#its still the 16th here so it counts

[brodieland]

.˚ 𓈒 ࣪.𝝑𝝔 10 Things I hate about you ´ˎ˗

Percy Jackson x Fem!Reader Synopsis: Its the day of the party, and Percy and Y/N have some realizations. Does it go the good way or bad way??? Warning(s): cursing, underage drinking, sex jokes if I may Word Count: 2555 A/N: the urge to add a little bit of a smau was too great I fear😕

╰➤ MASTERLIST pt5

You were currently in your sisters room laying on her bed, thinking about why you even agreed to go in the first place. Silena was currently digging around her closet for something to wear, and let out a groan as she turned toward you.

"Y/N, this one or this one," she held up a pink dress and a nearly Identical slightly darker pink dress.

"Silena, I hate to be the one to say this, but I swear its not this serious," she rolled her eyes as she threw down the dresses and went back into her closet. "I liked the pink one though."

She kept running through her closet before pulling out a black dress, "Is this yours, I don't remember buying this?"

"Hm," you sat up and faced her examining the dress. "Did you not buy this during your secret little 'emo' phase?"

"God don't remind me," you chuckled at her embarrassment. "Suits you though, here. Maybe you can wear it later."

She tossed you the dress and she was right. It did suit you. "Maybe I can."

﹒º. ౨ৎ

＠Y/N2lit ● 20 min

Liked by BeauregardOnTop and others... ＠Y/N2lit: me n my sister a lit asf duo ＠BeauregardOnTop View comments...

＠BeauregardOnTop: ayo emo ass fit?? →＠Y/N2lit: ＠BeauregardOnTop this is ur dress?? but if I brought up ur emo phase suddenly im the villian right? →＠BeauregardOnTop: ＠Y/N2lit oh okay sorry

＠percy2lit: holy skibidi →＠Y/N2lit: WHY DID U CHANGE UR USER TO MATCH MINE →＠percy2lit: wow I didn't even notice🤷🏻‍♂️ →＠Y/N2lit: delete ur acc lil boy

﹒º. ౨ৎ

'Who does he think he is?' You and Silena were still in her room getting ready while she put on her 16th layer of lipgloss.

"Your gonna run out of lipgloss, and you just bought it," you said without looking up from your phone.

"I need to look as good as possible," you had to fight the urge to roll your eyes.

"My god you'll be fine. You would have guys falling at your feet even if your lips were chapped and gross."

She jokingly glared and you chuckled, suddenly the door bell ringed. You and Silena walked downstairs and saw your dad standing by the door staring at Percy, not looking very amused.

"Percy," you asked.

"Hey Y/N, I said I'd pick you up at nine didn't I?"

You looked down and saw that it was in fact, nine on the dot. "You're a punctual fella aint ya?"

"And what's going on here," you dad sternly asked. He looked between you two with an eyebrow raised.

"Well," your sister started. "Y/N here is going out, so that means so can I, right?"

"You look really good by the way," Percy interjected, earning a glare from your dad and a chuckle from your sister.

"And how were you planning me on 'picking me up,'" you used air quotes as you ignored your dad. "Did you plan on stuffing me in the basket of your bike?"

Percy looked back at his blue bike laying down in the lawn, then back at you. "Maybe I didn't think that far ahead, but its the thought that counts, no?"

You laughed at his effort. "Yeah okay, sure. Anyways I'm driving," you said as you swung your fingers around your fingers and walked out to your car.

﹒º. ౨ৎ

Charles and Leo were at the party, one was drinking in peace and the other one was slowly starting to freak out. Guess who's who.

"Dude, just relax," Leo said as he tried shoving his drink into Charles face. He just moved it away with his hand.

"You don't understand me sometimes."

"Thank fucking god. I think I'd kill myself," Charles just glared at Leo, and he held his arms up in surrender. Both of them paused when they heard the front door open and Charles whipped his head around. He saw Silena walk in and he could've sworn a fly flew in his mouth. Her pink dress fit her beautifully and the way her long dark hair fell behind her made her look unreal.

"Y/Ns actually pretty hot when she tries," Leo nodded approvingly. He turned to his friend and saw him shamelessly staring at the other sister. "Dude, you look like a creep. Go talk to her."

"Your welcome," Charles clearly was not paying attention.

"The house is on fire."

"Yeah no, I got it."

"I'm literally getting my dick sucked right now."

"Cool- what," Charles turned as quick as possible and stared right a Leo.

"The house on fire gets no reaction but me getting a blowjob is absolutely outlandish??" Leo sassed.

"Can you not talk about your dick??"

"Can you focus up on your lady," Leo pointed back over to Silena, and to the slowly approaching Luke coming in from 'round the corner. "Might be time to lock in, I dunno know though, don't quote me."

Charles shrugged Leo off and went walking towards Silena. "Hey, you made it."

"Yeah thanks to you," Silena said as she continued to scan the room. She looked back at Charles and quickly looked him up and down and cleared her throat. "You clean up nice y'know."

"Yeah, you look-"

"Hey gorgeous," Luke announced from behind Silena, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Glad your here."

Silena smiled as she thanked him and looked back at Charles. "Hey Charles, I'll see you around, alright?"

"Yeah, um. Sure," Charles watched Luke smiled at him like an asshole as he led Silena away. Charles turned back around and made his way towards Leo again.

﹒º. ౨ৎ

You watched from afar as Luke made his move on your sister, sending you weird looks as he did so. God how you hated him more than anything. He was a massive douche and it bothered you to think Silena could like a guy like that, but then again, surface deep attractions all he's got going for him, and you knew your sister would hopefully find that out on her own.

You just tried to ignore it and went off to the kitchen for some shots. You saw a half filled bottle Smirnoffs and quickly secured it for yourself.

One shot. Two shot.

Then Percy walked into the kitchen. "Woah, whats the rush?"

"I only had two," you said as Percy took a shot for himself. He decided that was it if this was the way you were going to drink throughout the night. "Isn't this what I'm 'supposed' to be doing. Drinking and dancing?"

You snatched the bottle and took a third shot. You knew you should've probably stopped there, at least for now, but Luke was terribly flirting with your sister, and murder was depressingly illegal. Percy looked away for a second and when he looked back you were gone. He quickly walked around trying to look for you when he was stopped by Charles.

"Dude, we have to stop this," he said.

"Stop what," Percy asked.

"This whole thing," he waved his arms around. "She doesn't want me, she just wants him."

He looked sad and defeated, and Percy felt bad. And weirdly enough, he didn't want to stop taking you out. "Charles, do you like her or not? Is she worth this whole thing?"

"I mean, I thought so but-"

"But nothing, yes or no?"

"Yeah, yeah she is."

"Then no, this isn't over till you get the girl, and I know you can dude," Percy patted Charles shoulders and walked off to find you. He saw you across the room taking another shot, but when he went to speed walk over to you he was stopped yet again. This time, by Luke.

"God, I knew you were the right person to turn to."

"Huh," Percy turned confused, and was starting to get annoyed.

"You did the impossible, removing the stick from Y/N's ass," Luke cheered.

"Yeah whatever," Percy rolled his eyes, getting more bothered with the way people spoke about you. And before he got the chance to push Luke away and make his way back over to you, the music started blaring and cheering started getting louder, including Luke's cheering. Percy was now purely annoyed, he just wanted to make his way back over to you, hopefully stopping you from taking anymore shots.

He walked toward the center of the cheering to see you hopping on a table and dancing to the beat of the roaring music. Your body was swaying and Percy right then and there forgot that he was paid to take you here. He forgot that if it wasn't for some random guy coming up to him wanting to date your sister, he wouldn't be standing here watching you dance like there was no one in the room, like it was just you and him right now.

He wondered where'd he be right now if he had said no. Would he be home, or would he maybe have found another girl in this short time period? Probably not, but anything could happened in such a short time frame, like this. Percy thought there was something about a girl who can so brazenly insult you like it was nothing, yet still bandaged you up if you were hurt. He was quickly snapped from his daydream when you slipped from the table and fell into his arms.

"Oh, its you," you blew raspberries in his face as you went to stand up. "I'll be fine."

As you went to stand, you started stumbling back down, making Percy grab you again. "Yup, your very fine."

"Stop flirting with me Jackson," you rolled your eyes and he just laughed. He started leading you out the house, away from all the noise, and all the alcohol, so you could rest up. You've had one too many drinks and it was now time to stop. "I wanna sleep."

You two were outside, and you had wandered off and found a nearby bench to lay down on. "You shouldn't walk off like this, might get kidnapped y'know."

"Oh and you'd care? I'm only ever mean to you if you hadn't noticed."

"Well of course, you know I think I might have a thing for girls who hate me."

"As opposed to what, the girls who like you? Because I've yet to see those," Percy grabbed your arms and stood you up. He rummaged through his pockets for your keys. Percy was thankful that your dress didn't have pockets and wouldn't have to wrestle you for said keys.

"See, just like that, why have compliments when I could get insulted like there's no tomorrow" he said as he opened the door for you. He walked over to the drivers seat and when he sat down you gave him a weird look. "Yes?"

"Can you even drive?"

"Just because I don't have a car doesn't mean I don't have a license," you were still staring straight at him, looking between both his eyes.

"Your eyes are really sea-green, I really like sea-green," you smiled and Percy felt speechless. He smiled softly.

"Lets get you home."

﹒º. ౨ৎ

Silena was absolutely bored out of her mind. For the past who knows who long she's been forced to taking pictures of Luke for his instagram. His excuse? 'your gorgeous hands take gorgeous pictures.'

If he called her 'gorgeous' one more time there, Silena might've shown up. She handed him back the phone as he continued to talk about himself, again. That seems to be all he ever does. 'What the hell did I ever see in him,' Silena thought.

After like 15 minutes, the party was getting stale and people were starting to leave. The two walked out together when Silena was approached by a good friend of hers, Drew.

"So Silena, ready to hit the next party," Luke asked.

"Darn," she looked down at her phone. "Gotta be home in 20 minutes."

She pretended to look disappointed when Drew quickly spoke up, "I don't have to be home till like, 2-3AM."

She boasted as Silena looked her up and down. "That settles it. Silena, this is your last shot. You coming or not?"

"Nope, I can't. Sorry," she shrugged as they quickly sped off into Luke's convertible. Silena rolled her eyes she realized she now didn't have a ride home. Looking around, the only person she saw was Charles. Despite feeling awkward for having somewhat blown him off earlier, she still approached him.

"Hey there Charles," Silena waved. He half-heartedly smiled back. "Can you, um- give me a ride home?"

Charles felt his heart slightly speed up, but still felt slightly dejected. Silena had sent the whole night with Luke, why would she not just leave with him? "Yeah, of course."

They both drove home in silence. It felt kind of awkward, then Charles had pulled up in front of the Beauregard house and parked. The two sat in silence not moving, but when Silena turned over, Charles seemed to have a face on. "Charles, is something wrong?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Well yeah-"

"No nothing. There's nothing wrong. I mean sure yeah I went through the trouble to get your sister asked out so you'd finally be able to date. But of course I did it for Luke. I did it for Luke but I literally learned how to speak French for you-"

Charles was quickly cut off by Silena leaving over and grabbing Charles face into a kiss that could've melted him on the spot. They went on for a moment before Silena went back into her seat. The two were panting before Silena spoke up.

"A whole language, just for me," she giggled, and Charles felt slightly embarrassed for having admitted to that. "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

He nodded as he watched Silena step out of the car, waving to him as she walked off to the front door. Charles started cheering in his car before driving off back to his own home.

﹒º. ౨ৎ

It was the next Beauregard's turn to be dropped off by a man tonight.

As Percy parked your car in its normal spot in the drive way, he turned to look at you. "You still wasted or are you sobering up now?"

"I'm as sober as a judge," you declared, waving your finger in the air. You turned toward him and stared at him, reaching over and twirling a piece of his black hair between your fingers. "Your hairs soft."

You were close now. Close enough for him to smell the vodka expelling from your breathe. You looked into his eyes, and leaned slightly in. Percy thought about leaning in, but the shots on shots you took tonight made it not such a good idea.

When you noticed he didn't lean in, you felt a mix between mad and embarrassed. You quickly grabbed your keys and slammed the car door shut on your way out, running up to your house door and rushing in as fast as you could. Percy sighed as he sat back, feeling like an idiot.

One sister had a happy ending with the boy she didn't expect, and the other couldn't even get a kiss goodnight from a guy who was paid to be here (more and more everyday, he cared less and less about the money).

﹒º. ౨ৎ

✰Taglist: @liviessun @lara20aral @balletfilmss @job-ross-the-second @brokecollegebitch @riaaavm @avihashearts4lix @huera-ne @zn0v1a @sofiacblair @itzjustj-1000 (just lemme know if you wanna be added)

#percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #percy jackson pjo #percy pjo #percy jackson x reader #percy jackson x y/n #percy jackson x you #charles pjo #charles beckendorf #silena pjo #silena beauregard #charlena

[callsignangel]

screen rant babe - jack champion x interviewer! reader

warnings: none! fluffy but not a ton word count: 1059 requested by @gcidrvsh <3 ↳ "hi!! could you write something for jack champion? like where they meet on the set of scream (cuz they’re friends with jenna ortega) OR whatever you really wanna write its up to you" a/n: hi friends!! sorry this look so long. this fic is the first part of what's going to be a series about jack champion. i gave the reader some background (and a surprise relative) in this fic just to add some substance. i misplaced my list of people to tag, i'm so sorry! i'll be sure to set up a proper tag list for future parts of this series. i hope you enjoy!! reblogs and feedback about my work is deeply appreciated. <3

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵

it had already been a long press day, having been interviewing the cast of avatar: the way of water for it's upcoming release. it was finally nearing the end of the day - you just had one more interview left with trinity bliss and jack champion. the interviews had been done in pairs, like sam and zoe, sigourney and jim, bailey and jamie, and now trinity and jack.

they had been sitting there when you walked in, patiently waiting as you arrived on time for their next interview. making sure your mic was on properly and working, you greeted them both with handshakes and quick small talk before you all seated yourself in those god awful uncomfortable directors chairs. "okay, it's so great to see you guys!" you began, a big big smile on your face. "my name is y/n and i'm here in partner with screenrant interviewing some of the cast from avatar: the way of water which is in theatres worldwide on december 16th," you finished your introduction, allowing them to begin theirs. "hi, my name is trinity jo-li bliss and i play tuktirey," she smiled directly into the camera and waved."and i'm jack champion and i play spider," he waved quickly and beamed for the camera before quickly returning his attention to you. "awesome, thank you for setting aside the time to meet with me today," you began again, “i’ll just get right into it here, did you learn anything from this movie? what was it?” you kept your formalities on for the camera, but your words were silent in his ears as he tuned out your voice and focused solely on you. your mannerisms, the way you read your questions directly out of the notepad you brought so you didn’t forget them and how eloquent you were when speaking and being spoken to. he was so enchanted by you that he didn't realize it was his turn to answer your question. “jack,” trinity whispered, nudging him softly to tell him it was his turn to answer you. “sorry, what was the question again?” he snapped back to reality and a nervous, breathy laugh escaped him. trinity looked at you and you returned her puzzled face before breaking out into a fit of giggles. “did you learn anything from this movie?” you repeated. “oh yeah, totally. the importance of family is a repeating theme in this movie and because i’m so close to my family, i’ve learned to protect them and make sure to keep them close because nowadays you never know what could happen,” he recovered quickly, and you smiled at him. he was cute, chivalrous and quick on his feet. definitely your type.

