#‘i do too’ was a jaw-dropper

[scarymask78]

cabaret (1972) is a horror film

[pastelispunx]

Now, I'm about to say something sacrilegious. I'm thinking of painting my Ashford Elizabeth.

Her stain job is slightly off and it Bugs me. I don't use her as much as I should and I want her to be a jaw dropper.

Now I'm debating doing a paint job similar to those below:

First from here and next from here.

Now unfortunately I love magnolia home colors, but I get Ace Hardware to match it on non magnolia bases so I don't pay those people.

Color for base of the wheel???? I'd also stencil it with folk designs. Put a lil Mokosh sigil on there too somewhere. Just to really make it mine.

Now the poll: am I crazy to paint something I paid 800 for? Or do I yolo it and paint it bc it is mine and it will spark joy?

[sugarbell]

Batfam X Neglected Batsis Reader

Part 2

It was the day, or night of the fundraiser and you were jittery. With both nerves, and excitement. For starters it was your first time at an event like this by yourself. Usually at least your siblings were there, but being around them was like being alone anyways.

Harry had a package sent to the house two days before and Alfred had brought it up to your bedroom. A note was inside the box on top of a black dress. It wasn’t anything too flashy, but it was definitely a jaw-dropper. It was short, black, and had long sleeves but the sides were ruched and had two strings that tied into loose bows at the sides and dangled down your thighs. He had also sent a pair of black suede heels, and you had never worn any before so you were especially nervous about those, but you had been practicing in your room almost all day when it was sent. There was also a diamond clutch purse, and a matching thin diamond necklace and earrings. You had gasped when you pulled everything out of the gift box. You could tell the diamonds were real.

When Alfred brought it up he seemed a little puzzled, but also had a little knowing smirk on his lips. Probably from the little tag on the gift box that read, “To Miss Lana Lang” with a drawn heart and a kissy face. You had wanted to tell Alfred that it wasn’t what he thought but you decided against it, and simply thanked him for bringing the package up. Immediately you set it on your bed and sighed. You had barely known this boy for longer than ten minutes and he was already embarrassingly flirty. But you couldn’t deny that it made a little smile pull at your own lips, and turned your freckled cheeks a little pink. You hadn’t really been able to stop thinking about him ever since that time on the sidewalk where you met him.

Although you weren’t actually planning to go, even when he sent the dress. You did feel a little pressured, feeling a little bad that he would’ve spent all this money on clearly expensive clothing and accessories, just for you to not even show up. And you had really wanted to see him again. You thought about sending it all back with an apology letter, but when you read the letter inside the box your mind was half changed. What happened with Damian just sealed the deal.

“Lana, I’d really love it if you’d wear this and join me at the fundraiser event in two days. There’s no pressure though, if you aren’t interested. Maybe we could meet up and do something else instead. However if you do decide to come, it would really make my day. 8:00 sharp. Even if you don’t decide to come, keep the outfit. Maybe I could see you in it another time.

P.S., the diamonds are real. You’d look lovely in them, Kitten.”

After you read that letter, your head was spinning, and your heart was beating ten times faster. You did feel a little relieved that he wasn’t pressuring you to come. And was he asking you out again? If you didn’t want to come? It was too much for you to think about at the time, so you had packed it all up, we’re preparing to write up a letter explaining why you couldn’t come. Probably using some bullshit excuse of having to finish a paper for school or something.

But after you had that incident in the kitchen with your younger “brother”, you had made up your mind. You were going. You needed a distraction anyway. A break, and you wanted to do something for you for once, instead of constantly trying to please everyone else in the household and tripping yourself up in the process.

(Present Time)

You were currently getting dressed in your room. You had to wear a black strapless bra because of the sweetheart cut and curved breast line of the dress. You weren’t sure how he knew your size, but he probably took a gamble. It wouldn’t have been hard to figure out that you were an extra small because of your build. It fit perfectly. It hugged your body, you didn’t really have many or any curves for that matter, it it made you look incredibly flattering. You slipped into the black suede heels that also fit very well. After dumping all your necessities into your diamond clutch(, wallet, keys, pads, candies, pepper spray-you never know-) you had fastened the dazzling necklace and earrings on and next was your hair. You let it down and it was already straight, but you used a flat iron to bump it inwards a little at the ends. You painted your lips with a dark-wine colored lipstick. You had bought it a while back but never used it. That was the only makeup you put on as you looked in the mirror.

You were happy with your appearance. “I hope Harry is too.” You thought but instantly, you brushed the intrusive thought away. “You hardly know him, Lana” you told yourself.

Now for the hard part..sneak out the house at 7:50 pm and try not to get noticed by nine people. Piece of cake. It wasn’t necessarily ray you weren’t supposed to go, it was more you didn’t really want to have to explain to anyone why you were dressed for a party, and leaving the house at 8:00 p.m., when all you’ve ever done was stay inside the house shut up in your room. You crept through the house as quietly as you could in nine inch heels. You were down the stairs and now all you had to do was cross the spacious living room to reach the kitchen. And you were almost home free when you heard footsteps. Slow, but sure. Fuck.

You thought you were done for, but when you saw Alfred’s frame round the corner with a neutral look on his face you breathed a sigh of relief. At least maybe you could try talking to him. “Alfred! Um, hi…” you said with a nervous smile on your face. You were a dead giveaway. “Ahem. Going somewhere, young Madame Lang?” He asked. You sighed and shook your head. There was no point in trying to lie or dance around the truth. “I���m going to Harry Osborn’s fundraiser tonight, Alfred.” You said with a sigh.

“Then won’t you be needing this, young madame?” He asked, raising up your phone, with the red superman phone case facing towards you. “Of course! Thank you so much, Alfred!” You grinned jumping into his arms as he handed you the case. “You’re a lifesaver, Alfred!” Alfred smiled down at you before pulling away and patting your back towards the door. “Yes, of course I am, Madame. Now go have fun.” You lean up and kiss his cheek before nodding and leaving as Alfred locked the door behind you.

When you arrived at Harry Osborn’s manor, you were shocked. There were more people than you thought filtering into the house. There were press scattered around inside and outside of the place, but nothing that threw you. You were used to this kind of stuff, being Bruce Wayne’s daughter and all. At least you didn’t appear thrown. On the inside, no matter how many camera shined or flashed in your face you would never get over the anxiety of it, but on the outside, you were always the composed and calm daughter. And that’s how you appeared now as you made your way inside.

You were stunned when you saw his ballroom. It was incredibly large, and again, you had been to tons of places with large, beautiful ballrooms, and none of them ever really compared to Bruce’s at home, that was used for galas, balls, and events at his own home, but his was still pretty and large. There were a few tables set up where mostly older people were sitting down and talking, there was a little bar posted in the far right corner of the large room where adults were also drinking and mingling, and others were standing around the ballroom talking and mingling as well. There was also two large spiral staircases leading down from the top floor to the ballroom area. Bruce had staircases just like that I’m his ballroom too, except it was a bit more grand, but you loved this one just the same. It was much more crowded than you thought it would be.

On shaky legs you made your way over to the bar. These heels looked nice, but they were truly little devils. It was your first time walking in them and you were sure you looked ridiculous, but you were actually doing rather well. You tried not to kill yourself, and cause a scene in the process with each step you took over to the surprisingly large bar.

You had been there for around thirty minutes, and Harry was nowhere to be seen. You felt out of place among all these people. Older people with good jobs, lots of money, established places in society. You weren’t that far off, it’s just that you got a lot of stares from being so young, and you were alone. You took a deep breath, sat down in one of the stools a couple seats down from where a couple was drinking and laughing, and quietly ordered an apple juice in a wine glass. That way you would at least maybe look a little more like you belonged here.

The bartender was a female, around early forties who gave you a small smile as she poured your juice into the cup on the down low. You smiled back at her. She had red hair curled up to her chin, and slight wrinkles along her face. She was plump and a little short. She grinned. “Nice choice.” You crossed one leg over the other on the small stool you sat at. “Thank you,” You replied with a giggle. “It’s one of my favorites.” She was about to say something else to you when she was called over politely by an older male at the other end of the bar.

She walked over to him and took his order, leaving you alone again just like that. You had sighed and looked down, feeling all the nervousness and anxiety rush back again. Where was Harry? He was the one who invited you here in the first place, one of the main reasons why you came, and now he was nowhere to be found? He was thirty-five minutes past being ‘fashionably late.’ Your dark brown eyes scanned the room looking for him, but to no avail. You were becoming increasingly frustrated about it. Maybe this whole thing was a mistake. You swirled the drink in your wine glass around before you topped it back and finished the whole thing in just two gulps.

“Easy there.” You heard a voice say. You turned your head ti the side to see a beautiful, goddess-looking women sitting beside you. She looks to be in her early/mid thirties. Wow…she’s insanely gorgeous. She has long jet black hair curled flawlessly. Her face is soft, but sharp around the edges, showing maturity. Dark eyes, but the way the ceiling chandelier and the little lights installed in the roof of the bar hits them makes them able to be recognized as a dark honey color. Thick eyebrows arched, lips full and defined perfectly, and coated with the perfect shade of bright red. Her skin is tan, and her accent is incredibly hard to place, but her voice is smooth and mature.

At your confused and mildly shocked look she just smiles softly and holds her hand out. Her nails are perfectly manicured red to match her lips, and the knee length red bodycon dress she wore, contrasting your dainty hands with shiny black polish. “Diana Prince, museum curator.” She smiled, as your dainty hand shook hers. You weren’t sure why, but you couldn’t keep your composure, (surprising right?), and you immediately blurred out, “L-Lana Lang, high school senior.” she laughed at the last part of your sentence. “You seem nervous.” She states matter of factly, and the sheer amount of woman confidence and power that radiated off of her made you even more nervous but you admired it.

“I am,” you admitted truthfully. “I was invited here by an…acquaintance, but he’s nowhere to be found, and this isn’t really my kind of scene and…I feel tremendously out of place.” You said, hanging your head with a sigh. “Is it that obvious, though?” You asked, and she smiled reassuringly. “Only if you’ve felt that way yourself before.” She says and you smile back at her, your spirits lifting a little. You sigh exaggeratedly and wipe a drop of fake sweat away from your brow. “Good.” She laughs again, and the nice bartender is back. “I’ll have whatever she’s having.” Diana tells the bartender, and nods her head towards you so she knew what you meant. The bartender laughs a little and nods. “You got it.”

When she hands Diana her drink, she takes a sip and arches an eyebrow at you, giving you a playful look making you snort and laugh a little. “I’m not old enough to drink…and I wanted to feel in place.” Diana smiled but scoffed a little making you give her a questioning look. She shook her head at you. “Why do you do that?” She asked, and you frowned in confusion. “Do what?” She sat a little straighter in her stool, if that wears even possible because you noted from the beginning that her posture was impeccable. “Act so unsure of yourself. I noticed you earlier, and you seemed so nervous and anxious. So uncomfortable in your own skin. You’re beautiful, funny, and you seem kinder and more good-hearted than anybody else here. That alone should be more than enough to make you tremendously confident in yourself. You ought to walk with your head held high.” She said, raising her perfectly arched eyebrow at you again and her words shocked you. She really thought that of you?

You had only just met her a couple minutes ago, and already she was praising your beauty and qualities and you accidentally wondered aloud how she could tell all of that from you already, to which she replied with, “I can feel it.” It perplexed you, but it brought a smile to your face. “I-wow…um, thank you. Nobody’s ever told me anything like that before. I think you’re beautiful too…you’ve got this aura of confidence and it’s…envious.” She smiled at you like she had known you forever. “Don’t be envious. You have it inside of you as well.” She stood up from her seat and grabbed her ‘wine.’ “It was lovely talking to you, Lana, but I must be going. And I think your acquaintance is looking for you. Remember what I said, won’t you?” She shook your hand again, and began walking to a small group on the other side of the room.

You nodded, still a little stunned, and turned to see Harry coming down the stairs and entering the ballroom. He was already looking at you when you turned around and met eyes with him. His eyes seemed to light up when you finally noticed him. He began making his way towards you, but he was stopped by quite a few people on the way. He plastered on a handsome smile and talked with them each until he was finally able to greet you at the bar. You stood up when he reached you.

His voice was smooth, with just a little bit of raspiness. “Hi, kitten. Miss me?” You had no idea how a man you just met was able to make you that weak in the knees with just four words and a smile. At the moment you were caught between your feelings that were at war. The half of you that wanted to schoolgirl and kick your feet and shyly stutter out a response, or the bolder you that wanted to place your hands on your hips, raise an eyebrow, and ask him just what was the point of inviting you here and then making you wait an hour for him to show up to his own ‘party.’ You settled for the latter, after remembering Diana’s words.

You stood up straight and arched your brow, giving him an unimpressed look. He looked down sheepishly but he still seemed to have such an air of arrogance around him. “Okay, I’m sorry, I got caught up with last minute business stuff and it couldn’t wait.” He said, giving you an award winning smile like that would instantly make you forgive him. And you hated how it did.

You sighed and nodded and he took a step back from you to run his eyes up and down your body, and he whistled before his eyes met yours again. “I knew you’d look incredible in this stuff…” and you hate the way that you blush and avert your gaze like a schoolgirl. He “tsks” and takes your chin in his thumb and forefinger and makes you look into his striking emerald eyes. “Look at me, yeah kitten? Lemme see those eyes.” *and the shocked gasp that come from your throat makes him smirk a little as he releases your chin and praises you when you keep your eyes on him. “Good girl.” He mutters, his eyes trained on your lips.

You were sure that you had serious daddy issues that manifested somewhere during the time you had met Bruce. Not having a great father figure in your life instantly gave you them and they were bad. The way he praised you and how you found yourself practically willing to do anything on the inside to hear more of it, after only knowing him for such a short amount of time confirmed your suspicions.

He wasn’t even that much older than you either, only around twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, maybe it was the idea that he was older even by a little. Maybe it was the idea that he was running his own business and throwing fundraisers and charity events and galas and balls. You weren’t sure but you were hopelessly attracted to it.

Harry had noticed from the first time he met you how adorably shy and weak you got when he called you nicknames, so he took it a step further here, and he was more than please with the results. When he got home from meeting you, the first thing he did was look you up and see if he could get anything on you. You had zero social media presence of your own, but you had a google page and there were countless photos of you with your other siblings at charity events, balls, galas, and fundraisers. Some at different places, and some of you at Wayne Manor. He also looked up all of your siblings to learn what he could about them. He found himself growing more and more infatuated with you since he met you last week.

