#that being said if el HAS to suffer then I’m glad they’re making use of dr. brenner next season

[sapphirelass]

What family is all about - Weasley FamilyxWeasley!Sister

Hiiiiiii!!! It’s... been a while. Again. Let’s face it, I’ll never be able to post as often as I’d like. I just don’t like rushing stuff, or posting anything I’m not happy with, so...

Anyhow, I LOVED writing for the Weasley family, and I’ll most likely do it again soon. Bill and Charlie are both underrated characters in my opinion and I had a ton of fun letting them ‘shine’ (despite this being a sort of sad story, but that always seems to be where I end up... XD)

Also, I might have to edit this once more, but it’s late, I have not posted in about two weeks and I just want to go to sleep XD That being said, take it for what it is, and I’ll try to correct any grammatical errors later. Good night! <3

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Please note:

1: I don’t own any of the gifs used, nor any already established characters, so credit to the authors and original creators - You have done a phenomenal job :)

2: English is not my native language, as I was born and raised in Sweden. I have, however, studied English for almost a decade, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem, I just thought I’d let you know ;)

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Word count: ≈ 2800 (they just keep getting longer, don’t they? XD)

Warnings: Light swearing, blood, angst

Enjoy! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That’s what family is all about 

“How big did his tongue get?”

“It was four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!”

The sound of laughter was heard from the kitchen as Elwira Weasley entered her childhood home. She worked as an arithmancer, and had been stationed at a research-facility in the northern parts of Sweden for the past few years. Her work took up most of her time, but she had just travelled home to go see the quidditch final with her dad, older brother Bill, twin brother Charlie and all their younger siblings.

“It isn’t funny”, her dad shouted. “That sort of behaviour seriously undermines wizard-muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of muggles, and my own sons-”

“Are just a wee bit too daft to understand that!”

She walked through the door and found her entire family, plus two other people she didn’t know, all sitting or standing around the kitchen table.

“Ellie?!”

Her older brother and twin, with whom she had always been extremely close, both made their way across the room and pulled her into a hug so tight she could barely breathe.

“Blimey! ‘ello Bill, hey Charlie! Long time no see, huh?”

“Certainly!”, their mother exclaimed while pushing the two oldest sons to the side as she tried to get a good look at her grown-up daughter. “Not a single visit since Christmas, Elwira Weasley, we’ve had to do with owls for six months?!”

“Sorry, mum, there’s been a lot of work to do… I thought I’d stay for the rest of the summer though, if that’s okay with you?”

“Of course, dear! Have you eaten yet?”

“No, I’m famished!”

Mrs Weasley went off to get another plate, and Ellie, after greeting everyone and being introduced to Harry and Hermione, took a seat between her dad and youngest brother.

“So Ronald? Had a good term?”

“Err.. Sure? Nothing interesting except for the stuff I wrote to you about, though.”

“Well you’re going into your fourth year now - almost halfway through!” She paused for a moment and turned to her father. “You good dad? You seem a bit… tense?”

Arthur looked up from his plate and sent his daughter a kind smile.

“Don’t worry about it, darling. Hosting the world cup comes with a great deal of problems all with the need to be solved. Admittedly, it’s not really part of my job, but the entire ministry becomes quite chaotic when something like that is days away. I’m a bit stressed, that’s all. How are things up in Scandinavia?”

“They’re… somewhat slow to be honest. There’s so much work to do between like October and February, but in the summer it’s mostly filing and other boring bits of paperwork.”

“Elwira?”, Hermione asked. “Sorry, I’m just curious, what is it that you do? Ron’s never told us…”

“That’s probably cause Ron doesn’t understand what I’m doing”, she smirked, “but of course, I work with, and study, arithmancy which, as you might know, is part of what’s called ‘natural magic’.”

“Great!”, mumbled Ron quietly, making sure only his friends and older sister heard. “Hermione, there are four rules in this house, okay? One: Don’t ask Charlie about dragons, Two: Don’t ask Percy about anything, Three: Don’t ask dad about muggles, and Four: Don’t ask Ellie about her job. Break either and you’ll be stuck listening to a five hour lecture.”

 Hermione didn’t seem to be bored though, so Ellie ignored her brother’s comment and continued. 

“It’s the type of magic that has been studied and worshiped since ancient times and has a very strong connection with nature. The natural phenomena with the strongest affiliation with magic is, while they in themselves have what the muggles would call a ‘scientific explanation’, the northern lights. Meaning it’s only when they’re visible that we can make any significant progress.”

Ellie paused and glanced at the younger girl, trying to see whether she had caught on or not, and was happy when realizing that she had.

“And... “, questioned Hermione, “the northern lights are only visible north of the polar circle and b-”

“Between September and March, exactly… Meaning there’s sadly not that much advanced research that can be done during the rest of the year…”

“It’s still a fascinating subject though. I only started last year, but I love it.”

“I’m glad! At least some people appreciate the wonderful art that is arithmancy, Ronald!”

Ron looked up at the mention of his name and met his sister’s gaze. 

“I just don’t find it interesting”, he said.  

“Right, because you ha-”

Ellie didn’t get to finish her sentence before being interrupted by her twin brother.

“Hey, Ellie? Must have been fun watching the Nordic versus Germany, huh?”

“Oh shut up, Charlie!”, she groaned while putting her head in her hands. “Holy Merlin…” The Nordic National Quidditch team, of which she had become a huge supporter in the last few years, had suffered a HORRENDOUS loss against Germany, and it had certainly not been a fun night. 

Her brother, however, did not shut up, but instead burst out laughing.  

“Charlie, it’s not funny!! You should have been there though… You’d have done a much better job than the stand-in seeker we had.”

“What were the results again? 700-20?”

“... 520 actually”

“520 to??”, Bill said mockingly

“You’re idiots both of you… 520-0, happy now?”

Ellie hadn’t realized that everyone else around the table had been listening in on their conversation, but was made aware when Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Arthur began laughing loudly.

“Why is this so funny to everyone? England lost badly too, and neither Romania nor Egypt even qualified to compete?!”

“Yeah...”, began Fred.

“But none of them lost with 520 points.”, finished George, earning himself a furious look from his older sister who stood up and shook her head.

“I’ll go see if mum needs any help…”

~~~~~~

Ellie loved her family, and therefore all her slightly annoying brothers, beyond everything, but being away from them for months and then meeting them all at the same time was TIRING! Having no desire to sleep through the world cup, she decided to go to bed early the night before, and she had barely closed her eyes before she fell asleep...

~~~~~~

“3, 2 ‘shhhh, quiet!”

Ellie took notice of the obnoxiously loud whispers, but it wasn’t enough to fully wake her up.

“We’ve got one more chance, 3, 2, 1, ELLIE!!!!”

She woke up instantly and sent a blast of blue sparks towards her older brother, barely missing him by an inch.

“What ‘ru doing, El? You can’t just go attacking people?!”

He tried to sound angry, but failed miserably, a heartwarming laugh escaping his mouth.

“You bloody idiots?! Why’d you scare me like that? You’re 21 and 23, not five?”

“Brings back memories, doesn’t it? Do you remember-”

“Yes, I do!”. She rubbed her eyes slowly, “‘85, look can you two please let me sleep?”

“Sorry, sis”, said Bill. “We’re leaving in half an hour. The kids and dad left ages ago.”

“Yeah, you don’t want to be late do you? Not when you can cheer for a team that might not loo-”

“Charlie, I swear!”

~~~~~~

The match was fantastic! Ellie would never admit it to her brothers, but it was nice to watch an even one for once. Watching and cheering with her family brought back fond memories of childhood games at the Burrow or Hogwarts, and she realized just how much she had missed actually playing. They stayed up late discussing players and tactics, but eventually their father ushered them all off to bed. 

~~~~~~

“Ellie?”

“Ellie??”

She stirred slightly and pulled the sleeping bag tighter around her.

“Ellie! Damn it, wake up!”

She opened her eyes slowly and saw her twin brother bent above her. The sight made her sigh.

“Charlie”, she mumbled. “We see each other once- or twice a year nowadays, do you really feel obligated to wake me up every time you get the chance?”

“Elwira, I’m serious! Get up!”

This caught her attention. Sure, the twins often used their full names when messing with each other, but it didn’t sound like Charlie was joking at all. She sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned loudly.

“What’s going on? Wha- Charlie? It’s still dark out? Why’d yo-”

“Ellie, c’mon. We have to help dad. Someone’s attacking the muggles.”

He threw his sister a jacket and pulled her out of the tent. Arthur, Bill and Percy were all waiting outside.

“Dad?”, she asked. “What’s happening? Charlie sai-”

“We’ve got to help the ministry!”, he said while frantically trying to count everyone and make sure they were there. “Fred, George, you make sure the others are safe. Go wait in the woods and I’ll come for you when the situation’s under control. Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ellie, let’s see if there’s something we can do.”

Nobody questioned Mr Weasley’s instructions, and immediately left in different directions. There were people everywhere though, and the two directions quickly became three, four, six. Spells and curses were fired left, right and centre and Ellie found herself disarming and stunning at least a few death eaters. There weren’t that many of them, roughly thirty or so, but the insane amount of witches and wizards fleeing the campsite made it difficult to fight back. She couldn’t risk hitting any random bloke.

While duelling a tall man in a black mask, Ellie suddenly stumbled forward, a particularly nasty curse having hit her straight in the back. Falling to the ground felt way more painful than it should have, and her wand landed well beyond her reach. She groaned as a burning pain spread through her lower back, but made an effort to get back up anyways. She did, however, not make it very far before the sharp end of a wand dug into her throat.

The death eater behind her sniggered and pulled her up by the collar of her shirt.

“Well, well, well… Why’re you trying to ruin our fun?”

He stood way too close for comfort and Ellie felt his breath on her neck. She tried to answer, but the curse that was shot at her must have hit its intended target, as all that came out when she opened her mouth was a strained cough and warm blood.

The bloke holding her let out a dark chuckle and threw her to the ground. She could barely keep her eyes open, and a thick, red liquid oozed from the wound in her back.

“Not so high-and-mighty now, are we?”

Ellie lacked the strength to fight back, and to the death eaters that seemed to take all the fun out of the situation. They set off back towards the campsite, leaving Ellie on the ground next to a few pines. She tried her very best to sit up, but ended up passing out…

~~~~~~

“Charlie?!”

Bill ran up to his younger brother and pulled him in for a quick, one-armed hug.

“Charlie, you okay? We’ve got to get back to the tent. Where’s El?”

“Wha-, I-I thought she was with you?!?”

“What? Last I saw her you were together?”

The brothers shared a lock of utter terror.

“Bill, we have to find her!”

“I know… Dad went to get the kids and Percy’s back in the tent waiting.”

“There’s no time to waste then. Let’s go”

~~~~~~

They had been running around the camping grounds for half an hour, and there was still not a trace of a living soul - let alone the special one they were searching for. At first, they had been shouting her name at the top of their lungs, but were now walking silently. That was, at least, until a shout made both of them turn around.

“Bill! Charlie! What are you doing? I told you to stay in the tent?”

Arthur Weasley came running towards them, with Harry, Ron and Hermione following close behind.

“Dad!”, Charlie shouted. “Have you seen El? We can’t find her?”

“What?”, asked Arthur. “But she was with you, wasn’t she?”

“Yes, at first, but we must have gotten separated… Dad, is that? You know?”

He threw a dark glance at the skull and snake decorating the night sky and said, “Yes. Yes it is. Look, I’ll take Ron, Hermione and Harry back to the tent, and I’ll meet you back here in ten minutes, okay? Don’t go too far. Come on kids!”

~~~~~~

Just as the brothers were about to give up, go back to the clearing, wait for their dad and hopefully find both their sisters safe and sound, Bill noticed something. A glimpse of red in the moonlight…

“Charlie? Get over here fast!”

The younger brother followed Bill’s gaze and immediately set off through the forest when his eyes found a mess of ginger hair sticking out from behind a rather large pine. Bill followed closely behind.

“ELLIE!!!?!!”

Charlie stumbled to his knees and turned his sister around, trying to get a better look at her. He pressed his hand to her wrist and breathed a sigh of relief when he found a pulse.

“She’s alive”, he mumbled. “Bill, she’s alive!”

“Good. I- Good.” Bill was lost for words too and mumbled a quick “Let me see”.

He pushed some hair out of her eyes and searched for any clues to what had hit her. He was a curse-breaker after all, but that usually meant working with curses placed on things or places, not people. 

“Charlie, I-I don’t know what that is… it’s not a curse I’m familiar with and I’m no healer… You want to carry her?”

“Of course”

Charlie brought his twin into his arms and picked her up, her bruised, limp body threatening to fall unless he held on tight enough. The brothers walked back to the clearing where they’d promised to meet their dad, but kept a close watch on their sister. They would apparate, though at the moment none of them felt like they had much time for ‘Deliberation’. It wasn’t very far anyways.

~~~~~~

“DAD!”, Bill shouted as soon as they noticed Arthur in the clearing where they were supposed to wait.

“Boys! Didn’t I tell you t-”

“We’ll take that later, Dad, you’ve got to help her!?”

Arthur Weasley was speechless, which had most likely never happened before, and Charlie felt so helpless. This was worse than his worst nightmares, and there was nothing he could do. Had it been a wounded dragon, sure, he knew loads about them, but this?

“Dad?”, asked Bill. “What can we do?”

“Right. Er… I suppose there’s no use trying to get you to wait here?”, he said while looking at Charlie who frantically shook his head. “Right, Bill could you go back to Percy and the kids? Fill them in on what happened? Then Charlie and I’ll take Ellie to St Mungos, okay?”

Bill didn’t look too happy with the idea, but nodded nonetheless.

---

“Charlie sit down!”

“Fred, he can’t”, said George. “Hey, I think you missed a spot over there, Charles”

“Shut it both of you! Honestly, why am I the only one that’s worried?”

Arthur stood up and put an arm around his son.

“Listen, we’re all worried, but walking back and forth isn’t helping anyone. Just sit for a moment, huh?”

“No, dad, you don’t understand! It’s my fault. We were supposed to stick together! I let her out of my sight...I-”

“Charlie, we all-”

“No, Bill, you don’t get it either, I should-”

“-let your sister sleep for once? That’d be greatly appreciated, thank you.”

The entire family turned at once, and found the oldest daughter struggling to sit up.

“EL!!”

Charlie stumbled over and put a hand on his sister’s back, trying to help her up, but unfortunately placing it right where the curse had hit her.

“Auch!”

She moved away from his touch and he pulled his hand back immediately.

“Blimey, Ellie I’m so s-”

“Charlie, it’s good. Don’t worry about it.”

Ellie pulled her brother into a hug, though he was now extremely careful, and she looked over his shoulder at the rest of her family. Her eyes met Bill’s and he sent her a kind smile. She gestured for him to come join them, and eventually the whole family found themselves in a loving group hug. Molly did her very best to wrap her arms around all her children, desperately trying to convince herself that they were all there - safe and sound and loved. 

Because if there was one thing the Weasleys had a lot of, it was love and that is, after all, precisely what family is all about.

~ L

Masterlist

#weasley family imagine #bill weasley x sister #charlie weasley x sister #harry potter imagine #weasleys x sister #HP #hp one shot #Goblet of Fire #quidditch #arthur weasley x daughter #creative writing #writing #hp fan fic #harry potter fan fiction #weasley siblings #weasleys x daughter

[loserslibrary]

pairing: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier [Reddie] written by: Jane rating: Teen word count: 2,306  prompt: “ hello! Could i please request a domestic reddie fic! Anything with kids will make me very happy, thank you ”

Richie’s resigned himself to a lot of things in his life.

Some which are still true—he’s never going to be able to fucking ice skate, giraffe human that he is, but he’s found a workaround in being very good at letting Eddie pull him across the ice—and some which aren’t—namely some thought-to-be hopeless yearnst for Eddie when he was sixteen which culminated in two very dramatic song-writing sessions, proven unnecessary five months later when Eddie captured his lips in a kiss at the quarry.

Still, one thing he hadn’t been expecting to resign himself to was his lack of future as a PTA Dad, and yet, here he is. 35 years old and seeing his brief dream of being the cupcake god of Ms Divega’s class turn to smoke before his very eyes. 

Literal smoke, that is. 

“Daddy,” Gab says, nose scrunched up, tone solemn, “they don’t smell good.”

His daughter is highly critical. Unfortunately, she’s also correct.

Richie reaches to open the oven, before pausing halfway, glancing at the smoke he can already see, and then back at Gab. There’s a teenage Eddie in the back of his head, lecturing him and Bev on all the different types of smoke, and how they’re all bad for you, stop inhaling carcinogens, you fucking nerds—-okay, Richie can’t actually remember the entire lecture, just the way Eddie looked with his hand on his hip and brow furrowed, but he’s pretty sure that the takeaway of it is that he should probably move his daughter well out of range of any smoke that might escape when he opens the oven door.

“C’mon, Gabs,” Richie says, scooping her up in his arms. Her arms settle around his neck obligingly, and he’s overwhelmed with affection. There were legitimately days when Richie had thought he’d never have anything like this—when he thought it would be swallowing his feelings down forever, watching all his friends find something worth holding onto, staying on the sidelines because he couldn’t be brave when it counted. But look at him now: married to the love of his life, getting paid to make people laugh for a living, and baking health hazards with his daughter. He’s always had dreams he’s striven for, but none of his imagined happiness ever came close to how he feels now, burnt cupcakes and all.

He puts her down on the other end of the countertop from the oven, then hands her a tea towel. He leans in close, like he’s about to tell her something Top Secret, and she leans in eagerly. “If the oven explodes, just, like, fan it away,” he says conspiratorially. Her eyes widen, but she nods firmly, her face settling into a resolute expression. For someone with no biological relation to either of them, Richie thinks, it’s astounding how much she looks like Eddie when she does that.

He heads back to the oven and, with a quick exaggeratedly wide-eyed glance at Gab, he opens the door. Smoke immediately emerges, and Richie’s stuck fanning his hand in front of his face and coughing for a few moments until it dissipates enough for him to actually see. Grabbing a tea towel to cover his hand, he reaches in and pulls out the cupcake tray, dropping it on the stove top with a wince and slamming the oven shut.

“Mission success,” Richie says, giving Gab a thumbs up.

She surveys him and the cupcake tray dubiously. “They look bad,” she says bluntly.

“Okay, Operation Survive The Smoke was a success,” Richie relents. “Operation Cupcake God is still in progress.”

“Operation what?” Richie hears, and turns to face Eddie, who’s surveying the kitchen like he can’t decide if he should laugh or groan.

“Operation Cupcake God,” Gab repeats matter-of-factly. “Daddy’s going to take over the PTA like Darth Vader. ‘Cept I think he shouldn’t cut off Mrs Colby’s arm because she needs it to bake brownies and I love her brownies.”

Richie throws Gab a betrayed look. “How am I meant to overthrow her PTA dictatorship if she can still bake brownies to tempt you with?” he asks her.

“Not by serving these, that’s for sure,” Eddie says, prodding one of the cupcakes with a chopstick—where did he even get that?—and sporting the same dubious expression Gab was before. 

Gab clambers across the kitchen bench, peering at the carnage, and Richie swings her off, anchoring her to his hip. “Don’t get too close,” he warns, “the oven’s still hot.”

She throws him a very unimpressed look, and Eddie laughs. “He’s right, Gab,” Eddie says, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “It’d hurt.”

“Is it because we acciden’ly made a volcano?” Gab asks frankly, looking at the carnage with a curious expression. She leans over to poke one, forgoing Eddie’s chopstick and simply using her finger, and lets out a distressed huff when she touches it. “It’s hard.”

“Too bad this wasn’t for science fair,” Richie says. “She’s got a point about the volcano thing.”

Eddie laughs. “What’s Operation Cupcake God for anyway?” he asks. “Casual Thursday afternoon world domination strategies?”

“It’s the class party tomorrow,” Gab informs him, “and everyone always wants to sit by El because her mom makes the best brownies and I want them to sit by me.”

Eddie’s expression doesn’t lose its amused undercurrent, but it softens into fondness, and he reaches for her. She obligingly puts her arms around his neck and Richie hands her to Eddie. “I see how it is,” he says dramatically, “I’m the favourite until he’s home, huh?”

