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brawlstars-dragon-au · 5 months

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Sketch dump time! A whole bunch of requests from the crazy ex-bird app

In Order: Maisie, Pam, Colette, Buster, Chester, Chuster ❤️🧡 (and a teeny Gus), Leon and Sandy (Leondy 💚💜), Bull, El Primo, and Mandy!

Extra notes about each sketch:

Maisie:

Her breath attack is a condensed foam material, similar to that of a fire extinguisher. Using a gas similar to a pressurized CO² (based on gas-based fire extinguishers!), she shoots it out at high speeds. These hits can potentially cause frostbite and even severe damage to the body if left unattended. She's quite powerful in this AU due to this ability 👀👀 being able to put out the fires and overpower another dragon's breath? Now THAT'S some queen moves right there! She can also simply spray out the foam substance at short range without that pressurized gas. This helps with more close range fire fighting work.

Her right wing and front leg were undeveloped, a disability she'd had since she hatched. However! With the help of mechanics, she uses these prosthetics to help her fly. Still gotta test out how to draw it to make sense, as well as sort out how it stays in place. I've been using inspiration from Toothless (HTTYD) and his tail that Hiccup made.

Pam:

Pam is a bulkier dragon, very much on the larger side of all of them. I'm at odds with myself to figure out whether ot not she'll have wings 🤔 so I had two copies there! Perhaps her wings may be a bit smaller if I do give her them.

Pam spits out molten magma that's stored up inside her as an attack. However, it can also be chunks of scrap metal that she stores up. Otherwise, it's just magma.

Though I didn't draw this, I want Pam to be very resilient to fire in general, as her species/family of dragon use their ability to spew this magma (technically Lava after ut leaves her body? I'll do more research on this...) in order to craft and shape metal. While other dragons need to spend some time to build up a fire hot enough, the Junker family line is able to do this much more easily. (Amber is a close second, though)

Her skin has the ability to crack and seep up lava out of it, potentially coating her body in this to give herself a temporary lava shield, something extremely hard to break through. (In the future, little Jessie may also be able to do this... however, Pam doesn't think she's ready at the moment and avoids the topic or any ideas of teaching her how.)

Colette:

Colette flies in a sort of funny way, twirling around and flapping her wings to maintain somewhat of a chaotic flight pattern. Think of a snake slithering through the sky, but with large wings and the grace of... a teenage dragon (not much, but it does work).

When she gets better at flying...pray and hope she isn't able to catch up to her favourite brawlers cause she isn't ever gonna let go of them 💀 It makes for a great attack, actually! Charging at enemies and coiling around them like a snake to prevent movement, like a big hug ❤️ she just loves everyone SO much 😍

Buster:

Finally kinda set on a design for this funky guy! He's a larger dragon (smaller than El Primo or Frank, but still definitely up there in size)

His wings never quite grew fully, so he wouldn't be able to fly 😔 however, that'll never stop him and his dreams of being a cool movie star 🧡🧡

Buster, at the heart of it, is an unstoppable force when he sets his mind to something. He'll charge in with the same ferocity as his favouite protagonists, rivalling the audacity and hard-headed nature of even Bull! All while doing so for his friends 💪 we love Buster in this AU frfr

Chester:

Chester always has theatrics when he flies. Flips, spins, and fun aerodynamic movements up in the sky! He's gotta compensate for his lack of speed compared to other wyverns after all, but he thinks he's pretty great 😎

Loved drawing this kinda unique pose tbh! That's what I loved with these drawings, I got to experiment without really thinking too much for em with how polished and clean that look. It was very fun! 🔥

Chuster ft. Gus❤️🧡:

We love some goofy gays here 🥹❤️🧡 I just wanted to let em have a little nuzzle + smooch! Dragons don't necessarily kiss, but little side boops like this are the equivalent of a cheek kiss.

Also, a little Gus on the side 🥹🥹 I love this sort of found family dynamic that have! Buster being the cool dad vibe/big bro to Gus, and then Buster being in a relationship with Chester so that he's also a cool dad too 😎 Gus loved these two guys from the very start, they're funny 🤭 never a boring day for these silly lads.

Leondy 💚💜:

My beloveds 🤲 I really do cherish the ship, as well as strong friendship Sandy and Leon have. (Btw in my HCs, Leon and Sandy are 13 & 14 respectively, just to clear that up!)

Sandy, I've mentioned a few times, is very inspired by Capybaras, so Leon finding one is just perfect 🤭 silly little deadpan face lads.

Bull:

BULLDOZERRRR- What a lad! Bull is inspired by- uh, Bulls! Great creatures, large bodies and thick necks to support those headstrong charges 🐂 I love making his posture all confident, strong steps to say, "Yeah. You TRY and stand up to me. I DARE you." Don't wanna mess with him on most days 🏃‍♀️💨💨

El Primo:

Still figuring out a full-body for El Primo, bit he's roughly the same size as Bull! (Maybe a bit bigger)

El Primo has got really small wings, similar to his El Dragón skin. Even his scales and horns are inspired by that mostly! Love when characters have preexisting dragon themed skins 🤭 makes it a lot easier to make ideas!

His "mask" is actually just body paint. He has similar paint on his body, really showing off the vibrant colours and persona he puts on for the crowds.

He WILL beat up his enemies into a pulp in matches. Thank goodness there's the gem powered regeneration and the respawn system in place 😭 I plan to give him a very strong body and tail, enough to support him when he needs to go on his hind legs and overpower his opponents. Buster is designed in a similar way as well!

Mandy:

Last but not least, the Queen of Candy herself. Not even the Dragon AU let's her escape fast food work 😔😔

Her super attack is purely a magical sugar-based rainbow blast, as shown in the sketch. Also, I'm now realizing that I forgot her red spots oml- No wonder she looks so empty 💀 uhh sorry about that, lads 😭 I'll redraw her one day to show off that glowing effect of her spots 🥹🥹

And that's all! Thank you for reading if you made it this far! Hopefully I can make more of these sketch dumps 🤭✨️ maybe take reqs from here too! We shall see. Take care y'all!

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whimsicalwritingsandmore · 11 days

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Chaotic Good | ateez x reader

Pairing: ateez x reader

Genre: drama, au, romance, revenge

Warnings: being pushed off a bridge

Word Count: 1442 words

a/n: hi! so, this is a random idea that came to mind a while ago. honestly, I'm not 100% sure the direction I want to take this yet. this is just a draft of what came to mind. as such, I would really appreciate your feedback on it!! Comments, reblogs, or if you'd like to PM or send an ask to give your thoughts would mean a lot to me because I like the idea, but I'm not sure where to take it/if it could get confusing. Thank you for reading! <3

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Out of breath, you limp along in the tunnel, suppressing the shivers and fear that coils in your stomach.

Your heart is hammering in your chest erratically with dread twisting in your gut and your throat tightening with terror. As you came to a clearing, the sky above you were unnaturally dark with layers of gigantic and heavy dark clouds giving off an ominous and threatening feeling. The misty haze that surrounded you was like a veil bringing with it a feeling of menace and dread while the wind seemed to escalate in strength and rattled the branches of the trees. There was a flickering of white light bursting across the sky and in the distance, thunder rumbled like the echo of a drum.

Glancing around at your surroundings, you notice that you’re on a broken bridge with caution tape plastered across the railings. You’re battered and bloodied, your clothes torn and pain surges through your body - a searing and grating ache that causes you to grit your teeth in agony and close your eyes tightly. Your hair is frazzled and deep down, amidst all the anguish, you’re silently praying for someone to find you and save you.

Suddenly, a car approaches you, its headlight blinding you from seeing who it is. A figure steps out, beautifully dressed in contrast to you. Her high heels are a glossy black and her dress is an eye-catching and short blood red dress. Her neck and arms are adorned in beautiful gold jewellery but if you look closer, those jewels are yours.

As she approaches you, lightening flashes through the sky and cuts through the darkness like a camera flash while a thunderous echo brings forth a shower of rain that drenches the two of you in no time. Under the bridge, the sea boils and churns with crested waves hurling against the large boulders.

You were beginning to get delirious as the pain began to rob you of any rational thinking. With tears pooling at the rims of your eyes, you shallowly breath in a breathe before speaking to the person in front of you.

“Why?” You ask meekly, “Why are you doing this?”

The girl in front of you gloats evilly and as she steps right in front of you, she slaps you hard.

“They’re mine,” she sneers, “You don’t deserve any of what you have.”

Love, adoration, affection and respect. You have won hearts from around the world in an instant ever since you started your career. You are a part of the group Ateez and while being the only female member brought forth a fair share of criticism and controversy, many fans fondly regarded you for being yourself - your talent shining through every time you took the stage and it was inspiring to all those who would be in the crowd. All eight boys love you dearly, notably Yunho, who was the first to pursue you.

But the person on this bridge with you, who is supposed to be your best friend, the one you thought you could trust - is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing - a snake in the grass. Initially, she supported you dearly but you noticed a shift in her behaviour after returning from the European leg of the tour. She began to flirt with your boyfriends and get extremely close. She would borrow your things and never return them, forcing you to ask back for it constantly.

When you confronted her, she accused you of jealousy and told the boys about it. They stood up for you but then, strange things began to happen. You found yourself in scandals one right after the other, the worst being when a news outlet got wind of one of Yunho’s deepest secrets that only you and the boys knew. As much as you tried to defend yourself, Yunho refused to look at you, and the next thing you knew, an article released an exclusive about Yunho and your friend, who were both seen together sharing a kiss.

Yunho contends it was a drunken mistake but to help bury the hatchet of all the sudden scandals surrounding the group, the company confirms the two of them are dating - that they have known each other for a long time and have begun getting to know each other more intimately. Heartbroken and devastated, you yell at Yunho seeking answers but all he tells you that maybe it’s for the best right now, if you didn’t create all these problems, he wouldn’t have to pretend. The others are torn and spend less time with you outside of practice.

And now, here you are, your friend Ara grabs your hair and pushes you harshly towards the broken railings. Your head begins to spin and you feel yourself moving in and out of consciousness. The colour was drained from your face, and fresh terror began to rear up within you. Your body was beginning to feel numb and you didn’t dare move as fear and anxiety eclipsed your thoughts.

“You won’t get away with this,” you cry out, “The heavens above see you for the monster that you are.”

“I already have gotten what I wanted,” she snips sharply, “And no one will take it away from me. Heaven would have to send someone better than me, and honestly? There isn’t anyone.”

Laughing maniacally, she pushes you hard and you feel the edges of the broken railing cutting your skin. Before you can even register what happens, you’re already falling. Time seems to slow down as memories of your life flashes across until you plunge in the deep, icy cold and roaring waters.

Thunder boomed throughout the sky, shaking everything to its core with the trees thrashing and writhing against the fierce winds while you sank to the bottom of the ocean, completely alone.

Goddess Persephone watches in anger and fury at the events that just occurred while her husband Hades remains pensive. Rage is thrumming through her veins and her irritation crackled with her temper sparking.

Many years ago when you were a baby, during the Spring Equinox, your parents, who were anthropologists, visited the temple of Demeter in Eleusis and prayed for your protection for years and years to come. Goddess Persephone was enamoured by your innocence and accepted you like her own, watching over you since then.

“This cannot happen.” she seethes.

“There is nothing we can do,” Hades responds, “Fata viam invenient.”

“No,” Persephone states, “That girl has haughtily challenged Fate itself. She believes she is higher than the Fates. I will not condone it.”

Hades sideyes Persephone recognizing the resolution in her voice.

“So what do you propose should happen?”

Persephone remains quiet for a minute before signalling a maid, “Find our daughter. Tell her she has a quest.”

Meanwhile, in a beautifully decorated, dimly-lit room, a young girl awakens from her slumber. As she stretches, she gazes around her room before slowly making her way out of bed. She drapes on her favourite ebony silk robe before exiting, taking the glass of orange juice that is already waiting for her. As she strolls down the golden hallway, those who are passing by bow before her. And then, a maid runs up to her.

“Your Mother wants to see you.”

Taken aback the girl responds, “What for?”

“You have a quest.”

“I don’t want a quest.” The girl states matter of factly towards her parents.

“Too bad. You’re doing it.” Hades responds blankly.

“Mommm, why are you sending me on a quest? Why can’t you send my brother?”

“Because Y/N, only you can fulfil this mission.”

Persephone gestures towards the crystal ball in the middle of the room. As she touches it, flashes of memories run across until the last one - the one at the bridge fades into the cloudy mist.

The girl is taken aback at the mistreatment you have incurred and turns to her mother with concern.

“She looks just like me…and she has the same name.”

“I named you after her. Her mother and father brought her to your Grandmother’s temple many years ago. You were born not too long after.”

“Why does she look like me?”

“The Fates work in mysterious ways so for that I cannot explain,” Persephone answers, “Nevertheless, we can use it to our advantage. I’m sending you to earth, you will take her place for now.”

“And do what exactly?”

Persephone turns to her daughter, an exact look-alike of you. Truly, it could possibly be considered a marvel to witness. The daughter of Hades and Persephone was an exact carbon copy of you.

Persephone smiles at her before declaring unapologetically.

“Seek revenge.”