He couldn’t wait to see you again, and he was pissed when his assistant had apologetically dumped more paperwork on him, telling him it had to be finished before he went downstairs. He wanted so badly to see if you had showed up. And you had, looking ethereal, no less.

He watched your hazy eyes snap back into focus as you remembered where you were and looked around to see if anybody had seen that, but it didn’t look as though anyone had. Everyone too caught up laughing and mingling amongst themselves to notice you with Harry. You took two steps back from him and smiled. “Hi Harry.” “Hi, kitten.” He repeated making you nudge his side harshly. “Shh! My name is Lana—“you didn’t seem to mind when I was calling you that before.” He chuckled with that same mischievous fire dancing in his eyes again. You weren’t sure just how badly you were going to get burned if you got too close, but if he kept being this alluring, you were going to have to find out.

“I’m glad you showed up after all. Wasn’t sure if you were gonna come.” He said as he looked to you. “I decided what the hell. Has nothing else to do, so I figured I’d entertain you for a bit.” You giggled, teasing him, but he just grinned a little. “Oh yeah?” “Mhm. Yeah.” You said, not taking your eyes off of his. He stepped closer to you and you waited for him to get close enough. What he deemed close enough, and suddenly you were grateful you had decided to sit in the back of the bar on the far side, secluded from prying eyes.

His wolfish grin never stopped even as he slowly wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you close into him. Like he was testing the waters, and giving you time to pull away. You never did. And it made his heart swell, surprisingly so. Nobody had ever made him feel the way you did. And he was obsessed with it.

You braced your hands against his chest. He wore a black three piece suit and tie with a white shirt and the classic black shoes. “He looked good in a suit.” You thought. “How’s your side?” He murmured lowly, his cool breath fanning your face as he spoke. Your eyes still locked onto each others. “It’s fine.” He eyes your own eyes suspiciously. “Yeah?” He asks, still in that low tone and it’s absolutely killing you. “Yeah.” You mumble. He hums, as if in deep thought, his eyes still never leaving yours. “You sure? Cuz I could take you upstairs and we could have a look at it, make sure it isn’t bruised or anything. And then maybe I could give you something as an apology for hitting you. How’s that sound, kitten?” The way he says it is so unabashedly suggestive and in no way subtle and you’re really grateful that you’re in a more secluded spot. You giggled softly. “I thought you said inviting me here was an apology for that?” You asked, and he frowned before nodding like he did remember saying that. “Well, think of this as a second one. So what do you say?”

You stopped and truly considered it for a moment. The offer was so incredibly tempting and sweet, but there were a few factors that came into play regarding your answer.

One, Harry had literally just gotten down here to his own event, and while you didn’t doubt that he had probably ditched more than enough times, considering the way he was so ready to take you upstairs without a second thought, you knew it probably wouldn’t look good.

Two, you didn’t really see how you two could just escape upstairs without anyone seeing you and you didn’t need a headline in the paper, titled, “Bruce Wayne’s adoptive daughter Lana Lang, and Harry Osborn, now head of OsCorp seen going upstairs together at charity event.” Just really wasn’t the kind of attention you wanted to attract.

Three, you weren’t really too sure about Harry. Of course you were embarrassingly wrapped around his finger, but you were very smart and intelligent. You didn’t know Harry well enough to go upstairs with him, and while people had one night stands just like this all the time, you weren’t ready.

Four, related to reason number three, you were also a virgin, and you were positive you weren’t ready for that to change just yet.

You sighed a little and gave Harry a soft smile. He still patiently awaited your answer and had busied himself with taking in deep breaths of the perfume you had decided to wear tonight. A roses and wine scent that you had put on. It was far from what you usually wore which was more milder, softer, sweeter scents, but you wanted something a little more…adult today.

“Maybe another time, tiger.” You said, as he was leaning in probably to begin pressing losses against your neck, but he stopped when he hears your words. He gave you a little smile to let you know that it was no problem. “Alright…alright. God, you make me crazy, you know that?” He asked, like he was trying so hard to restrain himself. He took a step back from you and already you were missing the warmth of his arms wrapped around your waist. “Do I?” He just stared at you like this was basic common knowledge. Like this was something you should already know. He gave you a curt nod and took your hand, placing a kiss on it, as he steered you towards the crowd to mingle.

No matter how much Harry wanted nothing more than to whisk you upstairs and fuck you into his bed until you were seeing stars, he knew he had to take it slow with you. You two had only met a little while ago after all, and you might not be as infatuated with him as he was with you yet. That was okay. He would make sure that you were soon.

After around two and a half hours of mingling around, talking with people, and raising awareness about the situation. The reason you were there in the first place you were both mentally and physically exhausted. Harry was steering you outside by the small of your back. You two had also gotten closer during the night and he invited you on a coffee date sometime next week, to which you had accepted.

You felt as though you really had made a difference. At the end of the night, a little before Harry had taken you outside, the number of money that would be put into renovating orphanages, and getting better care for the children there was a surprisingly high amount.

You’d had to tell your ‘story’ to lots of people there, explaining what happened to your parents during your childhood and how you ended up with Bruce now. Lots of people were inspired and put in even more money. A lot of them really weren’t as snobby and stuck-up as you expected them to be, however you did run into a couple of assholes like that. One of the people you spoke to regarding your life experience was Diana, and when you told her who your parents were she didn’t seem surprised in the slightest. When you asked her why not she explained that she had known your parents, specifically your mother and they were rather good friends before she passed.

She said that she had worked in your mothers company as her secretary and right hand woman until she got a new job, and that’s when she became a museum curator because she had a love for history and historical art. All this information shocked you very much and you asked her why she hadn’t told you earlier. She explained that she hadn’t truly recognized you until she started talking with you, and she realized you looked familiar but when you said your name, it confirmed her earlier suspicions that you were Eleanor’s daughter. She said she was planning to tell you all this but when she saw Harry looking for you, she decided she’d come find you later before you left. Which she did. She caught you when Harry was without you, talking to someone else.

You were very shocked and you asked her so many questions about your parents. She wasn’t able to answer many about your father, other than what your mother had told her in passing, because she hadn’t ever met your father directly before. But she said that when your mother talked about your father, she was beaming. Like she had been married to her soulmate. Hearing that made your heart melt.

She told you how strong, brave, independent, bold, fiery, and confident your mother was. But how she also had the capacity to be soft, and caring, and kind, and loving and compassionate and gentle. She was beloved by many of the women who worked in her industry and many were saddened when she left. How she lit up any room wherever she went and brought smiles to people’s faces, but how she could also make any who unjustly opposed her cower in fear. She said your mother was very shy, a sweet wallflower before the two met in college and how Diana had helped her grow out of her shell into the girl boss she was up until her death.

Diana explained how she didn’t even know that your mother had a baby. Since you were orphaned when you were a baby, Diana had been living in another part of the world for a short time, excavating something for her new job, and when she returned and heard the news, she was devastated. Diana and your mother kept in contact and frequently spoke just as often as they did before, even with Diana having a new job and moving away for a short period of time.

She seemed to feel so guilty about the fact that you were in such a terrible orphanage for eight years, and trust maybe she could’ve done something about it, having known your mother so well, and been employed under her. You asked Diana why, instead of your parents writing it down that you should go with Bruce, seeing as all your other family was either supposedly dead or unable to take you in, instead of perhaps going with Diana when your mother knew her so much better than she knew Bruce. You had always thought it odd, knowing that your parents were good surface friends with Bruce but not much more than that. You always chalked it up to you having nobody else besides him to go to…but now you knew about Diana. So why didn’t your mother send you with her? Life might’ve been so much less lonely and cold being with her.

Diana told you that her and your mother trusted each other a lot, but if there was one thing your mom was, it was selfless. She was stubborn in that kind of endearing way, Diana had said. She probably viewed it as saddling me with you when you were such a young age and my job allowed me to travel all over the world, but seeing as Bru—Mr. Wayne, (she had corrected herself, which you thought was strange but you brushed it off as her wanting to be polite especially since he was your “father.”) already had kids at the time. She said and it made sense.

However, Diana was quick to assure you that she would’ve loved to have you as her adoptive daughter no matter what. She said, it would’ve been a lively experience for the both of us, I hope. And that was something you truly believed. You and Diana ended up exchanging numbers, and she told you that you could talk to her about anything at all, any time at all. Knowing you had another friend made you happy. Maybe Diana could fill the hole in your heart with stories to your mother and her. Just maybe.

Anyways, as said before, Harry was steering you outside by the small of your back, but when you shivered against the cool early-spring air he frowned. “You didn’t bring a jacket?,” he asked, “Dammit, I should’ve bought you one as well.” You cut him off by shaking your head and smiling. “It’s fine, I’m fine. I actually had a lot of fun tonight.” Harry have you a genuine smile at that, and then it turned into his signature arrogant smirk. He took off his suit jacket and placed it around your arms. “For the ride home. G’night kitten.” He said, and debated leaning in for a kiss, but decided against it. He just sort of squeezed the small of your waist before heading off back inside.

When you got home that night you were practically breathless. You weren’t really sure if your plan would go as planned in the beginning. If you would actually make a difference, but so many people there seemed so moved by what you had to say, and easily gave three times the moment they would’ve in the beginning just from you talking to them. It felt so good to do some to ing like that at your age. You were already helping people but you felt like you could do more. You thought about what it would be like to be a vigilante like the rest of your family. You had your heart set on that as well, and you were sure going to make that happen. But you did need a plan for that first. You couldn’t well just make a suit and go out fighting crime with no training. You weren’t fighting or killing machines like your siblings were, so you would need to train for a long time before you’d be ready for any of that. But that was later to come.

Right now you were just in bed and fangirling. So incredibly excited about what had happened today. So many new relationships has blossomed. You were surprised that so much could happen in just one night. Raising that much money, making connections with wealthy, powerful people, finding the truth about Diana and your mother, and you and Harry.

Harry. You thought about him a lot lately too. You wondered if what you two had might blossom into more, and maybe even love if you two continued to spend time together. You wanted something like what your parents have. How Diane a spoke about the way your mother talked about your father.

You wanted to be able to talk about someone like that, and in turn they talk about you the same way. You wanted to feel true love so badly that it hurt you. When you were old enough to learn about your parents and why you were with Bruce, you learned also that your parents were found the next day when someone took the w highway and called the police because of the broken rail. You learned that your parents both drowned in the car together, but that they were found holding hands over the glove compartment. They had accepted their fate, but they still loved each other so much, that even in death they were together. You wanted something like that. A relationship like that. You wanted to die for someone and someone who would die for you.

Be careful what you wish for.

[blacklesbothatlovestowrite]

Telekinesis Pt 3

Slight Smut, Petty activity and Drama.

"I don't like your hardheaded ass but I love you all the same." Lexi rolls her eyes as she hugs you. She came over first thing in the morning with fresh pomegranate juice and avocado egg toast with chili oil from your favorite food spot.

"I love you too but you gotta chill. I am an adult, I am more than capable of making my own decisions. Even if you don't agree with them." You scold her. You couldn't imagine her not caring about you but you needed her to also not judge you for being human and a lovesick fool.

"I don't." She quickly responds and you purse your lips. "But I will try not to be too opinionated about that trifling hoe."

You laugh, knowing that was the best you were going to get from her. Lexi was beyond protective and it was something you matched 100%. She was your best friend, your other half.

"Full disclosure, Shuri and I are going to dinner tonight. As friends." You bite your lip as Lexi takes a deep breath.

"I'll pray for you." Lexi sighs, moving to your kitchen to rummage through your fridge. "You went grocery shopping without me?"

You scoff a laugh. Dylan had surprised you with impromptu Whole Foods groceries. She personally picked up your groceries when she got hers and dropped them off after leaving this morning before heading to work.

It was something that made you like her even more. She always did thoughtful things. Bringing you flowers, food, books she thought you'd enjoy, vinyl records of music you loved, essentials your home needed when you were running low.

She catered to you completely and that baffled you. How she could so easily do right by you without even being asked. It drove you crazy at times trying to rationalize why she cared for you so much.

"Dylan actually did it for me." You look at your hands. You didn't want to see any judgment from her, she was team Dylan from day one.

"Hmmmm." Is all she says, and I know it's meant to be as annoying as it sounds. She wants to point out just how good Dylan is for you, you know it.

"I need to go workout and do some work. I'll hit you later." You say, heading for your bedroom to get dressed for the gym.

Having skipped the gym and any actual physical activity in the past three days had you itching to get back to your routine. You couldn't stomach being lazy, it led to very unhealthy habits. You'd promised to never get big again and that meant moving a lot as you loved food.

The gym wasn't as packed as normal, so you found a corner and did your glute warm up. Once you were done and had stretched, you went to do the stair master for 15 minutes then started doing RDL's, Hip Thrusts, Sumó Squats and Deadlifts. By the time you'd gotten through your strength training, you moved on to the stair master for 45 minutes on a higher level than normal pushing yourself as punishment for skipping three days worth of workouts.

By the end of your workout you were a sweating, out of breath mess. You wiped the sweat off your forehead and stretched again to cool down before heading to take a cold shower to help your muscles after such an exhausting workout.

You had plenty of time before Shuri was set to pick you up so you decided to go shopping. You wanted something new, something to make her eat her heart. You needed the validation, you wanted the confirmation that you could bring her to her knees.

You walk into a high end boutique you'd heard of. Everyone knew of it, you'd never dared to step foot in the store. However you were feeling bold and petty, so you were ready for anything.

You stared at a few dresses before you found one that made you stop in your tracks. It was beyond gorgeous, sexy, a definite jaw dropper.

"Hello!" A bright voice says, breaking you from your gaze. You turned to see the short girl from the club. Miss Riri Williams.

You'd stalked Shuri enough to know this girl was a regular. No one had lasted as long as Miss Williams. Shuri was a love them and leave them type but for some reason she'd been linked to Miss Williams for six months.

"Hi." You reply, staring at her. You sized her up discreetly. She was pretty, it was obvious and that shook you to the core to admit.

"How can I help you today?" She says, her eyes widening a bit as she recognized you. You could tell by the way her eyes widened slightly.

"I'm looking for a dress for tonight." You take a deep breath. "I'd like that one." You gesture towards the dress you'd been staring at.

"Oh, ok...." She mutters, her eyes moving from you to the dress and then back. "What size?"

"10." You mumble. You felt uncomfortable at times with sizes and admitting them.

