#humorous hawke turns depressed hawke

[sixty-silver-wishes]

"Let things that happen onstage be just as complex and yet as simple as they are in life. For instance, people are having a meal, just having a meal, but at the same time, their happiness is being created, or their lives are being smashed up."

- Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

With that in mind, let's talk about the Shrek 2 dinner sequence.

No, seriously. While perhaps not as intricate and dramatic as Chekhov's Ivanov, which tells the story of a man's decline into depression through heartbreaking subtext in the dialogue between himself and his peers as he gradually alienates himself from them, the dinner sequence in Shrek 2, I believe, is a three-minute masterclass in a similar sort of storytelling to the one that characterizes many of Chekhov's dramatic works. Chekhov was a big advocate of the "show, not tell" principle, and the Shrek 2 sequence demonstrates a fabulous exercise in this sort of writing, assisted by genius camera angles. I unironically love this sequence and how much it can tell us about writing- it demonstrates a complex show of dramatic tension and subtext, pacing, character dynamics, and cinematography, while also progressing the wider story and balancing the drama with the Shrek franchise's style of humor- which is not an easy feat to pull off. I really want to talk about this sequence and dissect it, because it's honestly taught me a lot as a writer.

So for context, in case you haven't seen Shrek 2, Shrek, an ogre, and his wife Fiona are having dinner with Fiona's parents, the king and queen. Due to a magic spell, Fiona has been permanently transformed into an ogre after falling in love with Shrek- which she gladly accepts, but her parents do not. With them is Donkey, a comic relief character. Due to the curse, Fiona's parents locked her in a tower until her "true love" could rescue her- which, of course, turned out to be Shrek in the previous movie. We see in this sequence that Fiona's parents have different attitudes towards the couple; later on in the movie, it's revealed that her father was the Frog Prince, contributing to her parents' opinions on magic spells impacted by "true love's kiss."

So, onto the scene.

First, we get an establishing shot of Shrek at the table, which is zoomed out to show Fiona and her mother sitting on either side, and Fiona's father on the opposite end. Obviously, two characters on either side of a long table is an easy way to show they are opposed to each other. Although the characters haven't spoken yet, an uncomfortable mood is quickly established- Shrek's facial expression looks uneasy. Behind him is a stuffed hawk and a fireplace- perhaps a nod to the fact that ogres are seen as predators to be hunted with torches and pitchforks. On either side of Shrek are two candelabras; he is surrounded on three sides by fire and the lighting is primarily cast upon him. The hawk's talons are also pointed down directly at him, and the scene is lit in an ominous red light.

The next few shots establish all the conflicting moods that will be at odds during the scene. Queen Lilian is, if you will, attempting to be an "ogre ally." She attempts to be accepting towards Shrek and Fiona's decision, but is still clearly uncomfortable. King Harold, however, makes no attempt to hide his contempt. It's him and Shrek- again, seated at the opposite ends of the table- who will have the most direct conflict. (Perhaps this is a small detail, but Lilian and Harold are dressed in pink and blue, respectively- feminine- and masculine-coded colors that contrast with each other. This may reflect their adherence to conservative societal norms, specifically relating to gender roles and relationships.)

No dialogue has been spoken yet, and the conflict is still being established. We get a POV shot of Shrek's plate, consisting of escargot and multiple different kinds of utensils, after Shrek nervously picks at it. The composition of the plate and utensils is complex, elegant, and orderly, again highlighting that Shrek is out of place.

The silence is first interrupted as Shrek picks up a snail with his fingers and bites into it with a loud crunch. The first domino has fallen; Shrek foregoes the utensils to eat in a manner familiar to him, creating a marked contrast with the way we assume Fiona's family will eat. Afterwards, we have a shot of Harold looking even angrier; Shrek has broken a social norm. Shrek smiles with his mouth full; we get Lilian looking even more nervous as she eats her escargot with a fork, and Fiona drinks from a glass of water.

Fiona, who is unwillingly assigned the role of mediator between the two parties, belches after drinking the water- a behavior expected from Shrek. She excuses herself politely, which is understood as an attempt at keeping the peace. However, Shrek cracks a crude joke ("better out than in, I always say!"), and they both laugh as the second domino falls. Lilian and Harold look uncomfortable; Fiona laughing at Shrek's joke and displaying chemistry with him communicates that she is on Shrek's side, not theirs. Noticing their discomfort, Shrek and Fiona stop laughing and appear dejected.

The tension is built further as Donkey enters. Donkey plays up the comic relief the entire time, but also adds to the tension more than he diffuses it. While friendly, he's loud and messy, and while Lilian looks at him curiously, Harold treats him rudely, shouting "bad donkey; down!" Fiona again attempts to ease the tension, explaining that Donkey helped rescue her. Donkey proudly agrees, but then demands a bowl for himself from the waiter. Shrek facepalms and says "oh boy;" there is now another conflicting dynamic in the room. Donkey, who has no interest in conforming to social norms, heightens the tension as Shrek and Fiona attempt to appease Fiona's parents.

Another domino falls. Shrek drinks from the bowl of water given to him, which is supposed to be used to wash his hands. Fiona gets his attention, and dips her hands in the bowl to signify its purpose without making it obvious to her parents that Shrek doesn't know what the bowl is for. Shrek doesn't pick up on the hint, and attempting to be polite, compliments the Queen on the "soup," even using the spoon- once again, trying to conform to the cultural norms of Fiona's parents. However, this time, he's supposed to use his hands and not utensils, as opposed to the escargot, where he was supposed to use utensils and not his hands. The only lines exchanged in these few seconds are:

Fiona: "um, Shrek?" Shrek: "Ohh, sorry. Great soup, Mrs. Q." Fiona: "No no no, darling."

However, through the action and the subtext given from the background of the film, the audience knows the tension is heating up. While only a few lines of dialogue are exchanged, we know from the few seconds of the "soup" sequence that Shrek is having more difficulty conforming, Fiona is having more difficulty keeping the peace, and her parents are having more difficulty masking their discomfort. Donkey seems completely oblivious to the conflict, paradoxically heightening it through contrast.

Queen Lilian starts the first actual conversation of the scene, a minute and 22 seconds in. She asks Shrek and Fiona where they live. As the audience, we know that they live in a swamp, but Shrek and Fiona don't want to say that because they want to appease Fiona's parents. Fiona answers, "Shrek owns his own land." This carefully-calculated answer isn't a lie, but it's not the whole truth, either. "Land" could mean anything, and the idea that Shrek owns land is an attempt to present the idea that Shrek is assimilated into the dominant culture. As ogres are presented as second-class (or should we say Shrekond-class) citizens in the Shrek universe, the idea that Shrek owns land may communicate that he is wealthy and conventionally successful, and is able to climb the social ladder and provide Fiona with the life her parents wanted for her.

Shrek, still nervous but playing along with what Fiona has laid out for him, confirms that they live in an "enchanted forest, abundant with squirrels and cute little duckies." Again, this is an attempt to console FIona's parents. But Donkey, unaware of what's going on, interrupts with, "what? I know you ain't talking about the swamp!"

Another domino falls as Shrek attempts to silence Donkey, but Harold latches onto this line, instead of keeping up the crumbling façade that everyone else (sans Donkey) is trying to uphold. Sarcastically, he responds with "an ogre from a swamp? How original," as Donkey laps from his water bowl. Now that Fiona's parents have acknowledged Shrek and Fiona as "living in a swamp," it becomes even harder to diffuse tension, as this is something they find undesirable. Because Donkey has confirmed it, Shrek and Fiona also can't fall back on the "enchanted forest" excuse they used earlier; it also affirms the stereotype for Harold that ogres live in swamps. Through his “how original” line, Harold is commenting that Shrek is not assimilated and fits the mold of a stereotypical ogre- perhaps suggesting he believes him to fit other ogre stereotypes, such as being monstrous, crude, or aggressive. (Holy shit, that’s a really harsh line from him!)

Despite the fact that Harold is now fully committed to heightening the tension, Lilian still attempts to resolve it- deepening their own rift of conflict. She comments that it will be a "fine place to raise the children," trying to reconstruct the idea that Shrek and Fiona can still live the nuclear family life that she wants for her daughter. However, this is immediately shattered, as Shrek and Harold- shown again from opposite ends of the table- choke on their food in shock- Shrek because he and Fiona are not interested in having children at the moment, and Harold because he doesn't want his daughter having children with Shrek.

To recap, before the dinner, Shrek and Fiona shattered two of the King and Queen's expectations: 1. Fiona has married Shrek, an ogre. 2. Fiona is now an ogre herself. However, at the dinner- a minute and 53 seconds in- they have shattered three more of their desires for Fiona's married life:

Shrek, Fiona's husband, cannot perform conformity through manners and etiquette.

Shrek and Fiona live in a swamp, and not somewhere expected for a prince and princess.

Shrek and Fiona are not currently interested in having children and raising a traditional nuclear family- and if they did have children, they would be ogres.

From here, the tension still keeps rising, and the scene is only a little over halfway through. We get another POV shot from Shrek's perspective, as he coughs up the spoon- the symbol of performing that etiquette- and it bounces across the table towards Harold. Fiona, Lilian, and Donkey all look at Shrek in surprise; Harold looks at him in disgust.

Shrek continues to express his discomfort while being polite, saying it's a bit early to be thinking about children. Harold makes no attempt to hide his prejudice, saying "indeed; I just started eating," blatantly implying that the idea of Shrek and Fiona having children revolts him. Lilian responds with an irritated "Harold!" and Fiona says "Dad, it's okay," but Shrek has refused to let go of the argument, feeling insulted. He responds with "what's that supposed to mean?", trying to force Harold to voice his prejudices expressly.

The argument is now in full swing. Harold responds to Fiona (while gesturing at Shrek with the spoon) with "for his type, yes;" Shrek answers angrily with "my type?" Harold hasn't yet explicitly voiced that he doesn't like Shrek because he's an ogre, but at this point, it's completely obvious. Donkey finally picks up on the tension and excuses himself to go to the bathroom, but returns quickly to the table as the main course is brought in. Harold and Shrek glare at each other from across the table as the background music picks up into a waltz and the camera shows the waiters walking around the table with an elaborate meal- the setting of an upscale royal dinner is more forcibly established, but Harold and Shrek are no longer interested in playing up appearances.

Lilian and Donkey see an opportunity to make one final attempt to diffuse tension with the arrival of the meal- Donkey jokes, "Mexican food, my favorite!" (despite the meal resembling a Medieval European-style feast) and Lilian encourages everyone to eat, which Donkey enthusiastically agrees to. However, Harold and Shrek refuse to let the argument go.

Harold violently grabs a lobster from the table, saying, "I expect any grandchildren from you would be..." and Shrek grabs his own plate, angrily responding, "ogres, yes." Shrek is the one to drop the word "ogre,” which everyone has mostly been avoiding this whole time (aside from Harold’s “ogre from a swamp” line). In this, he displays he's unashamed of the fact he and Fiona are ogres, a pointed insult towards Harold, who is clearly prejudiced against them but refuses to say so explicitly.

Lilian cuts in with a "not that there's anything wrong with that," and then a pointed, "right, Harold?" She's still trying to downplay the conversation and keep the peace, while wanting to communicate to Shrek and Fiona (especially Fiona) that she's not prejudiced against them, (even if she is, albeit to a lesser extent than Harold). Harold then makes an explicitly prejudiced statement relying on stereotypes of ogres- "No, no- that is, if you don't eat your own young!" while slicing through the lobster with his knife.

Fiona responds with a shocked, "Dad!" before Shrek fires his own retort- "we usually prefer the ones who have been locked away in a tower!" and tears apart the roast turkey on his side of the table, biting into it forcefully- a show of rejection against the etiquette he has been expected to display. As we know from previous context, this line is a thinly-veiled insult at Harold and Lilian, who had locked Fiona in a tower throughout her childhood and adolescence. Furthermore, Shrek is here communicating that Harold is a hypocrite- he criticizes Shrek's ability to be a parent, but also neglected his own daughter.

Fiona gives an angry "Shrek, please!", but Harold immediately picks up on the barb, responding with "I only did that because I loved her!" From there, the argument fully escalates, turning physical as a food fight breaks out. As both Shrek and Harold fully disregard manners and social etiquette, poor Lilian sadly remarks, "it's so nice to have the family together for dinner" with a distraught look on her face as food flies past her. The argument culminates in Shrek and Harold fighting over a roast pig and the characters all shouting each other's names in a last-ditch attempt to stop the fighting (and Donkey shouting his own for comic relief). As we get a final shot of the destroyed dinner scene, Fiona- who has attempted to mediate the argument this whole time- runs out without a word, as both Harold and Shrek give each other angry glances.

From here, the rest of the film unpacks and resolves the arguments built up in this short three-minute scene. What started as a quiet dinner quickly, but gradually, evolved into a full-blown argument about bigotry, societal norms, and family expectations- all themes that carry the character arcs of Shrek, Fiona, Lilian, and Harold. The genius about this scene is that the tensions were always there from the beginning; the majority of the conflict started before the actual physical fight- happening, as Chekhov said, as "complex and simple as in real life."