#ateez x reader #ateez fanfic #poly ateez x reader #ot8 ateez x reader #poly!ateez

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thestarfishinjootsoffice · 9 months

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Slashers x child!reader… except it’s CHILDREN, because they are TWINS

HMMM WOWW THIS IS SOMETHING NEW YAHOO!!

Uhm I made the twins energetic hope you didn't mind it 👉👈

Warnings: mentions of murder and luring. Idkk??? Fluff??

Characters in this : Michael Myers, sinclair brothers and Bubba sawyer SORRY SO SHORT.

Relationship: Platonic! Father/uncle/older sibling figure? Yes?

Slashers x twins! Reader

Michael

😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

*immense sigh inserted from Michael*

How he'll take this is a matter of how they act.

Just two quiet timid little munchkadees and he shows a thumbs up.

But two little sly mischievous pranksters are a big no no from him. But let's go with that for the rest of the oneshot.

One was already hard enough for him but two?? He's gonna be breaking them spine and knees a little earlier... You can just imagine him sitting on a chair while two little children run around him and you can see the exhaustion behind his mask.

They can mess with him and ask him who is who and most of the time he gets it right or says idgaf. But if it's peepaw Michael he's a bit more willing to play along. Orr says idgaf too and points to whoever.

He doesn't necessarily hold those two but if they ask reeeeaaaallllyyyyy nicely he might. When he did though he thought it felt weird holding two children in his arms and intended to drop them after 10 seconds but seeing how happy and excited it made them he extended it to a few minutes. (And moved around the house a little since they asked really nicely about that too.)

If they get into an argument and get mad at each other and they turn to him for help he's panicking inside because he doesn't know wtf to do. He just grabs whatever their favorite food or drink is and hopes they make up.

One moment he goes into another room and comes back to find the twins throwing things around and screaming and he glares at them and gave them a little bonk on their heads and made them clean up.

If he finds out the twins had a bully he's ready for bone breaking or stabbing but if he also finds out the twins are tormenting the bully back for revenge and he just- he's so proud. (He came up to them and gave them a thumbs up.)

Overall he doesn't really love it nor does he really hate it. And he wouldn't say he wishes one of them to disappear cause he doesn't. I guess he kinda loves likes the both of you equally.

Sinclair brothers

Bo looks at the both of them together sometimes and smiles because they lowkey remind him of him and Vincent when they were younger. (The children twins get along wayy better) he tries not to mind and lash out when they're acting especially chaotic but you know the romantical relationship between him and anger so he yells at them. But then he later feels super guilty and tries to apologize with ice cream or something. Actually he's pretty lenient on them cause there's two of them and in his sense that means if one is in trouble then the other one will get them out of it. Boy was he wrong. He found them both wailing in a ditch with leaves as bait somewhere that they dug up because they wanted to catch animals for food but they forgot it was there. He also bonked them in the head after lifting them up. You can see him a lot with the twins and lure tourists in like 'heh... Yes come follow these two innocent looking kids...' He would rather die than admit it but he really likes having the twins company. He acts so nasty and detached but yk he would be so hurt if they didn't talk to him more than 10 times a day. Whatever tourist that picks on them or acts extremely suspicious around them would be dead before the sky turns deep blue. I bet he lets them hang on his arms and turns so smug when they comment about how strong their 'uncle' is. Wait did they say uncle? He accidentally dropped them. And crode later. Overall he likes them more than he could ever admit.

Vincent he loves watching them play (not in a weird way ofc) he watches them and sighs because he highkey wishes Bo would be a bit nicer to him sometimes. And for some reason he is a little nicer when the twins are around. When days are getting long and there's nothing to do he's playing with them, whether it be tag or dressing up in tutus he's fine with it. He gets worried a lot when the twins are on their own. Instead of a mindset like bo (and Lester) he thinks what would happen if BOTH of them get in trouble. He doesn't want to find two dead bodies somewhere so he tries to keep a close eye on them. A scenario where the twins are also running around in circles around Vincent sitting in a chair except he doesn't mind it and smiles. Contests where the twins draw Vincent and makes him choose whose art is better but he doesn't have the heart to choose which are inevitable. Anybody who looks at them weird? Gone. Not even wax just gone. Treats them like they're his own (he is their father figure). Since lester isn't always in ambrose Vincent does most of the raising since Bo apparently is always doing something (he tries.). So Vincent is the twins favorite and always comes to him for help unless it's about mechanical or such. Probably holds the twins in his arms a lot and scurries or runs around because it's so cool for them to look at everything from the height of 6'1 - 6'ft. His soul almost leaves him when they play and run around in the house of wax. Vincent thinks it's kinda hard handling twins but he loves it either way.

I said before Vincent was their favorite but boy do they get excited when they see Lester. He doesn't always come but he doesn't always decide to not visit. To be honest because of the twins he visits more frequently oh and they loveee jonesy. And for the record he's the fun-est and also funniest so when he pulls up with them truck the twins will be yelling, "omg look uncle Lester came!!!" Bo will give shit. Not to the twins but to Lester for some reason. The whole day you'll be spending time with Lester and they play stuff like who can hit the most animals with uncle Lester's car. (Sorry they don't actually play that.) But hes convenient because when the twins are refusing to do Or eat something and knowing how competitive chaotic kids are, Lester does the good ol' who can eat/clean the fastest and also does it with them so it'll be more fun. And he's carefree too and then he also finds the twins somewhere in trouble. I'm imagining a scenario where he tells a creepy tourist to get in a car and then he was driving really fast around a cliff and then he opens the tourist's side of the car door and roughly pushes them off the cliff. They were there to witness it all and honestly they were high key rooting for Lester. The kid twins get into mischief with Lester a lot and Bo finds it so annoying and Vincent is just concerned. Them and Lester are literal partners in crime. They work together like legitimately. Also when the twins get mad at each other Lester makes them apologize to each other and then treats them with food or some activity for doing so. Because it's important to apologize <3. Overall, he loves em' and they love him.

Bonus, jonesy!!: did I mention they love jonesy? Everytime the kid twins aren't playing with Lester they're most definitely being playfully chased by jonesy. Ofc she catches them every time and also gives them little kisses on the cheeks :,). 🩷🩷🩷 jonesy is just a natural at everything that's why she got along so well the first time they met with the kid twins, in fact she's the head master and wears the pants in the sinclair family. She's extremely vital. Someone acts mean to one of the twins? The other one and jonesy team up and start beating the person. Somehow they three team up and torment the other Sinclairs and the brothers have no idea how but they allow it. Overall 100/10, she's their second partner in crime.

Bubba sawyer

He loves taking care of them! Just whenever he can he plays with them. Wayy too attached to the twins since they're really the only ones who treat Bubba like an actual human being.

Will get so stressed if they mess up somewhere in a room because Drayton will yell at both the twins and Bubba. (The twins shit talk about Drayton and let Bubba on it too but he gets nervous.)

He also runs around the house holding one twin on his arms and one on his back. The twins love pulling that "guess who is who" Question and watch as Bubba struggles and fidgets as he tries to figure out.

There isn't really a quiet day with twins chasing each other but Bubba loves it. It doesn't make him feel alone. As much as he dislikes it, the twins help and lure victims in and also watch the brutal killings. If they insist it doesn't really bother them that much then he'll be put a little at ease.

He gets the big sad when the twins come crying to him after Drayton yelled at them for acting like the kids that they should act like. Knowing Bubba has a soft heart he can't really do anything other than comfort them physically by stroking their hair/heads.

He tries his best to keep them safe at all times knowing how dangerous this can be if the victims get smart or lucky. Overall he loves them to death and he wouldn't have it any other way.

This is the end. I'm losing my creativity and it took me like 6+ to finish this because I'm so indecisive. Anyways tell me if you want a part two :))

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miraclechatbug · 2 months

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In Animaestro, Adrien said, "Well, I'm more of a dog person myself."

He could be lying to protect his identity... but I like this theory too.

Since the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculouses are meant to represent yin and yang, I believe the same thing applies to Marinette and Adrien.

So, Marinette is a cat person and Adrien is a dog person! :D

Other things/headcanons:

- Adrien is an early bird; Marinette is a night owl

- Adrien is always described as sunshine or the summer sky; Marinette is described as moonshine or the ocean

- Adrien is very tidy and organized; Marinette is chaotic and disorganized

- Adrien is more quiet, a listening type; Marinette is the type to overshare and give lots of advice

- Adrien prefers classical music; Marinette is more into contemporary- though they both like Jagged Stone

- Adrien is very calm and thinks about his words before he says them; Marinette thinks at a mile per minute and doesn't have much of a filter

- Adrien is a very internal thinker, meaning he processes things internally which is why he's able to develop a persona like Chat Noir very easily; Marinette is more of an external thinker, she processes things by talking to people and asking questions and needs to be surrounded by activity to process better

- Adrien is very unsure about his future and place in the world; Marinette has a lot of ideas about what she wants to do in her future

- Adrien might take a more calm and relaxed approach to life as he grows older; Marinette is more goal-oriented and ambitious

- Adrien may be good at being creative, but he draws inspiration from other artists and people; Marinette always has a unique flair in every one of her designs

- Adrien avoids confrontation whenever he can even when someone tries to encourage him; Marinette will stand up for herself and others, especially when she's given encouragement

- Adrien might not always want to talk about his feelings or talk about his issues, used to process things on his own; Marinette might want everyone to talk it out, the type who wants everything out in the open

- Adrien is extremely forgiving when he is wronged, to the point that it could be harmful to him; Marinette is more stubborn, it takes her more time to see herself in another persons shoes if she doesn't relate to them- she doesn't forgive or forget easily

- Adrien is more of the type to get sad and depressed; Marinette is the type to get anxious and worried

- Adrien is more of a follower, go-with-the-flow type of person; Marinette likes taking the lead and charge when no one else seems to

- Adrien is optimistic, and always tries to think about the best-case scenarios; Marinette is a bit pessimistic, always thinking about the worst-case scenarios and catastrophizing

- Adrien has very few, close friends and prefers it this way; Marinette always ends up making friends with a lot of people

- Adrien prefers to focus on the practical matters and issues on hand; Marinette prefers to dig deeper and understand the bigger picture

- Adrien is more comfortable with an unplanned, spontaneous approach to life; Marinette wants plans, schedules, and well-defined procedures in place

- Adrien's very graceful and can move with ease; Marinette is clumsy and lacks a good hand-eye-coordination

- Adrien finds happiness and freedom in being Chat Noir; Marinette finds it stifling and constricting at times

- Adrien refrains from making judgments about people too quickly; Marinette jumps into conclusions too quickly

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

There's more, but I can't think anymore, and it's like 3am haha. I don’t mean to say that they are opposites of one another, they're actually really similar in nature and have similar values, they just might come at it differently. I just wanted to write down the differences I could think of, the contrast between the two.

"Creation and destruction are the two ends of the same moment." "Without order, nothing can exist. Without chaos, nothing can evolve."

They're a beautiful balance of each other, two sides of the same coin

#miraculous ladybug #yin and yang #analysis #sorry if there are typos #miraculous analysis #mlb #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #chat noir #ladybug and chat noir #mircaulous ladybug #animaestro

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ronwestbreeze · 5 months

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Hello I just had a question about your gonna go far and it’s about reeds if you were ever to write her but instead of mating with our fav forest Navi you would mate her with the sea Navi would you change anything about her,also when I say sea Navi I mean Ronal and tonowari

Thank you and have a nice day,night or afternoon alos cannot wait for more on Reeds and what’s happening I’m on the edge of my seat

oooh that’s such a good question! and i’d be happy to answer!

hmm, thinking about both tonowari and ronal’s personality i do think there will definitely be some differences. like if reeds landed near the sea na’vi instead of the forest na’vi, i think she still would act the same because the root to her rough personality right now is her mother’s death. so i don’t think her cold, irrational, and angry traits would change. reeds would probably seek temporary shelter with them, agreeing to keep away from their village for their comfort.

tonowari, after some convincing, i think would agree to these terms. since reeds didn’t land near the sea na’vi people, they don’t necessarily have a reason to be super wary around her other than the fact that she is obviously sky people. he would obviously send warriors to check on her because he rightfully doesn’t fully trust a sky person living somewhat near his people but i don’t think he’d be as extreme like tsu’tey. but then again, that’s because we are looking at this from a perspective where reeds did not land near the sea Na’vi. but when he sees that reeds is of no problem to his clan, i think he would be more laxed toward her.

reeds would definitly want to make herself useful, again one of her noticeable traits, so she would probably somehow beg him to allow her to learn their ways and make herself useful to his clan, even if her avatar mimicks the physical traits of the forest Na’vi.

here, i believe ronal will be more prominent. obviously in the beginning she would definitely not trust reeds because she is a sky person. and because she wants to protect her clan as tsahik. it mostly takes convincing her to let reeds stay temporarily, and one of the promises would’ve probably been making herself useful as thanks for letting her temporarily stay with them. ronal didn’t see how she could be useful but would’ve reluctantly agreed to the terms. ronal would definitely keep a close watch on reeds of course, even if when it seems like reeds isn’t up to something, ronal is still wary around her. but she does eventually allow reeds to train and learn the ways of the clan.