"Let me grab your size and I'll meet you in the dressing room. Did you see anything else you might want to try?" Riri asks.

"No, just the dress. I have the perfect shoes in mind." You assure her, before heading to where you see the dressing room.

While you wait for her to bring the dress your phone rings.

Incoming call - Lexi 🤞🏾

You rolled your eyes and sent it to voicemail as you pulled off your clothes. Stacking them neatly on the lounger. You stared in the mirror at your frame. You were thick, with a semi flat tummy.

You could see the glute pump from your workout as you turned slightly in the mirror. Your ass was a definite obsession for you. Coming from never having an ass to having a whole shelf was a huge confidence boost. You'd always been sensitive about having no booty, having no body that you would binge eat.

"Ok, I have--" Riri stopped talking as she walked in and saw you standing half naked on the small platform. Her eyes rolled over your frame. "Uhhhmmmm. I have the dress."

You smirk internally at the look on her face. Before taking your bra off and taking the dress from her to Slide over your head. The slinky dress hugged your every curve. It had slits in the sides that showed quite a bit of skin. You would definitely have to go sans panties.

"Are you going on a date?" Riri asks, clearing her throat. You knew she was uncomfortable and you were loving every minute of it.

"I'm not sure what to call it." You shrug as you turn to see yourself in the mirror at different angles.

"Well you look amazing." Riri compliments, and you could telll she meant it.

"Let's hope my ex thinks so too." You say, suggestively. A smirk on your lips, as you turned your gaze towards hers.

"You're meeting up with an ex?" She raised a brow. The connection was made and you could see the frustration in her eyes as she fought to remain professional.

"You know what they say 'Can't leave 'em alone' and all that." You joke, watching as she tensed slightly.

A few moments pass as you continue to stare blankly wanting her mind to conjure up the many possibilities of what could take place tonight. A small part of you felt bad knowing she'd done nothing to you to deserve any of your energy.

"I'll take the dress." You say, before slipping it off and getting dressed. You hand the dress over to her and watch as she heads for the counter.

"Have a good night." She says, her tone wavering. You had to give her credit, even though she was upset she was respectful.

As you paid and wished her a good night, you made sure to make one last comment to solidify trouble for Shuri.

"If she really appreciates what's underneath the dress, I'll definitely be back." You leave with a quick wave.

The moment your back home you quickly refresh yourself, have a smoothie to fill you up a bit and get ready while listening to music. Once you're finished getting ready, you snap a few pics and save them.

Hair (Minus headband) and Makeup

Your dress

"You look good.... like really good..." Shuri mutters, swallowing hard. As you open the door for her. You watch her, in a black blazer with no bra, giving hella peekaboo but classy and matching fitted wide leg pants and heels.

"I know." You say, mustering up every bit of confidence you can manage.

As you get into her sports car, she stares at you her eyes full of curiosity.

"Why did you go see Riri?"

"Why did I go shopping at your little girlfriend's job?" You snort, your eyes rolling. Noting the clench of her jaw. She hated when you did that.

"Y/n." She scolds.

"I wanted something to wear and I found it. This dress was made for me." You say, seductively as you crossed one leg over the other.

"You're something else." Shuri laughs, as she starts the car and drives off.

"Sorry if your girlfriend was offended by me giving her a pretty nice sized commission." You smirk. It was clear that Riri had ran to Shuri to either complain or accuse her.

"Not offended and she's not my girlfriend." Shuri shakes her head.

"Ah, I'm sorry. The girl you're fucking." You correct yourself, pulling your phone out. You were too bothered and that in itself told you that you shouldn't have come.

"Why do you care?" It made you angry at how easy Shuri could play anything off.

"I don't." Is all you said. The rest of the car ride was silent despite Shuri trying on several occasions to start a conversation.

When she pulled into the familiar neighborhood, you tensed. You'd thought she'd be taking you out, somewhere public. Yet here you were at her home, the familiar massive piece of scientific design in all it's glory.

Instead of saying anything you left the car not waiting for her to open your door like she'd done when she'd picked you up. You head straight for her front door that swung open the moment you touched the pad by the door.

She either kept your information in Griot's system or went back and added it after she'd talked to you. You stepped in, feeling the heat of her body behind you. Your eyes taking in the familiar decor.

There were quite a few new things to add to the old things since you'd last been there. The first time you'd come it looked very lonely and felt cold. This time it looked lived in, there were portraits of various times in Shuri's life with her family.

"You kept it." You say, looking at the biggest piece of artwork she had. You'd painted her mother.

"Or course I did." Shuri says, incredulously as if she could not believe the question.

"Your Home looks lived in..." You comment on the decor. Feeling strange in her private space after so long.

"Riri helped me decorate. She said it looked like a rental rather than a private residence." Shuri reluctantly admits. The comment angers you, knowing she let the girl have rule over her domain.

"She did a good job." You had to admit the girl had good taste.

"I had a chef come in and prepare your favorites, everything's on the warmer. If you'd like to go have it?" Shuri asks, and you nod as she leads the way to her dining room.

"What have you been up to?" Shuri inquires. You idly wondered if she ever checked up on you like you had her. As the two of you sit side by side, she pours wine for the both of you and fills the water glasses.

"Work, Gym, Lexi, and Dylan." You shrug. Your life was in a semi better place. You went out more, you traveled, you had fun with Dylan. Then of course there was the obsessive stalking Shuri's every move on social media.

"Is it serious, you and Dylan?" You could see how bothered she was by the way she said Dylan's name.

"I don't think that’s your business." You quickly shut that down.

"Yet Riri is yours?"

"Considering you lied to me about her... I'd say I'm right in keeping my private business just that; mine." You shrug.

“What lie?” Shuri looks confused.

“You said you’ve never fucked her but the two of you are pretty touchy. And the way Riri looked today, there’s no denying she’s your woman.” You grab the glass of wine and down it, feeling frustrated with the topic. You lean over a bit to grab the bottle to pour more.

“I’ve never fucked Riri.” Shuri raises a brow. “We’re close. I mean we’ve been dating but nothing has happened as it stands… We aren’t exclusive.”

“Love that for you.” The words like acid on your tongue. Now your visit to the boutique felt right. You hoped it shook the tiny girl to her core.

“Y/n…”

“What have you been up to?” You wave her off not wanting to be treated like a delicate flower. She had no reason yo apologize or try to coddle you. She wasn’t yours.

“Well lately I’ve been working on businesses that hire African Americans, trying to bridge the gap in the economy that’s screwed them over for so long.” Shuri grabs the plates of food off the warmer; placing one in front of her and the other in front of you.

“That’s really amazing.” You commend her, she was fulfilling her brother’s goals.

“I’m working on buying up land to make communities for black people only, as problematic as that sounds they deserve their own space free from outside interference constantly trying to bring them down systemically. They deserve protection and—“

Your phone rings, interrupting her and you bite your lip as you take it out of your bag.

Mi Sol 🧡

You look up at Shuri who’s face is blank. You give her an apologetic look as you answer the call, you’d told yourself you’d be more present and put in effort with Dylan and that meant taking her serious and making her a priority.

“Hey!” You greet her.

“Hi, mami.” She returns, her voice full of warmth. “You’re so gorgeous.”

“Thank you baby.” You smile, compliments were something you enjoyed and compliments from Dylan were even better because she constantly hyped you up.

“I miss your beautiful smile, your luscious lips, your other lips…” She giggles and you realize she’s tipsy. She’s horny whenever she gets tipsy. More than normal.

“Baby…” You whine, as you think of the many good things that happen when she’s tipsy.

“Whaaaaaaat?” She says, innocently. “I can’t say how obsessed I am with my girlfriend? How she has the prettiest pussy I’ve ever seen? How I wanna taste said pretty pussy?”

“Lani…” You sigh, knowing exactly what she was doing. She was trying to get you to either come over or go back home. You had a feeling Lexi told her exactly who you were with.

“You know that thing I do with my tongue… that thing that has your toes curling and your eyes rolling into the back of your head?” She continues.

“Ay, mami…. No me jodas.” You pout, knowing she was purposely making you wet.

“Your bed is mighty lonely without you…” She says and you roll your eyes as she giggles again.

“Baby, I’ll be back soon.” You tell her.

“Hurry…. I know my pussy misses me.” Dylan declares and you cross your legs.

“I’ll be back soon.” You repeat before hanging up. You look at Shuri and your brows furrow at the look on her face. Her veins are showing in her face and her jaw is clenched.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine.” Shuri mumbles. “I take it you have to leave?”

“Not right now. You were telling me about what you were doing.” You remind her, watching as she slowly loosens up.

“I don’t want to keep you from your girlfriend.” She snaps and you stare at her in surprise.

“Ok, then.” You nod to yourself before pushing your chair back and standing. Just as you’re about to walk off, Shuri’s quickly at your side with her hand clasping your wrist.

“Wait Sthandwa, I apologize. I was wrong to speak to you like that.” Shuri pleads, her eyes begging me to stay. I exhale, pulling my wrist from her hold.

“Seems we both care more than we should.” You point out, sitting back in your seat.

The rest of the dinner is tame. You both steer away from heavy conversations and focus on your career, and what you’ve both been doing to better yourselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The last one is shocking to you when Shuri admits she believes in the Ancestors now and the saying ‘Everything Happens For A Reason’

For the longest time she was so angry at everything. When she’d lost her family it’d seemed like she’d lost herself as well. Sitting and conversing with her as she reflected on how much she’d changed and matured over the years made you feel slightly envious that you couldn’t do that for her.

It went without saying that Riri was the one that helped her and that made you feel worthless. You’d tried when you were together to help her, to heal her, to be her peace and she seemed too combative against it. She warred with you when all you tried to do was make her smile, bring happiness into her life.

What did Riri do that was so different from what you tried to do? How was she able to awaken the loving Shuri you’d heard so much about and could barely get. What did she have that you didn’t? Sure she was a pretty girl and she had a skinny, tiny body but it couldn’t just be looks. Shuri had been with enough women that looks couldn’t be the factor.

“You deserve every piece of happiness you can find.” You sum up the strength to say, feeling guilty for the anger and jealousy that was stirring in you.

While it was clear Shuri had grown. It was even clearer that you hadn’t. You’d changed for sure. But it clearly wasn’t for the best.

[chronicallycouchbound]

If you have chronic nerve pain (trigeminal neuralgia) due to your broken wisdom tooth like I do, here’s my list of things to try for pain management. These things might help for other chronic or acute facial nerve pain issues, jaw pain, broken teeth, wisdom tooth pain, toothache, etc.

• Ibuprofen, Tylenol and most medications severely interact with my other conditions, especially my stomach conditions, so I avoid them as much as possible. Liquid versions aren’t as bad if I can find dye free, citric acid free, versions in flavors I’m not allergic to. These can help for a lot of people though, just ask your dr if you’re unsure.

• Brushing the broken area, gently, to clean out any food particles that might be stuck in it is hit or miss but can make a difference. It’s always sore for a while after brushing so that’s a con

• I make homemade clove tinctures with vodka and whole and ground cloves. I let it sit in a glass container in a cool,dark place for as long as possible and shake it when I see it (keep it with your spices you’ll remember it more). Then I take a gauze pad and get a dropper full and put it on it. Both cloves and vodka have anesthetic properties and can numb it for a bit. It’s a very temporary solution, also can cause soreness from pressure on the tooth.

• Hot pad on the cheek can cause soreness too (a running theme) BUT it helps a lot especially with cold sensitivity. After you remove the hot pad you can be extra sensitive to the cold or drafts in the air so that sucks too but it passes after a couple mins usually.

• Waterpik flossers are great for sensitive mouth issues, and clean out the tooth area with minimal soreness. Great but takes more spoons to do than toothbrushing and is less portable.

• CBD oil is hit or miss. I have other serious chronic pain disorders and just like many generalized pain management options, it can sometimes get rid of the headache I didn’t notice anymore or the joint pain I dissociate out of existence. Like yeah, glad thats gone but it just makes me focus on the other pain more. Some CBD options aren’t strong enough to do shit for me.

• Warm salt water gargle/rinse is helpful for me most of the time, and it is really important to keep any broken teeth very, very clean due to infection risk. The warmth and salt can help with the pain overall though and so far doesn’t have negative effects for me. It’s very mild in terms of managing the pain though, it’s like a soft gentle kiss on a boo-boo. Feels nice in the moment but when you’re done it usually just goes back to the pain your had.

• TENS units might work for you. I have several electrical abnormalities in my heart so I’m not allowed to use TENS but I’ve heard they can help. Definitely ask a dr first for this one though because I don’t know all the safety risks especially with facial pain

• Warm environments with no drafts or wind, ideal for this pain, for me is not ideal bc of my cardiac issues.

• Medical ultrasound machine, I’ve used these for other conditions in PT and they help a lot!! I don’t know if you can get these outside of a medical setting, especially for a reasonable price, but a provider might be able to help with this. There is the ultrasound goop they put on wherever they do it though so like, might not be fun and also might be a bit sore after?

• Last resort: adult beverages so I’m not paying attention to the pain. Works best for sleeping for me, but obviously has it’s drawbacks.

I avoid:

- Cold environments

- Drafts and wind on my face

- Cold foods

- Hard foods

- Sleeping on the side that hurts

- Chewing on that side

- Talking too much, chewing gum, etc.

- Going anywhere without at least one pain management option available

- Trying to sleep without a pain management option or plan ready to go

- Not brushing my teeth, at minimum I use mouthwash after meals

And some important reminders:

• Watch out for signs of infection and get treatment ASAP. Dental infections are no joke and can be life threatening quickly, especially if you have certain medical conditions such as heart valve disorders (like me).

• These recommendations are from personal experience, talk to your medical providers to see if they’re right for you. I am not a doctor just a humble chronically ill person.

• These are not a replacement for actual medical treatments for your condition, you should still see a professional if you can.

• Many insurances don’t cover dental, dental issues are more common amongst poor people, rooted in the idea that you can still work with fucked up teeth or without teeth . Hence why they’re called “luxury bones”

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

The use of metaphors for the bridge of Clara Bow still makes me stop in my tracks.

Beauty is a beast that roars Down on all fours Demanding "more" Only when your girlish glow Flickers just so Do they let you know It's hell on earth to be heavenly Them's the breaks They don't come gently

is just such a stunning way to put the weight that female celebrities feel to maintain their beauty and how if they accept aging is the only time that they can discuss how horrid it is to try to look 25 forever. (The outro of Clara Bow is another jaw dropper IMO).