the interview continued for another 20 minutes, asking questions regarding working with james cameron, what it was like working with motion capture, how they prepared for their roles and other smaller questions regarding the other cast mates. trinity is a natural born story teller, so she would take charge regarding funny cast moments on set or even in other interviews. jack still kept his attention on you, but this time making sure to listen incase you had another question for him. he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of you anymore than he had. when the interview ended, you asked them both if you could take a quick picture of them for the article and for screenrant’s socials, both of whom happily obliged. 

as you were getting your mic removed by the camera crew, you were surprised to see jack lingering by. “oh hey, thanks for letting me interview you today!” you spoke up, noticing his newfound nervous nature and trying to ease the awkwardness. he smiled, “i think you were the most fun interview we’ve had this entire press tour,” he admitted sheepishly. you giggled, “well, i’m glad. some people take interviews way too seriously and i think it takes away all of the fun and excitement about being in a big blockbuster movie like this.” you finished, double checking that you had your bag and your waterbottle with you before heading out. but before you could leave, jack stopped you again. “hey, do you live in LA or are you just here for work?” “oh, i’m actually just here for work! i’m originally from new york. i’m leaving in a couple days for the premiere in london actually,” you watched as his face lit up. “are you going to be at the premiere for work too?” he questioned, and you laughed. “not exactly. sigourney’s actually my aunt, and she invited me to come with her!” you declared, “i don’t think she was expecting me to be here for an interview today honestly.” giggling, you watched jack’s mind connect the dots. “oh my god haha that’s so cool, how come i never saw you on set?” he inquired. “never had enough time during school and her filming schedule. i would see her on holidays, or sometimes she would come and visit me while i was working in quebec.” you conversed a little more, talking about how you started working for screenrant, and if you had any plans to become an actor yourself. you hadn’t realized how easy he was to talk to, or how attractive he was now that it was just the two of you speaking in such close proximity. “do you have a date for the premiere?” he blurted, taking you both by surprise. “i mean, besides being there with your family and sigourney, of course.” you shook your head. “i guess i’ve been so busy with work i haven’t been looking for a date,” you responded, watching his shoulders relax as he heard you didn’t have anyone to go with. “i mean, neither do i besides my family. we could go together?” poor man was so nervous. he was scratching his neck as he awaited your response, and you grabbed it to help calm his nerves. “i’ll happily go with you, jack.” you gave his hand a tight squeeze, as if trying to tell him that this wasn’t a dream. “okay, great. that’s awesome,” he sounded relieved. you both giggled quietly, hands still conjoined. “i have a couple of days off before i leave LA, would you want to go out sometime before then?” you asked. “how does disneyland sound?” he grinned. “sounds perfect.”

#jack champion #jack champion x reader #jack champion imagine #jack champion edit #jack champion fanfic #jack champion fic #spider #spider socorro #spider x reader #spider imagine #spider fanfic #spider fic #avatar the way of water #avatar #avatar x reader #avatar 2 #avatar 2022 #avatar imagine #avatar twow #neteyam #neteyam x reader #neteyam imagine #lo'ak #lo'ak x reader #lo'ak imagine #kiri #tsireya #neytiri #jake sully #tuktirey

[rxmqnova]

Sup. Can I ask for a scarlett x sister reader ?

Scarlett plans us an amazing sweet 16 party. She invites the whole school. The only problem is, we're really not that popular and on one shows up. So scarlett quickly gets on the phone and invites all her celebrity Hollywood friends before we arrive with the fam. Her friends of course drop everything to come (because we're a sweet kid and they all love us).

Soon the party is all over social media and the kids from school show up to meet their favourite celebrities but scarlett tells security to not let them in knowing we'd be uncomfortable with them just getting close to us because they now know who our big sister is.

Sweet 16

Y/N: 16 years old ——————————————————

NO ONE'S POV Scarlett smiles, admiring the garden which she decorated for her little sister's 16th birtday. She, as the big sister, has been super excited for today. Her little sister's turning 16, so it needs to be big and perfect. She even sent invitation to nearly the entire Y/N's school.

There's one thing Scarlett doesn't know though. Y/N isn't exactly popular at her school, more specifically… she's more of a loner and the one the others mostly make fun of.

So when no one shows up, it's not really surprise, yet Scarlett doesn't know and it makes her really confused.

"I got it all right, where is everyone?" She asks herself with a sigh, looking at the invitations if she didn't got the time or date wrong.

Ten minutes pass and still no one has come which makes Scarlett really nervous as Y/N should be here in less then 40 minutes.

"Alright, time for plan B" Scarlett sighs out, taking her phone and listing through her contacts.

She calls every single one of her friends that Y/N's met, inviting them over for the party and luckily everyone said they would come.

The first guests arrive soon which finally makes Scarlett relax. And a lot more come right after, so the huge garden finally doesn't look that empty anymore.

Even more guests arrive and now it's about the time Y/N should come. It was hard, but everyone managed to hide behind something and now they're just waiting for Y/N to walk in.

And in the moment she does, everyone jumps out of their hiding spots, shouting 'happy birthday' which makes Y/N jump a little, but then a smile makes its way on her face.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart" Scarlett's, of course, the first one to walk to her sister and pull her in for a tight hug.

"Thank you! Did you do all this?" Y/N questions, a smile never leaving her face.

"My little sister's turning 16 today. We need to celebrate it properly" Scarlett smiles, pressing a kiss to her sister's forehead before taking her hand in hers and leading her to the others.

Spotting the Marvel cast, Y/N drops her sister's hand and runs to them, pulling all of them in for a hug which makes Scarlett chuckle. Y/N's spent a lot of time on set with her big sister and over all the years she's become pretty close with them.

"I can't believe you're all here" Y/N nearly squeals, her eyes shining and a wide smile playing on her lips.

"Of course we are! We wouldn't miss your birthday for the world!" Chris Evans speaks first which only makes Y/N's smile widen even more.

After talking to every single person who came, it's finally time for the birthday cake. And of course, everyone brings out their phones, filming everything and taking pictures. Y/N's turning 16, this moment just needs to be captured.

Automatically, most of the videos and photos end up posted on instagram or other social media which doesn't go unnoticed by the kids from Y/N's school Scarlett invited in the first place.

No one on the entire school knows Scarlett Johansson is Y/N's sister. Maybe if the kids knew earlier, they would have come. Who knows?

The Johansson family decided it would be better for Y/N's safety, knowing what paparazzi and social media can be like.

It won't matter now though and Scarlett counts with it. She knows Y/N's strong and would never let any bad article, comment or anything similar take her down.

Everyone's eating the cake now, talking, laughing and Y/N's never been happier. Every now and then she just leans to her sister's side, giving her a hug as Scarlett's sitting next to her and that makes the big sister really happy.

It doesn't take long until some kids from Y/N's school show up, standing in front of the house as the security Scarlett hired won't let them in.

"I am such a great cook. I would definitely make a great guest on Cooking with Flo" Y/N states, Florence Pugh letting out a chuckle in response.

Somehow the two ended up talking about cooking and Y/N as a big Cooking with Flo fan just had to try.

"Tell her, Scar" Y/N looks at her sister in a need for a support, furrowing her brows when she notices Scarlett's not really paying attention and looking at the security guy that's coming their direction. "Are you okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah. No worries. I'll be right back" Scarlett smiles, pressing a kiss to Y/N's forehead before standing up and walking over to the man. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just a group of kids showed up, claiming they're your sister's friends and were invited. Should we let them in?" He asks.

Scarlett checks the time, seeing it's been nearly two hours since the party started. She glances at her sister, seeing her smile and laugh while talking to the others, a smile making its way on her own face.

"No. Don't let them in" Scarlett decides.

The kids must have seen the photos and videos the others shared. And if this is the reason they showed up, Scarlett doesn't want them to be around her little sister. If they were real friends, they would have come at time.

The man nods and starts walking back, so Scarlett goes back to her little sister, taking a seat next to her. "Are you having a good time?"

"The best! This is the best birthday party ever!"

----------------------

Scarlett Johansson masterlist

Masterlist

#scarlett johansson #scarlett x reader #scarlett johansson x reader #scarlett johansson fanfiction #scarlett johansson x you #fanfiction #fanfic

[rwrbficrecs]

May Faves

I’m finally here with the first instalment of Monthly Favourites 🥳 

This is going to be a Monthly post I’ll be doing with a round up of my favourite fics I’ve read the past month. I’ve picked a few to write longer thoughts on, and will add smaller thoughts for the rest. If I did long reviews for every fic, I don’t think I could keep up with this every month, but rest assured I loved every fic mentioned in this post!! Majority will be completed fics but there is a “WIP” section as well 😊

Happy reading, & if you enjoy this sort of content please let me know! 🥰

Let Loose Your Glow by @athousandrooms I’ve been following along with this fic during its WIP stage and it was completed recently! So of course I had to binge the whole thing and it was so worth the wait. It’s a fake dating fic that is SO soft!! Alex & Henry are so sweet in this fic and the slow burn is so !!! ahh no words but honestly this is one of those fics you can reread again and again and still feel all the feels over and over. Such a beautifully written fic!!

All the Old Showstoppers by @cha-melodius I’ve never watched any of the “Bake Off” shows (so I think any references went right over my head) BUT I enjoyed this fic so much regardless of my lack of “Bake Off” viewing. I loved reading about Henry and Alex’s journey as contestants on the show, but what was even more delightful was the growing feelings between them!! Also the ✨seductive spoon licking✨

i wake with your memory over me (that's a real fucking legacy) by @coffeecatsme Alex is Henry’s ski instructor in this fic - and from the get go I loved their interactions with each other! I also really loved the brother-sister dynamic between Henry and Bea in this!! 

YourMusicSucksAndYouLookLikeADickhead by @cloudywilmon Alex & Henry as neighbours is always such a fun time and this fic is no exception. It’s a super funny fic, and I especially love how Nora is written in this as well!

Count The Stars And Constellations by @everwitch-magiks Ohh my gosh, I loved this fic so much that I reread it about 3 times last month. I went through a rollercoaster of emotions reading this fic (excitement? frustration? Is heart-eyes an emotion? Cause that’s the only way to describe how I felt at the ending). Seriously read this beautiful fic 🥺

a rich and complex tapestry by @everwitch-magiks I feel like I could just repeat the review I wrote for everwitch’s other fic and it would still all apply for this one too. I was yet again going completely heart-eyed at the ending of this fic. I have no words to describe how much I loved this one?!

all's well that ends well to end up with you by @evanbuvkley This is such a sweet fic!! Alex accidentally kisses Henry and I love how things just spiral from there!!! Just go read it, you’ll love it I promise. 

Paint Stain Smiles by schmulte I loved the way Alex & Henry’s friendship develops in this fic (and of course the way the romance happens!!). The nude modelling is a lovely bonus. 

i just think about you all the time by @livinginrhythm Omg I just … loved everything about this fic? Alex is Catherine’s equerry which made me so intrigued at how things were going to turn out and the ending definitely had me screaming from the feels! 

✨More Faves✨

A little off the top by @clottedcreamfudge A hilarious misunderstanding!

bend the rules by @tedddylupin Blossoming romance during Covid Lockdown? Yes please

catch my breath to breathe your name by @jamespttr Really loved this fic - really wanted to shake some sense into Henry in this one!! 

Cognac and Malaise by M0ssPiglet Pez and Henry’s friendship here - loved it so much!

he got my heartbeat skipping down 16th avenue by @evanbuvkley Really sweet!! Also love that the rest of the Super Six feature 

(la)cross(e) my heart by weather_stained I found this fic so funny and Alex is perfectly written in this!!

like i'm the stranger here. by @chaa-kiao Love coworker AUs! The boys are very sweet in this - but also the angst!!! 

✨WIP✨

Cabin Fever by selkies_and_stars I love a fake dating fic!! Even better when they’re fake dating on a cruise ship (plus they’re also roommates AND there’s bed sharing). Their pining for each other had me wanting to shake them both.

for you alone by fel24601 Ok I LOVE this fic. I love how Henry and Alex’s relationship develops, I love how fluffy this fic is, I loved the smut, just everything about this fic is so lovely. It hasn’t been updated in a year BUT even in its unfinished state I found it very satisfying as it is. Even if it never gets finished I would reread it over and over!! Such a beautifully written fic - go give it some love. 

Ghosted by @cockleshells I really love the plot of this fic - it’s so different and definitely such an intriguing concept. Don’t be put off by the “Major Character Death” tag (and I say this as someone who avoids that tag like the plague) I’ve ignored it in this case because the author also tags “i can at least promise you guys a happy ending” so that’s defs been enough to assuage my fears. It’s an amazing fic so far, so give it a read!!

Never a Guarantee by @clottedcreamfudge If you haven’t already been following this fic - what are you doing!! Loving everything about this fic - it definitely gets you hooked straight away. The slow burn killed me in the best way 😩

That’s a wrap!! Stay tuned in early July for June Faves!

#Monthly Faves #rwrbficrecs #red white and royal blue #firstprince #firstprinceficrecs #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor

[snowwhite-andtheknight]

Obiyuki Bingo Boards are Out!

As is traditional, the boards assignments were today! They will either have been sent in tumblr messenger, or should you be on the Obiyuki Discord (Join Here, if you like), through Discord, so check your DMs! If you have not received your board, please message the comm so that we can make sure you get it. Also please double check that you don’t have any duplicate spaces. If you have a board with duplicates, just let us know and we’ll assign you a new board.

EXPANDED GUIDELINES/FAQ:

Can I start now? When do I start posting?

You may start working on and planning your fills at any time. Posting will start June 16th and end July 27th. You may post on any schedule you like within that time period (all at once, once a week, etc). Each fill will be reblogged on the comm, and every Friday we will have a round-up post of the fills posted.

What do I have to include on my post?

The tag #obiyukibingo24 must be in the first five tags, and you must also include the AU fill you used somewhere in the post. When we reblog your post, we will include your updated board with your fill-prompts already filled in: if you have a specific preference for color, please send us the hexcode of one you like (we’ll try to make it work, but choose lighter colors over darker).

What counts as a fill? Can I use the same AU over multiple fills? Can I post multiple fics for the same prompt?