now here comes the mating bit. how exactly would reeds interact with them in a romantic sense? this is actually such a fun thing to think about, because i like to study both the canon characters and figure out a way to apply the way they would love someone, especially in a slow burn sense.

tonowari would probably be the first to fall for reeds and here’s why. for me, he is totally into strong slightly dominating women, hence ronal. and since reeds has a very blunt and somewhat dominate personality, i think it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine tonowari becoming smitten with reeds over time. he seems like a very calm and gentle sort of man which i don’t think is difficult for reeds not to fall for. he would unknowingly bring her to a calm to her chaotic mind and emotions. he would ground her, and with time, would begin to read into reeds expressions and begin to understand her. because i believe the one thing that could win reeds over is someone understanding her. someone not seeing just one side of her and then deciding that is all she is. tonowari would see all of her and accept her, understand that she is just a very complex and somewhat broken individual. a human. not just a demon. and i find that really beautiful.

now ronal and reeds would definitely clash alot, lol. they are kind of like jake and reeds in the beginning. two very stubborn personalities that would take a long while for them to finally each some sort of middle ground and be tolerable to each other. and i imagine them reaching that point when reeds does eventually become well-versed in their clan culture and makes herself useful. with the sea na’vi, i see her working more with healers since she isn’t forced to be fighting and brutal unlike her situation with the omatikaya clan and the clan wars. reeds would love working with healers honestly, and i think if she hadn’t been in the midst of clan wars, she would’ve went that route as well with the omatikaya people. but with the metkayina, she is a healer. and because of this, reeds would probably work with ronal alot, hence them eventually getting to know each other and starting to meet each other in the middle. ronal of course would see the worse side of reeds because of their clashing but i think what’s beautiful and what makes reeds fall first, would be that ronal sees her awfulness and doesn’t believe she is a monster because of that. she doesn’t invalidate her feelings, her loss of her mother. ronal only distrusted reeds at first because of being a sky person, not because of her “reckless” emotions. hope that makes sense haha.

ronal would fall for reeds’ nurturing nature that goes hand in hand with her warrior-like personality. because let’s not mistake it, even if she rarely shows it, reeds does have a nurturing side which is often overshadowed by her blunt nature. i believe one of the only times her nurturing would come out would be around only ronal and her son, ao’nung. oh she would love being treated gently by reeds, i don’t know, it’s so sweet to think about.

so in other words. tonowari and ronal would adore reeds as their third mate.

sorry for the mouthful but i had fun thinking about this! would love to see everyone else’s thoughts on this too!!

#ronwestbreeze’s got mail #[you’re gonna go far]#yggf #tonowari x reader #ronal x reader

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redjadethewriter · 11 days

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My take on Blank The Series:

Age Gaps, GL, and Trauma

To make a slow-burn romance interesting to watch, especially with age gaps, regarding WLW relationships, we need many elements.

First, we need a decent cast pair. Second, we need believable performances from the actors who play these complex emotional characters. Third, we need drama. We need a reason behind each action and dialogue exchange between the characters. This is where the story becomes important. We have the characters' story and the plot of the major stuff going down. The back story of the two main characters is the most important to flesh out more than the side or supporting characters.

I'm just going to say it: I'm impressed by the performance of the two actresses who gave life to these characters.

Lately, I've had several coronaries because Thai GL has turned me into a Junkie for their content more than my own countries' versions of sapphic relationships. And they are making age-gap relationships so much more compelling to watch.

The premise is as basic as it comes in terms of story arcs. Actually, I agree with some people that "Blank" and "Gap the Series" were gender-swapped stories. Usually, a wealthy older man falls in love with a young girl. So, now we have an older prominent woman falling in love with the young girl instead, but they made it more tender and somewhat light-hearted. I understand this is an adaptation of a naughty novel, which is fantastic. I write naughty, too. But the series is more tasteful. It focuses more on the crucial aspects versus the naughty.

By the way, I enjoyed the playfulness in both the shows. It's nice to have playful flirting involved versus extreme seduction right out of the gate. Both shows remind me how a romantic relationship or even pursuing a special someone can have a silly, playful approach. It doesn't have to always be serious and get to the sexy stuff. As an older Lesbian, I have a similar playful nature when I'm allowed to express it. Thus, I feel for the older characters willing to become playful with their much younger romantic partners.

However, there's one thing I can relate to since I'm in my late 30s. Is the extreme insecurity of being romantically involved with someone younger than you? In Blank the Series, the age gap difference is 16 years. I'm glad they raised the age bar because it would've caused a lot of issues.

It's funny because I was the girl in my early 20s who hooked up and dated older women in their 30s. The age gap was not 16, but 13 years between me and the older women I had short-term relationships with. So, watching the interaction between Khun Nueng and Anueng, oh my gosh, right way, I thought Khun Nueng was in trouble in so many ways.

Now that my position in life has switched and I'm a similar age to the women I used to date, I understand the complexities they went through. You just only know once you experience it for yourself. Insecurities around age are an enormous factor in reality and in this story. More than the woman loving women aspect or even the drama of others accepting the relationship. Really, the destruction comes from the older woman who can't deal with falling in love with someone younger than them. When you sprinkle trauma on top, with a side of keeping a facade or reputation, it can get chaotic super fast.

Not only did Khun Nueng become attracted to Anueng quickly, but she couldn't resist turning Anueng away, no matter what. The actress performed those rigid responses really well because, in reality, I would have to visit a chiropractor to break my body. The tension alone of repressing my desires would turn me into a ball of knots. Especially if I had no willpower to turn away the person. Ugh... I don't even wanna think about that. Because knowing my karma, something would put me in that position in life. I even resist dating any women in their early 30s. In the late 20s, I will say to the sky, "F***...Why me?" I'm like that anyway each time I fall for a woman. "Oh, f***...Why me?"

I have to sprinkle some satire on this topic because I can already see that the root of every decision and action Khun Nueng makes is based on that insecurity. Internally, she doesn't want to believe Anueng when she constantly says she only wants to be with her and loves her. It doesn't matter how often it's said; it is something that Khun Nueng must overcome regarding age-gap insecurities.

In the ending scene of episode 6, I reacted, "You totally just wanna keep piling on the torment, don't yah?" It's clear throughout the six episodes that she's in love with the girl. She can't even admit that she gets jealous. And oh my gosh, older adults' actions regarding jealousy are more diabolical than younger people. Actually, the older you get, the more sinister it gets. The passive aggressiveness turns up. Believe me... The sky is the limit on tactfulness and mind-f***ing when women get vengeful. Oh, my gosh... I still love women, regardless. LOL! Sweet as poison.

Khun Nueng's stoic demeanor is just a mask. She represses her emotions and vulnerability. Khun Nueng abides by stoicism, which rarely benefits emotional growth. We witness this when she refrains from showing anyone her weakness, so she doesn't cry in front of people, even at her grandmother's wake. When she finally ends up alone and breaks down, Anueng shows up, and Khun Nueng feels safe enough to break down in front of her. Which is hard to do that. I also have a stoic facade, so I recognize that bullshit a mile away, and I know exactly how hard it is to repress grief. Once it erupts, it hurts like hell, but I knew Khun Nueng was fully F*** because there's really no turning back with that kind of intimate exchange they had.

I can't wait for season 2 to see how that bites her in the behind.

Obviously, I don't want Khun Nueng to suffer anymore, but through her mistakes and emotional and mental anguish, she will learn what or who is truly important to her because she's dumb. Just because we are in our 30s or late 30s doesn't mean we are free from stupidity. She definitely needs to make better choices and stop playing so many mind games to protect her ego. She needs to learn to be more upfront about her feelings and wants.

Hopefully, we get that.

I have faith they will.

#blank the series #show review #life blogging #thai gl #gl drama #gl series

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orphic-musings · 9 months

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Reminiscance and Rejuvination

Characters: Amanda (The Pig) x gn! reader, mentions of John Kramer (u can’t hve amanda without jigsaw)

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: Brief mentions of canon-typical violence

Summary: Amanda finds an old friend in a new face

Notes: First DBD fic yayyyy! I had the idea for this 104828377372 years ago and never finished writing it but I’m on a writing kick now so!!!! yippee! will definitely be writing more DBD stuff in the future!

»»————-　♡　-————««

The killer camp is an unpleasant place to be, as always. It’s either too unsettlingly quiet, despite the many killers lurking about. Or too chaotic, like it is now. Just as Frank and Ghostie are about to start some… “extreme” game of tag, Amanda scurries out of the killer camp. She sits in her usual spot, a flat log, and stares out at the eternal, windless night. No insects chirr, no traffic or electricity hums. Just the occassional cawing of crows, the only ambience present in the void-like fog.

But a figure, barely distinct of the dark though not too far off, catches her eye. Their face is tilted up towards the clouded sky, and just between the tips of trees she swears she can see a sliver of moonlight cast upon their face. The figure disappears into the dark for a moment, then reappears, and Amanda realizes they are walking towards her. She scooches back into the shadows a bit more. They approach the log, and as if snapping out of a trance they suddenly step-back upon seeing her.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t know this seat was occupied.” They say, a bit apprenhensive. Amanda can see their face a bit more now, weary and worn, but animated with something she can’t quite figure out.

“This is my spot,” she says, with more bark than she wanted. There is a stretch of cold silence. “But you can sit if you want.” There is enough space on the long log to have room between them as the person sits. A survivor, she realizes now. She’s probably sacrificed them before, but all the trials end up a blur, like faces in a dream.

“You’re the pig,” they say. Amanda whips her head toward them, feeling accused, but their face is calm and gentle, not at all threatening. She doesn’t want to let her guard down, she doesn’t want to appear as anything but scary and in control, especially to a survivor. She doesn’t say anything.

“It’s okay, I won’t hold any of the killing against you, not like any of us have a choice. The bear traps are pretty terrifying though, I have to admit.” A small bit of pride fills Amanda, they’re supposed to be cruel, she is supposed to be cruel.

“I know this place is hell, or some kind of eternal torture, but it is pretty here.” They look up at the trees, the tall tips like teeth in the gaping maw above.

“Sometimes you can catch the faint smell of pine in the air.” They close their eyes with their head titled upward and something stirs in Amanda. Something familiar.

It’s true, this place is some kind of hell. Punishment has no meaning when you can try again and again. People are only supposed to get one chance, one life. Just like him. Her jaw clenches, but when she looks back at the survivor she sees that expression again. The one that has tranquility and light, despite the horrors all around. The same expression he had.

“You remind me of someone.” She blurts suddenly, her voice soft. They turn to her curiously. “Someone from my past, my mentor. He was a good man. He believed people could be better, even the worst. He taught me how to appreciate life.” She admits. They smile at her gently.

“He sounds very wise, very strong.” She returns the smile a little.

“He was.” She looks up at the sky, and again, she swears a gleam of moonlight cuts through the dark. When she turns back to the survivor they are looking up too, inhaling and exhaling deeply. She admires them, and for once, she thinks she may have found someone who is actually good. Someone who doesn’t need teaching, who doesn’t need saving. If you meet again in a trial, letting you go seems like a good option, she thinks.

“Thank you for sharing your spot with me,” they say, smiling brightly at her. A foreign warmth fills Amanda as she watches you disappear again into the darkness. Looking back up at the sky she thanks John, for reminding her that life is precious, that there is good to be found. She is sure of that now.

#fanfic #x gn reader #fluff fic #dbd killer #dbd #dbd survivor #dbd amanda #amanda young #the pig dbd #saw franchise #amanda saw #john kramer #dbd x reader #dbd x gn reader #dbd fanfic #dead by daylight #amanda young x reader #orphic musings

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panicatthediaz · 5 months

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Can you feel it?

What is this? A brand new fic for @eddiemonth? And so soon after?? (shut up this feels soon)

This is day 06, crush, and is in the same continuity as day 5. Named after Mansionair's Astronaut (Something About Your Love), that like. Please listen to them. They are a whole vibe, I love their music.

Warnings: None, this is just even more fluff. Extremely sappy get together. Steddie. I should start calling this section, like. tags or smth.

Wordcount: 2968

If he were to be honest with himself, Eddie hadn't expected to keep this monster hunting party in his life, not for long. He expected everyone to go on their way, while he was fumbling just to get out of the town.

Well, some people did go their own way. Older Byers was off to college in California with Argyle, after some extensive talk with his family and with Nancy, and Nancy herself was off in Boston.

But everyone else? Well, the kids had to finish high school before going anywhere, and Robin had decided to take a gap year that was about to end. And Steve…

Between joint recoveries and sharing almost the same group of people (and eventually truly having all the same friends), they had spent a lot of time together. They had become friends, good friends, not necessarily by choice, but the truth was that Eddie wouldn't change it for the world.

But sometimes, it was nice to just… exist. To be able to not think about the feelings he’d realized that were growing not too long ago. About how, even though he’d only noticed them recently, the feelings hadn’t been really new. About how it looked reciprocated, sometimes.

Eddie expected to hear about Steve’s plans to get out of town any day now, maybe tag along with Robin, so why do anything about the something that was brewing, right?

Deep down, Eddie knew Steve wouldn’t leave before the kids’ senior year started. At the earliest. Eddie felt pretty much the same already, after knowing them for only a little over a year. According to Robin, they did have that effect somehow.

(Something about how young they all were to have been at the whole supernatural thing for years.)

