#3rd is up in the air as of now but I'm considering a few

[maareyas]

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad(?) Werehog

once again feeling impatient, so here's the full illustration that I'm gonna try giving a little bit of animation ✨ so I don't entirely forget how to use DragonBones and After Effects.

The art style for this was once again HEAVILY inspired by Chocobo Tales DS (2006). Which, seems to be one of the more obscure games that have a vicegrip on my brain lol. god i wish i still had a working ds so i can re-experience it properly

[agathaandbrienneslesbian]

Heart of Gold - Part 2

Miranda Hilmarson x Mounted!Police!Fem!Reader

HELLO EVERYONE <3 I finally managed to finish Part 2 of my Miranda Hilmarson Fic. I'm sorry it took so long but it's finally here. I hope you enjoy this little addition to the first part. I'm not yet sure if I should make a 3rd part but if you guys want one, I'll look into it <3

Huge thanks to @weemssapphic for proofreading this part <3

Disclaimer: English is not my first language!

Warnings: Talk of bullying, talk of death and dying, descriptions of blood, death and being shot (I'm sorry... this is an angsty one)

Authors Note: Hurt/Comfort with a shit ton of Angst. I hope you guys enjoy <3

Words: 2'400+

AO3 Link

Taglist

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“Why do you care so much about me?”

You look at her, unable to answer the question. Should you tell her? Should you take the risk and risk the friendship you’ve built? Miranda looked at you intensely, chest heaving from being dragged around. You tried to collect your thoughts but just as you were about to answer, Miranda dropped her head, looking down at her feet. A sigh of defeat left her lips.

“It’s a joke to you as well isn’t it?” she asked through clenched teeth, tears threatened to spill from her eyes any second. You looked at her in shock.

“No! No Mir that's not the case!!! That's not the case at all-”

“Save it!” Miranda looked up at you, eyes red, tears wetting her face as she furiously wiped the back of her hand over her cheeks. 

“I should have known… you’re like everyone else… I- I should have never trusted you…” and with that, Miranda stormed out before you could say anything else. 

The defeat on her face, the betrayal, the way she looked so full of hope only for it to be replaced by pain, a pain you felt right in this moment with her. How could you have fucked up this bad… you should have just told her… you should have just SHOWN her. You had to catch up to her. Without further hesitation your feet carried you through the stables towards the parking lot only to see her drive off in a hurry.

“Shit… SHIT'' Defeated, you return to the stables to gather your things and leave. You’d see her tomorrow! You’d get your chance to talk to her again… hopefully.

—

However, luck wasn’t on your side. Miranda had started avoiding you, leaving the room when you entered, walking the other direction when you walked towards her. And this had been going on for a few weeks now.

It hurt. 

You knew better than to follow her but… it hurt. After a particularly busy day, you went to get some drinks with your colleagues, wishing you were with Miranda. A heavy sigh left your lips as you absentmindedly picked at the label of your beer. You felt sick…

“Hey guys… I’m gonna go home… I don’t feel too well…”

You stood, handing your beer to your friend, and gathered your things. Of course you were met with protest but you just ignored it, and soon enough they figured that it might be best to just let you leave. So that is what you did. 

Exiting the pub you felt the cold breeze on your skin. The air was a bit chilly and it smelled like rain. Cool darkness enveloped you and you stood there for a minute, just feeling the breeze on your skin and the smell of rain. When you opened your eyes again, that’s when you saw her. 

Miranda anxiously stepped on a cigarette she’d just finished. It looked as if she were considering coming into the pub or not. She hadn’t seen you yet. Should you approach her? Go back inside? Before a choice could be made, she looked up, making eye contact. You were expecting her to run away, to flee from your loving and pained gaze once again but…. She didn’t. She held your gaze, waiting. 

“Miranda-“

“Can we walk?”

She interrupted. You looked at her, surprise painted all over your face as she just waited for you to reply. Quickly, you nodded, walking over to her and following.