Any fic, art, playlist or edit that fits the prompt and has Obiyuki as its main pair. Other media may also qualify-- just ask the mods if you're unsure! Fics must be over 500 words to count for a fill.

A single piece of media can only count for one space. If you have spaces that connect – say, Space Opera | Star Trek | Any AU, you may do 3 pieces of media (three drawings, three parts of a fic, a two drawings and a fic, WHATEVER) in the same AU and count for each of those spaces.

You may write/draw/etc as much of any prompt as you like, but it can only count for a square a single time.

Can I co-author a fic?

As stated above, only one fill to one square. If you choose to co-author, it will only count for one square on one board, not both your boards.

What if I don’t like my board?

You may have ONE mulligan. We will delete your old board and roll you a new one, but you HAVE to use that one, whether it is better or worse than your old one. If you can fill a row easily save for one or two spaces, this option is probably not for you.

If I fill five prompts but they aren’t in a row, do I still get bingo? Can I trade prompts with someone else?

No.

Can I get multiple bingos?

SURE. You can feel free to fill as many spaces as you want. At the end of the competition, we will count up how many bingos were had/how many spaces were filled/etc and put it in the last round-up post.

I missed the sign up! Can I get a board now?

You sure can! This is an open challenge, so anyone may join at any time between now and July 27th! Just contact us at the comm, and we’ll send you one as soon as we can.

Have fun everyone!

#obiyukibingo24

[yisanged]

wrt your solo ensemble music it looks fine to me. i think what's tripping you up is you counted the first B (i think that's what that note is in bass clef) as a full beat but it's actually half a beat, so then the D and C are part of that same beat instead of being attached to the other 32nd notes. but i only ever read rhythm using a method i call "the vibes" and don't usually count it properly with math so if im wrong feel free to kill me with hammers

i appreciate you translating to bass clef for me sammy o7 but i still feel like it doesn't add up like that..... the first B should be a full beat on its own because it's an eighth note and i'm counting eighth notes as full beats right now. like if you look at the measure right after it each eighth note and eighth rest is worth a full beat to add up to four beats (those four notes are the whole measure lol). if that B was a 16th note then it would work out the way you said but it's not :( although it could just be like a publisher error and it is meant to be a 16th note there? that's probably what this is... just the fact that's it's off at all is really throwing me off. i will not kill you with hammers because you are a valued friend and also i'm normally a viber and not a counter myself.... but i will be the one being killed with hammers if i do not play this well and my teacher has been really stressing practicing the runs with a metronome to get them right. except i can't play this measure how it's written with the metronome because there are too many beats in here...... arrrggghh. i appreciated your efforts to help sammy truly. it's just so over for me. they should call it sol over and ensemble on account of how it's so over

[maya-chirps]

Celebrating Christmas in the Philippines: The Christmas Capital of Asia (Part 2)

A parol shop selling other Christmas decorations posted by yeowatzup (2005) via Wikimedia

This is a second part of a longer post on Christmas in the Philippines. Part 1 can be found here.

(Also I know this is a little late, had some personal stuff this holiday season so sowwyy)

Practices in the Present Day

Christmas traditions today are a mixture of both traditionally Hispanic and American practices with some new and additional modern things added in from the past century. Most of these traditions are still done by a lot of Filipino families today and continue to be icons in Filipino culture.

The Longest Christmas

An image of a calendar posted by Benham Norouzi (2021) via Unsplash

It is well-known that the Philippines starts the Christmas traditions on the 1st of September, making it the earliest start of the any Christmas season in the world. This comes from a lot of factors, primarily because Filipinos love the idea of counting down the 100 days before then (which start at the 16th of September), and was later on used in other settings like when people would put up decorations in their own homes and in businesses encouraging the later commercialized holiday to also start early with sales and other deals (Handong, 2017). This later made it sort of official that Christmas would start on September, earning the season the colloquial name "The Ber Months" or "The Ber Season".

As I said in a previous post, however, actual celebrations often start after undas and more specifically after the start of Advent and more intensely during the start of Simbang Gabi or Misa de Gallo on the 16th of December and you would be hard-pressed to actually find people celebrating before then.

It doesn't stop people from having online count downs with Jose Mari Chan's infamous Christmas song "Christmas in our Hearts" in the background (that had been memed on in the Philippines on the scale of "All I want for Christmas is You" in America) on the 31st of August to midnight to greet the 1st of September though.

24th as the Day of Celebration

Other practices that Filipinos inherited from the Spanish from this time was the practice of mostly celebrating the holiday on the eve of instead of the actual day of the 25th. This comes from an older Roman Catholic tradition of having Christmas mass from night time to the next day based on the traditional belief that Jesus was born on exactly midnight on the 25th (The Pillar, 2021). Celebrations like Christmas Eve dinner (the Noche Buana) and gift giving happen during this time with gift opening happening during the stroke of midnight.

Personal side-note, since I'm not gonna add a final section detailing more personal stuff here because it's getting too long: as a kid, I was always confused at American TV shows that showed people sleeping at night before opening up presents in the morning. It never really registered and I always questioned why they had to wait 'til morning for them to open presents. because of this, the whole Santa Claus thing didn't make sense to me either.

Simbang Gabi

People attending Simbang Gabi captured in St. Anthony de Padua Parish Church, Iriga City, Camarines Sur uploaded by Patpat Nava (2015) via Wikimedia

Similar to most Christian countries from the 16th to the 18th Century, the Philippines celebrated Christmas as a religious holiday focused on prayer and masses, often seen in the form of Simbang Gabi or Misa de Gallo which I had discussed in full detail with its history and current practices here. The basics of it is that Filipinos would celebrate Christmas and the lead-up to the holiday by going to church every day for nine days until the 25th starting on the 16th. The practice was brought over by the Spaniards as it can be seen practiced or some form of it practiced in Spain and a few other Hispanic countries.

Other than just church-going, Simbang Gabi is also famous for its many foods that had come to be strongly tied to the event, mostly rice cakes that are sold outside of churches early in the morning and late at night like Puto Bumbong, Bibingka, Sapin-sapin, and many more.

The Parol or The Star Lantern

A photo of parols displayed on a store credited to Sagisag PH posted by Behold Philippines (2021).

One of the most recognizable symbols of the Filipino Christmas is the star lantern known as parols that often can be seen decorating the houses of Filipinos of all different backgrounds. According to Giselle Tong-Walters of the Association for the Advancement of Filipino American Arts and Culture or FilAm Arts, the parol predates Spanish colonization as precolonial Filipinos would often hang lanterns on their homes at night to tell any traveler that may have seen it that they are welcome to seek refuge there (Dormido, 2023).

Others note that the parol had taken inspiration from the Mexican piñata which had originally come from Spain that had come from Italy some time in the 1300s and was said to have been first used in the Philippines as a light-source to guide people early in the morning during Simbang Gabi which remains the popular origin for the parol today (MyParol, n.d.).

The modern parol is said to have been first created by Kapampangan artist Francisco Estanislao in 1908 by using the traditional five-point design by using Bamboo strips and Japanese paper which was later done with the use of the newly created material cellophane as well as the increased use of electric lights that made the star lanterns that Filipinos are familiar with today (Tapino, 2018).

Today many variants of the lantern exists including more and more complicated designs with even the use of sea shells being fairly common.

Seashell lanterns are also a fairly common sight during the holiday season. Image posted by Tapino via Spot.ph (2018).

The Nativity or Belen Display

Capas Municipality’s 13-meter tall Belen takes on Eiffel Tower as the backdrop for their winning Belen, made of bamboo, recycled materials and decorated with LED lights. Image posted by Christine Dayrit via PhilStar (2018).

Like a lot of religious Christian places or former religious Christian places, the nativity is a common sight during the Christmas season with some families owning their own personal display and communities typically having larger ones in their centers. Some people create more handcrafted versions if they don't have the money to buy their own set and some communities may even hold competitions to see who could make the most creative ones.

Noche Buena

An image of a Filipino Noche Buena spread posted on Lessandra.com (2020)

Just like the Spanish, Filipinos celebrate Christmas with a Christmas feast on noche buena (en. the good night) or Christmas Eve with itself as noche buena instead of referring to it as the dinner on noche buena. This particular naming quirk extends over for New Year's Eve Dinner being called medianoche despite the word simply referring to midnight.

The reason for this may come from the fact that Filipinos had gravitated more to using the literal terms with Bisperas ng Pasko and Bisperas ng Bagong Taon (en. The day/night before Christmas and The day/night before the New Year) which made noche buena and medianoche redundant, later tying them to specifically refer to the dinner, although that's more speculation on my part.

The practice, of course, had come from Spain some time during the 17th Century when it was first exported the empire's colonies through Roman Catholicism (Paz, 2022). The dinner was marked with lots of food and may include multiple families eating together.

Typical food found during Noche Buena include the hamon (glazed ham), lechon (roasted pig), lumpia (spring rolls), leche flan (milk flan), graham cake, and queso de bola (a special cheese ball), among many other foods. These food are also the same or similar food that are served during medianoche or New Year's Eve Dinner.

Gift-giving and the aguinaldo or the pamasko

Photo of people giving each other gifts posted in an article by Lumina Homes (2020)

Gift giving is often done on the 24th, typically after either Christmas Eve mass or Noche Buena. Most families would wait until midnight as the date goes to the 25th in order to open presents with the typical Christmas gift giving flair.

Besides the gifts themselves, it's tradition for godparents to give money to their godchildren in red packets we call ampao, with this being called the aguinaldo or the pamasko. The practice originated from Chinese-Filipino communities who would often do this for Chinese New Year's which later spread to non-Chinese communities who instead would give the red envelopes during Christmas (Ki, 2019). Although some may think that the money giving stops after adulthood, some godparents

Two Red Hang Bao or Ampao typically given during Chinese New Year posted by Mikhaila Archer via Cosmopolitan (2022).

Christmas Caroling

Video of children caroling posted by Rauselle Pascua (2023) via YouTube

Christmas Caroling in the Philippines typically start at the beginning of the Simbang Gabi and ends on the 24th, with some caroling much earlier, where children to full adult groups may go door to door to carol for candy, food, or money. Children often go in groups and sing the typical Filipino Christmas songs with makeshift instruments such as tambourines made out of cans and small metal bits to make sounds, while teenagers and adult groups may go around from house to house with guitars and other portable instruments in order to receive cash.

The songs that they sing may range from traditional Filipino songs or modern Christmas songs from both local and international places.

I don't have a source for this one since I do want to look more into the history of Christmas Caroling in the Philippines maybe next year so enjoy this other video of a group of guys dancing Jingle Bells posted by SG TV (2019).

Side Story: I used to spend Christmas with my, honestly, wealthier grandmother and it wasn't uncommon for carolers to go up our door and just sing for candy or money. It often started on the 16th because caroling wasn't allowed any time before that. We used to have a weird little rule that children would get candy, while teenagers and adults will get money. Teenage boys would come around as whole groups with guitars and sing for money, while kids didn't mind the candy. After a while, there would be times that different people in the house would give candy away so we weren't able to keep track of which kid had already gone to our house. It wasn't until one of the people who worked for my grandma recognized a couple of kids that we realized that they've just been going around the neighborhood before doing another round when people may had already forgotten them. Honestly, I'm a little impressed.

Panunuluyan

Photo of a Panunuluyan posted by Philippines Tourism (@/MorefunTourism) (2018) via Twitter/X

The Panunuluyan is a traditional play that reenacts the night of Jesus' birth where Mary and Joseph were trying to seek shelter (NCCA Official, 2015). The name comes from the Filipino word tuloy which although typically mean "to continue" is used in this context to mean "to allow in" or "to enter in" referring to guests or visitors entering someone's home. Schools and churches typically do this play as part of their Christmas festivities but it isn't as common as it was in the past (Tan, 2016).

Panunuluyan is also called by different names such as Panawagan (en. announcement) in Cavite and Batangas, Kagharong in the Bikol region, and daigon, pakaon, and patores in Visayan speaking regions (NCCA Official, 2015).

Side story: I had a queer classmate who played Mary in one of these plays against their will in a seminary house production because their mom just said so and the place didn't had any afab people (because seminary house obv), and they ended up falling in love with the guy who played Joseph, serving as the only male crush they have ever had. Hilariously, on a seminary boy meaning a dude who wants to be a priest. I feel bad for them...

The Feast of the Three Kings

A photo of the reenactment of the Epiphany story in Gasan, Marinduque showing the three magi meeting with King Herod. Photo posted by Eli J. Obligacion (2011) via the blog Marinduque Rising.

Observed every 6th of January, the Epiphany or the Feast of the Three Kings is a religious observation that marks the formal end of the Christmas season in the Philippines. In the current day, most communities simply go to church to celebrate the epiphany, it was once a common practice to have a large celebration during the day which involves three people dressed up as the three kings, riding horses to the local church, distributing gifts to the townspeople. This practice is still done in some communities in the country today (Primer, 2021).

From photos I've seen of some of the festivities, two members of the three may put on blackface and/or redface to symbolize all three magis who are typically shown as having different skin tones as seen in the previously linked article from Primer, although some places instead have children play the parts of the magi without any blackface or redface.

Closing

As a kid, Christmas has always been special to me and now that I'm older, it's gotten a lot less cheery as all young adults may feel with the season getting less about joy and presents and more about either work and expenses. That sorta happened here when I was initially rushing this even when I was not in the mental headspace for it so taking a break was almost mandatory. I definitely feel a little bummed that I wasn't able to finish this the day of, but I can't really change it as much.

To those finishing my late extremely long-ass infodump about Christmas in the Philippines, thank you so much for reading and have a Happy New Year!

(Part 1: Etymology and History)

(Reference List)

#mayaposts #mayapino #filipino #philippines #culture #filipino culture #christmas #filipino christmas #history #filipino history #traditions #christmas traditions #filipino christmas traditions #colonial history #spanish colonial history #food #long post

[you-get-me-closer-to-god]

Vamptember Day 2

“Dissection / Rome / Bathed”

SUMMARY: Rotting away in your room, going no where with your research, you take them up on the invitation

PAIRING: Platonic Armand, Daniel, and Female Reader

WORD COUNT: 2,923

WARNINGS: none!

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

Day two going strong! I managed to up it to nearly 3k words so that’s pretty cool! I used Rome as today’s prompt because mmmmmmyeah you’re gonna hear about all the information I’ve collected about 16th century Italian artists.

It was getting cooler in the mornings. The blaring, continuous, unforgiving, unrelenting hellfire heat, was actually subsiding. And it was getting cooler in the mornings. Your skin sung, and your lungs breathed in clean crisp air that was still damp from the sprinklers running earlier. Never mind it was going to heat back up later, you didn’t care. You were going to be inside all day anyway, but you weren’t going to miss the morning for anything in the world. And it had an affect on everyone, not just you. An extra pep in the step, more smiles returned, rushing to the next class was suddenly out of style.

