lap. Theiving bastards won't raid my pantry again anytime soon, heh heh.

Clef discovered if you use enough rocks, you can weigh them down enough to drown them. It might have helped that the portal opened upon the Red Pool instead of the ocean as I intended. Oopsie. Mea Culpa if the Ethics Committee are reading this. I know, three months Keter Duty. Still worth it.

If you're thinking of poisoning the Fae... don't bother. It simply doesn't work. No one knows why. They can, however, succumb to the zombie prion disease, but then... you have to deal with feral, infectious, and above all quite undead Fae.

For once, those damned bloody Tesla Gates are useful. Fae and electricity do not react favorably, for the Fae. They explode. Bone shrapnel is an issue, but if you get far enough back it's minimal. Still, wear your goggles kids!

073 is immune to the Fae glamour. He confirmed the Fae being unattractive, and I think it was the first time I ever heard him drop the "mf" bomb. Dr. Gears dropped his Foundation issue mug so hard it shattered. You know you're hideous if CAIN, the nicest guy in the Foundation, calls you "one ugly motherfucker" to your face. Dr. Clef and Dr. Cimmerian nearly hyperventilated laughing in shock.

In need of a quick distraction, but trapped in your office? Simply scatter whatever is on top of your desk, book it out of your door, and flag down the fine friendly folks in the MTF. While the Fae reorganizes your desktop, the MTF can shoot them. Even if you don't believe Clef on this... we had one in his office last month, he scattered his massive pile of paperwork on the floor, by the time we got the clear to go back in, his desk had never been better organized. Aside from the blood splotch on his Shooter's Bible.

Fun fact: Fae are highly flammable. A raiding party caught the backblast from one of 682's Volcano Chili farts, there was nothing but ash in seconds after the flame hit them. Must ask if we can weaponize the big lizard's flatulence, that stuff burns hotter than even thermite! Pity R&D could never quite replicate it, even if it reeks worse than a zombie skunk in a manure pile.

By all means, allow 049 access to the Fae should they attempt another invasion. With his skills and knowledge, we'll soon know exactly how these bastards operate on a physical level. For once, Ethics Committee has authorized 049's request for live test subjects, provided they're Fae. No, Agent Dennis does not count, he's just short, not an evil magical arsehole.

One last thing: I cannot stress this enough. NEVER TELL THE FAE YOUR TRUE GIVEN NAME, AGREE TO ANYTHING THEY ASK, OR THINK OF TRUSTING THEM FOR A SECOND. I realize this sounds incredibly species-ist of me, however, it's truth. The Fae cannot be trusted, even less so than you'd first suspect. They will trick you, use you, then drop you harder than the atom bombs. Shoot them first, don't bother with asking questions.

Okay, I think that's everything. Oh, wait... never mentioned how to spot one before it spots you. Grimhounds are obvious. Hellhounds on steroids with rabies. The Nac Mac Feegle, once you meet them you're either broke or dead. The others? People who seem way too perfect, too good to be real, you meet in life? Those could be Fae. The hot chicks in the bar everyone is flocking around despite them being mean vapid idiots? Fae. The super smoking but arrogant dickhead every straight girl in 10 miles is lining up to be rejected by? Either Lucifer Morningstar post marriage or Fae. The guy in Soho offering unbelievable deals on top line stuff like PS5s or suchlike? Fae. And shimmering lights where no such lights could possibly be, Fae. They can be anywhere. Stay alert, stay aware, trust your instincts. Keep on, carry cold iron and silver, and Secure, Contain, Protect on.

Hugs,

Dr. "Rabbit" Snow and Dr. Alto Clef

#scp foundation #tales from site redacted #dr snow #dr clef #do not trust the fae #auntie rabbits helpful hints

[aaghht]

random Usagi Chronicles tid-bits (I'll add more as i remember):

as mentioned in my previous timeline post, Neo Edo is a futuristic Edo-inspired city, powered by a mythical/sciency Ki-Stone

the city lights seem to kep on at all times (purple/purplish, like the Ki-Stone)

there are flying cars, refridgerators with AI, vending machines

hover cars, TRON-esque racing games, robots for different tasks

cameras, modern surgery....

no phones (sdfsdfsd sorry i just thought that was funny)

I'm guessing they just don't need phones cuz everyone lives in the city (and we haven't seen any other cities yet)

Usagi's the first rabbit Gen has seen in the city

Usagi and Kiyoko have the same bday (in the first ep)

Usagi states he is almost 16 in the opening scene of the show (and that's why he should be allowed to the city)

Usagi is 16 and definitely acts like a teen seeing a city for the first time

he sees a newsbotto and says "I've heard of these before"

Usagi plays in an arcade for the first time

Spot has never seen bubbles before that ep in s2 where Usagi buys him a bubble-blower

Usagi has a very low attention span (getting distracted by anything new, i.e. streets, games, food, signs)

Even though it's modern, the show still bases itself in many traditional japanese elements

i.e. - kimono and other similar clothes are worn left over right side

traditional japanese games are still popular in Neo Edo

edo-style japanese buildings still exist, even with modern additives

the show has a nice subtle message about letting nature rest from the city (turning off the lights eg light pollution)

Kitzune and Chizu are both orphans

apparently, so is Toshiko sort of (Gen's twin? sibling) who left for a life in the circus and other things before re-uniting with Gen during the 3rd ep of season 1

Gen and Toshiko separated as children after their parents and family were chased out of town due to fear

You can see Gen and Toshiko playing with a Gen and Tomoe Ame figures in their flashback in s1, the characters who Gen and Chizu are based from og Yojimbo series.

Gen is a germaphobe;

He spends a lot of time at the hospital, for stuff where he's just worried about something and thinks he has a symptom for;

at the same time, it seems he is just as much there to see the the Shiba-inu doctors, who raised him after his family fell apart (s1 e6)

Gen is also arachnophobic (he seems to be scared of most bugs, but is maybe semi-okay with crickets(s2 e5))

Kitsune grew up in the streets (I assume) while Chizu grew up in the Neko Ninja crew, a childhood without friends or any normalcy

farm boy Usagi absolutely hates farming

Tetsujin and Lady Fuwa used to date (for Fuwa, mostly to get the Ki-Stone scroll, which Tetsujin planted only because he knew - so neither was really dating for real?)

Usagi is pretty skilled with a sword, but sort of like an unrefined gem bc of his brashness and dis-respect.

Karasu-Tengu said the yo-yo is the only interesting thing about him but he's not very good with it yet

(edit nov 22) Auntie trained Usagi "for years" in the sword and other stuff

Auntie is a war veteran as seen by multiple elements in the show hinting at it - her ear and leg prosthetics, her experience with the sword (training Usagi enough that he has some raw skill), her words at Usagi ("the greatest master needs their sword the least"), her fight with Lady Fuwa

(OG post continued from Oct 25th)

Usagi is a nerd for Yokai and all things samurai and that's one reason he's still pretty good at fighting+knows enough info to help the team

that's all for now but sdfsdf hope to add more as I remember stuff

edit for nov 22nd (og post from Oct 25th):

On rewatch I also noticed that Chizu's left ear with the tear in it looks a bit like it could be from ear rings being torn out. I noticed this based on art director Khang Le's concept art, where Chizu has a white streak in her hair and also earrings) this could be anything though, as this is a common injury on real-life cats and she also has it in her first flashback scene (s1 e4)

Usagi is actually pretty good at noticing small details/bigger picture stuff, also at fight coordination. I noticed the first time but even moreso on rewatches:

1st ep he notices a small crevice/hole in the mogura tunnel's ceiling where he jammed his sword to create a small tunnel slide to escape the mogura gang

for the s1 finale, he has trained more with Karasu-Tengu, but when fighting in the dark with the Bat Crew later on, he followed Chikabuma's instructions on fight moves flawlessly, based on nothing more than the latter quickly throwing out what to do in an exact way

he seems to come up with battle-saving plans a lot, and doesn't even boost his ego with that knowledge

Usagi is probably really proficient at picking up other weapons too! He briefly fights and doesn't actually take that much time to take a liking to his yoyo. On that note....

Usagi's yoyo has saved him/been useful on more than one occasion, not just as a weapon

he can block attacks via the chain/string of the yoyo

it can sense Yokai

when Usagi used it to spiderman out of a fight, then to stop a warbotto from rampaging by tripping it via the chain

saved Kagehito from disappearing by putting him back in the Ki-Stone to recuperate

I'm sure I'm forgetting something else here

when Usagi and Kagehito went into a coma and almost got stuck in the prison orb at the tail end of s2

it's gotten broken once (the string/chain was broken at the end of s1) and Usagi is heartbroken over it (+ disappointed at himself)

Gave Usagi the access to the Ki-Stone's extra power boost, letting Usagi ascend the heavens and transform into a giant samurai-armored spirit-version of himself (think, like the susanoo avatar in Naruto, or like a spirit-mech)

the Ki-Stone can repair and give out new Kaikishi weapons

at the start of s2, it chooses Gen, Kitsune and Chizu as it's new Kaikishi warriors (closing the door on a comically sad-about-it Usagi, who still wanted a 2nd sword)

we haven't seen yet what the other Kaikishi weapons special abilities are (Usagi's yoyo is so far the only one able to capture and control/move the various Yokai in the series)

all of the mystic weapons can still interact with ghosts/apparitions, so that's probably why the team is careful not to hit Tetsujin with them while fights happen in the temple

possibly the secondary abilities are the secondary weapon transformations and abilities they show in some of the new episodes:

Kitsune can summon her tessen at will, not having to carry them

Gen change the size and form of his war clubs by merging them into one big kanabo

Chizu's bow is collapsible and she can shoot fire arrows and homing arrows with them (it seems she can materialize whatever arrow she needs at a moment)

The Ki-Stone couldn't have held in the Yokai for more than it did, so it was actually good that Usagi accidentally released all the Yokai (s2 e7, "Willow Branch", stated by O-Dokuro)

little visual references like this (prob not og Kitsune?)

Kitsune's little sister Kiyoko is not so little in this animated adaptation (in the comics she is a smaller fox, in this series she is a big robot)

Gen's sister Toshiko doesn't like visiting the hospital, but does like hiding out at the arcade toilets for some reason

it's unknown what happened to the criminal that Gen was bounty-hunting in the first episode, but in a later s1 episode, he is seen laughing and clapping with the rest of the crowd, but is then approached menacingly by the Shiba-Inu doctors (this is bothering me to no end bc I can't seem to get the inside joke, that might be a cultural difference? I guess we'll never know)

For an apparition on "another plane of existence" (we know you're a ghost Tetsujin), Tetsujin is pretty good at building all sorts of mechanical stuff

Tetsuji also made the prosthetic horn gen receives in ep 4 and we can assume that builds the rest of his horns too.

I'll post more as I rewatch the series :D (end edit 22.11.2022)

#usagi chronicles #samurai rabbit the usagi chronicles #samurai rabbit #yuichi usagi #srtuc #lemme know what else this show is tagged #aghhtposts #aghht fantalk

[clownworld13]

A Gift Of Weeds

This literally has been living in my head living rent free, festering and bubbling, and now I’m finally going to let it out. Also sorry it’s been awhile.

TRIGGER WARNING- the following passage contains hints of a toxic relationship, using flirting as a way to get out of a dangerous situation, stalkerish behavior, NSFW themes in one part, and codependency, all played off to somewhat of a comedic effect. Despite that to make this clear, this is not supposed to be taken so light heartedly in real life. This is not behavior to find endearing in real life or funny. Of someone acts this way please get them help and cut ties as fast as you can. And if you are sensitive to any of these topic please leave. You have been warned and have a good day.

———————————————————————

Moxxie was in her trailer reading a book, Who Censored Roger Rabbit, while her girlfriend Dani was telling her other girlfriend Penny a story about something she wasn’t quite paying attention to, something about a movie adaptation of the book she was reading back where they came from or something, she couldn’t quite remember. She sat there for a bit as she continued to read, until she began to get a little hungry. She got her coat and boots and most importantly mask on and left the trailer to get something to eat hopefully in the circus. Moxxie quickly waved her girlfriend’s goodbye and left the trailer into the circus.

The circus Moxxie was working for, Spindles Masked Circus, was hired by the orcs of Moria for a few days. She was a ribbon dancer who would always mix some ballet her auntie Carmen taught her. She lived there with her dad and basically her entire family she grew to love ever since he was adopted into the life. Even though her social skills were hot trash she was good at her job.

She saw a little stand with food already ready in it. Just some popcorn but it was enough. Everything was already set up around the circus since they were already a few days into the performance they were giving the orcs. Moxxie didn’t know exactly why the orcs hired them to begin with because all of them were human, and orcs hate them. So why? Especially since no accidents have been reported about any of the orcs being… weird to any of the performers. But she didn’t really mind at the end of the day.

She was about to leave but when she turned around, almost dropping her entire bag of popcorn, she instantly saw the spawn of Azog himself, Bolg.

He stood in front of her very stiffly holding something behind his back with one hand while the other had a death grip on his leg, and his face was as red as a tomato as he looked down at her with his one good light blue eye. He breathed heavily as if he was… nervous? No he can’t be, he’s probably to tough for that (Moxxie thought to herself).

They stood there staring at each other for a good solid few seconds, Moxxie shaking like a leaf and sweating like a hog as she stairs up at him. She was already bad at talking to (practically) her family, but now shes face to face with her main clients son is simply to much, ESPECIALLY since she’s already had a bad encounter with him before.

A few months or so before this, Moxxie and Dani’s siblings, Mari, Ana B., and Dice, we’re putting up signs in the woods for Spindles Masked Circus. Moxxie sat their awkwardly as she waited for them all to go back but something got in the way, Bolg.

He stalked up behind them pointing his weapon at the four and stared at them with a nasty glare, and asked them what they were doing there. Mari, Ana B., and Dice immediately bolted the fuck out of there but Moxxie stood their almost paralyzed with fear if it wasn’t for her knobby knees about to give out.

Bolg looked even more disgusted at this and walked up to her in long strides trying to size her up, thanking that her staying there meant some sort of challenge. Moxxie panicked even more and felt like she was about to piss herself when he said in a deep raspy tone with a heavy orc accent, “are you trying to prove something here you little maggot”

Moxxie began to tear up under her mask as she backed herself up into a tree as she stuttered out, “n-n-n-no”

Bolg scoffs at this and just goes even closer to her “pathetic. Maggot can’t even hold her own” he held up his knife when a sudden rush went to Moxxie as she blurted out “ITS NOT BECAUSE OF THAT!”

Bolg stoped for a bit and out his hand down, then he said with a less disgusted glare “what do you mean maggot?”

“I-I-I was just, umm… thinking about how… a-a-amazing you are sir, th-that’s why I didn’t l-leave” she stuttered as her heart went a million miles per hour

“What?” Asked the orc befuddled

“I-I just thought you were s-so amazing looking, I-I couldn’t p-possibly leave. And h-handsome t-t-too” she managed to spit out through sweat and tears under her mask.

However, Bolg stood there staring at her completely and utterly baffled as she continued to compliment how he looked and how handsome he was. This NEVER happened to him. Often or not human females would just run away or scream and beg him to not kill him, he still did it but nonetheless. So this girl COMPLIMENTING him of all thing’s weirded him out and confused him. And possibly, somewhere in the tar covered organ he called a heart he even felt a little… flustered? No he couldn’t, this is a human girl we’re talking about.

While Moxxie continues to compliment him and tries her best not to get killed, Mari, Ana B., and Dice were behind a tree not it far away from them.

“… fuck…” Dice said, “… uncle Alex is gonna KILL US now”

“No he’s not, shut up you little shit” Ana. B said pushing Dice’s face away “We just need to find a way to get Moxxie out of their”

“Like what oh genius one?” Dice snapped back

Meanwhile, Mari was making some type of sling shot type of thing to use against Bolg while it’s siblings squabbled. It grabbed a few rocks from the ground and began to walk closer as it was pointing the sling shot at him.

Moxxie was knee deep in complimenting Bolg so she wouldn’t be put on a t-shirt that day. Holding his hand and thinking of any compliments under the sun to use, and if almost seemed like it was working, Bolg just looking down at her as his face was flushed with pink and his breathing got heavier. But before anything else could happen Mari through a rock at his face, making him regain himself again, and also catching Ana B.’s and Dice’s attention.

He looks at Mari with an angry glare, the audacity. He began to chase Mari while Dice and Ana got Moxxie and tried to run away from the situation. Bolg noticed however and tried to grab, Moxxie. He didn’t know why but, he just felt like he should take her. It failed however, he only managed to snag a bit of her dress as the four of them got away.

Bolg held on to the cloth since that day. He still didn’t know why. It kept him up at night, holding it in his hand and to his chest thinking of Moxxie and how she looked and how she complimented him and… held his hand and had the sweetest voice and the softest brown skin, NO! He couldn’t think this way! He’s the son of Azog the Defiler, this is a human women who works at some stupid circus, but he couldn’t help himself.

He couldn’t help but imagine feeling her pretty dark skin against his and running his hand through her dreads. He wanted to kiss her all over while she continued to compliment him and how he looks. Bolg often fingered and pleasured himself to thought of her eating him out or something like that, humping his bed and pillow at the thought of being with Moxxie in that way as he sniffed the cloth he had. He felt so gross and disgusting for doing this that he often ignored it in the beginning, but after a bit he decided to just give in to his fantasies at night or when he was all alone in his bedroom never telling anyone. His father already seemed like hating him, this wouldn’t make it any better.

And the worst part is that Bolg knew Moxxie was just flirting with him to not be killed, he knew but he didn’t care. He felt like he loved her and would do anything for her since at the end of the day, she was the only person who ever treated him like that.

So when he found a poster of her from the same circus he was ecstatic. He didn’t show it of course but he felt it on the inside. It was after another battle that they one, and so to celebrate he suggested it to his father while they were having a victory dinner. Thankfully he agreed and they managed to hire them immediately. The owner didn’t give a shit about them being orcs, none of the performers did, so it all went along really nicely.

Bolg honestly didn’t give a shit about anyone other then Moxxie. He honestly just starred at her most of the time imagining the sweet and wholesome to the opposite. Moxxie didn’t notice however, to focused on trying not to look like an idiot in front of the orc’s and trying to think of other things to not mess up.

So when he stood in front of her with (in his mind) flowers behind his back while staring down at her. He felt like he was about to explode as he sweat and his face was bright red. Even when she’s wearing a creepy doll mask and dirty old coat with big gritty boots on he still saw her as the most beautiful thing in the world, making him feel like shit.

Moxxie continued to stair up at him terrified until Bolg broke the silence, clearing his throat as he said, his voice quivering in his deep gravely tone, “h-here”. He gave her a bouquet of… weeds, to be honest. They looked nice but they were still weeds with the roots and dirt still attached to them as well. His hand was shaking as he gave it to her, Moxxies hand’s shaking as well as she gently took them.

“Th-thank you s-sir” she said holding the flowers close to her. She didn’t know what to think, it was nice yes, but she was still confused. Why would he do this?

“You can call me Bolg… umm…” he clears his throat again, uncomfortable as he looks to the side of himself “w-what is your name again?”

“M-Moxxie” she responded with shakily, holding the weeds to her chest as Bolg nodded, he thought her name was amazing and gorgeous

“I’m afraid I must go now, it was lovely to meet you.. Moxxie” he left immediately after those words. He felt completely and utterly embarrassed and humiliated of himself. He kept his composure though as we walked back toward the mountain of Moria, not looking back for a second.

Moxxies stood there dumb founded as she looked down at the weeds. Why would he did this for her? She walked back to her trailer where she saw Dani and Penny there and opened the door of it, still looking at the weeds as the dirt from the roots dropped to the floor.

“And so basically- oh, hey Cameron!” Dani said as she looked at Moxxie then at the weeds in her hand “where did you get those?”

“Y-you know that one person I-I saw with Mari, Ana, a-and Dice?” Cameron Blake Stuttered out

“Yeah” Dani responded

“W-well he gave these to me when I was getting my popcorn”

“Well why did you take it in here?!” Penny interrupted “they’re probably poisoned or something” Penny instantly grabbed them and took them outside, then after a bit came back “good, now are you okay Cameron Blake?”