“Miranda… I am so sorry. If I have done something that hurt you please just let me know I-“

“Don’t apologise… I should-“

The blonde took a deep breath, shoving her hands in her vest pockets and looking down at her feet, kicking some stones around as she walked with you. She had missed you… but she needed time to think.

“I should have let you answer that night… I am sorry…”

Suddenly, Miranda stopped, looking out over the beach and the dark ocean. You stood beside her, your eyes trained on her face. You had to tell her how you feel. You had to let her know that she is worthy of love and affection. That she is beautiful, wonderful, perfect. In your eyes, Miranda was perfect. 

“I care because you’re worth it.”

Miranda was avoiding your gaze, but you saw her eyebrows furrow. This just spurred you on more.

“I care because you are worth the time and energy. I care because you are the sweetest and most adorable and kind person on this planet. I care because you lit up my world when I met you the very first time. You make my days better and I cannot fall asleep or wake up without thinking of you.”

Miranda looked down at you, her eyes, usually so blue and bright now seemed grey, and were welling up with tears. Carefully, you took her hand into yours, giving her a reassuring squeeze with your hands.

“I care because I fell in love with you…. Miranda… I love you”

You said it, admitted your feelings, and it sent a rush of anxiety down your spine, leaving its sticky tingling feeling behind. You were expecting her to leave again, to get upset at you… what you didn’t expect were her lips suddenly pressed against yours, a big hand with long, slim fingers, gently cupping your cheek and pulling you closer.

Miranda had hoped you would say that. It took her a while to realise… several weeks. She simply wasn’t used to it. No one had ever shown her the care and affection you had. And she found herself falling for you. Afraid you would hate her if she admitted it, she kept quiet.

But that night…. She had to know. 

However, as soon as the question left her lips, she felt herself getting anxious. She was terrified. What if you said you pitied her and that’s why you ‘acted’ like you cared so much? So, before you could answer, she pulled away. She ran away. To protect herself, not noticing how much her actions had hurt you. Until she saw how your smile faded, how your eyes stopped shining, how you seemed to have lost your joy. And she hated herself for hurting you so much. 

“I am sorry Y/N… I… love you too. I was just anxious and-“

Now it was your turn to interrupt her with a kiss. Your arms wrapping around her shoulders, holding her close. You didn’t need to hear more. It was no secret that Miranda was oftentimes anxious. Who could blame her… she’s been through a lot. 

“I’ve heard everything I needed to hear Mir… you don’t have to apologise. You’re okay. I am not mad at you. I’m glad you told me…”

Your whispers and words of affirmation and understanding caused Miranda to completely dissolve. Her tears flowing freely as she held onto you, finding comfort in your embrace. She did not know how she deserved you, but she would be an idiot if she’d ever let go of you. You loved her… and she loved you. 

—

And so it happened that the two of you became the cutest couple at the police station (at least according to you two. Who cares what the others think).

More often than not, you brought Miranda a coffee, some treats or even flowers. You started spending almost every waking moment together, only separating to go home and sleep. 

Both of you wanted to take it slow. There was no hurry. You weren’t going anywhere and neither was Miranda. The love you experienced in each other's embrace and kisses was enough to keep you two glued together. No force could ever part you… not even a routine patrol that ended more dangerous for you than expected. 

—

It was like every Wednesday afternoon.

You were patrolling the promenades before going back to the stables and calling it a day. Already excited to spend time with Miranda after work, you did not realise that the altercation you rode towards, would end up being almost fatal for you. 

Of course it had to happen.

You knew you shouldn’t have split up with your colleague. But there was no harm in thinking that if he took the lower road, you could take the higher one and still be close enough to hear each other. 