And you didn’t flinch this time when the cashier gave you the total for your six dollar latte. -Okay, maybe you did a little bit. But it certainly tasted better than usual.

As your shoes hit the stone walkway in tandem with the music in your headphones, you took your time to appreciate the beauty of your campus, which was a lot harder in the afternoons with its 90 degree weather.

The large old oak trees that flanked nearly every corner and walkway, were still holding onto their green foliage. Stubborn things they are. The red brick building, which looked like a great castle or church to you more than anything, towering above all, an ancient watchful guardian.

The usual backyard birds were scattered here and there, mourning doves sat atop roofs with their little round chests poking out, the males sporting a dusty pink color proudly. Starlings pecked in the grass together in their many numbers like someone threw a dozen little black polka dots onto the ground which then magically sprung to life. But what really got you excited, were the crows.

Sure, some people had them all year round, a proper nuisance with their blaring and grating caw, no particularly special plumage to admire. But to you they were a true sign of fall that you cherished, and hearing their guttural yalp was like stepping on the first fallen leaf. Like smelling a bath and body works pumpkin candle. Like buying an orange wool scarf.

Joggers in bright shirts and shorts past you, a man from across the street cussed at his dog, who lifted her wide head up to bite at her leash and tug on it with all her might, paws digging into the sidewalk. The poor old man comically thrashed around. You weren’t sure what her end goal was, but you were rooting for her.

Reluctantly and with a heavy heart, you silently bade goodbye to the morning air as you opened the heavy door to join the masses for class. It’ll be back, you reassured yourself, and even colder tomorrow.

The early hours crept by, and much sooner than you wanted, the afternoon’s heat bled through the windows of your room. You were trying to get some research done for an art history essay, but you found yourself reading the same paragraph over and over about some obscure cathedral in Italy’s capital, desperately searching for information you could use. The lecture you had earlier wasn’t about the cathedral’s architecture, nor a note worthy icon on its walls, but of a teensy tiny little alter piece the size of your thumbnail, which you couldn’t find anywhere in the book.

And your professor wanted a three-thousand word essay on something that didn’t even have a damn Wikipedia page. It was understandable to think he wanted to give a unique assignment, instead of something like a study on the Sistine Chapel, or the Pantheon, but what the hell were you supposed to do with this?

You didn’t even waste your time with the library, surely any books of worth to you were already checked out by your ever so caring and sharing classmates. You even turned to Reddit, which usually had an overflowing cup of obscure and near-useless information, but not a single internet incel was interested in Roman altarpieces from the 16th century, surprisingly.

Which left one solution that you could think of.

And- to be fair, they did offer. Which should be reason enough to go. What were his exact words on the letter? “Have no hesitance”?

But you were hesitating, and why wouldn’t you? You hadn’t even told them your name and he wanted you to come by their apartment for a study session? And no, don’t think for a second the implications were lost on you. They weren’t. It could’ve been a ploy for a trafficking scheme, for all you knew. You could have your liver torn out and sold on the black market. All these seemed perfectly sane reasons not to go.

However that wasn’t what was stopping you.

You were nervous. And deep down you knew all your fears were a little ridiculous and highly unlikely. And It was that kind of thinking which kept you self-sabotaging any kind of potential relationships and left you continuously lonely. And god, were you tired of being lonely. You were tired of coming back in the middle of the night to your dark empty room with absolutely zero phone notifications, and realizing you didn’t speak a word aloud all day.

And that alone was reason enough to risk it. If the world was so ugly and evil that you couldn’t even visit a classmate’s apartment for help without being killed, then it was a world you didn’t want to live in anyway.

You slammed the book shut and put on some shoes, grabbing your car keys and the note with Armand’s address on it.

Yes, the mysterious Armand. What kind of name was that anyway? You had looked it up almost as soon as you got home last night and discovered it was of French origin. That clicked, you could definitely hear French influence in some of his pronunciations and words. You had to ask him later. Maybe he could help you pass your French exam.

The drive to the address was a quick one as the complex resided just outside of campus, just like you remembered. You had passed it multiple times on your way home for holidays and such, and you gawked every time at the sheer amount of wealth it exuded. But that was coming and going, actually driving into the neighborhood gave it all more time to impress you.

You were definitely not in the same tax bracket as the little Frenchman. Daddy’s pockets must be to China, they’re so deep.

You pulled in, parked your car, and walked into the building, trying not to stare too long at the crown molding. You took an elevator up, and glancing down at the paper once or twice, until you found the correct door down the hallway.

Swallowing the nervous lump in your throat, you lifted your hand and knocked, knuckles rapping against the wood. What were you even going to say? What if the one day you came over, was a bad time?

The door opened suddenly without giving you time to react, and a tired face squinted back at you, arm leaning against the doorframe. You eyed the reading glasses pushed up onto his tousled blonde hair, the comfy pants he wore were almost exactly what you were wearing a couple minutes ago in your dorm.

“Hey, I’m sorry, is this a bad time? I figured I’d take you up on the invitation.“

“No, come on in.”

Daniel dropped his arm from the doorframe and opened the door wider. You gingerly stepped inside, thanking him and walked a little deeper into the apartment as he closed the door behind you. It didn’t look like a serial killer’s apartment, the place was nice. Warm brown leather chairs gathered around a low coffee table in the living room, a rather large sound system sat near the back wall, the kitchen was near spotless except for a used coffee pot which looked quite weathered.

“We were starting to think we scared you off.” He said, picking up some stray pages off the floor and setting them on the table next to an open laptop.

“He can get a bit,”

He made a gesture with his hands.

“Enthusiastic.”

“Not at all, I just didn’t want to intrude.” you replied, shifting your weight onto the other foot.

“I’m really grateful, you know. This semester is really kicking my ass.”

He nodded and gave a short laugh as he closed the laptop and sat down. You followed his lead and sat on the couch across from him, sinking into the cushy leather awkwardly. You noticed a large flatscreen tv mounted to the wall behind him, and your eye was drawn to a vast collection of DVDs stacked on a small bookshelf next to it.

“You guys watch a lot of movies?” You observed.

He glanced to where you were looking and shook his head disapprovingly, turning back around.

“Armand’s little hobby. Well one of many.”

He looked a bit better than last you saw him, his eyes were brighter this time, and he moved a little sharper, though the dark circles still remained.

“Speaking of, I should mention he isn’t here right now. But he’ll be back pretty soon.”

“I see. When does he get back?” You asked.

“I’d say…”

Daniel leaned forward and peered to his right before answering you, you mirrored him unconsciously, but you were a little confused. There was no clock you could see on the wall. In fact, nearly the whole wall was a window, you wouldn’t be able to hang much of anything on it. It was a gorgeous view however. The sun hung down low, dipping down behind the city buildings in the distance, the sky melting into a deep orange color.

“About an hour or so. You know, I don’t think I’ve actually introduced myself.”

You were incredibly appreciative he said something, otherwise you probably would’ve forgotten again. You both told each other your names, and a warm feeling bloomed in your chest. You couldn’t believe you almost convinced yourself out of this. When was the last time you shook hands with a stranger and made an acquaintance? Third grade?

“So, what can I help you with?” He started, clasping his hands together.

You explained to him the assignment you were given, telling him about the 16th century alter piece and how hellbent your professor was on the importance the piece had for the renaissance era. You told him about your struggle to find any data on it, books or articles, you’d take anything.

After a moment, Daniel just gave a small laugh. A hint of crows feet appearing at the corners of his eyes.

“I’ll try my best to help you,” he said, “but it’s Armand you really want for this. I’m telling you, there never was a better topic of conversation for him.” He stood up.

“In the meantime I’ll pull out some books of his and see what sticks.“

There you both sat straight across from each other, flipping through page after page of dusty old books. You actually saw a lot of works you liked in these books and pointed them out to Daniel occasionally, noting colors and symbols that caught your eye. You learned that you and him had very different taste. He eventually got up and turned on a few lamps in the room as night began to fall.

Yawning a little, you didn’t realize you’d been there for so long until a clatter down the hall caught Daniel’s attention, his grey eyes lifting up from his book, over your shoulder to the front door.

“That’s probably him in the elevator.“ He mumbled. “Took his sweet time tonight.”

You twisted your body to watch the door. There was a sort of unexpected thrill that held your attention as footsteps grew louder. They approached closer and closer until stopping, the front door unlocking with a click.

As the door swung open, he glided in, turning and locking the door behind him. Clad in simple jeans and crew neck, his vibrant red curls were windswept. He looked like a kid on summer break ready to slink through the city with his friends. His dark eyes sparkled when his gaze fell to you sitting on the couch, and he made a serene smile.

“Oh, my friend, a pleasant surprise!”

You sat up and he crossed the room toward you and Daniel. He stretched out his hand to take yours, the rings on his fingers were chilly, as if he had just been walking through a refrigerator. His eyes bore into yours and he began to speak, his accent slightly thicker than usual.

“I cannot express to you how regretful I was when I realized Daniel and I had walked all the way home without first being informed of your name. I assure you I was taught better than that, my friend. Please, release me at once of my suspense, and I hope you harbor no ill will towards my forgetting myself.”

He held your hand there in an airy grasp, his dark eyebrows furrowed gently, as if to show you he meant business.

Immediately you told him your name, which he repeated back to you with such a seriousness that forced you to hold back a laugh, his accent modifying it slightly, but you didn’t mind.

“Daniel, I cannot believe you allow me to be so rude, clearly I am interrupting.” He said, releasing your hand. “But, forgive me, it is hard not to notice my own books on the table. Could I be of any use?”

Daniel shook his head, smiling at Armand’s theatrics.

“Actually, we were counting on it. All these books of yours and not one mention of an artist we’re looking for.”

“Artist?” His interest was piqued.

You piped up, describing the alter piece, its size, it’s setting, you told him about the cathedral it was painted in, and how impossible it was to find any information on it. Slowly, his focused expression formed into one of recognition, then frowned into indignation.

“Yes, I know the artist.” He turned slowly and picked up a thin paper back from the stack on the table and opened the book.

“There is entirely nothing wrong with learning the masters.” He said with a touch of venom that he unsuccessfully tried to hide, flipping to a certain page. “Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli.”

Then, turning the book to face you, he waited for you to grab it before pointing to a full page on the exact elusive piece that you and Daniel were searching for all evening. Your jaw dropped silently as he continued ranting, Daniel put his glasses back on and read over your shoulder.

“Even the later artists of Baroque, Caravaggio, Gentileschi, Bernini, all masters of their craft. The techniques you could learn from just one of those artists, are never ending. And these professors choose to waste your time, sending you on a wild goose chase for that.” He gestured to the book you held.

“An untitled sketch by an amateur student scribbled carelessly some five hundred years ago.”

You were hoping for a tiny sliver of information, even just a date would’ve sent you over the moon, but what he provided practically had half your essay done already. You didn’t know how to thank him, you felt a great weight lift from your shoulders.

“That same professor has been foolishly contradictory for as long as I can remember. If ever you should truly want to learn, I beseech you to contact me first before ever stepping foot into another one of his classes.”

He huffed frustratedly, and began putting his books back on the bookshelf silently.

“I can’t thank you enough.” You began, closing the book and holding it so carefully, it could have been a bomb. You were going to call your mom about these two and fire your therapist.

“It is not a problem, please keep it. Knowing that man, you are going to need it later.” He turned after placing the last book back on its shelf. Daniel slipped by him, walking over to the coat hanger and donning a denim jacket.

Armand grabbed your attention again.

“Would you do us the honor of joining us for dinner? There is an impossible amount I would like to talk with you about, if you’d let me, of course. It is one of Daniel’s favorite restaurants, so he is guaranteed to be in an agreeable mood.”

Your stomach lurched at the sound of dinner, there was nothing you wanted more in the world than a warm meal that actually consisted of the three main food groups. But you were completely broke, and the amount that you wanted to eat did not agree with the amount that you could pay for.

You frowned and opened your mouth to decline, when without skipping a beat, he spoke up again, sensing your apprehension.

“Completely my treat. Please.” His voice was like a silver bell, or like a cool bandage on a burn, it smoothed any rough edges of anxiety or worry. And there was no way in hell you were going to turn down that offer.

So together you left the apartment. “The three musketeers” Daniel had called you and Armand laughed a little too hard at it, echoing it all the way down the elevator with delight.

As you all collected into a rather sleek and bougie car to take you to the restaurant, you wondered what kind of odd situation you were getting yourself into…

_______________________________________________

@the-vagabond-angel chapter 2!!!!!

#the vampire chronicles #anne rice #tvc #vampire chronicles #lestat de lioncourt #iwtv #vc #interview with the vampire #armand #books #vamptember #the vampire armand #devil’s minion #the devil’s minion #Armand/Daniel #tvc fanfiction #vc fanfiction #the vampire chronicles fanfiction

[yougotthat-write]

Oui(ji) Had One Hell of a Party (Rafael Barba x Reader)

Word Count: 2,758

Warnings: Ouiji board, spirits, demons, language, alcohol consumption, dumb costumes for all yo faves lmao 

Summary: You and Rafael host a Halloween party and it takes a demonic turn.

Author’s Note: This was started probably almost 3 years ago (big oof). I've lost the writing bug so I'm posting what was written and promptly unfinished, lol. Apologies but I still hope you enjoy!

Read on AO3 here!

✶⭑✡⭑✶⭑✡⭑✶⭑✡⭑✶⭑✡⭑✶⭑✡⭑✶

Rafael Barba wouldn’t call himself a superstitious person.

He didn’t believe in ghouls, ghosts, and monsters in the typical way that small children would. He was an A.D.A. for Manhattan so he obviously came across fellow humans who did gruesome and unforgivable things, but when you had pulled out that stupid ten dollar Ouiji board that you had bought at the stupid Halloween store, Rafael may had sent a quick prayer up to whichever Lord was occupying the skies above him at that very moment. 

His Catholic upbringing was trying to pound its way out of him and it made him down the rest of his scotch in one swallow before stepping over to his bar area to pour himself another drink. The low hum of your Halloween playlist mixed with the chatter of Rafael’s friends from the courthouse and your friends from the 16th precinct.

You sat on your living room floor, hunched over your coffee table, setting up the toy that would allow you to talk to those who had passed on. Sonny shifted on his feet as he stood next to Rafael. Remembering that Sonny was raised very Catholic as well, Rafael figured that this was making Sonny feel stupid for being uncomfortable with a children’s toy just as much as him.

The sound of your hands connecting together in a singular clap made Rafael’s grip tighten around his glass. He looked over at you and saw the “spooky” smile you were trying to give to everyone. The party had died down in the past couple of hours. Olivia Benson and Nick Amaro had gone home because of their kids. Fin Tutuola had gone home because “Halloween is whack! I don’t even like candy.” The rest of the guests had filed out after them in the passing hours.