I looooooooooooove Clara Bow for all these reasons and more, anon! I feel like I'm not smart enough to accurately discuss how much I love it, actually.

Taylor's broached this topics gingerly in past songs (Nothing New, Castles Crumbling, Never Grow Up, Right Where You Left Me, arguably Dear Reader and YOYOK to an extent, etc.) but I think this is probably the first time she's been that explicit about it in the music from this perspective.

One image I have of it is like the role-reversal of a circus ring. Instead of the ringmaster controlling the caged beast, forcing the animal whose spirit it's broken to do perform, the wild, untamed beast is threatening the ringmaster to keep up or else it will be eaten, risking itself more and more for the pleasure of the audience members. (Not sure why that's the first thing that sprung to mind when I heard it.)

Just the idea that this giant, threatening being is constantly at a woman's back, inching closer and closer to destroying her, roaring with ferocity as they try to outrun the threat... It's a lot. (I know people also have other interpretations of the line but I'm not getting into that.) And again it's a classic Taylor line that melds different concepts together because you've got the musing on beauty (like beauty is in the eye of the beholder) and the beast roaring (e.g. the metaphor for the impossible demands of the industry) and then fusing it together with "Beauty is a beast that roars" as a twist on "Beauty and the Beast," in which the Beast traps Belle in the castle but wins her over with his promises and his change of heart. (It scratches the same kind of itch as "shotgun shot in the dark" and the like.) Funnily enough, the picture of Beast from the movie is the first thing I thought of when I heard "a beast that roars on all fours".

Taylor long downplayed the pressures of the industry on women in this way until she started opening up about her eating disorder in Miss Americana, and this in some ways delves deeper into it in tiptoeing into the psychological impact of ~everything~. But it reminds me of that one scene in the movie where she's talking about how, to paraphrase, if you're thin they criticize you for not having an ass, but if you have an ass they criticize you for being too curvy, and it's all impossible to navigate.

What "Clara Bow" sings about is even more existential than that I think (not to downplay the severity of it by any means though). It's not just like, beauty as in appearance, it's everything-- it's the girlish naivety and obedience, but not so much that you don't have just enough ~charisma~ to capture the male gaze. And the machine of the industry can determine when you have it and when you've lost it, and you largely have no control over it. And if you dare to question it or step outside those bounds, you will be discarded as quickly as you were anointed. Before you know it, your time is up, and the next you is up to bat, and your value to society is effectively wiped out. But you won't know until it's already happened.

So these women twist and turn themselves their entire young adulthood to capture "it" in the hopes that it will assure their acceptance and legacy, at great harm to themselves because everyone else before them has done it too, only to find out the hard way that none of it mattered because they will be forgotten and replaced and completely broken just as they had done to those that came before them, even if they didn't realize it at the time.

The outro makes me feral too ngl.

[aanoia]

Daydreamer

Remus Lupin x reader words; 1118 song; Daydream by Adele (19 as fics) why did i have such a hard time writing this? if you'd like to request a song, literally any song in the world just use my inbox (tell me who, obvi, the song and who it's by, also obvi, and then if you want a scenario) I suggest reading about what this song is about it SHOCKED me, and then this fic might make more sense too. I can't get the song to link :(

Daydreamer

Sitting on the sea

Soaking up the sun

Remus gently rubbed circles into my hand as he talked about the book he was currently reading. His brows furrowed softly as he began speaking about a part he did not enjoy one bit, talking about how it almost ruined the entire book for him and he was ready to just stop reading it. 

The small waves of the lake crashed gently against the shore, creating a calm aura between the two of you. Never would you think something so unexpected would happen.

He is a real lover

Of making up the past

And feeling up his girl

Like he's never felt a figure before

“Y/n/n, you don’t understand. Nothing ever happened between us.” Remus reassured me as I rubbed my arm nervously.

“Are you sure, Remus? It’d make sense, you two are best friends.”

Remus smiled at me softly and placed his hands on my waist, “I’m very sure, my love.”

A jaw-dropper

Looks good when he walks

Is the subject of their talk

“Look, it’s him!” A first year squealed and I looked up from my book, curious as to who they were talking about. A proud smile crossed my face at the sight of my boyfriend looking around the hallway. I looked back down to my book, tuning into their conversation. 

“And have you seen him with-”

“Hello, love. I finally found you.” Remus said and I smiled up at him.

He would be hard to chase

But good to catch

And he could change the world

With his hands behind his back, oh

“There you go, all patched up.” Remus said, smiling down at the first year boy who scraped his knee pretty bad. The boy sniffled and hugged Remus tightly.

“Thank you, Remus.” The boy mumbled and ran off with his friends.

“You’re such a sweetheart.” I said behind him with a smile. He looked up from his spot on the ground and smiled.

You can find him sitting on your doorstep

Waiting for a surprise

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked James, my eyes teary.

“Y/n, I love you, you’re like a sister to me. I had to tell you, I’m so sorry.” James said, rubbing the back of his neck as Remus and Sirius came down the stairs and into the common room.

“Y/n? Why do you look like you’re about to cry?” Sirius asked, before looking to James with wide eyes. “Prongs, you didn’t…”

James shook his head, “I’m sorry. It wasn’t right. She needed to know.”

And he will feel like he's been there for hours

And you can tell that he'll be there for life

“Y/n/n, please, stop!” Remus yelled after me as I ran out of the castle and into the pouring rain.

“I can’t belie- I can’t believe you!” I screamed back, thunder booming behind me. “You told me nothing had ever happened- nothing ever was going to happen! You liar!” I sobbed, falling to my knees. The slick mud seeped through my pajama pants, sending shivers up my body. 

“Y/n-” Remus breathed, kneeling in front of me as I grabbed onto the wet grass, trying to ground myself.

“You- you cheated on me.” I mumbled, barely audible.

“Y/n-”

“With Sirius. I mean- I knew- I knew you liked guys and I don’t care, I don’t. I don’t.” I repeated, mostly to myself. “But you cheated on me. With Sirius.” I sat defeatedly on the ground. “No, don’t touch me!” I said, pushing Remus’ arms off me. “Don’t ever talk to me again. Ever.”

Daydreamer

With eyes that make you melt

I sighed as I watched Sirius smile lovingly at Remus, who had the same glint in his eye he used to have when he looked at me.

“Oh, Y/n/n.” Lily sighed, hugging my side. “It’ll be okay, love. It’ll be okay.”\

He lends his coat for shelter

Plus, he's there for you

When he shouldn't be

The entire Great Hall watched silently as Sirius and Remus argued, both of their voices raising loudly. Not even the teachers dared to step in between them. Sirius pushed Remus away from him and the room gasped as Remus fell backwards, hitting the ground hard. Nevertheless, as Sirius stormed out Remus jumped up and ran after him, desperately calling out his name.

But he stays all the same

Waits for you

Then sees you through

“Oh my Godric, not again.” I mumbled to myself, and stood up, shoving my book into my bag as the yelling started again. 

“You’re still in love with her, aren’t you, Remus?” Sirius asked and I froze, looking up to meet Remus’ gaze.

There's no way I could describe him

What I've said is just what I'm hoping for

Remus nodded, “I am.” 

I scoffed and shook my head, catching Sirius’ attention who also looked at me.

“And you?” He asked me.

I shrugged, “I’m not.”

But I will find him sitting' on my doorstep

Waiting for a surprise

“Sophie, c’mon sweetheart, you need to go to be-” I was cut off by a loud knock on the door and the toddler I was trying to coax to sleep shot up from her bed and ran out of the room. I sighed and followed after her, mentally cursing whoever was at the door.

“Hello, mister, what’s your name?” Sophie asked.

“Sophia, how many times must I tell you not to answer the do- Remus?” I froze behind my daughter. Remus looked at me, his bottom lip shaking and tears filling his eyes. “What happened?” I asked quietly, taking Sophia into my arms.

“They’re dead, Y/n.” My heart clenched, I immediately knew who he was talking about. “They’re dead and Sirius killed them and I didn’t know what to do so I came here. I’m sorry, I-”

“No, no. Come in.” I said, stepping aside and he hesitantly walked in.

And he will feel like he's been there for hours

And I can tell that he'll be there for life

“We can’t just kick him out, Alex. He lost his people.” I whispered to my husband who watched hesitantly as Remus played with our daughter.

“Y/n, I-” he sighed. “Okay. He can stay for the night.”

I kissed my husband's cheek, “Thank you, love. It’ll only be for tonight.”

I turned around and paused as I saw Sophia asleep in Remus’ arms, snoring softly. I sighed as I thought about what could have been, but wasn’t. Remus looked up and smiled softly at me and I could just tell. He was thinking the same thing.

And I can tell that he'll be there for life

taglist (if you wanna be added just comment);

@loving-and-dreaming @1lellykins @poetrypirate

[greenhappyseed]

just saw the leaks and omg that potato looking head is back ughh. i was like if he can come back then the one for all vestiges can COME BACK. HELLO OFA users YOU can come now lol and defeat potato head too. So what are your theories on the next chapter hmm. little deku and tenko has my heart. i just feel really bad for tenko.

I AM SO EXCITED ANON. I’ve been waiting for AFO to return and am READY to see our heroes and villains go all out one more time. I am ready for Tenko to realize he doesn’t just hate and destroy �� he loves and builds too. (He is the League’s hero, after all! He plays as All Might!) I am ready for Tenko to fight, not just for himself, but for his friends. And I am BEYOND ready to see those heroes and friends help Tenko if when he can’t help himself.

I agree that if AFO can return via Tenko’s memories, that means other vestiges inside Tomura can return too. That said, I don’t think MHA can end without giving poor Nana some peace.

As for next chapter, idk, my predictions on the week to week stuff are almost always wrong. But my assumption is that things are going to get worse —much worse — before they get better. Like finding out exactly how long AFO and Kotaro knew each other, and the extent to which AFO embedded himself in the Shimuras’ lives. I would also love to see how deeply AFO embedded himself into other families, like the Todorokis and Tsukauchis.

I personally don’t care as much about whether AFO gave Tenko the decay quirk (or if decay was originally Izuku’s quirk) because to me the jaw-dropper is that AFO befriended Kotaro and preyed on TWO GENERATIONS of innocent Shimuras who weren’t particularly special quirk-wise or world power-wise.

Oh god, is this generational manipulation the reason why Nana told Toshinori and Torino to stay away from Kotaro????? Did she give up Kotaro for adoption knowing there was a chance AFO would corrupt Kotaro, but thought adoption was the best of bad options?????

I do think AFO will take over Tomura’s physical body again. Something about the people cheering for Tomura makes me think of how AFO’s supporters aren’t actually gone. AFO has “friends.” He’s got a network he built. He’s a “hero” to them. So I suspect we’re going to see a battle of ideology, and what it really means to be a true hero who builds lasting and enduring peace.

[heydorothea009]

Bread on Toast 2162 - A Future Man s2 Fanfiction

After saving the world from the Biotics, Josh and Liv are catapulted into Tiger and Wolf’s time, 2162. The gang is separated from each other and contention begins to brew. Tiger and Liv find themselves face to face with an old “friend”, while Wolf gets caught in being someone he’s not, and Josh’s life is on the line. Things can’t possibly get any worse.

Warnings: strong language, a musical number!! :D

Chapter 7: The Last Horchata

Liger

Tiger hauled hers and Liv’s asses back to Stu’s. Liv was too scared to say anything to try and comfort Tiger. Her jaw was clenched, her neck muscles were bulging, and her hand was clammy against Liv’s. Liv could tell she was trying not to cry. As the sun began to rise, they made it back to the Mons. Tiger spun around and grabbed Liv by the shoulders.

“You are not leaving me.” Tiger demanded, voice raw.

Liv shook her head. “No, Tiger, I wouldn’t leave you.”

“You’re all I have left.”

Liv slowly nodded. “Yes Tiger, I know.”

“Don’t go running to Wolf.”

“I won’t.”

Tiger exhaled shakily and nodded. “Good.”

As they entered Stu’s mansion, he stood inside with a welcoming smile. “Hello Tiger! Welcome back-“

“Fuck off, Stu.” Liv grumbled as her and Tiger breezed past. Tiger clomped down the hall and to their room, throwing herself on the bed as Liv trailed behind her. Liv stood awkwardly at the foot of the bed. “I have one request.” She said quietly.

“We will save Josh.” Tiger mumbled into the pillow. “Let me sulk for a few hours.”

Liv’s heart soared as she smiled. “O-okay! We can sulk!” She said, a little too cheerfully for Tiger’s liking.

Two hours later, Tiger had changed into a bathrobe and had figured out how to turn on the holographic screen. She ordered all sorts of freeze dried and jello-ized food to their room and she gorged herself practically into a food coma. She laid immobile on the bed with a giant bowl of jelly ointment used to stop pain on her lap, her hands submerged in it up to her wrists. Liv sat cross legged on the other side of the bed, rubbing the bandaid over her eyebrow, deep in thought. How would she and Tiger get into the NAG to save Josh without running into Wolf? Would Wolf let them take Josh, or would he try and kill them? Would Wolf actually try to kill them?

Tiger rolled off the bed. “Where are you going?” Liv asked.

“To get more of this ‘sorb.” She held up the bowl. “You wanna come?” She mumbled. Liv sighed and rolled off the bed too, she needed to stretch her legs anyways.

They trudged down the hall and to the main room, where they found Stu exercising with long, holographic ropes. He stood up straight when he saw Tiger.

“Oh, hi!” He grinned hopefully. “I hope my battle roping didn’t wake you up.” Tiger brushed him off as her and Liv crossed the room. Stu noticed and stepped down the stairs. “Hey, uh, are you okay?”

“I will be if you have any more of this ‘sorb around.” She held up the bowl. “Liv, you want anything?”

Liv shook her head. “I’m good.”

Stu’s eyes widened when he realized what was in the bowl. “Tiger, that is a class-four medicinal opiate. Anything more than an eye dropper is-“

“Not enough. It heals my emotional pain.” Tiger set the bowl onto the table in front of them.

Stu cocked his head. “I’m really not trying to pry, but I’m concerned.”

Tiger shrugged. “I’m fine, you’re fine, Liv’s fine, we’re all fine.”

“Tiger, you two got home and stormed right to your room. She told me to ‘fuck off’.” Stu pointed at Liv. “And you’ve got a full slice of imitation cheese stuck to your robe.” Tiger searched her robe and found the cheese clinging to her hip, peeling it off and shoving it into her mouth. “Dr. Ahmadi has always said to me that when you’re upset, the worst thing you can do is hold it in.”