The second you realised that there was a gun pointed at you, you started calling for your colleague. Reaching for your own gun, you suddenly felt a piercing pain in your shoulder. A BANG was heard and then your ears were ringing. The pain in your shoulder increased, dragging its disgusting talons over your neck to the back of your head, digging deep into your skin. You started feeling faint, head pounding and everything started looking fuzzy and far away. At first you hadn’t even noticed that your horse was galloping towards the stables. Your hand just instinctively grabbed onto the horn of the saddle and your grip tightened. 

Artemis was huffing, whining and neighing the closer she got to the stables. A place she knew was safe. She felt your shift in energy, understanding the severity of the situation more than you. The smart horse she was, she stopped in front of the station, making a ruckus to get the other officers’ attention.

Miranda looked out the window, expecting to see you waving at her but what she saw, sent her into a panic. She rushed out to you and Artemis, gently pulling you from your mare and asking you questions. What exactly she asked, you didn’t know… you didn’t hear. All you knew was that you were in Miranda’s arms and it soothed the pain you were experiencing. 

Meanwhile Miranda tried to stay calm. She had called the ambulance, staying with you and holding you close, trying to stop the bleeding. Her hands, your shirt and her sleeves were covered in thick, dark red, warm blood. Your blood. 

Miranda tried really hard to keep it together, to stay strong for you, but she couldn’t keep the sobs in. Tears coated her soft pale skin, huffs and sobs escaped her lips, frantic breathing accompanied by the fear that she could lose you. She couldn't lose you… Miranda wouldn’t survive without you, she knew that. She needed you. She loved you. 

The next few hours were a blur for Miranda. You were unconscious, the medics doing everything they could to keep you alive as she accompanied you, holding your hand throughout the entire drive to the hospital. There, you were separated. 

But Miranda didn’t let up. 

She waited, and waited, and waited. Minutes turned to hours, hours filled with anxiety, fear and pain. She did not even wash up, her hands, shirt and trousers still soaked in your blood. Now cold, sticking to her skin, as if death itself latched onto her. 

It wasn’t until 4 hours later that the nurse finally went to fetch Miranda. She did ask her to at least wash her arms before bringing her to your room. There you laid, unconscious, but breathing. You were breathing. Miranda immediately went to your side, gently brushing some hair from your face, caressing your cheek, and holding your warm, soft hand. 

“I need you… please don’t leave me just yet…” She whispered.

“I love you. Come back to me…” She begged.

“I can’t lose you..”

She breathed. 

Miranda hoped you would hear her. She would tell you about all the things she wanted to experience with you, places she wanted to show you and future plans she had dreamed about. For more than 48 hours, Miranda sat by your side. The nurses had to force her to at least eat and drink something if she wasn’t going to sleep or go home to get changed. She sat by your side and wouldn’t leave. It was as if Miranda was in a frozen state. Holding your hand and pressing kisses to your cheek and forehead. She was only ripped from her trance as the heart monitor flatlined. She shot up, calling out for help, screaming, begging, sobbing, but no one heard. She was alone… and you were gone… —

“Miranda?”

Suddenly, Miranda felt a soft hand on her arm, another on her cheek, wiping away tears that escaped her eyelids once more. She opened her eyes, finding herself in her bedroom. Her breathing ragged, panic evident on her face, she started looking around. Where were you? “Miranda… darling… It’s okay. It was just a bad dream…” Her eyes shot to the direction of the voice, and she started sobbing. You wrapped your arms around her, pulling her close and kissing her head. Miranda’s arms immediately wrapping around your middle, so as not to hurt your healing shoulder. She pulled you close and that's when she realised where she was. Miranda was at home, in her bed, with you holding her, consoling her.

“I am here Mir. I won’t go anywhere… I promised you I won’t.” Your soft voice brought her peace. This wasn’t the first time she awoke in this manner. Once the nurses and doctors were happy with your recovery, they allowed you to go back home. Miranda insisted you live with her, so she could take care of you and protect you. Of course you said yes. But ever since then, Miranda was plagued by nightmares. One worse than the other, the outcome was the same every time. She couldn’t save you. She couldn’t protect you. You were gone, leaving her alone in her pain and loneliness. 