After dropping El and Will back home, he’d driven himself to a secluded little clearing, having to go the long way around so he’d actually be able to drive his van into it. But it was worth it, it’d always been worth it.

Eddie grabbed a few of the blankets stashed at the back of his van and threw them on top of it before climbing up himself. Setting up his little makeshift bed up there was a quick process; a couple of blankets to make the roof a little more comfortable, and the rest bunched together into a pillow.

It wasn’t particularly good, but it was part of his summer routine at this point, so he settled down, lying on the roof of his van. He watched the clear, evening summer sky fade into night, watching the stars come out slowly and then all at once as the animal sounds faded and changed to accompany the sky.

Some birds — owls, if he had to guess — and bats were flying overheard, occasionally cutting his vision of the stars and changing the tracks of his thoughts; the song he’d been working on, the campaign Will wanted to run for Hellfire next, Robin’s entirely too chaotic packing process, and how that girl might have surpassed him in terms of organizational chaos. At least Eddie could find his shit in half the time it had taken her to find the shoes she was taking with her.

The crunch of steps on fallen branches drew him out of his thoughts, making him turn in its direction.

“Jesus, how far is this place,” Eddie heard in a very familiar grumble. Steve was closer than he probably expected to be, and it didn’t take long before Eddie could see him on the treeline. “Uh… Hi.”

“Hi,” Eddie returned, waving at him from where he lay with a grin. “Funny seeing you here.”

Steve rolled his eyes and walked closer. He was wearing some ridiculous yellow shorts and what looked like an old NASCAR shirt, color and design faded with time. It was a little different from what Eddie was used to; more relaxed, like he didn’t have anyone to impress. Which was good, Eddie didn’t need to be impressed by style.

(Eddie knew, objectively, that Steve genuinely enjoyed the polos and all that, but it was still nice to see him in something else. Something softer.)

“What are you doing out here?” Steve asked once he was close to the van, just enough to still be able to see Eddie.

“Looking for Scorpius,” he stated simply, gesturing for Steve to come up. While Steve climbed to the roof of the van, Eddie adjusted the pillow of blankets so they could lie side by side. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was expecting to find you in the trailer,” Steve started, leaning back on top of the blankets on his elbows with a frown on his face. “Wayne directed me over here.” Steve looked around, frowning even harder when he glanced at the ground. “You said you’re looking for scorpions?”

“Scorpius, not scorpions,” Eddie corrected softly, turning back to the stars. “The constellation.”

Steve let out a soft “Oh,” turning to glance at the sky before lying down and making himself comfortable.

Eddie had the vague knowledge that Scorpius was closer to the horizon line, but he’d have to drive up to Hop’s old cabin and the nearby hill to actually look for it, and he just… didn’t want to go that far.

(Didn't really want to be looking over all of Hawkins.)

“What’s the story?” Steve asked after a couple of minutes spent in silence. When Eddie turned to look, Steve was already watching him, his little smile illuminated by the moon. After a beat, he added, “Constellations have those, don’t they?”

Eddie nodded, struggling a little to find his words with the way Steve was looking at him. “It’s uh…” He cleared his throat and turned back to the sky. “It’s the scorpion that killed Orion.”

He could still feel Steve’s eyes on him, waiting for more.

“Orion was a hunter, the best one humanity had to offer,” Eddie started, gesturing to their surroundings as if it could encompass every person in the world. “But he was just a human, you know? And if even the gods of ancient Greece were flawed, imagine how bad a human could be.”

He glanced at Steve, finding all of his attention still focused on him.

“His flaws are not really the point, though.” He shook his head, continuing the story. “At some point in his life, Orion was hunting with Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and wild animals, and… Well,” he grimaced, “He claimed to be able to hunt every animal on Earth.”

“To the goddess of the hunt?” Steve questioned with that particular tone he had when he thought something was stupid. “Rather arrogant of him.”

“Yeah, but Artemis was fond of him.” Steve raised an eyebrow at that, but it took Eddie a moment to realize how his words could be taken. “Not like that,” he added, chuckling. “Artemis was a virgin goddess, none of that.”

Steve hummed, his expression betraying his surprise. “Good for her.”

Eddie blinked at Steve, at this tone of awe that he had.

“Where does the scorpion come in?” Steve asked, a little furrow appearing between his brow that Eddie wanted smooth out, though he had a story to finish.

“Right,” Eddie sighed out, turning once again to the stars. “Gaia, the personification of the Earth itself, didn’t like Orion’s claim.” He paused, then added, “She’s the mother of all life, so.” He gestured nonsensically upwards, finishing his story with as much a deadpan tone as he could muster. “She sent a giant scorpion to kill him.”

“A giant—” Steve burst out laughing, shaking his head in some kind of attempt to regain his composure. “Sorry, I’m sorry, just—”

“It’s kind of a silly conclusion?” Eddie asked with a smile on his face as well as in his voice. Steve nodded, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. “Greek mythology is kind of… Dramatic, like that,” he explained with a shrug. “Orion’s hubris got him killed by a giant scorpion—” Steve snorted, but reined himself in quickly— “And they were both raised to the sky as constellations as a warning against humanity’s arrogance.”

Steve hummed, gaze unfocused when Eddie looked at him. “Where are they, then?”

“Uh…” Eddie blinked and turned to the sky to blink some more. “Orion is not visible this time of the year, and Scorpius is closer to the horizon,” he said, raising his arm to point in the general direction he remembered the constellation being.

Steve hummed, but didn’t say anything, letting the silence and the warm evening air envelop them. Eddie expected it to grow awkward, for Steve to say something, for himself to end up fidgeting. Instead, it was easy to just exist together like this, lying side by side and watching the night sky.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked, some indeterminate time later. Eddie could feel Steve move about, slowly as to not risk falling off the side, and settle on his side, holding himself up on his elbow. “El was all…” He gestured toward his face. “All frowny, and she only does that when she’s worried. Dustin also said you seemed down.”

Eddie sighed, wishing those kids paid just a little less attention. “I’m good,” he said, keeping his tone light. “Just thinking, you know?”

“About?”

“What happens now, I guess?” He hadn’t meant for it to come out as a question. “We got a couple more practice sessions before Jeff and Arnie are going back to college.”

“Gareth’s not going anywhere out of state, though, right?” Steve asked with a thoughtful little frown that Eddie couldn’t resist smoothing out with a finger this time. It earned him a soft laugh and a smack to his hand. “You guys can keep Corroded Coffin going?”

Eddie shrugged as much as he could while lying down. He tried that once, making it on his own, but it didn’t seem as worth it now.

“Think I’d rather not split the band,” he said, grimacing and knowing that Steve would pick up the story he wasn’t telling.

“So,” Steve drawled, eyes narrowed at Eddie like he’d be able to figure out whatever was going on in his head. “The plan is just to wait?”

Honestly, Eddie hated that idea, but what else could Corroded Coffin do? “Sure.” Steve eyes narrowed further, going unfocused again. “What?”

“The kids will be starting their junior year,” he stated.

Eddie hummed to let Steve know he was listening, but he had no idea where the guy was going with this.

“You should come to Indianapolis with me,” he announced.

Eddie blinked at Steve, processing his words for a moment. The offer seemed to come out of nowhere. He expected Steve to leave Hawkins at some point, he’d been preparing for that news, and now it came with an offer to tag along?

“I don’t really have any plans yet,” Steve continued, probably taking Eddie’s silence as hesitation. “We’d have to look into places, and Indianapolis is just an hour away, but it should be enough for a fresh start, right?”

Eddie nodded, a little numbly. “You, uh…” He shook his head to dislodge his surprise. “I think Gareth’s going to community college in the city, actually.”

“Is he, now?” Steve raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed and not surprised.

“Right, you two talk a lot now.” It was still rather amusing that the two of them hung out so much, even without Eddie. “Will?”

“Of course it’s about Will,” Steve scoffed, waving a hand in a flourish. “It’s why he picked Indianapolis. But don’t change the subject,” he added with a smack to Eddie’s arm.

“Alright, alright!” Eddie laughed, rubbing his arm. He’d have rolled away from Steve if it didn’t mean rolling off the roof of the van. “I guess Indianapolis is pretty good…”

Steve beamed at him, a smile he’d been seeing more often as the time passed. Usually, Steve was being a little shit when he smiled like that, but sometimes, he just seemed… happy.

“You could, I don’t know, teach kids how to play the guitar.”

That made Eddie laugh, surprised at the suggestion. Not that he necessarily disliked it.

“Who’d even let me?” He asked. “Maybe I’ll find work at a record store, that seems more likely.”

“If you want to, I’m sure you could find something.” Steve shrugged, that grin not fading from his expression. “Who says you can’t do both, anyway?”

And… Well, Steve had a point. Maybe he could find a store that offered lessons?

“Why are you asking me to go to Indianapolis with you?” The question was asked before Eddie even processed that it was something he wanted to know. He grimaced as soon as it was out. “Not that I don’t want to, god knows I wanted to be out of this town three years ago now, but just— I thought you might tag along with Robin?”

Steve’s expression softened, a serene smile replacing the wide grin. “I thought about it. Robin’s going to Indianapolis University anyway, though, and…” He gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I think I’d like you there too.”

“You think?” Eddie questioned with a raised brow. It was easier to tease and joke than really look into that sparkle of mirth in Steve’s eyes and hope it meant what he wanted it to mean.

Steve shook his head, sending his hair all over the place. “I know. Got used to your noise, Munson.”

“Well, I’m making your life interesting, so you’re welcome.”

They were both smiling when Eddie finally let himself look Steve in the eye, finally relaxed enough even though he hadn’t escaped thinking about Steve, or his actual presence. It was fine. There some tentative plans to get out of Hawkins, together, and maybe Corroded Coffin would forever be a high school band that didn’t really go anywhere — Eddie was only starting to be okay with that idea, though — but that didn’t mean he couldn’t do something else with music.

Steve laid back down on the van after a moment of silence, turning his gaze to the sky. Like this, they were touching pretty much from shoulder to knee, and Eddie was trying not to move too much, conscious of the warmth radiating from Steve.

Steve, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have the same hang-ups, nudging Eddie’s hand until he could take it in his own.

“This okay?” He asked softly, not turning his head and not seeing Eddie already looking at him. Eddie squeezed his hand and intertwined their fingers as response. “I wasn’t planning on talking to you about Indianapolis tonight, you know?” His admission was soft, barely above the ambiance of the woods at night. “I was just gonna keep you company.”

“I’m glad you did.” Eddie let himself take in Steve’s face and what freckles he could see in the dark before turning away. “Easier to think I can actually get out of here when I have a tentative plan.”

“You can, Eddie,” Steve said, firmly squeezing his hand. “I meant it, I’d really like if you came to Indianapolis with me.”

He could feel Steve’s eyes boring a hole into the side of his head, and he refused to loosen the hold on his hand. Eddie sighed, turning to face Steve’s small, determined frown.

“Sometimes,” he started, hesitating before pulling their joined hands closer. “I kinda wish you were still some degree of asshole.” Steve frowned, ready to interject, but Eddie continued before he could. “‘Cause it would make getting over this ridiculous crush so much easier.”

Steve pulled their hands closer to himself this time, and Eddie could see him pursing his lips. He’d been paying too much attention, enough to know this was Steve trying to rein in one of those rare, goofy grins that had been one of the things that made Eddie fall in the first place.

“What if,” Steve started, slowly letting the grin take hold, as he started absently playing with the one ring Eddie forgot to take off before climbing up the van. “I don’t want you getting over this ridiculous crush?”

Eddie blinked at him — he felt like he’d done that a lot tonight, almost constantly surprised by Steve despite how close they’d gotten. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t seen this coming, too close to see what, eventually, might become obvious in hindsight.

“You mean that?”

Steve’s grin came out, full force, in the face of Eddie’s soft tone. He slowly brought Eddie’s hand closer and pressed an oh so soft kiss to his knuckles.

“I mean it.”

Eddie didn’t really know what to say to all that, the smooth jerk knew it and could probably see the blush undoubtedly rising on his cheeks. But there was one thing that he needed to double check.

“You know I’m—”

“Asexual?” He filled in after Eddie cut himself short. “Yeah, I do.” Steve was back to messing with the ring on his hand, looking at it with an expression Eddie still hadn’t figured out. “And I think…” He paused, frowning a little. Eddie kind of wanted to bite him. “It might apply to me too?”

Eddie rolled closer to Steve and pressed a kiss to cheek, feeling the heat rising the longer he stayed there.

“Thanks for telling me,” he mumbled against Steve’s cheek. He pressed another quick kiss before settling back down. “Feels good to know, doesn’t it?”

Steve’s laughter was light, giddy. He rolled onto Eddie this time, hugging him as close as possible.

“It really does.”

Eddie knew they would talk come morning, and they would define just what they wanted and were to each other. But for now, cuddling and laughing under the night sky with ridiculous Greek stories was all Eddie wanted to be doing.