“Yep,” Gab says cheekily, before cackling with laughter when Richie squawks in outrage and proceeds to tickle her sides. Eddie, because he’s stronger and has more control of his limbs than Richie could ever hope to, keeps hold of her even through all her wriggling, though he takes mercy after a few more seconds and moves her out of reach of Richie’s hands.

“So, Operation Cupcake God is purely about Gab’s popularity, hmm?” Eddie asks, giving Richie a knowing expression.

“There may have been some newly-discovered dreams of being her class’ Peak PTA Parent,” Richie admits.

“I thought that might be the case,” Eddie says with a grin. “Why didn’t you ask Ben for help? Or Mike? Mike’s good at directions.”

“I’m good at directions!” Richie protests.

Eddie gives him a flat look.

“Well, I’m better than Bill,” he grumbles.

“Not exactly a winning argument, Rich,” Eddie says dryly.

“Ben’s got, like, an actual job,” Richie says. “And Mike—well, I probably should have called Mike, but like, I didn’t realise we could recreate Chernobyl with a cupcake recipe.”

“I’ve learned to never underestimate you two,” Eddie says, pressing a kiss to Gab’s nose, making her giggle.

“Hilarious,” Richie says, but he can’t help but give them a fond smile. God, he’s so fucking happy. He has been for years now, but it still never fails to take his breath away.

“Yeah, Jason called, he’s giving me your next gig instead,” Eddie says.

“You joke, but he definitely thinks you’re funnier than me,” Richie grumbles, before brightening. “Though the idea of you on stage is amazing.”

Eddie visibly shudders, and Gab gives him a concerned look. “Yeah, for you, because you enjoy my suffering,” Eddie mutters. “I’d rather help you stage this PTA mutiny than that.” He notices Gab’s expression, and nudges her forehead gently with his own. “You and I are happy sticking in the garage, right? Daddy can have all the stage he wants.”

Gab giggles. “Yeah,” she allows, before adding, “‘cept when we’re dancing. We’re way better at it than he is. I wanna be on stage then!”

Richie laughs. “Yeah, okay, rugrat, if I get the call for Dancing With The Stars, I’ll send you in my place,” he tells her. “You’ll be half their height and still the best dancer there.”

“Will I get a trophy?” she asks seriously.

“Absolutely,” Richie says. “All of America will vote for you—well, actually, America and voting systems don’t really have a good track record, but I trust the public to make better decisions with pop culture than politics.”

Gab gives him a blank look, and Eddie stifles a chuckle.

“You’ll get a trophy,” Richie promises, “but first, your dad promised to help us with Operation Cupcake God—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Eddie says, “back it up—when did I agree to that?”

“You said you’d help with the mutiny!” Richie says brightly. “Didn’t he, Gabs?”

Gab nods. “You did,” she says clearly. “I heard you. PTA munity then we hang in the garage.”

“Mutiny,” Eddie corrects gently, then sighs. “All right, fine. Let’s clear all this up, then start again.”

“Why do we need to clean it up? It’s just gonna get messy again,” Richie points out, which he feels is a reasonable objection.

Eddie throws him an incredulous look. Richie’s pretty sure Gab has no idea why that’s the expression he’s choosing, but she mimics it anyway. Double trouble, those two.

“A lot of reasons, like it’s going to be harder to clean later if we leave some of this stuff too long, and hygiene reasons for clean workspaces, but mostly that we only have one cupcake tray,” Eddie says, delivering his final point like the closing remarks of some law drama. Which, Richie has to admit, is kind of apt, because it’s a pretty hard point to argue against.

“Yeah, okay,” Richie says, but he swoops down and kisses Eddie on the side of his head, and then Gab on her forehead.

“What was that for?” Eddie asks, but he’s smiling, and the look in his eyes is so soft that Richie thinks he could die of it.

“Just overwhelmed with love for you, Eds,” he says, and it sounds like a joke, but it’s not, it’s not, and it never has been. Eddie’s always been good at seeing the truth behind the laugh—except when it came to him, but they’re well past that now, thank fuck, and now Richie gets to tell Eddie he loves him every day and not only does Eddie know he means it, but he means it back—and Richie’s glad for it every fucking day.

“Sap,” Eddie teases, but his expression is so fond that Richie thinks his chest might actually split from all the love welling up inside.

“Yeah, yeah, stop trying to distract us from the cleaning,” Richie says instead, ignoring Eddie’s huff of indignant laughter. “C’mon, put down the rugrat, she and I can tackle the volcano if you want to find an actual cupcake recipe that works.”

“You managed to cause this much chaos by following a recipe?” Eddie asks incredulously, but obliges.

“I mean, loosely,” Richie says with a shrug.

“This is what I meant about directions,” Eddie says, but he’s laughing. “Show me the recipe you had, I’ll see whether it looks useful.”

Richie nods his head towards his iPad—discarded on the couch in all the chaos—and turns to Gab. “You ready to scrub like our lives depend on it?” he asks, before adding in a stage-whisper that he’s perfectly aware Eddie can hear, “because they probably do.”

Gab starts giggling uncontrollably, and Richie turns his head to see Eddie pulling the finger at him. Richie’s face stretches into a grin even as he puts his hand over Gab’s eyes.

“Why, I never!” Richie says in his best Southern Belle Voice. “The absolute scandal of it—Gabs, I don’t know if you’ll ever be allowed to look at the world again. I’m simply gobsmacked—and from a gentleman, no less!”

Gab’s full-on cackling now, and Eddie’s laughing too, and everything in Richie’s chest feels light. She laughs at his Voices just like Eddie did when they were kids—though Gab actually thinks they’re good. To be fair, they’ve improved a lot, and Eddie probably had a point when they were younger.

It takes them a few minutes after that, mostly because Eddie and Gab would finally stop laughing but then catch each other’s eyes and set each other off again, but they eventually get the kitchen cleaned and a suitable recipe identified. Fixing the cupcake tray is an absolute mission until Gab has the bright idea to pour boiling water on the charred mess—“Like when we have to get blu-tack out of Saffy’s hair in class,” Gab says sagely, to which Eddie looks absolutely horrified—and it makes the burnt cupcakes soggy enough that they can scoop them into the trash with a spoon.

Even making the cupcakes is a lot easier with Eddie. Richie thinks everything is probably easier with Eddie, though he has to admit that following the recipe properly probably has some effect.

“Okay, sweetheart, what colour icing do you want to do?” Eddie asks.

Gab sticks her tongue out the side of her mouth as she thinks.

“She looks like you when she does that,” Eddie says quietly, and Richie starts.

“I didn’t know I did that,” he admits, and Eddie laughs.

“Only when you’re thinking really hard,” he says, then pushes onto his tiptoes to press a kiss against Richie’s lips. “It’s cute.”

“Cute, cute, cute!” Gab says, and Eddie looks at her in amusement.

“Where’d you hear that one, Gab?” he asks with a grin.

“Daddy says all your photos are cute, cute, cute,” Gab informs him.

Richie shrugs. “What can I say, Gabs? He’s always been so cute.”

“You’re cuter, though,” Eddie says to Gab, and she beams.

“Okay,” she agrees happily. “Can we do pink?”

And maybe Richie’s never going to be the Peak PTA Parent of Ms Divega’s class, or even just be allowed to bake anything without supervision ever again, but that’s okay. Watching Gab squeeze the piping bag too hard and Eddie lick his fingers of all the excess she got on him, Richie thinks he’s already got everything he needs right here.

#reddie #reddie fic #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #ours #ours: reddie #domestic #with kids #fluff #by jane

[incantavaxx]

Episode 10

(I fell asleep yesterday so now I can say that I didn’t watch the entire season in a day, my dignity is saved.)

- YES LET’S KEEP DRAGGING CANEPALLO TO THE GROUND, it’s what he deserves. Also how adorable is it that Nicholas is actually super talented in real life too and he has an instagram page for his drawings?

SEE? I knew there was a reason for the cat thing, fuck Raffaele (who is coincidentally my ex’s name too). And omg her father just called her FAT I can’t, I’m so glad she has Luchino they’re so cute Silvia season when.

- I waited ALL MY LIFE for a Giovanni Garau Wizard of Love clip and they’re really gonna fucking ruin it with EMMA COVITTI THE VILLAIN and MORE ELIA/SANA BULLSHIT, is this happening??? BESSE WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU I DID NOTHING BUT LOVE AND SUPPORT YOU WHY DO YOU HATE M- I TAKE IT BACK, BESSE YOU NEVER DID ANYTHING WRONG, EVER, THIS IS THE BEST CLIP EVER- “canecazzo”, CANECAZZO, everyone has been slandering his name this entire season and no one but HIM could finally reach the final superior level, Federico CANECAZZO. Poetic. Cinema.

Marti SHUT UP, we do not recall the good things that Canecazzo did, we HATE him this season, also he was only good because Rich King Incanti was there to lead the way (the way towards the chair), now that he’s alone he showed his true colors.

“It’s two years that I wait, get in line.” YOU TELL HIM GIO YOU TELL HIM. AND LET’S BE CLEAR MISTER CANECAZZO, WHEN YOU’RE IN LINE AFTER GIOVANNI GARAU IT MEANS THAT YOUR TURN IS NOT COMING IN THIS LIFE.

Thank you Besse for this, in OG Jonas eventually helps Chris but the Wizard of Love is superior and doesn’t stand for that type of shit.

- IT WAS DOCTOR SPERA ALL ALONG, HE MADE HER DO IT AND HE WON A WINE KSKSK I’m so emotional seeing NAMACISSI behind him btw.

- I started hearing “Elettra, Elettra Lamborghini” before the POV changed and I wonder for a second who it was going to be and OF COURSE IT’S FILIPPO SAVA WITH ELETTRA LAMBORHINI, who else could it be, iconic. “What do you know what Edo does when you’re not there?” No we all know Filo, he cries in the shower and dresses all emo until Ele comes back, that’s it. My babies, I miss them so much, who would have thought that the real heartbreaking long distance relationship would have been the one between brother and sister here.

- Is it normal that I cried reading NICCOLÒ on the screen, yes? Just asking. “I’m just sad you don’t like the sweater I gave you.” “I didn’t say I didn’t like it, I said it’s…peculiar.” Marti is such a little shit omg I need to see the sweater. FUCKING FISHERMAN COME HERE IF YOU HAVE THE GUT COME HERE AND SEE HOW MANY SLAPS I HAVE LEFT, I’LL SLAP YOU WITH YOUR OWN FISHES YOU SUCKER-so sweet how Nicco is able to calm Marti down BUT MARTI MY CHILD DOGE NICCO AND SPRINT TOWARDS THE FISHERMAN GO GO GO DESTROY HIM-In other words, I am not the one friend you want at your side to keep you calm and avoid a fight.  

- I’m forever thankful to Besse for saying “a clip for Canecazzo? Not on my watch” but I’m also incredibly PISSED that he gave it to Luchino not because I don’t love Luchino with all my heart but because they could have just done it with Silvia’s clip since they were together and give Canecazzo clip to someone ELSE that we actually NEVER see NEVER-you all know where I’m going with this I won’t even say, just know that my most chaotic disaster son deserves better.

- Fede, do not apologize to them, do not approach, do not befriend them, HEADBUT THEM. (I’m not the forviging type)

- I SCREAMED I KEEP SCREAMING I HAD TO PAUSE AND TEXT MY FRIEND TO SCREAM SOME MORE ELIA AND FILIPPO ARE MOVING IN TOGETHER I REPEAT ELIA AND FILIPPO ARE MOVING IN TOGETHER CAN YOU IMAGINE THE CHAOS THAT HOUSE WILL BE, CAN YOU IMAGINE SEASON 5 ELIA LIVING WITH FILIPPO, I-

-But seriously how do we go from crack ship that never ever ever interacted, to crack ship that never ever interacted but in which one said that would fuck the other one immediately, to THEY’RE MOVING IN TOGETHER BESSE REALLY SAID LET’S GIVE THE FANDOM EVERYTHING THEY WANT

- He literally knew we were going to hate him so much for the Sana/Elia thing and made us suffer the entire season just to HIT us at the end he’s so mean I love him

- AND FILIPPO EVEN HIT ON HIM AND ELIA GIGGLED ALL FLATTERED NETFLIX I HOPE YOU’RE ALREADY KNOCKING ON MISS ANDEM’S DOOR WITH YOUR ELIPPO SEASON 5

- ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW RAMI IS ABOUT TO ENTER THE ROOM, THEN STOP, SEES THAT ELIA AND FILIPPO ARE TALKING AND IMMEDIATELY WALKS AWAY NOT TO INTERRUPT THIS LEGENDARY MOMENT, HE KNOWS

- Also Elia mentions wanting to go away from his father and like?? Did Besse read all the fanfictions? Is this what Netflix wanted the fanfiction for?

- Anyway I would like to thank not only God but also Ludovico Bessegato

- I TAKE IT BACK IMMEDIATELY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, WHY WOULD YOU GIVE ELIA A CLIP AND PUT EMMA COVITTI IN IT, WHAT ARE YOU SUGGESTING BESSE, STOP, THANK GOD GIO FOR AT LEAST TRYING TO STOP THE MADNESS BUT WHEN A MAD MEN LIKE BESSE HATES A FANDOM LIKE HE HATES US NOT EVEN THE WIZARD OF LOVE CAN STOP IT.

- Also, even putting my Elippo feelings aside, what kind of bullshit is that anyway? Can Elia be an actual human being with a brain or does he have to just immediately pursues every single girl, like he was watching Sana two seconds before and now he’s all over Covitti, like Besse what the fuck leave him alone.

- (I’m telling you, if you plan on making Elia/Covitti a thing in a possible season 5 YOU CAN KEEP IT)

- I’m so pissed, where is Rich King Incanti, only he can calm me down.

- KIDDING GIOEVA ENDGAME WORKS JUST AS FINE KSKSKS 

“Without me and you, there would have never been that group of people that slowly created around us” This is Besse saying Gio and Eva started the cycle and Gio and Eva end it DO YOU HEAR ME CRYING.

Things Besse will be sued for: no Edoardo Incanti clip (like???? Why??? He was there anyway at the end, couldn’t they just film something quick???), Elia and Covitti clip existing (at least they didn’t kiss and she was NOT in the last scene so that means that nothing happened thank you very much), they didn’t make Sana sing (WHAT WAS THAT IN BESSE IG STORIES WHERE BEA WAS SINGING IMAGINE, DOES HE JUST LIKE TO TEASE US??? She sings all the time on her IG and she has a beautiful voice, why didn’t they do the karaoke scene with her???).

Things Besse will not be sued for: Gio delivering the speech at the end with the scenes of all of them together making me cry like a baby and literally every single thing in this season.

Now: SEASON 5 WHEN.

#skam italia #skam italia spoilers

[mor-beck-more-problems]

Two-Faced Talk || Morgan & Nadia?

TIMING: Current

LOCATION: Morgan & Deirdre’s house

PARTIES: @humanmoodring @mor-beck-more-problems

SUMMARY: Morgan has Nadia over for a soft chat after realizing she hurt Remmy. Nadia’s a little split on what to think about that.

CONTAINS: discussion of food poisoning

Morgan checked the clock every few seconds. She’d run Remmy out of the house on an errand, Deirdre was at work, and it was almost noon, the time Nadia was supposed to come by to hang...with her fists. Not that she knew that. Or that Morgan had much of an ingenious plan beyond making her suffer for giving Remmy enough Infector Mortis to give them a slow and painful, permanent death. The small knife she used for throwing practice was still in her pocket, sheathed and ready to go. As soon as Nadia announced herself at the door Morgan was on the other side, gripping the handle. She needed answers, first and foremost. She had brought Nadia here for answers, for Remmy, and for the smallest scrap of recompense. However the got there, so be it.

“Hey!” She said brightly. “Thanks for coming over! Come on in—” She took Nadia’s hand and lead her inside, then promptly twisted her arm behind her and shoved her into the house. “I have a question for you. Well, a few, really. But we can start with whether you seriously thought no one was going to figure out you fed Remmy Infector Mortis. Did you really think that one out?”

Nadia only had a shaky amount of control over their body when she went to meet Morgan. It was so stupid; what happened at the cabin should have given her more control, not less. Nadia was willing to give it up, too. And yet, half the time, they seemed to be legitimately sharing a body. When she was in control, Nadia tried to regain control of the situation. When her host was in control, she kind of just stewed and panicked over everything that they’d done until she worked herself up too much emotionally. There were triggers to their switches. High emotions. Pain. Sleep. The last one had only happened a handful of times, and never for very long. At least the two of them could agree that they hated sleeping. They also agreed they needed to talk to Morgan to figure out what the hell was going on. And Nadia wanted to see Remmy. She thought they were fun, especially since she technically didn’t have to kill them.

When Morgan jerked Nadia’s arm behind her back, she gasped out, tears in her eyes. It wasn’t any sort of pain but mostly shock, though Morgan’s grip was cold and ironclad. “What?” she asked, panicked and confused and not really understanding what Morgan was asking. She couldn’t feel her, didn’t understand what was going on. “What?”

Morgan shut the door behind them and flicked the deadbolt shut. “I think I’m making myself very clear,” she said firmly. “Infector Mortis only takes a few hours to take effect, and you may have been smart enough to time it so Remmy got sick in a restaurant full of poisoned humans, but you were still dumb enough to be the only person who came into spitting distance of their food. Did you think no one would figure it out?” She grabbed Nadia by the shirt and shook her. “Answer me. Now.”

When the deadbolt shut, Nadia felt an overwhelming sense of panic overwhelm her as she realized she was locked somewhere with someone that she couldn’t feel. How strange it was, to be trapped with her own emotions. “I--” Tears began to stream down her cheeks. What had she done? She poisoned someone? How could she--

Nadia allowed the tears to keep falling, and she let out a sob. “I’m so sorry.” Truthfully, she hadn’t really been concerned about what would happen after when Remmy was supposed to fucking die. Whatever. Between Nadia’s emotions and her being pissed as hell at Tommy for putting her in this situation, Nadia could handle it. She could. “He made me and I couldn’t-- How do you say no to someone holding your life over your head?”

Morgan released her hold on Nadia as she started to cry. It felt too monstrous, making someone burst into tears and making it worse. She hated seeing anyone cry and even if Nadia deserved all this and worse for what she did to Remmy-- Morgan hissed between her teeth and backed away from her, still blocking the door. “Sorry, for attempted murder. No, wait, leading them on and attempted murder. I didn’t really think you were the play and run type.” But, from what she was saying, there might be a seriously grim reason behind that. “What do you mean he’s got your life over your head? Who? Who made you do this?”

“I am sorry! I’m not a murderer,” Nadia said, and it was true; every attempt at pre-planned killing that she’d attempted had failed, so, really, she wasn’t a murderer. She didn’t plan out kills. They just kind of happened, and she rolled through the punches. “I didn’t want to kill them, and I’m really fucking glad they’re alive.” At least, she didn’t really want them to be dead. “I think they’re sweet and kind and really wonderful. I didn’t want them to die.” Nadia took a shaky breath, trying to calm herself just enough that Nadia wouldn’t take over again. Calm. They both needed calm in order to stick around. “There’s a guy. I thought he was just this really great guy, or, you know, he was really fun. I got kind involved with him, his work. Easy money stuff. And then I couldn’t get out of it. And then he told me to kill this zombie or else. I didn’t realize it was Remmy until too late, I swear!”

Morgan deflated, her rage winding down into annoyance. Some needling, bitter part of her wanted this story to be a lie, just so she could put her fist through the girl’s face and dent her Disney Princess cheekbones. But she was crying so horribly, the questions had caught her so off guard, there was no way she could’ve had this prepared or made it up on her feet. It was just the right kind of stupid; no one would expect anyone to believe something like that unless it was true. “God, you’re a fucking cliche,” Morgan muttered. “Fine. What’s his name? Who’s he work for? If you really don’t want to be held responsible for trying to murder my best friend, you’re gonna have to be a little more proactive than that.”

It was the ghost’s rage that brought Nadia back, that seething undercurrent of emotion that caused her to shut her eyes tightly. Take it back take it back take it back. I don’t want to be here. She rubbed at her temples and shook her head, slight. “I’m sorry,” she said thickly. “I’m getting sick.” Please just take over or say his fucking name. She wanted this conversation to end; she wanted Morgan to just do whatever and get it over with.