#writing #film analysis #shrek #shrek 2 #chekhov #man those are weird tags to have together #long post #shrekhov???

[gold-rhine]

So you want to date a Changeling prince of a cursed kingdom, a manual.

Warnings: safe for work. mentions of kissing. Depression, dissociation, general angst… but very stylized, so not graphic.

A\N: Changeling Kaeya x reader. More metaphor than AU tbh.

Wordcount: 2k

If you have found yourself swayed by the charms of a beautiful sweet-talking knight, who is secretly (gasp!) is a prince of the underworld cursed realm, sent to live among the humans at a young age, or shortly, a changeling, then this manual is for you. And do not make a mistake of thinking you do not need it! 

Do you think that knowing a few common superstitions will make you safe from the fae tricks? This overconfident and naive point of view is what leads many people into traps of the fair folk and is eagerly supported by them for this exact reason. Fear not, for this manual will prepare you fully.

To illustrate, there's a common misconception that fae traps look like mushroom circles. And true, they can look like that, but the danger is in thinking this is the only way fae can trap you, so people lower their guards if there's no mushroom circle in sight. In truth, form of a trap matters not at all and in fact, fae do not need any material components to execute their magic. 

Say, you're walking past your fae princeling to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, and you do not have any intention to linger around him. He looks up from the favonius documents he’s working on and smiles at you, briefly, but radiantly, somehow managing to convey how much he’s happy to see you and how much you’re brightening his day. He doesn’t call to you, but seeing the genuine joy at your sight in his eyes, you make a slight detour to trace your hand over his shoulder, and this is it, the trap is locked. He will close his hand over yours and turn his head to you, catching your lips.

You might have thought he’ll be clingy, but it’s not exactly true. He will never try to keep you for longer than you’d want to. It’s that he will make himself so seductive, so irresistible that you’ll want to stay longer. He’s so glad to have you, so pliant and ready to bend into the form that just so comfortably fits you at the moment that you won’t want to leave. It’ll feel so natural to slide your arm over his shoulders, to lean against him, bury your chin in the dark silk of his hair. He lets you do anything you want, his fingers intertwine with yours, his arm tightens around your waist. He hums contently, gets back to writing up the documents with one free hand. 

This is it, the trap is closed without any mushrooms involved. 

Oh, of course, you can leave at any moment. You’d just need to forcefully disentangle yourself, shake off his arm, break off the grip of his fingers. He’ll let you go easily and won’t say anything to you or try to stop you. The one insignificant matter is that you’ll know that he was happy you were there and then you left. So leave if that sounds good to you.

Of course, there are some advantages for dating him, other than just sweet, wine-stained kisses. 

He’s so easily charismatic, so sparklingly charming, he can tell you some local gossip like it’s the most entertaining drama of the last theatrical season, humorous and tragic by turn, and watch your reaction like a hawk, change the tone sharply if you like it more. Surely a sign of a manipulative and lying blood of the fae, it’s not like he could enjoy just entertaining you, reality bended for the sake of your smile. He’s a talented storyteller, and he can talk to you for hours, listen to your laughter with an easy grin and hand closed over yours, but it doesn’t count. He’s a spy and a liar and nothing about him could change it.

As one of the folk who deal in favors, he’s very attentive, he listens seriously to even the smallest of your worries, even if he never really complains himself. He gives advice, strategizing like it’s one of the tasks for the favonius knights, like he cherishes the fact that you trust him enough to share your problems. 

He cannot give favors of magic or gifts of secret knowledge, so he shares his own. He gives you homebound little books, written in his own beautiful cursive, personalized and addressed like letters, about everything and anything useful he can think of, - how to haggle in shops, what food pairs with what wine, how to tell you’re being scammed. He considers helping to learn a skill much more valuable than just solving a problem once, so a week after complaining about an annoying coworker you receive a handwritten pamphlet on their weakness and how to better deal with them, which he learned by “accidentally” bumping into them in a tavern. 

The advantageous thing about him being a changeling and not a true-raised fae, is that he will let you break an unspoken contract with no repercussions, with the only caveat that he will never trust you again. Which is a small price to pay to get free of the fair folks schemes.

So you can break his heart once, free of charge. But in truth, you won’t need to. Let the romance run it’s course and he will let you go himself.

Because another misunderstood thing about the fae is glamour. Most people know that glamour is a magical facade fair folk use to blend in and impress the humans, but don’t know how it actually works. Many think it’s an actual visual illusion, but let me assure you, it’s not. Your changeling is exactly as beautiful as you see him, he will not turn into an ugly pumpkin when the glamour breaks. But the everyday world chafes at the edges for a fae, takes a lot of energy and worns them down, and glamour is an attractive shell that smoothes the interaction. So when your changeling is out of energy to keep up the glamour for you, he will leave -  or arrange that you will leave him yourself.

You might feel confident because he said sometimes, in feverish stolen whispers, that he loves you. Know that this will not change anything. Not because he lied. As a fae, he can’t lie outright, but because the world never cared about what he loves or wants. 

No, it’s about the glamour, a spell that will be both his safety and his cage, sudden frost in the spring which captures young flowers before they can ever bloom, keeps them fresh and pretty for longer, but never lets them open up. Oh, but how sweet and beautiful the ice makes your changeling, isn't it worth it?

Here’s the secret. You can have either the fairytale glamour or a man underneath, not both, so make your choice. 

Know that he will want you to leave.

And that’s for the best for the both of you. You won’t have to deal with his curse or his ghosts. You can have a round of wonderful waltz under the glacial lights and then move on with your life, having experienced charming adventure, knowing how to discern best taste of champagne and for the rest of your life having that sparkle in your eye which one only gets after being courted by a fae or having an affair in spring Paris. 

But perhaps you’ve been so uncareful as to fall for him.

Any decent prophet or a witch worth her salt will tell you to forget it. He’s not worth the trouble by far. His curse runs in blood, weaved into him too tightly to untangle, and even true love cannot lift those.

And he’s not even a true prince, when you get down to it. There are a lot more exciting and interesting options for romantic entanglements than the cursed son of a regent's bloodline if what you’re looking for is an exotic adventure. 

But perhaps you've noticed the crow under the peacock feathers and fell for the sincerity of it instead of the charm of glamour. Perhaps you’ve liked the awkward overeagerness of beautifully penned down manuals over the brazen manipulations. Maybe you’ve seen him one morning in a kitchen, lost in the thought reading a book while waiting for coffee to be ready, hair in a messy bun and balancing on one leg, worrying pages of the book, so painfully human, until he notices you and looks up, almost stumbling by surprise, but catches himself due to natural easy grace, and laughs when you move closer to catch him, and a sharp needle goes suddenly through your heart because how beautiful he is and how happy you are to have him. The book is left forgotten on the windowsill like many others, not interesting enough to hold his attention, which you sometimes collect to make sure the librarian doesn’t paralyze half of your forgetful changeling again.

Well, if you want to keep him, truly him and not the pretty image, you need to look for the breaks in the armor of the ice. He hates this weakness, so he’ll slide away, try to hide from everyone when he doesn’t have the strength to keep the mask up. 

It will be easy to find him for the first time because he doesn’t think anyone will look for him. He’s standing on the bridge, alone, looking at the moonlight glinting on the dark river, breaking a cigarette he stole from Rosaria in the slender anxious fingers. He doesn’t want you to see him like this, but as a rule, he cannot leave if you don’t let him go. So his usual easy wit turns into prickly, acidic sarcasm, the scales of a trashing lindworm. And, like Tam Lin, you have to hold him tight and fear not, no matter how much he tries to push you away. One thing you can say as an answer to any of his snide remarks is “Do you want me to leave?” (remember he cannot lie outright)

Dropped cigarette floats down the dark river, but his fingers still smell of tobacco when you tangle them with your own. The chill wind makes you shiver and his hand twitches.

“Well, I hope you’re enjoying freezing in the cold for no reason instead of having fun at the party.”

“Well, you chose to brood out there in the cold, so it's really on you.”

“I don’t *brood*. And you didn’t have to follow me. Go back, it’s okay.”

“Oh, shut up, Kaeya.”

You tighten your arms around him and he sighs, buries his face in the side of your neck. The tip of his nose is very cold against your skin. The crisp armor of ice cracks, but holds up.

Don’t think that catching him one time will break the spell. Next time his mask starts slipping, he’ll hide better. But never that you cannot find him if you give enough of a shit. You’ll be able to find your lindworm through the cold blue fog of the lonely pine forests of the streets if you care just enough.

And the more times you find and hold him, the less far he’ll hide. Until one day, he’ll come to you himself instead of running away, put his chin onto your shoulder from behind and close his eyes. Sometimes, he can complain of the everyday matters, which he would never allow himself before, because he knew he had to be fun to be around, and sometimes he’ll be quiet, the black jaws of the abyss gnawing on his inside of his ribs and only the warmth of your embrace keeping the ghosts from closing in. 

If you ignore or dismiss him at a time like this, the spell would break though and he will be whisked away. Because faery spells in their nature are *deals* and the price of keeping him is not love, it’s trust. 

And it’s trust that makes the blizzard of glamour which follows him melt and shed like a discarded heaps of snow when it sees you, so that he has time to recover the strength to pick it up the next day when he has to go back outside. Of course, you’d wish to break the curse completely, but it’s iron thorns run too deep, dig too tight into his flesh. Because you cannot break his curse, but you can stand with him under the damned sword of fate hanging above his head. 

Why would you want to, though?

#rhine writes light #rhine writes #kaeya #kaeya alberich #only like 3 other ppl are gonna care about this lmao #genshin impact #kaeya x reader

[madameoni]

sketching night with some angst

#dragon age #dragon age 2 #hawke #fenhawke #femhawke #humorous hawke turns depressed hawke #dragon age inquisition #sketch #fenris #Hawke x Fenris #idea i'll clean up later

[renohasbigtits]

Could you do the bros trying to woo their comically oblivious crush? Like the boys are trying to drop hints but SO just does not pick up on it unless the boys straight up say something like “I want to kiss you. On the mouth. Romantically.” (I just get a kick out of the “oblivious love interest” because I also don’t understand subtle hints lol)

This is sooo me. I’m Autistic so I miss when people are flirting with me 😅

Also you’d be surprised how many people how already done a Chocobros with a oblivious crush.

I almost denied this request because so many have done it already but why the hell not?

Here we goooo!

Noctis

He doesn’t know how much patience he has left. Your a lot more clueless than he thought...

He’s tried to flirt with you, but you just don’t pick up on them! He’s getting a bit frustrated.

“Is she/he/they doing this on purpose?!” he thinks.

Eventually, He turns to Ignis for help.

Ignis suggests that he should just straight up tell you how he feels.

It takes awhile but he finally builds up the courage to confess to you.

He invites you to his place and you curiously walk inside, unaware of what’s gonna happen.

“Noct... you said that you wanted to talk to me about something, is everything ok?”

Noct thought for a second before starting.

“Y/n...I really like you.”

“Aww! I like you to Noct!”

He annoyingly sighed.

“Seriously?” He said annoyed.

That caught your attention. Why was he annoyed?

“What’s wrong Noct?”

He turned to you and sighed one more.

“I have feelings for you.”

“I-

“I’m IN love with you Y/n.”

You were so shocked. You literally had no idea!

“Noct I-

“It’s fine. I know it’s sudden and probably weird and-

You stopped him mid-sentence and held his arm, tightly and lovely.

“I love you too, Noct.”

Poor baby. Frozen up like a scared kitty.

But it worked, so it was worth it.

“Me too Y/n.”

Prompto

He’s always had a thing for you but you didn’t seem to noticed.

Not like it was completely your fault.

Prompto has a very bad habit of self sabotaging himself, before he can tell you how he feels.

Until today!

He invited you to a photo shoot at the river and you were the model!

You were so excited to be his model but obviously, he planned to confess his feelings to you.

Once you both reached to the river, Prompto awkwardly turned to you and tried to make conversation.

“So uh... pretty weather today eh?”

“Yeah! Perfect day for pictures!” You smiled.

That smile. That smile he fell in love with.

He started blushing hard and you noticed it.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling ok?”

“Oh uh..y-yeah! I’m just uh damn.” He swerved away. Ashamed that he failed again.

You didn’t understand what was wrong with him but you wanted to help him.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Uhhh..” Oh my god, his face was red as a tomato.

“Listen, I don’t know what’s going on but I want you to know that it’s ok if you want to talk to me to about it. I’m all ears.”

“...”

“C’mon Prompto. Silence isn’t going to make me underst-

“WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?” He yelled out.

The sudden confession caught you off guard.

“Uh sorry! F-forget I said anything!” He awkwardly tried to playing it cool. Oh Prompto.

“Prompto.”

“...Yeah?”

You gave him a small peck on his freckled cheek.

“I’d would love to go out with you.”

Ignis

He said he would never fall in love. He dedicated his whole life to Noct. He didn’t need anyone else.

Well that was... until he met you.