“Who the fuck is Dr. Ahmadi?” Liv asked in a deadpan voice.

“My mind therapist.” Stu answered.

“Your mind therapist is wrong, holding it in is the best thing you can do.” Tiger said, searching her robe for any other pieces of food.

“Tiger.” Stu said softly. “Talk to me. Not only am I a super-computer, I’m a super-listener.”

Tiger cringed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. My life? In the shit sizzler. My TTD is busted, my doppelgänger sucks, I’m a fucking Biotic, and to top it all off, all I have left is Liv and I’m hated by everyone else.” She pushed the bowl again. “So you got anymore of this stuff?”

Liv sighed. “And I’m stuck-“

“What if I told you I had something better than ‘sorb?” Stu asked, looking deep into Tiger’s eyes. Liv scowled.

“Smack?” Tiger asked.

“Better.” Said Stu, smiling. “Liv, even you can join.” He summoned two white boxes onto the table, making Liv and Tiger jump. “Open them.” Stu said with an even wider smile.

Liv tentatively reached out. “What are the physics behind this?” She muttered to herself as she lifted the top of the box. Tiger peered over Liv’s shoulder. Both of their eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“What is that?” Tiger asked. Inside was a silver metal headband looking thing. “A hat?”

“Not a hat,” Stu said, stepping closer. “Do you remember when you first came here and I told you bodies were just shells?” Liv and Tiger mutely shook their heads as they studied the weird thing in Liv’s hands. “Well, this device allows you to throw your shell away, in fact it allows you to throw everything away and become whatever you desire.”

Tiger glanced up at Stu. “You sound like the Riddle Gnome of Bonesaw Bridge. We killed him for not speaking directly.”

Stu chuckled and shook his head. “You say that your life is in the shit sizzler, but that’s because that’s how you perceive it. What do you have to lose?”

Liv and Tiger exchanged glances. Tiger slowly reached for her box, opened it, and took her headband out. “So, do we just…put them on our heads? Like hats?”

“Not hats.” Stu corrected.

Liv and Tiger looked at each other as they raised the headbands to their heads and-

“Where is everything?!” Tiger cried.

“Oh fuck, what is this place?” Liv spun around in circles. They had been transported to an all white, never ending void. Stu appeared in a full tuxedo, wearing a smug grin.

“Hi.” He winked at Tiger.

“Where are we?” Liv asked, reaching out her hands as if she couldn’t see anything. She could, but she wanted to see if she could touch anything other than Tiger.

“This is a place with no shells.” Stu said, doing a small spin towards Tiger, presenting his tux to her. Tiger made a face and stepped back. “Notice anything different?”

“You’re…dressed like a little waiter.” Tiger raised an eyebrow.

Stu chuckled. “Okay. Poke me.” Liv raised a hand, ready to jab Stu in the eye. “Not you.” He shooed her hand away. “Tiger.” Tiger rolled her eyes and jabbed Stu’s forehead.

“Ow! Poke me, don’t jab me!” Stu winced. Tiger quickly recoiled. Liv couldn’t hold back the laugh that escaped her.

“You’re…real?” Tiger squinted at him.

“Well, I like to think that I’m always real, but, yes, in here, you can perceive my physical being.” Stu took a step closer to Tiger.

“So what is this place?” Tiger asked, eyes darting around.

“It would be easier for me to show rather than explain.” Stu grinned. “Imagine an object, any object.”

Tiger just looked confused. “Like…a ball?” Liv asked.

“Thank you, great example!” Stu exclaimed. Liv frowned, confused why Stu was suddenly being so nice to her. “How about a red ball? Simply…imagine it…” Stu held out his hand and a small red ball appeared in his hand. Tiger took a step back while Liv leaned forward and her eyebrows shot up. “Ta-da!” He handed the ball to Tiger. “It’s as real as I am.” Tiger sniffed the ball tentatively, then tried to put it in her mouth. “Oh, no, um, how ‘bout you try.” Stu grabbed Tiger’s hand to stop her. “Close your eyes and imagine something.”

Tiger pursed her lips and held out her hand. Liv closed her eyes and also held out her hand. In Tiger’s hand, another red ball appeared, in Liv’s, a standard no. 2 pencil. Tiger looked unimpressed while Liv was astounded. Liv blinked again and the pencil morphed, turning into a standard no. 2 pencil with teeth marks.

She let out a shocked laugh. “Just like my pencils in elementary school!”

“Liv’s got the hang of it, Tiger I don’t think you’ve fully grasped the power of-“

“The power of your object creator?” Tiger deadpanned.

“It’s more than that Tiger. Check this out.” Stu closed his eyes and held his arms out. Trees, the sky, pavement, people, and a taco truck smashed down around them.

“What the fuck?!” Tiger grabbed onto Liv’s shoulders. Tiger grabbing her startled Liv even more. Liv blinked a couple times, recognizing the area. They were at a park not too far from Kronish Labs, a park Liv and Josh had gone to many times on their lunch break. She spun around and gaped at the all too familiar taco truck. She and Josh had gotten their fair share of tacos from that very truck.

“Back when I worked at the lab, this was my favorite place to get lunch.” Stu said, pointing to the truck.

Liv had a memory surface in her mind of her and Josh watching Stu almost cry because they’d put hot sauce on his taco. She also remembered how, “poison! There’s poison in my taco!” Had been their favorite inside joke for five months.

“Their Mexican food is so authentic. Their plain chicken tacos with no sauce are to die for.” Stu added. Liv bit back a laugh.

Tiger looked around, still appalled. “So…this is…”

“From my imagination.” Stu said, finishing her sentence. “Memories mostly. This place hasn’t existed for one hundred and fifty years, but just because it doesn’t exist in the analog world, doesn’t mean it can’t exist here!”

“So, it’s all just your fantasy.” Tiger looked around. “If that’s the case, what are we doing waiting in line?”

“The waiting is the best part! The anticipation of placing your order, is the taco man going to be nice to me? Are they out of horchata yet?” Stu was beaming. “Of course, if you don’t want to be at the back of the line…” he closed his eyes and another set of people appeared behind them, waiting. “We can always be a little closer to the front!”

Tiger looked impressed, a small smile forming on her lips. “You should’ve got here earlier, suckers.” She jeered as they stepped closer to the truck.

“See? That’s why this place is so great!” Stu grinned, turning and approaching the window.

“Hola!” He greeted the man inside.

“Hola,” the man greeted.

“What tacos can I get you ladies?” He asked them. Stu must have been in a great mood to include Liv.

“Two soft shell shrimp tacos with everything that comes with it, extra guacamole.” Liv said, reciting her old order.

“I can order anything I want?” Tiger asked hopefully. Stu nodded. “Even one not on the menu?”

“If you can imagine it, it’s on the menu.” Stu said.

“I want a cat taco.” Tiger said to the man in the window. “Make sure it’s been grilled over a garbage fire.” Stu gave Tiger a weird look. The man inside didn’t question, simply nodding and inputting her and Liv’s orders.

Stu turned to the window and ordered his in Spanish. “Dos tacos de pollo, por favor.”

“And whatever horchata is.” Tiger added.

The man smiled at Tiger. “It’s your lucky day, there’s one left.”

“And can I also please get a large strawberry lemonade like the kind they have at Chili’s?” Liv asked. “I really miss lemonade.”

The man nodded. “$5.50.” he said, handing the order back to the people at the grill.

“My treat!” Stu offered, pulling a bill from his pocket. “They love when you pay with exact change.” He grinned, showing off the $5.50 bill with his face on it. As soon as Stu handed the man the money, their order was ready. “Gracias!”

“Gracias, amigo.” The man graciously took the money. Grabbing their orders, Liv and Tiger immediately dug in, both shocked by how real it tasted.

“Oh…my God…” Liv gasped with her mouth full.

Tiger pulled a tuft of cat hair from her mouth. “It tastes exactly like the ones my ward leader would give us for Festivus.”

Stu led them to a picnic table. “That’s good, right?”

“This is just…so weird…” Liv said, drinking from her cup. “It tastes so real, but it’s not…”

“It’s freaking me out.” Tiger said, shaking her head.

“But it is real!” Stu exclaimed. “That’s what I’m trying to show you. In the real world, if I were to give you a taco, how would you know it was real?”

“...because it is.” Tiger said.

“But what makes it real?” Stu asked.

“The real ingredients.” Liv said.

Stu shook his head. “No. It’s your brain.” Tiger and Liv shared a glance. “It’s billions of neurons firing, telling you the texture of the tortilla, the smell of the meat, the heat, the flavor, everything. It’s the signals perceived by your brain. So if your brain is sending you signals that say this is a delicious taco, then how is it any less real than a real taco?” Tiger pursed her lips and slowly pushed her taco away. Liv kept eating hers, having desperately missed the taste of non-jello food. Stu listed his head. “Look, I know it sounds kooky, but the only thing that’s real is your mind. Everything else, the world, the reality you live in, all of that is just constructs, shells.” He explained.

“Stu, this may all make sense to you, but we aren’t nerds.” Tiger sighed. “You can tell us it’s real, but we know it’s all a trick.”

Stu’s face fell and the park disappeared around them. Liv was midbite when her taco evaporated from her hands. “Hey!” She frowned. They were back in the white void.

“Goddammit, Stuart!” Tiger cried out. “Give me a three count next time!”

“Sorry, I just want you to understand this the way I understand this.” Stu drew in a breath. “I promise this isn’t a trick. Tiger, think…think of your happiest memory.”

Tiger rolled her eyes. “Stu, I don’t have a…” A gray, dead body appeared on the ground, a rat crawling around it, squeaking. Liv gasped and stepped back. Tiger’s eyes filled with recognition. Stu looked to Tiger and then back to the corpse.

“...this is your happiest-” he began. A knife flew out of nowhere and lodged itself right into the rat. A young girl with purple hair came from the same direction of the knife, sauntering over the rat, yanking her blade from the ground.

Tiger’s lips curved up into a small smile and she stepped closer as she watched the younger version of herself turn to the corpse and uncurl all the stiff fingers. A pure white sugar cube tumbled out of the dead man’s hand. Liv recalled Tiger mentioning her sugar cube before. Stu’s brows were still drawn together in confusion. In sync with her younger self, Tiger mimed picking up the sugar cube and bringing it to her lips.

Tiger let out a breathy laugh. “It was the sweetest thing I had ever tasted.” She breathed out.

Stu’s eyes lit up. “This happened years ago, didn’t it? But what you’re seeing, that’s real, isn’t it?”

Tiger watched as her younger self walked off into the white void. “I couldn’t believe something so simple, so delicious…could exist in such a horrible place.” She looked over at Liv.

Stu nodded, grinning. “Let’s try something else. Imagine a conversation you wish you had, something that never happened…”

“Liv!” A voice said in Liv’s ear. Liv jerked her head to the side, eyes wide. “Liv!” The voice said again. Tiger and Stu didn’t seem to notice, still talking. A part of her didn’t want them to notice. Liv stepped away, testing to see if Tiger would notice and stop her. “Liv!” Liv spun around again, off in the distance she saw someone waving to her. Liv squinted. She realized who it was immediately. It was her sister Kaitlyn. Liv looked over her shoulder one last time, praying that Stu and Tiger still wouldn’t pay any attention to her and grinned when they weren’t even looking in her direction. She took off running towards her sister.

“Kate?!”

“Liv!”

Liv collapsed in her sister’s arms. Liv felt a hand land on her shoulder. She looked up and saw her sixteen year old brother.

“Isaac?!”

“Hey, Liv.” He smiled.

Happy tears began to spill from her eyes. “When did you get so tall?” She asked, laughing as she pulled him into a hug.

“Where have you been?” Isaac asked.

“Oh God,” Liv let out an exhausted chuckle. “It’s a long story. I got roped into saving the world with Josh.” She confessed, looking down at the ground. “It…it sounds so stupid saying it like that…” she wiped a tear.

Kaitlyn tilted her head. “So, when’s the next time we’re going to see you?”

Liv bit her lip and shook her head. “I don’t know…” she whispered. “But I love you guys,” she let out a small laugh that sounded more like a hiccup. “I love you guys so much and I’m sorry I didn’t say it as much as I should have.”

“Livster,” a voice came from behind her. Liv craned her neck. Her parents stood behind the three of them. Her dad gave her a small wave.

“Mom! Dad!” She cried out, turning and hugging them both tightly. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I didn’t visit you guys, I miss you so much. I love you, I love you.”

“Liv, it’s okay,” her mom assured her, stroking her hair gently. Liv’s heart sank, realizing that’s what she would have wanted her mom to say to her. Liv’s mom used to call her every night and pester her about coming home and visiting. She had been their first kid to move far away, and although her parents were both supportive of her, her mom had a hard time coping. At the time, it annoyed her, but now she would have given anything to hear her phone ring and hear her mom plead with her to come home for the weekend.

“Mom,” Liv whispered, lip quivering. “I’m sorry I’m a terrible daughter.”

“You are not a terrible daughter.” Liv’s dad assured her. “We love you so much. We just want to see you again.”

“You can’t.” Liv sobbed. “I’m stuck here. The TTD blew up.” She swiped at her nose, looking behind to glance at her siblings, but they were gone. She turned back to her parents, but they were gone too. “No! Come back! I need to talk to you!”

“Talk to me about what?”

Liv froze, slowly turning around. Wolf stood behind her, wearing the exact outfit he’d worn back when they had time traveled to 2023 to James Cameron’s house. “Wolf…” she breathed out.

“Hey.” He grinned. “How are you?”

“Wolf, I miss you.” Liv shook her head, hugging her arms around herself.

“Why? I’m right here.” Wolf’s face turned soft, pulling her into his embrace.

“No, you don’t understand. I want this Wolf back.” She cried into his chest. “You mean so much to me.”

Wolf held her close as she silently cried into him.

“And you mean so much to me.” Wolf didn’t sound like Wolf. Liv pulled back in shock to see the person she wanted to see most. Josh.

Liv let out a strangled cry and threw her arms back around him. “Josh!”

“Hey Liv,” Josh mumbled into her neck, burying his face into her curls.

“Josh, I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry I haven’t come to save you, I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you when you told me not to follow you and I did anyways, I’m sorry that I was jealous that you liked Jeri, I’m sorry that all of this has even happened to you-“

“Liv,” Josh chuckled, pulling away from the hug. “It’s okay, all of it. I’m just happy to be back here with you.” Josh tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I love you.” He wiped a tear from her eyes and leaned in for a kiss, but Liv pulled back.