Moxxie nods her head yes as Penny instantly hugs her, then goes back to her vanity to put her make up back on. “How come you want tell Marianna about this again?”

“I don’t want to cause any trouble for the circus, y-you know this”

“Sorry I don’t want my GIRLFRIEND to get killed”

“W-we only have a few more days left here, nothing will probably happen, and I-if there is, I-I promise I’ll tell Marianna, okay?”

“Promise?” Dani and Penny collectively said

“Promise” Moxxie responded

Then with that all out of the way, Cameron Blake went to go sit in Dani’s lap as she began to munch on her popcorn as Penny and Dani continued to talk about whatever they were talking about earlier.

The End

__________________________________________

#the hobbit #Bolg #oc

[theshreedhar]

Love, life, loss and a cat

This is the story of Chotu. The love of my life. The light of my life. Born 17 Feb, 2012, she was 9 years, 4 months and 4 days old when she left this world on 21 June, 2021.

Chotu, as her name appropriately captures, was a small cat. She died of chronic kidney disease—apparently common in senior cats. We checked the size of her kidneys. They had become a little chotu too, just like her.

Slipping in

We didn’t adopt Chotu. She adopted us. People use this “we were adopted by insert pet’s name here” phrase quite often. But when I say it, I mean it quite literally. We didn’t pick her from a shelter or from the street. She was born in my building. Third floor. Much to the neighbours’ aghast. This is also how I know the exact date of her birth and also have a picture of her before she even opened her eyes for the first time.

Her mom, again appropriately named Motu, was a clever cat. She knew I had an affinity for cats, but others in my family (especially mom), not so much. I’d play with her. She’d scratch me at times. It was good.

Motu and I shared a secret. It was her secret, actually. I’d sleep late in the night, which is why she had to let me in on it.

We’d play during the day. Outside. But at night, when I was “studying” or doing whatever the hell I was, she’d slip into the house and below the table. And sleep a good night’s sleep. Before any of us woke up, she’d be gone.

This was good. This worked. For quite some time. But then, to her annoyance, she gave birth to Chotu. For a month or so, she was busy with her motherly duties and did away with the space of our home. But then she was back. With Chotu. I don’t remember how long this worked for Motu, but it wouldn’t be long before Chotu blew her secret. They were caught. By mom. You don’t want to be caught by mom.

There was hell. They were forbidden from coming in. The windows were to be shut. But, well, I was the one who stayed up. The authorities can make whatever the hell rules they like, it’s the men on the ground that implements them. I was the man on the ground. The cats kept coming in.

Until they were caught again. This time it was serious. Mom was not okay. Motu took the hint and stopped coming in. We settled on Chotu to be allowed in at night. I have no memory of how this happened. I don’t think I’d be able to convince mom to do this today. But Chotu always had an allure. Motu was cleverer. Sharper. But Chotu had the allure.

And that’s how Chotu adopted us. By being naive, not taking the hint, and continuing to come in where she wasn’t wanted (at least by the matriarch).

Acceptance

If you’ve got a pet, the essential thing to do is to get them neutered so that they can’t reproduce. If you don’t, one cat can become 10 in less than a year. And 10 cats can become 100 in two. It’s a no-brainer. Pet and stray animals alike must be neutered. It’s the only and most effective way to avoid suffering and death.

But to convince someone hell bent against neutering is impossible. Here again I was at loggerheads with mom. She didn’t want me to get Chotu (or any animal) operated upon.

But this was a non-negotiable for me. And she supposedly didn’t even care about her. Why would she care about this now? I was the decision maker. I called up a local NGO, didn’t tell anyone else, and off Chotu went. I told them only after she’d gone. Mom wasn’t happy. But it was okay—Chotu was to be back in a week.

But she didn’t turn up. I called them up. She’d apparently removed her stitches and had to be kept for longer. I called them up again after a week. Chotu was pulling out the stitches and not letting the incision heal, they said. And then again after a week.

Mom says she really enjoyed her motherhood. She always wanted to be a mother. I’ll never understand why. This is probably why she cried when Chotu wasn’t brought back. The thought of a disappearing motherhood along with fearing the worst. In her mind, she had assumed that the operation had failed, Chotu was gone, and they weren’t telling me. I had never for a second thought along those lines. But now I did. I cried too.

And then they called. Chotu’s incision had healed and they were bringing her back. We weren’t home, we’d all gone to Churchgate with the extended family for lunch. It goes without saying, I didn’t care about the lunch. I only wanted to get home.

Our neighbour Edith aunty collected Chotu. The first time I saw her it was magical. She sat on the window, quiet, in her classic rabbit-like poise. She had lost some weight, but it didn’t matter. A part of her ear was missing, but it didn’t matter. She was back, in full heart and soul. And she would never go away.

We brought her home. And it was then that I knew. Chotu was ours. And we were hers.

There were so many little things leading up to this moment that could alter what happened. And I don’t even mean the operation itself. Today most NGOs charge a fair amount for neutering surgeries. They’re a pricey procedure even at NGOs! I don’t know if I would’ve been able to pay to get her neutered. Whoever knows what would’ve happened then.

Cat things

Motu was a sharp and clever cat. I’ve said it before. Like a good mom, she once caught a pigeon for Chotu and herself to feast on. Chotu was intrigued. She was fascinated. I was seeing her from the window. She pawed the dead pigeon. A pigeon is a light, feathery animal. If you paw the body, it’s going to move. We know that. Chotu didn’t. That momentary movement and flutter of the dead pigeon absolutely terrified her. I knew then that she was a cat but not really.

She did a number of cat things. She loved climbing heights. Trees, cupboards, even doors.

Chotu also loved chasing pieces of thread. At least in her young years. A classic move that we played was to first entice her with a long rope, get her full attention, then turn it around her in circles a good few times. She’d spin! And be dizzy after that. She must’ve caught on, or just lost interest in threads, because we didn’t do this too many times. It’s one of our golden memories of her antics.

When you’ve got a little cat at home, there’s something already inside that’s absolutely terrified. No, no. Not rats. Chotu was no good with rats. It’s the furniture. Cats absolutely destroy furniture and upholstery.

Well, so did Chotu. But we stopped caring about it. We had to. We couldn’t buy her a dedicated scratch stand, our flat was too small for that (also we were on minimal expenses). I was and still am surprised how we just accepted that our furniture would have cat scratches and upholstery loose threads. I’m surprised but so, so happy. I’d much rather have my little girl’s happiness than a smooth sofa cover.

Today, we remember Chotu as a quiet, unfussy cat. Especially in the last few years, she was as undemanding as any cat could be. She’d ask for food, let us know when she wanted to go to the toilet (aka an imli tree in our building, which we’d take her to), and come back on her own. Earlier, she’d just slip in from the windows. As she grew older, she didn’t enjoy slipping in from the windows. Then she began knocking the doors! She would scratch at it, and the first time we were creeped out at the sound of it. But then we were amused and impressed. Every time. We had a cat who was not only ladylike enough to prefer doors over windows, she also knocked.

But she could get loud as hell when she wanted to. She could really scream. She sometimes did, at night. I’ve been awoken a few times. Didi many more times. Partially because I’m a deep sleeper, and also because she would care more than I would in the middle of the night.

MIAAOW MIAAAOW MIAAAAOWW.

It was lovely. Her voice was sweet like honey. Even when she screamed. I know I’m all emotional right now, so you probably won’t take it seriously. But she had the sweetest cat voice there could be. And extremely emotive. We’d know if she was distressed, or pleading, or hungry, or just confused. I can think of her miaowing and just break down.

But most satisfying was her presence. She would sit with us. Sleep with us. She loved our blankets, she loved our tummies. She would enjoy just being there. She loved people. Not so much other cats. She’d rest her chin on our arm and just fall asleep.

Disjoint reflections

Animals do not disappoint. They’re always there. With people, we’re always wary. We know things can go off rails. People mess up all the time. With Chotu, I was all in. She was the love of my life, and I don’t exaggerate when I say that. She was permanent, everything else was temporary. Because I knew she would never disappoint. Our love was infinite.

I sometimes joked that it was only our Chotu miaow that was normal in our household. All us humans were weird and dysfunctional. Chotu kept it all together. She was the only normal person. We would talk to her, smother her, just like a little human. She would have her occasional loud miaows to remind us of her felinity every now and then.

She was a charmer. Everyone that spent the least amount of time with her was smitten. Our house help loved her. Our relatives loved her. An uncle spent a week with her last year because everyone was away. He moved in to our place for a week just for her. He said she would greet him every time he came home. Like no one else had ever done.

One of the few scares that Chotu has given us was back in 2016. The day was Sunday. I was in Hyderabad and had gone for a hike. My friend and I were resting on a rock, when didi called me and told me that Chotu was missing. She was a semi outdoor cat and we never stopped her from stepping out whenever she wanted. She’d gone and not come back.

They searched for hours. They looked on roofs and on trees but couldn’t find her. All I could do was wait with my heart in my mouth. I thought of all the places where she could’ve gone, and somehow it struck me that we must check the neighbour’s house. He was rarely home. She may have slipped in.

Before I could call my sister and ask her to check, I got a call. It was her. Chotu was in the neighbour's house. The curious cat must’ve gone in and not known how to come back out. But she did know how to scream, nice and loud. I was so relieved.

Towards the end

Chotu was always a long-time picky eater. She ate well as a kitten, but as she grew older, her interest in eating waned.

When she was a kitten, I would bring a small packet of cat food for her and Motu. It would be over in 20 seconds flat. For some time after she was back from sterilisation, and we were in the process of “adopting” her, we still had no food for her. As vegetarians, we had little in common diet wise with Chotu. Which is why her food messiah was Edith. We’d give her some rice and she’d mix it with fish and that would be her food, twice a day.

One of the fondest memories I have of Chotu is of her screaming her lungs out when she heard Edith outside our door. Her voice was enough. So was the sound of her door grill. Chotu would be off! She’d meow like mad and insist on going out to eat. Edith would give her food and Chotu would come back home. Of course, we started giving her cat food later on.

While Chotu did have one phase of being a heavy cat, she was a lean cat for most of her life. She didn’t eat a whole lot, and we often had to really encourage her to eat. Beyond her first year as a kitten, she was always ladylike around food. We would never be worried about her helping herself with any of our food lying open and uncovered, ever.

When Chotu first began eating less, a couple of months ago, we weren’t particularly worried. She also had teeth problems, it was just something that we had to live with. For about a month, her diet was affected. She ate well for two days, and then not so much again. She ate for a week, and then again stopped eating entirely. She lost weight.

That first trip to the vet constituted nervousness and hope. The vet’s initial assessment was that her teeth were paining way too much, which is why she couldn’t eat. Her haemoglobin was low, too. Her teeth would need to be extracted, but her haemoglobin was low, which meant that the procedure would carry an increased risk. She gave us painkillers for Chotu.

It took three people to feed Chotu the painkiller. Mom held her. Didi spoke to her and petted her. I shot the syringe into her mouth. It took about an hour. But that night, she ate like she was a kitten. The feeling was glorious. The entire week, she ate like it was her first year on earth. My joy was boundless.

In these last weeks, my mood was directly proportional to how much food Chotu ate. The vet soon informed us that it wasn’t just her teeth but also her kidneys that were off. There’s no cure. We just had to hope.

The next time Chotu stopped eating, we took the call to get her teeth removed. If she wasn’t eating because of her teeth, it would make only sense to do so. She would have to be put under general anaesthesia and there was a risk that she wouldn’t wake up. Her kidneys were too weak. But the girl weathered it through! They extracted 22 teeth. We had to feed her through a tube that went through her nose into her stomach, initially. But in a few days, she ate normally again.

Until she didn’t. She ate for about four days, before again losing all interest in food. This time I knew that this was it. She didn’t eat a single morsel for an entire day, and she would be too weak if she didn’t for another. I took her to the vet to get a tube installed again. That weekend was the last time she ever ate any food through her mouth.

This was not the life we wanted Chotu to live. Feeding her through the time was an acceptable temporary arrangement, but that’s all it was supposed to be. There were a lot of tears and a lot of weeping, but we took the call of hoping that she ate again, but not installing the tube again (it had to be removed after about a week) if she didn’t. We were preparing for her to go.

The end

I like to think that Chotu’s last few days were as comfortable as possible. I’d take her to the park everyday. She’d perch on my shoulder (she loved perching on people’s shoulders, that was her comfort zone) and we’d walk to the park a 30 second walk away. Then we’d just sit there in the grass, with curious people every now and then asking about her tube and showering pity (always annoying).

As non fussy as Chotu was, she was really stubborn about where she sat and slept. If she liked someplace, she’d spend all her time there. And this place kept changing. It would change from chairs to sofa to bedroom to random corner. Around this time, her territory was the general hall area. I missed her sleeping alongside me so much.

I spent the last few nights sleeping on the floor in the hall. The first night, she perched on my leg while I slept. In the morning, she was sleeping next to my leg.

It was Monday. It was about time to remove her tube. I fed her through the tube around noon. Her body rejected it. She vomited it all out. She had also begun drooling her stomach acid. After a couple of hours, I tried feeding her again. She was emaciated. This time, the acid wouldn’t stop.

I knew it was time.

Mom and I bawled while she readied herself to go. We bawled even though we knew that it was coming. Even if we had expected only a few days more with her.

I told Chotu we loved her. We would always love her. I held her paw and pet her in her favourite place below her neck. She stretched her neck in pleasure even while she was dying.

Chotu was the unfussiest of cats. But like I said, once she chose a spot she chose a spot. For her departure, she chose the loneliest, most inaccessible corner of the house, below the granite platform in front of the window, blocked by a potted plant. She’d never even stepped there before until two days ago.

And then she was gone. She breathed a few heavy breaths. I could hear them. She left with her eyes open. I let her know I loved her for the last time.

Just us

The most significant transformation that Chotu brought about was in mom. I remember one fight that we had had when Chotu was just a kitten, pre-sterilisation. Mom was disgusted by the idea of having a cat home and once ended up almost kicking Chotu when she came in her way.

“How could you do this to such a little being?”

“She shouldn’t be here in the first place. Get her out!”

As life does, mom spent the most time with Chotu than any of us. Sis would be at work. I was in Hyderabad. When I was away and mom told me she missed me, I’d ask her to go pet Chotu instead. She really would. Chotu and mom were secret buddies. They hung out together and alone.

When Chotu was first diagnosed with kidney disease, mom cried before any of us. When we took the risk of putting Chotu through surgery to extract her teeth, mom cried before I did. When Chotu was in her last moments, mom was there, crying, and praying.

Chotu was the invisible binder of our house. It didn’t matter if we had an altercation, if Chotu needed something, we had to work with each other to help her get it.

Mom is also probably the fastest to get over Chotu. She has her way of dealing with these things. Didi and I are going to take some more time. She was our little sister.

You know how in some movies, all the dead characters come back to life in the last scene, and they’re all happy and jolly? I’ve been imagining Chotu like that at times. Just laughing and meowing and running. Living life as she did. Oblivious of it all.

If only I could be awoken by her miaowing in the middle of the night again. One last time.

#chotu #cat #life and death #love

[kurowrites]

That Cursed Broken Heart - Chapter 6

Previous parts. AO3.

I guess this is the final part...

---

“Lan Zhan, will you stop pouting already?”

“Am not,” Lan Zhan insists, but it’s said so sulkily that Wei Ying cannot help but laugh and bump their shoulders together in mirth.

“You are! You are soooo grumpy right now. It’s not like I said I’ll never do it.”

Lan Zhan sighs and uses Wei Ying’s hand in his as leverage to pull Wei Ying back to his side as Wei Ying moves away.

They’ve been walking through this park, looking at the blossoming flowers for about thirty minutes now. It’s a popular spot at this time of the year; the park is renowned for its scenic views and well-maintained flower garden. But while they enjoy the sunlight and the lovely smell of flowers, they ignore the other visitors and are mostly absorbed in their own little world, discussing the future of their relationship.

Lan Zhan has been very insistent on going on regular dates, making plans to go to different restaurants and museums and parks; all the places he knows Wei Ying likes. Even the ones Lan Zhan himself doesn’t particularly like – at which point Wei Ying had to tell him that this works both ways, and bought tickets to a concert he never would’ve gone to on his own. It reminds Wei Ying a lot of the dates they went on when they first started dating in university, which is simultaneously very cute and extremely nerve-wracking. It makes Wei Ying think of the past, and all the things the future might bring.

Unlike their university-era counterparts, they are discussing the future of their relationship now. Today, the discussion has turned towards a topic that’s quickly becoming their favourite: Moving in together. Lan Zhan is very much in favour of it. Wei Ying… Wei Ying is nervous about it.

Now that he knows how seriously Lan Zhan takes this relationship, he knows what it means when they move in together. It won’t just be about staying together. It will be a first commitment on their path to marriage. Lan Zhan doesn’t say so, not in words, and he also never makes marriage a condition of their continued relationship, but Wei Ying knows now that it is what Lan Zhan ultimately wishes for. What he hopes Wei Ying will wish for too, one day.

Wei Ying doesn’t have any concerns about getting married as such. Oh no, quite to the contrary. The sheer thought of getting married to Lan Zhan, having Lan Zhan committed to him for the rest of their lives, it makes him all shivery and excited. To think that he would be the one that gets to keep Lan Zhan forever – oh, he can’t bear the thought! It’s too much! He might not make it to the actual marriage ceremony because the excitement will probably get him before that. The thought of marrying Lan Zhan makes him want to die because he simply cannot contain all these feelings in his body. He’s going to burst, and it will be ugly.  

But there’s more to be considered than idle daydreams of sharing a marriage bed and eating breakfast together for the rest of their lives. If he commits to Lan Zhan fully, if he moves in with him, he needs to be sure that this is it. That he won’t fall back into old patterns of behaviour, and that he too can provide for Lan Zhan. That their relationship is solid before they take that next step.

If he moved in only for it to end in disaster, he couldn’t take that. So he wants to keep living on his own for a little longer. Get his sea legs first, so to speak.

“Is it my uncle?” Lan Zhan asks quietly. “I know he was not entirely welcoming to you. I have talked to him many times. He knows I will not give you up. He has given me his word not to interfere again.”

That makes Wei Ying sigh, too. Facing Lan Qiren had been… not high on his list of priorities. But Lan Zhan insisted on a talk, determined to resolve the issue once and for all. And then proceeded to basically strong-arm Lan Qiren into giving his consent and support for their relationship. Wei Ying has to confess, he still starts giggling whenever he thinks about how quickly Lan Qiren caved when Lan Zhan bluntly leveraged his potential grandchildren. Apparently, Wei Ying is less of an evil than the certainty of never having grandchildren (blood-related or not). And so, Lan Qiren gave his blessing – reluctantly and not very graciously, but he gave it. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan are officially a couple again, but now with the label ‘SERIOUS’ attached in big letters.

(Oh, how pissed Jiang Cheng is about that. He is still trying to escape from the well-meaning matchmaking attempts of his aunties and he is not happy.)

They are on the same page, this time. But…

“No. Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying says. “I won’t say your uncle isn’t… uh. Well. You know. But… we probably should give it some time. After all that has happened.”

Lan Zhan is silent for a moment, clearly processing Wei Ying’s words.

“Is it so wrong to want to wake up next to you as often as I can?”

Wei Ying stumbles, but Lan Zhan’s free hand is already there, keeping him upright.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Yin exclaims. “You can’t just say things like that! It’s dangerous!”

Instead of answering, Lan Zhan reels him in and presses a kiss to his forehead. Wei Ying closes his eyes. It’s nice to have Lan Zhan so close, once again. His warmth, his smell, his gentle gestures. The way Wei Ying feels when Lan Zhan holds him. Wei Ying missed it all so much.

“We lost a lot of time,” Lan Zhan replies. “You cannot blame me for wanting to be selfish for once.”

He presses Wei Ying tightly to his side and begins walking again, staring off somewhere into the distance, the beauty of the flowers around him lost to his eyes. Wei Ying waits silently, because he gets the feeling that Lan Zhan is trying to say something.

“When you left, I thought it was right for me to practice self-denial,” Lan Zhan starts. “That it was… noble. Now that you are here, now that I know how you felt when you left, I regret it. I do not want to lose you again. We do not know how much time we have been given. I cannot help but feel… impatient.”