You were so delicate. Did everything at ease. Calm and sweet, you were a beam of light.

A beam of light that went into Ignis’s heart. He fell in love.

He tried for so long to keep his feelings under wrap. He didn’t wanna come off as “unprofessional”.

But he couldn’t keep it to himself anymore. True love was a rare thing you see, and it shouldn’t be wasted.

He didn’t wanna lose you.

He made a plan. Make a fancy dinner with your favorite food, drink, and most importantly,

Confess his feelings towards you.

Since he was very aware of your nativity, he thought that a direct approach would help.

You entered his small but nice little apartment, smelling the delicious food cooking.

“Ah! That smells so good!”

Ignis giggled. Your positivity was something he deeply admired about you.

“Why, thank you darling. It’ll taste good as it smells.” He smiled back at you.

20 minutes passed, it was done and your both sat done to eat this wonderful meal.

It was delicious! Every taste was like heaven! You loved it so much.

But one thing was confusing you; what was this for?

Ignis didn’t speak to you much. And when he did, it was professional and monotone.

Tonight was different. He was smiling and seem beaming with happiness.

It was a different side of Ignis. A side that was rare but you were lucky enough to see it.

“Ignis..”

“Yes Y/n?”

“This was such a great meal.” You started “I’ve never had such a great meal until now.”

Ignis nodded contently.

“..But...” That ‘but’ got Ignis’s attention. “But what is this for?”

Although you his face didn’t show much emotion, his eyes does all the talking.

His eyes basically said “There on to me.”

Ignis coughed before saying,

“I made to show my feelings towards.”

“Oh.” You said. Thinking he was just being kind and wanted to share his feelings about you in a ‘friendly’ way.

“Well, thank you for for meal. I’ll be going.”

Ignis’s eyes deepen. “They didn’t get it, did they?!”

Ignis realizing his plan was failing and not waiting to wait anymore, he got in front of the door.

“Y/n. Perhaps I should be more direct.”

“What do you mean? I thought it was-

“I have feelings for you, darling. For awhile, I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“...Ignis..”

“I wanted to show my feelings through food but that didn’t work.” He chuckled a bit. Laughing at his own “failure”.

The realization hit you. The Ignis Scientia was in love with you?

“Ignis I-

“You don’t need to say anything darling. I was-

You interrupted him by giving him a big hug.

Any affection was foreign to Iggy and usually, unwanted. But this was the few exception.

You snuggled to his clothing. It was warm and comfortable.

“I love you Iggy.” You whispered to his chest.

Oh his heart was on fire tonight. His plan was a success.

“I love you too, Y/n.”

Gladiolus

This man was a known womanizer.

Every woman loved him and every man wanted to be him.

Who could blame them? He was strong, had a cool hawk tattoo, beautiful eyes and hair.

But he was also feared.

He looked intimidating. He could fight anyone if he wanted to.

But that’s a front.

Deep down, he’s a gentle giant underneath.

He wanted to love anyone just as anyone else wanted.

You saw the true Gladiolus.

A kind, smart, book reader, strong of course but more than his strength.

That’s what Gladio loved about you. You knew the Real Gladio.

He couldn’t help but fall for you.

But he was frustrated with his lack of progress with you, due to your lack of awareness to his feelings towards you.

He was sure he was so obvious but you mistook as “friendliness”.

He finally had enough and was going to tell you straight up, that he was in love with you.

“Y/n!” He called to you.

“Oh hi Gladly! What can I do for you today?”

“I love you.”

“Aww.” You touched. Gladio was never known to say ‘I love you’ especially to the people that were closest to him. “I love you to!”

“Really?!” He said suprised even that didn’t work!

“What?”

“You don’t get it do you?”

“What? What’s up?”

“I’m in love with you!” He looked at you with a little smirk seeing your shocked and embarrassed face.

“I didn’t know.” You whispered.

“I thought I was being kinda obvious!”

You stood there awkwardly and having a hard time looking into his eyes.

You felt embarrassed for not knowing sooner.

Gladiolus smugly said “it’s ok, just say you’ll go on a date with me.”

You giggled. His blunt humor seemed to calm your nerves.

“I would like to go on a date with you, Gladio.”

A/N: This is different eh? I want to try something new.

Hopefully you like it!

Also sorry this took so long! Depression is a real bitch :/









#final fantasy xv #ffxv #ff15 #final fantasy 15 #ff xv #ff 15 #ffxv x reader #ff15 x reader #ignis stupeo scientia #noctis lucis caelum #gladiolus amicitia #prompto argentum #chocobros #chocobros x reader #noctis x reader #prompto x reader #ignis x reader #gladiolus x reader #gladio x reader #thank you for requesting! #anoymous #ffxv windows edition #ffxv headcanons #y/n #ffxv noctis #ffxv prompto #ffxv ignis #ffxv gladiolus #ffxv gladio #sorry for taking so long

[dragonageficrecs]

Ship rec list: Fenris/Hawke, Canon and Canon AU

So this list was getting too long as there are a LOT of Fenris/Hawke fics; survey shows that it's the most popular DA2 romance. These are some of the fics I've enjoyed but I am definitely working on more FenHawke lists! Asterisks mark fics I've re-read in part or whole.

-

WC <10k

Mrs. Teanettle & Friends* by jenny_of_oldstones. Gen, Fluff, Angst. Refreshing premise. Separate fic rec post here.

like the leaves after a long winter by JadeLavellan (Jadestone). F!Hawke. Breathtaking and atmospheric. Deals with the fallout after All That Remains.

The Smell of Desperation* by vivisextion. M!Hawke. Hold my beer! Humorous fic. Kirkwall gang shenanigans is strong in this one.

Not a Compromise* by firjii. Touch-starved Fenris, F!Hawke. An ex-slave re-learns touch as something that is gentle, as something that is given and not taken. My heart ached for Fenris.

Jealousy by astolat, sequel to The Rest of His Armor. When I saw the author for this fic I almost screamed with joy; Astolat's written some really good M/M fics in other fandoms. The turning point in the fic hinges on an ephemeral glimpse into Fenris' perception of his own personhood. DLC Mark of the Assassin spoilers.

that I ever did see by seventhswan. Oblivious!Fenris and Pining M!Hawke. Hawke gets Fenris a ring.

-

WC 10-25k

Lateral Valence* by glisteningceruleaneyes. Fenris learns how to read, and how to make a home. Nonbinary Hawke, Trans Fenris. Separate fic rec post here.

A Little Bit of Ink by abstractconcept. M!Hawke. A light, funny fic. Good thing Hawke's not branching out into writing, romance or otherwise, because his love letter writing is truly awful.

Were We Not Called* by loquaciousquark. F!Hawke. Soulmate-identifying mark fic, explored in SUCH a satisfying manner because Fenris' given name is Leto and he can't read! Ugh it's like the game hand-delivers the premise! Mutual Pining, Romance.

-

WC 25-50k

Did I Hear by MinionRipley. A fic exists to highlight Fenris' absolutely delectable voice. It is this fic. F!Hawke swoons.

-

WC >50k

Worth Life* by loquaciousquark. F!Hawke. Mutual pining, reunion. Separate fic rec post here.

I Remain at Your Side* by Lourdes23. F!Hawke. Launches right after fleeing Kirkwall. Angst, depression, pregnancy. History of Anders/F!Hawke. Fenris' loyalty and thoughtfulness really shows.

By The Still Waters* by orphan_account. M!Hawke, DAI spoilers, mutual pining, reunion. Very strong character voices, including Varric, Merrill, Solas, and Lavellan. Separate fic rec post here.

-

Bonus! WC >100k!

A Tangled Web by monkeycat. I do like the premise, that Hawke has learned to fight with daggers and not her magic.

Fire, Walk with Me by Khirsah. The fic that launched the Voice!Verse iirc. A good, long read if you're looking to be whisked away. M!Hawke wins a gold medal for pining in this fic.

October and April* by Roarkshop. F!Hawke. Separate fic rec post here. Was also rec'ed on r/dragonagefanworks.

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#fenris x hawke #hawke x fenris #dragon age fic recs #da2 fic rec #da2 fic recs #less than 10k #oblivious fenris #mutual pining #over 50k #over 25k #representation matters #pregnancy #voice-verse #ship rec list #soulmate-identifying marks #au: canon divergence #canon compliant #over 100k #isabella #aveline #bethany #anders #varric #admin favorites #reunion #dai fic recs

[imamotherfuckingstar-lord]

Damaged Souls

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: dark humor, cussing, loss of parent. 

A/N: A comfort fic for myself/ me dealing with my dad’s passing. NOT EDITED, sorry for mistakes. 

Summary: While waiting to meet with Steve, Bucky meets a woman trying to skateboard. 

The park was twelve steps away from where Bucky parked, waiting patiently for his usually on time friend. He leaned against his hood, a cup of stale gas station coffee in hand. The plan was to meet Steve for some down time - he hadn’t gotten much time off from work lately. Sam and he were doing some intense intel ventures that brought him away from home in weekly intervals. Now that his oldest friend was, well, his oldest friend - he tried to see the aging gentleman as often as possible. 

His cell phone rang and he picked it up to Steve apologizing for running late. “I guess old age has its disadvantages.”

“Come, on, punk,” Bucky teased, eyes following a woman who was walking passed him. She held a skateboard in hand, a duffle bag thrown over her shoulders. “By the time you get down here, I’ll have gray hair too.”

Steve laughed and promised to be there as soon as he could. “Go grab us a bench, before they’re all taken.”

“Jesus, you really are old.”

“Respect your elders,” Steve coaxed, laughing as his dog barked for his attention. “Be there soon, Buck.”

The friends hung up and Bucky sighed, pushing himself off the car hood. He walked further into the park, sipping on his coffee and enjoying the fresh air. Admittedly, he was tired and a little run down. He was truly looking forward to meeting up with Steve, so he wasn’t upset that he had to wait a little longer. It was nice being out, so he took his time looking for a bench and ended up finding one near a basketball court. No one was playing, so he sat down and relaxed. 

That’s when he noticed you walking up to the court; he wondered if you were going to play alone but saw the skateboard in your hand. You were the woman who had passed him in the parking lot - he watched as you threw the duffel bag down at the edge of the court. Drinking his coffee, he focused on you - observing as you put on knee and elbow pads on. That was more protection than Sam wore on missions, the thought made him laugh a little too loud because you turned his way. Bucky quickly took a sip of his coffee, pretending to not notice you.

You looked away and continued to secure yourself before moving to the middle of the court. Embarrassed, Bucky tried to not stare, cursing his friend to hurry up so he wouldn’t look like such a creeper. He attempted to think of the things he wanted to tell Steve, mainly asking him for advice on how to rein Sam in but those thoughts were momentary. His eyes quickly went back to watching you attempt to skateboard. 

He noticed how unsure you were at first, getting on the board and kicking off but stopping yourself right after. Personally, he never rode a skateboard in his life - he already spent too much time off the ground and he could only imagine how silly he would look. So, it was interesting to watch someone attempting to learn - he was living vicariously through you, whoever you were. Feeling a bit more relaxed as you noticed him less and less as the time went by, Bucky watched freely and even felt excited for you when things started to go smoothly. You were balancing yourself perfectly and even picking up speed, and as if his promising thoughts were jinx - he watched as the skateboard halted and you flew backwards. 

Bucky couldn’t stop himself, leaving his coffee on the bench as he raced forward. You had fallen on your back and when he got to you, he was shocked to see you were laughing on the ground.

“Miss, are you okay?”

You blinked a few times before waving a hand in the air. “I’m fine, just...my ass hurts.”

Bucky laughed and offered up a hand. “Let me help you up, it looked like…”

“I ate shit,” you murmured, letting him pull you off the ground. Rubbing the back of your head, he asked if you hit it. “Not hard at all, I guess that’s what I get for being 30 and thinking I was Tony freaking Hawk.”

Bucky had no clue who you were talking about, but he just smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay, if it helps, before the fall it looked like you were doing great.”

Reaching down for the skateboard, you shrugged. “I guess, it’s really not that hard but my body felt that fall.”

“It looked brutal,” he admitted, pointing to the bench he was occupying. “Maybe you should sit down for a bit?”

You looked to the bench then back to the man in front of you - he was attractive, that much was obvious but his smile was kind and that’s what reeled you in. You wondered if he did this often - lingered around the park for silly women who did silly things to occupy their depression. 

“I probably should, let me go get my bag.” 

Bucky watched as you started to walk away but stopped, turning to tell him your name. He took the hand you held out and shook it lightly. “I’m Bucky.”

“Thanks for watching me fall on my ass, Bucky,” you amused, nodding to where your bag sat. “I’ll meet you at the bench.”

He watched as you left to retrieve your bag, scratching his head and praying that in his old age, Steve would take even longer to get to the park. Jogging back to the bench, Bucky sat down and picked up his coffee just as you approached. You were limping a little and he had to hide his smile as you sat down, tossing the bag down to the ground along with the skateboard.

“I have to ask,” he said, trying to get the conversation going. “Why skateboarding?” 