“But you’re not here.” She whispered. “And you’re in danger.” She pulled herself away from him. “This…this is distracting me, I’ve got to leave and save you.” Liv reached up to take off her headband.

“Liv.” Liv’s parents, her siblings, and Wolf all walked out of the void, standing around Josh. They spoke in unison. “You’re leaving us?” Liv took a step back.

“What the fuck…” she murmured.

“Liv!” She jumped out of her skin at the sound of Tiger’s distant voice. “Get over here, I’ve got something to show you.”

Liv slowly turned around. “What?” She could see Tiger not too far off.

“Stop talking to yourself and get over here!” Tiger shouted.

Liv turned back and they were all gone. Shaking, she turned back to Tiger, who seemed to be in a chipper mood. “T-Tiger, I just talked to my family…and…” she said shakily as she returned to Tiger.

“Aw, that’s nice.” Tiger smiled. That freaked Liv out. “I did too- well, I talked to Estelle. I considered her family.”

“Who?”

“Elias’s mom. Come on, Stu’s waiting, I wanted to show you something.” Tiger grabbed Liv’s hand and they poofed back to the taco truck and the park.

The setting was nighttime, and the people around were decked in 1950s attire. Liv blinked a few times at Tiger, her hair was curled and held back by a black and white polka dotted headband. She wore a matching dress.

Tiger tweaked Liv’s nose. “TyAnne’s right, blue looks good on you.” She grinned walking over to Stu. Liv looked down. Sure enough, she was in a sky blue dress that matched Tiger’s.

“I- what?” Liv looked around in confusion. “I think I understand the gist of this place, can I-“

“Fall cartoonishly.” Tiger ordered the people in line for the taco truck. The people all tumbled down to a slide whistle sound effect.

Stu beamed. “See how fun this is? Once you let go of your preconceived notions of reality, you can-“

“You don’t have to keep convincing us.” Tiger stopped him. “I know this isn’t real, but I don’t care.” Tiger shrugged.

Liv spoke up shyly. “I…I care-“ she was interrupted by soft music playing. Tiger looked back to Liv with a big smile.

“Right Liv? We’re about to do a whole musical number about it, so, get ready.” Tiger said as big band music swelled over them. “Grow a mustache!” She pointed to the taco man and a big curled mustache appeared on his face.

“Yes! I love flash mobs!” Stu exclaimed as the people around them began to play trumpets that just appeared in their hands. Liv looked around, panicking.

Tiger jumped onto a picnic table.

Life is a horrible nightmare

The world’s an unfixable mess

I feel all alone

And I’ve never known

Anything resembling happiness

She turned and did a high kick. Liv gaped up at her, while Stu snapped his fingers and danced along, grinning.

Now here we are in this dream world

And I feel like I’m walking on air

Tiger floated into the air.

So while I’m here

I’ll be grinning ear to ear

I know this isn’t real, but I don’t care!

Stu grabbed a two trumpets, shoving one into Liv’s hands. Against her will, her arms raised and she played along with Stu. She had never played the trumpet in her life, but somehow she played along perfectly with the other trumpet players. Tiger floated down as people gathered together and danced around her. Liv and Stu threw their trumpets aside and sashayed over to Tiger. Liv didn’t know how her body was moving on its own, but it was. A giant piñata of Wolf’s head came floating down from the sky.

The only man I ever trusted

Abandoned me and hated my guts

But why face the pain when I can just make it rain

Lollipops and jelly beans and salted nuts

Wolf’s head exploded with candy raining down all around them. Tiger grabbed Liv’s hand, running around her in a graceful circle.

So I’ll just forget for a moment

My crippling sense of despair

Tiger collapsed onto a sofa that appeared out of nowhere, turning the whole world black and white. The backup dancers scrambled around and lifted the sofa up as the music swelled. Liv was at one side, snapping her fingers and swaying to the beat, but her face was contorted in confusion, still trying to figure out why she couldn’t control her movements.

A little denial might be just my style

I know this is real, but I don’t care!

With that main tagline, Tiger was dumped from the sofa, flipping through the air and landing on her feet wearing an entirely new red and black dress, color returning to the world. Liv, who had never tap danced in her life, somehow had tap shoes on and was shuffling her way over to Tiger’s side. She felt her mouth wrench open and Liv, who was never a singer, sang out,

I don’t know why I am singing

I don’t know how I’m doing this

But whatever is wrong

I think we put to song

Everything happening is…

Liv stopped as several heads turned to her waiting for her to say the last part of her line. She was going to say, “such a mess”, but with the eyes of the backup dancers and and Tiger and Stu staring into her soul, she mustered up some jazz hands, and in an awkward excited voice cheered,

The best!

Everyone cheered “the best!” With her as she said it. Her body whipped around and her feet did a kick ball change.

I don’t belong in this timeline

In fact I don’t belong anywhere

But we fucked up the year

And now I’m stranded here

And-

Tiger landed in front of her in the splits and sang over Liv.

We know this isn’t real, but we don’t care!

Liv shook her head. “Hey, wait! What?!” she managed to shout out as she was forced to join a kick line.

“That’s it! You’ve got it!” Stu exclaimed, taking his spot next to Tiger, starting his part of the song. Tiger popped up from the splits, a giant grin on her face.

Whatever you dream you can conjure

Thanks to my magic software

Stu sang as he and Tiger walked bouncily in a circle together.

You know what I’d like, sugar?

A big block of sugar!

Tiger sang as she pointed to the center of the dance floor, the backup dancers pushing themselves and Liv to the sides. A giant sugar cube appeared where Tiger had pointed. There was a brief pause where the backup dancers all made animated surprised faces at the giant sugar cube. Liv was the only one who just stood there, frowning. She was yanked from her spot as her feet made her spin and barrel roll over to the cube and dance around it with Stu and Tiger, all dragging their hands along the sugar cube. Tiger continued to sing.

It’s just a sugar substitute

But I don’t give a hoot

‘Cause it looks like real sugar

Tiger, Stu, and Liv all stopped around the sugar cube, and collectively sniffed it. Liv made a face and shook her head.

And it smells like real sugar

The three of them licked the sugar cube. Liv squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched up her nose, remembering how they all had just dragged their hands around the top of it.

And it tastes like real sugar

So I don’t care!

Tiger threw a handful of sparkly confetti into the air. The three of them tap danced away from the sugar cube, the backup dancers rejoining them, swing dancing with each other. Stu took Tiger’s hands and spun her in a circle. Liv twirled into the center, in front of all the dancers, who all ooh’d and aah’d as her dress transformed into a new, white one.

“I don’t know what’s happening, but I like it!” Tiger cheered. Stu jumped forward, singing again.

The tech behind this is stupendous

The science is beyond compare

Stu conjured up some scientific looking holograms in the air, swiping through them as he sang.

Neuro-transmission forms embodied cognition

That stimulates your dendrites nodes and-

Tiger and Liv harmonized as they both belted out.

I don’t care!

Stu laughed it off, doing an impressive cartwheel. “Okay, everyone, big finale, let’s make it a showstopper!” He called out as the backup dancers got into formation. Tiger and Liv linked arms, Tiger in the middle Liv on her left and Stu joined on Tiger’s right. Tiger and Stu began to harmonize excitedly. Liv sang along, but didn’t mean any of the words that came from her mouth.

As long as we’re here for each other

In this fantasy world built to share

The three of them did a windmill move.

Goodbye, living hell!

‘Cause life is pretty swell!

Tiger and Stu joined hands.

I know this isn’t real!

Tiger sang out, with a cheesy smile.

But it’s got that real feel

Stu spun Tiger around.

Yeah, that’s kinda the whole deal

Liv spun around by herself. The three of them sang in harmony,

I know this isn’t real

Liv stopped herself from spinning, feeling dizzy, and echoing,

This isn’t real

She sang, holding her head and the world spun. Tiger belted out the big crescendo of the song ecstatically.

But I don’t care!

She looked over at Stu and Tiger, who suddenly were dressed in the most outrageous costumes. Stu was wearing a cat costume, kneeling in front of Tiger, and Tiger was in a taco shell costume. Liv looked down at herself, wearing a dress covered in a shrimp pattern. Her eyes bugged out as she looked around in even more confusion. Stu sang the last line of the song.

They know this isn’t real, but they don’t care

The dancers spun like mad as the song came to a raucous end. The three of them dropped to one knee, arms outstretched to the sky, ending the song with jazz hands.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the night sky that Tiger, Liv, and Stu were all staring up into became the ceiling of Stu’s compound. Night was falling outside. Tiger let out a giddy laugh as she stood up, taking off her headband. Liv stood up slowly, trying to understand how that had just happened.

“Wow!” Stu laughed, turning to Tiger and Liv with a giant smile.

“You guys have got some moves!” Tiger laughed.

“Hey, you two have got some great pipes.” Stu chuckled. Liv stood silently, lips drawn together in a tight line. She knew that wasn’t real, but she was scared.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so free!” Tiger gasped.

Stu nodded in agreement. “It was amazing, I really saw the real you for the first time, Tiger.”

Tiger beamed and went to place a hand on Stu’s shoulder, but her hand passed through. Both Tiger and Stu’s faces dropped, looking into each other’s eyes. Stu’s eyes flickered over to Liv, remembering that there was a whole other person there with them.

“The reason I, uh, wanted to show you that was…” he blushed, dropping his eyes to the ground. “Gosh, I can’t find the right words.”

Tiger wrapped an arm around Liv’s shoulders. “You can tell Liv and I anything, you can trust us.”

Stu nodded, taking Tiger’s word for it. “Well, you know my plan to relocate humanity to Mars?”

“Yeah.” Tiger nodded. Liv just stared at him and blinked.

“Well, technically, I don’t mean the planet Mars. MARS actually stands for ‘Mankind’s Automated Reality System.’” Stu began to explain. Tiger just nodded slowly, taking that in. Liv clenched her jaw, red flags going off everywhere in her brain.

That’s bad. Liv thought.

“That’s where we just were.” Stu said, a proud grin crossing his face.

I need to get out. Liv’s brain screamed at her. I need to get out now.

Tiger just looked confused. “So you’re gonna…you’re gonna upload everyone?”

“I really did want to take us to Mars, in fact, that was the original plan.” Stu answered quickly. “But as it turns out, transporting the entire human race to another planet is nearly impossible. So I developed an alternative, which, honestly, is far superior in my opinion.”

Tiger glanced over and out the window. “So, then why the space suits and the rockets and the clearly misleading acronym?”

“The upload only takes if the subject goes willingly. The idea of transferring your consciousness scares a lot of people, but a journey to Mars sounds like a fun adventure!” Stu explained optimistically. Out of the corner of her eye, Liv could see Tiger’s face falling. She must have seeing the same red flags as Liv.

“Pretty sneaky, Stu.” Tiger said quietly. “Guess you’re not a big believer in people making their own decisions.”

“People have been making their own decisions for thousands of years, and it brought them to the brink of annihilation.”

Tiger tilted her head. “So you think you’re qualified to act on behalf of humanity?”

“I am.” Stu said cockily. “Just imagine a world with no hunger, because nobody needs to eat.” He said, beginning to pace around the room. Liv tried to send Tiger an anxious glance, but Tiger just followed Stu with her eyes. “A world with no poverty because resources are infinite.” Stu continued. “A world where everyone can finally get along, friends and family are always close by, a world where the music’s always hot, the cat meat is always fresh,” he winked at Tiger. “A world without shells. That’s humanity’s future. That’s MARS. Would you come with me?” He offered a hand to Tiger. “Both of you?” There was no animosity towards Liv in his voice, in fact he looked genuine. Liv hesitated, feeling feeble.

Tiger looked at Stu’s hand, then back to Liv, then back to Stu. “Of course,” Tiger said. She held a hand out to Liv. “Liv?” Tiger’s eyes were a kind of pathetic pleading Liv had never seen in her eyes. They were the kind that said, “don’t leave me”. Liv’s heart plummeted.

In a panic, Liv nodded, quickly formulating a plan in her head. “Yes,” she whispered, taking Tiger’s hand. “Yes, that sounds amazing, it was so amazing in there.” She rambled, cheeks burning under both of their gazes. Reel it in, stop talking. She scolded herself.

Stu looked relieved. “You have no idea how happy that makes me.” Tiger tried to take Stu’s hand, but it passed right through. Both of their faces fell again.

“I wish I could see the real you again.” Tiger confessed. Liv’s whole face burned.

Leave. Leave. LEAVE. Her brain screamed at her. FIND JOSH. SAVE JOSH. FIND- she pushed the thoughts away so she could focus.

“Stu, thank you so much for showing us…” she couldn’t remember what Stu had called it. “…that. After all that excitement, I think…” she faked a big yawn. “I think I’ll hit the hay.”

A look of excitement crossed Stu’s eyes. “Of course, Liv! I’m so glad that you enjoyed yourself.” He wrung his hands in anticipation.

“I’ll meet you in there, Liv.” Tiger said. “I’m not tired.”

Liv nodded, backing away, ears ringing, nerves coursing through her. “Goodnight!” She walked as quickly yet as casually as she could through the door before one of them could say it back. As soon as she was far enough down the hall and she was sure they couldn’t see her anymore, she took off flying down the halls and to the exit. She wasn’t going to be Tiger’s little companion anymore, if Tiger had been brainwashed, then she would do this all by herself.

Josh

Josh felt hopeless as he worked his fingers through Pup-E Q. Barkington’s wires. Wolf had given him the run down earlier that day.

“Tiger’s a Biotic, we’re never gonna see her again, Liv follows her around like a lackey now but we’ll see if she makes an appearance, the TTD’s destroyed, we’re stuck in this timeline forever, okay, good talk.” Wolf had said in one breath before turning and walking away, leaving Josh in utter shock.

Josh spent the rest of the day feverishly trying to revive Pup-E. “I can’t save the world if I can’t save you.” He muttered. “I must not be the real J1-“ he flinched and drew in a sharp breath as a wire shocked him. “The real J1 could definitely fix you.” He muttered through gritted teeth. “That makes me what?” He slammed the compartment closed as fished around for his little screwdriver. “J0? J-nothing?” He screwed the latch closed. “Okay, come on,” he mumbled, searching for any sign of life. He tapped on the head. “Give me a sign, anything to keep me going, please.” He pleaded, flipping Pup-E over. On the bottom of the hind leg was a giant power button. Josh did a double take, feeling really stupid. He looked up at the universe. “That’s a good one, you sick, sick fuck.” He gave a weary laugh, looking down and pressing the button. Pup-E Q. Barkington hummed to life.