Wei Ying feels himself break out into a smile. He lets his head drop onto Lan Zhan’s shoulder, feeling light and happy.

“Lan Zhan, ah, Lan Zhan,” he sighs. “If you keep this up, you will soon be rid of me. My heart can’t take it. Do you really want to kill your husband before you manage to actually marry him?”

“Nn,” says Lan Zhan, and squeezes Wei Ying tight.

Wei Ying laughs. “You see, not ideal. However, since I’m a very smart man and also a considerate boyfriend, I suggest… a compromise.” He grins up at Lan Zhan, a little proud of himself. “I will keep my current apartment and keep living there… but I’ll stay with you during the weekends. How do you like that, Lan Zhan? You can ply me with food and lazy mornings, and maybe one day I’ll decide I don’t reaaaally want to go home, and–”

He doesn’t get any further than that, because Lan Zhan reels him in and kisses him enthusiastically, not caring about the audience around them. Wei Ying is fine with that. He’s really, really fine with Lan Zhan’s enthusiastic response to Wei Ying’s hint that he’s willing to work on the idea of moving in together, and he’s really, really, really fine with Lan Zhan’s determined focus on convincing Wei Ying that this relationship is worth it.

He feels a little bad about making someone as calm and collected as Lan Zhan feel impatient and out of control. After all, it’s Wei Ying that caused it. But it’s also a huge relief for Wei Ying – to know that Lan Zhan has no doubts about being with Wei Ying. That he wants it, even if he has to work for it. That he wants to stay with Wei Ying. Forever, preferably. It’s a huge weight off Wei Ying’s shoulders, to be able to depend on Lan Zhan’s feelings so much.

He wants to be able to give Lan Zhan the same sense of security. He hopes that day will come soon.

“Mmmh, Lan Zhan,” he murmurs against Lan Zhan’s lips, once Lan Zhan lets him breathe again. “I want breakfast in bed. Do you think I deserve some breakfast in bed? Because I think I do.”

There’s a certain glint in Lan Zhan’s eyes that sparks something deep in Wei Ying’s belly, something hot and electrifying. He knows that look. Has craved for that look to return.

And he knows that Lan Zhan will probably convince him to move in full-time before long.

He doesn’t think he’ll mind losing that battle.

“Take me home,” he says, placing another hot kiss on Lan Zhan’s lips, on his cheeks. “I think I’ve had enough of parks and flowers for today.”

He reaches out and traces Lan Zhan’s cheekbone with his finger.

“I just want a cup of tea, and Lan Zhan all to myself. I guess it’s fine, to be selfish for once.”

The next moment, he’s whisked away, before he even has time to laugh.

---

The next morning, a key appears among Wei Ying’s things.

On the keychain is a metal figure of a white rabbit, sitting patiently.

(Wei Ying isn’t going to give that one back.)

#kuro writes #the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #mdzs #broken heart fic

[myheadinthecloudsnotcomingdown]

Hi!! So I’m a really big fan of both your quirkless!izuku fics and was wondering if you had any recommendations for similar stories? I dont have a preference for either villain or hero Izuku, or any particular pairing, I’m just looking for well written multi-chapter fix’s to see me through the apocalypse.

So, I have taken this ask as a challenge!

Quirkless Apocalypse (Over 50,000 words)

*WIP

Sorry most of these are WIPs, but I just went through my bookmarks and picked out some of my favorites. 

Entropy*

Maybe it was All Might's betrayal that finally broke him. Maybe it was the torment from his friends, day in and day out, or the crushing weight of society's collective dismissal of his existence. The reason isn't important anymore- only the consequences. Two years after he and three other students vanished from U.A., Midoriya Izuku is the leader of the fastest-growing group of villains in Japan, and no one is left to stand in his way- no one aside from All Might's successor, the next Symbol of Peace.

All orderly systems descend into chaos. No one is immune to entropy, heroes least of all.

One of my favorite villain fics, basically Izuku becoming worse than the league of villains ever was. 

Four Makes One Team*

“Kacchan,” Izuku said, getting the attention of the boy beside him. “What if I don’t want to be a hero?”

Izuku spoke as if he was setting the world on fire. As if he’d broken time in half and let the fabric of the universe collapse like a folding chair.

Katsuki twitched. “Then what else do you want to be?” There was a tinge of anger in Katsuki’s words, the hint of a shout tipping each consonant.

“Well,” Izuku scratched his neck, eyes locked on the stars attached to the ceiling that shown an odd neon yellow in the afternoon light. “Well, what if I wanted to help heroes or something instead.”

(Where Izuku decides he wants to be hero support, learns computer code, and digs way to deep into a villain case all for the sake of teamwork.)

Basically, Izuku and Katsuki meet some other canon characters as kids and basically become genius vigilantes.

Subject: A Comprehensive Report*

Izuku decides early on that heroics is not the only path to heroism.

I did not know that I needed parental Nighteye, but I definitely did. 

Finding Abandoned Hope*

Nothing in life was fair. Some people just had more luck than others. Midoriya Izuku was not one of those people. He learned that the hard way.

Not everyone gets good quirks. Not every quirk is accepted by people. This was a cruel and unforgiving world and Shinso Hitoshi knew that quite well.

Together, maybe they can have the life they both want.

Runaways, Vigilantes, Dadzawa. What else could you ask for?

Ripples on Deep Water*

Midoriya Izuku didn’t expect much from life. He knew it expected everything of him, and he was always trying to rise up and meet that challenge.Except for one little mutation in his genes that made all the difference.Except for one little change in the route home after a pretty depressing day.Or:When All Might crushes Izuku’s dreams, he crosses the path of someone who rebuilds them. Izuku’s going to be a hero... even if it won’t be exactly as planned.Or:How the tiniest wingbeat of a butterfly over the still ocean brings tsunamis to distant lands.

Izuku meets Mei at the right moment and basically keeps his dream alive. Support!Deku with an eye toward the hero course. 

Black Rabbit*

For most people, waking up in the secret base of one of Japan's most wanted vigilantes would probably be terrifying. For Shouto Todoroki it ends up being first stroke of luck he's ever had. Black Rabbit is nothing like the rumors and ends up being his first real friend. For once in his life Todoroki feels like someone actually cares about and supports him, Black rabbit going as far as to get him a new identity so he wouldn't have to go back to Endeavor. It also helps that, on top of being the embodiment of sunshine personality wise, under the mask Black Rabbit is the gosh darn cutest boy Todoroki has ever laid eyes on.

Izuku Midoriya is the vigilante known as Black Rabbit. Pros all over Japan have tried to catch him but all have failed. Nothing is known about him and he's been doing this for years, living in his secret base alone. He never had a friend until he rescued Todoroki. It's a relief and a blessing to finally have someone who knows him out of the mask and likes him as a person. There's a personal connection and closeness between them that he's never had before and he'll follow it as far as it takes him.

Now if they can only keep their respective identities a secret while attending UA

Vigilante!Deku with a healthy helping of Dadzawa and some sweet TodoDeku on the side. 

Who said the only thing green about him is his hair?*

All Might isn't able to get away from the reporters after saving Bakugou and Midoriya during the sludge incident.

Midoriya Izuku, without motivation, Bakugou's words of suicide ringing through his head. He makes a decision, something that wouldn't ruin Bakuguou's chances of becoming a hero, something where he could get away from everything that was hurting.

Izuku decides to run away. Impulsive and hasty, desperate and in shock, he decides that running away and surviving would hurt less than any other option when reality hits him full force.

Runaway!Deku, enough said.

Swan Dive*

The Slime Villain Incident, and the events leading up to it happen one year earlier. Izuku, broken and lost in the face of All Might's words, decides to take Kacchan's advice. But a familiar Underground Hero won't let a young life end so quickly. How will a simple right-place-right time scenario change things?

OR:

Aizawa Shouta saves the life of Midoriya Izuku and finds himself with a new apprentice and surrounded by a quickly growing family circle. What has he gotten himself into? Heavy Dadzawa and Dadmic. Auntie Nemuri and eventual redeemed Bakugo.

The sweetness! The trauma! This fic will definitely punch you in the heart in more ways than one. 

I’m Here*

What if All Might never dropped that bottle...? There was never a chance to prove himself. Midoriya never became a hero. Take a dive off the roof of the building, that's what Bakugo wanted, right? But a stranger stops him and gives him a new dream for the future. A boy's descent into madness and obsession but not without finding a family amongst a number of misfits. To kill some major league heroes. It's all they want to do and change society. What's the cost?

Insane!Villain!Deku. Literal chills, seriously. It definatly gets dark, so be ready for that. Also the league of villains as family and obsessive TodoDeku. 

I’m Doing This For Them*

Izuku always wanted to be a hero, but without a quirk almost everyone he met said that was impossible, but Izuku's stubborn and he never took no for an answer. So he decides to take his dream into his own hands and do the impossible. Even if he can't legally become a hero what's to stop him from doing it illegally?

A lie-detecting detective, a purple-haired kid, and an insomniac pro hero, that's who.

Or

Izuku decides to try his luck at becoming a vigilante and subsequently annoys the shit out of everyone he meets.

Sassy Viligante!Deku, EraserMic with Shinso, basically so much family!

The Yakuza isn’t that bad*

After Izuku was told by his idol that he can't be a hero without a quirk, he realized something. This world, where the quirked do whatever they want, and the quirkless are treated as less than human, is flawed. And what better way to repair a flawed world than returning it to when it wasn't?

Do you want Mafia!Deku? Very unique fic about Izuku taking over Overhaul’s operation (don’t worry about Eri, she’ll be fine) and pursuing a quirkless world.

Independence*

All Might is the number one hero, and has a beautiful wife, they are a beautiful, loving family. What no one knows is they have a quirkless son. When telling he him he can’t be a hero, Midoriya Izuku takes fate into his own hands, and tries to warn his parents he isn’t going to listen is the silliest of ways. He is still planning to be the best hero, even if he has to tear apart the society norms around him.

Bad bio-dadmight. Izuku is basically running on sheer spite at this point and it’s working. 

Nii-Chan! Nii-Chan!*

Aizawa Shouta is a teen who lives by the rules of logic and rationality, in his second year of Yuuei. When his parents kick him out when discovering he has a boyfriend, he finds himself alone on the street.

Midoriya Inko lives in a small flat with her young and only son after her ex-husband ran learning she was pregnant. With Mother and Son sharing a huge heart with un-measurable amounts of love, they find and help Aizawa.

With a new Mom and a little Brother, Aizawa finally has a family to be proud of.

How much found family can we incorporate into one story? The answer is a lot more than you’d think. Basically once Izuku adopts someone, they are family. Lots of fluff. 

Erased Potential*

Midoriya Izuku, determined to become a hero before ever meeting All Might, looks for another way. He might not have a quirk, but that can’t be all that being a hero is about. He has the intelligence, the drive, the determination. All he needs now is to know how to use it. Enter Aizawa Shouta.

Pretty much my favorite Dadzawa fic. 

Net Neutrality (series)

I feel like this should be included even if each fic isn’t over 50,000 words. Info Broker!Deku and Vigilante!Deku with Eri getting the love she deserves. This inspired some parts of Mastermind, actually. 

One-Choice: Vigilante*

Time is a funny thing, the way even a single choice can change the world forever. Every single choice can turn the course of fate in unexpected directions.

Midoriya Izuku always wanted to be a hero. Ever since he was a child, he wanted to be someone who saves other with a fearless smile. But when his world comes crashing down around him, when even the tiniest spark of hope is crashed, what would he do?

This entire series is really good. It’s basically another take on what I’m doing with my For the Want of a Nail series. 

Secondary Colors*

"You got pushed down the stairs... and you're apologizing for it," he stated blandly. "That seems counterintuitive.""Um... sorry?" Izuku whispered. He was starting to shake a little, adrenaline flooding his veins and leaving him cold. He had no idea what Purple was going for with his blunt statements and the hand reaching toward his shoulder as if to steady him, but apologizing was generally safe."You don't have to apologize, dude. I don't know your name, but I doubt it's actually Deku.""Um. Midoriya." Izuku peered sideways at Purple as they rounded the corner. "Izuku Midoriya. Deku is just, um, just what my... friends call me." He winced."Sounds real friendly."

Izuku and Shinso are best friends with a lot of Dadzawa and Dadmic.

Pied Piper*

If they wouldn’t give him a chance then the solution seemed simple, he’d give himself one. He’d force the world to see him, force them to recognize his hard work. He wasn’t missing a quirk, it was simply that everyone else had been given an advantage. He wasn’t broken, or useless, or incapable, and he’d prove it by outrunning all of them, he who was quirkless, he who had started in last.

One of my favorite Vigilante!Deku fics, hands down. Izuku is an absolute mad lad in this. 

We Don’t Need No Fuckin’ Heroes* 

Almost half a year before Izuku's fated meeting with the Slime Villain, our protagonist finds himself running away from his fears.But instead of letting his fears overtake him and drag him back down to the darkness where they think he belongs, he finds friendship in the most unusual places and with the help of his friends they all claw their way up into the light where they want to be and where they truly belong.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Izuku met Dabi and Toga before they could join the league of villains? Amazing Vigilante!Deku

Detective Midoriya*

After the sludge incident, Izuku Midoriya's dream was officially crushed. However, a later experience takes the boy in a new direction. Izuku had never really contemplated being a detective, but his whole life he'd only ever wanted to help people with a smile on his face. Thanks to some luck and an entire police station, Izuku's dream is reborn.

Izuku joins the police force and basically proves that he’s as amazing as we all know he is. 

There is No Such Thing as Competely Forgiven

Deku doesn't become a hero, though he might be considered one to people that have been rejected by society. He can be petty, twisted, and is loyal to a fault. That hardly makes him evil. No, he just knows the worlds got to change and he can't do that from a side that praises people like Bakagou Katsuki and All Might. He also would love nothing better than to get even with a few people that ruined his life...

Katsuki knows that he is the reason that Deku is dead. He just can hope one day he can forgive himself and that others can as well for the role he played in it. He needs to make the world a better place, one that Izuku would have wanted. He needs to be a hero that does more than punch villains in the face. But its really hard to be a needed change when he can't trust most of his own decisions are the right ones.

One of my favorite villian!Deku fics of all time, mostly because of the found family stuff it’s got going on with the league. It’s also got a sequel if you want more. 

A Deadman’s Gun

“I—“ Izuku hesitated, gaping wordlessly, before admitting softly. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to go home. There’s nothing for me, there.”

“So you filled this hole by playing detective— And how long is that going to last, I wonder?” Stain replied, still massaging his chin. “But you— You have potential.”

Izuku blinked at Stain’s chest, before looking up. “Excuse me?”

“What a waste would it be, to let you become a red splatter on the sidewalk.” Stain continued, almost contemplating. “No. No, kid, what you need is a new purpose. Your old one is gone? Well, time to get off your ass and find something else—“

Ok, there need to be more parental Stain fics in this fandom, because this is absolutely amazing!

Hero Class Civil Warfare

Heroes lead by Bakugo.Villains lead by Midoriya.Seven days prep time.Three days for Izuku Midoriya to show why they should be glad he's not a real villain.

Ok! Ok! I know this isn’t Quirkless!Deku but I have to include it because it’s a classic and it’s pretty similar to my fics, so I know you’ll love it anyway. It focuses on Izuku’s intelligence rather than his quirk. 

#fic recs #ask #quarentine #long fics #quirkless izuku #my favorites

[tiramisiyu]

【未定事件簿】 Tears of Themis: 【夏彦拜访剧情】 Xia Yan’s Personal Story 1-4 Translation

Translated parts: Xia Yan’s Visit Chapter 1: 1-1 / 1-3 / 1-4 / 1-6 / 1-7 / 1-9 / 1-10 / 1-11 / 1-12 / 1-13 Translation Masterlist: here

Video: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1fA411J7cW?p=3

A quick explanation of how this feature works is that each boy has their own section that you can “Visit”! Part of it is like MLQC’s GSH feature, where you can talk to the boys (with Live2D!) and raise intimacy by interacting with them. The other part of it is a storyline that centers on the MC running around with the respective boy to deal with a certain case or situation.

Commerce Street

MC: Are you sure it’s here?

Xia Yan: Of course I’m sure.

--

[Flashback]

After Xia Yan looked at the message that Sphinx sent to me, he arrived at the answer very quickly.

Xia Yan: A likeliness that symbolizes “justice” – one is the mythical beast Xiezhi*; another is the goddess of justice, Themis.

Xia Yan: The riddle uses “her”, so we can directly exclude the possibility of it being the mythical beast.

MC: But if it is Themis, then “her gaze” doesn’t make sense.

MC: Goddess Themis’s eyes are blindfolded. The motto of law, “Order is the cloth that blindfolds justice” came from this.

Xia Yan: But Themis wasn’t born in the heavens as blind. Not all the likelinesses will have a blindfold…

Xia Yan: I’ve got it! Come with me!

[Flashback end]

--

Xia Yan: Look over there.

I looked towards the direction Xia Yan was pointing. There was a sculpted fountain of the twelve Titans of ancient Greek mythology.

At the 8-o-clock position on the fountain, there was a statue of an unblindfolded Themis.

MC: The fountain in the middle of this street is so small – most people wouldn’t notice the statues on the fountain. How did you think of it?

Xia Yan: There aren’t that many statues of Themis in Stellis City, and only this one doesn’t have a blindfold.

Xia Yan: Plus, have you forgotten – we came here to play when we were young. You even dropped your new hairclip in the fountain, and it was me who grabbed it out for you.

MC: I even did this kind of thing when I was a kid, huh… I really can’t imagine it now.

Xia Yan: That time, you cried so miserably that uncle told us the story of the twelve Titans to soothe you.

MC: Dad really is too much – he actually left it to you to grab the hairclip. Mom must have gotten mad at him.

Xia Yan: I move pretty fast, after all – by the time uncle and auntie noticed you were crying, I had already grabbed the hairclip back.

Xia Yan: In fact, I feel like I was pretty lucky.

Xia Yan: Though my parents departed early, I was fostered at your home. The parental love and warmth of home that I got was no less than any other kid.

Xia Yan: The most important is that I could accompany you in growing up.

Xia Yan’s words made a bit of inexplicable fluster flash in my heart. I subconsciously turned the words back to him.

MC: My mother and your mother were best friends, after all, so this is what we should have done. Let’s stop talking about this – we should go to the place that the riddle points toward.

Xia Yan: Following the gaze of goddess Themis… there, Libra Bookstore.

MC: The heavenly scales also have meanings of fairness and justice. Our lawyer’s badge is the “Thorned Heavenly Scales”. The riddle must definitely be hinting to this place!

Bookstore

MC: Uh… so what should we do now? Look for the wooden box?

Xia Yan: The total floor area of this bookstore is over 5000 square meters. If we rely on just us two to look for the wood box…

Xia Yan hadn’t finished speaking when his phone sounded.

Xia Yan: It’s a new message from Sphinx.

Xia Yan: “Help me send my greetings to that group of rabbits from Pisa, and invite them to sing one line from “O Sole Mio”** for me.”

Xia Yan suddenly put down his phone and looked all around, vigilantly looking over every person who walked past us. 

Xia Yan: We just got to the bookstore when he sent the message. Could it be that he’s following us?

Xia Yan: I didn’t notice anyone suspicious within sight… could he have gotten into the monitor system?

MC: Right now, we don’t know what his physical characteristics consist of. Even if he’s right in front of our eyes, we wouldn’t be able to recognize him.

Xia Yan: Oh well, let’s look at the riddle first.

I returned my attention to the riddle, missing the fleeting sharpness in Xia Yan’s eyes.

MC: I know “O Sole Mio” – it’s a very famous Italian song. But what does this have to do with rabbits?

MC: Plus, “O Sole Mio” was written in Naples, not in Pisa.

Xia Yan: Pisa… rabbit…

Xia Yan: I got it, it’s the Fibonacci Sequence!

MC: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21… starting on the third number, each number is the sum of the prior two numbers.

MC: I know about this number sequence, but how did you think of it using “Pisa” with “rabbit”?