You let out a low laugh but your smile faded quickly; he recognized the pain in your eyes and he felt guilty for asking such an innocent question. 

“Well, my dad passed a few months ago,” you explained, feeling the constant lump in your throat forming. “And...it was one of those things, where life just feels empty. So, here I am, trying to cure my depression one new hobby at a time.”

Bucky felt a sting in his throat as you shrugged and laughed - god, he knew that feeling all too well. He lost all his family and the hell he had been put through since then, had crushed his soul. “Sorry about your father.”

“Don’t be sorry, you didn’t kill him.”

It was apparently raw, the false sense of humor in your voice - trying to deal with your pain with dark jokes. He could tell you used it often by the shrug you gave, paired with a nervous laugh. Bucky just grinned back and asked what number hobby was skateboarding.

“Shit, number six. I’ve done knitting, rug making, yoga, day drinking, throwing myself off buildings,” you laughed as you rattled off random things. Bucky grinned and shook his head, asking if you had found something worth sticking to. 

“I kinda like skateboarding, just gliding around feels free. At least...I don’t know,” you said, embarrassment written on your face. Here you were, showcasing your dead dad personality to a complete stranger….again. The difference was that this time, the person wasn’t walking away confused and unsettled by you - a person so terribly broken all she could do was just laugh at her life. Laugh loud and abruptly because it was either laughing or crying, and fuck, were you sick of crying. 

“I understand,” Bucky said quietly, half smiling as he stared down at the to go cup in his hands. “It feels like you’re just standing still while everything around you keeps on living, like you’re frozen in time…”

“Exactly,” you practically yelled, holding back as you laughed a little. “I mean, shit, can I bitch get a break?”

Bucky’s eyes widened at your vulgar humor and you apologized. “Sorry, I just - I blurt things out without thinking, more than ever now. “

He held up a hand and grinned. “No need to apologize, it’s actually refreshing.”

“Thanks,” you smiled, glancing down at your cell. “I have to go, I just decided to randomly come to practice but I need to go meet my sister. We have our weekly crying sessions over ramen and slushies.”

You reached down for the duffel bag and skateboard, and he watched as you took off the knee and elbow pads, stuffing them in the bag. Zipping the bag, you stood up and groaned. “Yeah, my ass is going to be sore tomorrow.”

“Ice it,” Bucky teased, standing up with you. “I’m glad you’re okay...it was nice meeting you.”

“Yeah, again, thanks for witnessing my downfall,” you remarked, unable to move. This was different, it felt strange and a part of you didn’t want to leave the bench or this stranger. Not wanting to miss your chance and this possible attractive sign from the universe, you decided to make a move. “So, I’m going to be coming back here tomorrow around noon to practice some more…”

Bucky felt relief in his chest as he smiled over at you. “I’ll bring a bucket of ice.”

Laughing, you pointed a finger at him. “That was a good one, I better go - my sister might commit suicide if I’m not there on time and I can’t let her go see our dad first. I’m very competitive like that.”

Your eyes watched for Bucky’s reaction and when he shook his head with a chuckle, you just knew he understood. Whatever he had gone through, although not the same as yours or maybe it was, it definitely was a pain the two of you could connect with and that was enough reason to show up the next day. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he nodded, his smile small and kind. 

Holding back a smile, you started to walk away but turned to wave at him. He waved back, although you had to admit, he looked pretty dorky. Laughing, you turned around and nearly bumped into an elderly gentleman with his dog.

“Oh, sorry!”

He smiled and shook his head. “No problem, sweetheart, have a nice day.”

Usually a sweetheart from anyone irritated you but his sweetheart was kind and surprisingly genuine. Smiling at him, you left the park somewhat happy for the first time in a long time.

…

Bucky watched as Steve made his way to the bench, patting the seat next to him. “About time, old man.”

Ignoring the comment, Steve sat down, whistled for his dog to sit, and nudged Bucky in the ribs - he was still pretty strong for a man of his age. “She seems nice.”

Not surprised at all, he laughed. “So you saw that whole thing?”

Steve shrugged. “I saw enough, are you going to see her again.”

Thinking of the sadness in your eyes and the familiar reflection he saw in the mirror every morning, he glanced over to the basketball court. He had felt lonely for so long and while he wasn’t going to depend on anyone else or put his own baggage on others, but something about you felt interconnected. 

Two damaged souls, it sounded very dramatic but hell, his whole life had been dramatic. 

“Yeah,” Bucky said through a smile. “I’m definitely going to see her again.”

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes #bucky x reader #bucky imagine #marvel imagine #marvel #steve rogers #ivonnes imagine

[meme991001]

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Sabine Cheng, Tom Dupain, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, Chloé Bourgeois, Lila Rossi, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug), Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Season/Series 03, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It of Sorts, Mental Health Issues, Guardian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Healthy Relationships, Panic Attacks, Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Pre-Relationship, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, eventual identity reveal, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Bullying, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Hot Mess Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Strong Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Eventual Happy Ending, Adrinette | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Ladrien | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Lila Rossi salt, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Anxiety Attacks, Depression, Eventual Fluff, there is fluff i swear, Everyone Has Issues, Eventual Romance, Eventual Relationships, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption Summary:

Marinette can't stand the thought of letting Paris down. She can't stand the thought of Lila winning, turning her friends against her. She especially can't stand the thought of Hawkmoth getting what he wants. She decides to do something about it.

She gets a therapist.

#lila salt #lila bashing #lila exposed #chole sugar #marinette deserves better

[aggressive-positivity-network]

Do you accept requests for Merasmus? If you do, can I get some fluffy domestic Merasmus headcanons? If you don't take requests for him that's okay too❤️❤️

Of course I do! Merasmus is one of my favorite characters! Let’s see...domestic...

Buying the cottage:

Merasmus is prone to depression, especially during times of meticulous, unchanging routine.

So, of course, he looks to get away for a while.

He finds a beautiful villa, but it’s suddenly closed for repairs the day before he leaves.

Not wanting waste his vacation, he decides to just pick a random cottage near the same town.

He arrives, and, unsurprisingly, finds it a mess - cobwebs, dust, and several rat traps that still have decaying bodies of mice.

Merasmus decides that this simply won’t do.

He puts down his suitcase on the table - the least dirty surface - and begins writing a shopping list with his owl feather quill (owl for business, bluebird for personal, cardinal for love and poems)

He sends his shopping list and a few gold coins to the nearest shop via hawk.

The hawk is soon back with the supplies, as well as a wide-eyed, silver-haired young man.

“I’m sorry, sir, I just had to see this for myself! I needed to know the face to this beautiful bird!”

Merasmus is taken aback, but still keeps his manners.

“Well, you have seen it. Merasmus hopes you are not too disappointed.”

“Oh no, of course not! In fact, I’m even more intrigued.”

The man’s name ends up being Flint, and he’s the grocer of the village.

He says if Merasmus needs anything, to send the hawk with a list.

Merasmus just brushes him off and keeps cleaning

Renovations:

Merasmus notices that there’s more wrong than just dust - a lot of utilities are broken, the wood is decaying, and half of the windows are broken.

Luckily, when you have magic, you can simply will tools to do what you need.

After getting some supplies - and a good luck note from Flint - Merasmus begins renovation.

He repairs the windows, which are the easiest, and then starts on the bedroom. Imagine a dungeon, but cozier.

Now, the thing about magic is that even if you’re not physically lifting a finger, it takes a lot of energy.

Merasmus keeps the tools working for about a week, all day and all night. He figures that a simple animation spell won’t do much harm if left working.

By the time next Monday rolls around, the house is refurbished and the spell is retracted, but Merasmus can barely get out of bed. His sleep is not restful, and every movement is a Herculean task.

However, Merasmus is not one for what he calls “laziness.” He still needs to paint the outside of the house.

He tried to animate a few paint brushes, but ends up passing out from exhaustion.

Merasmus wakes up in his own bed and with Flint in the doorway.

“It seems you bit off a little more than you could chew.”

Merasmus gets up, feeling a little better since he actually slept.

“How did you...where...?”

“Your hawk flew to my shop without a list and wouldn’t stop squawking until I followed them. I could scarcely believe it was the same house, you’ve done so much...no wonder you’re tired!”

Flint offered his services, and Merasmus wasn’t in a position to refuse. The shopkeeper ended up painting his entire house in the span of a few days.

When Merasmus felt better, he offered to pay Flint for his services, but he refused.

“Call it a friend doing a friend a favor!”

The garden:

Once the house was completed, Merasmus felt a little empty.

He didn’t feel like being stared at, so he mostly just walked around the house, making sure everything was in check.

One day, a packet of seeds came through his mail slot.

It had a note from Flint attached to it.

“I have heard that the more you tend to your plants, the more you tend to your soul. That may or may not be true, but I know one thing: your soul needs some tending to. Why don’t you give it a try?”

Merasmus lasted about a day being stubborn. However, his boredom was much stronger than his pride.

He planted the seeds in his backyard, though he wasn’t exactly sure what they grew.

Within minutes, they began to poke out of the soil.

Just around then, Flint came by.

“Ah, aren’t they beautiful? Even when they haven’t any blooms, they just...glisten, don’t they?”

Merasmus was a bit surprised.

“They’re growing rather fast.”

“Oh, it’s just all the good, nutritious soil they’re in! Put any seed in some good soil and they’ll be off to the races.”

Somehow, Merasmus wasn’t convinced.

The plants continued to grow until, one morning, they bloomed into beautiful rainbow flowers. They shimmered in the light, making little rainbows in the air as the morning dew fell off of them.

Even as he just stood there looking at them, Merasmus felt his heart swell.

Flint swung by yet again, as if on cue.

“Aren’t they gorgeous? Oh, they’ve been my favorite flowers ever since I was a kid. My mother proposed to my father with one of those flowers.”

Merasmus couldn’t help but agree on their stunning beauty.

He now waters them every day with a green watering can. When he was recovering from his exhaustion, it gave him something to look forward to every day.

The reveal:

Merasmus was trying to bake his own bread when he heard his door slam.

He peeked around the corner to see Flint absolutely fuming - cursing, stomping his feet, yelling at an imaginary foe.

Merasmus was shocked...but not because of Flint’s change in humor.

A small, thick storm cloud - a literal cloud - hung over Flint’s head, crackling with small bouts of lightning.

Flint turned around suddenly, almost bumping right into Merasmus. He cried out, sputtering for an explanation.

“Oh...I...was so angry I thought...I had walked into my house. Deepest apologies, Mu.”

Merasmus blinked, then started to laugh. Flint’s cloud began to form again with new vigor before he bit it back.

“And what exactly is so funny?!”

“Merasmus should have known! Silver hair, odd plants, glowing features...you’re a wizard as well!”

“‘As well?’ You mean...”

“Merasmus doesn’t wear a skull on his head for decoration!”

Flint seems both relieved and embarrassed.

He explained that his father had died a few years ago, and his mother’s health was declining - his mother was a Storm-Sweller, and they live considerably shorter lives than wizards - so he moved here and started a shop.

When his mother died, he didn’t have it in him to leave.

The reason he was so angry was because it was Mother’s Day a few days ago, and someone had let their child trample and break everything on his mother’s ofrenda (a Spanish/Mexican shrine or offering to those that have passed; it is usually only made during Dia De Los Muertos, but wizards of Spanish descent tend to set them up more frequently due to how much they value and how many connections they have with the spirit world).

Flint tried to get him to stop, but the mother got in his face and said that the whole thing was a tripping hazard anyway, and that her little boy was doing him a favor.

He had to bite his tongue, but anger was rumbling within him for the rest of the day.

When he could finally release all his fury, he hadn’t realized he was in Merasmus’s house.

Merasmus brushed off Flint’s apology and said he had every right to feel angry.

“If Merasmus was there, he would have cursed them to eternal damnation!”

Merasmus offered a piece of lumpy dough, which Flint gratefully pounded and squeezed until his storm cloud subsided.

“Would you like me to show you how to actually make bread?”

“Please.”

A stronger bond:

Merasmus and Flint became best friends over the following weeks.

Flint taught Merasmus how to garden, cook, and do other pleasant activities, and Merasmus gave the wizarding experience the man never had.

Merasmus became more and more cheerful, and did not think of his vacation time drawing short.

But, finally, it was time to leave.

Every time Merasmus tried to pack, it was all he could do to not burst into tears.

Finally, he made up his mind.

“Flint. Before Merasmus came here, he was miserable. His life was only filled with boring, soul-sucking tasks. Merasmus’s house reflects that. He cannot return there without my heart breaking. But there is so much to be found here...more than Merasmus could find in any magical realm. Merasmus must, for his health, stay here.”

Merasmus still lives there to this day, but occasionally goes on business excursions to find lost relics. Once Flint learns enough spells, he will accompany him.

Ooooh, I want this to be a common thing. That’s my problem - I make characters that are meant fit one story and I like them so much I want to keep them.