But it was just a dream. Every night she would feel your arms around her, your soft voice rousing her from the hell she fell into. Every night, you would reassure her that you were still there, that you survived, and that it was thanks to her quick thinking. Every night, you would dry her tears and have her fall asleep with her head on your chest, hearing your heartbeat. You were alive, and you were with her. It would take some time for the two of you to overcome the trauma, the horrors both of you faced each night. But you would overcome it. Together. Miranda could overcome it with your love, and you with hers. And her heart of Gold.

So, just like every night, you reminded her of that. A kiss pressed to her head as you noticed her relaxing in your arms, sleep ready to take her again. You whispered, so as not to wake her again: “Miranda?”

“Hm?”

“I love you”

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End Note: As always, reblogs, comments and likes are well appreciated <3 Taglist: @vivendraws @erinyaya @phexyce @aemilia19 @weemssapphic @gela123 @winterfireblond @Xxmecverxx @unicorniusfallapatorious @gwenistheloml @yourgaeyisshowing @readingtheentrails

[fabuloustrash05]

My Top 5 Favorite TMNT 2012 Ships

5) Mikey x Renet

I feel we as a fandom has come to an unanimous agreement that all the canon romances/couples given to us in the 2012 series are bad/toxic/poorly written/inc3st/etc with THEM being the only exception (I'll talk about that ship soon), however I think Renetangelo is the other exception.

They’re certainly not perfect with their first problem being Mikey kinda “cheating” on Renet with Shinigami (they weren’t together or officially dating so it’s not cheating, but it still felt wrong that it was never acknowledged that Mikey was pretty much a skirt chaser, crushing on two girls at once), but I still really love their dynamic and relationship. Mikey and Renet are undoubtedly cute together, just two silly goofballs having a fun time and enjoying the other’s company with the occasional flirting and kiss on the cheek (which btw SO CUTE). Renetangelo is that couple that I feel works great both romantically and platonically. If you told me they’re best friends, I’d believe it, if you told me they’re a couple, I’d also believe it. That's how well they work off each other. I'm okay with them being a couple or just being friends.

Season 5 also practically confirms they’re together on two occasions with Mikey saying him and Renet are in a long distance relationship in the When Worlds Collide special, and Renet hinting during the Halloween arc that she and Mikey have some kind of future together.

Overall, I really like Renetangelo and I love seeing these two together. From Mikey's puppy love expressions when he sees her to their overall personalities clashing so well together. This ship is very underrated and needs more love.

4) Slash x Alopex

Btw this edit was made by @robins-treasure <33

Yes, this is a ship that exist and I take FULL CREDIT FOR THE CREATION OF THIS COUPLE! I AM THE REASON THIS SHIP IS ALIVE AND SAILING! YOU ARE WELCOME!!

Slash x Alopex (or what I like to call them Slaopex) is my rarepair of the 2012 series and I’m so happy that I’m slowly getting more and more people one board with it. It started off as just a random silly idea of mine, like "What if Slash got a gf?" and then I thought "Well, who could I ship him with?" and then my brain went "What if Slash and Alopex got together? That would be funny". I laughed at the idea, but the more I thought of it, the more I started to like it. I began coming up with headcanons and a story of their relationship, and the more I did that, the more I fell in love with this concept and the potential of this couple. So much that it placed 4th in my top 5!

I fell so in love with them I even ended up writing a short fanfic of how I headcanon they would first meet and the beginning of their blooming romance (you can read it HERE). But in short, Slash runs into Alopex during a late night patrol and helps her beat up some crooks who were attacking her. The two get to talking, sharing a tender moment before parting ways, with Alopex now being the only thing on Slash's mind <3

I also reference this ship a few times in my fanfic Courting a Salamandrian. Consider it a continuation of that little oneshot.