Nadia took another steady breath. “Sorry,” she reiterated, her teeth gritted. She had to keep control She had to get herself out of this. “Tommy. His name is Tommy Wright. He’s a criminal.” She swallowed thickly before looking at Morgan with reddened eyes. “I’ll admit that I’m not the greatest person in the world, but I didn’t want to kill Remmy, and I wouldn’t have even tried if I thought I’d had another choice.” At this point, she was sure that the price she was paid wasn’t worth all the damn headache she’d been caused.

The last of Morgan’s aggression flagged away, crushed as she watched her get physically ill on her own angst. “Come here,” she sighed, gesturing towards the kitchen. “I’m not gonna throttle you, okay? You’re safe, for all intents and purposes. She filled a glass with ice water and held it out to her. “You need to hydrate. Also, it’s really hard to cry and drink water at the same time. Take it as a pro tip from a cry baby: chug.” She drummed her fingers on the edge of the counter. Hugs and assurances seemed to have been taken pretty effectively off the table with the whole threat of violence thing, but if Nadia really was on the hook of some criminal, didn’t she need help? “I don’t care about good people and bad people,” she sighed. “I care about whether or not someone hurts my friends. And I care about intentions and helping people my friends care about.” She shrugged. “I’m not sorry I scared you, but I am glad you told me the truth anyway. How much trouble are you in, that it didn’t work? Is this Tommy guy gonna try and hurt you?”

Nadia followed Morgan into the kitchen, feeling marginally more relaxed as she felt like the woman was buying her story. At least, she hoped. It was so fucking hard to tell. Undead. She downed the glass of water, letting it soothe her throat. She actually didn’t remember the last time they’d eaten or drank anything. The last few days had been rough. “Thank you,” she said, putting as much sincerity as possible into it. She even managed to laugh a little bit in a low, self-deprecating way. “I don’t even blame you. You’re just looking out for your friend. It’s noble.” Which seemed to be a zombie trait around these parts. Kind-hearted, brain-eating zombies. Who’d have thought? “I’m in a lot of trouble. Not just because of him, or this.” she kept her voice quiet, her tone somber. “But I’m glad they're not dead. I didn’t want to kill them. I can’t imagine it’ll be that great. He really likes making people afraid, hurting them.”

Morgan plopped down on a chair near Nadia, looking for an answer somewhere in the middle distance. “Do you have somewhere to stay? Somewhere that’s a little hard to find? I don’t really know much about how local criminals work, but I figure they’ve got...I don’t know, goons or something to do their stalking. Maybe you can--I don’t know.” Not stay here. Remmy needed to feel safe here. And even if Deirdre could slice and dice through anyone who came to the door, she didn’t want that kind of responsibility falling on her home, at least not to someone who’d tried to murder Remmy. “Nadia, I am trying really hard to give you the compassion I think you probably deserve, but you should probably stop reminding me of what you did to my friend. Do you need money, to get somewhere safe? Can you take care of yourself? Protect yourself from this Tommy guy before he makes you wreck someone else’s life?”

Did Nadia have somewhere to stay? Well, she’d been squatting in empty houses and setting up a camp in some of the nicer, less supernatural invested land around town so, “Yes, I’ve been moving around a lot. He’s not going to find me.” If he did, she’d just try to talk her way out of that, too. Still, she was tired, and she was running out of words. “Right, sorry, right. No more reminding you of that.” Even if Morgan was kind of the one that kept bringing it up, and she was just trying to fucking apologize, dammit. How many fucking times had she apologized in the last few days? More than she had in a lifetime. “I can take care of myself. Sometimes I’m even good at it.” She gave Morgan a tired smile. “Not that you can tell right now.”

“No, I can’t,” Morgan replied. “So, maybe try to get better at it, okay? Remmy, for some reason, cares about you. They probably still do. As much as I get a hard time for wanting to believe in people, Remmy’s even worse. And I know they’d be upset if something bad happened to you, even after everything.” Morgan stretched out her arms, searching for something in her to give Nadia a pat on the hand, a little something to remind her that she was still a person, that there was still something good to try for and look forward to and whatever low had brought her to this Tommy asshole. But whatever well she had for that stuff wouldn’t open for Nadia. Not today. But she leveled her eyes at the girl and offered what excuse of a smile she could while being sincere. “I’m not going to hurt you, Nadia. As long as you don’t hurt any more of my friends. Intentions matter, always, but so do they. Please get out of my house now.”

#wr nadia #wr chatzy #wr nadia chatzy #food poisoning tw #wickedswriting

[bettsfic]

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on breaking bad if you feel like sharing!! You're done with it, right?

oh my god thank you for asking. you have no idea how much i want to talk about this show but i’m running in a decade late with starbucks and feel weird just cold posting about it. i just finished the whole series and i watched el camino twice, and i’ve also been catching up on bts stuff and digging through a bit of the meta commentary of the time. i haven’t started BCS but i plan to soon.

first off, when i started watching the show, i realized i actually had seen a bit of it. it turns out i saw the first 3 seasons back in 2011, but it was shortly after my dad had died of cancer, and my boyfriend insisted on watching it. i remember telling him that it made me uncomfortable because it was too close to home. my dad had cancer for 4 years, and mom was going through bankruptcy because of all the medical bills. my boyfriend didn’t care. he made me keep watching, and i guess we broke up before we got to s4. or maybe there were only 3 seasons out at the time. either way, i set it down in 2011 and vowed not to watch it. 

then a month or so ago, i finished westworld 3, got obsessed with aaron paul, and decided to give brba another go.

(this gets personal. so putting the rest under a cut!)

so s1 and 2 are solidly okay. the show seemed like it was finding its feet and didn’t know what it wanted to be, a comedy or a tragedy, but i know that feeling and sometimes i really like when stories toe that divide, so i didn’t mind. s1 and 2, i was mostly marveling over how utterly beautiful aaron paul is. my god.

s3 has some major pacing issues (monologues! so many monologues!!), but the show starts to really come into itself and figure out What It Is. i skipped over a lot of stuff after reading wiki summaries, mostly that just seemed like suffer porn and which i knew would dwell a lot in discomfort. then we get to the episode where jesse monologues at walt about how walt ruined his life, and i was just sobbing. i don’t think a tv show has ever made me cry like that. i was ruined.

even if the writing of those seasons isn’t the best, the direction and performances are some of the best i’ve ever seen in television. aaron paul and bryan cranston could read a phonebook at each other and make it compelling.

the entire time, i just wanted jesse and walt to get on each other’s sides and work together. i was in it for the loyalty kink. i had no idea there would be so much angst, and i was veering toward the point of giving up. but i was assured repeatedly by friends that it would get better.

and it did. walt saves jesse. walt fights for jesse. jesse fights for walt. THEY WORK TOGETHER. and more importantly, their relationship starts to get so fucked up, so codependent, so toxic. and not in the way shows usually portray fucked-up relationships, like totally oblivious to its own toxicity. this show leans in. it seems to know the entire time exactly the psychological connotations its evoking, and it does it intentionally. and i really value it for that. 

s4 is where the show went from “pretty good” to “holy shit.” i’ve never seen a more accurate and clear portrayal of a narcissist. my triggers are many, varied, and wildly inconsistent, but i was in a state of being mildly triggered for days, and i really appreciated that feeling, that a story could push me that far and make me reflect as deeply as it did. i tend to go wild over anything that can make me feel something, even if it’s bad. most stuff i read and watch just kind of numbs and distracts me. this show wasn’t an escape so much as an assault. and i loved it for that.

my dad was a narcissist, and every interaction between jesse and walt or skyler and walt brought up a thousand memories of things my dad said and did. at one point, when walt is really at his worst, i think around skyler telling him she’s waiting for his cancer to come back, i remember thinking, “if walt were a little bit meaner, he would be just like my dad.”

and oh boy, that thought fucked me up. my dad was worse than the most believably evil character in the history of television. i got diagnosed with ptsd in 2017 and have spent these past 3 years more or less fighting that diagnosis, thinking, “it wasn’t that bad!” because my dad wasn’t physically violent. at least not frequently. and i’ve never been able to articulate what exactly my dad did that was so bad, or how insidious his behavior was. he didn’t cook meth obviously, but he had that false disenfranchisement attitude, that resentfulness that walt has toward his family for taking his greatness from him, that regret at not being more than he was. 

but seeing my dad’s behavior playing out on screen, not just accurately but calling it out for exactly as fucked up and toxic as it was -- and how it affects, destroys, all the other characters -- it may have been hard to watch, but i’ve never felt so validated. i finally feel like i’m not faking it anymore or making it up or being dramatic. or, as my dad liked to say, “too sensitive.” i’ve only ever been able to write about my dad in sections, put pieces of him in different characters, because to put him fully into anything, fiction or non, feels like it would completely eject a reader from the story. brba showed me there’s a way to do it, and now i feel inspired to maybe tell that story finally. 

so i’m intensely grateful to vince gilligan for making a believable, empathetic (not sympathetic) narcissist, and writing his long and steady decline into evil. on a storytelling level, it was extremely satisfying to watch, because most writers don’t have the patience to stick with evil characters, or really get into their psychology. on a personal level, i feel like i’ve worked through a lot of stuff while watching it, and i feel like a major weight has been lifted. 

a lot of mass media is made by people who are just taking jobs and don’t really care about what they’re doing. it’s clear that everyone involved is just looking for a paycheck. but i got the sense the entire time i was watching brba that everyone really loved and believed in what they were doing. there was a carefulness to the story and a sensitivity in it that kept me glued the entire time. 

and i won’t even get started with el camino because that’s a whole different rant, involving how in absolute awe i am of aaron paul, but i loved it so so much, and i’m 10k into a post-EC fic that i’m hoping to post in a week or so. (unrelated but i just watched a table reading of a s5 brba episode and aaron paul just WRECKS himself during it. everyone else is kind of panning their lines, but he’s just sitting there SOBBING. i’m glad he won the emmys he deserved for his performance. if anyone wants to come talk to me about aaron paul, i am HERE)

we’ll see how i feel in a year, but as of right now, brba in my top 5 favorite (drama) shows of all time. it’s really rare that i both 1) think show/book/movie is extremely good and 2) get obsessed enough to write fic about it. usually i only write fic about stuff that has unmet potential, and i feel compelled to fix it or use the characters for something else. but in the case of brba, i’m more interested in expansion and homage.

anyway i’m probably going to watch el camino again tonight. happy to take more asks about brba!

#abuse cw #death cw #brba #my meta #Anonymous

[panharmonium]

some disjointed thoughts about stranger things 2 under the cut (concealed to hide spoilers from my sister)

so, season 2!

i’ve gone into every season of this show knowing absolutely nothing about it.  i’ve had no exposure to the fandom or to reviews or anything that would indicate what it was about or how good the seasons are in relation to each other, which i like, because i know my opinions are my own.  season 1 i watched back in the winter, i think, and it was amazing.  blew me away. 

i just finished season 2 and i’m like...not as into it?

and i’m glad i had no preexposure to anything, because if i had, i’d worry that i was just being influenced by other people’s opinions, but i genuinely don’t know what people think of the various seasons.  i’ve been stringently avoiding anything about this show, have it blocked on tumblr, etc, so i could watch it cold.

i’d have to watch it again to really pin down the places where my investment was flagging, and i’ll probably do that eventually, because i know my roommate will want to see it, but my general impression was this: they had me hooked in the beginning, and then they started to lose me.

- i feel like overall it was 9 episodes where very little substance actually happened.  plotlines were stretched out over a reallllllly long period of time and became paper-thin.  like nancy and jonathan?  the only thing they really did over those entire nine episodes was make a tape recording and send it to the paper.  that was their whole story, and it could have fit in one episode.

- and what did happen felt like it suffered from a lack of focus.  can i explain this in more detail without watching the show again?  not really.  but i just mean that in S1, i could tell you what each of the main character’s arcs were, and i could lay out how those arcs had clear beginnings, middles, and endings.  in S2, i can really only do that for El (and even that i feel like got messy by the last third).  

- the horror vibe was different this season.  it was LESS scary, to me.  S1 was a CREEP factor that had my skin crawling - it wasn’t like...creature horror - it was the unsettlingness.  the whole parallel world thing was so - well, the only word for it is unsettling, like.  you felt like you could take a step and accidentally wind up somewhere no one should be - the idea that you can be trapped so close to somebody and yet so far away - you just felt like the world was inside out (or upside down, if you will).  and so much of the fear in the first one came from how incomprehensible and uncertain the entire situation was - you didn’t know how things worked and nobody believed you when you tried to tell them what was happening.  that scene where the christmas lights spell out R-U-N?  scariest fucking thing i’ve ever seen.  but S2 changed it to be like...it felt like more of a monster flick.  like a zombie movie or something - lots of creatures running around that you can just shoot with a gun - that’s just not really the same vibe as the first season, and i didn’t find it quite as interesting.

- i don’t want to be That Person, because i liked maxine as a character in general, on her own terms, but from a writing perspective - what even was the purpose of her introduction?  her and her brother both, honestly, the whole family.  i feel almost bad for saying that, because i can guarantee that there were people out there complaining about her being introduced because “they just wanted to have another girl; it’s so stupid, blah blah,” cue more sexist stuff, etc, and that’s really not where i’m coming from, but for me, from a general storytelling perspective, i don’t understand why she or her family were introduced.  they were superfluous to the story.  they didn’t need to be there.  and since i don’t even feel like the returning characters got enough development this season (see point #2), i don’t understand why we spent so much time on her/her family/her introduction to the Party.  it felt like filler.

- stranger things S2 did that thing teen wolf does where 2/3 of the way through the season it drops a tonally-different expository/flashback episode that does a lot of the legwork tying other shit together while also being completely disconnected from the rest of the plot, which is basically an info dump and is my least favorite way of relaying plot/getting characters to the spot the writer wants them to go.  i think kali was the most interesting new character we met this season; i was rapt every time she was onscreen, but i don’t love the “we’re going to shove all of the character development and background info into this one episode and at the end El has had her turnaround and goes back home.”  it didn’t feel believable to me.  are we ever going to see those people again, or were they just a plot convenience to serve the aforementioned purpose?  (idk, i haven’t watched S3 yet, so...we’ll see.)

- some weird...minor tonal changes/dropped plots?  in S1 one of the running undercurrents was how mike and nancy’s mom wanted them to talk to her and she really did care about what was going on but they couldn’t connect to her and that bothered her, whereas in S2 it’s like - that theme has been dropped; she’s not involved in their lives really at all, and her and ted’s spousal relationship is just being played for laughs, and there was that REALLY weird scene with her like...lusting after billy??????  that was so fucking bizarre.  

and until one line in the very last episode, they dropped the whole thing about hopper’s daughter, too - the way they wove that into the first season was brilliantly done, and just - you don’t see a bit of it in S2, and that felt off, to me.

- killing bob was a bad call.  it was gratuitous, AND it was contrived - who the hell is running for their life and then just stops dead in the lobby to smile at their girlfriend?  ANY SENSIBLE PERSON WOULD KEEP RUNNING FOR THE DOOR.  like - bob died, but the doctor survived????????  the doctor, who was attacked and immobilized and defenseless in a stairwell, somehow wasn’t killed??????  of course not, because he needed to survive, so he could get El her papers later....that entire thing irritated me.  it made no sense.  that was actually the point where i said to myself “uh-oh.  first Bad-with-a-capital-B decision this show’s made.”  

- lack of consistency in terms of how, exactly, Stuff Works.  in S1 it was like - the Upside Down is everywhere.  the demigorgon could come through anywhere, if you were unlucky.  that was part of what made it so creepy - there’s this whole other world and it is RIGHT THERE with you, and sometimes the fabric separating the two universes gets scary thin, and bam, you’re somewhere no human has any business being.  whereas in S2 it’s like - ok, things are coming through this one portal and spreading through tunnels underground, in our own dimension???  like at first i thought hopper had actually entered the Upside Down in the tunnels, but then it seemed like the tunnels were still on our plane, just gross-looking.  so why in S1 could the demigorgon come through the ceiling of will’s house, or through that tree in the woods, or take barbara through the pool?  why did the lab people think burning that little gate would help, when the first monster from last season was obviously popping into our dimension from all sorts of other places?  

- this is a minor quibble, but it was driving me up the WALL in the last couple of episodes - what in god’s name were they injecting will with???  and HOW.  mike just grabs that syringe off the counter like “we need to make will go to sleep” - there is NO reason that anyone in the room would know what was in the syringe or what the correct dosage was or HOW TO GIVE AN INJECTION IN THE FIRST PLACE.  joyce gives it???????  by stabbing straight down????????  into will’s arm????????????  what the hell kind of injection technique is that?!?!?!  that’s not....how that works.  ever.  and maxine does it to billy too, in his NECK - just straight in there.  there is no....look, people in human medicine can weigh in better than me here; maybe things are different, but just from the veterinary perspective, you can’t just stab a creature any old place you want, and giving something via any route that isn’t intravenous isn’t going to drop an animal immediately, AND you do not have control over how long they’re going to be out.  if you give a sedative, you can’t just wake an animal up by wafting ammonia under their nose.  AND the animal is likely not going to be actually asleep until you also give an anaesthetic induction agent, and if you do give an anaesthetic induction agent, you’d better have some monitoring equipment and a breathing apparatus hooked up to your patient!

look, it just - the “go to sleep” injection was used to solve too many critical situations for me to just ignore it.  it bothered me.

anyhow.  overall, i didn’t hate it.  but i thought it was way less cohesive than the first season, and therefore way less effective.  i’m still curious to see what happens in S3, but my expectations are lower now. 

[if you wanna talk to me about this, you have my permission, but ONLY if you’re able to do it without talking about S3 in any capacity, including your own personal evaluation of how good/bad it is in relation to the other seasons.  i like to watch without knowing other people’s opinions of things, otherwise i feel like my viewing experience is colored by what i hear.  thanks! :) ]

#interdimensional babysitters club

[multimetaverse]

HSMTMTS 1x08 Review

The Tech Rehearsal was a great ep. Let’s dig in!