Xia Yan: At the very beginning, the Fibonacci Sequence was drawn from the example of how rabbits breed, so it was also called the “Rabbit Sequence”. 

Xia Yan: “Pisa” thus points to the researcher of this numerical sequence, Leonardo Fibonacci. He was also called Leonardo of Pisa.

MC: So it’s like this. If so…

>The riddle’s answer is related to number-related books (incorrect)

>Suggest that changing the sequence of numbers is the essential part to solving the riddle

MC: The answer to the riddle should have something to do with number-related books, right?

I checked the bookstore’s shop map.

MC: The number-related books are all on the third floor. How about we go up and look?

Xia Yan: That’s not right; the latter half of the riddle says, “invite them to sing one line from “O Sole Mio” for me.” This should be hinting that we need to make changes on the sequence.

Xia Yan: I speculate that the answer of the riddle isn’t a book – instead, it’s a set of numbers.

>The riddle’s answer is related to the electronic books 

>Suggest that changing the sequence of numbers is the essential part to solving the riddle

MC: The riddle also has a second half, saying “invite them to sing one line from “O Sole Mio” for me”…

MC: Could this be hinting at us that we need to make changes on the sequence?

Xia Yan: I’m thinking in the same way as you. The way to change the sequence is hidden in the song verse.

Xia Yan: The answer to this riddle should be a string of numbers.

--

TL Notes:

*Xiezhi are found in East Asian mythology.

** “My Sun”. 

#tot translation #tears of themis #weiding shijian bu #xia yan #未定事件簿 #夏彦 #夏彦拜访剧情

[pug-bitch]

That’s not why I’m staying (3)

I like a protective brother

Book: The Royal Romance, Book 2

Pairing: Drake Walker x Amara Suarez

Rating: some foul language, some extremely suggestive, and a VERY steamy scene right at the beginning. This is absolutely NOT appropriate for people under 18.

Word count: about 4,600

Notes: This picks up pretty much where we left off, after the gang’s night out, starting with Amara’s POV.

*****

Amara throws her purse on the bed, and takes a very deep breath. ‘What an awesome night,’ she whispers.

Drake smiles at her and sits on the comforter. ‘You must be exhausted,’ he says.

She smiles and runs a hand through his hair, straddling him. ‘Not at all,’ she whispers. His smile becomes more mischievous as she starts unbuttoning his shirt. She adds, ‘I’m pretty fucking awake.’

Their lips crash together and their bodies cling to one another, not even giving each other the time to undress. She sits on his lap, facing him, his growing erection pressed against her. Drake’s hands roam up on her back, under her light yellow top, until they find her bra. He expertly unhooks it with one hand, which draws a low, unexpected groan from Amara. He pulls her top over her head and throws her bra across the room as swiftly as humanly possible, and she catches herself thinking, what did I do to deserve this sexy man?

She gets up and quickly takes of the rest of her clothes, as Drake takes off his pants too. Amara takes back her position, straddling him. He moans. ‘Fuck, babe, you’re so sexy.’ He kisses her neck and nips at her earlobe. She kisses him again, deeper and deeper, and grinds him until he’s about to burst out of his boxers. With one hand, she frees his throbbing cock from its fabric prison, and Drake groans in her ear. ‘I want you so fucking badly,’ he whispers.

His cock teases her entrance, although she can tell he’s dying to be inside her. She feels herself getting wetter and wetter, she can barely control herself as Drake’s mouth lands on each of her nipples and kisses them, licks them. She moans louder and bucks her hips, ready and eager for more. ‘Fuck me,’ she whispers.

Drake obliges, slowly and deeply. When the tip of his cock enters her, she lets out a low groan, and tugs on his hair a little harder. She wants to take him all in, she wants them to be as close as possible, always.

As they move together, she breaks their kiss for a second, just the time to say to him, ‘I love you.’

Breathlessly, he responds, ‘I love you too.’

*****

Drake pours himself another cup of coffee, before joining Maxwell on the patio. ‘Hey Max,’ he says.

Maxwell looks up from his book and smiles brightly. ‘Hey Drake. What are you up to?’

‘Not much, I’m waiting for Michael and Amara to be done with their call, and then I’m taking Mike on a tour of Ramsford. You?’

Maxwell pats his stomach. ‘Trying to relax and get over the magnificent lunch you made us. I can barely move.’ He gestures towards Hana, who’s doing laps in the pool. ‘Look at this one. She gleefully ignores the ‘wait 30 minutes after lunch before you swim’ rule.’

Drake chuckles. ‘Glad you enjoyed lunch. How is life?’

Maxwell laughs. ‘What do you mean, ‘how is life?’ We’ve been spending so much time together, you know exactly how my life has been. Amazing, surrounded by my friends, old and new. Plus, I got a new goat.’

‘Ah, right, the magnificent B-Coops.’

Maxwell smiles a bit brighter. ‘The most beautiful man in the world.’

Drake shakes his head. ‘You guys are nuts. But that’s not what I meant. You’ve been spending a lot of time and energy helping Michael and Amara mend their relationship, and helping Mike adjust. You’re a good friend, Max. I thought I’d ask how you’re doing, you know.’ He runs his hand through his hair. ‘You take care of others. I wanted to make sure you were ok.’

Maxwell sits up and closes his book. ‘Drake Reginald Walker—‘

‘Not my middle name,’ Drake interrupts.

Maxwell waves him off. ‘Your middle name will be the name I give you, my friend. Drake Reginald Walker, are you —gasp!— worried about my well-being?’

Drake laughs at Max’s theatrics. ‘Yeah, maybe, if you insist on putting it this way. You’ve been incredible with Amara. And with Michael. I wanna make sure someone’s taking care of you, too.’

Drake detects a hint of a blush on Max’s face, but doesn’t pry. Maxwell pauses and responds, ‘Thank you, friend, this means a lot. Well yeah, I’m having a good time, enjoying everyone’s company.’

‘You just came out to court. It would probably be normal if you had some, I don’t know, insecurities or whatever,’ Drake continues.

Maxwell looks in the distance before responding. ‘I really appreciate you checking in with me. You’re right, I need to take a minute once in a while to make sure I’m doing ok. So far, so good. I’m surrounded with so many amazing people, I know I’ll be ok.’

Drake smiles. ‘Do you want to join me and Mike on our tour? It’s your duchy, after all.’

Maxwell shakes his head. ‘No, no. Please enjoy your bonding moment with your future brother-in-law. I’ve spent a lot of time with him, and I can tell the two of you will get along great. He’s just like you, no-bullshit, straight-to-the point and all of that. You’ll have a great time.’

Drake smiles mischievously. ‘Been enjoying his company, Maxxie?’

Max snorts. ‘I don’t know what this is supposed to mean, but let me answer that honestly. Yes. He’s a great guy, and he deserves to have people around him, helping him grieve and take back his life.’

Drake throws his hands up in defeat. ‘True. Can’t argue with that.’ He looks to the house. ‘Oh, here they come.’

Drake’s heart tugs when he sees Amara. As usual. She’s coming out of the house, laughing with Michael. She is wearing denim shorts and a white T-shirt, simple as can be, but on her, everything is fucking enchanting. God, he loves her.

‘Hey babes,’ Amara yells out to Drake, Max, and Hana, who waves from the pool. ‘How is it going?’

Drake holds out his hands, and Amara goes right to him to sit on his lap. Drake knows they must look cheesy and cutesy from the outside, but he doesn’t give a fuck. ‘How was the call with your family?’

Amara kisses his forehead. ‘Oh, you wouldn’t believe how chatty Callie is, right Michael? The girl cannot be stopped, I love it.’

Michael chuckles. ‘Yeah, she was so excited to see me AND Auntie Amara together, she proceeded to show off every single one of her stuffed animals, and to introduce them, first and last names included. Took a while.’

They chat about the Suarezes for a while, Amara telling stories about her dad and technology.

Michael looks at Drake and asks, ‘You wanna go? I can’t wait to see more beautiful landscapes.’

Drake nods and kisses Amara deeply. ‘See you later, babe. Max, be good, and don’t buy another actor from the Hangover franchise. I can’t handle a cow named Ed Helms.’

Max gasps. ‘OMG. That is a genius idea, Drake, thank you.’ He mutters to Amara. ‘OR we could buy an angora rabbit and name him Zach Galifianakis. What do you think?’

Amara nods. ‘Yes. But think about poor Justin Bartha. Abandoned on the roof, then no one thinks of naming an animal after him.’

Drake chuckles and gets up. ‘Alright. Let’s go, Mike. I’m very scared of what we’re gonna find when we get back.’

*****

‘See that building over there?’ Drake points as he slows down. ‘This is the oldest restaurant in Ramsford. Been there since the 15th century.’

‘Wow, that is impressive!’ Michael replies. ‘This old town is so gorgeous.’

Drake smiles. ‘Alright, ready to go off roading? We can drive from here to the beach, scenic route only.’

‘Sounds great!’ Michael pauses and takes in the scenery. ‘So, Drake...I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to ask you what your intentions are with Amara.’

Drake chuckles. ‘Go for it. I think I can handle it. Besides, I like a protective brother, I’m one myself.’ He stops himself and remembers that he only has to wait a couple more weeks until he sees his little sister.

‘Ok, here we go,’ Michael says as he pretends to hold an imaginary microphone. ‘Drake Walker, what are your intentions with my sister, Amara Elena Suarez?’ He passes the non-mike to Drake.

‘Well, Mr. Hansen-Suarez, I love your sister, and I firmly intend to keep loving her as long as she’ll let me.’

Michael smiles. ‘Good answer. Besides, I don’t think this sort of menacing older brother thing suits me. It was more Sergio’s speed.’ He chuckles. ‘No one would be threatened by me, I guess.’

‘Hey hey, don’t sell yourself short, Mike. I saw you last night, that douche got hit pretty hard in the face, so I would definitely be threatened by you.’

Michael laughs wholeheartedly. ‘Thanks, man. Well, there’s also the fact that I’m not actually concerned about your intentions. I don’t think my husband would have been either. I mean, it’s pretty obvious that you love her, I could tell right off the bat.’

Drake blushes. ‘Yeah, it caught me by surprise, but...I was all in, right away. I knew that it was a bad idea, well...I thought it was a bad idea. My best friend was —is— really into Amara, and at first I thought I’d stay away. But I couldn’t.’

‘Sash guy?’ Michael asks.

Drake chuckles. ‘Heh. Yeah, that’s the one. Sash guy, aka Liam.’

‘No, no,’ Michael says, ‘I mean was that sash guy on the side of the road? Like, right now?’

Drake frowns and brings the Jeep to a stop. He looks in his rearview mirror and sure enough, Liam is on the side of the road, jogging by himself. ‘What the fuck? He’s not supposed to be in Ramsford without security.’

Michael nods. ‘Should we…?’

‘Yeah. If you don’t mind, I think we should.’

Michael nods again, more emphatically. ‘Of course. And um, I know he doesn’t know. Don’t worry.’

Drake smiles and pats Michael’s back as he backs up his car until he reaches Liam.

‘Hey Li,’ he shouts out the window.

Liam, startled, takes out his earbuds and finally smiles. ‘Hey Drake, you scared me!’

‘That’s what happens when you run around without security, man. Hop in, we were about to go grab coffee somewhere.’

Liam hesitates for a moment and nods. Drake presses the button to open the doors and he gets in the back seat.

*****

Ran into sash guy. Going to coffee with him now. Whaaaaat

Amara looks at her phone quizzically. Michael and Drake had been gone for a little while, during which she, Hana and Max had been puttering around in the pool and eating fruit. The life. When she stopped to think about it, she couldn’t really believe that this was the program for the day. Lounging, eating pineapple in a mansion with a beautiful view. Nice change from her Brooklyn dwellings and her shitty shifts.

‘I think Michael and Drake ran into Liam. Weird, huh?’

Maxwell shrugs. ‘Don’t worry. He was probably getting some air before having to go home to his ball and chain. Literally.’

Hana nods. ‘I know he was pretty shitty to a bunch of us in the recent past, but I do feel bad for the guy. First his dad is dying, then he’s stuck in this sham of an engagement with the most horrible person ever. I hope he can get out of it.’

Amara pauses. ‘I think his father is the one who really pushed him to choose her. I think those two events —his dad’s illness getting worse, and his engagement— are tied together. He wants to please the King, make him feel like he is leaving the country in good hands.’

Maxwell nods and pops a new piece of pineapple into his mouth. ‘I agree, Little Blossom. I worry about him, too, but at this point, there’s nothing more we can do before the Engagement Tour. Then, all of us can investigate and maybe catch Madeleine in a scheme, or something of the sort. I mean, we have a detective in our midst.’

‘Yes,’ Hana says emphatically, ‘we have a brilliant detective here, and, well, it’s too bad that our lawyer will be back in the States by the time we hop on that train on Friday…’ she makes eye contact with Amara in a smooth, sneaky way.

‘Right,’ Amara jumps on the occasion, ‘I’m gonna miss Michael. I can’t believe he’s already leaving in a couple of days.’

Maxwell looks at the bottom of his water glass, without a word. Hana looks at Amara again, this time seeming a bit more impatient. ‘Well,’ she continues, ‘maybe he could come back soon, right Amara? With Callie? We have all grown to like him a lot, and I’m sure you miss him so much.’

As much as she’s enjoying the theatrics, Amara feels the need to tone it down. This is getting a bit too orchestrated, even by Maxwell’s standards. ‘Definitely,’ she says. ‘I don’t know what the future holds, but if I stay in Cordonia —that’s assuming I stop being viewed as a whore by the whole community of course— I would love for my family to visit.’

Maxwell finally lifts up his eyes. They meet Hana’s. ‘Sweetie, you’re amazing at everything, but I think we just found your weak spot. It’s acting.’ He turns to Amara. ‘And you, please don’t say that people consider you a whore. Have you read the tabloids? No? Because I have. And sure, there’s some that publish the infamous Tariq picture, but most of them say it was photoshopped, and that you were too big a threat to the monarchy. The press still loves you. Many newspapers are speaking up against slut shaming, and in fact, I hope that Liam does hire a PR guy or gal for you, as he promised, because we can totally fucking spin this. Even if we don’t find stupid Tariq. Hell, if Liam doesn’t hire someone, I will. I can pull some strings.’

‘Wow, Max,’ Amara says, blown away by the monologue. ‘That was hot. Look!’ She holds out her arm. ‘I got chills!’

Max chuckles, ‘Oh, shut up. I love you, but shut up.’

‘No no, I’m serious. That was badass, and it actually made me feel better. I told myself I didn’t care what Cordonia thought about the Tariq shit, so I didn’t look online at all, but just knowing this is making me feel better. Thank you.’

He smiles. ‘You’re welcome. Bertrand and I were talking about it, and we think that maybe it’s time for you to talk to the press. They’ve been calling the duchy, but we respected your wishes not to talk about it. Maybe before we leave for Rome, we could pick a journalist and tell your side of the story?’

Amara smiles. ‘I’ll think about it.’

Hana, still silent up until now, takes advantage of a quiet moment to turn to Maxwell and ask, ‘What do you mean I can’t act?’

He bursts out laughing. ‘Oh honey. Maybe you can, on a stage, but in real life you are not smooth. ‘Oh I wish Michael stayed longer!’ ‘Oh we all love him, don’t we?’ Give me a break, I know what you’re all thinking.’

Hana pouts. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you, Maxxie. I’m sorry.’

‘No no, I’m not upset!’ He rubs her shoulder and smiles. ‘I’m not. I just—‘ he pauses and sighs. ‘I like being around him. A lot. Alright, you happy now?’

Amara smiles brightly. ‘Well, yeah, we definitely are.’

Hana’s smile is so wide that Amara is concerned she may dislocate her jaw. ‘I didn’t mean to pressure you into anything, Maxxie, but you gotta admit that you two would be so cute together!’

Maxwell rolls his eyes. ‘Fine, we’d be fucking adorable. We all know that.’ His face grows a tad somber. ‘But babe, and forgive me, Amara, for saying this and potentially ruining the day, but Michael is still grieving. In just a few days, I’ve grown fond of him, and if this were a regular situation, yeah, of course, I’d ask him out. But this is a very irregular situation. It’s delicate. I don’t want him to think that I’m going too fast, and I certainly don’t want to hurt his feelings in any way if he’s not ready to even go on a date with someone other than Sergio. I respect him —and you, Little Blossom, and your family and your pain— way too much to step into this unwelcomed.’

Amara realizes she’d been holding her breath. Hana holds out her hand for Max to take. He complies, and gives her a sweet kiss. Amara fights back tears. No, she won’t cry. Not now, not when she wants to show Maxwell that no, he’s not stepping into a bed of thorns. She takes a deep breath. ‘Shit, Max. Do you have any idea how much I want Michael to be happy? And do you have any idea how much I love you? How good a guy I think you are? If anyone is gonna be respectful and mindful of Michael’s history, I know it’s you.’ Welp, a tear escapes. She tried to hold it back, but oh well. She wipes it away. ‘That’s all,’ she chuckles. ‘I won’t overstep any more than that. You guys figure it out. And for the record, he may leave on Thursday, but he’s not dropping off the face of the Earth.’

Maxwell nods. ‘Understood.’ He takes Amara’s hand. ‘There,’ he says, ‘now I’m in a Hana/Amara sandwich. I love you guys.’

*****

‘Thanks, Drake,’ Liam says as he grabs the coffee his friend is handing him. ‘Sorry we couldn’t go in public.’

Michael waves him off. ‘This is a lot better, actually. Who wouldn’t want to have coffee on the beach?’

Liam smiles. ‘Thank you, Michael. I didn’t mean to crash your afternoon.’

Drake sits down in between the two men. ‘Don’t be stupid. Did you guys get a chance to chat while I was picking up the coffee?’

Liam nods. ‘Yes, we did. I apologized to Michael again for the ruckus at court. This is not a normal time, that’s for sure.’ He takes a sip and stares at the ocean.

Drake sighs. ‘Li, are you ok? You didn’t answer my texts.’

‘Sorry about that, too.’ He lets out a sad chuckle. ‘I’ve been shit at everything. That’s why I went for this run. I bet Bastien is looking for me everywhere as we speak, but I needed out.’

‘Liam, I know you barely know Michael,’ Drake continues, ‘but you can speak in front of him, right, Mike? He won’t care.’

Michael nods. ‘Of course. You’re going through a lot. You need to let it out.’

Liam smiles. ‘Well, I made my bed.’

Drake snorts. ‘Come on, Li. You deserve better. You didn’t ask for all this shit. We’ll find a way to get you out of this shitty engagement, I promise. If we can get some dirt on her, she’s done.’

‘You know why i ran away? I have a press conference with her tonight. The engagement conference. We’re supposed to gush over each other and talk about our hopes and dreams. Dreams of a future heir. Disclose the names of our wedding party. All wedding and marriage stuff. Nothing I want. I needed some air.’ He takes another sip, stares into the distance.

Drake puts his hand on his friend’s back. ‘Li, I’m sorry. We’ll get you out.’

Liam nods. Is he going to be able to tell him? It might be worth it to just say it out loud, even with a stranger here. ‘Drake, I don’t know if I can do this.’

Drake sighs. ‘I know it’s hard right now, especially since you’re alone at the palace with her and your dad and brother, but as soon as we’re all on the tour, I promise. It will get more manageable.’

Liam avoids Drake’s eyes. Maybe he can tell him. ‘I don’t feel good about this, Drake. I know it’s not comparable at all, I know this, but—‘ he interrupts himself. Should he say it in front of her brother-in-law? Fuck it. ‘I can’t stop thinking about what Amara went through. Tariq trying to assault her. She must have felt so fucking violated, and thankfully you were there. I can’t stop thinking about it these days. Partly because I feel responsible for her being in the spotlight, and partly because—‘ he pauses again. Can he say it without sounding like an asshole? What he’s going through is by his own volition, kind of, it has nothing to do with assault, and yet… He takes a breath. ‘Partly because I feel completely shitty about having to sleep with Madeleine.’

Drake tightens his grip on his back. Liam feels Drake’s eyes migrating to Michael’s. The two men share a stare. Is it a concerned stare? Is it one of disdain? Like oh, that spoiled mansplainy Liam, thinking his plight is the same as that of an assaulted woman? He hopes not.