3) Leo x Casey

While everyone else was shipping Jonatello, I was shipping Caseynardo! I was never a fan of Jonatello, I don't hate it, just couldn't get on board nor understand the hype around it, but then one day I stumbled across fanart of Leo x Casey and I thought "Huh... these two actually look cute together!" and quickly sunk into the rabbit hole. Looking up every little bit of fanart, fanfics and edits I could find.

Liking this ship this much for it to be ranked 3rd in my Top 5 favorite TMNT 2012 ships says a lot. This ship really grew on me very quickly, so much so that I wrote a fanfiction on them! I wrote a Caseynardo fanfic before writing a Renetangelo one (you can read it HERE), which is funny cause I've been shipping Renetangelo since the show was airing, and I didn't start liking Caseynardo till long after the show ended! That says a lot about how much these boy effected me! LOL

My whole HC for this ship is that they bonding a lot in season 3 at the farmhouse which led to a mutual romantic attraction. Eventually they secretly date without telling anyone but due to the circumstances and problems going on in Leo’s life, he was unable to keep the relationship going. They agree to just be friends, which Casey promising to wait for him. It’s basically the “right person, wrong time” trope. But I like to headcanon that by season 5, Leo and Casey finally get together officially and made their relationship known to everyone else. The only one not surprised was Raphael who knew about those two since day one, cause he was stuck being their third wheel/wingman XD

2) Karai x Shinigami

I will NEVER forgive Nickelodeon for be too cowardly to make this happen. They'd rather ship inc3st and force Shini to be straight than give us our goth kunoichi lesbians. For shame, Nickelodeon... For shame...

Not to mention that one of the writers of the show, Peter Di Cicco, shipped them! Calling them his "OTP" and referring to Shini as "Karai's girlfriend", and even pitching an alternate ending to the series where Splinter and Shredder make up but the only thing they fight over now is who gets to walk Karai down the aisle during her wedding to Shinigami XD

The moment I saw Shinigami, I instantly thought "Oh that's a lesbian and she and Karai are a thing". I really love their dynamic, their friendship and the potential they have in being a cute couple of childhood friends to lovers. You can see how much they care about each other. The fury in Shini's voice when she confronts Super Shredder, "I will destroy you, Monster! For everything you have done to Karai!". Shini is supportive of Karai and is always the one down to start chaos with you. Makes me wish we could've learned more about these two and their history. I like to think they've known each other since they were little, being childhood friends while training and growing up in The Foot Clan.

My personal headcanon is that Shinigami has had a crush on Karai since they were young, like preteens, and is so loyal to her and willing to help Karai not just because she is her best friend but also because she loves her. However, she is scared to tell Karai how she really feels because she's worried she won't reciprocate and it'll ruin their long time friendship. Luckily, Mikey is there for support!

Not to toot my own horn, but I did write a fanfic relating to this concept that you can read HERE

1) Raphael x Mona Lisa

What have I not already said about RaMona? If you follow me then you know full well that these two are my life. I’ve written multiple fanfics based on them on AO3 (LINK HERE) and have done a few analysis posts about them as well here on Tumblr. They have consumed my life. I love them so much!

Overall, I believe they are the healthiest ship the series offered us, and the best one in canon. I know some complain that they were rushed and how they got together too quickly, but in truth I can understand why Raph and Mona got into a relationship as quickly as they did. They are both warriors with the mindset of "I might die tomorrow" so it makes sense they'd be open and honest about their feelings right from the start just in case something happens to either one of them in battle. You only live once, you know? And I like how open Raph is when it comes to his feelings for Mona. From the very start, the moment he realized he liked her, never once did he deny it. Even when his brothers and friends laughed or scolded him, Raph proudly admitted he likes her with no ounce of shame. Mikey even points out that Mona is "bigger, stronger and a better fighter" than Raph and him responding by saying "Exactly! What a woman..." The boy does not care that she will be the pants in their relationship. He loves that she's stronger than him, bigger than him, a better fighter than him. We even see how excited he gets when she suggests training with him someday. Not to mention how we also learn in the show that these two have written love letters to each other during the course of the season 4 space adventures. Their personailties clash so well together. Both being strong willed warriors who put their loved ones first. Both can be stubborn and jump to conclusions quickly. We even see that Mona can have a short temper much like Raph. Both are ready to kick some ass with anyone who talks shit (Raph defending Mona but then Mona defending herself *chef's kiss*)