Stu

Stu, humming happily to himself as he danced through the main room, started as his windows turned into a giant screen.

PUP-E BOT 1456 REBOOTED, PROCESSING OCULAR VISION CAMERA…

Stu sighed, too euphoric to be annoyed at the alert. “It’s probably nothing, send it away-“ he jumped back as a giant face filled the screen.

“I love you so much, Pup-E Q. Barkington,” the person cooed in a baby talk voice. “Who’s a good boy?” He babbled, bringing his face closer to the camera. Joosh Futturman.

The fear that overcame Stu was monstrous, he stumbled back every time Joosh’s face got closer to the camera. “What is he doing here?” Stu began to tremble. He clapped his hands three times, clapped the back of his hands four times, and mustered up a five note whistle, summoning the high alert emergency button from the tiles in the floor. He slammed his hand down on it. His killmandos obediently came marching in, ready for their command. “Bring me this boy.” Stu ordered without turning to look at them. “If anyone tries to stop you, kill them.”

The cameras switched, an alert from thirty minutes earlier chimed.

MONS BORDERS DETECT PERSON/PERSONS OUT OF BOUNDS

Stu’s hand paused as he moved to press the confirm button. Had Tiger left again after the night they’d shared? Sending the alert away, the cameras showed earlier footage of little miss Liv Branson fumbling her way through the sand, crossing the Mons’ borders. Stu narrowed his eyes, anger gripping at his throat. After he showed her hospitality, the Mankind Augmented Reality System, even after she’d agreed to accept MARS, was she really fleeing? Stu’s eyebrow twitched as he fumed. He couldn’t believe he’d trusted her, blinded by Tiger’s beauty and her strange fondness of the girl. “Bring her to me as well. I’ll decide whether or not you can kill her after that.”

[gruesomejack]

Vi was sitting on Charlie's thigh, his dark brows furrowed in concentration over warm green eyes. Delicate fingers held a bearded chin still, his other hand moving careful and smooth as he lined his neck with a clean, straight razor. When it was as perfect as he could get it, he pulled the warm, damp towel from the bathroom sink and used it to wipe away what soap and lingering hairs remained.

He'd done a lot already. Just moments ago they were sharing a shower and Victory had not only taken the time to wash and condition Charlie's hair, he washed him head to toe in a light, flowery soap that left his skin feeling soft as it dried. He'd even taken the time to towel the water from his hair and detangle each strand, combing it back from his face. Now, as Charlie watched him, he had a dropper in hand, filling his palm with an oil that smelled like sandalwood. Victory rubbed it between his palms, warming it before bringing them to Charlie's jaw and massaging it into the blonde beard there. He hummed while he did it, smiling as he made sure every hair was coated and conditioned.

"What's that for?" Charlie asked, his eyes moving over the man in his lap.

"So. When you grow out a beard, the hair sucks all the oils and moisture that would usually keep your skin soft." He told him, "If you wash your face and use an oil on the beard after, your skin doesn't dry out."

"Oh..." Charlie quieted and let him finish. He started to push himself up, but he was kept seated by a firm, but gentle hand. Victory grabbed another bottle-- It looked like a lotion of some sort as he emptied some into his hand. This one smelled like the soap he'd used in the shower and before he could try and tell him he didn't need to, Vi was rubbing it into his arms, hands, and shifting off him to smooth it over his thighs and legs.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd taken the time to take care of himself this way. It was clear that was something the other man noticed. Victory was stubborn-- He did everything he could to take care of Charlie, whether it was just as a shoulder to lean against, or by helping him with his medication, or cleaning the trailer. He did so much already and the idea of him doing this too made something in his chest squeeze and ache.

Brows twitching, Charlie swallowed and glanced away. He waited for Vi to finish before gently slipping from his grip and trying to escape towards the bathroom door. A gentle hand hooked onto his wrist and tugged him back. He hesitated and peeked back at Vi with pink cheeks and wet, stinging eyes.

"Where are you going, my love?" He asked, his voice soft while a small frown settled on his face. "If you don't like it, all you had to do was say so."

Charlie hitched quietly and shook his head. Chin trembling, he struggled with his words and cursed, bringing his hands up to scrub at his eyes. "I-I-... You shouldn't have to be doin' all this." He managed, his voice cracking. "I like it, I do, b-but-" A quiet whine bubbled in his throat.

Victory didn't waste a moment. Pulling Charlie back to him, he wrapped his arms around him and held him tight against his chest. "I like to." He told him, "And I love you." Pressing his nose against his cheek, he nuzzled against his skin and pressed a few gentle kisses there. "I don't have to do anything. You know me better than anyone, Charlie. If I didn't want to, I wouldn't." He said, "But you deserve to feel good and I'm terribly obsessed with giving that to you." Pulling back, he took the man's cheeks in his hands and smiled for him. "You're the love of my life. I don't have to pamper you, but I'm going to because it makes you happy... and it makes me happy too."

Charlie hitched again and squeezed his eyes shut. "I-I love you too." He whispered, "I really love you, Vi."

Smile spreading, he ducked in and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "Will you let me get your back?"

Nodding, Charlie let out a soft, shaky breath.

"Good boy. Turn around for me."

[forgottenroderick]

OOC | Roderick's Tiers for Holdings

RODERICK'S PRIORITIES

@forgottenedmund @forgottenmarian ive been meaning to put this down somewhere, so here it shall be! but this is basically his strategy for figuring out who gets what kind of land/spoils/titles/etc -- w the best/most strategic/richest/best stuff going to higher tiers etc!

ok so roderick is def gonna make sure that ~roderick has the best of everything like!!!! this is def a given lakjdsfkljdf but he also knows that rewarding his most faithful servants is a good idea, so that's def a thing, but he ~also knows he doesn't ever wanna invite anyone getting too big for their britches and tryna grab smth out from under him/his fam, and (atm anyway!) even ~he knows he can't hold the whole world by himself wo v powerful allies to back him up. he also believes that family is the thing he can trust most, w those related most closely being worthy of more trust than those ~less related etc!

this must also be balanced w due respect etc towards the crown and such!!

so! when roderick's handing out goodies to the playable characters, what's the priority? ive got some kinda ~tiers, and within these tiers, he tries to keep things pr even, but in a longterm kind of scale/w a sense of ~earning things getting you more etc. so, if you really exert yourself for roderick you'll get rewarded for it!

for example: uncles of heirs is a tier and, if godfrey really acquits himself well and gets smth big out of it, roderick will then put an uncle of arthur's or guin's in a position where he can really acquit himself and thus potentially earn as much as godfrey did! if he doesn't, that's on him, bc roderick gave him equal opportunity! that kind of thing ;D

RODERICK'S TIERS

empress -- now...the empress is dead! buT she just can't stop winning! and dead or alive, she's still the richest woman in the varmont empire! one of the big things roderick likes to do, right, is play his wives off against e/o by making ~them compete to be his next empress like he does w his heir, its unlikely this award will ever be given, but he's ensured this pot is pr large so the prize is def worth having! and boy is it! the empress, alone, is free to rule over her own holdings like any male lord might! i know, jaw-dropper! now, atm, these holdings are in trust and probs stewarded by either alaric or bart (or perhaps even working together bc it is...a lot and they're both busy, as is!), w that regent splitting the revenues w roderick and w guin, as heirs to the late empress, but all to be reworked, should a new empress ever be named. the empress, as part of roderick's winnings, is always awarded a new holding in every single nation. roderick feels it would be a slight against his own glory, were his empress not to be the second most powerful person in the world and the .richest woman alive!....and she is! well, rich..not...alive... ;D anyway ngl this is also a way of helping assuage his guilt over her death, so that's fun too!

alaric -- sorry to roderick's many (living) wives and children, alaric's in a league of his own!! he's the man who has believed in roderick longest, had his back throughout it all, his most trusted compatriot and warrior and bff! after roderick himself, alaric gets the best of everything! roderick knows alaric can and will hold it, and enrich himself and the empire w whatever he gets bc he's proved it! AND he knows that alaric will do all that w roderick's best interests at heart, too! alaric, alone, out of all the tiers can count on getting a new holding in every single country, regardless of how he acquits himself atp! his loyalty is proven!

ot3: succession -- those heirs out here to scooooore!!! they're gonna get the next best stuff!!!! this is their training-to-rule opportunity, really, so use it wisely bc duly pleasing roderick is as close to that as youre ever gonna get!! nd roderick really ~does actually want them to have a holding in every single country but they're now at the age where they have to earn it!! he will be embarrassed if they fail to do this and they will have to suffer the consequences! now, the boys are most likely gonna earn this through conquest: guin will have to do it by negotiating extraordinary trade deals and diplomatic affairs and strategic marriages and such, both within the empire and outside of it. t he boys can do this as well but they MUST do the other as well and guin CANNOT.

queens: that's right, ladies! sleeping w roderick has its privileges, and you get to hold land in ur own name! obv you don't get to do much ~w that or abt it w/o permissions etc, but you get the revenues from it and that prestige too! also a lot of their households will probs be ppl'd by ppl from their various holdings (aka implied allies) etc!! and they can do more or less as they like, so long as they meet w their council of (male!) advisors before doing anything too big, the heads of which are their respective firstborn sons. alaric, bart, and eoin, and any other extraneous male varmont relations there may be also sit each council, and the respective queen's own male relatives may do as well, (as appointed by the presiding son in question,) all presided over by edmund or arthur, respectively, which is honestly probs another big opportunity for them each to learn abt such things so that's smth! in marian's case, sebastian would also be part of this council. before edmund and arthur were born, arthur or bart or perhaps even roderick, himself, was probs the presiding member.

sebastian: same as ot3: scs, but w less pressure and less opulent potential winnings, bc roderick doesn't mind as much if he doesn't have a holding in every country, etc! he also doesn't have access to affairs ~outside the empire, but may negotiate to his heart's content ~within it as long as he doesn't in any way embarrass roderick ofc!

cassandra: so this one's a lil uhhh weird...she can't do anything to earn anything except by pleasaing/displeasing her father or her mother or full bros doing the same! she also doesn't even get to attend the sessions where her lands etc are dealt with! the deal here is basically that these holdings are effectively her dowry. whoever marries her automatically becomes one of THE most powerful men in the world, becoming archduke and count and lord and everything else w a holding in each of roderick's many domains bc, after guin and roderick's wives, cassandra is the wealthiest and most powerful. (powerless) woman in the world via everything she's got. now, its not nearly as nice as what sebastian's got, bc roderick is here to make sure that his own blood is still more powerful than whoever just ~marries in~ etc, but!!! this is an insane level of wealth and power notwithstanding!!! rn, tho, this one's largely seen to by arthur w sebastian's help, since they both got a lot of holdings of their own to attend to. (also arthur defff checks in w his mom abt what she wants done here but that's just out of love/respect and isn't official bc marian is, ofc, a woman alksdjfkljdsf ironically tho i doubt it occurs to him much to check in w cassandra re: what ~she might want even tho these are literally ~her holdings lakjsdfkljsdf)

the church: yeah his one god getting a temple in every single land! and its gonna be bigg and granddd and flashyyyy, and this guy don't have to earn it! its not on the ~choicest pc of land but its still rad af and lotsa ppl would kill for it but they won't get the chance! the god gets his piece no matter what <3 i would guess that royce is running these, largely, but this lowkey falls under the jurisdiction of the entire privy council to deal w should anything come up and roderick is actively involved w designing each temple etc too

so the immediate imperial family now taken care of, roderick starts to think of satellite family. their tiers are still extravagant, but all ~the best has already been divvied up in the above tiers! now, best can mean amany things, and it incorporates both wealth/power AND strategic significance. so yeah! these guys are less trusted and can't rebel as easily, is basically the thought here!

bartholomew: once roderick's immediate family is all taken care, the very next guy roderick's thinking of is his uncle! he loves this guy, and trusts him as much as he trusts anyone, and before there were kids and multiple wives, bart got WAY choicer pieces!!!! so in the early conquests he realllly made out, still!!! he will still be more wealthy/powerful, id imagine, than cassandra's husband, id wager, but he's now much lower on the pecking order than he used to be, as each successive wife and child pops him into a lower bracket than he was, early on. bartholomew, like everyone else, has to earn these but it seems like he's extremely competent so ive no doubt that happens!

eoin/any other extraneous male varmonts: he's only a nephew, sure, but this dude's still a varmont! his ~sons will be varmonts! and that means smth!! so eoin, on his own, probs less wealthy than cassandra's future hubby, since he wasn't alive and accumulating wealth ~that long before roderick started having kids etc, but once he inherits from his dad and unites everything they both have, well, that varmont name still looking pr great!

brothers-in-laws: w all roderick's blood relatives taken care of, its time to start looking in on those in-laws! they def gotta earn this stuff, and a lot of this will depend on politics re: the related queen/heir etc bc if roderick's mad at amira, well, tristan's (look i brought it around to him again in his own post! ;D but...just as an example bahahah) not being put in a position to earn another holding! ~marian's brother is! and so forth lakjdsfalkjsdf this will ultimately also encompass families who intermarry w roderick's kids, etc. (bc in roderick's mind this is def happening someday! too bad only roderick stands in the way... ;D alkjsdflkjdsf) fathers of wives get better pieces than her brothers, older brothers get better pieces than younger ones, etc. cassandra's husband's family would get lesser pieces than the families of the queens, or of the princes' wives, since his social standing would be lesser. guin's hsuabdn's family would get more than sebastian's and it'd be a whole thing abt whether he gets more than arthur or edmund's bride's families but probs he would?

council members: here's where your alistair greys and your alexander royces come in! they too have to earn it -- in war, yes, but largely w good politicking! roderick likes that thing you did? you get a holding! you get a holding! you displeased him? no holding for you! etc

other loyal lords: earned by extraordinary deeds and pleasing roderick! you're a lord who distinguishes yourself in. me way? you get another holding courtesy the god's chosen! congrats! its good to be you!!! so yeah, roderick keeps lands to himself in this strata and a lesser one so that he can hand them out as rewards to those who earn them in his mind. beware tho! he will also give this strata of holding to the tier below if his lords have displeased him in some way, playing the commons and lords off against e/o just as he does w everyone else! (this also tends to help funnel rebels towards local landowners rather than himself -- this is another benefit @forgottenrian unwittingly offers roderick, which he's happy to exploit at any time!)

anyone else: roderick gets the significance of rewarding extraordinary effort! so he ~will raise you from nothing into a lord (w a lesser holding ngl but still!), if you're somehow epic enough as an ally to him/he happens to notice you for whatever eason and is randomly feeling generous/wanting to make the point of his generosity felt to his underlings! this category of man, who owes everything to roderick, he knows will fight the hardest and prove the most loyal. he exploits that

[lovebvni]

Hi, I go by Axel.