Now, Sonny Carisi, Amanda Rollins, Rita Calhoun, and Trevor Langan were scattered around the living room. Sonny was next to Rafael, both of the boys standing farthest away from the direct line to demons. Sonny started to get so nervous that his fake mustache for his Sonny Bono costume wouldn’t stick to his upper lip. His counterpart and designated Cher was Amanda. She sat on the floor on the opposite side of you at the coffee table. She held the planchette in her hand, looking at the object with a smirk. Her long brunette wig was tossed to the side next to her.

Rita Calhoun downed another orange Jell-O shot before falling back onto the couch behind Amanda with a sigh. She pulled her long and obnoxious Devil tail from under her and held it in her fingers as she watched you read the directions for the Ouija board. Her Devil horns were slightly crooked on her head but she didn’t seem to notice or care.

Trevor Langan had ditched his obnoxious black cape twenty minutes into the party. He ditched the phony plastic fangs even sooner. His hair was quaffed upwards and if it wasn’t for the dark liner around his eyes and the fake blood on the corner of his mouth, he would look like he was ready for a day at work with his dress shirt, black slacks, and polished shoes.

Rafael would be lying if he said that he didn’t feel a bit authoritative in his twenty dollar policeman costume, but he mainly did it to see the annoyed reactions of the 16th precinct detectives. Fin Tutuola had quipped, “Your badge is so cute and tiny, Barba. You got a fake gun too?” Nick Amaro had rolled his eyes so hard at the fellow Latino man that you thought they would roll right out of his pretty little head. Despite you being a fellow 16th precinct detective, you happily supported your boyfriend with finding the policeman outfit that fit his body in all the right places.

Trevor had rolled his eyes when you suggested pulling out the Ouija board but didn’t outwardly object to it like Sonny had. Trevor made his way over to Rafael and Sonny, grabbing a deep red Jell-O shot. He shot it back and then chuckled at Sonny’s uneasy face. But Trevor didn’t miss the uneasiness that was coming from Rafael.

“Scared boys?” The defense lawyer asked with a grin. Sonny scowled over at Langan.

“Shut up,” Sonny muttered. Feeling hot, Sonny pulled the brunette wig off his head. “I just don’t think we should mess with Lucifer and his minions.” Sonny’s Adam apple bobbed. “If Ma finds out about this, she’ll have the church exorcize me.”

Trevor stifled his snort with his hand. “It’s a kids game, Carisi. The box says ages six and up.”

Sonny grumbled under his breath before making his way over to the couch and plopping down next to Rita with a sigh. Rita pouted over at the detective, reaching up and pinching his pink cheek. “Don’t worry Sonny, the Devil is already here and she’s feeling pretty tipsy.” Sonny let out a nervous laugh before leaning out of Rita’s grip and rubbing his sore cheek. 

Trevor’s attention was drawn back to the quiet prosecutor next to him. Rafael felt Trevor’s gaze as he lifted his newly poured drink to his lips.

One gulp. Two gulps. Three gulps.

Trevor leaned towards Rafael, “What are you so scared of Barba?” Rafael shot a look over to Trevor. 

“There’s nothing to be scared of.”

“Exactly.” Trevor slapped a hand onto Rafael’s shoulder and pushed him over towards the coffee table. 

Looking up from the directions, you smiled at Rafael as he was ushered into the living room by Trevor. The pair of fake handcuffs that hung off Rafael’s belt jingled when Trevor’s large hands pushed Rafael down next to you. Rafael swore under his breath in Spanish to the man before Trevor went and perched himself onto the arm of the couch next to Sonny. 

“I think we have it set up,” you say over to your boyfriend. Rafael nods subtlety before catching the gaze of Amanda sitting across from him. She watched Rafael from under her lashes and the corner of her mouth twitched up. Looking more head on at the two of you, she slid the planchette onto the board.

The intricate piece of wood was shaped in a triangle with rounded edges. In the center, a small dome of glass made it easy to see whatever was under the planchette when it would be slid around the board. 

Rafael wouldn’t tell you — or anyone in the room for that matter — that he did not and would not touch that thing willingly. You grabbed the planchette and placed it in the middle of the board. The intricate letters and numbers were bold and taunting. Rafael swallowed the jumble of nerves trying to push their way up his throat.

He jumped slightly when you touched his arm to motion him to place his fingers next to yours. Taking a moment too long, Trevor cupped a hand around one corner of his mouth and boomed, “Scared of some ghosts, Barba?” Rafael shot another look over to Langan before you grabbed his hands.

Your hands brought comfort to him. They were warm as you guided his fingers over to the planchette and when you lightly knocked your shoulder into his, you whispered out, “Don’t be scared, hon. I’ll protect you,” your left eye dropped down into a wink and while Rafael rolled his own at your retort, it did make him more relaxed.

You motioned for Amanda to do the same. She reached out both of her pointer and middle fingers and found a spot on one of the planchette sides. Amanda spoke quietly, “What should we ask first?”

Carisi’s mouth twisted as he bit down on the inside of his cheek. Rita let out a loud hum, twirling the end of her tail in her hand. “Don’t you have to ask if there’s anyone here in the first place?”

“Yeah, let’s see what we’re cooking with,” Trevor jumped in. He was able to reach over to the side table to grab another Jello-O shot, passing one over the top of Carisi’s head over to Rita who grinned devilishly.

You let out a shaky breath — which threw off Rafael for a split second — and said, “Is there a spirit with us?” While a silence fell over the group, waiting for something, Sonny’s lips moved quickly and quietly as he mouthed a prayer. 

You spoke again, more firmly, “Is there anyone who would like to speak with us today?” Amanda’s eyes went from the planchette, to you, to Rafael, back to you, and then back to the planchette. Rafael’s fingers twitched on the planchette, wanting to bring them back close to him, to his body. Or even to intertwine with your own fingers.

Despite the mellow hum of your playlist, there was a long and still silence between everyone in the room. Rita had stilled her tail twirling. Trevor’s mouth straightened into a thin line, eyebrow arched up. Sonny’s hands were clasped together in between his thighs. Amanda had squared her shoulders and she could feel the hair on the back of her neck trickle. Rafael’s mouth opened to say something — he wasn’t sure what he was going to say — but then he felt it in his fingers.

Rafael’s eyes are hard and locked onto the planchette. His fingers twitched as he felt the piece of wood slightly move diagonally away from him and over to the corner of the board where an intricately drawn YES was. When the word made itself at home under the glass dome in the middle of the planchette, Carisi’s voice was shaking, “That’s not funny Amanda,” the Brooklyn man scolded his coworker.

A noise came from Amanda in regards to Sonny’s accusation and when Rafael’s looked over at you under his lashes, you were already looking over at Amanda with a furrowed brow. Amanda felt your gaze on her and when she finally looked up from the planchette, she rolled her eyes, “Fine…fine.” Her hands lifted up in surrender and she scrunched her nose.

“See, nothing to be scared of Sonny,” Trevor snickered, fingers coming to pinch the top of Sonny’s ear. Sonny shouldered the brunette away, brows furrowed in annoyance and mouth lopsided into a frown. 

“Bite me, Langan.”

“Be careful what you wish for, Carisi,” Trevor shot back just before shooting back another Jello shot. This one was green.

Rafael was silently thanking Amanda from across the table. Hands brought back close to his being, Rafael let out the breath he was holding. He shivered when you scolded Amanda, “Gimme your fingers and don’t joke about, Amanda.”

Amanda let out a huff of air at your tone. “Alright, okay. Calm down.”

Amanda reached out her fingers again and settled them onto her designated spot on the planchette. You copied her and when Rafael didn’t follow suit, you and Amanda looked over at the lawyer. Rafael felt the room shift over to his attention. He felt stuffy in his cheap police uniform. Glancing over at you, he caught your eyes and he silently pleaded.

You didn’t react for a moment until finally, you silently let him off the hook with the smooth transition of reeling in Langan to put his money where his mouth is. Rafael got up from his spot, maybe a bit too quickly, and went over to where Langan was previously heckling from on the couch. Rafael’s legs were jelly and he was happy to plop down onto the couch, grabbing a Jello shot. He swallowed it down too fast to even acknowledge the color of it.

Trevor Langan dramatically rolled his eyes when you beckon him to substitute in for the demon summoning. But he gladly strolled his way over and sat down next to you on the floor. You had to scooch over a bit to make room for Trevor’s long legs and overall more lankier body. He rubbed his hands together and gave a grin before planting his fingers onto the planchette. “Let’s get this show on the road, ladies!”

Amanda and you exchanged looks before your fingers found their spots. The room went quiet again. Nobody noticed it, but the music had stopped in the middle of a song. Rita found herself needing to rest her eyes as playing with a Ouiji board doesn’t really help overly drunk people stay awake. Her head rested against the shoulder of a rigid Carisi. He didn’t seem to notice the extra weight on him.

“I’ll ask the questions this time since cops aren’t too good with questioning suspects,” Trevor quipped. Amanda glared over at the lawyer. You ignored Trevor and shifted your gaze over to the board. “Hello spirits, demons, and devils–” Rita mumbled out a noise of acknowledgement, eyes still closed, snuggling more into Carisi’s shoulder. Carisi fought the urge to shrug her off because he didn’t want to be rude but he wasn’t in a particular cuddly mood. Trevor continued, “Are you here with us?”

Rafael felt a coldness in the apartment. He noticed the lack of music as the group stayed quiet. Sonny felt his neck get prickly, the hair standing up and a shiver rolled up his back. If Rita was more sober, she probably could have felt it. 

“Spir—“ Trevor’s voice started but it was cut off by a yelp from someone as the room went dark, the snap of electricity confirming so. 

“Oh, Mother Theresa!” Sonny’s voice was sharp and trembling. Rita let out a hum in question before opening her eyes. The air was rigid and cold. Rafael was quick to jump onto his feet in one swift motion. You blinked quickly, trying to get your eyes to adjust to the darkness. 

Slowly but surely, you were able to make out shapes in the room. You were about to call out to Rafael when there was a sharp shriek. It started out high in its caliber but then it morphed into something gruesome and growling. 

“What the fuck–” That was Trevor. Then a small light shone in the middle of the room, like a little slice of heaven from above. Rafael’s blood ran cold. Carisi stood abruptly, stumbling over his large feet towards Rafael. Rita curled her legs up onto your couch, hugging the back of the furniture, as if she was using it to ground herself not only physically, but mentally.

Trevor’s hand shook, making the light shive as it shined over onto the blonde detective. You couldn’t believe your eyes. You were sure nobody in the room could.

Across from you, on the other side of your thifted coffee table that took you thirty minutes to convince Rafael to get with you, was Detective Amanda Rollins possessed by something. All of her fingers were bent harshly and weirdly, each one of them touching the planchette in some way. Her shoulders were stiff, but her chin was lifted slightly, mouth slightly agape as she moaned and groaned inhumanely.

Her hair seemed electric. The ends of her blonde strands were lifting at the ends very slightly, strands engulfing around her head. The part that made your eyes water and your heart pound heavily were her eyes. They were wide open and black.

“A-amanda.. This i-isn’t funny!”

Sonny’s voice seemed to shake to the same rhythm as Trevor Langan’s hand. You heard the lawyer mutter more curses under his breath as he stood. Rita was able to swing her legs over the back of the couch and her feet stepped softly towards the front door of your apartment. She paused when Amanda let out another shriek that morphed into a muffled, pained groan.

In the dull phone flashlight, Amanda’s head began to turn, peeking over her shoulder at Sonny. Sonny backed up towards Rafael more, shivering as the two men touched. Sonny’s hand grabbed Rafael’s wrist tightly.  “Amanda?” The voice was crackly and harsh, like Amanda had spent her last thirty years smoking two packs a day straight. Her teeth snapped together and her tongue swiped over her lips. She let out a giggle. “Amanda’s not here to play, Dominick.”

#law and order svu #law and order fanfiction #law & order svu #rafael barba imagine #rafael barba drabble #rafael barba #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba fic #rafael barba fanfiction #spooky ooky #was supposed to be for Halloween lolol

[real-jane]

Escape Birthday Challenge

🎃This is my Spooky Birthday/1000 followers Celebration Challenge!🎃

Thank you so much for supporting me. No matter how you found me, I’m thrilled that you decided to stay. October 15th will mark one year of writing for the Marvel fandom (that’s right–nostalgia for the new will be one year old next month!!), but I’ve been in this game a lot longer than that. Fanfic is my favorite hobby, and likely always will be. I love being here with you all! 

For this challenge, the theme is 👻ESCAPE👻. However you want to interpret that. Vague, literal, it’s all fair game!

(rules under the cut)

Any fandom/pairing is welcome! 

I’m open to submissions from most common fandom tropes, but please avoid extreme body horror, sexualization of minors, bigotry, racism and racist themes (esp in Halloween costume choices for characters. No appropriation will be tolerated). 

Please tag appropriately. 

Smut is welcome and encouraged, as is spooky/scary content. 

No word count limit. Please use a *read more* cut if over 500 words. 

If you’ve found this and you don’t follow me, you’re still welcome to submit. 

**Bonus points if you write me some lovely Women-Loving-Women content, or somehow incorporate the number 33 for my new age!**

Submissions due by Dec. 31st! I will compile a masterlist as submissions roll in. My actual birthday is October 16th, but please don’t feel obligated to submit by then.

–Tag your fics with #katesbirthdayESCAPE or #ESCAPEbirthdaychallenge so I can find them, and tag me, too!

--

Prompt Ideas:

Spooky 👻

A basement contains jars filled with unusual specimens.

The clock starts running backwards.

The empty swing is swinging.

New powers they can’t control.

No reflection in the mirror.

Power goes out.

Doors opening and closing on their own.

All the houseplants are dead.

Waking up in a panic.

Sudden dizziness.

Romantic 🦇

7 minutes in heaven.

The enemy who understands you more than anyone else.

Accidentally matching costumes.

First date haunted house.

They’re both scared but neither want to admit it.

Autumn carnival.

Sharing a blanket.

Carving pumpkins.

Baking something.

Making it to their loved one, no matter the cost.

Scary 🕸️

A person has the ability to make other people very ill.

The dead walk out of the sea.

A person finds new photos of herself on her cell phone that she didn’t take.

A couple vacationing in a remote area begins having the same nightmares.

The television switches to another station of its own accord.

A woman is happy when her dead loved one comes back to life… but he’s changed.

Tourists on a ghost tour, along with their guide, fall into the hands of an evil presence.

People begin sleepwalking and doing strange things in their sleep.

It always happens when he’s alone in the car.

Phantom pains.

Dialogue ideas: 🎃

"Look, I dressed up as you."

"That costume really is convincing."

"I don't believe in ghosts."

"Hey, this isn't funny."

"Do you think keeping your eyes shut will keep you safe?"

"You've heard the stories about what happened in that house, right?"

"There's no one here."

"He was right behind me."

"I swear, that door was locked a minute ago."

"I think we're lost."

“Why do you have to look at me like that?”