Great Rini scenes tonight that did some heavy lifting to get them back to a place where they can almost be open with their feelings. Richard Bowen and Nina Salazar- Roberts being the reason the other goes by Nini and Ricky? Reader, that’s the cutest shit I’ve ever seen. The show really brought out the big guns with them knowing each other since Kindergarten. I think most of the casual audience is now shipping Rini, if they hadn’t already, so mission accomplished for the writers

Tim said on instagram that the writers wanted to show that Ricky and Nini had known each other since Kindergarten and it makes sense to use the Troyella rooftop scene and Gabriella’s line about meeting someone in Kindergarten and just becoming friends and use that to tie it all together. But it does somewhat conflict with Kourtney and Nini’s convo in 1x05 that made it sound like Nini only met Ricky in 7th grade. Now it’s true that Kourtney may have just meant it in the sense that 7th grade was when Nini started to have feelings for Ricky but if that’s the case then the writing should have been more clear

As Nini sang in All I Want, EJ is perfect on paper and in Miss Jenn’s notes she wrote that EJ was the perfect Troy on paper; it’s like poetry it rhymes

This is the second ep in a row where a main cast member has been missing. I do wonder if the writers felt that they had done too much work with Rina and keeping Gina off screen was the easiest way to set up a return to Rini. The writers have never been subtle when it comes to ending ships; when it came time to remove EJ as Nini’s love interest they quickly villainized him. I don’t think they want to undo the good work they’ve done redeeming Gina so keeping her off screen is the next best thing

EJ and Carlos had a fun dynamic. EJ trying to emote was so funny as was him stealing Miss Jenn’s notes, it really is his signature move. Matt Cornett does really well playing a dope. I liked that he gave Carlos a confidence boost. Nice to hear Carlos speaking Spanish

Also we now know that Carlos Surname is Carlos Rodriguez. Rodriguez, which means son of Roderick and originated from the Visigoths who conquered Spain, is the 4th most common surname in Spain but it also seems likely that the writers had never decided on Carlos’ last name and just gave him Frankie’s last name which is lazy

EJ Caswell is suffering from Lucas Friar and Jonah Beck syndrome; the handsome, athletic, and kind of ditzy love interest for the main girl who really doesn’t have much else going on when they’re not being shipped with the main girl. Lucas never really got much development but the writers could rely on Farkle to help balance out the show and in S3 the GMW became the Riley and Maya show so it didn’t really matter what Lucas got up to anyways. Andi Mack suffered greatly from never developing Jonah, especially in S3 once he was no longer Andi’s love interest his plot line was a total trainwreck. What made things worse is that the the writers couldn’t build up Cyrus like the GMW writers could build up Farkle since Cyrus’ story was restricted because he was gay. Luckily HSMTMTS has plenty of main characters and is less restricted so it doesn’t drag the show down so much that EJ is just kind of there. I also wonder if the fact that EJ is a senior plays a role in this, sure they can do S2 as the spring musical but what about S3 when EJ would be graduated? If he won’t be on the show long term then there’s no real pressure to develop him or give him that much to do

Big Red appearing behind Miss Jenn was the funniest moment of the ep for me. I also love every time we hear an adult refer to Big Red as Big Red because it’s just so silly

Big Ashlyn (I think that’s their shipname) remains cute. Very smooth of Ashlyn to use Big Red’s compliment to flirt with him

Loved The Role of a Lifetime, Lucas did great, nice little nod to Kate having played Glinda, and loved the ‘’contractually obligated dream sequence’’ line

Interesting motif of ruins tonight. The El Rey theatre is in ruins, on stage the backdrop is a ruined Roman city, and Miss Jenn must face the fact that her acting career and dreams are in ruins before she can start rebuilding her life

Dara can really sing, it’s hard to believe that Kourtney was just supposed to be a one off role. I thought her initial reaction to Nini potentially leaving was realistic but I’m not sure her calling the Dean to come and watch Nini perform was the right move to make it up to Nini

I liked the little Seb and Kourtney interaction. I know there’s been a lot of speculation that they’re setting up a genderfluid Seb story line but I’m deeply skeptical that’s something Disney would allow. And if they were willing to do that then I don’t think they would have allowed Seb to become a main character in S2

I really liked that Gina told Ricky via text that she would have to leave earlier than planned and that Nini told Kourtney and Ricky that she was interested in going to YAC. It was awful in Andi Mack when Buffy left early without telling her friends and then ghosted them for what was supposed to be two months in universe and it was weird that Andi never told any of her friends about SAVA so I’m glad HSMTMTS isn’t making the same mistakes

Looking Ahead:

Just for a Moment sounds great, Joshua and Olivia did such a great job. It’s great that Tim is giving the actors a chance to write their own songs, I hope we see more of it in future seasons. From a video Joshua shared on twitter we can see that they were working on the song during the filming of 1x02. The song must have been selected before 1x08 was written since Nini’s line that it was just a moment is clear set up for the song

The YAC dean is in the audience, does Nini flee and its Ricky who finds her which is why EJ is singing part of breaking free? Or is Ricky gone because he sees his mom in the audience?

How Gina’s move gets undone will be interesting to see. For Andi Mack at least they could say that government cutbacks led the Driscolls to return but if Gina’s mom has to follow natural disasters then it wouldn’t be so easy to just move her back to SLC

The show is flirting with disaster with the YAC plot. If Nini gets in then she will inevitably have to eventually return to East High and in the meantime she’ll be cut off from all the other characters and whatever focus YAC gets will necessarily take away from whatever is going on in East High. There’s a reason Andi Mack only introduced the SAVA plot in the final few eps, there would have been no way to actually pull that off if the series was going to continue 

I really do hope we get something with Seblos in the final two eps. 1x05 was great and I’m happy that they were able to do so much textual stuff already but that shouldn’t be an excuse to not touch on it further. I’m sure that with Seb being a main in S2 we’ll get more but we need more now in S1

Until next week  ep Wildcats

#HSMTMTS #Rini #Ricky Bowen #Nini Salazar-Roberts #EJ Caswell #Miss Jenn #carlos rodriguez #kourtney #seb mathew-smith #HSMTMTS Reviews

[wellamarke]

i finally saw stranger things 3 and i have thoughts that i will break down by character ((they are not very deep thoughts, they are mostly love)) 

first, the kids

1. my beautiful son, will byers, for once did not have a hell ride of a season and got to smile a couple times. he took a bit of a back seat really, and i feel sorry for noah schnapp for all the ‘neck scratching’ memes he’ll be buried in now that it was basically his signature move for 8 episodes (and not even a particularly useful one) but anyway... the destruction of castle byers was one of the most heartbreaking scenes and i would have liked to see more fallout from it, but we can’t have everything. mike’s ‘it’s not my fault you don’t like girls’ line? eiiiish can we get some follow up in s4 please. (it might not be your fault mike but you’re involved lmao) so anyway. glad will got a breather season, but man when he was crying so much in the goodbye scene, i felt that. could not cope. 

2. lucas!!!!!!!! my treasured son!!!! i love him so much. he was such a hero this season! he is always down to fight with his catapult and i adore him. i love what a terrible casanova he makes. i wish there had been some kind of glimpse of him looking after max after she watched her brother die, because that’s a complicated thing for those two. but s4 awaits. i would love to see lucas take a more central role in s4, incidentally. in terms of the boys, s1 was mike’s time to shine, s2 was will’s, s3 was arguably dustin since he got the most time away from the group? s4 lucas please and thank you 

3. my angel daughter max, i love her, she’s so brave and brilliant, and she is such a good friend to el, and although billy-as-he-was didn’t deserve her, she was a good sister, too. i worry about her a lot. lucas and max better be the front and centre couple of s4, i swear. it’s their time. let them. i guess i was a little confused at first at how much max’s style changed between seasons, but i support her always, and her clothes now are so happy and cute. she’s adorable. now somebody please make sure she’s alright. where is her mom 

4. dustin, light of my life, he is a good child and i am proud of him! i have always related to dustin’s position in the friend group lmao so to see him off with his own little crew was very adorable. i love him as both steve and robin’s child and steve and robin’s parent. he is so resourceful and i love that they finally utilised gaten’s angel voice! i was so glad suzie turned out to be real and plot-relevant (kinda), please can she come for a visit in s4? thank you. 

5. eleven, my daughter, my small small child, she broke my heart so much this season and i am so proud of her for finding herself. her s4 arc of regaining her powers will be very interesting and i’m excited for her and joyce’s relationship to be developed more, because i love them both. i really appreciated them going for the angle of ‘eleven needs to exist outside of mike’, partly because the way they were behaving at the beginning of the season did seem to make sense for kids their age with a connection like theirs, and it is healthier for them to.... not. at least sometimes. el is so hardcore, i love how her dialogue is still written a little stilted while still letting her express herself. she had so many iconic lines. i can’t believe they took hop away from her. also i’m a little disappointed (but not surprised) that there was no kali.

6. mike, my child, my gangly and adorable son, he was a joy this season (even when he was whinging). you know what killed me? how TALL he was when he hugged his mother at the end, especially compared to the s1 scene after will’s “body” is found. logically i know that these are actors who are growing up but it feels like an assault every time they flashback to their tiny s1 selves, and mike is just a giant now. bless him. he is a good boy who is trying his best. i don’t really understand why he didn’t tell el what hopper had said much earlier, but he’s a silly teenage boy, so, you know. it’s like that. 

7. erica my precious daughter, oh my goodness, i enjoyed her immensely. i’m so glad she’s properly part of the crew and is beginning to embrace the nerdy part of herself. icon. priah ferguson is an entire gemstone. when nancy etc graduate to the adult storylines and mike and co are the resident teens, erica will be the lynchpin of the new generation and i couldn’t be happier about that. 

now, the teens

1. nancy was so iconic this year, DAMN. this girl never rests and i love her. i’m glad the romantic drama was minimised, just enough to keep them interesting but not so you really worried she was going to pingpong back to steve or anything silly like that. nancy is such a role model truly. she’s so brave. my life, when billy’s car was hurtling towards her and she just stayed shooting. that’s my girl. (also, she’s so gorgeous. i feel like 80s fashion happened mainly so that natalia dyer could recreate it)

2. STEVE my sweet sweet son. again, an icon. i can’t believe they actually kept him in that sailor suit the whole season. what a national treasure. when he slammed billy’s car! i cheered. i’m very proud of the person he has become and his friendship with robin is just adorable. so glad that they will be able to discuss pretty girls together now that they work at the arcade. also, maybe he could make it to the end of s4 without cutting up his face, but that’s probably too much to ask, isn’t it? 

3. robin is my entire heart, i can’t even express how much i love this girl. she’s so clever and brave and wonderful and i can’t wait for her and will to share a scene (because cOME ON the solidarity!!!). i love her sarcasm and wit, and how she just jumps into the madness and gets stuff done. a queen. welcome to the family, robin. 

4. jonathan my boyyyyy, he was lovely this season, i was so proud of him when he took the situation in hand with el’s injury (even if she ended up doing the surgery herself!) i am excited for him to be el’s big brother as well as will’s (side note: el and will are sure to be the cutest siblings) and hopefully he and nancy can continue to navigate the stormy sea of being the teen flagship without too much on-again-off-again. we get it, they’re meant for each other. loved their moment with the scar at the end. 

5. oh, billy. i will admit, i felt bad for him a couple of times, and he certainly suffered enough, not that his treatment of lucas in s2 will ever be excused. dacre montgomery really gives the most, which makes billy weirdly watchable. i will never understand why they chose to bring back the karen wheeler stuff, brrrrrrr, but, yeah. i’m glad they didn’t exactly “redeem” him, but managed to kill him off while still adding depth. (he tried to save el and good on him for that, but in the end it was joyce who stopped the mindflayer, so). 

aaand the adults!

1. murray was a complete delight, and i was thrilled to have him along for the ride. i’m heartbroken that murray/alexei will not rise, because that had potential.

2. joyce was wonderful and hilarious and brave and heartbreaking and perfect, of course. i can’t believe they’ve now killed off BOTH her love interests (as far as she knows, anyway). that poor woman. i hope she can continue in her role of best mother ever, now that she has an extra traumatised child on her hands. joyce is the true mvp. the moral strength that woman has. the brains. the curiosity. she’s a way of life. 

3. hopper, where do i start. i actually didn’t like him much at the start of the season. i get that he hasn’t had a teenager before, but he seemed to take a little too much delight in petrifying mike, especially since he knew how much it would genuinely hurt el. that seemed a bit extreme for the sake of not wanting to give a corny speech. but anyway. this man is a true trooper. so many fight scenes. and we’re supposed to assume he’s not actually dead, right? the post-credits scene in russia was almost entirely pointless (big deal, they got a demogorgon) apart from the line, ‘no, not the american’... i mean, surely that’s hopper? surely? murray is unaccounted for in the time jump, i suppose, but no way he was captured and not joyce. both or neither. man, imagine the reunion with el and joyce, if hopper really isn’t dead. i’m going with he’s not dead. we never saw any remains. kudos for still making his apparent demise pack a whole punch, though. that letter destroyed me. 

other things:

1. the turning-people-into-goo stuff was so horrifying, how do you even go about creating those visuals 

2. some of the fight scenes i kind of let happen without really watching, and just came back to see who was still upright by the end, how do people watch this stuff

3. joyce didn’t decorate her house :( in fact the magnets undecorated themselves, as a forerunner to the entire house being stripped.... wow....

4. mr clarke is an absolute beaut and i love the way he was used (although it was strange not to have dustin included!)

5. i love love love how this show operates, with different teams finding different parts of the mystery and piecing it together under fire. i love how none of them ever go, “hey, we should tell the other people who are usually involved in this stuff, chances are they’ve got themselves into it this time around.” 

6. the byers’ dog is still unaccounted for 

#stranger things #stranger things spoilers #mileven #lumax #jancy #jopper

[serendipitous-magic]

His eyes widen and he abandons the jar on the hall table immediately, striding forward until he reaches his boyfriend. Reaching up to ever-so-gently take Mike’s face in his hands, scanning him, those hazel eyes flicking over him in a flurry of anxious examination. “What the hell?” is his opening line. “Mike - what the hell ? What happened, are you okay? Did somebody hurt you? Talk to me, tell me.”

(For the fanfic DVD commentary ask thingy)

(P.S. this is from Ch 10 of The Unmarked Mixtape)

I’m assuming you mean the 500-ish words around that chunk, so I’ll start with…

The music in Will’s room stops and his door opens. A beat later he emerges, wearing gray boxers and a battered, faded-red Enjoy Coke tee. His hair is rumpled, his face a little shiny with oil that he hasn’t washed away yet, and his fingers are smudged with a cool palette of color - he’s been painting. There’s a smudge of gray-blue on his forearm, a streak of peach just beside his nose. He’s carrying a jar of cloudy gray water, a paintbrush sticking out of it, on his way to the bathroom sink with a far-off, absorbed expression, like he’s still deep in his artistic process. And Mike is so overwhelmingly glad to see him. He almost bolts forward and scoops Will up then and there, remembering just in time that they have an audience.

So one of my favorite (more lighthearted) moments of this chapter is this one ^, mostly because of Will’s general Aesthetic ™ right here. If I was artistically talented, I’d probably draw this moment. I just love the idea of Will chilling in boxers and an old battered tee (for some reason I really like the idea of it being one of those Enjoy Coke tees), at the end of the day, painting, with paint smeared over his hands and maybe a little bit on his face or arms. And after everything that Mike just went through, this sight is probably like the best thing Mike has ever seen, so I wanted to intentionally make Will look kind of rumpled and domestic - a kind of comforting change from the harrowing confrontation and journey that Mike just went through.

And then Will catches sight of Mike. Soaking wet and bloody, muddying up the living room floor with his dirty shoes, fending off Joyce’s well-meaning toweling attempts.

Again: Mike just went through hell. I sent him to the Byers’ in a great big storm (and had him nearly get hit by a car and crash his bike and scrape the skin off his knees and hands, etc.) because I wanted the outside to match the inside. It could have been just lightly drizzling, and Mike could have biked to the Byers with minimal drama and arrived upset but unharmed - but where’s the fun in that? I wanted to make him suffer. Partly because, like I said, then there’s physical, outward reflection of all the pain he just went through, but also partly because it’s more emotionally engaging. This was one of the main climaxes of the story; it would have felt cheap or underwhelming to me if he didn’t really have to struggle.

His eyes widen and he abandons the jar on the hall table immediately, striding forward until he reaches his boyfriend. Reaching up to ever-so-gently take Mike’s face in his hands, scanning him, those hazel eyes flicking over him in a flurry of anxious examination. “What the hell?” is his opening line. “Mike - what the hell? What happened, are you okay? Did somebody hurt you? Talk to me, tell me.”

Another one of my favorite parts of this whole chapter is the fact that Will takes one look at Mike and goes into full “boyfriend mode.” Will doesn’t care that his mother and brother are like two feet away, watching this all happen. He just sees his boyfriend bleeding, soaking wet and obviously crying, and nothing else matters in that moment. But Will doesn’t know what happened, yet, so when he sees Mike muddy and bloody, his first thought is that somebody hurt him. He thinks maybe Mike got mugged, or that somebody (maybe multiple somebodies) beat him up - and Will is probably afraid that it was because of their relationship, somehow. Because that was a very real concern in the 80s (and it still is today, but, thankfully, to a lesser extent). So that’s why one of his first questions is, Did somebody hurt you?

Will is in full boyfriend-mode, audience be damned, and Mike doesn’t even bother to send him a frown of reprimand. He can’t muster up the energy to care anymore. He just leans into Will’s touch, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment as he breathes. Will’s voice has tilted up an octave higher than usual in concern, and he thumbs lightly at the scrape on Mike’s temple. He picks up Mike’s hands and turns them over, hissing when he sees the gouges on his knuckles, calling to Jonathan to hand over the first aid kit. Mike stops him before he can crack the white plastic case open. If he doesn’t say it now, he doesn’t know if he ever will.

So here we’re seeing a shift in Mike. Before he’s always done his best to hide their relationship from everyone (El being the only real exception). He often wouldn’t let Will hold his hand or make any suggestive comments or be too affectionate around other people. They only held hands under the table a couple times because it was out of sight and the other people around them were distracted. So now, when Will is cupping his face and being very gentle and tender with him and practically nuzzling against him, and Mike (for the first time) doesn’t make any move to stop him, that’s an important shift. That’s Mike saying, fine. It’s fine if your mom and brother see us like this. Everything already came crashing down around me, so who cares? So this is most likely the first time that either Joyce or Jonathan have really seen byeler being A Couple without hiding it or toning it down.

“Will,” he says, and Will pauses, brows scrunched up in worry.

Mike swallows. He won’t cry again, not now, he won’t, he won’t - he’s stronger than that, damnit. He’s not a baby. He’s not going to cry. He clenches his jaw so hard that his teeth ache and looks up at the lumpy popcorn ceiling. When he looks down again, Will is watching him, waiting.

Toxic Masculinity, everyone! Mike is, throughout this chapter, disgusted at himself for crying and being “weak” and “emotional,” and he keeps trying to stop. Plus his dad didn’t help either by saying that Mike was “blubbering” and “being a baby,” which just reinforced Mike being ashamed of himself for breaking down.

He says it under his breath, low enough that maybe the others won’t hear. “My parents know.” Will goes stiff, and Mike spits out the worst part before he can lose his nerve. “They kicked me out.”

Will blinks, lips parting in a small inhale - but it’s Joyce that speaks first.

“They what?” Her voice is tight with anger. When Mike looks at her she’s already moving towards the phone. “They - oh, I’m gonna -”

Mike grasps at her sleeve, pulling her back from the phone before she can lift it. “No, no - no, don’t - they don’t know I’m here, they -”

So Mike was hoping that maybe if he said it quietly, Joyce and Jonathan wouldn’t quite hear him. That doesn’t work, obviously, and Joyce’s first reaction is basically “AW HELL NO” and she kind of instinctively reaches for the phone so she can tear Karen a new one (because she WARNED Karen not to do this, goddamnit), but Mike snuck out specifically so his parents wouldn’t know he was already gone until the next morning - thus hopefully gaining him some time to recover and prepare before whatever comes next. And if Joyce calls and rips them a new one, they’ll know Mike is at the Byers. So he kind of panics and grabs at her and is like “nO WAIT DON’T DO THAT.”

Aaaand that’s that! Honestly chapters 9 and 10 took so much mental and emotional energy to write - partly because really, structurally, they’re just one HUMUNGO chapter (thus “part 1″ and “part 2″), and also because they’re both so emotionally charged and intense. 

That being said, I am working on Ch 11 - though I won’t give an update estimate because I’m not sure how fast it’s gonna get done lol.

#asks #ask game #fanfic dvd commentary #the unmarked mixtape #fanfiction

[fearfilledvirgil]

Ivity and Anx: part twenty

Summary: Virgil and Roman hate each other to the core of their beings, but both become friends with a new stranger via the Sarrahas Project. Virgil takes to Creativity as well as Roman does to Anxiety, but they don’t know the true identity of the ones they’re slowing falling for.

Warnings: mentions of abuse, mentions of an attack with knife, police station, self-discructive thoughts (minor)

Word count: 3462

Pairings: Slowburn Prinxiety, Logicality

taglist at the end; masterlist

Virgil took a shaky breath once he was outside of the house. Logan looked at him worriedly as he gently lead the younger to Patton’s Kia Soul. Both sat in the back as Patton got in the driver’s seat. Logan kept a hand on Virgil’s arm, putting just enough pressure to be reassuring but not enough to be suffocating. Logan knew that Virgil had nearly shut down at knowing more people could possibly know of his secret. It wasn’t anything for Virgil to be ashamed of but it was still hard for the boy.

“Thanks, Logan.” Virgil said softly as Patton pulled away from Roman’s house, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Of course, Virgil.”

Virgil could feel his heart still beating faster than hummingbird wings. The fear of having an adult he didn’t know be there when he said all the dark secrets he kept hidden for years shook him. It was already going to be hard enough with Logan and Patton. Sweet innocent Patton was going to actually hear horrible stories, not only clarifications. The idea broke Virgil’s heart. No one as pure as Patton should have to know such horrible things. And Logan was going to hear the suffering that Virgil went through that he couldn’t help protect him from, again might he add. Virgil wanted nothing more than to spare them from the heartache, but going back to the apartment was out of the question.