#tf2 #tf2 headcanon #tf2 headcanons #tf2 ask blog #tf2 merasmus #tf2 fic

[quillinthedas]

My (MC) Thedosian Children

(Two-handed shadow assassin; 22 in 9:10 Dragon)

Former casteless turned Paragon of Orzammar, Arlessa of Amaranthine, and Noble head (in absentia) of House Natia, Natia is my one and only warden.  22 years old during the Fifth Blight, she has spent the intervening decade annoying Grey Warden leadership by breaking their rules, visiting Orzammar, developing new lines of commerce from the Surface to Orzammar by aligning her House with Sarana Aeducan, and granting time off to go on adventures with her fiercely beloved husband, Alistair Brosca (nee Theirin).  (Individual post upcoming)

Leads to: Mariana Hawke, Darren Hawke, Rian Hawke

(two-handed duelist; blue; 24 in 9:10 Dragon)

24 years old when her family fled from the Darkspawn, Marian is the calmest and most focused of the Hawke family; she also changed the most over her years in Kirkwall.  Already suffering from the deaths of her brother, mother, and elderly mabari, Mariana was also abandoned by Isabella before her duel with the Arishock.  Her greatest regret, however, is executing her friend in a failed bid for peace.  She lives with that guilt with the help of Fenris, her partner in life and in hunting down slavers; she manages destruction of the supply lines and he handles more of the hands-on work.  She works hard to maintain contact among her surviving family, both Bethany and her found family.  (individual post upcoming)

Leads to --> Elayn Lavellen

(elemental blood mage; red; 24 in 9:10 Dragon)

Direct and protective, Darren is fiercely devoted to both his birth and found family.  He uses elemental magic primarily, but picks up some blood magic from Merrill and his own studies.  He is the epitome of the (over?) protective older brother.  Darren’s relationship is with both Anders

and

Justice, a distinction that is important to him.  In the year since the fall of Kirkwall, Darren has traveled with Anders at his side, helping the fugitive mages.  (individual post upcoming)

Leads to --> Mahliel Cadash

(Rift Mage, So so purple; 24 in 9:10 Dragon)  (Note: This is my F U Canon Canon, in which I Do What I Want)

Passionate, sarcastic, and deeply emotional, Rian struggles with depression and intrusive thoughts she keeps at bay with sharp humor.  Despite these challenges, she perseveres with the support of her friends, especially Varric and Aveline, and a slowly improving relationship with her brother Carver.  Rian is aromantic, but is an extremely enthusiastic primary sexual partner to her closest friend and confidante, Varric.  (individual post upcoming)

Leads to -->Jury Adaar

(Two-Handed Warrior, Champion, 29 years old in 9:41 Dragon)

Distrustful and dismissive of humans and their Chantry for good reason, Elayn deeply resents being the “Herald of Andraste,” but sees it as the only way to help his people moving forward.  The child of a powerful mage, Elayn was expected to be a Keeper one day, but no magic manifested.  Despite this, he is an expert on Dalish and elvish lore and history.  He trained with a group of Vashoth on good terms with his clan, and is unusually square and muscular for an elf.  It takes him a long time to warm up to the Inquisition; he finds himself unexpectedly helped along by the nature of his deepening relationship with the Iron Bull.  (Individual post upcoming, ficlet here)

(Dual-wield assassin; 42 years old in 9:41 Dragon)

41 years old in 9:41 Dragon, Mahliel was given to the Carta at the age of 8, where she was trained as a deadly assassin.  She just..didn’t mention this until after the revelation of Warden Blackwall’s true identity, since Josephine seemed happier believing she just protected caravans of illicent goods (and because she was secretly working to leave the Carta at the time of the Conclave). Mahliel is extremely intelligent, having a strong understanding in a wide variety of fields.  Despite her typically rational outlook, she is a strong believer in second chances, sometimes to her own detriment.  It has worked out well for her and Thom Rainier in the long run, however.  (individual post here; ficlet here)

(elemental mage, lightning, rift mage; 35 years old in 9:41 Dragon) (continues the F U Canon Canon in that Blackwall refused to leave the Fade, so she got out with both Alistair and Rian)

In a dark and uncertain world, Jury Adaar is a ray of sunshine.  Prominently scarred on her right side from her first use of magic - an overpowering show of lightning that left her with permanent Lichtenberg figures- Jury is the daughter of an escaped qunari mage and his handler.  The nearly-uncontrollable level of her power is a sign of her Vashoth heritage.  As a follower of her own interpretation of Andraste, she was much happier as a small-group leader in Haven; being the Inquisitor can be overwhelming.  Jury sees the best in her companions, and works to make sure they see that in themselves as well.  She fell crazy hard for the Inquisition’s Ambassador while seeking advice from Josie on international relations.  (individual post upcoming, ficlet upcoming)

#dragon age #tags for me begin here #Natia Brosca #Darren Hawke #Mariana Hawke #Rian Hawke #Jury Adaar #Elyn Lavellan #inquisitor #warden #hawke #champion #long post #Mahliel Cadash #elayn lavellen #quill writes

[kessielrg]

[Dragon Age] Oreos

Summary: In which Varric teaches his kid the proper way to dunk an Oreo. Hawke is there to be an as-…sistant. [oneshot][female humorous Hawke][modern AU]

Rating: K+

Word Count: 1,971 words

If you liked this story, please reblog!

---

“Now where did I put them?” Varric mumbled to himself as he looked through the pantry. He cursed to himself when he tried to reach a bit higher up. Curse the Maker for making him vertically challenged. Had to use a stool in his own home and still couldn’t reach the top shelf. Go figure.

“Got it!” the dwarf exclaimed as his hand got a firm hold of the plastic packaging. After a very careful extraction, Varric held the Oreo package close as he then moved the stool to its rightful corner. He placed the Oreos on a serving tray he had arranged on the kitchen counter. Humming some Kidz Bop song he heard earlier, he then went into the fridge to pull out the milk.

As he poured the milk into three glasses, Varric kept an ear out for the living room. The sounds of a young voice were easy to make out, but was she talking to someone else or just herself again? As he put the milk back in the fridge, Varric really wished that Hawke kept her medicine in the kitchen instead of the bathroom. The last time he checked, her prescription needed to be filled again, and Hawke had yet to do so. It worried him. It worried him a lot more than he was willing to admit.

Varric let out a sigh before taking the tray and heading into the living room. Varric had his own kid to tend to, and it wasn’t Hawke. Still didn’t stop him from letting out a sigh of relief in seeing both Hawke and Hana sitting at the living room coffee table. He wouldn’t have to force her out of bed today. Good. Not that the promise of deliciously nasty cookies was anything to ignore. Hawke was a sucker for sweets whether she was aware of it or not.

Hana seemed rather chipper though. Actively serving as the only genuine energy in the room, Varric’s daughter had her straw yellow hair pulled into two low pigtails today. She was gladly going on about some topic that Hawke couldn’t feign actual interest in. Was she going on about how pretty Selena Gomez was again, or that game that her birth giver introduced her to a few weeks back? Oh well, it didn’t matter now. Now that Varric had gotten everything ready, it was time for the main event.

“We have gathered here today for a very momentous occasion.” Varric announced, striding over to the girls and effectively earning their attention. “Today is the day that we teach 7 year old Hana Tethras how to properly dunk, and eat, Oreos.”

Hana put on a wide smile. Hawke even gave a rather generous round of applause. She even peppered it with a few “That’s our girl!” and “She’s getting so big!” cheers for extra effect. It only helped the younger girl beam with pride. Even Varric gave a light smirk of appreciation.

“Now teenybopper,” he said as he took a place across from the girls, placing the tray right in the middle of the coffee table. “How do you feel? You nervous? Already got a preemptive tummy ache from all the sugar your old man is going to let you consume?”

“Nope!” Hana told him with a firm shake of her head. She then slammed her hands down with determination before saying, “Bring it, Papa!”

“Rein it back kid,” Varric laughed, “Don’t want to get the milk all over the coffee table, do we?”

“Sorry.” Hana sheepishly apologized. She carefully took her milk glass from her father and placed it to her left. She even gave it a good, hard stare, as if she was pressuring it into not falling over later. Varric snorted before handing Hawke her glass as well, then went about divvying up the cookies.

“Ah, Oreos,” Hawke thinly mused as Varric gave her share. “The only cure for my depression.”

He tried to hold it back, Varric scoffed. “They are not. That’s what your medication is for.”

“Well, you don’t have to act so sure about it,” Hawke frowned. “Give me my delusions and plausible deniability, Varric. It’s all I got in this world.”

“You have me Hawke!” Hana quickly chirped. “And Papa too!”

Hawke gave Hana a rather tired look, not quite intended for the child to see. The woman absently placed a hand on Hana’s head. She then gently stroked the top of Hana’s head as if it were a calming mechanism. Maybe it was; something about little Hana did give off a rather comforting aura. But Hawke would be damned if she knew just what it was.

“I do.” Hawke carefully agreed- although the sentence came out more as a question. Seeing Hana’s bright smile only made Hawke a bit more dazed. Varric looked on with a rather concerned expression on his face. He gently coughed into his hand, leading the ladies’ attention back to him.

“Now, for your first proper lesson, I’ve decided to go the easy route. I’m not training my young’in with the normal Oreos- that would be an exercise and a half not to break them. No, we’re going to use double stuffed Oreos. The best kind.”

“Naw, what about the triple stuffed Oreos, Varric?” Hawke whined. “Why can’t we use them instead?”

“Too much stuff.” came the rather firm answer. “I am a man of correcting my previous mistakes, and I’m not taking that road again.”

Hawke gave a badly exaggerated groan before telling him, “Having a kid really ruined your sense of fun.”

“No,” the man asserted. “Having a kid gave me a greater sense of avoiding 3 AM puke fests because someone decided to eat too much cookie cream.”

“It was one time!” Hawke argued, despite the rather amused look she had- Hana was stifling a cute little laughter beside her. “Everyone was black-out drunk anyway, and it was the perfect prank.”

“I don’t think Sebastian would say the same.”

“Since when were you ever one for accurate reaccountments, hmm?”

“You know he’s a dunker, Hawke. It gives him a sense of purpose.”

“Was he? Always seemed more like a licker.”

“Anyway…!” Varric then loudly proclaimed. “We’re getting off topic.”

Hawke and Hana exchanged a look before erupting into a set of bemused giggles. Varric rolled his eyes. Surround yourself with girls, they said. It would be a joy, they said. At least one of them was directly related to him- he wasn’t sure why he kept the other around.

“Now that I have your attention again,” Varric told them, “Let us first begin by picking up the Oreo itself…”

. . .

In a way, this whole thing was just so Varric could easily say seven year olds had the fine motor movement to carefully manipulate something as delicate as Oreo cookies. Always write what you know, yeah? It was a bit hard to believe that his own spawn actually stuck her tongue out when she was concentrating. She definitely didn’t get that from his side of the family. If anything, it was something he could see Hawke doing…

“I finally got it!” Hana suddenly exclaimed. Varric and Hawke both looked at her at the same time. The girl was proudly showing her two Oreo halves. One side had just the cream, the other was completely clean.

“Great job, teenybopper!” Varric approved. “Hawke, lean over and muss her hair for me. I can’t reach.”

Hawke nodded, but didn’t mess up Hana’s hair. Instead, she gave her a small elbow nudge and said, “Great job, teeny. Now we can audition you for all those Oreo commercials. You’d be a shoo-in.”

Hana’s smile grew even wider at the approval. Oh, to be young and easily proud of your (usually useless) accomplishments.

“Remember to only use your teeth to scrape the cream off if your tongue can’t find a good pocket beforehand.” Varric reminded his kid. Hana gave him a firm nod before returning to the cookie. He gave her a smile as he returned to his own lot as well.

Hawke had also returned to her Oreo dunking. After two cookies, she no longer felt like licking the cream off before dunking, so she just let the Oreo soak for a few moments. It was almost a routine that she zoned out for. Dip the Oreo, wait a bit, then eat it. Nothing to think about. It was a legitimate surprise when half the Oreo fell into the milk as she tried to pull it out. She blinked a few times before looking up at Varric.

“Varrrric,” Hawke whined, “Cookies got lost in milk!”

“That’s because you tried to dunk too much of the Oreo in the milk.” he replied without so much looking at her. “Then you pinched it as you pulled it up, and all your mushy cookie got lost.”

“But I didn’t pinch it!” she went on. A small edge in her voice made Varric look up. For a moment, he wondered if she was legitimately upset about it. “I only had half of it in the milk- you saw it! Tell ‘im, Hana.”

“You’re so funny, Hawke!” Hana laughed. The poor girl obviously not seeing that Hawke wasn’t quite being dramatic on purpose this time. Not that Varric could blame her- he’d bottle that innocence up and repackage it back into Hawke herself if he could.

“A real barrel of monkeys.” Varric mused. He gave a small click of his tongue before asking, “Hawke, did you take your meds today?”

Hawke proceeded to look at him like he was crazy. The dwarf was unrelenting, though. He had full plans of staring her down until Hana interrupted all of their thoughts with a musing;

“What do they make Oreo filling with anyway?”