Drake finally speaks. ‘Liam, I’m sorry to hear that. Please don’t be concerned about Amara, I know it was hard for her, but um, her friends and family are around her. As for you, well, I feel terrible about this. I’m so sorry that you had to go to those lengths. Please don’t let her take advantage of the situation again. You have the right to say no.’

Liam chuckles. It comes out a lot sadder than he intended. ‘I know. I just didn’t feel like dealing with the consequences of saying no. And for the record, I know that my situation isn’t the same as Amara’s. I know that. It just makes me feel even worse, because it’s already fucking terrible to force oneself to have sex with someone you don’t want. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to—well, to say the least, this whole situation is making me reconsider a lot of fucking things.’

Michael gets up from the sand, slowly and discreetly. He whispers, ‘I’m going to let you guys talk for a bit. I’m sorry, Liam, and I agree with Drake, I don’t know you, but you deserve better. Please take care.’

He walks away towards the other end of the beach, cell phone in hand, taking pictures.

Liam shakes his head. ‘See? I’m even making him run away.’

Drake chuckles. ‘No, that’s not it. He wanted to give us privacy. And probably to take pics for his daughter.’

Liam nods. ‘He seems like a good guy. He lost his fucking husband, and here I am complaining about not really wanting to fuck a Countess.’

‘Liam, there’s no competition in suffering. I wish I knew what to say or do to help—‘

‘You can’t help, not for now anyways,’ Liam interrupts. ‘But it does feel good to talk about it.’

*****

‘Hey guys!’ Drake yells out as he lets himself into the house. ‘We’re home, and we brought wine!’

‘Welcome back,’ Maxwell says cheerfully. ‘It’s just me and the girls, Liv went to her date with Rashad, and Bertrand has a dinner meeting at Castelsarreillan. How was the tour?’

Michael’s face lights up. ‘Oh, it was amazing, Max, your duchy is so beautiful. I loved the beach most of all.’

‘I’m so glad,’ Maxwell beams. ‘Come on in, guys, let’s get comfy.’

They walk into the living room, where Hana is reading a book, and Amara is on her iPad doing research. Drake sees on her screen that she’s still looking into Savannah’s location in Paris. His heart sinks. How did he luck out so much with this woman, who’s always in his corner?

‘Hey ladies,’ Drake says enthusiastically. ‘Mike and I have a proposition for you all.’

Amara raises an eyebrow. ‘Oh, do tell!’

Michael smiles brightly and looks at Drake. ‘You do the honors, you’re in charge!’

Drake nods excitedly. ‘Since Mike has never seen Portavira, we thought that we could all go to my cabin tomorrow morning and stay tomorrow night? He only has 3 nights left in this country, let’s make them count!’

Hana gasps. ‘OMG this is a great idea! I love your cabin so much.’

‘I’m SO in,’ Amara says as she closes her iPad into its keyboard. ‘I miss the tranquility of the cabin, let’s do it!’

Maxwell claps his hands in excitement. ‘Yass Kweens, let’s go bright and early tomorrow!’

‘And let’s pop this wine,’ Michael whispers to Drake. ‘We got it in an old wine store, it was so cute! I had to get two bottles for us.’

‘Aw, thanks Michael, you didn’t have to do that,’ Maxwell says as he claps a hand on his arm in gratitude. ‘Well, everyone get comfy around the table, and I’m gonna go get us some snacks.’

‘Oh, I’ll help,’ Michael follows suit.

Once the two disappear into the kitchen, Amara and Hana look at each other and put a hand to their chests. Drake smiles. ‘Alright ladies, could you be any more obvious?’ He plops down on the couch next to Amara and nuzzles in her hair. ‘Hey babe. Missed you.’

Amara kisses his nose and cups his face in her hand. ‘Me too. How was it?’

‘Good. It was fun to hang with Mike. But um, I think he told you, we bumped into Liam. He’s going through some serious shit.’

Amara makes a pained face. ‘Oh crap. How is he holding up?’

Drake shrugs. ‘Not great. I think it was good for him to talk, though.’

She nods. ‘Good. I’m glad.’

Hana sighs. ‘We were just talking about him today, right Amara? We all feel terrible about his situation, and maybe it will all get sorted out during the Tour, at least let’s hope so.’ She pauses and Drake and Amara nod in agreement. She turns her head to the kitchen and whispers, ‘What do you think they’re talking about in there?’

*****

‘Another martini?’

‘Are you trying to get me drunk?’ Liv asks sharply.

Rashad laughs earnestly. ‘No. You can drink me under the table.’

‘You got that right.’

He chuckles. ‘I hope you like boeuf bourguignon. I got takeout from this French restaurant. I know you like red wine so I figured you’d like that.’

Olivia forces herself not to smile. ‘Oh so, no cooking?’

Rashad gestures to the apartment around him. ‘This is an Airbnb. I don’t know where the pans are.’ He takes a sip of his martini. ‘Or how to cook.’

Liv can’t help but smile, ever so slightly. Rashad travels a lot around Cordonia for work, and stays at Airbnbs and hotels most of the time, since he rarely stays in his own duchy. No wonder the man lives off takeout. No servants in his life, and certainly no cooking.

Olivia likes that. The life of a loner. Depending on no one. Kinda hot.

‘I like boeuf bourguignon. You win this round.’

His face lights up. ‘Good. Not that I was nervous or anything. You know me. Cool as fuck.’

She gives him a half smile as she sips on her second martini. ‘Is the bourguignon ready now?’ She asks.

‘Not yet,’ he answers. ‘Needs to be in the oven for a while.’ He takes a sip as well. ‘Why, you hungry now?’

She gets up from her chair. ‘Nope,’ she says, as she straddles him and kisses him deeply.

*****

Taglist:

@drakeandcamilleofvaltoria @andy-loves-corgis , @jovialyouthmusic , @mariahschoices , @drakesensworld , @thequeenofcronuts , @notoriouscs , @drakewalkerisreal , @nikkis1983​ , @simsvetements , @alesana45 @iplaydrake @emceesynonymroll @lily1999love @drakelover78 , @silviasutton1989 @dcbbw @texaskitten30 @furiousherringoperatortoad @hollygirl1269 @sirbeepsalot @ladyangel70 @thisperfectmemory @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @mrsmairstanley @addictedtodrakefanfic @msjpuddleduck @kimmiedoo5 @furryperfectionlover

Thank you for your encouragements, everyone! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist :)

#that's not why i'm staying #dramara #drake x amara #drake walker x amara suarez #amara suarez #drake walker #the royal romance fanfic #drake walker x mc #trr fanfic #trr drake #drake x mc #drake walker trr

[kalendraashtar]

Thoughts on S04.E13 - Man of Worth

Y’all...! This production needs not only Jesus, but Mary, Joseph, the cow, the donkey, the three kings, the 12 apostles, God himself and probably a couple of helpful demons. Let them be spoilers.

- Young Ian is adorable, a true MVP of this episode (along with Jamie/Sam) and the ultimate proof that you can build secondary characters that people will care for and like to see on screen. His scene of saying goodbye to his auntie and uncle and the ritual were incredible. Looking forward to see what JHB will do next season, portraying a very changed Ian. 

- I actually liked the first half of the episode - good action sequences, okay pacing, just enough emotional moments. My eyebrows started to lose the battle against my hairline when Roger, once again, failed to hold himself accountable for the things that happened to him and Bree. Sam Heughan SLAYED the scene where they tell Roger everything - his rage is our rage, and I chanted “YAAAAAAS” pretty much along everything he said. You might be out of the Hut, but you are still an Idiot, Roger Mackenzie. 

- I think I’d have survived without the birth scene, IF they had given Jamie and Bree/Jamie and Jem a few moments to actually talk, heal and bond. They arrive, once again Claire has a few moments alone with Bree (and rightfully so), while Jamie lurks like a stranger danger near a kindergarten. There is no closure to the rift with a daughter he loves enough to sacrifice body, soul and heart for. Does he even know she has forgiven him??? He doesn’t get to hold the promise of his blood. This right here is one of the most abhorrent decisions ever made by this show. There is no excuse, none.

- I’ll put Jamie and Bree’s relationship at the top of things lost this season, alongside Jamie and Claire. You can’t tell a story about “an extended family” when you decide to skip the notion of family altogether. 

- The fandom is Claire’s face when she realizes Murts has been shagging the Scottish version of a praying mantis - which surprised, literally, just the characters on screen. 

- Bree goes all Birdbox on Jem, calling him “baby/boy” for 2 months. That’s cool, I sometimes wish my parents had done the same, instead of what they went with.

- There is running across the lawn (unfortunately, no tripping this time around for Bree), there is passionate (?) kissing without a hint of how badly Roger must have smelt, there is redemption the characters haven’t earned and ALL IS WELL, folks. I almost expected a rising sun on that shot and will confess my disappointment. 

- This is the worst cliffhanger ever to be placed on a final episode of Outlander.

- I feel like this season failed pretty much every character. It started with Down The Rabbit Hole (even if there were a few problems before) and it never recovered. There was a way to tell the exact same story, to embrace Bree and Roger and all the other characters, while protecting the integrity and organic-feel of these relationships. It’s with a heavy heart that I say that I probably wouldn’t be watching anymore, if this product didn’t have the stamp of “Outlander”. 

There is time and a path to save season 5 and everything else going forward, but it will/would involve deep changes in writing, directing and editing. 

Let it be so.

#outlander spoilers #drums spoilers #S04E13 #Man of Worth #kal recaps

[johnnymundano]

Fear in the Night (1972) (AKA Dynasty of Fear and Honeymoon of Fear)

Directed by Jimmy Sangster

Screenplay by Jimmy Sangster and Michael Syson

Music by John McCabe

Country: United Kingdom

Running time: 94 minutes

CAST

Judy Geeson as Peggy Heller

Ralph Bates as Robert Heller

Joan Collins as Molly Carmichael

Peter Cushing as Michael Carmichael

James Cossins as The Doctor

Gillian Lind as Mrs. Beamish

John Bown as 1st Policeman

Brian Grellis as 2nd Policeman

(I watched Fear in The Night on a StudioCanal blu-ray. The picture was perfectly fine, but not “Holy Mother of Pearl!” amazing. But I doubt the movie has ever looked better)

Fear in The Night is a neat enough Hammer thriller (as opposed to a neat enough Hammer horror) from their 1970s Going Downhill period, as the studio tried to accommodate the tastes of a rapidly changing society while not altering very much about their product, and continuing to spend less and less with every movie. Surprisingly often ‘70s Hammer’s answer to this thorny art versus commerce conundrum would be to just stick some tits in. Thankfully Hammer doesn’t do that here, instead they opt for a twisted thriller riffing on the French suspense classic Diabolique (1955), with a subtle hint of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca. But, you know, with Joan Collins and, the eternally camptastic Joan Collins aside, imbued with all the everyday glamour of the 1970s; which is to say all the glamour of the aftermath of a chip pan fire.

This penny pinching presentation of the ‘70s milieu turns out to be Fear in the Night’s secret weapon in its arsenal of entertainment. Movies like this probably looked cheap on release (fair enough, because they were cheap movies) but several decades on the financial inability to cinematically accentuate mundane reality provides a wonderful glimpse of a time mostly past. (Admittedly there remain odd pockets of the 1970s in the UK to this day, but that’s another story.) While I love watching these things for all the usual reasons, I also enjoy the no frills historical accuracy of them. (See also: Amicus and Trigon movies.) An accidental bonus of budgetary miserliness, perhaps, but a bonus nonetheless.  Early on before Fear in the Night settles into its cramped arena of psychological combat there’s a particularly great bit at a motorway service station, where you can see that they once sold 12” LPs in spinner racks; on your way to see Aunty Maud, why not pick up the new Peters and Lee platter? Weird stuff, but apparently true. This is only rivalled by the man in the background when Judy and Ralph are in the car park; this unknown guy comes out of the Gents and is captured forever on film checking his fly. Cinéma doesn’t get much more vérité than a guy reflexively checking his cock’s not hanging out.

But why are Ralph Bates and Judy Geeson in a car park at a Granada motorway service station? (I just checked and there are still Granada motorway service stations; I did not know that.) It’s because Ralph and Judy are playing newlywed couple Robert and Peggy, on their way to the boys’ boarding school Robert teaches at. Their fragrant wedded bliss hit a recent road bump when Peggy was possibly attacked by a home invader with a prosthetic arm. Or possibly not; Peggy doesn’t seem the full shilling right from the start. Whatever did or didn’t happen has left Peggy in a somewhat sensitive state which imminent plot developments will do nothing to soothe and everything to aggravate. The pair move into a small house near the main school building and Peggy meets the headmaster, the confusingly named Michael Carmichael (Peter Cushing), and his wife Molly (Joan Collins). All you need to know about Molly is that she is played by 1970s Joan Collins; ergo she is a nasty piece of work under all that make-up. Michael Carmichael is a bit harder to get a grip on, partly because he is played by Peter Cushing who always finds nuances in his characters his scripts rarely deserve. He’s the best thing in Fear in the Night, but then he’s the best thing in most things that have “Peter Cushing” in the cast list. Yes, including Star Wars (1977). Actually, especially Star Wars (1977). Peter Cushing isn’t in Fear in the Night much, but he’s in it enough for him to create a character who can twitch from affable gent to spaced out creep in the blink of an eye and still leave you undecided as to whether or not to trust him. It’s called acting, darling.

Besides the ever potent screen presence of Peter Cushing, everyone else in the intentionally claustrophobically tiny cast is good value too. Joan Collins is Joan Collins, which is why they cast her, I guess. Ralph Bates has fun being too good to be true, before revealing he is in fact too good to be true. (Not really a spoiler unless you’ve never seen a movie; see further down the page.) Mostly though we chez Mundano were distracted by his appearance. Throughout Fear in the Night Ralph Bates is a kind of variable orange colour with some dusky eye shadows, courtesy of make-up according to my Life Partner; I thought he was just olive skinned and maybe had a bit of Mediterranean in the branches of his family tree. And I may have the edge since Wikipedia tells me Ralph was of French parentage and was (get this) the great-great grandson of Louis Pasteur. There’s a fun Hammer Fact for you; no charge. The core of Fear in the Night, however, is Judy Geeson, who is unrelated to Louis Pasteur as far as I know, but, luckily for audiences everywhere, successfully portrays a woman slowly coming so unstuck she can’t even trust her own senses. Hysteria simmers under the surface of each of her scenes, at least in those scenes where her hysteria isn’t stealing the scene wholesale.

Oh yes, female hysteria is front and centre in this one. Fear in the Night has a typically balanced 1970s approach to the ladies; one’s a brassy shrew and the other is a hysterical girl-child. In case anyone wanted reassurance about how far we’ve come since 1972 gender-wise, Fear in the Night also has a lot of people telling Peggy and Molly how pretty they are, like they are delicate little dolls, and there’s not a few “Oh, those silly ladies and their silly emotions!” reactions to Peggy’s increasingly frenzied appeals for help against her apparently phantom assailant. The only reason no one seeks to blame it all on her “time of the month”, I suspect, is that the ‘70s was still struggling to come to terms with female biological functions. Part of Peggy’s problem is getting men to take her seriously; which is fair enough, as part of any woman’s problems in the 1970s was getting men to take her seriously. In the 2010s men take women seriously; but they hate them for it. But shhhh, it’s a secret.

There are a lot of secrets at play in Fear in the Night, some obvious and some surprising but can Peggy survive their unveiling? You will, naturally, have already twigged what’s going on as soon as Joan Collins turns up shotgunning rabbits and patronising Peggy to within an inch of her life. But, and this is the clever bit, Fear in the Night knows you know this. The initial reveal is so defiantly perfunctory it acts as a kind of slap in the face to your complacency, and then Fear in the Night kicks you in the kidneys with the stuff you weren’t expecting. Basically, don’t organise that ticker tape parade to celebrate your own cleverness until Fear in the Night’s credits roll. Despite Jimmy Sangster’s smart plotting relying heavily on a prosthetic arm, Fear in the Night still has room for a couple of enjoyably nifty tricks up its sleeve. If all else fails; it’s got peter Cushing in. And you can’t argue with a bit of The Cush.  And that’s another Hammer Fact; no charge.

#Movies #Horror #Thriller #Hammer #Fear in the Night #Dynasty of Fear #Honeymoon of Fear #Jimmy Sangster #Judy Geeson #Ralph Bates #Joan Collins #Peter Cushing #The 1970s #1972

[talesfromsiteredacted]

Questions New Staffers Often Ask

Starting any new job has questions. Who are you guys, why are you making me do this, when is lunch, and of course... we get paid for this, right? No worries, Auntie Rabbit is here with the important answers. As a witch, anomaly, and senior staffer, I'm not allowed to accept cash. But... payment in candy is always welcome, I also accept wine, nice beads, art supplies, and tea. Senior staffers are generally discouraged in buying/receiving souls in payment, FYI. There's some useful stuff, but there's also some... well... less-than-intelligent questions I've had thrown at me.

Is it possible to ride 682? In theory, yes. In practice, anyone who tried it other than Dr. Kondraki wound up as a tasty between meal snack for our oversized asshole kaiju knockoff. So, in practice... no.

Does 049 know what the Pestilence is? Tough one... yes and no, I'd say. He knows what to look for but not the actual transmission vector.

Which 001 is the real one? Don't know, honestly. It's way above even Dr. Gears' clearance levels. Best not to speculate. I honestly doubt it'll matter to the dead.

No, you cannot arrange for your ex to contract a nasty viral SCP as revenge for dumping you. Using anomalies for such purposes is forbidden, you will be demoted to D-Class, then further demoted to corpse. What is wrong with some of you?

Yes, I had to go through Dr. Clef's seminars, just like you. No, I do not know what he uses. No, I'm not the least bit curious. Yes, I puked up my breakfast like everyone else. Just because Clef likes me, I get off no easier than the lot of you. Pro tip for those who haven't taken the seminar yet... smuggle in some ginger ale and plain saltines. Trust me, it will make recovery easier.

It's perfectly safe to talk to 049 and other Euclid/Safe class anomalies provided protocols are followed. That being said, please stop trying to sell them multilevel marketing stuff. Multilevel marketing is banned throughout all Foundation sites for good reason, and it's not like the anomalies have money.

No, SCP Speed Dating never happened. No, there are no records. No, you're not supposed to even think of the anomalies like that. 076-2 may be "fine AF" and "hotter than the deserts", he's also incredibly likely to kill you before you even say hello to him. It never happened, it never WILL happen, anyone trying to make it happen will have their own date... with 173.

While I'm sure 049 would love a hug now and then, it's not safe. Sorry, but he IS Euclid for a reason, no matter how sweet and nice he is.

Putting 999 in a blender is a bit like going on a high speed tilt-a-whirl for him. That being said, it feels so wrong even thinking of it. So, no 999 blender rides. Feel free to give him hugs though.

If Dr. Clef asks you to do something, think long and hard before agreeing. If Dr. Bright asks, the answer is automatically 'No.'

The Bright List is supposed to be a horrible warning, not a how-to guide.

Dr. Gears is, indeed, human. He just had his sense of humor shot off. Probably by Bright or Clef.

No, you cannot have a Ketchup Puppy as a pet. They're simply impossible to house train.

This one is for Dr. Clef: yes, mushrooms decay around Cain. He killed the growth on my maitake log on my desk. I'm not mad, though. Turns out, being both plantlike and animalistic to a degree just meant my poor maitake lasted five minutes versus the normal instant decay. They never grew back. I'm not big on mushrooms anyway. He also kills lichen.

We tried 682 burgers. Worst. Burgers. Ever! Not even dousing the things in ghost pepper sauce could save them. It was like biting the zombie back, honestly. Don't ask how I came to that conclusion.

Speaking of biting back the zombies... 682 DID contract 008 that way once. He was sick for all of an hour, but got better. He really is nigh unkillable.

I do not recognize the bodies in the water. You do not recognize the bodies in the water. No one recognizes the bodies in the water.

How many SCPs are there? We're not entirely sure. Some would say we're a bit overladen with Keters, though. I do know the database lies.