Logan gently squeezed Virgil’s arm gently. “It will be alright, Virgil. We are all here for you.”

“We’ll keep you safe, kiddo.” Patton added from the front seat.

“Indeed. He won’t hurt you again.”

“I wish I shared your confidence.” Virgil said softly, trying to calm his racing heart. He certainly cared for his friends, and they were both smart, but they had no idea what they were talking about. They didn't know how his father could get when he was agitated enough. And this? This certainly would make him the most angry he had ever been. Virgil gulped. He didn’t need to get this worked up right now. He needed to focus on calming himself, considering he was about to talk about everything.

If someone told Virgil a few months ago that this is where he would be, he would have laughed in their face. Nothing about this week had been normal. Nothing since he cut out Roman and Logan left for school had been normal, either, but this week was a step up from that.

“The police work on facts,” Logan interrupted Virgil’s thoughts. “We have plenty of those. Documented accounts of most of the events will be enough to get him arrested. I know it’s hard but this endeavor will be well worth it.”

“The cops are a lot like you in that case.” Virgil averted his eyes to the window, staring out at the treeline. It was reminiscent of that car drive in the middle of the school year, so long ago.

“What do you mean, Virgil?” Logan asked curiously.

“You both use facts before you act.”

Patton chuckled, but kept his eyes on the road. “Except you’re not as scary, Lolo.”

“Don’t be so sure. When he’s angry, he gets all calm about it. That’s almost more scary,” Virgil took a breath, pausing in his explanation to Patton. “But he’d never take his anger out on anyone who he cares about, unlike some people.”

“That anger was well deserved, and served its purpose, Virgil.” Logan defended, his hand playing with the strap of the messenger bag.

“Never said it wasn’t, Pocket Protector.” There was a playful twinkle in Virgil’s eyes, not like the other two could see it.

Patton was glad that the two could playfully bicker despite how tense they all were. He thought if he could keep it going long enough, it could help calm down Virgil. The normalcy of it should get the emo’s breathing to calm back down. As Logan and Virgil continued talking, Patton’s heart soared at hearing his love and his dark strange son work so well together. Logan always managed to know the right thing to do or say.

“Patton?” Virgil asked, his voice sounding a small bit stronger than before.

Patton glanced back Virgil for a second, not wanting to take his eyes from the road for too long. “What is it, kiddo?”

“Thanks for driving.”

“Of course! I figured being with Logan would be helpful and he couldn’t help you as much if he was driving.”

Logan smiled as his Heart. “Quite right. Plus, having someone who wasn’t directly involved in the care of Virgil will be beneficial as well.”

“How so, Lolo?”

“You don’t know as much detail as Roman and I. You just see the effects, but you don’t know as much of the reasons. You couldn’t make them out to be worse than they may be.”

Patton couldn’t help but let a smile creep onto his lips. Logan really did have faith in him, didn't he? “You really think so?”

“I do.”

“I think it’s a good idea too, Patton.” Virgil told him.

“You do, Virgil?” Patton asked softly.

“Yeah. You can also keep Logan calm if he hears some of the things I never told him. It… it means a lot that you’re here to help us.” There was a slight awkward look to Virgil’s face but Patton could tell he meant it.

“I’m glad you think so, kiddo!” Patton pulled up in front of the police station, parking in a spot near to the door.

“Are you ready, Virgil?” Logan asked him firmly yet with a softness in his tone.

“As I’ll ever be.” Virgil responded as he took a deep breath, slowing beginning to adorn his facade once more.

The three of them carefully got out of the car, with Logan and Patton making sure to grab all of the paperwork they had with them. Virgil stuck his hands in his hoodie pockets, one hand playing with the string that was inside. Virgil was realizing more and more lately how lucky he was that it hadn’t broken yet. Patton gently pressed his shoulder against Virgil’s, letting him know that he was going to be there with him no matter what. With a curt nod of his head and a lean away from Patton, Virgil lead the way into the police department.

Roman watched as the people he cared about most hurried out of the house. He understood Logan’s need to protect Virgil and get him out of the house before Virgil’s darker thoughts could take over. He also understood why Patton went with the other two. It didn’t mean he didn’t feel completely alone facing his mothers.

“Roman, cariño, what is going on?” Cinthia asked her son.

Roman looked up as his madre calling him ‘sweetie’. “It’s a lot, Madre.”

“I’m sure it is.” Andrea said as she sat at the table. “Though I believe you can do your best to explain it to us.”

Roman looked between his mothers, knowing that Cinthia was just as curious as her wife. It was hard to tell them what was going on completely. Roman felt that was Virgil’s place and going behind his back hurt his heart. He also knew, however, that neither of them would let the issue drop until they got an answer of some kind.

“Virgil’s home life is not good. At all. So Patton, Logan, and I have been getting information together to take to the police,” He noticed Andrea’s questioning look at the mention of Logan’s name. “Logan’s Virgil’s best friend, and he’s also dating Patton. Anyway, from what I’ve seen and heard, it’s a lot worse than I knew about. Logan’s known about it a lot longer than I have.”

“A rough home life isn’t ample reason to go to the police, Roman.” Andrea told her son. Cinthia put a calming hand on her wife’s arm, almost as a reminder that this wasn’t a topic to be so strict about.

“I know that. But mental and physical abuse at that house is,” Roman didn’t mean to, but he slammed his hands down on the table harder than he intended. He retracted them to sit in his lap, clenched together to prevent further outburst. “Logan’s documented moments when he’s helped patch Virgil up for years. It escalated pretty badly a few days ago... Worse than Logan or I had ever known,” Roman took a deep breath. “Virgil has pretty bad anxiety attacks, but what I saw last night was the worst one I have ever seen. And what he told me during it? It shook me to the core. Fue peor que nada.” Roman wasn’t entirely sure why he slipped into Spanish. Or why the only part he did was explaining that he’d known nothing worse.

“El pobre chico.” Cinthia said. “Anxiety attacks are something I wish upon no one.”

Roman couldn’t help but smile slightly. His madre had said ‘the poor boy’ after he explained a part of Virgil, which was an understatement, but his madre didn’t know everything Virgil had gone through so he couldn’t blame her. “It’s not even the worst part. He’s gotten hurt by this father… More times than I’d like to count. When he came by a few nights ago, he was bleeding. Logan’s the one who would normally help him, but he was at some smart person college? I can’t remember if it was Yale or Harvard. So Logan sent him to me, knowing I’d find a way to help him. Yesterday morning I called Joan to help, and they had to sew his arm up because the wound was so bad.”

Shock was clear in both of his mothers’s faces for more than one reason, but Roman knew if he stopped talking he wouldn’t be able to finish explaining. “That man had attacked him with a knife. If his fight or flight reflex didn’t kick in as strongly I don’t know what would’ve happened. A cut on his arm is nothing compared to what his father was trying to do.”

Something terrifying flashed in Andrea’s eyes, causing Roman to stop. He’d seen his ma upset before but this was something even worse. If he didn’t know better, Roman would’ve sworn there was actual fire burning in her eyes. Cinthia noticed it as well since she put a gentle hand on her wife’s shoulder and whispered something in her ear.

“He is welcome to stay here to keep him safe from the horrid man. But only until that man is arrested.” Andrea said, though it was clear she was still upset. It was also clear she knew what Roman had been implying.

“Thanks, Ma. I’m sure it’ll mean a lot to him. I know it does to me.” Roman was kind of taken back that she’s only letting him stay until his father was arrested but he’s grateful that he’s been able to stay as long as he has.

“You’ve done a wonderful thing, cariño.” Cinthia told her son. “I know I’ve heard you complain about this boy before, but you’ve done well.”

“I’ve learned a lot about him in the last year or so. I understand him better. And… I’m trying to make up for past mistakes as well. I wasn’t the most kind person to Virgil when we were younger.” Shame was written all over Roman’s face.

“As long as you two have spoken about it and are willing to work together to fix the problem, it is progress. And I understand why your other friends didn’t want us to go with them.”

“You do?”

“Yes. They didn’t want people who didn’t know as much to be there and hear all of it.”

“Probably.” Roman thought for a moment. “And Virgil has a hard time opening up to people, even people he knows. He puts up a front. So I think if you went he would act like it was a waste of time and not say anything. He put one up around Patton the first time they met, but Patton can get anyone to love him in no time. The two had a really good heart to heart moment.”

If Virgil hadn’t placed on the hard exterior he wore almost daily, he would be vibrating in his seat. He shifted his position every once and a while, but was careful not to do it in a way that seemed weak. The detective sitting on the opposite end of the table’s eyes were furrowed, the concerned look on her face only growing as she read the papers before her. She glanced up from the paper she was on to look at Virgil for a moment. He knew that she was doubting that these kinds of things happened to a boy who acted like Virgil.

But what she had to say to Virgil, and what he had to respond to, was for talking about another day.

Logan was pacing up and down the hallway of the police station. The three of them had been there for over three hours. Logan logically knew that Virgil being asked to give details would be a long process since he knew more than anyone about what happened, but it didn’t stop Logan from worrying. Both he and Patton has already been interrogated and given their statements; they were just waiting on Virgil to finish.

Patton watched helplessly as Logan continued to pace. He tried several times to get his boyfriend (Where they boyfriends?? They hadn’t had that talk yet, but Patton let this thought slip) to sit and take a deep breath but none of his tries lasted long. Logan was too worried to sit still. Even when Patton had managed to get the other to sit his leg bounced with nervous energy. He couldn’t suppress the sigh that escaped him.

“Lolo. I know you’re worried about the kiddo. I am too but he’s going to be okay.”

“Of course he is. There is an armed police officer in the room with him. We’d be in far more danger out here due to the fact that they’d have to walk down this hall before they got to the room Virgil’s in.”

“Logan, I didn’t mean physically okay.”

Logan stopped and looked at his Heart. “You meant emotionally and mentally?” He saw Patton nod before he rubbed his face. “You do not know that. You saw him just telling small parts of it. This has to be excruciating for him. He’s having to relive every horrible thing that was done to him in detail. You have no idea what that might do to his psyche.”

“You’re right. I don’t know. But I know that he’s going to have wonderful emotional support from the people he cares about when he walks out of that room. And also from Roman when we get back. He’s strong. He’ll get through this.”

“Patton, I want to believe you… but I don’t know if I can. Not this time.”

Patton stood and held Logan’s hand in his. “Lo. Logically. If someone has gone through everything Virgil’s gone through and not broken, do you think this will break them? Finally getting even a sliver of hope?”

Logan stared at Patton’s face. There was clearly worry in his expression but something else as well. Something Logan didn’t understand. With a sigh he answered the other’s question. “No. I do not think that finally receiving that bit of hope will break Virgil. That doesn’t mean I’m not worried.”

“You wouldn’t be a good friend if you weren’t worried. I’m worried too, but I know he’ll pull through. But I think getting him something that makes him feel safe and at home would be helpful. Maybe a warm cocoa and a muffin.”

Though Logan didn’t fully understand how a warm drink and pastry was supposed to make someone feel safe, he understood that Patton was thinking of how to make someone happy. He also had to admit that a warm drink did help his nerves calm slightly during his own slight bouts of anxiety. He squeezed Patton’s hand gently. “I believe that would be beneficial to us all.”

Patton smiled widely and just stayed with Logan. The two stayed close for the next hour and a half before the door to the interrogation room opened. Logan’s eyes shot towards it, concern clear on his face. Patton held his love’s hand again as he saw Virgil walk out, his eyes red from crying. He put his sleeve-covered hands up to his face, wiping at his cheeks, before he began to scan the area for his friends.

Logan, already a step in front of Virgil, hurried over to his honorary brother, putting his arm around him to lead him back over to Patton as he said, “Je suis là pour t'aider, mon frère.” I’m here to help, brother, again.

Virgil nodded and sat on the bench, speaking softly in French, “Je sais que vous êtes.” I know you are. He felt slightly bad speaking in French, because now Patton was way out of the loop.

Patton scooted closer to Virgil on the bench, the probably emotionally drained boy now sandwiched between his two friends. “I’m proud of you, kiddo.”

“You are?”

“Mhmm.” Patton answered with a nod. “You powered through the fear of coming here, and you talked to the people who can help you. That took a lot of strength.”

“Indeed.” Logan agreed. “You showed a great deal of determination and power. I am proud of you as well.”

Virgil wiped his sweater paw across his face to dry any newly forming tears that may or may not be noticable. “Thank you.” Good, that sentence didn’t get boggled in his head.

“Of course. Is there anything we can do to help you right now?”

“Just… give me a… a…” Virgil paused, and seemed to be searching for a word. “Fuck, a minute, that’s the word.”

“Of course, Virgil. Take as long as you need. We’ll be over by the door.” Logan stood up slowly as he spoke, taking Patton’s arm to lead him further down the hall towards the door.

“Logan do you think it’s a good idea to leave him?” Patton asked as he looked back at Virgil over his shoulder. He had his eyes closed and looked to be breathing deeply.

“I believe that he still needs a few moments to regain himself. We’ll be close enough to hear him if he needs us but far enough to give him his privacy.”

“Okay…”

“I know you’re concerned, but it is as you said. He’s finally gotten an actual sliver of hope. It’s a lot for him at this moment, but when he’s gotten his own emotions under control again, you can see if he wishes to be hugged.”

“It’s hard not being able to just hug him. I know he’s not the biggest on touch.”

“I know, Patton. But if he needs it, he’ll seek it.”

Logan tentatively hugged the shorter boy, figuring that the comfort would be good for Patton. Patton hugged back tightly, burying his face into Logan’s shirt. As much as the closeness and tightness of the hug made Logan uncomfortable, he pushed his own emotions aside so he could focus on Patton’s. He didn’t want to cause more distress to the other by having two people around him not comfortable with his form of affection and comfort.

“Thank you, Lolo.” Patton said into Logan’s shirt.

“Anything for you.”

The two stayed like that for a while, until a cough from behind them broke them out of their little world where it was just the two of them. “I can come back in a minute if you two want.”

Patton’s head moved from Logan’s chest to look at Virgil, smiling gently. “It’s okay, kiddo. We were thinking of maybe getting something warm to drink and a pastry on the way home.”

“That sounds… nice actually.”

“I know of a really good bakery we can go to! It’s called the Mismatched Cafe, if you’re interested?”

Logan smiled fondly at the excitement Patton expressed. “Shall we go then, Virgil?”

Virgil nodded and pushed the front door open, Patton and Logan following behind him. The three resumed the arrangement in the car that they had on the way to the station. Patton pulled away from the curb and cautiously made his way to the bakery.

Virgil sat quietly, one hand playing with the trusty string in his hoodie pocket. Even though he was able to talk about everything, he was extremely worried about what would happen in the future. If his father escaped being arrested, then Virgil would be hunted down. But if that happened, Virgil wouldn’t be the only one who got hurt.

bonus part // next part

Taglist: @rileyfirstname @verymuchanidiot @definentlynotjustanotherlemon @silversmith-91 @kanejandkruge @sander-fander-sides @the-incedible-sulk @hexdream18243 @crows-with-hats @monikastec @definenormalifyoucan @i-am-absolute-fandom-trash @applecannibal @cats-with-blogs @bubblycricket @witchcraft--and--wizardry @bunnyartie @quietlypondering @elusivefalsehoods @hghrules @royallyanxious @quietwords-loudthoughts @squishynonbinarytwink @sortablue @illogical-anxieties @savingshae @a-fander-named-skittles @thelowlysatsuma @ughthatsprettygay @im-so-infinitesimal @certifiedtrashxx @karmels-stuff @sanders-sides-trash-blog @musicqueen1239 @the-average-loner @nicological1 @oh-star-how-the-mighty-fall @surleytemple @nervous-collection @asapmyke @super-magical-wizard @arandompasserby @serenitythepanther @ijustrealizedhowdumbmynamewas @kaitoanxiety @liz-a-bell @afilhadehades-blog and @lovecrazyjennybear my amazing co-writer

#fails writing #virgil sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #virgil angst #bilingual virgil

[tainbocuailnge]

The fandom you're in looks really awesome, and the reason I followed you is it the cooler that comes with it, but I have no idea what it's about or what the actual game is? Is there a place I can go to kind of find out and maybe play myself? (You're so passionate about it that I'm starting to get really curious but google is my enemy)

I’m GUESSING you mean fate series cause that’s my number one thing I do not shut up about. it’s uhh kind of a spiraling mess of a series but most installments are standalone enough for it to not be a complete hell to get into, but also I’m glad you asked because getting in without help is definitely hell

fate started with the visual novel fate/stay night, written by kinoko nasu and released in 2004. as such that’s the best starting point in my opinion, because it features all the detailed worldbuilding groundwork that later installments kind of gloss over so it can be hard to go back to if you already know all that from other installments. the plot is that seven magi summon legendary heroes to fight for them in a ritual war, with the prize being the holy grail which can grant any wish. leading themes are what it means to be a hero and save someone, the way history repeats itself, and forming your own identity in the wake of trauma. it has three routes, the last of which especially has really heavy themes of physical emotional and sexual abuse so if you need detailed content warnings pm me and I’ll do my best

fsn has several releases, the original vn features infamously bad erotica but there’s a rerelease called fate/stay night [realta nua] which replaced those scenes with pg-15 content and also tightened the visuals up a bit. I’ve got downloads for both versions here. it’s like 80 hours of vn so that’s quite the investment but there’s also the anime fate/stay night [unlimited blade works] featuring the second route, and the third route is getting a series of movies the first of which is out too, called heaven’s feel - presage flower. fate route (the first route) sort of got an anime in 2006 and unlimited blade works a movie in 2010 but those are really really bad so look for the 2014 anime and 2017 movie. imo the ubw anime did a decent job and heaven’s feel is doing pretty good too so far so they’re good for seeing if you like what the series has to offer before you dive into a long ass vn.

the prequel to fate/stay night is fate/zero, a light novel series written by gen urobuchi in collaboration with nasu. as such it’s notably darker than the rest of the series but by nature of being a prequel it makes for an equally decent starting point as stay night, since both will spoil things for the other. fate/zero has an anime too. 

imo stay night and zero are the ‘standard’ fate installments, if someone says they like fate you can safely assume they’ve consumed at least one of those - is what I used to say but apparently it’s been so long that even this isn’t a reasonable assumption anymore. oh how times have changed. anyway please do start with zero or stay night cause like I said those are earlier installments so they’re at high risk of falling flat if you already know the deep lore from later stuff.

the biggest most booming fate installment is fate/grand order, a mobile game featuring characters from all other fates as well as a lot of newcomers. it’s pretty newbie friendly in terms of lore I think but you’ll get more out of it if you do know the background for all these characters since character development tends to carry over between installments. it’s infamously story heavy for a mobile game, especially in the later chapters when nasu got the hang of writing for mobage. the tone is also notably different from fsn and fz in that it’s more…. grandiose and theatrical, and obviously it waifs everyone up a bit so they can get you to spend money. still good tho. still love it. it’s got two anime specials, first order and moonlight lostroom, but first order makes no damn sense if you don’t know anything of stay night and lostroom takes place after the events of the first fgo arc. there’s anime projects of two of the chapters in progress too.

you thought that was all? you’re a fool this isn’t even half of it but I’ll briefly go over the rest under a cut cause those 3 are the big players.

carnival phantasm is a comedy OVA series featuring skits about several works from the same author. about half of it is about fate and the other about tsukihime, an earlier visual novel. watching order is after stay night. today’s menu for the emiya family is the canon domestic fsn au manga and anime where everyone’s just chilling eating dinner together instead of killing each other. 

fate/hollow ataraxia is another visual novel. it’s a direct sequel to fate/stay night and a personal favourite. it takes place half a year after stay night and features much of the same themes, but from a pair of characters who lost the war in fsn before it even started.

fate/apocrypha is another series of light novels. in terms of reading order i’d put it after stay night and zero. it features a cast twice as big as those two and basically approaches the same themes from a different angle. it’s got a finished anime and an ongoing manga but the anime kinda butchered pretty much everything about it. unfortunately one of the light novels is still not translated so the anime is still the most accessible way to get approximately the whole story. the manga IS very good though so once that’s finished I’d probably tell people to read that one if they want to apocrypha

fate/EXTRA is a psp game it’s like 10 bucks in the ps store iirc. for reading order I’d put it after stay night but not necessarily after zero. in this one the ritual for the holy grail is held in a simulation on the moon, which is a supercomputer, and it’s an organised tournament with 128 participants instead of a 7 man free for all. it’s about forging meaningful bonds in a system designed to drive people apart and finding the drive to keep going even if nothing is certain. the gameplay isn’t great but the story is $$$ it’s my other personal favourite. it’s sequel is called fate/EXTRA CCC, it’s on psp too but never got a western release, but there’s a translation of one route out there and some madmen are working on a translation patch that’ll be done in time for my grandchildren I hope. CCC is the wildest ride of my life i love it a lot but it’s very horny so not really for everyone. fate/extra CCC fox tail is a manga which follows an alternate CCC route and i hear it’s cool. the sequel to CCC is fate/EXTELLA which did come to the west and is on several platforms, and somewhere next year fate/EXTELLA link should get localised. extella is very rushed and mostly expands the extraverse world but if you can grab it on sale after you decided you like extra it’s not a bad buy just don’t pay full price. fate/EXTRA last encore is an anime which. sort of comes after extra? it’s very trippy arthouse bullshit and I ate that shit up but it’s definitely not for everyone. the last 3 episodes are missing on netflix so make sure you don’t miss those if you decide to watch.

fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ☆ ILLYA is a magical girl spinoff manga & anime which sounds great in theory until you see it’s mostly pedobait, but extremely unfortunately for us sometimes it does something legitimately cool so we all suffer. don’t get into prillya it’s bad for your health. 

fate/strange fake WAS an aprils fools story but this series has no limits so now it’s a full on light novel spinoff and also manga I think? I don’t keep up with it but it throws some wild ass lore our way sometimes. you’ll probably want to be up to date with apocrypha and everything before it before you try this one.

fate/prototype was just the original concept for fsn extrapolated a bit upon but again this series has no limits. prototype has an animated feature and some material books, and then the light novels fate/prototype fragments of blue and silver are the prequel to prototype, but it’s weird cause we never got a proper prototype so I don’t know what’s up with that. fate/labyrinth is a side story to fragments which I know even less about. I actually never see anyone talk about prototype so there’s probably no translations lol

lord el melloi II case files is even more light novels. I’m pretty sure you need to have gone over stay night, zero, hollow ataraxia, apocrypha, and strange fake before this one starts to make sense. there might be translations? i don’t know a fucking thing my guy

#squarelight #king of asks #rip mobile users

[bbcphile]

Holding Fast

At long, long last, here’s the fic I promised @lt-williambush, filling the prompt “The first time Will was octopus-cuddled.”