I was wondering if I could get a message from my DR S/O and anything that I may need to hear right now.

Cheers, my dear!

Hello, Axel!! I have a friend who goes by that name n i miss him sm <3.

Whenever I meet an axel, they’re very strong willed. They have their life set with them. They don’t let anyone take over their life or energy. Keep that with you!

Messages From Your Desired Reality Significant Other

[idk why but it felt really funny to type out the whole words “desired reality significant other”]

Halley’s Comet by Billie Eilish came to mind when I was typing the intro. Specifically, the outro of the song.

“I’m sittin’ in my brothers room. Haven’t slept in a week, or two (or two). I think I might’ve fallen in love. What am I to do?”

they’re thinking about you! I don’t know if they have siblings or not, but they are DEFFO talking to someone about you. they’re trying to get their thoughts and feelings straight about you. They know that they’re yours, but they want to know if you’re theirs.

Doja Cat’s Agora Hills came to mind. Specifically the “no you hang up, you hang up!” part. Doja wanted her partner to hang up because she was so in love. She wanted them to call the shots, maybe that’s how your partner wants you to be. The more ‘dominant’ one.

Jesus, now we have NSFW coming through 😭😭

Good Form by Nicki Minaj came on. I don’t see specifically the actual message of the song coming through much, but rather the title.

I’m getting more feminine energy - so excuse if I type ‘her’ at all.

They fantasize about you, a lot. “I fantasize about cha all the time, every night” from a Britney Spears song (I forgot…) keeps coming to mind. They’ll finger themselves or jack off to the idea of you. They desire you so hard. I get they almost say your name when orgasming. thinking about you praising them whenever the come and/or overstimulate themselves.

I also get they almost ‘practice’ for you. If you have a dick, they may use a dildo to ‘practice’ for taking you. If not, they use themselves in a way that you would like. Trying new things on themselves and (like actually) writing them down and taking notes. I get they’re not a toy user, but they deffo would for you.

They’re almost devoted to you. Like seriously, freak in the sheets energy. A little bit of pervertedness in this too.

I’m really sorry if you’re not into this 😭😭 I know some ppl aren’t n this would be a jaw dropper for them!!!

The colour blue kept coming through. There’s lots of love and encouragement from them. They miss you so much and they can’t stop thinking about you. Almost obsessed energy. Only eyes for you. They’re really excited to see you <3 !!!

Go and shift to be with them!! They’re so excited <3

I love this energy so much btw — lowkey reminds me of myself to my soulmate!!! <3

[thomasstaples]

Time to put my dad hat on and tell some dad jokes (None of these are original)

1: Where do sharks go for vacation? Finland! (I know, a real jaws-dropper) 2: How do you know when a computer is full? It tells you it can't take another byte! 3: Why are fish so easy to weigh? They come with their own scales 4: Why bluetooth speaker wasn't working, so I threw it into a lake. Now it's Syncing. 5: I have a pen that writes underwater, it can write other words too. 6: What do the british call a short mother? A minimum. 7: I wrote a book on how to not fall down stairs. It's a step by step guide. Reblog with more if you want

[chicknparm]

69 or 98 or 8

69. ivy - Taylor Swift

It wouldn't be right to do one of these without at least one Taylor song, so we got pretty lucky that you picked this number! Nice!

This song gets thrown around by a lot of swifties as an example of how good her songwriting has gotten, and I think it is quite a good example, but not really for the reasons they think. One could easily read the lyrics and dismiss her verbosity as pretentious set-dressing; a cynical shortcut to make herself and her songs appear deeper than they really are. I think the way some fans talk about her lyrics invites this kind of reading, but I promise you that indulging in that line of critique is doing a disservice to both the music and yourself.

The story told in ivy is one of conflict and infidelity; the narrator is having a passionate affair with someone else while her loveless, lifeless marriage gathers dust. The poetic language, instrumentation, and tone of Swift's voice all evoke much older forms of storytelling. Evocative stories are a cornerstone of country music, but have fallen out of favor in recent decades, and ivy seems to want to reach back even farther and remind the listener more of Jane Austen than Loretta Lynn (in fact, ivy wasn't out of place when it was used as a needle-drop in the Dickinson series). The melody is dark and tense, as are the dancing arpeggios on the guitar, as she sings verses about the pair being magnificently cursed; drinking her husband's wine and grieving for the living. The tension gets resolved in the chorus, where the melody warms up and she exclaims with relief (the use of "goddamn" feels more profane here than many of her uses of "fuck") that her "pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand taking mine."

The warmth becomes heat becomes fire when we reach a classic Taylor Swift Bridge where she proclaims "So yeah, it's a fire, it's a goddamn blaze in the dark, and you started it." From there, we never return to the tension of the verses, instead riding out the chorus until the end, with the narrator resigning herself to an imperfect life half-loved, crooning "my house of stone, your ivy grows, and now I'm covered in you" as electric guitar peaks its head out of the background.

This one's pretty good.

98. Psycho Killer- Talking Heads

cw: french

I didn't know he was speaking french in parts of this until I played this song in Rock Band 2. I couldn't understand a lot of the lyrics when my parents played Bruce Springsteen tapes so I didn't think this was that weird. I still don't know what the french sections mean, aside from qu’est-ce que c’est, perhaps we'll never know.

Anyway this song is a classic, obviously. The bassline is rock solid but still has enough movement to keep the rhythm fun and danceable despite the slower tempo. David Byrne is an all-time great vocalist and he gives a great performance. I, too, hate people when they're not polite. This is such an obvious choice that you'd think it would be overdone and cliche to use it in movies, and maybe it is, but I still pop for it every time. It's like using Fortunate Son in Vietnam movies, sometimes the obvious choice is the right one.

8. Savior Complex - Phoebe Bridgers

I liked Phoebe Bridgers' first album, but Punisher was an improvement in basically every way. Savior Complex was a literal jaw-dropper the first time I listened to it, coming at the end of a devastating three song run including Chinese Satellite and Moon Song. Some musicians just have an ear for perfect pop melodies. Call their songwriting sophomoric (and you'd be correct), but power pop writers like Billie Joe Armstrong and Rivers Cuomo have always reminded me a bit of Paul McCartney in their ability to craft memorable, joyous, sometimes anthemic hooks and melodies seemingly in their sleep. Another skill of McCartney's, which far fewer are able to replicate, is his ability to write a melody that plays your heartstrings like a fiddle. Truly skilled musicians can tell a story and take you on an emotional journey without words, and Phoebe proves more than capable of that here. And I don't know if you've heard, but she's pretty fucking good at the "words" bit too.

Savior Complex might be my favorite Phoebe Bridgers song, even though there are plenty of others with stronger lyrics. But that melody, man. Those strings. The guitar nervously walking the bass notes around. The way her voice flutters when the title drops. Her breathy falsetto as she pleads that she's too tired, and a bad liar. Other songs got more attention on this album (and they deserve that attention), but Savior Complex is an understated masterpiece in my opinion. Just a gorgeous, gorgeous song. I love it so much.

[thewintersoldier]

Hello 💜

This set is absolutely gorgeous. Like, jaw-droppingly stunning. I don't know why it seems like the better, more complicated sets never get as many notes 🙁 but this set is so amazing it makes me weep.

https://at.tumblr.com/thewintersoldier/705733681810227200/wesj90y4zy6k

Please when you have time can you do a tutorial for the first or second gif?

(I promise I wasn't just trying to butter you up with that opening - I've been showing this set to everyone I know, it is truly beautiful)

Lol dude you’re totally good thank you ♥️♥️♥️ but yeah, I can do a tutorial! Everything’s under the cut!

Alright, so first things first, I’m going to assume everyone looking has a basic knowlege of coloring gifs with photoshop.

Now, the biggest thing is you want your two gifs that you are blending to have a lot of contrast. So for my first gif, I chose a scene that I could make the background pretty much pure white but have the subject in it be as close to straight black as possible.

So this is what I start with

Bucky’s legs are pretty dark here, but since the background is mostly shades of grey, I know that I can get it to lighten up to white pretty easily. To do this, I create a layers level, selet the white eye dropper tool and click around on the background until I get a white that I like. I ended up choosing the big of white sky that you see up towards the top right hand side of the image. This was the area that was already closest to white already and I don’t want to blow out the whole image by selecting an area to make what that was too dark to start with

And now I’m here.

I now create another layers level and select the black eye dropper tool.

and it takes me here

This is going to help make your blacks blacker while keeping the white’s still pretty while and you need as much contrast as you can get for this to work well. 

At this point, I now add brightness and contrast and exposure layers and play with them until I get the whites as white as I can while also keeping the blacks black and I end up here. 

What I also like to do to help the gif blend better is add a hue and saturation layer. From there, I’ll go and reduce the saturation on all the colors I don’t want that are in the image. So For this gif, I just went a head and turned the saturation down to -100 on the cyans and yellows to remove the little bit of yellow and cyan that I’m seeing.

So now about the only color I have going on is a bit of red in the skin of his hand. However, looking at this the skin you can see there, it’s going to make blending the second gif on top of it a bit more difficult and I’d like it as close to black as I can get to the second gif I overlay looks as good as it can. The way that I tackle this is I added a black to white gradient map. 

Which at this point pretty much turns the gif black and white. If you don’t want it to be straight up black and white though, I suggest adding the gradient map, setting it to soft light and playing around with the opacity until you like how it looks. 

But this is what I’m left with for the first gif.

Now for the second gif, this is what I’m starting with

The only color I’m looking to preserve here is going to be the red, so what I’m going to do is follow the steps I took on the first gif with the two level layers, and brightness and contrast/exposure until I’m happy with it. I then also add the hue and saturation layer to remove the yellows I see in the image. 

This leaves me here. But I want to add a bit more contrast to make the book pop out even more. So I add an exposure layer to make the brights a bit more bright and then balance it out with the blacks.

My last step is I now add a gradient map of black to red because I want to bring out the reds a bit more here and increase the contrast.

I then set this layer to soft light and played around with the opacity (ended up with 17%)

and we get here

I find the more contrast you can put in, the better gifs will blend together. If they’re all sitting at the same range of shades, it’s just murky and you can’t really see what’s going on. Now at this point, I convert both these gifs to smart objects and place them on a canvas together. I do this my creating a new project, making the background black, and then converting the black background to a smart object as well. 

I then drag and drop both smart objects of the gifs into this new canvas. I keep 

The put the first gif on bottom and then place the second on top and set it to screen. For this step, play around with which gif you think looks better set to screen and which one looks better just set to normal. With all the contrast I have in it, I find it really didn’t make a difference either way. This is what I get from doing this:

These blend together well because the colors in the second gif don’t show up well on white, but they will show up on the blacks. If your contrast isn’t as intense, you can create layer masks on the gifs and erase parts you don’t want showing, but keep in mind, since the gif is moving you have to be careful about where you erase. I do this sometimes, but frankly it’s a pain in the ass and if I can avoid it, I will. I much prefer to blend just with setting a gif to screen if I can. 

Another thing to add, the second gif does have a pretty dark background which also helps make the gif blend a lot easier. If you’re putting a white background on a white background you’re just going to end up not being able to see much of anything. 

Now, my last step for the coloring is I add a Gradient Fill layer. 

and these are going to be my settings for it:

I now then set the gradient fill to Multiply and we get this effect:

It is important to note, this needs to go on top of both of the other gifs or it’s going to mess with the blending. For example, if it put this between the two gifs, it turns the white background to red, which is going to give the second gif more color to show up on which will then make it look like this

and since we want it to really only show up on the black, putting it anywhere but on top of them isn’t going to work. 

I played around with the text until I got ended up here

I have a tutorial for how I do this effect here. 

The font’s I used were Champagne & Limousines for the white text, set to 16px

and Doctor Glitch set to 72px, with a flag warp text, which you can find here.

I hoped this helped! If you need anything explained in more depth or you have any other questions, just shoot me an ask!

[byneddiedingo]

Tom Cruise in Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)

Cast: Jim Beaver, Jeremy Blackman, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Sr., Henry Gibson, Clark Gregg, Luis Guzmán, Philip Baker Hall, Felicity Huffman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Thomas Jane, Ricky Jay, Craig Kvinsland, William H. Macy, William Mapother, Alfred Molina, Julianne Moore, Michael Murphy, Patton Oswalt, Mary Lynn Rajskub, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards, Paul F. Tompkins, Melora Walters. Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson. Cinematography: Robert Elswit. Production design: William Arnold, Mark Bridges. Film editing: Dylan Tichenor. Music: Jon Brion.

Paul Thomas Anderson's movies are so loaded with crazy stuff that it's possible to recall only some of the jaw-droppers in them, like the "milkshake" scene in There Will Be Blood (2007) or the rain of frogs in Magnolia. That's why it's always worth rewatching them after some passage of time. There is so much more going on in Magnolia than I remembered. It's really the detail work that comes to the fore when you watch it again. The film has that loose, semi-improvised quality that I have come to admire in Godard. I'm talking especially about Philip Seymour Hoffman's touching performance as Jason Robards's nurse, John C. Reilly's naive cop, Melora Walters's scattered druggie, Philip Baker Hall's disintegrating game show host, and Julianne Moore's descent into hysteria. Most of the attention on the first viewing went to Tom Cruise, who lets out the manic quality that we had only glimpsed before in his work. The performance earned him an Oscar nomination, as over-the-top and supposedly out-of-character performances tend to do. (We would later, in the Katie Hughes era and as his commitment to Scientology came to the fore, come to wonder how out of character this manic Cruise really was.) I think the movie is too long (it runs 188 minutes), and that perhaps some of its segments exist only because of Anderson's commitment to the actors who made his breakthrough film, Boogie Nights (1997). I'm thinking here of William H. Macy's character, which seems to me like a dangling thread in the fabric of the film -- though it does result in a wonderful scene in which Macy and Henry Gibson compete for the attention of a hunky bartender (Craig Kvinsland). As for the frogs, I refuse to speculate on their "meaning," preferring the reaction of Stanley (Jeremy Blackman): "This happens. This is something that happens."