#Stranger Things #Eddie Munson #Steve Harrington #Steddie #Asexual Eddie Munson #Asexual Steve Harrington #eddiemonth #day 6 #WeresWriting #This got so sappy #and not at all what I was originally going for #I wanted a RWRB reference. Ended up sort of there anyway #(Orion is really only visible during winter I didn't know that)

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rocketrhap3000 · 2 years

Text

snowed in, lights out

requested: hi Rae! I just saw that you’d write for Pedro possibly, so I just though i’d give this idea, if you feel like writing it :) so i am terrified of the dark even though I am 24 years old lmfao, but what do you think Pedro would do if he found out and like reader was super embarrassed about it haha? thanks in advance! sending love <3

warnings: age gap relationship (not specified other than 15+ years), making out, mentions of steamy times, snowstorm, reader has a fear of the dark, i think that’s all?

no beta/loosely proofread so please excuse errors!

my main masterlist

“Seems like it’s really comin’ down out there,” Pedro speaks up, causing you to focus your attention out the kitchen window, watching as massive snowflakes fall from the sky from your spot - seated on the kitchen counter with your legs dangling over the edge.

After the two of you finished up the dinner that he had made, Pedro pulled out a mini - yet extremely fancy and mouth watering - dessert cake for the two of you to share.

“I saw snow in the forecast this morning, but I didn’t think it would become a blizzard,” you reply to him as he turns to face you, forking off a piece of the dessert and offering it up to your lips.

Smiling, you let him serve you, then he goes for a piece for himself.

When he’d invited you over for dinner, initially, you were nervous. Typically, when a guy invited you over ‘for dinner’, you found out that it meant they only wanted to hook up. But very early on in your still relatively new (just three months) relationship you realized that Pedro was definitely not like any other guy you’ve dated.

It’s not just his age, either; sure, he’s well over fifteen years older than you, but you’ve also met men his age that are as immature as the boys you dated in college. Pedro is just different. He’s caring and thoughtful, and the gentlest soul with the most chaotic, hilarious energy. He’s someone you can have actual, intellectual conversations with, and in the same hour, makes you feel like a love struck teenager all over again.

So when Pedro invited you over for dinner, yes, you were a tad nervous to spend such a romantic night with him - just the two of you at his cozy, yet fancy apartment. But only because he gives you the most insane swarms of butterflies, and not because you don’t trust him.

You know without a doubt that he’ll respect your boundaries and not try to pull anything over you, because he knows that you’re more modest when it come to being intimate. He always stops, without hesitation or question, when you let him know you want to slow down if things get heated. He’s never been anything but an absolute gentleman with you, and you know he respects you, just as you respect him.

“If it wasn’t already dark out, I’d challenge you to a snowball fight,” he says and winks playfully at you.

“I’d accept,” you smile back proudly. “And I’d win,” you then hum, stealing the fork from him to take another bite of the delicious cake.

“I’d let you win,” he clarifies as he rolls his eyes, taking the fork back from you, only to scrape off some of the whipped topping and tap it onto your nose.

“Pedro!” you giggle bashfully, swiping the sweet fluff off of your nose with your finger before quickly licking it off your finger.

“I’m sorry! I just couldn’t resist,” Pedro laughs heartily, blushing a deep pink as he sets the fork on the platter and pushes it aside.

Before you know it, he’s stepping closer to you so that he can situate himself between your legs, splaying his large, warm palms just above your knees.

“You’re the worst,” you tease, placing your hands on his broad shoulders, nearly melting into his touch. He’s so warm and comforting, but also so handsome and extremely desirable.

“Mhm, I know,” he smirks, leaning in just enough so that your lips barely touch and you can almost taste the sweetness of the frosting on his breath as he rubs his nose against yours. “Tell me more.”

“The worst, Pascal,” you hum and giggle against his perfect, plush lips, closing your eyes as you let yourself fall into the moment he’s captured you in.

“Y tú eres tan hermosa,” he whispers back after separating his lips from yours for just a moment, gazing at you while his hands move to caress your face. Then, his lips travel down to your jaw. “You’re so… so beautiful,” he repeats in English between leaving a trail of feather-light kisses down your neck.

“Pedro,” you breathe, loving the way that sexy mustache and the patches of built up scruff feels against your soft skin.

You’re tempted to feel it somewhere else, too. But you and Pedro haven’t gone that far yet. You’re a little insecure because of your difference in ages and the lack of experience you have compared to him, and while he’s assured you that you have no reason to be worried, he’s also never pushed you past your comfort zone.

The most intimate it’s gotten between the two of you has been steamy make out sessions, and the time just last week when he assisted you in reaching your climax by shamelessly grinding over his muscular thigh. You were mortified when he’d found out you were needy for him in that way, but he quickly eased your mind with this activity. After that, you have a little more confidence with letting him know when you need him.

“What’s up, Cariño?” he taunts sweetly, the term of endearment he loves to use for you rolling off his lips like a sweet drop of honey.

His hands slide back down to the lower half of your body, resting them on your hips while his lips keep working over the space of your neck.

“Pedro, please,” you whine quietly, dizzy from the way his lips move on your skin and gripping his shoulders tightly as if to ground yourself.

“Please, what?” he only continues with a sly chuckle, sucking harshly on the spot that he knows makes you weak while sliding his hands up to sensually rub your back and your hands dive into his thick locks of salt and pepper curls.

But before you can give your answer, the quiet hum of dying electricity reaches your ears, and the room all around you goes dark, except for the minimal light from candles Pedro set out on the dining table for your dinner together.

“Wh—what?” you manage to gasp, sitting up straight and all of a sudden hyper aware of your surroundings.

“Uh oh,” Pedro chuckles as he pulls away from you reluctantly. “I bet the wind from the storm knocked the power out.”

“Is there anything we can do?” you ask, growing increasingly nervous.

It’s a childish fear of yours: the dark. But you just can’t seem to shake it. And even though you know you’re safe with Pedro, it’s just such a strong fear that you can’t help but feel anxious.

“Nope,” he sighs, leaning in to kiss your forehead. “Gotta wait til the landlords figure it out, I guess.”

“Has this happened before?” you wonder, trying to hide the shake in your voice, not wanting to let him know that you’re scared.

“Once, I think. During a nasty thunderstorm a few summers back. But the power came back on in less than an hour. Hopefully it’s the same for tonight,” he smiles softly, reaching up to caress your face sweetly, unknowingly bringing you an amazing amount of comfort.

The glow from the flames just a few feet away illuminates the room just enough so that you can see his smiling face and his deep, velvet brown eyes. You swear you could get lost in them if he’d only let you.

“Good thing you’re a romantic sap,” you playfully push his shoulder, then glance over at the candles. He gives you a quizzical look before he realizes what you’re looking at. “Got any more?”

“You bet I do,” he chuckles, kisses your cheek, then grabs you at the hips to lift you off the counter and to your feet, leading you through the barely lit living room to the credenza against the far wall.

He pulls out an abundance of candles, both scented and unscented, and hands you a few before taking an armful for himself. Together, you scatter them all throughout the main living space of his apartment, and with each one you light, the room grows a little brighter.

Soon, the room is illuminated comfortably; brighter, but still dim enough to fit the romantic mood. Pedro seems to glow under the light of the dainty flames as he sets a record on the battery operated turntable. He turns it to a mellow volume: not so quiet that it can’t be heard but not loud enough to be anything other than background music. Then, he turns around to walk towards you with a smile and kisses your temple as he pulls you onto the couch beside him.

“Sorry about all this,” he sighs, turning to face you, and you shift to sit facing him, with your legs crossed and your back to the armrest of the couch.

“Don’t be sorry,” you hum, reaching up to lightly scratch his scruff. “You can’t control the weather. Besides, I kinda like this aesthetic. It’s quite romantic.”

“Oh, yeah?” he asks, searching your eyes for the same mellow desire he has for you.

He finds it.

“Yeah,” you nod, feeling heat rise to your cheeks under his intense stare, but decide you need to be closer to his solid, soft frame.

Without a second thought, you lunge forward, pressing your hands against his chest to stabilize yourself as you connect your lips to his, loving the way he feels and tastes. He lets you take control of the kiss for a moment; he lets you set the pace and lets you decide where things will go.

You opt for slow, languid, passionate kisses as opposed to frantic, desperate ones. His hands move to hold your waist and his thumbs slip under the bottom hem of your shirt, rubbing ever so softly against the skin of your hips. The gentle sensation sends butterflies to your stomach and dizziness settles in your head.

Finding another burst of confidence, you carefully push him backwards so that his head rests on one of the throw pillows at the opposite end of the couch, situating your body between his long, strong legs.

When you nibble on his bottom lip, he lets out a quiet murmur, which then turns into him humming along to the song that’s playing. His hands remain on your hips, holding you tight to him, and you love the way his solid body feels under yours.

You don’t know how long the two of you stay like this, but you don’t even care. Lazily making out with Pedro could keep you content for the rest of your life, and it’s not until the two of you simultaneously break away for a breath of air - that isn’t each other’s - when you catch a glimpse of the watch on his wrist, that you realize just how much time has passed.

Almost instantly after seeing just how late it is, you let out a yawn and try to keep it discreet, but Pedro notices.

“You gettin’ tired?” he teases in a whisper, sharply angling his gaze downwards to see you lying on his chest.

“A little,” you admit with a shallow nod, your cheek brushing over the soft fabric of his sweater.

And you almost don’t notice it: the way he sighs ever so lightly. But you do notice it. And you mistake it for annoyance and eagerness for you to leave. After all, he’s a grown man who’s had a long day and probably wants some time alone.

Standing up abruptly so as to not put him out any longer, you anxiously bite your lip and make for the door.

“Sweetie,” Pedro calls out, quickly standing up to follow you.

“Yeah?” you turn around, grabbing your coat.

But he takes it from you instead, ever so sweetly putting it on you himself, then zipping it up to keep you warm.

“Please let me know when you get home safe,” he runs his thumb over your bottom lip where you’d gnawed so hard before kissing it, too.

“I will,” you smile, loving the way he takes such care for you, and mentally debating with yourself why you’d thought he was tired of you. “But my ten minute drive might turn into twenty or thirty. My car isn’t the best in the snow,” you admit with a nervous chuckle.

“Then take mine, Cariño,” he coos, reaching down to hold your hand in his, then bringing it up to his lips to leave a kiss to your knuckles.

“Pedro, I couldn’t,” you furrow your eyebrows and shake your head in adamant refusal.

“Sure you could. You’ve got your license,” he jokes to lighten the mood.

“Pedro,” you giggle back, simply shaking your head again, casting your gaze down to your feet.

“Well, then just… camp out here,” he smiles gently, and it’s only then that you realize his sigh earlier was one of disappointment that you’d have to be apart and absolutely not because he was annoyed. Of course he wants you to stay. But he doesn’t want you to think he has ulterior motives by keeping you overnight. He only wants you to stay safe.

“Inside your apartment?” you slowly lift your head to look back up at him, surprised at the offer he’s making. It would be your first time ever staying over at his place.

“Well, Sweetie, I certainly wouldn’t make you sleep out on the balcony,” he teases and winks, earning another bashful giggle from you.

“Are you… Are you sure?” you ask.

“Course I’m sure,” he nods. “You take my room and I’ll take the couch, if that makes you more comfortable. Or you can sleep wherever you want. I just really don’t like the idea of you out on those roads, and especially at this hour,” he admits, sounding somewhat like an overprotective dad.

And although you want to giggle at his strictly concerned demeanor, a feeling of comfort settles deep in your heart. You realize just how much he cares for you, in a more profound way than you’ve ever felt before.

Even only after three months, you know that you are so in love with this man.

It’s a long moment before Pedro realizes that you’re contemplating his offer, and he can practically see you turning over the options in your head. So, in hopes of making it easier for you, he speaks up.

“I’ll go make up the bed with fresh sheets for you,” he whispers as he kisses your forehead, then turns to go do just that.

“You don’t need to go to all that trouble,” you follow after him, and he turns around to smile at you. “I trust your cleanliness,” you tease, wrapping your arms around his torso and hugging him close.

“Well, thanks,” he laughs, but grabs your hand and continues down the hall all the same.

Once inside his bedroom, the first thought you have when you see his bed is cuddling up with him after a long day. It smells so good in his room: the perfect mix of a manly musk and clean linen. Then, the slightly less wholesome thought of being sprawled out on the bed underneath him enters your mind, and you shudder at the flutters you get in your core.

“Take your pick,” his voice breaks you from your thoughts, and you turn to find him opening his closet door, gesturing to the large selection of sweats and various cozy clothes with his phone flashlight.

With a smile, you tread lightly over to him, resting your head on his shoulder as you sift through the clothes on the shelves.

“You pick,” you finally insist with a hum.

“I wanna see you wear this,” he pulls out his ‘Purple Rain’ tee shirt with a smile. Then, he yanks out the comfiest pair of sweats you think you’ve ever seen. “These okay, too?” he asks.

“Perfect,” you lean up and kiss his jawline.

“Alright,” he chuckles. “You can change in here and I’ll be back with a toothbrush. Unless, do you need to shower? You can use my stuff in there, I’ll light some candles, and I’ll get you some clean towels—”

“Pedro,” you lovingly interrupt him, and he stops his rambling to give you a bashful grin. “Just a toothbrush will be fine,” you giggle.

“Alright,” he murmurs with a chuckle of his own. “I’ll be back.”