A silence followed after this. Mostly because Varric didn’t want to stop nonverbally bullying Hawke into confessing she wasn’t taking care of herself again. He had to relent, letting out a defeated sigh before telling Hana, “Dunno, teenybopper. We can look it up later if you want.”

Hana gave a thoughtful hum and a little nod of her head, her attention too focused on staring at the Oreos now. Varric shook his head at her, before trying turning his attention back to Hawke. But Hawke had left the coffee table. She had slunk her way onto the couch, and was now actively trying to find the TV remote. That meant in a few minutes, Hawke would find something on TV that interested Hana, and the Oreo eating portion of their day officially over.

And Varric would be the one cleaning up the mess, because of course he would.

Varric let out a sigh before starting to get up. He made a trip to the kitchen to get a note off the fridge, then went back into the living room and straight to Hawke.

“The pharmacy closes in six hours,” he told her as he handed the note over, “Call them, or I’ll sit on you.”

Hawke looked at him, not sure whether to be amused or angered.

“Having a kid really ruined your sense of privacy.” she said, almost in a grumble

“No,” he told her. “Having a kid gave me a greater sense of caring for others. I’m not asking you twice, Hawke. Call them.”

The corners of Hawke’s mouth twitched as if she wanted to tell him off. He never gave her the chance. Instead, he sat back over with Hana, and quite purposely started to make conversation with her. The girl was rather ignorant of the friction between the two friends. In a way, Varric was grateful for it. She’d know and understand it better when she was older. But for now ignorance was bliss.

He just prayed that every force used to beat Hawke down never reached his own kid.

#dragon age #dragon age 2 #fanfiction #fanfic #fan fiction #fan fic #varric tethras #da varric #da2 varric #varric #da2 hawke #hawke #marion hawke #humorous hawke #depression #oreos #oneshot #dragon age fanfiction #original character #dragon age fan fiction

[geekghoul]

Hey yo Max Ride fam

How you doin?

The feeling of death and crippling depression following your every step since the announcement of Hawk 2? Yeah, me too.

But it’s fine, it’s what we do. Patterson tells us he’s done. But he’s not, he never is.

So we read the next one……. And the next one…. .. . . . And the one after that

And after that.

You know the drill.

So what do I have to tell you you may be wondering?

Well, Fuck Maximum Ride and read The Icarus Experiment.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/6344071

It’s a Les Mis fanfic but don’t worry about that, it’s not too important to know that stuff.

What I want to turn your attention towards is the humanity of the characters and how one might cope with the hellish existence of growing up in The Institute and the aftermath on ones psyche even after going free. It explores a number of ideas Maximum Ride tackles and ignores a whole bunch more so it doesn’t feel like some sort of fever dream filled with a rotating door of villains. It’s also hella gay. I think my favorite things it elaborates on or revisits from the Max Rides series is their time at the school, their powers, Iggy (or Jehan)’s blindness, the fucking red-haired wonder(in a way), them attending normal school, etc. Like, please, if you still hold any flame for our favorite trash series. Check this fic out. Read the first few paragraphs, humor me.

So uhh, yeah ✌️&🤞

#maximum ride #max ride #maximum ride hawk #fang #iggy #les mis #les miz #les miserables

[soulcluster-moved]

sometimes i think about my hawke’s savior complex and how deeply it’s ingrained. like it started from a young age, helping to take care of bethany and carver when their family were poor farmers in amaranthine. the weight that comes with being the oldest, giving them some of her food if they hadn’t eaten enough, looking after them, learning to cook with her mother, to even take up hunting to bring in more meat. going against her ingrained soft nature where she doesn’t want to hurt anyone or even any animals, but for her family she definitely will

learning the ins and outs of being both a magical healer and a practical one (least she be caught practicing magic and bring wrath down on her family). and having her father die from illness anyway. trying to escape the blight and losing her baby sister. watching her family slowly crumble apart from those losses. trying to be close with carver again and him refuting her at every turn. takes him on the deep roads expedition and it’s not her that saves him it’s anders. the final nail is her mother being murdered.

she came all this way and for what? all she has left is kirkwall. she takes it a bit too personally when anders blows up the chantry. it’s not that she doesn’t understand his position (their position, she’s a mage too, she’s been involved in helping mages too), or seen him try so damn hard over the years only to suffer more. I favor them being more like brother and sister tbh, with her learning from him and admiring his skill, dedication, humor, and love for cats. she thinks he’s amazing.

but she’s been through entirely too much in the past decade that she takes the ending more personally than she would’ve if she was in a right state of mental health. she tried so hard to save this city when she couldn’t save anyone else, and then...that. 

it likely would’ve gone that way anyway, at some point, with someone else if not anders, but in that moment she’s just too frustrated and depressed and she’s been hanging on by a thread for the last few years. and it’s really just her breaking point. she can’t hold it together anymore than he can then.

I’d love to write something about them reconciling and talking it over someday

#hc: kaitlyn hawke

[i-need-air]

Hawks Fluff Alphabet.

So I wrote this because I was bored, thought it was fun and it ended in 2,4k words. Casually. No biggie. Just chillin here. I think it's been done a million times already bUT have aNotHer oNe.

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Lazy days together are the definition of perfection for him. The domestic vibe those days have make him belong somewhere. For a hero that's been forced to have a one track mind to now have this intimacy plus on these days he gets some rest with his significant other... Perfection.

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

Your face and your expressions. He studied people for so long that he's a natural at it and when it comes to you, it's all so comforting. Your smile; the way your eyes sparkle, small wrinkles at their corner, the sweet curving of your lips. Your blush; cheeks flustered, you denying it, head turning the other way, pouty face depending on how he teased you. Your frown; determination in your orbs, the clear need to argue written all over you. Your concentration face, your daydreaming face, you...

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

If you're feeling down he takes his compliments a step higher yet his voice gets softer. It lacks the teasing edge it normally has. Attempts to cook, fails, brings you take-out. Tries to make you smile all the time, mostly by being a dumb chicken or by being cheesy.

If you're having a panic attack/are depressed, he's attentive and listens to everything you have to say. Is there to support you and will try to give you a hand, just tell him when you're ready to take the step. Hugs and full of sincere love.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Has always dreamed about a big family, even if he's actually terrified of the idea. He had a disfunctional upbringing, filled with poverty, alcohol and arguments and then he has been thrown into a life of basically military training from a very young age. He wants stability, he wants his chance to find love, enjoy a normal person's life, go on casual dates, sing in the rain, get married, have kids... the image of being called Papa crosses his mind. Getting old, having a big house filled with warmth. Hopefully someday you'll allow him that. But first he has to allow himself have it.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

Goes with the flow? Sometimes he takes the wheel, sometimes you do. He doesn't think one has to be more dominant than the other. Always asks and considers your opinion about things.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Hmm. Fights happen, sure, but rarely since he's one to stop and track back once one starts. He likes to communicate the problem from the very beginning. Once a fight does step out of hand he over-explains things, which can get very frustrating. He wants you to see his side of the story too so he'll need some acknowledgement from your part before willing to listen more too. He's not stubborn but expects to be heard too. If it gets too much, you both have to decide to cool off and talk later. Keigo is easy at forgiving because in that time he considered your point of view and hopes you're willing to discuss things calmly. Although these type of fights almost never happen. More like arguments with Facts™. He does not shout. He won't relive his childhood, he's better than that.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

Very verbal about it with a teasing edge. Loves to hear how you indeed wanted to, for example, pamper him. Appreciative of every small thing you do for him since he's not used to people caring about him on a personal level. Even the fact that you ask him how was his day, how is he feeling, so on, makes him thankful.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

Before the LoV he wouldn't tell you about his missions when they were on-going, but afterwards he'd slip some juicy details casually. Makes you pinky promise to not spill things but actually does keep stuff to himself. Yeah, you get some exclusive details, specially if he gets hurt and tries to make you feel better. Keeps stuff that could bring harm to you. Doesn't tell you about the LoV, just promises you he's always going to be there, so don't question when he dissappear for a few days. Trust him, please.

About casual things, gossip and other stuff he's an open book. "So I was casually flying while on duty and you won't guess who I saw kissing who... 👀"

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

You made him belong somewhere. I mentioned it before but he has a reason to go home, a reason to look at the phone without expecting the Commission on his ass or a "friend" that only cares about his status. He's got that's tranquility he craved.

He will always encourage you to be your best self in a way or another.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

Doesn't get overly jealous but might be insecure at times. Maybe you deserve better, someone who has the time to be there for you, someone that might not die the following day... If he sees someone getting close to you and with intentions clear of pursuing you, not just flirting, he'll get into that mentality. A tiny spark of possessiveness awakens in him but remains casual and laid back.

This is one of the concerns he doesn't voice straight away to you but will, eventually. Just tell him he's all you need.

If the person just flirts with you, Keigo knows you can handle yourself. Will step in if you're uncomfortable and will, without a doubt, make that person 10x more uncomfortable. He does trust you completely, even if the insecurities get to him at times.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Oh, yes. His kisses range from sweet to needy and even the smallest peck has passion in it, which you can see in his eyes afterwards.

Your first kiss was after a date, something casual as he tried his best to do it right, you know? At your front door when he dropped you off after a full date of trying to be being a gentleman, he waits for you to lean in as a signal, but he couldn't help himself to interrupt your sweet goodbyes. "Can I kiss you, dove?"

Slow, sweet, he breathes you in as he encircles your frame in his arms. One of his favorite memories and also his favorite kisses.

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

People consider him flirty but he's just good at compliments. With you in the picture? Now that's Hawks actually flirting. And it was supposed to be his way of telling you he's very much interested. And he's smooth.

Overall decides to be casual yet serious about it. When he finally gets time alone with you he just tells you he's really interested and would love if you wanted to grab something to eat that same night. As a date.

The first "I love you" is quiet, he stops what he's doing and just grabs your wrist gently, looking into your eyes. It does take time to process the emotion and to assure himself it's okay to say it. Does confess at a random time but soon you learn he just really couldn't hold it in anymore. After the first one he never stops saying it. Makes you wonder if he's a chicken or a parrot.

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Ultimately, yes. I already went through it before, he dreams of that.

After the LoV ordeal and when everything settled, he'll be ready to do it. It somehow taught him that life is short and he needs to take the wheel in this one. He has many scenarios in head but goes to a simple night out, renting the top of a building, preparing it with a single table in the middle of it. Lights, flowers decorating everything. Personal chef, beautiful view. And a ruby engagement ring.

[I made a whole post about married Hawks, check that out 👀]

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

Dove, love, angel... And then some very cheesy ones. All the cheesy nicknames actually. All of them.

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

It depends on who he's with. If he's with people he trusts, which are not many, he'll be talking about you all the time. Proclaims he's in love, doesn't care. His smiles are more sincere and if you'd known him for long enough you'd see how he didn't have such a weight on his shoulders.

Clearly won't go proclaiming it to villains, so there's that. Is very careful about mentioning you to the Commission too, he's worried they'd use you against him. They do know you're together but that's all they need to know.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

C'mon, shy away from kisses? Keeps it lowkey from the media but apart from that? Who can deny you some smooches?

You met his friends, all being heroes like him, and you both are officially The Couple™. You know what I'm talking about.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

His ability to read people and his honesty about it made you avoid some harmful "friends" that came your way. Know that he just means the best when he mentions something.

On a more casual level, his feathers bringing you both stuff from the kitchen while you lazy around in the couch is just 10/10.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

Ok, this boy is somehow a romantic but a dumb romantic. Likes clichés but with his twist, mostly humorous.

Brings you little things that reminded him of you, it's his thing to prove that you're always on his mind even if he's far away.

"No, baby, don't leave me! I love you... I can't live without you!" while grabbing you close as you were to leave.

"Keigo. I'm just going to work."

... or...

"Love, there's a storm, let's make out in the pouring rain."

"Did you just wake me up at 3 A.M. to–"

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

Definitely. He likes to encourage you to do your best and if he can help somehow, he will. Sees so much potential in you. Will be your personal cheerleader.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Balances it. Does enjoy some structure but with you he learned he can also let go, so don't be surprised when he grabs you one day and takes you to a random carnival or something. Is bummed because he can't be as spontaneous as he wanted because of his fame, but it's okay, he can bring the spontaneous at home.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

Observant man as he is, Keigo knows you pretty well. Which is okay actually, he wants to know you as much as possible and loves growing and maturing with you.

Listens to you and considers what you have to say and believe me, your words mean a lot to him.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

When he got so attached to you he tried to separate himself from the thought of a relationship but just as he started the process he also stopped instantly. Hawks knew you were important from the moment his heart ached to be near you and that feeling remains to this day.

Loves you. Just... Loves you. You're so important in his life it actually scares him. Because life is also unpredictable, his job specially. Many people hate him...