Happy holidays!!!

Title: Holding Fast

AO3 Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13127007

Fandom: Hornblower (TV)

Relationship: William Bush/Horatio Hornblower/Archie Kennedy

Summary: Will has a nightmare. Archie and Horatio help.

“Bush! What’s our status?”

Will snapped to attention. “Sir. The third delivery of water today is on its way, and the first team on the ground said they’re ready for the medical crew. The Lynx is being loaded with supplies right now. They should be taking off any moment.”

“Good work, Bush,” Captain Flanighan said. “Report to the wardroom for briefing when you’re done. We still have a long day ahead of us.”

“Aye aye, Sir.” Will nodded and tried to force his eyes back into focus.

“Bush? When was the last time you slept?”

Will blinked. He must’ve slept since they’d docked in Cebu. He just couldn’t remember it. Or what day it was. “I’m . . . not sure, Sir.”

Captain Flanighan frowned. “I see. In that case, the new orders for you and your crew are to get some rest immediately after sending off the Lynx.”

“Sir?”

“The next few days will be equally grueling, and we’ll need everyone in top condition. The people of the Philippines are counting on us. We can’t afford to get sloppy from sleep deprivation. Tell your crew they’ll have thirty minutes of rest before they’ll start up again.”

“Aye aye, Sir.”

“Dismissed.”

Will nodded and began to walk up the staircase, the sound of propellers filling the air. The Lynx must be taking off. And soon, the crew could rest. He smiled. They’d appreciate the break. The last three days had been hard for everyone.

The faint sound of raised voices reached his ears.

Will frowned and sprinted up the remaining steps and onto the deck. He squinted, the sun briefly blinding him.

More voices rang out, but it was impossible to make out the words over the whirr of the helicopter.

He shaded his eyes with his hand as he tried to see what all the commotion was about. Gradually, the Lynx came into focus. He frowned and tilted his head. Was its pallet of supplies crooked?

He looked over to his right. Boyle was running towards him, gesturing frantically. His mouth was moving, but the wind carried the words away.

Will frowned, then started jogging towards him. “Boyle!” he bellowed, “What’s--”

“BUSH!” Boyle screamed, “RUN!”

A loud snap like the crack of a gun filled the air.

Will looked up, his heart lurching to his throat.

A large, gray pallet was hurtling towards him, blocking out the sky.

Will sat up with a strangled gasp, his heart racing and his leg throbbing wildly. Everything was black. Why couldn’t he see his leg? Why couldn’t he see the blood? Was he dead? Oh, God, it fucking hurt.

“Will? Love?” A gentle hand rested on his shoulder. “You alright?”

Archie? What the bloody hell was Archie doing on the Daring? Will tried to ask but all that came out was a ragged, shuddering wheeze.

“Ah. Got it.” Fabric rustled nearby. “Horatio? Wake up?”

“Mmmph,” Horatio mumbled, his voice muffled.

“Horatio, love, Will’s had a nightmare. Turn on the lights.”

Will blinked as he tried to suck in another shaky breath. A nightmare? What--

“Oh! Of course. One moment.”

A second later, the room was flooded with light.

He glanced down, braced for a mangled mess of flesh and blood.

His stump, long-since healed, greeted his eyes instead.

He blinked, then glanced around at the blueish walls and the white carpet.

This was their bedroom in London. He wasn’t on the Daring.

He was safe.

His eyes closed as he sighed in relief.

“That’s right,” Archie murmured. “You’re alright. You’re home, love. We’ve got you.” He slid closer until their sides were pressed against each other, his arm a comforting weight around Will’s shoulders.

Will exhaled slowly and let himself learn into Archie’s arms. The phantom pain in his leg was starting to lessen. “Sorry to wake you up,” he muttered.

“It’s perfectly alright,” Horatio said as he scooted from Archie’s left to sit at the foot of the bed. He rested his hand on Will’s right knee and ran his thumb gently back and forth across the kneecap. “We wouldn’t want you to do this alone.”

Archie held him more tightly and pressed a quick kiss to his neck. “And if I’m not allowed to apologize for waking you up screaming bloody murder, then why should you be? Sounds a bit unfair to me, doesn’t it?”

Will huffed out a shaky laugh.

“Is there anything we can get you, Will? Some tea? A biscuit?”

“Or pain meds,” Archie offered.

Will hesitated, then shook his head. If he waited another ten minutes or so, the worst of the pain should fade. “Not just yet.”

Archie nodded. “Take your time. You can always change your mind if you need to.”

Will dipped his head in thanks and focused on emptying his mind, imagining the fear and the pain drain out through his leg and stump and into the floor. That little trick Dr. Patel’d taught him always worked more than just focusing on breathing.

“Did you want to talk about your nightmare?” Horatio asked after a moment.

Will shrugged. “Not much to say.”

“Flashback of the accident?” Archie asked.

Will nodded, barely managing to suppress a shudder. “Hadn’t had one in awhile.”

Horatio frowned. “You had them before? When we were in the dormitories? How often?”

Will shrugged. “Two, maybe three times a term?”

Horatio gaped. “What? Will, you could have said! You shouldn’t have had to suffer through that alone! Why didn’t you wake me?”

“You needed the sleep,” Will said simply.

Horatio rolled his eyes. “I would have managed--”

“--And we didn’t have . . . this, then,” Will said, gesturing vaguely at the three of them. He shrugged again. “So I handled it.”

Horatio frowned. “How?” he asked quietly.

Will wetted his lips. “Early morning shower. Reading. Meds. It varied.”

Archie shifted and began to run his fingers through Will’s hair, massaging the scalp as he went. “Well, you don’t have to do that alone anymore. We can keep you company however you want: we can watch an episode of something, I could read to us . . . oh, or we could shower together, although I doubt all three of us could fit.”

Will managed a hint of a smile. “Here’s fine.”

“Alright,” Archie said, shifting his hands to massage Will’s shoulders and neck. “There’s one more thing we could do, if you want.”

“Mmm?” Will asked with a satisfied sigh as Archie’s thumb did something particularly useful to a knot at the base of his neck.

“Well, up ‘til now, Horatio or I always end up in the middle while we sleep. What if you took a turn?”

Will blinked. “But . . . then I’d be between you and Horatio.”

Horatio frowned. “Well, yes, that’s the idea.”

Archie glanced at Horatio, swallowing back a laugh, then looked back at Will, his forehead wrinkling. “And that’s a problem because?”

Will stared down at his hands. How could he explain why it felt like overstepping this . . . thing they’d made together? He wetted his lips. “I don’t want to get in the way,” he said at last.

There was a silence.

He glanced up. Archie and Horatio were staring at him in horror.

He raised an eyebrow.

Archie took a deep breath, then sat up on his knees. He took Will’s hands in his and stared directly into his eyes. “Ok, glad I asked. Will, love? We’re in this together. All three of us. This isn’t us deigning to allow you to share our bed. You’re never going to be in the way, because you’re every bit as much a part of this as either of us. We love you. Both of us. And we’re not going to change our minds because we’re spending a few hours holding you instead of each other. Right, Horatio?”

“Of course! Will, I--” Horatio frowned and pressed his lips together. “--I apologize if I have ever implied otherwise. It’s -- it’s an honour to share our lives and our bed with you, and I promise to do everything in my power to ensure you never have cause to doubt that.”

Will ducked his head as a warmth flared to life in his chest. “Ta,” he mumbled to the bedspread, his throat feeling oddly thick.

“So, in light of this revelation,” Archie began, “I move that Will be thoroughly snuggled tonight. Horatio, do you second?”

“Seconded,” Horatio said instantly.

Will looked back up, eyebrow raised. “Parliamentary procedure?”

Horatio cleared his throat. “I believe you meant ‘Poly-mentary procedure,’” he said, a twinkle in his eyes.

Archie blinked at him, then raised an eyebrow incredulously. “Horatio, that’s--”

Horatio raised an eyebrow back, trying and failing to keep a straight face.

Archie rolled his eyes. “That’s absolutely horrible, love. I don’t know if I should be proud or horrified.”

“Both, I think,” Will said drily.

“Both. Both is good,” Horatio quoted, his lips twitching as he tried not to laugh.

Archie’s eyes opened wide. “Horatio, love, did you just --”

“--Quote The Road to El Dorado?” Horatio asked, beaming. “Why, yes, I believe I did.”

Archie grinned. “You, my love, are a wonder.” He leaned over to press a quick kiss to Horatio’s lips. “Will, have you seen that one yet?”

Will shook his head. “Should I?”

“Absolutely! Dreamworks animation from 2000, I think, about two Spanish con-men who try to find the city of gold and end up fighting against colonialism. The two con-men were lovers in the original script before the writers were forced to change it, and it ends with an OT3 riding off into the sunset.”

“And there are ships,” Horatio added.

Will snorted.

“Also true,” Archie said with a grin. “Plan for tomorrow night, then? When I get back from the audition?”

"I’m free,” Will volunteered.

Horatio nodded. “I should be able to make time.”

“Excellent. In that case, date night tomorrow. But now, we should get some sleep.” Archie paused. “If you’re ready to give it a try again.”

Will hesitated. He usually couldn’t sleep after nightmares like that, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. Especially if it meant Archie would be better-rested for his audition. He nodded. “It can’t hurt.”

“Ok, then,” Archie said with a grin. “Horatio, how about you swing over to Will’s over side, and we’ll see how that works?”

“Alright.” Horatio climbed over Will, pausing while briefly straddling him to give him a quick kiss on the lips, and sat down on his right side. “Who would you like to hold first?”

Will blinked. Somehow they’d never needed to have this conversation with Archie. He just always happened to be in the middle, unless Horatio was having trouble sleeping.

“Why don’t you start by facing me, Will? And if that gets uncomfortable for you, we can roll over? Horatio doesn’t get to hold you nearly enough,” Archie said with a grin.

“Alright,” Will said with a nod. He lay down on his left side, then pushed himself down on the bed until his head rested on the pillow. A moment later, Horatio’s arm was wrapped around his chest. Horatio slid closer, nestling his face into the nape of Will's neck. Will smiled. Horatio always ended up draped over Archie by morning. Would he do the same here?

Archie leaned over to turn off the lamp, then lay down and rolled on his right to face Will.

Will raised an eyebrow at him. “I thought I was holding you.”

Archie shrugged. “You can. While I hold you, too. I did promise that you’d be thoroughly snuggled, didn’t I?” He tilted his head up to kiss Will on the lips, then slid further down the pillow until his forehead was against Will’s chin. He shifted until his legs were pressed up against Will’s and put a warm, strong arm around his waist. “This ok?” he murmured. “You’re not feeling trapped? I’m not bumping anything?”

Will shook his head. “It’s nice,” he said quietly.

Archie and Horatio squeezed him more tightly in unison.

“Alright, then. Wake us if you need anything at all--including if you get too warm or Horatio goes all octopus-like on you.”

Horatio huffed in mild irritation. “I’m nothing like an octopus, Archie, I’m--”

“A glorious, warm-blooded octopus with a tendency to wrap all manner of limbs around its partners--”

“--Octopodes have eight appendages, Archie. That’s twice as many as I have, and I thereby think it’s impossible for me to--”

“--Who we both love very much and who needs to go to sleep now,” Archie finished, smiling into Will’s neck.

Horatio sighed into Will’s neck, the fond, amused, exasperated sound reserved only for Archie. “Very well. But if I’m an octopus, then you’re clearly a limpet.”

Archie laughed quietly, his breath pleasantly tickling Will’s neck. “Whatever you say, love. As long as you assign Will his sea creature alter-ego in the morning.” He yawned. “Goodnight, loves. See you in a few hours.”

Horatio’s hand shifted to briefly brush Archie’s fingers, before sliding back to Will’s chest. “Goodnight, Archie. Goodnight, Will,” he mumbled, his voice already sounding unfocused.

“Night,” Will answered quietly, putting his right around around Archie’s waist.

With a quiet, happy murmur, Archie shifted closer until his nose and lips were pressed against his neck. Soon, Archie’s breath was slow and steady. He let his chest rise and fall in time with Archie’s and was surprised to discover how heavy his eyelids felt.

“Sea anemones,” Horatio mumbled into the back of his neck.

Will huffed out a quiet laugh and relaxed into the warmth of their arms.

He let his eyes fall shut.

#HHornblower #Horatio Hornblower #William Bush #OT3 #Archie Kennedy #Husbands of Renown #poly things #fic #Harboured and Encompassed

[cyberkevvideo]

Throne of Night - Speculated Level Build for Book 5

This is something entirely new for me to try out. When I was going down the list of pictures for Book 5, I came to realize that there’s lots of pictures don’t have much in the way of encounters, or are wide open for speculation. I’ll get into it more when the time comes, but for now I thought it’d be fun to take a blank map and go “what if?” with it. Looking at various pictures, I’m sure I’m way of basis, and there’s a completely different reason for the machine to exist, but for now this is just for fun. As such, there’s no actual builds, just shorthand thoughts and class theories.

As always, for space reasons, I’ll be cropping the entry.

All images shared here were done by the forever fantastic and amazingly talented Michael D. Clarke, aka SpiralMagus

I do not have a Patreon or a Kickstarter, but I do have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who wishes to support me monetarily. There is no pressure or obligation to do so.

Finally, before I get to it, I hope everyone’s staying safe right now.

When I learned of the “capture ship”, I started to wonder what exactly that meant. Was it the ship that took people (namely drow) prisoner and transported them to the aboleth city where they’d be changed to skum or similar tainted creatures? It definitely seemed like a possibility. So instead of getting sleep like a normal person, I jotted down some stuff and here we are.

At some point during Book 5, while the PCs are on their boat traversing the rivers, they happen upon a device that’s named a “lure”. Whether it is currently working or not, is unknown, but right behind that, is the capture ship.

The lure seems like a wondrous item that probably mimics rainbow pattern, luring a fascinated creature towards the submarine, causing them to eventually be captured.

For how it’s built, I would estimate that it’s an activation item that goes off with alarm when a living creature is so many feet within it, possibly 40 feet. For the typical creature, the will save is going to be nearly impossible for them to make. Personally, I’d make this a heightened widened rainbow pattern that’s CL 15th for an 8th level spell, making the Will save DC 22. Depending on how well built the party is, that could difficult for your typical fighter, and rainbow pattern isn’t an enchantment, but an illusion.

No matter how the PCs manage to get in, there’s a map for the GM.

While I’m glad such a map exists, as someone who has to draw out the maps for players, I hate when the legend says “1 square = 10 feet.” It’s so annoying. At least all the important areas are squares or rectangles.

This is where I take a bunch of liberties for how things might go. How so? I have no art to back up the hypothesis I’m about to lay out. I think I might have one piece of art that takes place at this location, maybe two???, but there’s no way I can 100% guarantee that’s actually the case.

I said in a previous entry that this sub is likely what gets the PCs to the underwater aboleth city that they’re to finish the module. As such, for them to get there, either then Engineering area section or the Command area might have the coordinates already programmed in it for the PCs to just hit the “Start” button, and away they go. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

A question I was asked was how do you get the Lovecraftian creatures that appear in Book 6, make sense? It’s not like Books 1-4 had a lead up in some way that warned of a star spawn final boss. At some point the PCs will come across a monolith and some fossils of an aboleth, so their existence isn’t that big of a surprise come Book 5. The other things though? They’re harder to accept. So, you do what makes sense. Introduce a gateway encounter. And in this regard, I’m suggesting a deep one with an unholy symbol that the PCs will have never seen before, let along possibly read about in any kind of religious text. At this stage in the game, it’d probably be a DC 30 just to get hints.

Below, are what the party will be facing off against over the course of this level. And no, I didn’t stat them out, but I did give a breakdown, and even tried to find builds that at least started them off. Not all of them have that though. I’m probably way off basis, so I didn’t feel it was necessary, but if a GM liked what’s presented, they could quickly finish what I already started. As for “The Great Destroyer”, it’s Cthulhu. It’s a title I used to describe where the star spawn originated from as well. It’s all about bringing it back around.

Ceratioidi fighter (two-weapon warrior) 9/psychic (faith discipline) 6 - CR 16 --Deity: The Great Destroyer

Deep one cleric of the Great Destroyer 16 - CR 17 --Domains: madness, void (dark tapestry) --is the offspring of the star spawn --PC wealth (inherent bonus to all stats)

Skum sentries x6 (inquisitor [imprisonment inquisition] 8/ranger [guide] 4) - CR 13 each --Combat style: two-handed weapon --Favored terrain: water

Skum engineers x8 (expert 2/fighter 8) - CR 11 each

Skum cleric of the Great Destroyer 13 - CR 14

Chuul sentinel x2 (barbarian [invulnerable rager] 8) - CR 15

Skum sorcerer (aberrant bloodline) 14 (add selective metamagic rod) - CR 15

Water elemental construct (powering vessel) - CR 13

As for prisoners, I thought 10 would be sufficient. Maybe 8 drow and 2 duergar. They would all be fatigued and possibly suffering from a deep corruption. If anyone’s read, the “From Shore to Sea” module, you know that there’s skum and aboleth influence happening all throughout. If you didn’t, I apologize for the spoilers, but purposely kept out the details. At any rate, SPOILERS... as the game progresses, the PCs are slowly transformed, as if they were in an aboleth’s muck. This is called a warping effect, that thankfully can be slowed down by successful Fortitude saves. However, if you fail, you suffer from a minor, moderate, and finally a major taint. Things as minor as one’s skin becomes sweaty and clammy, to it becoming more slimy like mucus (granting a bonus on Escape Artist checks), to it finally cracking painfully unless it’s kept wet or submerged for a day, otherwise they’re staggered until they do so. And that was just their skin. There were still taints for blood, head, limbs, lungs, and organs. Essentially, you slowly are transformed into a creature that looks like a hybrid between a skum and deep one.