“Oh god, how can you manage to switch from cute to sexy in under a second?”

“I’m so lucky.”

“I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“Is this the moment that we kiss?”

“The more I look at you, the more I think we need to leave.”

“What took you so long? I missed you…”

“I’m asking because I’ve seen the way you look at me.”

“I think I’m in love with you and I don’t know what to do.”

“Don’t look at me like that and then feign innocence.”

“I shouldn’t be allowed to be this happy.”

“You keep saying that we’re just friends, but you look at me too long for that to be true.”

“Please don’t love me the way you loved your exes.”

“Please come home, this doesn’t feel right.”

“Will you stay the night?”

“Hold my hand.”

“My heart hurts when I look at you.”

“Don’t blame it on the alcohol.”

“Kiss me like you mean it.”

“Don’t leave me like that again, you scared me.”

“You were never the person I wanted, but you were the only one I ever needed.”

“I hope we last.”

“You don’t know half of the things you do to me.”

__

Tagging potentially interested humans! No pressure either way: @peterhollandkait @abovethesmokestacks @mannien @motsdouxdejanie-inactive @buckysbirdie @fandoms-writings @sanguineterrain @thornsnvultures @indyluckycharlie @foreverindreamlandd @adecila @naarna @mayasreadingnook @obsidianvibranium @writing-for-marvel @majestyeverlasting @sweetdreamsbuck @amixedwitch @elixirfromthestars @wonderful-writes

my masterlist

#katesbirthdayESCAPE #ESCAPEbirthdaychallenge

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Emotional Hurt/Comfort Masterlist

Links Last Checked: January 16th, 2024

antisocialites watch a wilting flower (ao3) - throughtheirsnoses (det395)

Summary: Phil's an emotionally attached and loving vet and Dan's the drained receptionist with no dreams at the animal shelter who reconnect over the poor, hurt puppy dropped off. Dan's boyfriend is their boss.

Closer To Where I Started (ao3) - dizzy

Summary: An onstage accident at a convention leads to a week of stress, nightmares, and evaluating life choices for Dan and Phil.

Daddy Phil (ao3) - ReederJoe

Summary: A day in the life of little!Dan and daddy!Phil. One-shot from Phil's POV.

Grounded (ao3) - AmazingFrerard

Summary: Dan only wanted Maltesers... how did it go so wrong in such little time? Can Phil help him before it's too late?

Heaven And Hell (Phan Fluff) (ao3) - thegirlwholikestowrite

Summary: Dan has a nightmare, Phil sleeps with him. Its light angst with fluff. They get deep and romantic.

Handle With Care (ao3) - DisasterSoundtrack

Summary: "Sticking to one person for a lifetime is not a waste of time or lack of better ones, it means you’ve found your place of eternity."

Phil reminisces about moments that made him realize how much he cares for Dan.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways (ao3) - outphan

Summary: Dan is feeling insecure, so Phil decides to show him that he is perfect.

Let The Salt Dry (ao3) - dandrogynous

Summary: “When I look at my old pictures, all I can see is what I used to be but am no longer. I think: What I can see is what I am not.”

- Aleksandar Hemon

2009 except Dan is a trans boy

Like A Shibe (ao3) - adorkablephil (kimberly_a)

Summary: After TATINOF, Phil's feeling insecure about how fans think of him compared to how they think of Dan. Why didn't he ever get to be drawn like a French girl in the stage show? Dan's always the sexy one. Dan tries to reassure him.

My Shipwrecked Heart (ao3) - outphan

Summary: After his heart gets broken, Dan Howell decides to chase one of his dreams: he enters a competition to go on a Mediterranean cruise! It comes true and along the way, something even better happens.

restless (ao3) - overwhelmedbysonder

Summary: Breathe. Just breathe.

In. Out. In. Out. In.

It’s not that I don’t try. I see my family, my friends, visiting with their faked smiles and forced laughter, desperately trying to pretend that things are fine, that nothing’s changed. I see them and I want to reach out, I want to look at them and smile and reassure them that I’m here and I’m fine and I’m here, but I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.

Or, the one where Phil struggles with depression, PTSD and being mute, and Dan just wants to hug him.

Rise Again (ao3) - ColdPorridge22

Summary: Sequel to Phoenix Down. Can be read as a standalone, if you're not into the angst fest that was Phoenix Down.

After the events of Phoenix Down, the boys are home and they've just gotten together. Phil is still healing from his injuries, but that's not stopping the relationship from getting more and more physical as they explore this new side of them. And then of course, there's the issue of coming out...

Shut Your Mouth and Listen Closely (ao3) - SimplyUndead

Summary: Dan is mute with an unfortunate past. Phil is a nice boy with a warm heart and love to give.

Six Ravens (ao3) - iihappydaysii

Summary: Dan meets Prince Philip at a cyberbullying campaign, but what starts as a working relationship grows complicated when Dan realizes he’s falling for the prince and maybe, just maybe, he’s not alone in his feelings.

the water might be lovely (ao3) - isleofbants

Summary: Dan, utterly fed up with uni, runs away to the Isle of Man.

Seeking escape, he gets more than he bargained for when he rents a room out from happy-go-lucky, recent grad, Phil Lester.

Trust Me, I’m Broken Too (ao3) - natigail

Summary: The Lesters – the royal family of his homeland – was nothing like Dan thought they would be. Well, the King was just as horrible as he had heard but the King’s brother’s son, who was third in line for the throne, was nothing like Dan thought he’d be. Dan had been adrift for three years going from one “place of employment” to another, only his life was seen as worthless and he was more property than an employee. He had never imagined he’s end up as the property of Prince Philip.

The Prince had no intention of ever taking on a personal servant, which was a fancy name to disguise the fact a law essentially enslaved people. Phil often had to do things he didn’t want to or risk being removed from the succession to the crown. If that happened, who knew who his tyrant of an uncle would pick as a successor? When pressured into the choosing, he’d wanted to go for the most innocent, young girl, but hard brown eyes caught his attention instead.

Vacations, Hypochondriacs and a Little Bit of PTSD (ao3) - Merrydith

Summary: Neither Dan or Phil saw this weekend as one to worry about. Dan was a great driver, even though he never really got a chance to show it, and when he asked their good friend Cat to borrow her car for a few days after Vidcon, of course, she trusted him with the keys.

wikihow to stop a divorce (ao3) - ivorycastle

Summary: Dan has finally shown that he's too difficult to love, and seldom to keep Phil inspired amidst the cold break that legally split the two flames apart. This house lease binds the two obnoxiously tight to each other like wild grapevines. Maybe this will grow over if the universe allows it to.

#phanfictioncatalogue #phanfiction #phan #masterlists #comfort #hurt/comfort #hurt/comfort masterlist #hurt!dan #hurt!phil

[lgbtawarenessproject]

Part 9: Brazil and Venezuela

Is it truly part 9 already???? Gosh. Time flies so fast.

I am not able to do the other two essays tonight, so please take my messy notes and some links instead.

Anyway, next update will be Thursday! This project takes Wednesdays off.

Word count is like, 495-ish

-Soul

Brazil

Brazil is largely progressive in its laws. Homosexuality has been legal since 1830, gay marriage since 2013. As of 2018, it is possible to legally change your gender without medical procedures. In addition, as of 2021, every state but two have recognized a third gender. All but six of them, however, only allow it for intersex people.

Pride celebrations have existed in Brazil since 1997, and São Paolo, the first and longest running of them, is the largest pride celebration in the world with over 3 million people. When it began, it only had 2000 people, but it steadily grew until it reached the 3 million mark. Each São Paolo event has a new slogan and theme. These themes are about current LGBT+ politics, rights, or discrimination. The Pride parade is the largest and last official event of São Paolo pride. That is not to say there aren't things to do afterwards. Many clubs do stay open after pride after all. Prior to the parade, there are events like the craft fair, and drag shows.

Even with all of this, their record breaking pride, the laws, trans people still face extreme violence in Brazil. In fact, Brazil has had the highest number of trans murders for fourteen years. While they have tried to stop this with laws and regulations, political speeches and more, 2022 had 131 trans people murdered. Of the victims in 2022, 76 percent were black, trans-women making up a large amount of that. On top of that, this is only reported murders.

Statistical links: 1 2 3 4

Notable murders: 1 2

Pride information: 1 2 3

History: 1 2

Other important links: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Venezuela

When you research LGBT+ people in Venezuela, a thing you’re going to run into again and again is the illegality of being gay in the military. So let’s start with that. 

In Venezuela, until March of this year, it was illegal to be gay in the armed forces. It was easy, in fact, to be thrown out or fired, even if you had previously been a model worker. The Venezuelan military justice code had banned “unnatural acts”, punishable by up to three years in prison. Formal armed service members spoke out about this, in an article you can find here. Good news for gays in Venezuela, however, as on March 16th of this year, the code was annulled. Former members removed because of that code have had messages sent to them letting them know they can be reinstated.

That does not mean things are great for queers in Venezuela, however. A trans-women in Caracas has talked about her experiences being out, and what it took to get there. She talked about how her family had been unsupportive of her transitioning, but reportedly are coming around to it. In the article she talks about how she is privileged to be able to walk around without suffering transphobia every day. She talks about her friends who have had to leave the country, or suffer abuse, or are unable to present properly. Venezuela also has a misogyny problem, and according to her, it affects her more than transphobia does.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6

French Guiana

Links for Guiana: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Paraguay

Links for Paraguay: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Part 1

Part 8<-->Part 10

Please support this project by sharing! If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to leave them! And please check out our pinned post.

#project unknowing #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #lgbtqia+ #queer #current politics #pride month #discrimination #Brazil #trans brazil #trans rights brazil #trans murders brazil #venezuela #brazil politics #venezuela politics

[angstismyfood]

TOH Dump: Wittebane Names

< angstismyfood has entered the chat >

The Wittebane bunch have always made me curious when it came to a few things;

1. Family history. HUMAN family history. 2. The lifes of the brothers between their childhood times and getting stuck in the Boiling Isles. 3. Their names.

Here are some name meanings, found for you via nerdy old me;

Philip = Fond of Horses Belos = Lord Caleb = Faithful Hunter = Someone who Hunts (obviously) Wittebane = “Witte” // White or The White One, “Bane” // Glorious Defender Flapjack = “Pancake” (”Flap” refers to tossing a pancake)

I have analysed them in the given order :)) “Belos” makes a lot of sense, but “Philip” in the context of its meaning seems a bit strange. Unless, that is, you take a closer look. Horses in the Bible (considering that Philip and Caleb would’ve been Christian) symbolized war, power - power as a leader/king - and physical power/strength. And, well, EMPEROR BELOS. Also I find it kinda interesting how horses are usually seen as companions to humans, the ones helping out with travel and all, and then there goes Philip making a bunch of buddies (aka Grimwalkers) to help him out when he became Belos.

“Caleb” does make sense if you think of it as faith to morals and not completely to religious teachings, considering that - with the information we have - it seems likely that he dated a witch, or at least befriended one at some point. The Bible, although at the time used as a guide for literally everything, also taught morals - and of course, morals vary between person to person. Caleb going against what he was most likely taught since birth doesn’t seem as unlikely considering that he spent more of his life in the Boiling Isles than Philip (considering the age gap), and all in all seems to be a lot more open personality-wise (from what we know). Also, just as a side note, it is possible that Hunter got his overly-curious and nerdy nature from Caleb - but again, it’s just a thought.

“Hunter”... I mean, Philip (and Caleb, for a certain time) are/were literally WITCH HUNTERS. Also, Hunter seems like he was forced to run errands for Belos a ton (think back to the episode where he literally FLIES OUT OF THE BOILING SEA [I still have so many questions, those ingredients really made him invincible to the heat of smth]), so I guess that kinda counts as hunting. Hunting also usually involves clear, simple-step, organized goals and ways of acting; which match with the entire “golden guard” thing pretty well if you ask me.

“Wittebane” is technically two names merged together; “Witte” and “bane”, and if you merge the meanings into a proper English sentence, you get “The white, glorious defender” - which seems pretty 16th-century-vibes to me. This makes me wonder if the Wittebane family (as in Philip and Calebs’ elders) would’ve been army-related, or possibly directly related to the entire “kill the witches/people possessed by the devil” thing going on back then - you know, since “saving everyone from that one person possessed by the devil” seems to match the “defender of everyone” job description.

“Flapjack” being another term for “pancake” is pretty light hearted, and kind of funny considering that literally EVERYTHING ELSE about the Wittebanes’ is depresso-expresso in some way. I guess the only thing I can really say about this is that pancakes got their name in the 15th century, so yes, Philip and Caleb were probably pancake-crazy - oh, maple syrup also existed, so let’s hope they had/enjoyed good food before getting into the “eating-fairies” diet.

To sum things up; the Wittebane names are interesting to a certain degree (in my opinion). I hope we learn more about them, and how Philip and Caleb literally got a statue of themselves back in Luz’ home town (probably where they came from, hope Hunter doesn’t go nuts in S3 [more than he already has, that is]).

I hope you didn’t die from my rant, enjoy the next 24 hours. (P.S: plz give me angst food)

- Bloop

<angstismyfood has left the chat >

#hunter #hunter the owl house #hunter toh #emperor belos #belos #philip wittebane #caleb wittebane #flapjack #the owl house #toh #toh dump #toh theory #nerd #i need angst #give me angst #name meanings #wittebane #toh philip #toh belos #toh caleb #toh hunter

[noblecrumpet-dorkvision]

Stealing Conditions from Pokemon for DnD 5e

I’ve been doing a few posts on using status effects from other properties for D&D 5e, including Pathfinder and Final Fantasy. Here are some status effects from Pokemon! I’ve reworded them for use in 5e and added some notes on their application.

Damage over Time [DoT]

In Pokemon, most damage-over-time effects deal 1/16th of the Pokemon’s hit points each turn. That’s a bit difficult to calculate for D&D, but the idea of making scaling persistent damage is appealing. Instead, let’s have damage-over-time effects deal 10% of the creature’s hit point maximum (rounded down) each turn. This number makes the math as easy as just counting the tens place of a number. So a character with 65 hit points would take 6 damage each turn. Use this calculation anywhere below that says [DoT].

Burned

The creature takes [DoT] fire damage at the start of each of their turns until a creature spends an action putting out the flames.

Confused

The creature must make a flat DC 5 check or hurt themselves in confusion, taking bludgeoning damage equal to 10% of their maximum health (rounded down).

Doomed

The creature is cursed. While cursed in this way, they take necrotic damage equal to 25% of its maximum health (rounded down) at the end of each of their turns.

Renamed from Curse because cursed has meaning in D&D 5e.

Embargo

The creature is cursed. While cursed this way, they cannot draw or stow magic items or take the Use An Object action with magic items.

This normally prevents the Pokemon from using items, so this one is worded to prevent the use of magic items. It doesn’t prevent use of magic weapons, however, since Use An Object is different than the Attack action. It does prevent them from drawing a magic weapon or changing it out, though.