It's a thought that invades his mind frequently. He's past the point of backing out, so what he needs to do is to protect the most precious human being he's ever known with all his power.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

I don't know why but I feel he's a very artistic person. As in he draws and has a small sketchbook in his jacket all the time. And many pages are filled with drawings of you.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Dumb romantic chicken loves the affection and the attention that comes with it. Give him both. Drop everything you're doing and give him love, damnit. Hugs are a must; his chin on your shoulder watching you do something; his head in your chest as you play with his hair; sit on his lap and smooch his face while he just hugs you tight. Skin contact is very important to him and I think it's his actual love language.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Pouty and an attention whore although nobody notices. Once he gets the time, he texts you how much he misses you. He's very vocal about it so expect 17 texts in a row telling you. All written the same minute. Guess what happens 5 minutes later? 20 more texts.

Just give him a call already. That's when you hear him pout about it. Loves hearing your voice but if you're far apart for too long he will ruin a cute romantic moment with an innocent "So what are you wearing?"

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lenghts for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

It might sound crude but him being in a relationship with you while the world is basically on fire is enough saying. He can't let you go anymore. He doesn't think he ever was after landings his eyes on you. Will fight for this relationship and promised himself to protect you from danger.

#boku no hero academia #my hero academia #hawks x reader #noire writes #bnha headcanons #bnha #mha #hawks #takami keigo #keigo takami x reader #Fluff alphabet #Bnha fluff alphabet #Bnha alphabet #Hauwuks #Please tell me you didn't read that 👀 #Shout-out to my self indulgent ass #Hawks alphabet #Hawks fluff alphabet

[5lazarus]

Dregs

Anders baits Varric, or Varric baits Anders, both drunk at the Hanged Man. There's no resolution to an argument when they're both just angry, thinking about dead mages.

Read on AO3 here.

They were drinking and it wasn’t going well. Hawke had already left, pissed off at Fenris’ rant about the Viscount’s complicity with the Tevinter slave trade, as if any of them could do anything about it, and Fenris was sulking in the corner by himself. Donnic was slumped in his chair, hand loosely wrapped around a dirty glass of whiskey. All glasses Norah gave him were dirty. She didn’t like guards much. Varric kept talking hopelessly, trying to improve the mood of the party, but even retelling the story about Bartrand’s aborted wedding failed to provoke hilarity. Anders continued to glare, eyes glinting slightly, and kept drinking. He was blatantly ignoring him. At least Donnic tried to grunt at the appropriate parts, and Varric had long since given up at getting Fenris to rejoin their table. Varric stopped himself and decided a new tactic was in order. Baiting Anders was always worth a laugh, so he pointed his chin at him and snapped his fingers in front of his eyes to get his attention. “Blondie, what’s up? What’s with all the sighing and the glaring and the doom and gloom? Templar step on your tail?”

Anders drew himself up in his chair. “I wish you wouldn’t joke about that.” He took Donnic’s glass from him. Donnic blinked at him and blearily protested, but Anders drank it regardless. Varric was amused. He was pretty sure Norah spat in that. “Right. The sighing? The templar? Or the tail? You’ll have to be specific.” Varric wasn’t in the mood to be easygoing anymore--he’d been trying to cheer them up all night, and they could at least return with a story. “Evelina,” he says. “Huon. I knew them, you know. And they were better than what became of them. They weren’t-- blood mages . They were desperate! They were scared. They missed their families. They deserved help , not Tranquility. Not death. Not the templars. They deserved more . So, I guess you’re right.” He stares at his empty drink bitterly. “‘Templar step on your tail’--what haven’t they stepped on?” Varric is only temporarily speechless. Anders never has anything good to say, he shouldn’t have asked, at least not without Isabela gone, she could normally get him to laugh.  Varric personally thinks the ending is a little too depressing, he gets tired of the constant misery of the mages--and the templars made her Tranquil because she was going to turn into an abomination, she was already using blood magic. He’ll have to write it cleaner than it happened, because yet another Tranquil blood magic lacked the tragic punch. Varric says, “Well, shit. That’s crazy. That’s how it goes sometimes.” “ All the time,” Anders hisses, and reaches for Varric’s drink. Varric stops his hand warily. “Buy your own,” Varric said. “This round’s on you.” Anders, unimpressed, gets up and goes to the bar. Donnic raises his head, tired. “Careful,” he says. “Don’t bait him too much.” Varric snorts. “Or else? I get a fireball to the face?” Donnic says, “No. You can only push someone so far before they break.” He drops a couple coins on the table. “Get your last round on me.” He leaves, stumbling only slightly, and Varric marvels at his perspicacity. Donnic does like his one-liners--the man’s so anodyne, he has to spice him up when he finishes Hard in Hightown . Aveline already forbade him from writing about anything interesting, since her investigations into the corruption of the guard were still ongoing. He shakes his head at the exit. Donnic, what would they all do without Donnic? Live exactly the same as they did without him--and for that blessed quality of irrelevance, he has to write a story about him. Anders returns to the table and sets down his whiskey. Varric squints at him. “You sure you should be drinking that?” he says. “Don’t want Justice taking control.” “You were laughing,” Anders says. “What were you laughing about?” Varric sighs. He gets that watching what happened to those Circle mages bothered him, it bothered him too, but Varric knows all too well that sometimes you just have to breathe and let it pass, because there’s no use obsessing over the past. He glances at his crossbow, which he had given its own chair: perhaps he’s a hypocrite. He’s a lot of things--but he’s not paranoid, and he doesn’t want to deal with this. Varric says, “Oh, you know, everything. Donnic. You. The same old stories shaking out the same. You and me bristling over a drink. What to talk about between disasters. The usual shtick.” Anders drops into his chair suddenly, so fast Varric reaches for Bianca. “Oh,” he says. “So glad you can find the humor in it. I guess it’s easy to laugh when you’re not in it.” Varric scowls. “Not in it? Blondie, I live here.” He gestures grandly, to try and take the sting out of his tone. “Don’t be obtuse,” Anders says. “You know what I mean.” “I know I’ve lived here longer than you,” Varric says testily. “Not getting nativist. But I know this city’s problems. Been stuck in the muck of it longer than you have, Blondie. By a good thirty years.” Anders’ eyes flash, Justice peeking through. He snaps,“That is not what I mean and you are deliberately misunderstanding me.” Varric raises a hand wearily, glancing to see who has taken notice. A few apostates in the corner are watching, but they’re friendly with the Mage Underground, so that’s fine. Fenris looks up, eyes narrow, but Varric shakes his head at him. Anders isn’t going to blow up in public, at least not tonight. He’s prone to picking fights, but Varric’s not going to fall for it. “Sure,” Varric says. “Tell me what I’m deliberately misunderstanding.” Anders flashes, “Don’t patronize me.” “Okay,” he says. “I’m not. Sorry.” He reaches for Anders’ drink. He really doesn’t need more liquor in him, and Varric’s got money and the influence that comes with money, but not even the Merchants’ Guild can bribe Meredith to look the other way if Anders goes on a Justice-rampage in the middle of the Hanged Man. Donnic is at least gone--they’ve put him and Aveline in enough difficult spots, lately. Sometimes Varric wonders if Hawke realizes how stressful it is, being their friend. Varric grimaces and sips at the whiskey. It’s alright for what it is. He’s fine with it. Anders says, “You don’t know what it’s like, to be hunted. For people to want to-- lobotomize you, just for existing. That people think there’s something fundamentally evil about you, just because you--see things and feel things!” His voice breaks, and he says raggedly, “The Maker made me this way, Varric. He made us like this. Don’t tell me you know what it’s like. To be made to be punished.” Varric says, “Well, shit. You are drunk. Let’s get you out of here.” “Fuck you,” Anders says. “Really, from the bottom of my heart. Fuck you.” Varric scowls. “Cool it, mage. I get you’re upset about your friends being Tranquil, and yeah, it sucks, but what did you think was going to happen? They ran away from Meredith , they were dealing with demons, and that Huon guy put the whole alienage in danger, coming back to his wife. It was fucked up. You gotta admit that.” “That his family loved him and wanted him safe?” Anders says. “What’s so fucked up about that? You think Nyssa wasn’t elated when he came back? She’d been smuggling--” He stops himself, and Varric realizes that there is a story there, there is something he’s not saying, there is something he probably shouldn’t know. “But sure, think what you like. Write it whatever way that makes you happy. Crazed blood mage beating his wife. Clinging Ferelden refugee selfishly taking care of two orphans. Compassion’s just a despair demon, after all. Hope is really just pride. And Justice? That’s just vengeance. As we don’t deserve any recompense. No, forgive and forget, that’s what you want. Reconciliation. Compromise by surrendering all of our rights.” Varric says, “What the fuck is your problem? I haven’t said any of that shit. I have been nothing but a friend to you. Sure, I think you’re crazy. Bit of an asshole too, and I don’t even pretend to get that Fade shit you got going on with Justice. But you do good work in Darktown and you don’t get in the way of my business, and that’s fine for Kirkwall. I want what’s good for Kirkwall. I don’t get what you mean by ‘compromise,’ forgiving and forgetting. I just want the job fucking done. And your job--you take care of the refugees. No one else does that. You take care of Hawke and keep the rest of us patched up. That’s nice too. But get out of my face with this pity-me bullshit.” He says that, and realizes that perhaps he is drunk too: well, shit. He tries to roll it back. “Let’s get you back to the clinic, you’re drunk.” Anders says, “And you’re not?” Varric says, “Your point?” Anders settles back in his chair and crosses his arms. Justice has left his eyes now, and he smiles grimly at him. “No fucking need. You made it for me.” Varric stares at him and considers violence, considers stomping all the way to Hightown and shaking Hawke for sticking him with this mule disguised as a man. He throws his hands. “Right! So glad to help.” He shakes his head. “You’re impossible, do you know that? Fucking impossible sometimes.” “Yeah,” Anders says. “So I’ve been told.”

#varric & anders #varric tethras #anders #da2 #dragon age fanfic #donnic #fenris #hawke #fanfic

[daggerzine]

Celebrity Mixtape Party #1 with Steve Michener (Volcano Suns, Dumptruck, Big Dipper) Part 1

Steve (far left with Big Dipper) 

Mixtapes. They're back! Or maybe they never went away? What happens when you make a mixtape for someone who MAKES music? And then they talk about that mixtape? Well, dear reader, let's find out in..

Okay!  First song. Side A. So I'll give my impressions and then we can talk about the song. Okay? Then the reveal, when appropriate.

Sexy

Thanks for this tape, Matthew, I've really been enjoying it.  However, I gotta say the first song is my least favorite.

What is it pray tell

I don't know but I usually love that style of song.  Very Love/Byrds-y but there was something cloying about that hook of 'Let's Get Together'

Oh yes. Justin Trouble.

Can't tell if it's authentic 60's pop or revival

Early '80s. He was friends with Johnny Thunders.New York City area guy

Never heard of him but I'm not inspired to search him up. Too many words.

Aw man he's just riffing

Anything you wanna say in his defense?

I mean I could. I think that song and the whole record is genius. To me it's the very essence of rock and roll.

Okay, maybe that's just one song that I wouldn't like. I'll check it out. I know you love your 60s stuff  but to me it's just too twee. But if you were using this as a "courtship tape", the relationship is over.

Since we can't "get together" on that song?

Courtship tape. I think they were called love mixes back in the day my friend.

I'm older than you. We used to bring them and play them in the parlor. So this second song is right up my Alley. Great guitar sound, great drummer.  I love that it's poppy but it takes a minor key/dissonant turn when he sings the tagline 'Solid Gold'. Kind of a Fall vibe to that hook.

So what is that second song?

Boston band....Real Kids...1974 demo...EARLY REAL KIDS

I knew you'd get a Real Kids song on there but that is very 'Unreal' real kids.  Sounds like they were way ahead of their time

Yeah. That song is unhinged. Nothing twee about it.

Amazing band.  I would have maybe guessed that but that chorus is so left field.  If I knew about that song back then, I would have had the band cover it. Real Kids sounding like the Fall. They should have been as big as the Ramones.  Worse drug and ego problems I guess.

To me it sounds like The Dolls. A little bit of Glam in there.

I saw them a few times at the Rat.  Always a reliable live band. I hear the 60's thing in there but that turnaround into the chorus is at least 5 years ahead of its time. I need to hear more of those demos.

It's on vinyl.

Next song- One thing that I know about you is that you love your 60s stuff.  This sounds like an authentic acid rock band. Roky?

I don't have the tracklist

Ah, okay.  It's by Girl Trouble-"Storm Warning'. Don't know them but I love the song.

The pride of Bellingham

Kind of like the Seeds meet Nick Cave. What year?

1993 on Empty

Love the sax and guitar interplay at the end.  Wow. I would have placed that in 1965

Yeah except for the production. I think he's one of the Great rock and roll vocalists of the '90s

Yeah, great singer.  Are they still around or mutate into something else?

Kurt Kendall. No, I don't think they really play around much anymore. There was a reunion show not too long ago but I missed it.

Great stuff, I'll check it out. Next song? Okay, this one I knew from the first note--the great NRBQ. The greatest rock and roll band ever, at least in this incarnation.

Green Lights?

Yes.

I saw them around this time with the WW Horns, opening for Thorogood.