Getting into it, when the PCs first arrive in Area 1, they’ll notice that one exit is locked while the second is twisting open, and letting in their first encounter. This the first set of guards; a chuul sentinel and two skum sentries, for an EL 17 fight. Depending on how things go, back up might be called in, making the fight more difficult. Maybe even impossible. Note that at this point in the story, encounters need to be between CR 16 and 18 for it to be considered a challenge for the party. You could go up to CR 19, but at that point you’re taking a chance of it being lethal.

For the encounters, I’m assuming that everyone is moving around as they please. The exceptions would be the deep one, who’s pretty much guaranteed to be in the Command Level, and the construct which would be strictly located in its area. Everyone else could be anywhere, but I’ll still list where they likely would be.

For the most part, the skum sentries will be moving around the Prison Level and the second chuul sentinel will be chilling in Area 15. At any point they are attacked, they’ll blow a whistle to notify the others, who’ll be there in 2d3 rounds to aid in battle. Because the hallways are only 10 feet wide, they aren’t worried about being overwhelmed, and will use the terrain to their advantage if PCs have the ability to fire into melee. By that, I mean not all of the cells are locked. The empty ones certainly aren’t, and it wouldn’t take much to dip into another room to avoid a shot or two.

While the skum engineers will most likely all be in the Engineering section, once they hear the whistle get blown, they’ll move to the Prison Level and help out their comrades.

The water elemental construct was just added for fun, and not much of a threat, considering most constructs can’t be advanced like other monsters. It’s in Area 7 of the Command Level, and I have it set up that it’s what’s powering the entire sub. It doesn’t have to though. An elder water elemental could do it too. Might be difficult to wrangle one, and summons only last so long.

Not entirely sure why Area 3 of the Engineering Level is blown up to show the details, but that’s where I’d put the skum sorcerer and make that his alchemist lab. If the whistle’s blown, he won’t go right away. He’ll buff himself for a couple of rounds before heading out.

This leaves the ceratioidi, skum cleric, and deep one cleric. All three would start off on the Command Level, with the deep one in Area 8, the skum in Area 5 (turn it into an unholy shrine area), and ceratioidi in Area 1, about to head down to 1st level to check in with the engineers.

If, for whatever reason, the PCs happen to get captured, any magic users would be placed in Area 9 of the Prison Level. It looks like there’s runes of some kind that might block magical casting.

With regards to magic items on board, everyone has to eat, so a cauldron of plenty would make the most sense. It feeds upward of 36 people a day. This would be in addition to any hunting the skum might do, or any fishing that could happen. The clerics can also memorize create food and drink as spells, or have scrolls on hand, on the off chance they begin to run out of food. At the same time, a more powerful version of the sustaining spoon could also exist on board, allowing all 10 prisoners to eat the cardboard gruel for nourishment.

Area 3 of the Command Level would be where I’d place the cauldron, as well as any gear that was removed from prisoners.

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

And that, is the quick breakdown of what I’d do with this map for Book 5. I’m sure I’m barking up the wrong tree though. Still, it’s fun to consider. As for the other rooms, I can’t find a good version of the map to really see what’s all in the rooms, but those prison cells would definitely get some use.

Hope you enjoyed the journey down this rabbit hole.

#throne of night #michael clarke #Michael D. Clarke #gary mcbride #SpiralMagus #fire mountain games #adventure path #drow #drow campaign #dwarf #dwarf campaign #pathfinder #pathfinder 1e #pathfinder rpg #dnd #D&D #dungeons & dragons #Dungeons and Dragons #deviantart #deviant art #ttrpg #ttrpg art #d20 #underdark #underground campaign #roleplaying game #book 5 #dark elf #Kickstarter

[green-ranger-maggie-sawyer]

Kryptonite is a Painbow

Chapter 9 Medusa

All the love and thanks in the world to @avidreaderffn for hanging out in the Doc for 8 hours and helping me write this. Trini hadn’t survived a dozen attacks on the Zeo Crystal by being dumb and unobservant. Hell, after moving to Angel Grove, she hadn’t survived high school without picking up a few people watching skills. On top of all that, she learned to read aliens as a bartender for them. So when she saw a man who ordered nothing and looked far too much like a cyborg J’onn for her comfort, Trini texted her friends for back-up. One of the other servers noticed something off about him and went around dropping hints about a possible raid. It would keep everyone on their toes and ready to run.

Trini didn’t turn her back on the imposter. She kept her body angled, talking to others at the counter. It wasn’t long before he stood and headed for the door. Mon-El followed him and Trini didn’t spare the processing power on if that was a good or bad thing.

Smoke started to fill the space where the cyborg had been sitting.

“Everybody out!” Trini ordered at the top of her lungs. “Raid!”

The other employees echoed her as everyone bailed from their seats. No one hesitated. There were too many recent experiences for anyone to question the validity of Trini’s claim. More sober aliens grabbed their drunker buddies and hauled them out the doors.

Trini went around the bar and reached for her powers. Her armor didn’t erupt from her skin, but only because the smoke was no threat to her. She crouched down and eyed the small machine emitting the smoke. As much as she wanted to destroy it, she knew it would be far more useful intact. After making sure there was no one left in the bar, Trini raced for the exit herself just incase the device was also an explosive.

Outside, aliens were coughing and humans were tugging them further from the door and towards fresher air. Mon-El was hauling himself up from a caved-in dumpster and Kim was on the roof of the building. Trini saw her give the all clear signal. She sighed in relief.

Now came the hard part.

“Okay, people, let’s get our shit together! If you’re coughing, sit the fuck down and stop forcing your body to work even harder. Humans with some money to spare, there’s a corner store to the right of the alley, we need water. Aisha, call Doc Oliver.”

Trini’s comm beeped to life and Maggie’s voice drowned out the sounds of confusion and suffering. “I’m on my way to pick-up Danvers. We’ll be there in ten.”

Trini took a deep breath. Okay. Ten minutes to keep everyone from rioting, flat-lining, or deciding the bar was no longer worth the trouble. Honestly, she didn’t get paid enough for this.  

~*~

Maggie sat at the table and thanked Kim for the plate of food placed in front of her. “Hey, Billy, any news on M’gann?”

On the laptop at the end of the table, Billy and Jason were sitting at Billy’s desk in Angel Grove. Billy shook his head and said, “They’re feeding her, but otherwise she’s just sitting there.”

Maggie nodded and supposed that was better than vivisection. “Okay. So, Alex has been keeping me updated on the DEO end of the investigation as much as she can.”

“And Billy’s got alerts set up for any of the files involved with it,” Jason said.

“The DEO’s been surprisingly helpful with cleaning up the bar,” Zack said. “Which probably means we’ll have to do a bug sweep before we reopen.”

Maggie swallowed a bite of food. “The virus is apparently Kryptonian. It was meant to destroy invaders of any kind.”

“And now it’s been altered to kill everything but humans and Kyrptonians,” Billy said. “I’m so glad no one’s thought to do that to us.”

Kim put her glass down a little too heavily. “Billy, if you’ve jinxed us-”

“We would’ve already heard about someone doing that!” Billy protested even as he inched away from the screen. “And, hey, Alpha’s working on a cure for this Medusa mess just in case the DEO doesn’t figure it out in time.”

“How would we give it to them?” Trini asked. “The Power Rangers aren’t exactly known to just hand out solutions.”

“The bar was a testing ground,” Jason said. “CADMUS wanted to be sure it would work on just aliens before they launched a large scale attack. Since the DEO has a whole med bay full of sick and suffering aliens, they know it works. We’ll be ready for a large scale attack.”

Kim tapped the table. “No one has to know it was us. As far as anyone would be able to tell, the strange black-ops boogeymen had a countermeasure ready.”

Maggie tried to fight her grin as she looked at the laptop. “Hey, Billy, think you could give our cure a Ranger tech energy signature?”

He smiled along with her. “Just enough to be a hint as to who was behind the cure without spelling it out? Oh, absolutely.”

Across the city, sitting in her cell, M’gann’s lips twitched just a little as she eavesdropped on the conversation through the comms. Trini had been kind enough to patch her into the Ranger meeting to keep her up to date on everything. Waiting for J’onn to come to his senses was mind numbingly boring. Thankfully, she had her friends to give her some entertainment to pass the time.

Still, she worried for them. Things with CADMUS would not fade quietly into the night. One way or another, the Power Rangers would be known to those in the DEO before everything was said and done.

~*~

Maggie answered her phone without looking up from her computer. “Sawyer.”

“Maggie, get every available unit you have to L-Corp now.”

“You are so lucky I’m working late right now,” Maggie said as she got up from her desk. “Let me see if Evan’s team left for the day.” She jogged down the hall to where the Science Division SWAT team hung out when they weren’t training or out on a task. “Hey, up to visiting L-Corp? And were you not planning on sharing that pizza?”

She could hear Alex huff in exasperation over the phone.

“Roll out, kids,” Evan ordered as he brought over a plate. “Would you believe me if I said we were just about to call you?”

“Not when you smile like that.” Maggie took the plate and stepped out of their way. “We’re on the way, Danvers.”

“Be safe.”

“Me? Of course.” She hung up her cell and took a bite of the pizza.

Evan turned around to walk backwards as they all headed down to the armory. “Danvers means black-ops boogeymen. Why do they need us?”

“L-Corp means civilians. She’s been kind enough to not steal my collars.”

Evan shook his head and turned around. “Wish I had my own pretty connection with a government organization.”

Maggie laughed around her second bite of pizza. “Don’t kid yourself, Lorne. You’d be the pretty one.”

The hall erupted with laughter and agreements. Evan quietly muttered oaths about dawn training. Maggie scarfed the rest of the pizza and turned on her comm unit.

For once, Maggie behaved when they got to L-Corp. She went in after half the team had entered instead of leading. Maybe Lorne had held her back by the top of her kevlar. Maybe he had said something about not being the one explaining to Jacob about why Maggie was point on a SWAT op. Maybe she wasn’t going to fight his choice because he had a point and Billy now had eyes on her through various security and traffic cameras.

Seeing Kara pinned down, with their bullets having no effect on her attacker, made Maggie aim for the more dangerous head shots. Sure, he was more useful alive, but she figured if he wasn’t hurt by bullets to the back, all her skull shots were doing was annoying him.

Then a bubble appeared above them, pausing all action.

“Why does that look like an event horizon without a Stargate?” Kim asked.

“According to the ships sensors,” Billy said, “that’s ‘cause it is one!”

Maggie shifted her footing, ready for something horrible-

The portal disappeared.

Kara knocked the bulletproof man to the ground. Before anyone could aim properly, he shot a laser out of his eye.

Maggie stopped the scream from escaping her throat, but she couldn’t stop the small whine. Pain ripped through her shoulder. She hit the floor, not wanting to give him a chance to finish the job. And if being burned straight to the bone hurt more than she was ready for, well, it helped keep her cover.

“Hold on, Maggie,” Billy said. “I’ve got the DEO arriving and Alex is with them.”

“How bad is it?” Trini demanded.

Maggie had to keep quiet because Kara was at her side. “Just get the bastard.”

“She’ll live,” Billy said, likely reading the ship’s scans.

Maggie wasn’t pleased to hear the team had lost the cyborg. She grinned up at Evan when he knelt next to her and pulled his first aid pack off his vest. “I’ll tell Jacob it wasn’t your fault.”

“Stop talking, idiot.” He put a wad of gauze between the wound and her vest. “And he won’t be too surprised. You’ve gone unscathed for a few weeks.”

Alex and her DEO team poured into the lobby. Maggie had to glare at Kara to stop Supergirl from carrying her.

“It’s my shoulder, I can walk just fine.”

“You’ll get her patched up?” Evan asked Alex as he transferred Maggie’s weight to her.

Alex nodded once. “I’ll even find a way to keep her in medical for an extra hour.”

Evan chuckled. “You’re not bad, for a spook.”

Alex smirked and took the compliment for what it was. Maggie didn’t mean to lean so much against her, but she was used to more blunt forces. Sharp, stinging pains were rare and she usually had her armor in place.

“Hey, Maggie, I need you to stay awake.”

“You don’t ask for much,” Maggie said, forcing her eyes open. “How do you guys get to places so quickly without lights and sirens?”

Alex flipped a switch on the dashboard. The light ahead of them turned green. Alex weaved through cars, but did so without risking too much.

Magie pouted. “That’s cheating.”

“Not if it means keeping people safe.”

“That argument is also cheating.”

“Then you need new rules.”

“I don’t think anyone would like how I changed the rules.” Maggie managed to keep talking without revealing any secrets. Alex made it easy to focus, and her friends were now quiet, the comm link off due to her being safe.

Once in the DEO, Alex helped Maggie get her kevlar off before giving Maggie some privacy behind a curtain. She carefully shoved her shirt down and off her arm, wincing and hissing just under her breath. Her bra strap followed, and she stuffed it into her shirt. There was no way she was getting shirtless in front of Alex for a boring medical reason.

Maggie had to stop and curse her own brain for a moment before stepping out from behind the curtain. Alex helped her up onto a gurney. The local anesthetic did its job only a few moments too late. Maggie still felt the sting of the cleaner Alex used on her wound.

Maggie watched Alex work, half curious and half actually interested in being patched up like a normal human. Sure, she had a few hospital visits in her line of work. She usually didn’t suffer big enough wounds that needed actual stitches. Any injuries she gained saving the world were usually healed in minutes thanks to Alpha and Ranger technology.

Maggie shifted when Alex was almost done. Tying the knot in the sutures had pulled a little more than Maggie was ready for.

“Sorry. You okay?”

“I’m okay. Just a little nervous. You’re not very good at this.”

“Oh, well, clearly the drugs have kicked in, because you are done.” Alex put the needle down and picked up the scissors.

Maggie inspected the neat row of stitches. “Thank you.”

“No. Thank you.” She cut the end of the thread.

“For what?”

“Well, I told my mom.” Alex sounded relieved, like it hadn’t been a bad thing.

Still, Maggie asked, “You did? How did she take it?”

“Better than me.” She took off her gloves and leaned against the gurney. “You know, when you first suggested that I was gay, I denied it. And then I thought that it was just about you. I mean, how could I not like you?”

Maggie felt something in her chest flutter, and she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with her wound or the drugs.

“But, you know, deep down, I think I still wasn’t comfortable that was my new normal. But it is my new normal. And I’m happy that it is. ‘Cause I, I don’t know, I finally get me. And now I realize that it wasn’t about you, but it’s about me living my life. So, thank you.”

“Anytime.” Stars, Maggie was relieved they were comfortable with each other again. Alex seemed to have a pretty great group of friends, but someone like Alex needed all the support she could get. Maggie didn’t want Alex to go through this alone, not like she had. As great as her aunt had been, there was so much Maggie had to learn on her own.

“Now, you get some rest. I promise I will drive you home when I leave for the night.”

Maggie rolled her eyes but settled a little more comfortably. She dug out her phone and barely caught up on her texts from both her Ranger and police teams when Alex returned with a plain black sweater. Maggie retreated once again behind the curtain and shed her blood stained shirt. The sweater was loose, but it was warm and it would do for the next few hours.

Maggie must have dozed off, because she was prodded awake by Trini trying not to yell in her ear. Maggie quickly entered the group chat, knowing she could be caught talking to thin air in the middle of the DEO.

Billy [CADMUS launched their missile.]

Jason [We have our own headed right for it.]

Kim [What can we do?]

Billy [GUYS]

Zack [Next time we evac the city.]

Billy [The readings on the missile. They’re not right.]

Maggie tapped out her question as quickly as she could. [Good or bad?]

Billy [Good. It doesn’t match the gas from the bar. It’s harmless.]

Trini [Keep our missile in the city, just in case.]

Maggie saw Alex run past the lab. She pushed the blanket off her legs and headed after her. [I’m following Alex now.]

“Haven’t you already been shot once tonight?” Jason asked over the comms.

Maggie ignored him and stood behind a few agents just inside the balcony doors. An explosion of fire lit the night sky beyond the windows. Weird red dust started to float on the breeze and down towards the streets.

“Nothing’s happening here,” Trini said, trying to not sound hopeful. “No one’s being affected.”

“The DEO didn’t have a cure,” Billy said, confused. “And it doesn’t look like they launched one, either.”

“What was CADMUS after in L-Corp?” Kim asked.

“A synthetic isotope only L-Corp makes,” Billy said. “But Maggie and Kara stopped the attack.”

“Unless the attack was a distraction,” Jason said. “What if CADMUS did get a hold of what they thought was the isotope?”

Billy ran with the train of thoughts. “And it rendered the missile useless. Now, that is awesome.”

With the city safe, Maggie headed back to Alex’s lab, tapping her comm off. She didn’t want to be caught out of bed and forced to stay the night. Although, it would give her a chance to get “lost” and stumble upon M’gann….

Nah, best to be as innocent as possible. At least, for now.

Two hours later, Alex was ready to go. “I’m being kicked out of the building before I try to stay the night.”

Maggie grinned. “Now I see why you said being obsessed with work wasn’t so bad.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “It’s not.”

They were crossing the command hub when they heard Winn and Kara get excited about something on his screen. Alex gave Maggie a curious look, Maggie nodded and they headed over to the duo.

“What’s up?” Alex asked, leaning around Kara to look at the screen.

“Well, I was looking through the electronic data we collected on the missile, you know, just in case we can come up with a way to disrupt the computer if they use this particular system-”

“The point. Get to it.”

Winn nodded and enlarged one screen in particular, showing the path of a second projectile. “This right here. This energy signature only comes from one place on Earth.”

Maggie was probably too amused by how much Kara was bouncing in her boots. She tapped her comm on under the guise of moving some hair off her face.

Alex looked at the reading and her eyes went wide. “Is that-”

“Yes!” Kara nearly shouted. “That’s the Power Rangers!”

Maggie had to bite her tongue and hope that J’onn was nowhere near. She wasn’t going to give herself away by looking for him, after all. “So the DEO keeps an eye on them, too?”

Alex huffed. “More like we have a small outpost in Angel Grove to gather data.” She looked at Kara. “They actually know how to keep their identities a secret.”

Kara glared. “National City doesn’t know who I am!”

“No, but the Power Rangers don’t go around telling their friends who they are.”

Maggie gave a pouting Kara a sympathetic look. “Maybe the Rangers are already friends with each other.”

Kara brightened. “You’re my favorite.”

Winn protested, but quickly switched gears. “You know, this means the Power Rangers were probably ready to take out that missile, too.”

“Which is a little weird,” Alex mused. “I mean, we haven’t seen them in National City before.”

“We haven’t seen their tech here before,” Winn corrected. “And maybe they’re aliens, so they wouldn’t want CADMUS succeeding.”

Maggie leaned against the edge of the desk, ready for them to hypothesize for a bit. Alex noticed the movement, however, and quickly said they could talk about it in the morning. Maggie tried to tell her it was fine, she wouldn’t mind waiting, but Alex heard none of it.

“We both had long days. We both need sleep.”

Maggie had to agree. She would just have Billy tap into Winn’s computer mic and record any potential Power Ranger conversation.

~*~

Maggie camped out on Trini and Kim’s couch for the next two days while she healed. She had a couple days off from work and she planned on enjoying them. Since she had mother hens for best friends, she let them feed her and change the bandage. She replied to the inquisitive text messages from Alex with pictures of plates full of protein and the massive quilt Kim’s grandmother had made years ago.

Maggie sent pizza to Evan’s team via Jacob, mostly to make sure her partner got a couple slices. There was a standard form letter from L-Corp thanking the Science Division for their timely assistance. She figured the gesture was nice, but she wouldn’t mind the more useful thank you of better lab equipment.

Trini came home on Maggie’s second night with a small elephant plushie. She bashed Maggie on the face with it.

“What was that for?!” Maggie demanded. It didn’t hurt, but the indignity of it mattered.

“Doesn’t matter, it’s in the past.” She tossed it on Maggie’s stomach. “Up. We’re talking.”

“About the elephant in the room, apparently.” Maggie sat up and figured she should’ve seen this particular talk coming.