He’s true to his word, closing the bedroom door to give you privacy to change. The only light you have is the one from your own phone flashlight, set face up on one of the shelves in the closet. Once you’re changed, you look at yourself in the full body mirror, and you cannot contain the smile you get from seeing the way you look in his clothes.

You pad back over to the bedroom door and open it to let him know you’re decent. You find him in the hall, in his own grey sweats and old tee shirt. He’s rooting around in the linen closet, then he pulls out a brand new pack of toothbrushes. He turns around and sees you peeking out of the door, and a smile immediately falls on his lips.

“How do I look?” you step out enough so that your ever so fashionable outfit is on display for him.

“Incredible,” he smiles wide, walking over to hand you the toothbrushes. “You make ‘em look better than I ever could.”

“This is your favorite shirt, though!” you smile, letting him lead you into the en suite bathroom.

“I think it’s your shirt now, Sweetie,” he teases, squeezing out some toothpaste onto his own brush before handing the tube over to you.

You simply shake your head and giggle, copying what he just did and smiling at him through the wide vanity mirror mounted above the double-sinked counter. It’s so domestic, so comforting to be in this situation with him. It’s the simplicity that gets you the most.

And before you know it, after way too many (and also not enough) hugs and kisses, he’s tucking you into his spacious bed, and bidding you goodnight.

Part of you wants to follow him out. You start to feel afraid because the only source of light you have is coming from the barely lit hallway from the candles in the living room. And before you know it, Pedro begins blowing out the candles, taking away what little light you had in the bedroom. You’re scared in this big, empty bed all by yourself. You want to go to Pedro.

But another part of you tells you to stay put. You know he’s going to sleep soon, and you’re already putting him out of his own bed. He’s been so polite and accommodating for you; the least you can do is suck it up and accept his gesture. Besides, the comforting scent of his sheets should keep you satiated til the morning. You mustn’t bother him any more.

However, you don’t listen to that part of your brain for very long. Because when the wind of the storm outside picks up, making a terrible howling sound, your heart begins to race and tears well up in your eyes. You let out a little sniffle as you finally give into your initial thoughts.

Carefully, you swing your legs out of bed and dangle them to meet the soft, carpeted floor below you. Then, it’s a game of skill having to maneuver through the unfamiliar bedroom, then hallway, all by yourself... and in near-complete darkness.

“Pedro?” you call out quietly once you reach the arch of the living room, and hoping you haven’t woken him up. It smells vaguely of the smoke of extinguished candles, and you cannot stand not being in his arms any longer.

“Yeah, Sweetie?” you hear him call back, his clear voice telling you that he’s still wide awake.

You walk a little further into the darkness of the room until you can see the faint outline of his form laying on the couch. He sits up when he sees you walking over to him, reaching over to flick on the little battery powered lantern on the side table, then making room on the couch, opening up his throw blanket for you to sit down close to him.

“Everything okay?” he asks, seeing the worried look in your eyes.

You nod, but he seems to see right through you. Placing his large hands on your cheeks to hold your face in his palms, he leans in and leaves a gentle kiss on your lips.

“What’s wrong?” he whispers.

“Pedro,” you speak timidly, then sigh. “M’scared.”

“Oh, (Y/n),” he frowns, saddened by the thought that you don’t feel completely safe here with him. “Of what?”

“It’s... embarrassing,” you hide your face in his shoulder.

“I promise it’s not,” he coos, peppering kisses onto your temple. “Tell me, Cariño.”

“It’s... It’s too dark in the bedroom. M’scared to be alone in there,” you finally admit.

“Oh, Sweetie,” he chuckles sympathetically, holding the back of your head. “I’m so sorry. Do you wanna take the lamp with you?”

“I wanna take you with me,” you giggle in return, feeling safer now that you’re in his arms.

“Yeah?” he asks, pulling you out of his side just enough so that he can hold your face and guide your gaze back to his.

“Mhm,” you purse your lips forward, and he kisses them in return.

“You sure? I wanna give you the space you need,” he says, smoothing his hand over the top of your head.

“I don’t need much space from you, Pedro,” you counter, burrowing back into his embrace.

“Alright,” he laughs quietly, feeling his heart swell at how confident you are in telling him when you need something. “Then let’s go to bed, yeah?”

With one swift movement, Pedro’s feet are planted on the floor beneath him, all while scooping you up into his arms to carry you back to the bedroom.

“I can walk, Pedro,” you laugh quietly. “You didn’t have to carry me.”

“Won’t be the last time, Cariño, I can guarantee it,” he winks, placing you down ever so gently and skillfully.

“I suppose I can get used to it,” you shrug playfully, already feeling so much safer and happier having Pedro with you.

“That’s what I like to hear,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to your cheek before settling under the covers beside you.

After your vision has adjusted to the darkness of the room, you roll over to face him, finding his big, brown eyes staring into yours while the sweetest smile graces his lips.

“Thank you for tonight, Pedro,” you whisper, placing a hand over his cheek. “I really like spending time with you.”

“I love spending time with you, too, Sweetie. Thank you for being so flexible. I’m sure this wasn’t the date night you’d imagined,” he chuckles, leaning in to press a small kiss to your lips.

“This date was perfect. I wouldn’t have wanted it to go any other way,” you assure him, reaching a hand up to push some of his curls out of his face.

“I still owe you a better one. With electricity this time,” he laughs.

“Well, I certainly won’t turn down another date with you,” you smile back. “How about next Saturday?”

“I’ll be there,” he nods, smoothing his thumb over your bottom lip.

“I didn’t name a place yet,” you chuckle.