Encore

The creature is cursed until the end of its next turn. While cursed this way, the target must repeat its last action it took to the best of its ability.

Flinch

The first attack the creature makes during their next turn fails. This condition ends at the end of their turn.

I think this one is interesting because it's very powerful at lower levels but less powerful at higher levels where characters are making multiple attacks each turn. This technically applies to spellcasters too, when they make multiple spell attacks.

Frostbite

The creature is Frozen (see below) and takes [DoT] cold damage at the start of each of their turns while frozen.

Frozen

The creature is petrified in ice until they take fire damage. They can attempt a flat DC 15 check at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect on a success.

Objectively less powerful than petrification because it has a very easy way to end it, even with a torch. However, it does still petrify so use it sparingly.

Infatuated

The creature is charmed. While charmed this way, it must make a flat DC 11 check at the start of each of its turns. On a failed check, it cannot target hostile creatures with spells or attacks or intentionally bring harm to them for the rest of that turn.

A better version of charmed that may prevent the victim from doing anything harmful to anyone, not just the charmer. Although it is only a 50% chance.

Magic Coat

The next spell that targets only the creature affected by magic coat targets the spell’s caster instead, ending this condition. If the spell required concentration, it ends at the start of the caster’s next turn.

This is more like a specific spell than an ability, but maybe high-challenge monsters could apply this to themselves. A 4th- or 5th-level spell seems adequate for this type of effect, since it is limited in scope but is still better than counterspell. The way it is worded, the original caster is still in control of the spell, so things like Dominate Monster just make them dominate themselves.

Nightmare

The creature is cursed. While cursed in this way, the creatures takes psychic damage equal to 25% of its maximum health (rounded down) at the end of each of their turns. This damage does not awaken the creature. Only unconscious creatures can gain this status and it ends when they are no longer unconscious.

This is supposed to only affect sleeping creatures, so it does. It adds a bit more urgency to waking up an ally that has fallen asleep. This is VERY powerful outside of combat: a literal 4-turn coup-de-gras. Therefore, either attach it to a spell’s effect with a verbal component to wake up nearby allies or else don’t give it to players for use and use it responsibly yourself.

Partial Paralysis

At the start of each of their turns while partially paralyzed, the creature must make a flat DC 5 check or become paralyzed until the start of their next turn.

In Pokemon, a Paralyzed creature has a 25% chance of being unable to act each turn. Renamed this to act alongside the existing Paralyzed condition as a softer version it.

Poisoned

The creature has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks and takes [DoT] poison damage at the end of each turn while poisoned.

This effectively replaces the existing poisoned condition.

Taunted

The creature must use their action each turn to make a weapon attack, drawing a weapon as necessary. They must attack the creature or object that induced this effect on each of their turns while taunted.

#Pokemon #Dungeons and Dragons #DnD5e #conditions #homebrew

[secretswiftymarvelfan]

The Demigod From Asgard - Steve Rogers x Reader (Part 56)

Summary: With you and the rest of the team locked in the raft, its up to Steve and Bucky to stop Zemo

Word Count: 4.2k

Warnings: Canon Typical Violence! ANGST! Secretary Ross! Physical Interrogation tactic!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics​

Series Masterlist / Masterlist

Chapter 56: Mission Report: December 16th 1991

You sat in the corner of your cell, knees brought up to your chest, arms wrapped tightly around your legs, head rested against the wall. You knew that they would take you all to prison, you didn’t expect it to be the Raft.

As soon as you arrived they dragged you into an interrogation room. Demanding information from you. They kept you for hours not caring how tired you were, the collar around you not only draining your powers but your energy levels too.

You remained silent the entire time, trying to not give in to the goading and attempts to unsettle you. However, there was only so much you could take before you snapped.

“I am not telling you a fucking thing!” you growl “So give up this pathetic power parade and move on to-” your words were ripped from your mouth when you felt an electric shock through your neck.

Once it stopped you looked back at the guards who were smirking “oh you like the new upgrade?” He asks holding up a small remote.

“Since we knew how feisty you can get, we thought we’d install something to keep you in line” he explains a sickening grin spreading across his face.

You didn’t say anything, just glared over at the man. He smirked leaning over the table and getting right up into your personal space.

“What’s wrong sugar? Cat got your tongue?” He smirks.

You respond by spitting in his face. He recoils in disgust before slapping you across the face with the back of his hand. You turn your head back towards him smirking victoriously, however it was short-lived when he activated the shock collar once more.

“Crazy bitch, take her back to her cell” he orders as he wipes the spit from his face.

From that point onwards you refused to speak to anyone. Not that you really wanted to. Your mind was still reeling from the events at the airport. Constantly worrying about Steve and Bucky and whether they’d be able to stop the doctor. Worrying about whether Rhodey was okay.

“Finally where you all belong,” Ross says as he walks into the room containing all your cells.

You glance over to see him walking around inspecting all the cells “don’t say I didn’t warn you” he sighs.

He pauses when he reaches your cell “I’ve been told you’ve been difficult for the guards” he says looking down at you.

“Steve will kill you when he finds out you hurt her” Sam warns making Ross look over his shoulder at him.

“I’m not worried about that, soon he’ll be here with you, reunited, maybe if you play your cards right we’ll let you share a cell,” Ross says sending an insincere smile your way.

“Modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, just be glad it didn’t end the same way” Ross smirks.

Ross’s tirade gets interrupted by his phone ringing. As he picks it up you hear him talking about Tony and you feel sick to your stomach. Turning your head away from him and everyone else.

“Hey, you okay?” You heard Sam ask once Ross was gone.

You didn’t answer. You didn’t trust yourself nor your emotions. You knew they were watching you at all times looking for a sign of weakness that they could exploit. Even if yours was Steve, you were damn well sure you wouldn’t let them know that.

“Steve will be okay, he’s not gonna let Ross get to him or Bucky,” Sam tells you.

Hours passed and you still didn’t speak, just listening in to the hushed whispers of your broken team around you. You only looked up when you heard the door open, glancing over you saw Tony making you look straight down unable to look at him.

You hear Clint clapping sarcastically as Tony walked around looking at all of you in your cells.

“The futurist, gentlemen! The futurist is here! He sees all! He knows what’s best for you, whether you like it or not” Clint calls out sarcastically.

“Give me a break Barton” Tony sighs as he walks over “I have no idea they’d put you here, come on”

“Yeah well, you knew they’d put us somewhere Tony” Clint points out.

“Yeah but not some super-max floating ocean pokey,” Tony says glancing around “this place is for maniacs, this place is for…”

“Criminals?” Clint finishes as he stands up “criminals Tony, think that’s the words you’re looking for, right? That didn’t use to mean me or Sam, or Y/N, but here we are”

“Because you broke the law, I didn’t make you” Tony sighed “you read it you broke it, you’re all grown up, you got a wife and kids. I don’t understand, why didn’t you think about them before you chose the wrong side?”

“You gotta watch your back with this guy, there’s a chance he’s gonna break it,” Clint says as Tony walks away towards your cell.

“Hank Pym always said never can trust a Stark,” Scott says as Tony passes past his cell.

“Who are you?” Tony asks simply glancing at Scott as he approached your cell

“Hey,” Tony says when he pauses by your cell.

You don’t respond turning yourself away from him.

“She won’t talk, she hasn’t said a word since we’ve gotten here,” Sam tells Tony.

Tony sighs walking away from your cell and towards Sam’s “how’s Rhodes?” Sam asks when Tony reaches him.

“They’re flying him to Columbia medical tomorrow, so fingers crossed” Tony sighs.

“What do you need? They feed you yet?” Tony asks making Sam scoff.

“You’re the good cop now?” Sam asks him.

“I’m the guy who needs to know where Steve went,” Tony tells him.

“Well, you better go get a bad cop, because you’re gonna have to go Mark Fuhrman on my ass to get information out of me or any of us” Sam states.

“Well I just knocked the A out of their AV, we got about 30 seconds before they realise it’s not their equipment,” Tony says making you look up and over in surprise.

“Just look because that is the fellow who was supposed to interrogate Barnes, clearly I made a mistake, Sam I was wrong” Tony admits.

“That’s a first” Sam remarks.

“Cap is definitely off the reservation but he’s about to need all the help he can get. We don’t know each other very well, you don’t have to...” Tony says before Sam interrupts.

“Hey it’s all right,” Sam says before sighing “look I’ll tell you but you have to go alone and as a friend”

“Easy” Tony agrees.

“It’s a base in Siberia, it's where Bucky was kept when he was the winter soldier, I don’t have the exact coordinates though” Sam sighs.

“61.0137 North, 99.1967 East” you say finally, deciding to trust Tony.

“Thank you, and look I’ll try and get you guys somewhere better once this is all over,” Tony says before heading out.

The rest of you didn’t dare speak, uncertain whether the audio was still knocked out or not. You just hoped you hadn’t made a mistake trusting Tony. You didn’t want to make a bad situation any worse.

The jet was completely silent. Steve sighed as he thought about you and the rest of the team. He hated that he had to leave you all, he really hated that you stayed too. He wished he fought more and made sure you were beside or in front of him.

He knew what was going to happen. You’d all be arrested and thrown in some jail cell while Ross tried to hunt him down. He knew both Clint and Scott had families, he knew what they’d do to you and Wanda, and he didn’t stop it.

The only thing keeping him from turning the jet around was Bucky and the Doctor. He had to stop the doctor from getting to the other winter soldiers. He had to clear Bucky’s name. It was only after he’d done that, could he help the rest of the team. Either way, he was determined to get you out as soon as he could.

“What’s gonna happen with your friends?” Bucky asks quietly making Steve sigh and shake his head.

“Whatever it is… I’ll deal with it” Steve sighs.

“I don’t know if I’m worth all this Steve” Bucky admits quietly.

Steve sighs looking over his shoulder at bucky “what you did all those years it wasn’t you, you didn’t have a choice” Steve tells him.

“I know” Bucky sighs “but I did it”

“But you didn’t want to, that’s the important thing. You know one of the best things Y/N did for me was to see Steve and Cap as two separate entities. Bucky Barnes and The Winter Solider are not the same person either, never have, never will be” Steve tells him as he looks back out the front of the jet, Bucky not giving him any repose.

A few hours later they arrived at the Siberian base. As they landed Steve could see the truck the doctor must have used. He just hoped they’d arrived with enough time to stop him.

“You can borrow some of Nat’s gear,” Steve tells Bucky nodding to the compartment labelled with her name.

Bucky nods his head opening it and grabbing out a large gun with a sigh. Steve grabs his shield glancing down at the scratch marks now embedded in the metal before slinging it onto his back. Bucky comes to stand beside him as the jet door opens. Steve glances over at him to see the trepidation on his face, a memory from their past popping into his head.

“You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway beach in the back of that freezer truck?” Steve asks looking over at Bucky.

“Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?” Bucky recalls a small smile playing on his lips.

“You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a redhead” Steve chuckles.

“What was her name again?” Bucky asks.

“Dolores, you called her Dot,” Steve tells him with a small smile.

“She’s gotta be a hundred years old right now” Bucky chuckles.

“So are we, pal” Steve reminds him with a smile, putting his hand on his shoulder and squeezing it.

Steve then grabs his helmet and puts it on before they make their way out of the jet and towards the base. As they approached the door, they could see that it had been left wide open.

“He can’t have been here more than a few hours,” Steve says.

“Long enough to wake them up” Bucky sighs as they make their way inside.

Once inside Bucky led Steve over to the elevator that would take them down into the base. As the elevator descended Steve looked over at Bucky to see his jaw clenched. Steve gives him a nod to ensure he was okay, the memories of this place no doubt haunting him.

Once the elevator stopped they moved out gun and shield at the ready. Bucky led Steve through the base, checking every corridor to ensure there wasn’t someone waiting to pounce.

As they began to climb some stairs their heard a large thud behind them. Steve quickly turned around, shield held up protecting the both of them. Bucky’s gun was trained on the door that was slowly opening.

“You ready?” Steve asks.

“Yeah” Bucky responds.

To their surprise it was neither the doctor nor the winter soldiers, it was Tony in his Iron man suit. Steve cautiously lowered his shield as Tony began to walk over.

“You seem a little defensive” Tony comments.

“It’s been a long day,” Steve says as he walks over.

“At ease soldier I’m not currently after you” Tony calls out over to Bucky.

“Then why are you here?” Steve questions.

“Could be your story’s not so crazy, maybe” Tony shrugs “Ross has no idea I’m here I’d like to keep it that way, otherwise I gotta arrest myself”

“Well that sounds like a lot of paperwork,” Steve says before full lowering his shield.

“And I usually leave all that to you,” Tony says making Steve let out a huff of a laugh

“It’s good to see you Tony,” Steve says nodding over to Tony.

“Me too cap” Tony agrees before looking over at Bucky “hey Manchurian candidate, you’re killing me. There’s a truce here you can drop”

Steve gestures over to Bucky, reassuring him that it was okay.

“Right then let’s go hunt this so-called doctor down” Tony sighs.

The three of them continue making their way through the large baes. Tony using his suit to search out for heat signatures.

“How did you know we were here?” Steve asks him quietly.

“Y/N told me” Tony answers glancing over his shoulder at him.

“How is she?” Steve asks.

“She’s okay, quiet but okay,” Tony tells him, Steve nodding his head in understanding.

As they round a corner the corridor opens up into a much larger room “I got heat signatures” Tony announces.

“How many?” Steve asks.

“Uh, one” Tony says as he continues to scan.

As they step into the room the lights turn on the reveal the chambers and the winter soldiers still inside them. Steve glances around confused, he would have expected them to be activated by now.

“If it’s any comfort, they died in their sleep,” Zemo says over the speakers.

As they walk further into the room Steve was able to see the bullet wounds in each of the soldier’s heads.

“Did you really think I wanted more of you? I’m grateful to them though they brought you here” Zemo continues the light in the room turning on to illuminate his face.

Steve instantly throws his shield at the glass, but it bounces off without even making a scratch.

“Please Captain, the soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets,” Zemo says with a condescending tone.

“I’m betting I could beat that” Tony calls out as the three of them start walking over.

“Oh I’m sure you could Mr Stark, given time, but then you’d never know why you came” Zemo points out.

“You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?” Steve asks as he walks right up to the window to face Zemo.

“I’ve thought about nothing else for over a year, I studied you, I followed you, but now that you’re standing here, I just realised there’s a bit of green in the blue of your eyes, how nice to find a flaw” Zemo smiles.

At that moment Steve’s mind went to you. The memory of you smiling, cupping his cheek as you told him about the green flecks in his eyes, and how much you loved them. Pushing the thought back Steve focused on Zemo, recognising his accent.

“You’re Sokovian, is that what this is about?” Steve asks.

“Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell, no, I’m here because I made a promise,” Zemo tells him.

“You lost someone?” Steve asks knowing the death toll in Sokovia was much higher than in their other battles.

“I lost everyone” Zemo spits “and so will you”

Steve watches as Zemo hits a button and the computer screen beside Steve flickers to life. He glances over at Zemo unsure as to what he was doing.

“An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again, but one which crumbled from within? That’s dead. Forever” Zemo says as Steve and Tony walked over to the monitor.

Tony doing a double take “I know that road” he mutters “what is this?” He then shouts out to Zemo.

Zemo doesn’t answer and when Steve looks back at the screen, he sees a car appear in the shot. Crashing into a nearby tree. Someone on a motorbike then appears pulling up behind the car.

Steve glances over at Bucky starting to put the pieces together. He knew that Tony’s parents died in a car crash in ’91. He remembered how Zola told him that it wasn’t an accident. He had hoped it wasn’t Bucky, but the footage was telling him otherwise.

Steve could hear Maria calling out to Howard. Howard looked up at Bucky as he held onto his head before Bucky punched him hard enough to kill him. Dragging his lifeless body back to the car before rounding it to kill Maria.

Steve glanced over at Tony as the video ended with a clear shot of Bucky shooting the camera. He could see the rage building inside him. In all the years of knowing Tony and all the arguments they had, Steve had never seen him this angry.

Steve grabs hold of him as he goes to make a move on Bucky “No Tony” he says holding him back.

Tony looks back over at him before meeting his eyes “did you know?” Tony says his voice filled with anger, barely above a whisper.

Steve pauses for a moment trying to find the right words, to still be honest but not make the situation worse.

“I didn’t know it was him,” he tells him.

It technically was true. Steve didn’t know for certain that it was Bucky until that moment, he had always suspected it though.

“Don’t bullshit me Rogers, did you know?” Tony hisses catching Steve out in his white lie.

“Yes” Steve admits, and Tony pushes himself away, looking over at Steve completely betrayed.

Tony drops his head nodding slightly and for a moment Steve thought that maybe his anger wouldn’t get the better of him. Meaning he didn’t expect the uppercut that sent him tumbling backwards to the floor.

As he gets back up, he can see Tony pinning Bucky down, aiming his gauntlet at his face. Steve quickly throws his shield at Tony, distracting him enough to allow Steve to run over and push him back off of bucky.

Tony quickly recovers flying back towards Steve and knocking him back. As he hit the ground Tony fired restraints at his ankles pinning his feet together. He quickly sat up spotting Tony and bucky fighting, Tony aimed a small projectile at Bucky but he moves his arm, so it misses hitting the side of the bunker causing part of it to collapse.

Steve manages to free himself from the restraints and runs back over dodging the falling debris. Once it had all settled, he spotted Tony had been pinned down by some of it while he and Bucky remained free.

“Get out of here!” Steve shouts over to Bucky.

Bucky thankfully listens and starts running. When Steve spots Tony following him jumps in the way stopping him. The blast roof above them and Steve sees Tony prepare to fly up. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to catch up to him Steve tried one last attempt to negotiate with him.

“It wasn’t him Tony,” Steve tells him “Hydra had control of his mind!”

“Move!” Tony shouts.

“It wasn’t him!” Steve argues back grabbing Tony’s foot as he flew past.

As he held Tony back, he hit the bottom of his foot with his shield trying to disable the thrusters. Tony however manages to get free using a laser to block the passage behind him.

Cursing to himself he ran back and started climbing after Bucky, using all of his strength to climb as fast as he could. He manages to get there just as Tony fired a projectile at Bucky, using his shield to protect the both of them, and blasting Tony back and down the cavern.

“He’s not gonna stop, go,” Steve says to Bucky as he helps him up.

Bucky nods before jumping onto the platform above them. Steve turns back towards Tony grabbing the grappling hook from his belt. He then jumps down firing it at Tony as he passed, managing to loop it around the neck, dragging Tony down with him.

They managed to fall a good distance but stop when Tony hit a platform, the grappling hook coming loose. Steve throws his shield trying to stop Tony from firing but Tony hits it away and it falls down the gap to the floor below.

Unable to do anything Steve watches as Tony fires a missile at the hinge to the blast roof, causing it to fall back down and block Bucky’s escape. Tony flies up and grabs hold of Bucky, putting him in a chokehold. As Tony steps off the platform to fly Bucky down to the floor Steve jumps out tackling them mid-air. A tactic that works to get Tony to drop Bucky but leaves Steve and Tony falling to the ground.

Steve groans as he hits the floor rolling for a moment before coming to a stop. He pushes himself up onto his feet turning to see Tony standing on the level above him.

“This isn’t gonna change what happened,” Steve says as he catches his breath.

“I don’t care, he killed my mom” Tony mutters, venom dripping in his voice.

Tony then flies over to tackle Steve but Steve punches him away. The two of them exchange blows. Steve tries his best to disable Tony’s suit while also pulling his punches. Despite everything, he didn’t want to hurt Tony.

Tony manages to flip Steve onto his back and starts trying to punch him, Steve barely moving his head out of the way each time. Tony managed to land a couple of punches. Tony however is soon pushed off of Steve as Bucky hits him in the back with Steve’s shield.

With the two of them, they manage to get the upper hand over Stark, even getting him down onto his knees. But Tony manages to blast Steve in the stomach blasting him back into the wall and onto the floor. This wasn’t the first time Tony had done this in the years of knowing each other, but this was the first time he’d used full capacity.

Steve lay there groaning as he slowly managed to push himself up, his body telling him to stop but he wasn’t going to. Not while Bucky was still in danger. As he got to his knees his vision was still slightly blurred as he saw Bucky try and pull the arc reactor out of Tony’s suit. He blinked, his vision clearing as Tony blasted Bucky back, blasting his metal arm completely off. As Bucky pushed himself up onto his knees Tony blasted him in the back knocking him back down.

Steve felt rage build up inside and he pushed himself to his feet and ran over, using his shield to protect himself from the blasts. Steve manages to push Tony back against the wall and tries to continue what bucky started, to disarm the arc reactor and stop Tony. Steve landed punch after punch, hitting Tony with his shield.

As he went to hit Tony once more, Tony reacted grabbing Steve’s shield and startling Steve. Taking advantage of the fact Steve was distracted Tony blasted Steve’s shield out of his hand before blasting him back across the room. Steve had only just gotten to his feet when Tony attacked again. Tony punched him across the face soon followed by an uppercut, finishing with a blast to the stomach knocking Steve to his knees.

“He’s my friend,” Steve says as he looked back up at Tony panting.

“So was I” Tony muttered before punching him twice across the jaw.

Steve coughed, spitting up blood before Tony grabbed him and threw him into the nearby pillars.

“Stay down, final warning,” Tony tells him as Steve pushes himself up slowly using the pillar as support.

Steve raises his fist, a little unsteady on his feet as he prepared himself “I could do this all day” he pants.

Tony raises his gauntlet but before he has a chance to fire Bucky grabs hold of his leg distracting him. Tony turns to kick bucky in the head, and as he does Steve grabs hold of Tony lifting him above his head. He throws Tony to the ground before climbing on top to pin him down.

He punches Tony on the head, part of the helmet breaking as he does so. He then grabs his shield to use that instead, before ripping the mask off of Tony’s face. Steve raises his shield one last time and brings it down on the arc reactor. Stopping as he feels the suit power down, pushing himself off of Tony.

As he stands he pulls his shield out of Tony’s suit and puts it back on his arm. He gives Tony one last look before walking over to Bucky, and pulling him up from the ground.

“That shield doesn’t belong to you, you don’t deserve it, my father made that shield!” Tony calls out as Steve walks away.

Steve pauses in his steps, his mind clearing. He knew after all of this there was no way he could be a free man anymore. He would spend the rest of his life on the run. Steve Rogers was a criminal, but Captain America wasn’t. And it was true, Howard made this shield, who better to leave it with than his son? Steve had no use for it anymore, he was done being Captain America.

He let out a deep sigh before dropping the shield. The sound of the metal hitting the ground reverberated around them. He glanced over at Bucky before carrying him out of the building and back to the jet. Unsure where to go next.

Sharing is caring so please reblog if you enjoyed this and maybe even leave a comment to make my day!  

Series Masterlist / Masterlist

I don’t have a tag list so follow @secretswiftymarvelfanlibrary​ and turn on post notifications for updates!

#Niamhwrites #the demigod from asgard #steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n #captainamerica #captain america x reader #captain america x y/n #captain america x you #marvel #mcu #Chris Evans

[tobi-smp]

The thing is, Techno does lose.

He lost the trust of the people who looked up to him in Pogtopia when he killed his own allies and escalated Wilbur's destruction. He lost his friendship with Tommy when he destroyed L'Manberg a second time. He lost three months of his time because he walked into an obvious trap. He lost Ranboo because he chose to rescue Dream. He technically lost his life, although that doesn't count much since it didn't stick. But these losses never stick long enough for him to learn from them, and when they do stick, someone else inevitably shoulders the blame instead.

The problem with Techno is not that he doesn't have short-term losses. The problem is that he doesn't care, because he doesn't need to care.

Context: [Link]

right ! that's exactly what I said ^^ though I do think there Is a point to be made about his actual losses here because like.

he Loses, but never in the way that he should. even taking his lack of reaction into account. 

his reputation and physical skill means that he’s never Actually the underdog, but technoblade’s roleplay consists of presenting himself as if he were, even when it isn’t supported by the text.

which means every single one of his conflicts can be broken down into categories.

1: manufactured conflict where either nobody’s at fault or he’s actually in the wrong, but he’s presented as being completely victimized.

that’s pogtopia being completely honest about not wanting to destroy l’manberg or the government from the start, with it being clear On The Day Of The 16th that techno and wilbur were literally the only characters that wanted to destroy it and everybody else was in it for restoring l’manberg. which we know because they all said it directly in front of him while he was there before he took them to the vault.

so when he feels “betrayed” here, its under the context of him being fully aware of what he was getting himself into the entire time, being a part of a team that he knew didn’t want what he wanted, and staying with them willingly Knowing that. and then when they did what they said they wanted to do from square one he turned around and accused them of lying, and forced that narrative so hard that either everyone else has been gaslit into believing him or Technoblade The Content Creator has strongarmed the other content creators into retconning it, because it’s the only way to actually address that plot point and get a real reaction out of him.

and talking about his falling out with tommy would be an essay in and of itself. I know that because I’m written that essay [Link 1, Link 2]

2: characters that are much weaker than him stacking the deck so that they have a chance at beating him, and him “miraculously” winning.

this is one of the only instances where techno will allow the plot to manipulate the Potential outcome of a fight, but only insofar as he wants a challenge that’ll be impressive when he overcomes it. 

there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, in isolation it’s exciting content that fun to watch. but the important thing here is that it is Always the weaker party that is nevertheless being framed as the overdog from techno’s narrative. l’manberg is presented as a monolithic Government despite the fact that he can easily 1v5 the entirety of that government at a disadvantage.

quackity was framed as mindlessly power hungry from techno’s perspective, when techno had been stripped of his armor and armed with an iron pick. that moment was Exciting, but it also cemented the fandom’s view of quackity as an uncomplicated villain in a way that’s squashed everything that came before and after. it’s taken nearly two years for him to buck that stigma and to an extent he Still Hasn’t.

technoblade is the overdog in terms of skill and resources and Power, but those weaker than him are positioned as the overdog by the illusion of stripping him down and framing them as being a part of a system that doesn’t actually Have systemic power. 

we have never seen technoblade fight dream because that would risk exposing the fact that dream always represented the power structure [Link], and nothing highlighted this more than having techno partnering with the other most powerful person on the server to stomp the entirety of l’manberg and then some on doomsday.

technoblade’s framing wants us to enjoy watching him stop his opponent into dust because He Is The Underdog winning against all odds, but that is simply not the reality of the situation. he is never not in control because he won’t actually fight the people at a similar skill level to him.

the Closest that he ever came was the prison arc, where he was completely stripped down and trapped by the nature of the plot. unarmed, unarmored, and facing someone who hates him in a position where he truly did not have the power.

and he won.

he was teleported away before he could be killed, and the only baring that this had on him as a person was that it gave dream the opportunity to ask to help break him out. something that could’ve been accomplished a multitude of other ways.

he was completely stripped of his power through a plot convenience And Still Won Because Of Plot Convenience.

3: pure revenge fantasy fuel.

this one has crossover with the other two, but it’s also distinct from them. this is a conflict that only exists to set up the revenge fantasy of watching techno crush someone whose wrong him. this is, again, something that would be Fine if it played by the rules.

there’s already the issue of techno almost Always being the overdog (meaning watching him kick around people that are weaker than him isn’t as satisfying or Fun if you’re not only aware of this fact but invested in the other characters), but there’s also the issue of how it intersects with the themes of the series.

this is something that I’ve gone into detail about here [Link], so I’m not going to write an essay about it now. but the short of it is that the dream smp as whole is trying to tell the narrative that revenge Does Not Make You Happier. that lashing out at other people out of anger only makes your life worse.

the butcher army had to learn it, quackity had to learn it, tommy had to learn it, fundy had to learn it, jack and niki are in the process of learning it. but when technoblade is involved any form of revenge comes consequence and thought free.

this is where your point Well And Truly Matters. because technoblade doesn’t actually have to Fail at getting revenge for him to not break the themes of the narrative, he just has to be unhappy afterwards.

getting revenge on l’manberg and on tommy despite knowing that that means cutting tommy out of his life Should Be A Painful Decision That Makes Him Unhappier And Lonelier. he should Mourn the loss of connections with other people, and people should be Allowed To Be Angry At Him when he makes decisions that hurt them.

the followup to doomsday shouldn’t be him living his cottagecore best life with his new teenage sidekick and then starting a club. he has to, you know, Feel Something About The Choices He Made.

and this is something that negatively impacts the characters around him. because tubbo Already learned the lesson that lashing out at people only makes him unhappier. except now he hasn’t. now he condemned a man to starve to death three times in a row, ultimately leading to him being psychologically tortured, and that’s just like Cool.

part of that was down to cc!tubbo’s roleplay choices, but there was no way for techno to play out murdering a man without remorse and framing it like a Cool Action Revenge Fantasy without it juxtaposing horribly with tubbo framing revenge against sam as a Tragedy.

it’s Exactly this problem that made the tone during doomsday as fucked up as it was. because from any perspective Except techno’s it was a tragedy. even Phil had a confrontation with ghostbur that made that clear. and the discourse that followed, that’s Still Following it years later, was horrific because some fans had a completely different experiences from others to the point that it was impossible to have a conversation about it on the same footing.

which was directly due to the tonal dissonance between technoblade trying to have a fun uncomplicated revenge fantasy and the reality of the situation from an in-universe perspective.

#c!techno critical #cc!techno critical #long post #discourse