The staff restroom is located to the left of the south wing, three doors after the supply closet. Now you know.

Everyone says Dr. Clef is two-faced. That's simply false. He's got more faces than a mask shop. They just look a lot alike.

Advice for the ladies out there: if a thin, weasel-faced MTF agent with greasy brown hair and more bumps on his face than 20 km of bad road asks if you want to see a 'naked Mole Rat', say no. Agent O'Hare really needs to get new lines.

No, sadly... the cake is real. Really, really, REALLY bad. The breads are also terrible. In fact... try to avoid the cafeteria food if possible.

No, Iris does not like the flower she's named for. She says the scent is choking. So, if you're going to give Agent Thompson flowers, daisies or roses are the safe bets.

No one knows who exactly is on O5. And it's not worth the risk of becoming bunkies with the D-Class to find out.

How to tell if a Type Green is mucking about in reality's egg salad? Doors and windows vanishing is a big clue. Inanimate objects trying to bite you, floors falling away, suddenly feeling like the entire universe hates you specifically, and colors shifting. Just close your eyes for a second, if you're confident in your safety, breathe in, hold for 7 seconds, breathe out. Remind yourself of where you were before it all went weird. Then, shoot the Bixby before he rescrambles your egg. (I need to step away from the Bioshock, next thing you know I'll be referring to Clef as Big Daddy, he'd be way too into that!)

Food fights are (technically) forbidden. However, in case of Containment Beach/outside invasion, you can, in fact, use Mabel's baked goods as impromptu weapons. That poor MC&D thug never saw that baguette coming. Yes, it would count as a Geneva Covention violation on the outside, but as the Geneva Accords do not apply to us... the Parker House rolls work great as projectiles. Dr. Iceberg didn't even need to freeze them. They can instacrit harder than the RE4 rotten eggs!

Running crappy dollar store novels through 914 is a waste of time. Nothing can improve those saccharine pieces of mass published literary junk food.

Yes, Dr. Bright nearly started a war with Amazon. Yes, while breaches were down that week, it wasn't worth facing Bezos. Nothing is.

Playing tag with the Keters is forbidden. Why? Why do you want to die so badly?

Playing ANYTHING with Dr. Bright is a bad call. He's a sore loser. No card games with Dr. Cimmerian either, he's been banned from every casino, back room poker game, Pokémon tournament, and even the site 25 weekly cribbage games. He never cheats, he's just really good at card games. Anomalously good.

#scp foundation #tales from site redacted #dr snow #auntie rabbits helpful hints

[carminaxrye]

Alright, maybe Eli‘s lecture had helped a bit. And maybe Wheaty‘s anger had blown off. Mostly. He just wanted her safe, not falling for that cult shit and he also wanted her happier than this. Holding up a pair of rabbits he had hunted, Wheaty stood in her way. He knew she liked those for dinner. When she had been smaller he had tried to imitate the Ojibwe recipes. Time to do that again. „Come on, you are invited to a special treat today.“ Not really an apology, but Wheaty‘s tone hinted at it.

There were chores to be done; keeping dad’s garage clean for when they got him home, helping watch the younger kids, collecting supplies for Selene and then just regular training at the small outdoor gym Jerome and auntie Grace had set up.

It was all well and good, but she was itching to do more, to be more useful than this. But there was also a hint of shame that came back to Carmina every so often. She had been a liability in that tunnel.

Blinking when Wheaty stood in her way, she wanted the ground to swallow her up; she didn’t want another fight, not now. The teenager took a breath to make some excuse and go inside, but she let it out again when he held up the two rabbits. Following Wheaty over to the table at the back of the main building, she watched on as he set about skinning the rabbits.

“I didn’t mean it, you know.” Not really an apology either, but her tone gave away all the shame she still felt about the tunnel and the argument that had followed. “I was scared. She said things that sounded perfect, that … I … I wanted to follow her in that tunnel.”

#whitetail-wheaty

[evilasiangenius]

Ekstasis end notes, part 2

Part 1 can be found here.  Again, this is a working draft of notes, I’ll probably revise it at a future date.

Progress on the next chapter is a little slow, but one hint for what’s to come: Furiosa is on her way to the Immortan’s Tower.

Chapter 11

The Loading Gate is based on the bus gate in Mad Max 2: Road Warrior.

A comment from reader veeeeight: “On tonight's episode of Cooking With The Ace: Doing More With Less.”

Immortan Joe talks about buying more children in Vulnera, chapter 6.

AAA rating is mostly a reference to credit ratings (e.g. Standard & Poor's), but it's also a reference to the Auto Club.

Slit soldered his arm bracer on in chapter 2 of Ekstasis so as to never be unarmed, but he thought ahead; he can take it apart enough so that he can get into Bartertown without having to saw off the bracer.

The model of slavery in Bartertown is more like slavery in classical antiquity than the model of chattel slavery that most people are more familiar with, i.e. the type of slavery that existed in the transatlantic trade.  More on this later.

In Vulnera, chapter 8, Slit reveals that his parents were slaves.  “Slaves, the kind that get themselves made slaves because they buy their way into Bartertown with what little they got left, get in debt once they get inside, and never figure a way to buy themselves out.”  

This is definitely a reference to Max wrecking the Underworld methane farm in Beyond Thunderdome.

The first reference to the slave pens in the Underworld was in Vulnera, chapter 7 when Capable talks about how she was brought to Bartertown to be sold.

I imagined this dealer like any number of stereotypical American car dealers, except he trades in slaves.

Thanks to shejackalarts for the discussions on dog breeds and dog training.  A lot of it inspired this section of the chapter and many elements of how the Ace selects the new War Pups.

Now we know why Slit specifically was brought along.

For those curious, Gamble is based on a Belgian Malinois owned by shejackalarts.  He is a handsome boy, a bracelet thief, a hoarder of plush toys, and a gentleman.  And of course, a very good boy.  https://shejackalarts.tumblr.com/tagged/gamble

The real life Gamble steals watches, bracelets, and anything else attached to wrists.

The Ace's training toy is mentioned in Vulnera, chapter 8 and in Gloria, chapter 11.

Much of the fictional Gamble's life is based on the dog's life, though I don't think the dog has ever broken his nose (that would be too sad).

Morsov just loves those cannibalism jokes.

This model of slavery means that children born to slaves are not automatically slaves themselves; they are nominally free.  That means that even though Slit's parents were slaves, Slit was technically free-born, which meant that he belonged to his parents and not his parents' owner(s).  This suggests that at least some slaves in Bartertown are more like indentured servants than what we would consider slaves in the transatlantic chattel slavery model more people are familiar with.  In Vulnera, chapter 8, Slit talks about how he worked as a thief to try to help his parents buy their freedom.

This was how Slit was brought out of Bartertown, chained by his wrist to the Ace's belt at the end of the first part of this series, in the story titled Furiosa.

The Ace calls Furiosa by her title in public and during official work.

Slit has no reason to trust Traders, after he was abused (Vulnera, chapter 8).

The description of the shady merchant is based on Josh Helman, just aged up.

Uncharacteristically, Slit slips into the personal “I” which shows just how serious this accusation is; he is taking full responsibility and credit for his statement.

100 kliks (about 62 miles) is probably an exaggeration or a symbolic number, but it signifies that Bartertown is a regional power.

I intentionally genderswapped some of the original characters from Beyond Thunderdome, partially to show that time had passed, but also to show that it would not matter what gender these characters are in their society; it is the function that matters.

Math fun fact time: the wheel is actually continuous probability instead of discrete.

Just like Gulag meant something odd in Beyond Thunderdome that didn't match the usual definition of the term, Life Imprisonment is not exactly what it seems it should be either.

Coil and Tran have bet on various things over the course of the stories.  In Vulnera, chapter 3 they bet on Slit and Morsov's fight for rank, and in Ekstasis, chapter 2, they bet on the reason Morsov went to sit with Slit.  

“Rota Fortunae, Imperatrix Mundi” means “Wheel of Fortune, Empress of the World.”  This is from the medieval imagery of the wheel of fortune, as well as a reference to the Carmina Burana, from which the title of the series comes from.

Of the bets made by the two War Boys, this is the first time that we've seen Tran win.

Chapter 12

Without heels, Aunty Entity is about 11 hands, so just about 6'4”.

Aunty's Perch is the headquarters seen in Beyond Thunderdome.

It makes sense that Bartertown became very powerful not just because it was located on a major trade route, but because it had a reliable source of food and water.  Perhaps it's analogous to those fast food-based economies that get built along major highways, where there's a little town in the middle of nowhere that has fast food, motels, and gasoline, and nearly nothing else.  Strict control of the resources has made Bartertown and Aunty very wealthy.

Aunty's Palace is modeled after caravanserai cave dwellings (now hotels) in Göreme, Cappadocia, Turkey.  The imagery of a caravanserai is to suggest the importance of Bartertown as an important trading town on a major trade route, except unlike an actual caravanserai, there are rarely visitors and the only full-time resident is Aunty.  

Given the frequent storms and the relative sterility of Aunty's Perch, it seemed reasonable to give Aunty Entity a better place to live.

The wire-wrapped glass vessel with water is the same one as the one that Aunty Entity offered to Max in Beyond Thunderdome.

Aunty Entity has sole ownership of the very lucrative production of food and water, and therefore is by far the richest person in the wasteland, probably richer than Immortan Joe.  With this resource control, she can afford all the finest things from Before, including wooden furniture, most of which has been burnt, crumbled, or decayed over the many years.

Like many other people in the Wasteland world, Aunty Entity is more of a title than a person.

Fruit porn.

Aunty is talking about fruits like oranges, watermelon, grapes, bananas, etc.

There's some bit of Fury Road lore that suggests that Furiosa has a peach pit.  It's unlikely that she could have kept it safe from a before her kidnapping and captivity, so here it is introduced as a gift from Aunty Entity.

Aunty Entity is not just a title but comes with a style, both of wardrobe and of speech, imitating the first, the one known as the Great.

Greater wealth and an increased settlement means Thunderdome fights are now all fought by proxy, suggesting that the times depicted in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome are considered more primitive and crude.  This is analogous to civilizations eschewing human sacrifice for proxy sacrifice with animals or representative tokens (like ancient Egyptian ushabti, for example).  This prosperity and changing culture is a result of the gradual changing climate that is warmer and wetter than the very long drought that grips the region during the height of global nuclear winter.

Aunty Entity brings up Acosta as a challenge; the charisma hides a cunning mind for strategy.

The bed in the guest room is a charpoy bed made with hemp rope.  This is a method of bed-making that comes from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.  Here is a cool video of a man making a charpoy bed.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ4pGPFpwnA  Beyond practicality, this was meant to invoke the sense of an important stop along a wasteland Silk Road.

I originally wanted to write this olive oil soap as savon d'Aleppo (olive oil and laurel oil soap) but it seemed unlikely they could get enough Mediterranean laurel where they are.  Besides the lovely smell, I wanted to at least obliquely reference the Syrian conflict, which has in part deprived the world of this ancient olive soapmaking tradition.

A little reference here to that “We can do it!” Furiosa t-shirt.  Tfuriosa actually sent me one from Japan. <3

Since new cotton cloth is so valuable (a water-thirsty crop), Aunty Entity/Alex is wearing a fortune in clothing.  There is some serious ostentatious to the drabness.  Compare that with the highly decorated world outside of Aunty's Palace,

The weight of the dress was based on the weight of Aunty Entity's original dress in Beyond Thunderdome, which was a whopping 55 kilos.  Alex's dress is 65 kilos, to be precise, calculated using proportionate heights of characters and weight of the original dress.

“A somebody who has become a nobody” is the converse of the line spoken by Tina Turner in Beyond Thunderdome.

Furiosa is referring to eating pigeons and rabbits.

However the birthrate is skewed through environmental factors, social factors, and infanticide, the main idea that there are more males turns on the notion that in the more uncertain parts of the waste, people have fewer children, hide their births, and children of both genders are often raised male for their own safety.  After all, healthy young females are a very desirable commodity in the wasteland, so much so that they are trafficked great distances to warlords like Immortan Joe.  There are many people in the waste who might have in the past identified/lived openly as women who instead live, work, and appear on the surface to be male.  Thus it looks like there are more men than women.

The title of Aunty Entity is not strictly hereditary; Aunty Entity can also adopt an heir, which has happened more than once in the past.

The tea they drink is made from chrysanthemum and rosebuds, and is based on a Chinese tea blend, continuing the Silk Road references.  Furiosa is treating it almost more like soup than tea.  

This style of heavy cast iron teapot is common to East Asia.

In the past, outdoor furniture like this would have been made of wood, but wood is so rare and valuable now that no wooden object would be allowed to be outside where it could crack or break due to the dry air.  Of course, Immortan Joe is so rich and ostentatious that he does whatever he likes (and in fact has some wood mountings on the Gigahorse's weapons).

I had originally written a bit where Slit moves up a rank every day for 10 days because of his fighting in the line for Vulnera, but it didn't fit so I left it out.  Finally was able to use the idea here.

Slit fought Elvis (now the Secundus) in chapter 4 of Euphoria.

Bucket (with his filed teeth) looks a lot scarier than he actually is.

Chapter 13

One detail that I noticed was that many vehicles including the War Rig and the Interceptor have interior curtains that are rolled up along the frames of the doors.  The later Nux car in the movies doesn't, but bear with me, I have reason for the apparent inconsistency, just as the interiors are different in this first car compared to the later Nux car.

Socially awkward Morsov.

This description of Stonker was sort of a parody of more standard canonical literature.

In the Iliad, Achilles is forced to choose between glory and living a long life.  Like Achilles, the War Boys choose glory.

This image of the War Boys' horseplay comes from behind the scenes videos.

Apparently flipping water bottles is still a thing.

The setting for Aunty's Perch is the same as in Beyond Thunderdome.

Te Ao is a Maori name.

The whistle is what helped Max gain an advantage in the Thunderdome fight in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.  

Of course, the feral on trial is Max.

There is injustice to justice when a person can buy their way to favorable results.

I've always wanted to write a story about Imperator Acosta's background.  

Chapter 14

Modern western culture has a strong emphasis on the individual, but War Boy society has a stronger emphasis on the collective, the community.

This scene of War Boys banging together tools and metal objects is inspired by a similar scene in the deleted scenes where the War Boys are banging on their cars and other metal items in unison.

The famous quote “Fear is the mind-killer” comes from Dune by Frank Herbert.

Doctor Dealgood is totally flirting with Slit.  Too bad Slit doesn't notice.

Many bits of dialogue from these Bartertown moments come from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

Writing this fight, it seemed that a possible interpretation of Slit's weird lumpy right ear is that it was caused at least in part due to cauliflowering from taking a heavy blow.  

A nice double meaning for the Thunderdome Live! sign.

Slit counts the seconds as though he were on the car gauging distances.

Nux is the one who shouts, “Slit, no!”

At the very end of the story Furiosa, Slit is sold to the War Boys by his own father.

Chapter 15

Early on writing segments like Furiosa, I didn't know what the interior of the tanker looked like, but by this time I had seen some behind the scenes pictures, so it now aligns more closely to those images.

Often these symptoms can manifest in children who have survived great trauma such as during war.  I learned about this from reading about the survivors of the Syrian conflict.

Using the third person neuter pronoun “it” for children is an old-fashioned way (that still persists in German).  It is both to signify the lack of importance of gender as well as the status of War Pups as goods.

Dart's father was definitely an Imperator.

Smaller fighting War Boys end up being sent to Gas Town as their smaller size means they need less food and water.  The larger ones stay in the Citadel.

I spent an hour or two watching Russian dashcam crash videos before deciding on a proper exclamation for Morsov.  

For more backstory about Coil, Win, and Stonker, check out Vincula.

Bucket is named after a friend's dog.  Bristow is Bucket's best mate and is named after the same friend's cat who has since passed on (Witnessed).

Morsov's reciting War Boy principles that he learned from the Ace in Refuge.

Bucket is referencing the Alien movie series.

Zombie stories keep going on.  No specific movie, just zombies in general.  I'm always slightly amused by how many people have zombie apocalypse survival plans.

Zombie's baby teeth haven't fallen out yet; it's just that he's been hit/knocked over a few times and had some teeth knocked out.  So he's a lot younger than he looks and big for his age.

Stonker is alluding to Win, who was killed on the daily patrol and probably un-Witnessed.  Win was Stonker's parent.  More details can be found in Vincula.

Bucket is asking for Stonker to retell Frozen but then settles on Moana.

Coil inherited this small mirror from Win after Win was killed.  It's mentioned in chapter 17 of Vincula.

The Ace knows what he's doing.

Since Win grew up a Trader, he had a sharp eye for expression and only really focused on the parts that would have conceivably been exposed and not always masked.

As an Imperator, Furiosa is allowed to wear a petroleum black that's been chromed with aluminum dust.

Coil is wrong about Furiosa's hesitation here, and he was wrong about Win's too.

Chapter 16

Chapter 16 begins a new section of the story, which as far as my current plans are, is the middle section (volume 2?).  

This is also how sailors return from the sea (manning the rail).

Many ideas about jobs such as the HazMat (Hazardous Materials) Imperator came from conversations with veeeeight who inspired many of these ideas.  More on this later.

The Citadel has its own cache of clothing that it hoards in storage.

By custom, the Imperator is rarely alone and always has someone close by.  The Ace is going against habit, but he knows she'll be with Coil so he's willing to let her go on her own for a little bit.

Even though the War Rig is cleaned by random Revheads, no War Boy is foolish enough to steal from the Imperator.  War Boy society is fairly honest.

Furiosa's experience with the Prime Imperator can be found in the first story of the series, Furiosa.

I imagine most of the warren hallways look like the ones that Max ran through in the beginning of Fury Road.

I think the fact that the Imperator is rarely alone may imply that Acosta had enemies, despite his prominent standing.

The War Boys' soap is made from petroleum byproducts.

Memories of the past Green Place and the green place within Bartertown running together.

Clear grease is refined petroleum jelly, which is naturally black otherwise.

The items in the shrine were previously mentioned at the beginning of chapter 1.  Not all of the things belonged to Acosta, but many did.  The toy car appears in chapter 7 of Vincula, when a young Acosta and Ace made toy cars for the younger children to play with.

The particular tree oil is olive oil.  Acetone comes from Gastown.  Flower oil is lavender oil.  Capsaisin, menthol, and lavender oil come from Bartertown.  

The Ace is talking about finding a cache of essential oils.

Morsov is talking about opium poppies.

The Brand Imperator has many brandings all over his body from this sort of thing.

Baxter is the name of a friend's cat who unfortunately died as a kitten.

veeeeight helped me with the water plant details.

Chapter 17

Definitely a commentary on health care.

The elegant War Boy doesn't have a name yet, but chapter 20 we find that he's called Ducky (after sigmastolen's cat).

A high-ranked Organic like Ducky has nearly as much run of the Citadel as an Imperator, though mainly of the farms.

The windmills are dismantled and stored ahead of major storms.

The last War was when Furiosa lost her hand.  Though there were many gains (cars, captives, etc.), there were probably too many important losses, such as Imperator Acosta and his remaining crew, for there to be a seemly celebration.  

Modern high rise buildings have issues with pressure differences between the outside atmosphere and inside the building.  Here, I assume the Citadel has similar issues.

These are wool military surplus blankets.  The gray with blue stripes and red edging is the Australian World War II era Army issue blanket, and the sand colored one with green stripes and edging is the Australian Vietnam War era Army issue blanket.  

Translated lyrics for the Russian lullaby Bayu Bayushki Bayu can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/381210/discussions/0/1471966894869331810/ Youtube has a few recordings for those curious.

In the movie, from inside the War Tower (when Slit flies in on a chain) the floor looks closed, and from outside it looks open, so I split the difference so that it's partially open toward the waste side, but closed all the way back.

Most major engineering works of the past (and even present) involve some deaths, but in this case this also alludes to ancient practices of human sacrifice while building structures.

The image of the Immortan's family and their seating arrangement at the McFeast comes from a scene of the actors workshopping in a behind the scenes video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTH2fDyAHcY&t=1m30s

The Haynes, Clymer, and Chilton are all auto repair manual books  Haynes is British and Clymer and Chilton are American.