“Doesn’t matter,” he hums, pressing one more kiss to your lips. “I’ll pick you every time, Cariño.”

~~~

a/n: ahhhh my first pedro fic is out there!!! pls let me know if you liked it and/or if you have any ideas for future pedro fics :)

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal fluff #the mandalorian #din djarin #triple frontier #francisco morales #frankie morales #narcos #javier peña #game of thrones #oberyn martell #the unbearable weight of massive talent #javi gutierrez #pedro pascal rpf #rpf #age gap fic

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honourablejester · 5 months

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I’m watching Pathfinder lore videos, because I just enjoy looking at other people’s worldbuilding, and a tiny little nugget stuck with me. I was watching this video on the demon lords of the Abyss, and it came to Angazhan, the great ape demon of jungles, apes and tyranny. And it just mentions that his realm, Ahvoth-Kor, is formed in a great ravine in the Abyss, with jungles on either wall, but gravity pulls towards the walls, so as you stand on the ‘ground’ in one jungle on one wall, you can see the other above you. Trees and rope bridges cross the gap, which must be fascinating as you cross the halfway point and gravity abruptly reverses itself. And I just. I mean, Angazhan doesn’t do much for me as himself, but his realm caught my attention the most in the entire video, just for that one detail. Because it’s so cool. He lives in a folded realm. You can climb a pillar to the sky and then fall up the top half of it to the ground on the far side.

And it just made me realise that I love the Abyss, or rather the potential of the Abyss, in both its D&D and Pathfinder incarnations. Because chaos gets all the cool world states. Because chaos feels free to break the rules and get weird, and therefore give you fantastic landscapes like Ahvoth-Kor. Which is actually quite normal, aside from the fact that it’s folded double on itself. You could go so much weirder.

But, at the same time, I also hate the Abyss, just slightly. Because you can’t get weird, apparently, without also getting evil. Because, while I have seen the chaotic good and chaotic neutral planes mentioned, they don’t get anywhere near as much attention. How many people even know the names of the good-aligned chaotic planes? And, yes, Limbo and the Maelstrom are more of a thing, and the Maelstrom at least is fantastically cool, but they’re not focused on really either. Because they don’t have cool themed villains hanging out in them. Which is, granted, another excellent selling point of the Abyss. Demon lords are a lot more idiosyncratic than archdevils, more, again, weird and wonderful. On the D&D side, which I’m more familiar with, I do adore Juiblex, Zuggtmoy and Fraz-Urb’luu. When you are shaping your realm out of raw chaos to match your personality, it gives you a degree of wild customisation that more lawful, rigid planes just don’t allow. The demon lords are exciting, in a way archdevils just aren’t for me.

But. It means that if you want really cool fantastic landscapes and batshit world states, you have to go to an evil plane where everything is trying to kill slash torture you. The good aligned chaotic planes of the respective ttrpgs, Elysium and Arborea and the Beastlands, are to a large extent just ‘unchecked nature’, the extremely pastoral idea of untouched wilderness. If you want to see truly cool and alien and fantastic things, you have to get tortured for it.

Or, granted, try the Maelstrom in Pathfinder. The Maelstrom is really cool.

Like. If they’re both formed from raw chaos, why can’t good be equally as batshit? Why can’t you have, I don’t know, a chaotic good sea god whose ship sails upside down on the surface of a vast ocean of air, and whose sea sprite petitioners venture down in diving bells to marvel at the stars? (Sidenote: there could also be more good-aligned sea gods, just as a general note). Why isn’t there a heaven for the souls of subterranean travellers and explorers where they get to spend eternity spelunking absolutely mind-boggling and impossible caves that open out into the raw foam of chaos? Why couldn’t the chaotic good plane also be a nested stew of personalised bubble worlds shaped from raw fundament by strong-willed but mildly-to-majorly batshit themed entities, that are just in this case also friendly and unlikely to torture you out of hand?

Why is good so tame? Even at its wildest, it’s so tame compared to how batshit and weird evil gets to be. Like, yes, good means safety, but safe doesn’t have to mean ‘bounded’. It could mean ‘I will touch my grace upon you so we can witness wonders together’. It could mean ‘let me make a place where fire does not burn so I can turn a sun inside out and let you experience the strange geometries of its interior’.

I just. The Abyss is really, really cool, this strange bubble realm of nested psychoses written onto reality by larger than life beings. I do love it. But. You could have that, and not have it built on suffering. Not instead of, but as well. With equal weight.

Let good be weird too. Let chaos in general just be the place where both horrors and wonders beyond imagining are explored.

As another, related complaint, I know it's to do with game balance and player capabilities, but it's also a bummer that the outer planes in general are something most PCs will never experience first hand, owing to being in general fantastically lethal and/or hard to get to. I just wanna wander Zuggtmoy's fungal fields, and climb rope bridges across the gravity line in Ahvoth-Kor!

Anyway. Carry on.

#pathfinder #d&d #worldbuilding #the abyss #chaos #alignment #i get that the aligned planes in general is dodgy worldbuilding to start with #but also it's such a waste of chaos not to go full weird with it #if this is the exercise we're doing #how are we conceiving chaos in relation to morality #why is good considered inherently less chaotic #also just let me explore some weird-ass landscapes #i just really want to

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boozles · 1 month

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I'm still extremely sick in bed and missed three days of the BL Challenge, so here they are!

Day Three: side dish that should have been the main course

It's a surprise to absolutely no one that I'm picking Ai Di/Chen Yi from Kiseki: Dear to Me. I think almost everyone would pick them for this! Don't get me wrong, I adore Bai Zong Yi and Fan Ze Rui, but Ai Di and Chen yi were just something else.

Day Four: Fave ship dynamic

In all honesty, I'm not sure I really have one outside of 'one is a chaotic little shit who can only be controlled by his lover'. Like (obviously) Ai Di/Chen Yi, Sand/Ray, Akk/Ayan, Prapai/Sky, etc.

Day Five: Biggest flop

Okay, so I'm interpreting this one as a pairing that, to me, doesn't work. Before I get into it I want you all to know I mean absolutely no offense to anyone, and these are just my personal opinions.

So, I am really not a fan of OffGun as a cp. I've never understood why they are so revered and treated as the Elite Elders of BL. Separately they are both fantastic actors, but as a cp I just don't see any chemistry between them. As friends, sure, but I don't see romantic sparks between any of their characters. Okay, I admit in Theory of Love Gun did an amazing job of one sided love, but other than that I've never seen the attraction. I really wish Gun could be paired with someone else, but that's never going to happen.

Tbh, out of the original GMMTV BL pairings the only one I think actually works is TayNew. BrightWin was just awkward and the 2gether series' didn't grab me at all. I've yet to watch SOTUS, so all I've seen of SingtoKrist is a short they did and their Our Skyy episode, and I wasn't overly impressed; which is odd as I actually really like both actors with other actors! However, I am willing to admit it could be a product of time; the early days of GMMTV's BLs left a lot to be desired.

Again, I mean no offence to anyone who are fans of these cps! These are just my thoughts and shouldn't impact your love :) I'm sure some of my ships would probably leave ya'll like "huh?!" lol

#blchallenge2k24

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hypnoneghoul · 8 months

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Any thoughts or headcanons about Dew having to switch guitars? Maybe a little angsty because he’s embarrassed the fantomen is too big/heavy for his small frame? Maybe Papa made some offhand comment about the ‘little guy’ can’t handle the big boy guitar? Maybe he tried to get help from gym bro Ifrit? Maybe Aether notices and tries to reassure him that Papa won’t be mad if he needs to switch? Maybe Papa finds out and feels REALLY BAD about that earlier comment? Maybeeee? (Congrats on 400 dude!! You deserve 4000! Also please feel free to ignore this if it doesn’t itch your brain 🩷)

aaaaall guitar related asks always itch my brain heheheh don't u worry!!! and ty!

ACTUALLY, the thing that it was too big and heavy is only a part of the reasons dew switched to strat. strats are extremely versatile and he has a few versions with different modifications and everything so there's a lot more shit he can do with them, etc. like, watcher in the sky siren and all the other parts in other songs he uses the whammy bar for and other stuff, yk. he's also way more comfortable with it so even if i love the fantomen in general and for them it was a great fucking decision lmao

HOWEVER, i do have a favourite personal hc about this, right? so i think dew transitioned fire -> water in between meliora and prequelle era, and during prequelle he still didn't really accept the change and everything, if you know what i mean. i think rain helped him with that stuff and all, but that's a different topic in general ahhahah

where im going with this is that when he was finally okay with everything the impera era came and... well, he didn't want to be ifrits shitty replacement anymore, weighted down both methaphoricaly and literally by the expectations and the fantomen. he got the strat, something that was his with no attachements. so it wasn't only practical change, it was very symbolical. imo he was very proud of himself for kinda cutting the past off, if that makes sense. or at least that's how i look at it, lmao

sorry if this is chaotic as fuck I'm all over the place rn hshdbdh

#hypnone's asks #hypnone gear talks #hypnone's headcannons #dewdrop ghoul #the band ghost #nameless ghouls

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magicxc · 6 months

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Hills and Valleys

Synopsis: Legend has it that Halloween is strictly for the scares. With ghouls and goblins, vampires and werewolves, witches and broomsticks, who could disagree?

However, all this friend group wanted was a little trick or treat. Sprinkle in a few party favors, loud music and a cabin in the woods, the myth was bound to come true.

Lurking around the corner is danger like never before, eager to bring this night to a bloody finish.

So join these friends as they fight to make it through a Hallween they’ll never forget.

Word Count: 3506

Warnings: murdaaaa, tha big reveal

Chapter 6 - Jasons POV

A/N: this is legit like my 5th attempt at uploading this damn fic. From the warnings to the word count to the moodboard to the story all the way down to the fucking tagsssss 😩 I am TIRED. Almost turned my phone into jello over Dumblr. So please, enjoy; cause tears def went into this.

Series Masterlist

“What’s with the scrutiny all of a sudden?” Emery challenged. “You know I could say the same for you Jason, the same for all of us really; cause where was anyone when our friends were fighting for their lives?” she sniffled. “All we have to do is sit here til sunrise and we can’t even do that.”

As annoying as I find Emery, she made a decent point. Where was I? Where was anyone and how did this manage to happen unheard? Do I actually believe Lorenzo did it? Not really. He’s lost arguably the two closest people in his friend group, cradling Stephanie in his arms for God knows how long. For a second I almost believed he’d break through the window if it meant he could reach out and hold Julianna much the same; his behaviour eerily composed, reminding me of the calm before the storm - and what a shit storm it’s turned out to be.

Serving in the military, I was taught to survive in extreme atmospheric conditions; training to fight in places as scorching as the desert and as icy as the snow. Our exercises also saw us in unsturdy places such as the choppy currents of the water, arms linked together as we floated on the surface for hours. The sky was no exception either, learning to parachute from altitudes so high the air was all but limited. It wasn’t my dream to fight for this country but, life happens. And while it did come with its perks, I wouldn’t recommend any sane person to join. I’ve scraped so many bodies off the battlefield and sent so many others to meet their maker, I’ve become somewhat desensitized to death - learning to keep calm during the most chaotic and life threatening moments because it’s only then that I was able to live to tell the tale. And that’s what I’ve been attempting since we all found ourselves locked in this place - surviving, lending out my experience to the team who quite frankly doesn't deserve it at this point. All I can do is stay calm long enough to see this night through.

“I think we should waterboard the fucker.”

And here the fuck we go. I’ve never pegged Lynn for such a firecracker but I get it. After all, this night is drawing all sorts of emotions from people: showing our true colors when the universe dangles something so priceless before us.

It's been said that about 1800 people have jumped from the golden gate bridge, yet only 35 have survived the fall. And each person that’s survived has explicitly stated that they regretted jumping halfway through the fall, realising, in the face of imminent danger, just how solvable all their problems seemed. Much like tonight, in what happened to be a party gone horribly wrong, recovering bodies littered around the house like candies during an easter egg hunt, only then do you realise how desperately you want to live. Many people are familiar with the term fight or flight, but what goes most overlooked is a secret third thing - fear. Fear so intense it freezes you to one spot like a deer in headlights, too afraid to move from the oncoming beams of tragedy. But another emotion fear pulls from us is survival, an emotion so fierce that you’d find yourself doing just about anything to have it; even going as far as to commit interrogation tactics of torture.

“Exactly which fucker are you referring to?” Emery questioned.

“Whoever the fucker is responsible for this mess.”

“Go ahead and point them out for us since you know every damn thing.”

They’re on their own with this one. I can't deal with the bickering. I'm used to organized and thought provoking responses in such situations; my irritation rising the more it sinks in just how wet they are behind the ears.

“Lorenzo, you’re one more insult away from me socking you in the face.”

“Whatever Lynn, what you should hit is the books you dumbass,” he retorts.

Throwing her shoe at him, it just barely misses his face; Emery stepping in to call them both childish.

“So help me God if you don’t get your shit together, I’m gonna whoop you like your parents should have.”

“Fuck you Lenny, at least my parents were active enough in my life not to let me get raised by the help.”

“Parent,” Lorenzo enunciated. “Had your dad been able to afford the help, maybe your mom would’ve stuck around you motherless bitch.”

Well shit.

“Jason, do something!”

“Right, uhhh all shoes in the middle of the floor,” I instructed.

“Asshole.”

I don’t know why Emery insists on calling me out. Everyone, despite tonight’s circumstances, in this room is responsible for their own actions. Yet she expects me to jump in the middle of their bullshit every time. I don't know what kind of savior complex they have going on, but I won’t be a part of it. I barely want to be with sugar at this point.

“Lenny you motherfucker, two parents plus the help and yet no one taught you what it means to have common decency; no wonder women can’t wait to get rid of you.”

“Well if it isn’t the whore of Babylon here to teach us a lesson about keeping partners. Tell you what, you teach me how to keep a woman and I’ll teach you how to get rid of the clap.”

“Sex shaming is not cool,” Emery criticized.

“And neither is half the things that's been flapping past Lynn's lying ass lips,” Lorenzo retorted. “If you’re gonna be biased, do so from the corner of the room, cause you’re at about arms length right now and that’s not good for you.

“Would you seriously hit me?” she ridiculed.

I would.

“Are you surprised Em, this is the same piece of shit who yanked Julez arm so hard, it left bruises.”

“You dramatic whore, no the fuck I did not.”

“And that was in front of an entire crowd, who knows what you’re capable of behind closed doors huh? Drowning? Slicing?”

“Sounds like you’re in the mood to find out.”

“Tell me their last words to you as you watched them fight for their lives you piece of shit.”

“YOU GUYS PLEASE.”

Oh my God.

“Shut your mouth Lynn.”

“Tell me every horrifying detail about what fucked you up so bad that you’d turn on your own friends in such a way.”

“I won't ask you again.”

“Steph probably begged you to finish her off didn’t she? Eager to get the hell away from you and your perverted advances.”

For a big guy, Lorenzo’s pretty damn swift. Maybe it’s because all those drinks are still sloshing around in my bloodstream but my cat like senses wasn’t quick enough to catch him.

Angrily lunging toward Lynn his hands are tightly wrapped around her throat, arms trembling from the forceful hold. Beads of sweat drip down his forehead, while spittled foam gathers at the corners of his mouth. Blinking away tears, thick veins line the surface of his neck, incoherent mumbling tumbling past his lips.

Sugar desperately beats at his arms, struggling for air he refuses to give her and my anger shoots through the roof, their foolishness pissing me off for the final time. It takes both me and Emery to tear Lorenzo away from sugar, his grip firm and unrelenting. For a second I feared that he actually intended to kill her. Once we finally manage to drag him away, it takes me putting my full weight on this man, using one of my hand to hand combat moves to lock him into place.

Pinned beneath me, I scream to Emery to grab anything strong enough to tie his arms together. She brings me back one of the kitchen towels and I roll us sideways so that she can wrap it around his hands.

“I - I can't do it, he won’t stop thrashing his arms.”

“For fucksake Emery TRY, there’s only so much I can do right now.

With lots of wiggling and flailing, Emery manages a decent enough knot for me to turn him over and reinforce it. Sugar finally catches her breath before storming into the kitchen.

We sit Lorenzo in a chair while Emery tries to coax him into comfort. Standing up, he head butts me in the face, my nose immediately leaking blood from the impact. My fist returns the favor, knocking him back into the chair. Emery harshly tugs on my elbow, begging me to stop, and it takes everything in me to do just that because this fight was about to turn real unfair, real quick.

Dragging my arm across my face, I look about the room for anything to tie down his legs to the chair, coming up with some loose cloth, which undoubtedly was a part of someone’s costume.

“Fuck all of you,” Lorenzo screams.

“No Lenny, fuck you,” sugar screeched, thumping back to the room; a pitcher full of water cradled between her hands.

“Woah, woah, woah LYNNLEY. Are you fucking serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

“This is Lenny, the same Lenny we’ve known since middle school.”

“People change Em and I'm about to show you just how much.”

“Sugar, maybe we should-“

“Shut up, all of you.”

“I know there’s been a lot said tonight, some things in particular we can never take back,” Lorenzo sighed. “And I know tensions are high right now, but are they so high that you’d all sit there and watch me die.”