“Pretty and smart,” Trini teased. “Now if only you understood how feelings worked.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “I know how they work. I just...ignore them.”

“You ignore the happy ones when it comes to people not us.”

“People not you guys don’t matter. Not in the long run.”

Trini shook her head. “Mags, I think Alex could be long run.”

“There is a huge part of my life I can’t tell her about. It won’t be long until Kara slips and I officially know she’s Supergirl. There isn’t exactly a lot of opportunities for an accidental reveal of the Green Ranger.”

“Only if you take into account attacks on the Zeo Crystal happen once a year. But if you’re going to be dealing with the DEO, CADMUS, and whatever else comes Alex’s way, are you honestly going to pretend at being a normal human if you have a chance to save lives when no one else can?”

Maggie sighed. “No. But what if she decides she doesn’t want to deal with my being a Power Ranger on top of her sister being Supergirl? What if someone like the Psycho Rangers come for us?”

“What if the world ends next week? We don’t play the “what if” game, Mags. We live in the here and now and deal with things when they happen. If Alex walks away, we deal with it then. I’m putting money on her wanting to know how the armor works, though.”

Maggie shook her head and laughed. “She’s going to ask for one of the blade blasters, too.”

“So. You can either run from potentially the greatest relationship you’ve been in since me, or you could learn from the past decade.” Trini picked up the little elephant and swung it at Maggie, who leaned back enough that it missed. “Ha! You see! So. What are you going to do about it?”

Maggie snatched the plushie out of Trini’s hand. “First, I’m taking this.” She tossed it through the room and into the master bedroom. She shoved the blanket off and stood, heading for the spare room where her clothes were.

“Where are you going?”

“To get the girl!”

“Good! Get out of here!”

Maggie quickly changed out of her lounging clothes. She may have picked a green shirt on purpose. It wasn’t her armor, but it was a reminder of everything she had survived up to this point. If she could face down megalomaniacs, she could tell an amazing woman she liked her.

Seeing as how Maggie had left before being fed, she grabbed some beer and pizza. Either way the conversation went, they could talk about it instead of running off. Or, she hoped they could talk about it.

“Hungry?” Maggie asked when Alex opened her apartment door.

Alex smile “Yes. Come in, please. Ignore the pajamas.”

“No, they’re cute.” Maggie set the beer down and was kinda relieved she hadn’t woken Alex.

“It’s late,” Alex said. “You got a case or something? Oh, God, I could really use a good old-fashioned murder right now.”

Maggie took a deep breath. “I didn’t come here for work. I just, I really needed to see you and talk to you.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Well, um, here’s the thing. I almost died.” Which, complete and utter shit and she was so glad she didn’t have her comm on or else everyone would be howling with laughter.

“Uh, yeah, no, I would not have let that happen.”

“I know that. But, um, it got me thinking that I was so stupid. I thought that, and I guess I was kind of right, that you came out for me.” Maggie saw the apprehensive look in Alex’s eyes and braced herself. “And that scared me. But, um, life is too short. And we should be who we are. And we should kiss the girls we wanna kiss. And I really just…. I wanna kiss you.”

Maggie leaned in and reached for Alex. It was all or nothing, now or never. She lived in the moment every other day of her life. Everything would change after tonight. She was ready-

Maggie was not ready to feel how Alex kissed her back. Sure, Alex had kissed her in the bar weeks ago. But Maggie hadn’t been expecting the action. Now, even knowing Alex’s feelings, Maggie wasn’t ready for the pure heady rush through her system. It wasn’t quite like morphing. No, it was like racing to the top of a mountain with her teammates and standing on a ledge, looking over the city they protected. It was like seeing the curvature of Earth and knowing there was an entire planet that would go on living and turning because of her hard work.

“So you’re saying you like me.”

Maggie felt her face ache with the strength of her smile.

“That’s….That’s what I got.”

“Of course. You’re not gonna go crazy on me, are you?”

“Probably, yeah.” Alex reached for Maggie and even if Maggie was ready for it this time, it was still a thrill.

Stars, if kissing Alex was always going to feel like this, there was no way Maggie was going to be able to walk away from her life in National City without bringing Alex with her.

#sanvers #maggie sawyer #alex danvers #supergirl #power rangers 2017 #gods why do i do this to myself #poured 4k into a story maybe 6 people read #observe the viewing globe

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #112 - The Prince of Egypt

Spoilers Below

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: No.

Format: DVD

1) The head of Jeffrey Katzenberg, the head of Dreamworks animation at the time and one of the former big wigs at Disney, had been pitching an adaptation of Moses’ story from Exodus to Disney far before he started Dreamworks with Steven Spielberg. During an early meeting of Dreamworks Katzenberg recalls that Spielberg looked at him during the meeting and said, "You ought to do The Ten Commandments."

2) I think the opening disclaimer is a nice touch.

“The motion picture you are about to see is an adaptation of the Exodus story. While artistic and historical license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide. The biblical story of Moses can be found in the book of Exodus.”

3) Music plays an incredibly important role in this film, mostly for setting its grand storytelling and dark tone. This is clearly apparent from the opening song “Deliver Us” which depicts the suffering of the Hebrew people in Egypt and also the hope of Moses.

4) This film also does an excellent job of immediately establishing the brotherly relationship between Moses and Ramses. It’s fun and honest, which makes the following events all the more heartbreaking.

5) Val Kilmer is quite effective in the role of Moses, being able to provide a healthy balance of his youthful joviality and privilege early on and the wisdom that would come to define the character later.

6) This film has three noteworthy actors who have very little lines. The first two of these are Patrick Stewart as Pharaoh Seti and Helen Mirren as The Queen.

Neither of them sing, so their lines are few and unfortunately Mirren feels wasted in the part (less of a comment on her acting, which is top notch as usual, and more from the lack of screen time). Stewart, however, gives Seti some depth. We see him as father and ruler, both roles where he cares about his people, but also murderer of Hebrew babies which gives him a sinister feel.

7) Moses could have been painted as a spoiled brat while acting as prince of Egypt, but he takes responsibility for his actions and mistakes while also trying to shield Ramses from some of their father’s heavy expectations.

8) Tzipporah is established as fierce as heck from the get go.

Kept as a foreign slave in her first scene, she still fights back with great vigor despite being in a room who don’t care if she dies by the hands of the pharaoh. Michelle Pfeiffer imparts some of the strength she brought to Catwoman into the part and it’s a wonderful take on the biblical figure.

9) Sandra Bullock may have more lines than Helen Mirren, Patrick Stewart, and (later) Danny Glover, but for some reason I’m always wanting more of her and her character Miriam by the time the film ends. I like what I see, I just wish there were more of her in the film (I think).

10) For some reason I don’t feel the way about her brother Aaron, who is voiced wonderfully by Jeff Goldblum. That may be because we see Aaron develop from non-believer to believer over the course of the film (wheres Miriam is consistently good and believing in Moses) and Jeff Goldblum plays both the doubter and the supporter well.

11) Continuing with the excellent music in this film, “All I Ever Wanted,” carries with it that sense of grandeur as well as the heartbreak of Moses denying his true heritage.

12) Moses’ nightmare is one of the most memorable non-musical sequences out of the film (not THE most memorable but one of them), and this is done both through the unique hieroglyphic art style and the lack of dialogue. It is true visual storytelling.

13) Remember how I said Tzipporah is fierce as heck? Well, that continues throughout the film when she decides to drop Moses into a well as a bit of payback for being a prince of Egypt (although she does help him out because he helped her escape the palace).

14) Danny Glover is the third actor who doesn’t have enough lines. He plays the role of Jethro, a character with about ten spoken lines (more or less) and then the rest of his role is in song. And Danny Glover doesn’t sing the song.

In the little dialogue Glover does give though, he is able to establish Jethro as a man who’s heart is as big as his stature. I just wish we’d heard more of him.

15) I mentioned in The Road to El Dorado the effectiveness of using a song to cover large gaps of time. This film is no different, initial with Jethro’s song “Through Heavens Eyes.” It’s a rousing and hopeful number which talks of the Hebrew god and how we can only know our worth when trying to look through (one guess what I’m going to say next) heaven’s eyes. In that time we cover Moses learning what a free life is from these people, his growing humility, and his blossoming relationship with Tzipporah (and eventual marriage).

16) The Burning Bush.

Val Kilmer provides the voice of god in this film, although that wasn’t the initial plan. Originally all the actors in the film were going to voice god at the same time, and were told to whisper so they wouldn’t overpower each other. When the time came to record Kilmer’s lines, they realized someone had to speak louder. It was a happy realization, as the filmmakers later noted that god usually speaks to us as the little voice in our own heads. And it parallels the Cecil B. Demille version of The Ten Commandments where it is said (although I don’t think confirmed) that Charlton Heston also provided the voice of god while also playing Moses.

17) Moses telling Tzipporah about his encounter with the burning bush is another fine example of how filmmaking is primarily a VISUAL medium. We don’t hear a word they saw to each other, but we see him talking and we see her reaction and we know EXACTLY what is happening.

18) Ralph Fiennes performance as Ramses is at its best when Ramses becomes villainous and conceited. Hmm, Ralph Fiennes playing a villainous and conceited villain. Sounds familiar...

19) Playing with the Big Boys is the only real villain song in this film.

Performed by the evil lackeys Hotep and Huy (who are voiced wonderfully by Steve Martin and Martin Short respectively), the song shows off just how dark things in the Egypt really are and how tricky these two “magicians” are. Martin and Short breathe wonderful life and evil fun into the song, and even recorded their dialogue together. And the scenes uses wonderful use of darkness and shadows to make us feel like Moses is in over his head. Which in a way, he is. But the film wouldn’t be interesting if things were easy for the protagonist.

20) The growing conflict between Moses and Ramses is heartbreaking and I give credit to all those involved in this film for that. The directors, the writers, the animators, Val Kilmer & Ralph Fiennes, everyone. We see them go from the best of friends to archenemies and neither of them wants to be in that position. But they are, and they each think they’re doing what is best for their people. It hurts a lot to watch.

21) “The Plagues” is also a great example of how this film condenses what could have been a massive chunk of time into a little two-and-a-half minute song.

It also does not make light of the plagues either. The plagues were horrible. True wrath of god type stuff that ruined people’s lives. And this song is an epic but dark representation of just what those were like while also developing the conflict between Moses and Ramses.

22) I’m not as familiar with my biblical readings as maybe I should be, but I like that this film depicts Moses reaching out to Ramses one last time before he releases the final plague. It is one final reminder that they are or, more appropriately, were brothers. And they almost seem to understand each other, to make peace. But they don’t. Meaning the final and most awful plague is released.

23) I don’t want to get into my own theological beliefs or philosophies, but I am always sickened about the death of the first borns of Egypt.

The scene is animated beautifully but the entire thing is heartbreaking. The idea of a god who will take away the lives of children just to get what he wants, even though he later claims that we are all his children, just never sits right with me. I just...it sickens me. That’s all I can say. It sickens me.

24) “When You Believe” is probably THE song from this film. It won the Oscar for best original song that year, beating out “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith. It is the perfect representation of the power of hope and belief which is the central theme of this film. Michelle Pfeiffer and Sally Dworsky (along with the film’s chorus) do an excellent job performing the song written by Stephen Schwartz, but the pop version performed by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey is just as good.

25) I think the most memorable part of this film has to be the parting of the Red Seas. And it could just be for this image alone:

That is such a powerful image which really gets across the wonder of what we’re seeing. A representation of the scene which few if any adaptations of the Exodus story have ever lived up to and which I think only animation can bring to life so wonderfully.

26) After the Red Sea crashes down and Ramses is washed away, we see Moses looking off in the distance and hear Ramses screaming, “MOSES!” The filmmakers have suggested that this may be in Moses’ head and that Ramses might actually be dead. I like that idea. It shows Moses still has hope for his brother.

27) And since this is an adaptation of Exodus, of course it has to involve the Ten Commandments in some way. I’m just glad that it’s the last shot of the film. A nice way of ending the story.

It makes sense to end a family film there, as opposed to Moses finding his people worshipping a false idol (a golden cow, I think) and smashing the tablet before God destroys the idol and forces his people to wander the desert for 40 years to kill off the rebellious generation. Oh, and Moses didn’t get to go into the promised land.

(GIF originally posted by @rocktheholygrail)

What’s not family friendly about that?

The Prince of Egypt is a great animated film who’s popularity has unfortunately lost steam in recent years. It represents its story well without beating you over the head with the religion, the animation and music are gorgeous, and the voice acting is top notch (if a little wasted at times). I highly recommend you see it.

#The Prince of Egypt #Exodus #Moses #The Ten Commandments #Prince of Egypt #Epic Movie (Re)Watch #Val Kilmer #Ralph Fiennes #Michelle Pfeiffer #Patrick Stewart #Helen Mirren #Sandra Bullock #Jeff Goldblum #Danny Glover #Martin Short #Steve Martin #Steven Spielberg

[drabblesaf]

Chantaje - Mieczysław Stilinski Smut

REQUESTED: No, I just haven’t written for a while, and I wanted to do something for you guys!

WARNINGS: Hickeys, fingering, blowjob

SUMMARY: When you run into Stiles at a club, your past comes out. It takes a further encounter in the bathroom for you to both be okay again.

NOTES: I’ve listened to this song too many times, and it’s becoming problematic.

AAAAAnyways, SMUT YAY! (I miss writing smut. I haven’t had the motivation since my birthday because a lot’s happened.)

Hope you enjoy! Based off this song (and there will be translations of the lyrics too dw <3)

Cuando estás bien te alejas de mí Te sientes sola y siempre estoy ahí Es una guerra de toma y dame Pues dame de eso que tienes ahí  Oye baby no seas mala  No me dejes con las ganas  Se escucha en la calle  Que ya no me quieres  Ven y dímelo en la cara

(When you feel OK, you get away from me You feel lonely and I'm always there It's a war of take it and give me Well, give me that that you have there Listen, baby, don't be mean Don't leave me with desires Rumor has it that you don't love me anymore So come and say it to my face)

The club was thumping with the baseline of whatever song was playing. I couldn’t exactly tell, being too preoccupied with the whole idea of trying to make sure my best friend didn’t fall flat on her face, or we’d both be kicked out of this damned club.

It wasn’t my idea to come here tonight, or to have my best friend already drunk from the minute we stepped in the door. The only thing I wasn’t hoping for that night was to run into my ex-boyfriend, Stiles goddamned Stilinski. As if I didn’t have enough on my plate. “Stay there, for the love of god,” I groaned, placing my best friend onto a sofa, and then turning to be face to face with him.

“(Y/N?)” He asked, and I nodded, chewing my lip. We hadn’t exactly ended on the best of terms a few months ago, and my stupid ass still missed him severely. He was one of the best guys I’d been with, and we just had a relationship built on fire. “How have you been?” He said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, and I nodded again. 

“It’s been good. Not the same as it was, but good, I guess,” I smiled up at him, and he nodded this time, flicking his tongue over his lips. God, that tongue, and those lips. They could do wonders to me on a Friday night study session at his house, or during a late-night booty call when neither of us could sleep.

Pregúntale a quien tú quieras Vida, te juro que eso no es así Yo nunca tuve una mala intención Yo nunca quise burlarme de ti Conmigo ves, nunca se sabe Un día digo que no y otro que sí Yo soy masoquista Con mi cuerpo, un egoísta

(Ask whoever you want My life, trust me, it's not like that I never had bad intentions I never wanted to make fun of you See, with me you never know One day I say no and the other I say yes I am a masochist And an egoist with my body)

“Look, Stiles, I know we didn’t finish on the best of terms, but we need to try and get on for everyone, yeah? Besides, people are looking at us right now, and I want them to be looking for the right reasons,” I whispered in his ear, as the music changed. “Chantaje” had started playing, and he took his lip into his teeth.

“Dance with me? For old times’ sake?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

The song got us closer than we’d been for a while, practically grinding up on each other. His hands had found their way to my ass, grabbing at it and smacking it at times, while my arms had snaked around his neck as we essentially did the samba on the floor. The feel of his body against mine was doing things to me, and from the way I could feel his pants tightening as I whispered the song lyrics in his ear, something was apparently happening on his end too.

“Tú eres puro, puro chantaje, puro, puro chantaje, siempre es a tu manera, yo te quiero aunque no quieras. Tú eres puro, puro chantaje, puro, puro chantaje, vas libre como el aire, no soy de ti ni de nadie.”

(You are pure, pure blackmail, pure, pure blackmail, it's always your way, I love you even if I don't want it. You are pure, pure blackmail, pure, pure blackmail, you are free like air, I belong neither to you nor anyone else.)

“Fuck, (Y/N), do you realise what you’re doing to me right now?” He growled against my neck, and I chuckled into his chest.

“Why don’t you do something about it Stilinski? I’ve been missing a bit of mischief from my life, y’know.” Next thing I knew, he was leading me into the toilets and kissing me passionately. 

“Baby, fuck, I’ve missed this so much,” he groaned as he attacked my neck, marking me with pinks and purples. “You been with anyone else since me?”

“No, couldn’t bring myself to be with anyone,” I gasped. “You were too good to me Sti; everything about you was too good to me.”

“Do you want me to be good to you again? We gonna forget about what happened between us?” He said, stepping back to admire his handiwork with hooded eyes, his tongue flickering across his lips once more. I nodded, and he tutted at me. “Use your words babygirl.”

“Fuck, yes! Please, do something Stiles, I need you badly,” I whined, and he smirked.

“Just what I wanted to hear.” Next thing I knew, his hands were tearing at my shorts, popping the button and breaking the zip, before I was exposed to him. I was kind of glad I’d gone for my black lace panties, mainly because they’d always been his favourite, but also because they were easy enough for me to actually wriggle out of when I was in this situation with him.

Como tú me tientas cuando tú te mueves Ese movimiento sexy siempre me entretiene Sabes manipularme bien con tus caderas No sé porqué me tienes en lista de espera  Te dicen por ahí que voy haciendo y deshaciendo  Que salgo cada noche, que te tengo ahí sufriendo  Que en esta relación soy yo la que mando  No pares bola a toda esa mala propaganda  Pa-pa'qué te digo na', te comen el oído  No vaya a enderezar lo que no se ha torcido  Y como un loco sigo trás de tí  Muriendo por ti  Dime que hay pa'mi, bebé  Qué?

(Oh how you tempt me when you move Those sexy moves always entertain me You know how to manipulate me with those hips I don't know why you put me on the waiting list You're told that I'm doing things and breaking apart When I go out at night, you're suffering because of me And in this relationship I'm the boss Don't pay attention to that bad propaganda Papa, I'm telling you no, they're trying to fool you Don't fix something that isn't broken And like crazy, I'm still following you dying for you Tell me what you got for me, baby What?)

The minute his tongue hit my clit, I was lost. My hands were in his hair, tugging at it, pushing him in deeper, and he was drawing what felt like figure eights over it, one of his usual tricks to get me cumming hard, which, eventually, I did. My eyes rolled back into my head as I felt him lapping up all of my release. When he was finally done, he moved back up to kiss me, and I smiled into the kiss.

“It’s been hell without you babe. I missed your lips, your body, that,” he chuckled, and I laughed into the kiss. “And, I kind of need you to help me out with my own problem too,” he said, gesturing down to his (still massive) boner that was basically straining against his pants.

“It’s cool, I know what to do,” I grinned, unzipping his khakis and pulling down his boxers with them. It was still as big as I remembered it being, and there was already a little bit of precum on the tip. I licked that, kissing the tip and causing Stiles to moan out softly. I pumped him a couple of times before I actually took him in my mouth, and after deepthroating him a couple of times (and looking up at him with his dick in my mouth, which he kept gasping at and whispering, “Fuck, baby, you’re so hot”) he came, hitting the back of my throat. And just like old times, I swallowed every last drop.

“Wow,” he chuckled slightly, “You still haven’t lost your touch, huh?”

“Of course not. I mean, I thought I was a bit rusty, but that’s just because I haven’t really had much practice.”

“Round two at my place?”

“You’re on Stilinski. Although I have to get my best friend back first. Hopefully, she can actually walk.”

“I’ll help you, (Y/N). But then after, we are going for round two, and we’re going hard.”

“Of course we are Stiles. Of course we are.”

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