Chapter 18

Chapter 17-19 were were really troublesome writing and it took completing all three before I could see where the logical chapter breaks were.

In the movie, the Prime Imperator is wearing what I am calling the full emblem, and the Secondus Imperator is not, only a leather badge.  In the movie, Furiosa wears the full emblem too.  

McFeasting: http://evilasiangenius.tumblr.com/post/142858754454/mcfeasting-in-valhalla

In many parts of the world, ink is used to mark voter's thumbs so they can't vote again.

This is of course, Bohemian Rhapsody, by Queen.

The Immortan's musicians consists of the Doof Warrior and the drummers.

This conversation about dumping Bucket is very similar to a conversation I overheard once in a Target, except without as much cannibalism.

Bucket is merely an outsider, Morsov is from the much detested Buzzard tribe, which shows some differences in their social standing.

As sigmastolen pointed out, brake drums are sometimes used in orchestral percussion.  Bone flutes and rattles constitute some of the first instruments that humans made.  There is definitely a harp in there somewhere.  The only major families of instruments not obviously depicted are reed instruments and electrophones, reeds being hard to obtain at the Citadel.  Many broad elements of the McFeast music scenes come from discussions with sigmastolen.

Booster is doing a very awkward cover of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

The second War Boy sings Beds are Burning by Midnight Oil, a song that originally was meant to support the rights of the indigenous people of Australia, but has been twisted through the lens of War Boy society to imply it's about Immortan Joe's land rights.  I can't remember who recommended this song to me, but I am pretty sure it was shejackalarts.

This old Organic doesn't have a name yet, but in chapter 20 we find out he's called Scythe.

The War Boys bring their own meaning to the music and lyrics that get distorted over time and distance.  This is Bulls on Parade by Rage Against the Machine, suggested by veeeeight.

I was once given dried jujubes stuffed with walnuts once as a snack while traveling in Asia.

Nux doesn't know that the games were canceled.

Chapter 19

Elvis was Morsov's first partner and Driver but was abusive to him.  In the last chapter of Euphoria, Morsov left Elvis after encouragement from Nux.  After fighting Slit, who was protecting Morsov, at a War Games, Elvis was raised as an Imperator and went on to become the new Secundus.  

Originally, I had wanted to write this scene with Furiosa and Coil as a more typical love scene, but it didn't feel right coming on the heels of Morsov's story.  So it's still a love scene, but here we can see that love comes in many forms and is expressed in many ways, not just sexual.

Coil is teaching her the electric slide.  Many years ago in conversation with sigmastolen, we decided that War Boys would definitely line dance, and there would definitely be 100 War Boys doing the electric slide.

This sketch of Coil was drawn by Win, in chapter 17 of Vincula.

In Vulnera chapter 4, a lifetime ago, Coil and Furiosa also sat on a mechanic's creeper together in the War Rig shop under very different circumstances and with a very different relationship.

This unfinished project is referenced by Coil at the end of Lamia and says something about how little Coil really understood Win.

Those high status vehicles get protective coats, whereas when War Boys grind down their vehicles, it'll end up going to rust at some point because there is no way for them to do the same thing.  

Much like Viking flyting, War Boys can settle disputes with rap battles.

The old Organic's song references his past, and is a contrafactum (filk!) of Whatever it Takes by Imagine Dragons.

Chapter 20

Kyber is veeeeight's dog.  Much of the details of industrial work in this chapter is thanks to inspiration and help from veeeeight, such as the idea of Safety workers who function as Kill Switches, as well as the HazMat, water storage divers, and

Pappy is the name of a dog that belongs to someone we know who works in HazMat.

One thought I had was that later, Max would have been put into quarantine for three or four days, with reduced food and water to try to make him easier to handle.  That obviously didn't work very well.

Duke, Kit, and Tempo are all named after dogs, mostly belonging to veeeeight or friends in the past or present.  Kit is short for Kit-Kat.

The climate is changing in the wasteland, getting warmer and wetter after a long nuclear winter, so that new thriving agricultural societies such as the Citadel are gaining in power and population.  Or perhaps power through population.  

Stonker tells the Ace who did it without actually saying their names.  One and Two, the Prime and Secundus Imperators.

Both Vulnera and Euphoria mention this concept of War Pups acting like a messaging system in the Citadel.  

Furiosa is definitely being misgendered here, because socially, all War Boys are considered male, even if they're not.  I've tried to make the distinction that people who don't really know her misgender her, and sometimes even people who are close to her refer to her as male in public.

I wouldn't be surprised if this act of kindness toward the Bridge Imperators would be something that would inadvertently lead to helping Furiosa smuggle the Wives over in the future, if the Imperators can't see as clearly who is making the crossings...

The grindstones and flour mixing imagery refers back to ancient Egyptians.

Fermented foods are a crucial way for War Boys to get enough vitamin B-12 in their diets.  

Ducky is the black cat...sigmastolen's black cat, to be specific.

The Ace subsisted on the broth when he broke his jaw  in Vulnera.

Ducky's question to the pup is very mathematical, asking about a maximum number using “at most” (compare this with “at least”).

I worked out an entire page of notes in my writing notebook on food bar accounting.  The Citadel definitely stores a lot more bars than are being used.

It always seemed to me that Mad Max: Fury Road was both very serious and kind of absurd at the same time, which is a very unusual mix.

The old Organic Scythe greets Furiosa in Latin.

I always thought that one of the Wretched whom we see at the very end of the movie, legless and crawling out of a hole, was formerly a War Boy but one who had been sent down because he lost his legs.

Furiosa's first run to Bartertown is mentioned in the story by the same name.

Pomegranates are associated with death in ancient Greek culture, notably the myth of Persephone.

#mad max #mad max fury road #mmfr #wasteland culture #worldbuilding #fortunae plango vulnera series

[snowdragon4]

Hungry Moon.  Chapter 3

Chapter 3….and says his prayers by night…. 

The light of the full moon gave way to the morning sun slowly, but Elsa, sitting in an icy chair she had created, wouldn’t leave her spot at the entrance to the forest.  Not until Bjorn and his men had returned.  Following the stubborn pattern of their queen, Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf stayed with her throughout the entire night.  Granted they had fallen asleep hours ago, still Elsa would be lying if she said she didn’t want their company.  

Glancing at her family over her shoulder she didn’t bother fighting the smile spreading over her face.  Cuddled together for warmth from the frigid night air, Anna and Kristoff, she noticed, seemed to fit perfectly in each other’s arms.  As happy as she was for Anna, she couldn’t help but wonder what would become of herself.  It was a selfish thought, after all she should be more concerned about her sisters happiness, but insecurity always showed its ugly head.  

What would happen to her if Anna and Kristoff married?  Would she leave Arendelle?  Doubtful, she couldn’t even get rid of her last night, but Anna would have her own family, her own children.  

Her smile widened.  I’d be cool auntie Elsa. 

Still insecurities nagged at the back of her mind.  What would happen to her?  Would she be alone?  Could she ever find someone to love and would love her the way Kristoff loved Anna?  She said she didn’t care, but really it was on her mind more often then she let on.  

She looked down at her hands folded in front of her then down at the arms that held her sister tightly.  

Would she ever be held like that?  Could she ever hold anyone?

Rustling from the trees drew her attention back to the forest.  Poised for an attack she was relieved to see Bjorn and his men emerging from the woods.  However Her heart sank when she saw that they were dragging something behind them attached to the horses.  

Leaving her sleeping family, she met her guards halfway in the woods, making sure she was out of earshot when she spoke to them.  Examining the men she could see blood smeared over their skin and armor, making her fear the worst. 

“What happened?  Are you hurt?” 

Bjorn shook his head.  “This is not our blood.”  He dismounted his horse then moved to the back of the horses.  

“We tracked that… thing to some caves near the mountains.  Inside we found… them.” He gestured to four corpses, in various stages of decay, one woman and two men, strewn on the sheet.  “We also found a few more bodies in the forest.  It seems Mister Thomas had organized a hunting party.  None of them were found alive.” 

Elsa’s hands covered her mouth.  “What… did this?”

Bjorn looked at his men before running a trembling hand through his hair.  “I’ve been in a lot of battles, and seen horrible things, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Elsa watched Bjorn closely, and her terror grew.  The Man that she counted on to keep her and her people safe was genuinely scared.  

“All of their hearts are missing too.” One of Bjorn’s men noted.  Looking again, Elsa could see that each had their chests ripped open and their hearts were gone.  

Elsa looked away, the sight becoming to gruesome for her to handle.  “My queen,” Bjorn called after her, “I know this is a lot to handle, but we must know, What would you have us do?”

It took her a few seconds to calm herself with some deep, cleansing breaths, and once she had her composure back, turned back to him.  “Take your men and scour the woods until you find it.  Do whatever it is you have too.”  Bjorn responded with a curt nod.  “I want Dr. Rolf to examine these bodies, see if he can find anything that can tell us what attacked these poor people.  Our priority is the safety of Arendelle.” 

—:0:—

“This is a bad idea.”

“The people have a right to know.”

“To know what? That there something in the woods killing people and taking hearts?”

“If they know what’s out there they can act accordingly.  Make sure to stay in at night.”

“OR they could form another hunting party and go into those woods.”

“That won’t happen.”

“How do you know?”

“Elsa built the ice wall all around the forest.”  Anna motioned to her sister who had decided to watch she and Kristoff continue their back and forth.  

“That’s another thing.  People need to go into those woods.  There’s a well out there, Wood needs to be chopped, game needs to be hunted.  Some people have their livelihood in those woods.”

She began sputtering.  “Well we’ve already called all of our subjects to the courtyard, so… HA!  Now we have to tell them something.” 

He rolled his eyes before turning to Elsa at the throne.  “I know you both have the kingdoms best interest at heart, but telling them isn’t going to help anyone.  Especially when you have no defense against whatever it is.” 

“Sure we do!” Anna skipped the few steps to the throne before putting her hands on her sister's shoulders.  “Elsa’s got this.  Whatever is out there I’m sure it’s not match for her ice.  Right Elsa?”

Kristoff looked at the queen sympathetically.  Without sleep the night before, dark circles had formed beneath her eyes bringing out her pale complexion.  Her eyes were downcast and deep in thought, but didn’t seem to be focused on what Kristoff and Anna were talking about.  

“Elsa?”

She took a sharp inhale the second time Anna called her.  “Yes.  No match.”  

“See!” Anna rubbed Elsa’s shoulders before skipping to the doors.  “I’m gonna go check on Sven and Olaf.  Hopefully they’ve been able to gather everyone.”  

Once she had vanished, Kristoff took a seat and the base of the steps with his back to Elsa.  They were silent for a few minutes before she broke the silence. 

“Am I doing the right thing?  Telling my people about the attacks?”

Kristoff shrugged.  “If you think it is, then I’m behind you one hundred percent.  But you were hoping I’d tell you what to do huh?”

She grinned.  “It’d be nice.  This is all new to me.”

He got to his feet and extended his hand to her.  “I know, but I trust your judgment, and if you think this is the right move, I’ll support you.”  She looked at his hand but didn’t take it.  As if just remembering, he pulled his hand away.  “Sorry, I forgot.”

She shook her head.  “It’s not… I’d welcome it… someday, but not now.”  She began fiddling with her fingers.  “I just…just Anna.”

He held out his hands.  “You're not offending me at all.”  He gestures to the doors.  “After you.”

She clasped her hands together and gave a small bow of her head.  “Why thank you.”  Poised and regal, Kristoff escorted the queen of Arendelle to address her subjects in the courtyard. 

—:0:—

One week later

Elsa didn’t bother looking at the grandfather clock as its ticking continued to taunt her.  She knew how late it was, and aware that she should have been asleep hours ago.  Still she just couldn’t.  Over the past week, Bjorn and his men had come up empty when it came to hunting down the creature. There was No sign of hair, teeth, claws, hearts or bodies.  

Absolutely nothing. 

This development caused Elsa to have sleepless nights, a couple hours at the most, which in turn made Anna worry about her, which made Kristoff worry about Anna, then Sven worry about Kristoff, And Olaf worry about ... we'll everything.  

Sitting at her windowsill she stared blankly over her kingdom, knowing that with each passing second it’s occupants were expecting a solution to this problem.  The meeting with the entirety of her kingdom went as well as could be expected with mixed reactions of fear, anger, and sadness.  Afterwards Families of the victims came forward and claimed their loved ones, which had probably been the most gut wrenching part of the entire ordeal.  

Every day she was bombarded with the same  questions.  

“Have you caught it yet?”

“Why is the ice wall still up?”

“Are we safe?”

“Should we just go after it?”

Finally Elsa had to, once again, shut herself away to avoid the questions she didn’t have the answers too. 

Elsa wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks, before they could freeze over.  What was she going to do?  How could she fix this?  Freeze the forest over and hope the creature is caught in the frost?  

Before she traveled further down that rabbit hole she was surprised by a knock at her chamber doors.  Inside she groaned at the prospect of interacting with anyone, but Looking at the clock she was both surprised and intrigued as to who could be disturbing her at this hour. 

“One moment please.” She wiped her face, wrapped a loose robe around herself to cover her nightgown, and sat back down at the windowsill.  “Come in.” 

Much to Elsa’s surprise, it wasn’t Anna, or Olaf or anyone else in her little family, but Gerda.  With A warm smile on her face and a tray with a hot teapot and cups in her hands, she approached the saddened queen.  

Gerda set the metal tray on the windowsill. “I see your still having trouble sleeping?”  

Elsa was too exhausted to argue but she still managed to mutter, “What makes you say that?”  Gerda didn’t respond, probably thinking it was useless to, and began to pour the hot liquid from the teapot into the cups.  “What is that?” 

“A special potion, capable of soothing the nerves, relaxing the tightness in your shoulders and neck, and helping to ease you into a peaceful sleep.”  She placed a small cup into Elsa’s hands.  “Camomile tea.”  

Elsa looked into the cup curiously.  She wasn’t much of a tea drinker, but at this point, being desperate for rest, she decided that there was a first time for everything.  She took a tentative sip, immediately feeling the effects as its warmth began to fill every inch of her.  She didn’t bother hiding the fact that her eyes rolled into the back of her head or the small moan of pleasure.  

It was heavenly. 

“Judging by your mewling I’m assuming I did well?” 

Elsa, eyes still closed, slowly nodded. “Where has this been all my life?” 

Gerda chuckled, taking a seat and her own cup of tea.  “Warm camomile and a hint of honey always does the trick.”

Elsa could feel her body slowly begin to unwind.  “I can understand why.” She took another sip welcoming the tea’s soothing touch.  “Thank you.”

Gerda gave a small nod of appreciation before the pair were enveloped I’m comfortable silence.  Staring out over the fjord through the window, Gerda suddenly said, “You know when I was a little girl I had an experience similar to this one.”  

Elsa had been feeling a bit drowsy until Gerda’s statement got her full attention. “Forgive me, but I didn’t know that.”

Gerda shrugged.  “It’s not something I care to discuss, but seeing as how things have become dire, I feel I should share.”  Gerda got a little more comfortable in her seat before she began.  “I lived in a small village about a day's journey at the edge of the Arendelle border and as a child I remember being told ‘Eat your vegetables or the Striga will get you’.”  She contorted herself and changed her voice to make herself seem like a comical old lady, getting a small chuckle from Elsa.  

As she laughed she asked, “I’m sorry, but What’s a Striga?”

Gerda shook her head.  “To this day, I'm not really sure, the best way I can think to describe it is an old hag like Witch similar to Hansel and Gretal.”

Elsa went a bit pale...er.  A witch that ate children? “B-but those are just stories.  Right?”

“That's what I believed.  Even when children began vanishing from my village, I was sure it was just hungry wolves or bears, but certainly not a witch.”  Gerda shuffled in her chair, getting a bit more uneasy as the story went on.  “That was until my little brother went missing.”  Elsa leaned forward.  “That seemed to be the final straw.  Eight men from my village went into the woods to search for the children, but only three came back.  Whether it was a witch, Striga, or whatever it was my village was terrified.”  She took a sip of her tea with a trembling hand.  “I thought I’d never see my brother again.”

It was easy for Elsa to see the similarities, and the thought of losing Anna horrified her.  “What-what happened?”

Gerda set her tea back down on its little tray.  “Well one of the village elders had the idea to contact the Artemis Order.  A group of men and women chosen by the goddess Artemis herself to hunt the things that normal men and women wouldn’t be able to hunt on their own.  The things that hide in the darkness of our forests and our own fears.”  Elsa’s eyes went a bit wider with wonder, as if she was a little girl again.  “Two men came to our village from Greece and the next night, my little brother was back in my arms.  He never told me the details of what happened, and I didn’t ask.  I was just so happy he was home.”

For the first time since these attacks, Elsa felt a spark of hope.  “Where can I find these men?  Can they help us?” 

Gerda’s shoulders sagged with sadness.  “I’m sorry dear, but the Artemis Order had been extinguished years ago.  Run out by the Romans, but legend says they were given asylum and the order still functions to this day.”  Gerda took another sip of tea.  “As to where you can find them, I believe your future in-laws have the answer to that.”

—:0:—

This had to work, it had to.  Gerda had made Elsa finish her tea and though the “potion” had done its job and relaxing the anxious queen, she couldn’t afford to sleep now.  As soon as her tea had finished, and Gerda had left her chambers, Elsa had changed her outfit, grabbed a traveling cloak and saddled a horse.  The moon was only less than a half and didn’t give much light, but she had made this short journey before and now it was just memory.  

She had to be quick and quiet, the last thing she wanted was for her kingdom to see her sneaking into the woods when she had told them how dangerous it was.  As she travelled through the darkness she held onto the fact that the forest had been calm for the past week, so in theory, she should be safe.  

Right?

Approaching the trolls quarry she took notice that all the round stones, trolls, had gone.  Figuring they must be hiding, She dismounted her horse and began calling out.  

“Grand poppy?!  Hello!  Is anyone out there?!”  

“Shhh.”  

Elsa nearly leapt out of her skin when she heard the “shushing” below her.  Slowly a small stone-like mound began to emerge from the dirt beneath her feet.  Once free from the sand, the female troll put her finger to her lips.  

“Shhh.  We don’t want that thing finding us.”  She hushed. 

Elsa knelt down to her level.  “There haven’t been any attacks for the last few days.  I think your people are safe.”

She began burrowing into the dirt again.  “Well better safe than sorry.”

“Wait!” Elsa slapped her hands over her mouth when she realized she was a bit loud.  “Sorry, but I need to speak to Grandpoppy.”

“Elsa,” the queen turned around just as another troll, the eldest began to emerge from the ground, “I’m sorry, but I can not help you with this.  It’s much to dangerous for us.”

Elsa knelt down beside him.  “Do you know what is attacking us?”

He shook his head.  “A creature unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.  Something not native to these lands.”  

She was disheartened by the fact that he didn’t know what they were up against, but there was still hope.  “I’m not asking you to risk your lives.  I was hoping you knew about the Artemis Order.”

Grandpoppy’s ears twitched along with soft rumblings coming from the ground around her.  “Unfortunately Elsa, the Artemis Order is no more.  The Romans forced them from Greece many, many years ago.”  Once again Elsa began to feel the hollowness of despair.  “But they were given sanctuary in the high mountains, and eventually became assimilated with, the Knights of Kuarlong.”

Elsa’s mouth dropped slightly.  Had she heard him right?  “Th-the Knights of Kuarlong?  You mean?”

Seeing her excitement, he chuckled.  “Yes, your highness, Kuarlong is also home to the Dragon Knights.”  

Her mouth dropped further.  The Dragon Knights, and the knights of Kuarlong were real?  “So the Artemis Order still exists, they just go by a new name.”

He nodded.  “And they still maintain their oath of helping others fight those that lurk in the darkness..”

Elsa scooted closer to him.  “Grand poppy, I need to get a message to them.”

He held out his hand.  “Say no more.  Wait till tomorrow night and we shall have a response for you.”  Grand poppy dug himself back into the ground, the crystals around his neck glowing a bright yellow that could be seen from under the dirt.  Along with his glowing crystals glowing lights traveled underground leading further into the forest and out of sight.