“Lorenzo, no one’s gonna kill anyone man.”

“It’s WATERBOARDING, you of all people should know that it can very well get fatal.”

“Enough of this.”

Grabbing a fistful of his hair, she pulls his head back, pouring enough water on him to drench his clothes, before being snatched away by Emery.

It's not nearly enough to kill him, but it does make for some discomfort, much like accidentally snorting a noseful of water once you dive inside a swimming pool. It burns but that's about it.

Coughing through his discomfort, I listen as sugar and Emery go back and forth over the severity of it all; and I briefly contemplate killing myself if it means that I won't have to deal with their nonsense. I honestly don't know if I can make it to sunrise like this and by the looks of it, neither will they.

Their bickering finally subsides, them agreeing only to question the man and nothing more. Of course Lorenzo detests it, that for no other reason than a hunch he’s guilty and lowkey he’s right. But then again, I'm not inserting myself into their madness. They’ve made it this far in this fucked up friend circle, they can make it the rest of the night.

“So lemme get this straight, you went upstairs to find cell signal and somehow found yourself next to a knife stricken Steph?”

“Lynn, ask your damn question.”

“How did you end up there and why?”

“My phone fell out of the window and I was looking for someone elses to use. It just so happened that Steph was the first person I found.”

“I think we should stop asking who may have done it, but why?” Emery proposed. “I feel like if we can figure out who had motive, we can narrow it down.”

“Well this is a pretty fucked up way to narrow things down. I'm literally tied to a chair.”

“That's because you choked me.”

“And I’ll do it again, you’ve been out of pocket since this whole thing started. How do we know you’re not the killer huh?

“Because I’m holding back from killing you now,” she shrieks.

Spitting, the thick glob lands directly on her chest, sugar all but emptying the contents of the pitcher onto his face; angrily clomping back into the kitchen to no doubt fill it again, but not before slapping him across the cheek.

Wet and stinging, that's quite the combination. I fear this has gone on long enough and it's only escalating. As much as I wanted to stay out of it, I think I better intervene.

Following sugar into the kitchen, I try to talk her out of this crazed state, her dazed pupils letting me know that she’s too far gone for reason. Pushing past me, she heads back into the living room where we see Emery struggling to untie the knots off Lorenzo, his violent coughing trying to dislodge the water that seeped into his lungs.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

“The hell does it look like I'm doing Lynn, this is mad and it needs to stop now.”

“Not until I get some answers.”

“People who talk, talk after their first contact with water,” I bargained. “And he’s not talking.”

“All that means is we have to get him talking then.”

“OR, it means he didn’t do it. You pour a bucket of water over someone’s nose and they’ll tell you whatever you want to hear if it means you’ll stop.”

“And yet you did it anyway,” she glared.

“There was a time where I would’ve died for all of you. I found a family in you guys and it filled a void I didn’t even know I had. And in one night, one measly fucking night I lose it all,” Lorenzo whimpered. “My best friend gets murdered without us ever properly mending things between us. I had to watch the love of my life die in my arms. And now, my other friend is actively trying to kill me, disregarding our decade long friendship all in the name of anger.

“Lorenzo, you did this to yourself!”

“LYNN, how fucking cruel can you be?”

“It’s alright Em, I’ve been known to be a bit of an asshole, though I’d like to think I meant well,” he bitterly chuckled, snot trickling down his nose. “Do me a favor and survive this fucked up night, cause God only knows who Lynn will turn on next. Not to mention that fucker over there,” he says, head nodding toward me. “Ain't it a little odd how all of this starts happening the moment he shows up? Yet I'm the one you helped him strap down to a chair. They ask what would you do for a klondike bar, but you better start asking what would Lynn do for a piece of dick, cause apparently it’s kill for it.”

“Lorenzo, I'm actually on your side. The only reason you’re even tied to that chair is because you attacked two people in this room,” I defended.

“And what's the reason I'm being waterboarded huh? Who weaseled that thought in her mind? You say you fight for your country? Motherfucker you can't even fight for the people in this room, but you like what’s happening huh?

“Not at all man.”

“We get it, I'm a dumb hoe, but you’re about to be a dead one if you don’t fess up.”

“And then what? You’ll let me go free?”

“Jason, please help me untie him,” Emery pleaded.

“Em don’t you fucking dare.”

Lunging toward her, hands get tangled into hair and nails get scratched into skin before I can get between them. It takes more strength than I care to give to hold Emery back, both she and sugar throwing around insults.

“Lynn I swear, you’re more trouble than you’re worth,” Lorenzo taunted. “YOU ARE THE CUM SHOT YOUR MOTHER SHOULDVE SWALLOWED. It would’ve saved your dad a lifetime of headaches and your mother the embarassm-“

Lorenzo’s words get cut off by the splashing of water, his gurgling noises buried under the guzzling of the pitcher. Emery goes wild, hitting my chest repeatedly and I toss her to the ground, jetting over to the scene behind me. Slapping the pitcher from Lynn’s hands, it's on the verge of empty, nothing but a trickle left inside as it splatters to the floor.

Lorenzo’s body furiously thrashes around, his chest caved in and head hung over with water spluttering from his mouth in an attempt to rid it from his body.

“Shit, Lynnley what the fuck did you do,” I screamed.

Emery is struggling to undo the knots, but all she’s doing is pulling them tighter together. I race over and lean the chair forward, hoping for gravity to expel some of the water from his airway, his body jerking about minorly.

“Why are you just standing there, find something to cut him loose.”

Scrambling into the kitchen, I hear dishes clinking and slamming together before Lynn comes running out with a knife, slicing through the cloth as best she can. The kitchen towel, since it was the thickest, took the longest and by the time we got him out the chair and on the floor, his fits has ceased.

Getting into position, I lock my hands together and press down on his chest, 30 times just like we did in training.

“Emery, once I count to 30 I need you to tip his head back and blow two big breaths into his mouth okay.”

“And what do I do?”

“Stay the fuck over there, I doubt he’d want your help at this point,” Emery yelled.

We do five sets of 30 compressions. The CPR forces out some of the water but Lorenzo is still unconscious.

“Why isn’t it working?” Emery wails.

“Em-“

“Why are you stopping, keep going.”

“Stop.”

Pushing against my chest, Emery restarts CPR.

“The lungs are about 9 inches in height, that's a little under a foot.”

“Nobody cares, just fucking help me.”

“The pitcher that Lynn poured over his face looked to be about 64 ounces and she did it twice. That was enough water to fill his lungs three times over.”

“We can do it, I know we can,” she croaked.

“There's no amount of CPR that can expel that much water. And his lungs are so heavy they’re actively swelling as we speak.”

“We won’t know unless we try Jason, you get the mouth and I’ll get the chest.”

“Blowing air into his already expanding lungs won't help Emery.”

“Am I supposed to just watch him die then?” she chided. “Isn’t there a way to drain it?”

“I'm no doctor and neither do we have the tools or the sterile space to do that.”

“Fuck a sterile space!”

“Not only would you infect him but stabbing anything in his chest to ‘drain it’ will only make him bleed out. We would need a very specific and precise needle.”

“No, we can do it,” she answered, starting the compressions again.

The splattering of liquids on the floor lets me know that Lynn has just emptied the contents of her stomach, but I'm in no mood to comfort.

“The body works in 3’s. Three days without water, three weeks without food, and three minutes without air. It’s been about seven now.”

“Shut up.”

“Lorenzo’s lungs are so heavy they’ve probably detached from his windpipe. That, coupled with no oxygen to his brain…at least he was unconscious before it happened.

“Jason either you help me or you leave,” Emery threatened, fat teardrops rolling down her face in droves.

There’s five stages of grief and they’re at the first one. Back against the furniture, I hold my head in my hands, listening to sugars light whimpers and Emery's ragged breathing.

She tires herself out with compressions, fists flying to his chest, pleading for him to wake up. Hands clutched over her ears, sugar rocks back and forth, mumbling out apologies, expletives, and frustrations; guilt no doubt eating her alive.

Hands dropping to my pocket, I rummage around for anything I can chew on, ready to get out of here and never see these people again. Fingers slipping free with the peppermint goodness, I unwrap it and pop it in my mouth.

Some minutes pass by, how many I don't know and the night grows quiet. As tragic as it’s been for everyone, this minute's peace brings about a small sense of tranquility. There’s the occasional sniffle and I watch as the sky transitions from pitch black to a pale pink, the telltale sign of the sun about to rise.

“At least his parents will be home soon right?” sugar questions.

“Yep, right in time enough to see their only son sprawled out on the floor and his friends scattered across the property. So much for the new owners, their home just turned into a crime scene.”

“Do you have any more gum?” Emery asked, voice sore from crying.

Tossing it in her direction, she catches it, face upturned once she removes the wrapper.

“Eww, Jason what the fuck, who the hell buys brown gum? What kind of flavor even is this?”

“It's peppermint,” I answered, popping a bubble.

“Still weird, I haven’t seen this shit since-“

The words die on her tongue. She looks up to me, revelation fresh on her features, which slowly etches into panic, as a sinister grin makes its way onto mine.

#Emmy Writes #Emmy Tries #Halloween Kills #Halloween Series #Halloween #Hills and Valleys #Original Story and Characters #Horror #the big fucking reveal #did you guess it right?#have you known all along?#tell me your thoughts

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pelideswhore · 11 months

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ARIADNE (JENNIFER SAINT) REVIEW

RATING: 5/10

FIND HERE

LIVE-BLOG

NOTE: i found live blogging this book very fun actually! i also wanted to thank you all so much for not spoiling the ending despite the many rants, i’m glad i got to experience that for myself. i did skip some chunks of the phaedra/hippolytus part due to personal triggers so you won’t find much about that in this review. @a-chaotic-dumbass here it is<3

TL;DR: i definitely did like jennifer saint’s actual writing style, though there were some issues with the actual pacing of the story. despite there not being any major inaccuracies, the small things did add up and did annoy me. my biggest issue with this book however are the characters.

SPOILERS UNDERCUT

WRITING (7/10)

I genuinely loved Saint’s style! She is definitely a great writer. There was a perfect balance between simplicity and imagery; some nice quotes but no purple prose and most importantly no dramatic descriptions of feet, which i really enjoyed. I usually don’t enjoy multi-pov that much and it was a bit random getting Phaedra’s POV at times but Saint definitely knows how to give each of her characters a distinct voice, so I actually enjoyed it! I also very much like that she gave Phaedra what seemed to be PPD—it’s always great to get some good representation of such things. Despite what I say about the characters later on, they do all seem to experience some form of character arc which is always a good sign.

The pacing threw me off a little, partially because she tried to fit such a large and versatile myth into one book and partially because of the large chunks of exposition. I honestly skimmed over Theseus’ narration of his previous adventures… I understand that the story has to make sense to non-myth fans, but with her great writing I would have hoped she could’ve found a more elegant way to weave that in. Like I said, the cramming of such a huge myth into a single book resulted in her having to go extremely off-topic to finish story lines. It would’ve been better if done implicitly (e.g. the Icarus myth). Similarly, for about a hundred pages in the book, nothing happened. Different amounts of time passed in each POV chapter which was very confusing, but at the same time there isn’t much you can do about that. I was however disappointed when I got five years of Phaedra’s POV and then a single (bad) exposition chapter from Ariadne in a book that is literally named after her. Honestly, Part 3 was more Phaedra’s book than it was Ariadne’s.

I also wasn’t a huge fan of the 1st person but that’s just a personal nitpick. There were some off lines or some incongruities, but they weren’t too bad overall.

ACCURACY (5/10)

Story-wise, there no big inaccuracies other than the ending, which I absolutely hated, it was just so stupid and unnecessary. In fact, I’m not going to speak about it at all. The way she added the Phaedra and Theseus storyline (though not entirely accurate) was smart and helped story progression, so I’ll consider that a bonus point. The fact that they waited for Phaedra to turn 18 to marry is obviously for modern readers but I can appreciate that nonetheless. I definitely did enjoy the little sprinkles of myths here and there, especially the sentences that are literally just implications (e.g. a King holding up the sky for his people). Looking for those made reading really fun. The fact that she drew parallels made everything so much better. I can also appreciate the fact that she got the timeline correct, only referencing women that came before Ariadne and not after. She does however mention Theseus’ trip to the underworld, conveniently ignoring the fact that this happened long after the Minotaur fiasco (and that Theseus’ ass literally got ripped off). It just serves to make Theseus look bad, but more on that later.

The fact that Phaedra spent most of the book in Athens makes things tricky considering how misogynistic the polish is and none of the power she had there made sense. Reasonably, she wouldn’t be allowed to sit in a single council, let alone share her thoughts and much less conduct entire festivals with women from surrounding cities. Saint tries to point out how unlikely this is and considering it’s a feminist book, things like this are hard to leave out, so there isn’t much she can do. I just don’t like feminist retellings and I still think they don’t work.

I found it a little silly for the characters (who know nothing other than the greek mythology world) to be describing the myths to other characters, as well as Pasiphae translating Asterion’s name to Ariadne. Considering (ancient) Greek is her mother’s tongue, she would’ve probably known the word for star—it would’ve worked so much better if she’d drawn that connection for herself in her personal monologue. Similarly, she mentions a “foetus” at some point, which is a Latin word that came long after any of the described events. Simply saying ‘baby’ (the literal translation) would’ve made so much more sense, but alas.

The Medusa myth is obviously important to the story, especially given the ending (sigh). First of all, this was one of those instances with bad exposition. More importantly though, Saint uses Ovid’s iteration of the Medusa story which is a) misleading and b) also comes years after the events. I honestly love Ovid but using his version of the myth in a book that might very well be read by people that don’t know the original sets the wrong impression. On top of that, the original isn’t feminist at all. It’s anything but. Knowing that as a reader takes away the entire idea Saint was going for. I don’t even know what kind of symbolism Saint was going for by having Ariadne get petrified. All of this just to put Perseus in a bad light, which is unfair considering Perseus is probably the most humble hero there ever was.

This brings me to … Hera. I’m not even going to say much about because a) I don’t have the energy and b) this happens to her in every adaption so I’m not even surprised. You can find different antagonists for your feminist retellings than women, especially divine women, ESPECIALLY women who are victims in their own stories. Phaedra calls Artemis ‘cold and bloodless’ because she’s sworn an oath of chasitity, which … I get that you’re getting rejected but smells like aphobia to me? That just didn’t sit right with me. Life is not meaningless because you don’t love. Additionally, Phaedra goes on about how Artemis might have killed Ariadne for not remaining a virgin. There are a couple of things that annoy me about this such as a) if Artemis has this role in this world, why would Theseus suggest that Artemis killed her?? and b) Artemis was considered responsible for all unanswered female deaths! She doesn’t go around punishing girls that have extramarital sex! It’s simply not that big of a deal.

CHARACTERS (2/10)

Ariadne wasn’t too spectacular or memorable as a main character, but she didn’t really annoy me either. There were some moments where the plot or suspense of the story relied on her being completely stupid which had me screaming at the page. Most of this gets resolved through character developments and was actually set pretty well using foreshadowing e.g. the conversation with Theseus. The foreshadowing is there while also keeping Ariadne’s perspective in mind. Regarding the dancing… I made a huge fuss about it when live-blogging (i still find it funny don’t mind me) but now I actually like it? I was having a brain fart moment at the time and completely forgot her connection to Dionysos. It was really clever to introduce that from the beginning and I honestly wish that she had carried that on. I also wish her necklace would’ve gotten some more mentions, but it just got forgotten. It’s especially important considering Ariadne considered committing suicide with it.

I didn’t like the fact that Ariadne had no revolutionary thoughts whatsoever until Theseus shows up and then as soon as this hot hunk shows up, she’s all for killing her brother. The same brother she didn’t want to get locked up. Although there was some decent character development I did find her last choice to reason with Perseus a bit sudden. All of that just happened very fast.

Minos being a cruel and merciless ass doesn’t sit right with me anyway and the fact that Saint takes away his motivation to be that way (aka. his love and grief over his son) just makes it so much worse, I already said this in an ask, but she just shot herself in the foot with that. It would’ve made for such a great antagonist personality/motivation instead we have All Men Are Bad. She could’ve even made a point of him caring more for his dead son than his alive daughters!

As the number one Theseus hater, I would usually be the last person to defend him, but for some reason this portrayal felt really inauthentic. Personally, I don’t think Theseus was being malicious when leaving Ariadne behind, it’s just a thing he had to do. He’s not an evil mastermind, he’s just some shitty guy. This is all minor because I’m just suggesting a different type of evil, but I don’t know.

As for Dionysos… I honestly don’t know how I feel about him. Ariadne is way too subjective and unreliable for me to be able to make a proper assumption about him so I just won’t.

The only characters I really did enjoy from start to finish were Daedalus, Pasiphae and Deucalion, all of which barely got any screen time. In fact, my only complaint regarding Pasiphae is that I wished she had more screen time. I loved every moment I got to read about her.

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