Another great vocalist

I didn't appreciate them back then cuz I was too into the alternative scene (tho still loved GT) but when I saw them in the 80's I was amazed.

This is a band that should have played the bar band in every '80s movie ever made

Exactly.  they were my template for 'a band'

That's Joey singing that one? favorite bass player ever, favorite drummer ever.

I'm not entirely sure what that guitar is in the solo. Sounds almost like a pedal steel or something.

Big Al could make anything sound like anything.  Genius band. Shoulda been huge.

The YouTube comments say Joey.

Yeah, Joey wrote the hits. Like most bass players.

Lol. The album is called nrbq at Yankee stadium and it's funny because the picture shows an empty Yankee stadium with them far away in the bleachers...a play on words...clever

I see.

I'll explain humor to you another time.

Make me a 'humor' mixtape

Okay next song

The 5th song on side A is called Buried Alive.  A 3 chord slab of brilliance.  Sounds like another Boston Band.  More Real Kids?

Hmmm

Should I peek?

It could be Avenged Sevenfold. Yes peek.

Oh no, it's the Nervous Eaters!  Born to Die.  I thought he was singing Buried Alive.

Ahhh!!

I knew it was Boston, can't believe I missed the Eaters.  Loved that band.

Another Boston band you didn't ID! You are 0 for 2

I wrote down it was "the Lyres without keyboards" so I get half credit.

Okay so one of the cool things about this band is it had one of the Paley Brothers. Who never did anything this "heavy" outside of this band?

I had their singles and saw them live a few times.  They were great. Just Head is a classic.

The major label debut was a bit of a disaster:  slick production, terrible cover art. I swore that I'd never let that happen to any band that I was in.

This song for some reason reminds me of Judas Priest.

I thought Saints at first but Priest would work

Next song?

Ok

This is one that I will probably miss too. Sounds VERY familiar and my first guess is Rockpile/Brinsley Schwarz.  "I'll have another drink and then I tried to crawl out the door.."

"I never did know a thing about it." It's got that Nick Lowe/Dave Edmunds vibe.

Take a peek

Status Quo-Lies

Ah yes

Wow, I don't think of SQ sounding like this. This is pub rock, I thought they were harder

Very boogie

Don't you get the Rockpile thing tho?

Oh absolutely

Great song.  I'd cover this. Was it a hit?

That status quo song is from 1980. I think so. They did it on Top of the Pops

Good. I'd be depressed if a song that great didn't get an audience.

Agreed

Next?

Yes

I also don't know this and I'm not sure what the hook is but it sounds like what I imagine the Muffs sound like. Be my baby.?  Sneering female vocals, 3 chords, loud guitars.

Fastbacks - Read my Letters

Yeah, another band I completely missed out on.  From the PNW?

Seattle

I've seen them quite a few times and they were always amazing. Big fan.

I'm sorry I missed them live. I don't care much for this song but I'll bet it sounded good in a sweaty club.

Ok

Did you like the Muffs?

Not really. I mean I respect them a lot but they never resonated with me. I think Kurt Bloch is a great lyricist. And I love that he didn't sing his own lyrics.

Wait, that was a guy singing?

No. The guitar player Kurt wrote the lyrics for most of their songs.

Got it.  So he left them to join YFF?

He did both simultaneously. Kim Warnick is the singer and bass player.

Too talented.

Definitely.

I saw the Fellows quite a few times also.

They opened for us in Seattle in 1990. I loved them but, as an east coaster, had never seen them.

Also amazing one of my favorites. During that time that both the Fastbacks and the Young Fresh Fellows were active it made me envy Seattle because Portland didn't have bands like those bands.

This is a different convo, but Seattle is a much more rockin town than Portland.

Full disclosure in the '90s I was not a fan of Portland's music scene. But I did like Hazel.

They were so cute!

Alright, let's not get distracted!   Next song I recognized easily , though I may not have a few years ago.  This is Sparks - Something For The Girl Who Has Everything. Brilliant band but one that I missed out on until recently

You know I never introduced you at the beginning of all this. Dear readers, I am discussing a mixtape with our esteemed guest Steve Michener from Skid Row.

Skid Row UK, legally. Not to be confused with those dorks from Hollyweird. Michael Cudahy was my roommate back in the day and he was way into them. I could never get past the vocals.Recently though, I have come to appreciate them and now I am a big fan.

I love the vocals. It's its own thing. Who is this Michael you speak of?

Michael was in Christmas at the time and then started Combustible Edison.  Now he does movie soundtracks.

Have you ever seen the video of Ron Mael singing karaoke to a Sparks song?

No, I'll google it.

Next song?

Ok

Well, I didn't recognize the song itself but it's hard to miss the unique guitar sound of The Wedding Present-The Boy Can Wait

Fastest wrist in the west

Trademark double strum. They're one of those bands that I just love the sound of but never bought any records.

That's a Peel session by the way.

They were around last year but I failed to attend.

I like the lyrics. They're clever. Kind of misanthropic but not in a Morrissey way. More humorous.

I'm not a lyric guy but I do love a good Morrisey couplet

The dude could pen a tune

Stephen I mean

Moz

The Moz

Himself.

He should pull a Prince and just change his name to Himself

Next song is one that you would never get past me, tho I'm 0-2 with Boston bands before this.  Heading into a Boston binge here.

Ok. Just another band out of Boston

I was the world's biggest Peter Dayton fan for years.  I moved to Boston the week that LaPeste broke up so I never got to see them.  So I made up for that by seeing every PD gig for years. 'She's a Girl' by LaPeste, probably one of the best bands out of Boston ever.

I like how evil La Peste sound. They sound like they carried shivs.

It means "the pest"

Perfect

"la" is "the" in french

Waow

I don't know if you knew that. Anyway, this must have been an Ocasek demo?  Sounds like they were trying to go pop. I had a live tape of them from the rock and roll rumble in 1979 that I wore out. Just a great pop punk band. Next song is also LaPeste- Die in My Sleep.Ric got involved with them later in their career and produced some demos.  Or maybe it was Greg Hawkes.  But Ocasek worked with him solo for a few years.  Dayton's EP, which came out the same time as Panorama by the Cars. It's a fun record.Better off Dead is an amazing single.

I'll check out solo Dayton.

Jim Janota on bass. I think he was in some of those early boston punk bands

But Ric was the producer guy then . Alan Vega etc

Yeah, Ocasek was cool.  He had Dayton's band open for The Cars at the Boston Garden.  Big supporter of smaller bands.

Next two songs had me stumped. I just wrote 'Sex Pistols'.

I would never put a sex pistols song on anything ever. But I do love a lot of things that Cook and Jones were on later

This just has a Pistols energy and sneer. Hey Hey! Hey Hey!

Hmm

3 chords, English. Fall-like but harder.

Not ringing any bells

Ha! I looked at the list--Naked Raygun-Roller Queen.

Yes

"trying" to be british

Nooo

I tuned this band out early.  Not my cup of tea.

I love the Raygun. Midwest thing

Just like Soul Asylum.  I was (and remain) a judgemental asshole when it comes to music.

Hard. Arty. Humorous.

I lump them together.  Prejudice.  But this is why I like the idea of listening to the tape blind.

Throb Throb is fantastic

It can blow up my preconceived notions  or reinforce them. I know they were hugely popular in the scene and it's probably my loss that I didn't explore their stuff. I was probably reacting negatively to the Big Black thing.  Lots of competition and jealousy-fuelled listening bias.

Eh no biggy. I never really liked Big Black. To me they were great in theory but not in practice.

I prefer Shellac

Great band

But i think BD covered 'Bazooka Joe'. Not my idea.

There was another Chicago band from that time that I like a lot called Breaking Circus.

Yes, I liked Breaking Circus.  We played with them.

Yay

Next song. 60s sounding psychedelia

Ok

Didn't recognize it, but liked it. reverby guitar,

Hmm

La Luz- I Want to Be Alone. Cool sound.  What's their story?

Ah. Seattle. Then moved to LA. 4 women. On Hardly Art (label). Started in 2012. They have three lps. Saw them at The Aladdin.

Short but sweet. I'll check them out.

Very very good band

I like good bands

No bad songs. They were VERY GOOD live. Jealous of the drummer's speed and dexterity. They play with a lot of feeling.

If we ever get to see live music again, I'll check them out.

You need to.

Next song is a classic Boston number called 'No Place Like Home' by The Neighborhoods. Such a great power pop song. B-side to Prettiest Girl, which was probably the biggest indie single of the time in Boston.  That and Academy Fight Song. Both on Ace of Hearts records

Oh really? Nice that I got airplay in Boston. I mean it. I didn't get any airplay in Boston

Yes, it was huge! (sorry about your lack of airplay)  top song on WBCN, the local rock station. They should have been huge-they had it all.  Cute guys, great songs, amazing live show. I woulda bet on them

Despite looking like a reggae album I've read good reviews with their first LP. The thing with a lot of these bands is they're from a time when there were regional scenes period and if they didn't make the jump to Major label then a lot of what they were about might have been lost on people outside of their scene

Honestly, I don't remember that LP at all.  Maybe I had dropped them and moved onto hipper stuff. They were kind of a high school crush for me. They got progressively more hard rock as time went on. Yes, probably a common theme with local bands. Some focused on getting a 'deal' and making it big.  Thank god for labels like Homestead, who gave smaller bands a chance to make mistakes and grow

If you had any anecdotes about any of these guys share away.

Anecdotes? I do

'dote away

Dave and Lee worked at Harrington's Liquor, the biggest booze shop in Allston and were always in there when I went to buy cheap vodka. Then, one day, they were fired. Word was that they tried to lift some expensive champagne from the shop to celebrate a record release party or something.  They were both dating members of Salem 66 at the time and Dave married Judy.  They were very nice guys.

Lee?

Lee Harrington, Beth's brother was their bassist in the late 80's. Beth Harrington was in Jonathan's band.

That's a good anecdote.

Jonathan?

Richman

Oh I thought I recognized her voice from Jonathan Richmond records. She was a backup singer. She had kind of a classically trained sounding voice

Yes, her and Ellie Marshall. Beth married my old roommate, whose girlfriend when I knew him, left him for Steve Forbert.

Ellie Marshall was related to who?

Something related to Paley Bros. It'll come to me.  Barry Marshall.

The next song is the Office Supply song. Swivel Chair. I don't recognize the song but it's gotta be something like Fountains of Wayne or Weezer.

Nothing Painted Blue

Oops. Hope they aren't insulted!  I kinda knew of NPB but obviously didn't get into their stuff.  Sounds like a certain pop band from Boston in the late 80s. Where were they from?

Franklin Bruno. Great songwriter in my opinion. Great band. LA

Oh, I know Franklin.  Of course.  I confuse them with that band from Boise

Franklin bears a slight passing resemblance to Bill? Cool that you know Franklin.

Well, on FB at least.  Very nice guy.  He's probably gonna unfriend me if he reads this.

I can edit it out. Celebrity mixtapes is about bringing people together, not about fighting.

No, it's fine.  It's part of the process. I'll take my lumps.

Ok

I just thought it was a little bit of a novelty song.

I just think it's adorably nebbishy

Not that we didn't veer close to that sometimes. It's a risk when you are trying to write songs that have humor in them.

Singing about office supplies. One of my favorite things about Big Dipper is you guys never crossed over into parody even though you were slyly funny.

Yeah, it def sounds like something I would write. I was an office supply nerd.

Maybe I sensed that. Dilbert Rock

Thanks. It's a fine line between clever and stupid, as the Tap says. Anyway, super catchy but maybe a little too clever for me.

NEXT!

Next song has to be Scrawl. Apple of his Eye.

Nope

Very Gang of Four with female vocals.

I did like Scrawl back in the day though. Bratmobile-Queenie.

Ah, well they should write a check to Sue and Marcy. Sounds like early Scrawl. Catchy song but a little derivative to my ears.

Yeah Scrawl predates the Bratmobile.By a few years.

You could steal from worse.

True

Scrawl were an amazing band.

Pride of Columbus

Really had the goods live and on record.

Never saw them live unfortunately.I always thought they were on Homestead but it turns out no.

You had your Homestead goggles on.

"I like everything that comes out on Homestead..."

Well that was me back then too

Last song on side A.  Permanent Wave.  No idea who it is, a short, catchy, new wave song.  Mo-dettes?

I do like the Mo-Dettes but no.

Oh Ok. From Athens

Ah!  i had their single, was this on it?

Michael Stipe's sister

Sister of Stipe

Matthew Sweet was in the band for a minute too, later on.

I bought it, I think, cuz I thought I could resell it when rem got famous. Retirement investment

I think the single and the lp are both amazing

Kind of twee, to revisit a theme

The lp is not as twee

That song sounds a little thin

I like the production. it sounds live.

I see that. Okay, I've gotta run.  This was fun.

Ok. Thanks for doing it.

https://www.mixcloud.com/matthewkenneth9/steve-michener-mix-pt-1/?fbclid=IwAR2hhMS8KXo51QjlpJ__ANfdmKY3Ux7vRyIqHHOxGfY_UK4H6tz6vIXyaxE