True to his word, the next night Elsa had received a message from the trolls that Kuarlong would be sending two representatives within the next few days to help with the creature.  This, along with chamomile tea, was finally able to help Elsa rest.

Note: Kuralong and the Knights of Kuarlong and Dragon Knights are my creations.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13314313/1/Hungry-Moon

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13314313/2/Hungry-Moon

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13314313/3/Hungry-Moon

#frozen fanfiction #frozen 2 #disneyfrozen #frozen trailer #anna frozen #elsafrozen #frozen 2 trailer

[jin0uga]

Dance the night away

More whiterose because I need more of this otp. 

Whiterose, Married!AU, inspired by that video of a sweet dad who danced with his daughter on-stage. Second part of my A Rose in Bloom series.

Tonight was the night. Ruby dithered behind the curtains, anxiously watching her daughter get ready. It was Dia's first recital and her little girl was a bundle of nerves, constantly nibbling on her nails and jumping as stage hands flitted back and forth. Dia nervously smoothed the ruffles of her adorable, pink tutu and looked at her mother. 

"I don't wanna dance," Dia pleaded, paling as the mutter of the crowd drifted backstage. In contrast to her daughter's pallor and skittish behaviour the other girls buzzed in excitement and floated towards the curtains, alternating between peeking out of it and grinning at each other like overly excited rabbits.

Ruby gave her a reassuring smile before her attention was stolen by Zwei wriggling in her grasp. He whined, pawing at her shirt. She sighed and gently pecked the top of his head, briefly putting a stop to his struggles. Ruby hadn't wanted to take him along, but Weiss insisted he would be terribly lonely them. It was complete rubbish since Ruby knew the maids and servants always entertained Zwei more than was strictly necessary, but her wife's pleading eyes were too powerful a weapon to resist.

Dia tugged at her shirt – Ruby couldn't help think it was like another puppy clamouring for her attention – and mumbled something incoherent.

"You're going to be great out there. Remember how you showed the entire dance to Grandpa Tai?" Ruby stroked her daughter's head, smoothing the cowlick that sprung up despite the thorough gelling Weiss put it through an hour earlier. "We even watched the recording afterwards, you danced so beautifully!"

Her daughter hesitated. She met Ruby's gaze after seconds of quiet contemplation, eyes blazing with renewed determination. "Did Mommy come to watch me dance?" For the first time that night, she looked in the direction of the stage. Ruby beamed. "Your Mommy's here, along with Aunt Yang and Blake. Even Winter– I mean, Auntie Win, is here to watch you steal the spotlight."

Dia drew in a deep breath, and looked at her Mom. "Are you gonna be here once I finish?"

"Of course." Ruby wound her hand around hers, squeezing gently. "I'll be here no matter what."

The instructor's assistant finally appeared backstage, calling for the girls to assemble. Ruby looked on in amusement as the group of tiny girls rushed past her feet to get into formation. Dia stared after them with a hint of apprehension, but covered it up with a expression Ruby recognized. The Schnee's stoic mask was definitely hereditary.

Ruby bent forward and kissed her daughter's forehead. "Okay, my little diamond. Go out there and knock em' dead."

"Both of you, shut up. It's starting!" Weiss hit the record button as soon as she saw the first ponytail enter the stage, swishing like a tiny feather duster. Yang chortled. Blake rolled her eyes at her friend's overzealousness. Winter patted her sister's arm, laughter dancing in the normally stormy eyes.

"This is an important milestone in Dia's life." Weiss refuted their amused stares with sharp words, glowering at their lack of seriousness. It was only obvious she'd be excited her baby's first recital! She clicked her teeth. "Yang, make yourself useful and start recording."

"What? Don't you already have it covered?" Even as she said this, Yang lazily took out her scroll, doing as she was told. It was easier to go with the flow than fight against the current that was Weiss Schnee-Rose.

"One angle isn't enough to capture this moment. Besides, you have a better view of the stage from your seat." Weiss sighed in frustration when Yang nudged Blake, the two of exchange insipid grins. "I wish you three would take this seriously. I refuse to lose this memory to scroll failure or bad lighting." Her wife and father-in-law would be beside themselves if she didn't have at least three videos and a dozen pictures by the end of it.

"Weiss. If that's what you wanted you'd better… I don't know, watch it with your own eyes before whipping out your scroll?" Yang said, arching her eyebrows and jerking her chin in the direction of the stage. The girls were lined in a row, soaking in the applause and shouts raining down as the crowd peppered them with 'Good luck's' and 'break a leg!'

Winter pried the scroll from Weiss' hands, ignoring the outraged gasp. "Miss Xiao Long has a point. Enjoy the show, Weiss. I'll aid you in recording so you can watch without obsessing over angles, and how terrible the stage lighting is."

Weiss squinted. "Now that you mentioned it..."

"Just concentrate on your daughter, Weiss." Blake chided as the music started.

As the group of girls danced on stage, Weiss found herself smiling at Dia's expertly executed movements. Her daughter had obviously inherited Ruby's grace, each sweep of her leg and arms sinuous and smooth, liquid given physical form. Weiss also noted that although the girls wore identical pink outfits, Dia looked the loveliest out of all of them. A blooming rose among a field of tulips.

The tinkling music rose to a pitch. The girls circled the stage, taking turns to execute small jumps, twisting in the air like curling ribbons. Dia was the last in line. To Weiss's horror, her daughter lost her footing just as she was poised to leap. There was a crack of wood as knees met the stage floor, and the atmosphere in the recital hall plummeted into the negatives as the crowd looked on in stunned silence. Weiss took in Dia's hunched shoulders, ready to elbow people out of the way to rescue her daughter. It was Winter's vice grip, rough hands experienced in keeping order and stability even during the most tumultuous of times, that kept her pinned to her seat.

"Winter," Weiss had to fight to keep her voice steady. "Let me go."

"You know what would happen if you rushed up there." Winter watched her niece quake in embarrassment. The rest of the girls fluttered nervously in place, not daring to draw attention to themselves, leaving the poor girl stranded by herself. "It will do her no favours if you made a scene." Winter said, regretfully.

Weiss scowled. "I don't–"

Ruby barrelled onto the stage and pulled her daughter to her feet. In her other arm, Zwei swept his gaze over the crowd, tongue lolling out as he yipped in a obnoxiously adorable way only dogs could.

Dia snapped back to attention. Weiss watched their daughter regain the determined set to her jaw after taking in Ruby's patient smile. The tension in her shoulders dissolved and Weiss' heart leaped as her daughter took several steps back, before running forward. Dia did a perfect twirl in mid-air, and landed soundlessly on her feet.

From her seat, Weiss saw Ruby beam at Dia before she disappeared behind the curtains. The rest of the performers were spurred back into action when Dia returned to her spot. Everyone's movements were considerably stilted compared to before, but they continued admirably until the song's final note. The curtain fell accompanied by a smattering of applause. Murmurs rose as the audience got up from their seats, but Weiss remained rooted to hers, an unreadable expression plastered across her face.

Yang turned and said to Blake, "Wow, I'm glad we got that on video."

The parking lot was a flurry of activity, parents spilling from the recital hall after collecting their daughters. Friends and family stood near vehicles, chatting amicably about the performance as their children giggled and chased each other around the lot in a hasty game of tag.

Yang broke into brilliant grin when she spotted her sister and niece tottering towards them. "Here come the two scamps!"

"An admirable performance little diamond." Winter's expression was unusually soft as she bent down to face Dia. "How do you feel about it?"

"It stinked when I fell." Blake covered up a snort. They were spat in a distasteful, familiar tone that reminded her of Weiss in their University days, a time where the Schnee was critical of everything and did not hesitate to point it out. "But then Mom helped me out and made everything better." The tiny ball of sunshine beamed, melting the hearts of every adult in the vicinity. Winter chuckled and patted her cheek.

"It was a good performance overall, then?" Yang followed up, ruffling Dia's hair. The action made the girl more excited than embarrassed, a trait she'd definitely picked up from Ruby.

"Yep!"

"Be careful next time," Weiss chided, waiting till Winter stepped away to wrap her in a hug. Her daughter hugged back, though she sighed dramatically at the reminder. "Yes, Mommy, I promise."

Ruby watched Zwei run circles around them before gesturing at Yang to pick him up. She clapped her hands. "Okay, who's up for some victory ice cream?" Yang and Dia yelled their agreement in unison while Blake lazily waved the red flag she'd brought along.

Winter inclined her head towards her car, a speck of white in a sea of grey. "Come along, everyone. Dia will take the front seat which means you'd have to sit in the back with Blake, Yang."

"Um, aren't we going together?" Ruby interjected, sounding terribly confused, "I mean, Dia and I came in Weiss' car after all."

Dia nodded, fringe flopping up and down. "Yeah!"

Weiss rested a gentle hand on her daughter's head. "I know, darling. But like I told your Aunts earlier, I've decided to take your Mom for… cookies, first." Ruby blushed, the warmth in her cheeks reaching high enough to stain the tips of her ears. Weiss was staring at her in an awfully familiar way. It brought to mind the memory of their wedding night, icy blue eyes ablaze with predatory hunger and slivers of unblemished skin peeking from black, racy lingerie…

Dia made a face. "Mommy, why's Auntie Yang giggling like that?"

"Don't mind her, she was dropped on her head as a child." Yang pursed her lips, shooting an annoyed scowl in Weiss' direction. Blake snickered and patted the blonde's arms. "You walked into that one."

"Har har."

"Come along, Dia. We'll leave your mothers to their own celebration." Winter told her, extending a gloved hand. "They will be joining us later, yes?"

"Y-Yeah." Winter smirked at Ruby and lead her niece away. Blake and Yang followed after them, but not before Yang gave her sister an overly exaggerated wink.

Weiss trailed her hand down Ruby's shoulder, enjoying the way her wife shuddered at the touch. The small whimper Ruby made sent a thrill of excitement through her.

"Back to the car, Ruby." Weiss silently cycled through their favourite isolated dating spots. Oh, the possibilities were endless. "I think it's time we tested if my car seats are as sturdy as advertised."

#white rose #rwby #MAH OTP #ruby rose #weiss schnee #rwby fanfiction #OOF #whiterose #A rose in bloom

[kurowrites]

This Cursed Broken Heart - Chapter 3

Previous parts. AO3. 

Sorry?

(Warning: contains mentions of addiction and some other dark themes, but it’s all in the past.)

---

To Wei Ying’s eternal relief, the rest of the afternoon passes by without incident – as far as Wei Ying and Lan Zhan are concerned, that is. Jiang Cheng fares much worse. The aunties have indeed banded together once more in their quest to find Jiang Cheng a decent wife, and he clearly does not appreciate the interference in his love life one bit. At the same time, he’s completely incapable of shutting them down, so it’s really just a repeat of what happened during the last family celebration. And the one before that. And the one before that. It’s both hilarious and embarrassing to watch.

In general, the celebration is exactly how all Jiang family celebrations are: there’s a lot of noise, there’s a lot of food, one of the uncles gets embarrassingly drunk. Granny Yu keeps her eagle eye on Wei Ying’s plate and makes sure he eats so much that his stomach feels stretched to its absolute limits. Once, Jiang Yanli comes by to check up on Wei Ying and make sure he’s fine. He assures her that he is, a little embarrassed with Lan Zhan sitting right next to him. But Jiang Yanli isn’t like Jiang Cheng; she says nothing unnecessary (or mean) in front of Lan Zhan. She simply gives him a kiss on the cheeks and tells him to come to her if he needs something.

It’s already late afternoon by the time the celebration starts winding down, and though Wei Ying enjoyed himself (if a constant hyper-awareness of Lan Zhan’s proximity can be called enjoyable), he lets out a deep sigh he’s been holding in the entire time once they’re finally back in the car.

“So,” he says as he starts the car. “That went surprisingly well.”

Lan Zhan doesn’t reply, but Wei Ying didn’t expect him to. He concentrates on navigating the early evening traffic, instead. He doesn’t drive much, actually, usually relying on public transport, but it felt right to drive Lan Zhan today, after all the trouble Wei Ying caused him. He’s not the smoothest of drivers, in any case, and with Lan Zhan as his passenger, he drives more carefully and attentively than he normally would.

He remembers before. When they went out as a couple, it was most often Lan Zhan that would drive them around. Lan Zhan never drank, so he was always the designated driver even when they went out with friends.

Lan Zhan must be thinking about something similar, because he suddenly decides to break the silence with an odd observation.

“You have not been drinking today,” he says.

“Yeah,” Wei Ying says, trying to sound casual even as the knuckles on his hands gripping the steering wheel turn white. “I’m driving you around, so obviously I’m not going to drink.”

Wei Ying almost believes that Lan Zhan will accept this as a sufficient explanation, but then, after a short pause, Lan Zhan speaks up again.

“Jiang Yanli asked you if you are okay.”

“My sister always worries about me,” Wei Ying presses out, and he can already feel the waves of panic crashing threatening to crash over him, the terror of Lan Zhan so effortlessly sniffing out the one thing Wei Ying has been wanting to hide from him. “She worries too much, really. About everyone.”

Lan Zhan doesn’t get the hint. Maybe doesn’t want to get the hint.

“You always drank with your uncles.”

Wei Ying grips the steering wheel harder.

“Lan Zhan, if you want to have that conversation while I’m driving, I will crash the car.”

“Come up to the apartment with me, then,” Lan Zhan replies. “I want to speak with you.”

Wei Ying has no idea how to read Lan Zhan’s tone of voice. He used to have a good handle on Lan Zhan’s expressions, but he can’t pinpoint this one. The feeling of not knowing Lan Zhan’s current state of mind makes him go hot and cold at the same time.

He doesn’t want to go up to Lan Zhan’s apartment. He doesn’t want to face this. Any of it.

He shouldn’t have asked Lan Zhan to come with him today. It had been a stupid idea, to try and soothe the worries of his family by involving others in a lie.

“Lan Zhan, we’re not–”

“My favour,” Lan Zhan interrupts. “You owe me a favour. I want to you to come up to my apartment, and you will not leave until I tell you that you’re allowed to.”

Wei Ying shoots Lan Zhan a quick look before he returns his attention to the standing traffic in front of him. Does Lan Zhan realise what he sounds like right now?

He takes a deep breath. It’s fine. Speaking to Lan Zhan will devastate him emotionally, he has no doubts about that, but Lan Zhan would never intend to harm him in any way. He guesses Lan Zhan has a right to know, too.

Still.

“Isn’t it a waste to use that favour for something so meaningless?” he asks, trying to sound unconcerned. “We’ve been broken up for a year. What use is it to talk now?”

“It is important to me,” Lan Zhan replies, and then returns to silence once more.

The rest of the drive is uncomfortable to say the least. There’s nothing to break the looming silence with; it would feel even worse to turn on the car radio now. Wei Ying lets himself be directed to a parking space by Lan Zhan, and follows Lan Zhan to the elevator, and then to the door of his apartment. Lan Zhan lets them in and gestures towards the living room as he vanishes into the kitchen.

Wei Ying gingerly takes a seat on the large, comfortable sofa that’s essentially the focus of the living room, taking in apartment that he hasn’t seen for over a year. It’s the same as it has always been: clean and minimalistic, but with a surprising warmth that a lot of minimalism lacks. There’s a different scroll painting on the wall opposite him, but other than that, not much has changed.

It’s not long before Lan Zhan returns, carrying a little bamboo tray with a Yixing tea set that Wei Ying realises he is very familiar with. The set is not particularly ostentatious, not like some of the very expensive Yixing sets collectors pay a fortune for, but the knob on the lid of the small red clay tea pot is formed into a tiny, tiny rabbit. It had been a present from Wei Ying that he had bought with the pay of his first real job. He had been so proud to finally be able to get Lan Zhan something nice.

That Lan Zhan kept it almost makes Wei Ying tear up. He knows for a fact that Lan Zhan owns better tea sets. This Yixing set cost pennies in comparison to some other sets that Lan Zhan owns. He even owns antique sets that have been in the family for generations.

Lan Zhan starts preparing the tea without speaking, and Wei Ying notices immediately that the tea he’s brewing is a Yashixiang Oolong. It’s one of Wei Ying’s favourite teas not only because it’s objectively good, but also because he can never stop laughing about the name.

“Let’s drink some duck shit!” he often teased Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan would inevitably give him the raised eyebrow, but would always obey and pour some Yashixiang for Wei Ying.

As it has always been, there’s something meditative and calming about watching Lan Zhan preparing the tea. There’s a familiarity in every singly movement, a sense of confidence, control and comfort. If Wei Ying is entirely honest, he always felt that the way Lan Zhan moves while brewing tea is slightly erotic. The way his fingers– He tries not to think about that now.

Once the tea is finally poured and Wei Ying is invited to drink, he takes a moment to enjoy the atmosphere, the familiar calm. He missed this. The ease, the contentment of moments like these, when no dark clouds were hanging over them.

He lifts the cup and drinks. The tea is as excellent, as it always is when Lan Zhan makes it.

“I want to understand, Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan says, finally breaking the silence after he emptied his own cup. “I want to understand what I did wrong.”

Wei Ying looks up from his own teacup in confusion. What Lan Zhan did wrong?

“Lan Zhan,” he says haltingly. “Your mistake was mostly to date me at all.”

That doesn’t seem to sit well with Lan Zhan. He turns towards Wei Ying more fully, his brow folding into a frown.

“I never regretted dating Wei Ying,” he says stubbornly.

“You were constantly stressed trying to hold everything together, at the end,” Wei Ying reminds him. “You sure as hell weren’t enjoying yourself.”

When the lawsuit had happened, Lan Zhan had stuck by Wei Ying’s side, had supported him, had helped him with legal procedures, had kept Wei Ying from succumbing to the stress of the situation.

Without Lan Zhan, he might not even be alive at this point. No, actually, he is sure he wouldn’t be alive at this point. In a sense, Wei Ying owes him everything. Lan Zhan deserves happiness more than anyone.

And then–

“You took Uncle Qiren’s money,” Lan Zhan says, and it’s not a question. It’s a fact. “You took the money, and you left.”

Wei Ying closes his eyes. He wants to make a joke here, wants to lighten the mood somehow, but he can’t. He can’t deny that it’s exactly what he did. And, well… it’s also the answer to the question that Lan Zhan had in the car.

“I took the money,” he says with a shaking voice. “I took the money, and I went to a very good addiction clinic, and checked myself in. And I never touched a glass of alcohol since.”

He takes a deep breath.

“That’s why Yanli asked me if I was okay. She is the only one that really knows where I’ve been.”

He takes another deep breath.

“I have to thank your uncle, I guess. Thanks to his generous offer, I was able to get myself back on track. And I guess it had the additional advantage of removing a walking legal and emotional time bomb from your environment.”

“You won the lawsuit.”

Yeah, Wei Ying thinks to himself. He won that fucking lawsuit, after these people nearly destroyed everything that he ever loved, his family, his career, his friends, and left him bleeding out on the ground.

“Eventually,” he says. “Barely. They did everything legal and illegal they could possibly think of to frame me. I scraped by a life-long jail sentence so narrowly, I’m still surprised I’m a free man now.”

Breathing is getting harder the more he speaks. Honestly, Wei Ying only went to Lan Zhan to ask him to come with him today because he wanted to assure his family that he’s doing well after he put all of them through such an ordeal. He didn’t want to make them think that Lan Zhan left him because Wei Ying’s issues had been too much to deal with. It shouldn’t have been Lan Zhan’s responsibility to take care of Wei Ying in the first place. Lan Zhan was never to blame. But instead of doing that, he’s here, dragging Lan Zhan into his ugly business again.

“As you see, Lan Zhan,” he says lightly. “Everything is fine. I’m fine, and all the issues have been resolved. Thanks for the tea. I should leave now.”

He gets up, and heads for the door, hardly knowing what it is that he’s doing. Before he can reach it, however, Lan Zhan speaks up.

“I said that you will not leave until I tell you that you’re allowed to. You are not allowed to leave.”

Wei Ying freezes.

Shit. Technically, he could still leave. But that would mean breaking his promise. And he can’t do that. Not with Lan Zhan.

Shit.

For once, Lan Zhan has definitely managed to outsmart him.

#kuro writes #wei wuxian #lan wangji #the untamed #wangxian #mdzs #broken heart fic