It's not talked about often among the fandom/shippers, but the fact that Mona is as much in love with Raph as he is with her is what truly makes this ship great. While the other 2012 ships make it unclear (writing wise) if the love interest truly feels the exact same way towards her Turtle she's shipped with, but for Mona her feelings are obvious. She's the one who makes the first move during all of their kisses/nose nuzzles, she's the one to say "I love you" first" and do I have to remind y'all of the push up scene? XD

These two are obsessed with one another. You can tell and see just how in love they are with one another. Even with only appearing in about 4-5 episodes, they truly left a major impact on shipping in this fandom. I feel it has come to a unanimous agreement that this ship is the best (canon) couple this show gave us. I love them, I love their relationship, I love what these two have done for the show and this fandom. They were able to bring back a classic ship from the 87 series and add so much more to them! I hope we get to see more of this couple in future generations. They certainly aren't a perfect couple, they got their flaws too, but overall they are truly the best couple in the 2012 series. <333

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: August 2023 ~ 

🕶️ Happy September!!! 🌻

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Youtube and other platforms. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post! 

New breakdowns are coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff!  -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green = seen/currently watching)

🌟 Stay Still - August 1st (Hong Kong)  🌟 Sing My Crush - August 2nd (South Korea)   🌟 The New Employee (movie version) - August 3rd (South Korea)  🌟 Love in Translation - August 5th (Thailand)  🌟 My Personal Weatherman - August 11th (Japan)  🌟 Love Class Season 2 - August 11th (South Korea)  🌟 Only Friends - August 12th (Thailand) ✅ 🌟 Dangerous Romance - August 18th (Thailand) ✅ 🌟 I Feel You Linger in the Air - August 18th (Thailand) 🌟 Friend. Boy Friend - August 19th (Thailand)  🌟 Lucky Love - August 20th (Thailand)  🌟 Casanova Begins - August 20th (Thailand) 🌟 My Universe - August 20th (Thailand)  🌟 Kiseki: Dear to Me - August 22nd (Taiwan)  🌟 My Plantito - August 23rd (Philippines) 🌟 Why R U? Korean Remake - August 24th (South Korea)  🌟 Man Suang - August 25th (Thailand, cinema release) 🌟 Firstly "Like" You (movie) - August 27th (Thailand) 🌟 Crazy Handsome Rich - August 28th (Thailand) 

Monthly likes/dislikes

❣️ Only Friends - I mean. do I have to add anything lmao. that shit has me in a tight ass chokehold lmao. there are a few minor things that I wish were different but overall I'm obsessed and it's nice to have something that lives up to the hype. we don't get that very often. Thumbs in up.

👎🏻 Dangerous Romance - so far I don't like it, let's hope it gets better.

New series & movie announcements

🎥 Fermat Kitchen (manga adaption) - Date TBA (Japan)

🎥 Love Supremacy Zone - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 Blossom Campus - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 A Secret Love (starring Kimmon W. & Kut T.) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Organize The Chaos - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Iridescent Love - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 The Hell Guards - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Wheels and Axle (movie) - Coming November 17th (Japan)

🎥 Love For Love's Sake - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 Ambiguous (high school romance) - Coming early 2024 (South Korea)

Other news from the BL world

❗️ Actor Inn Sarin (The Miracle of Teddy Bear) joined GMMTV. ❗️ The upcoming Domundi BL Middleman's Love as well as the GMMTV adaption of Cherry Magic have commenced filming. Both shows will likely air towards the end of the year. ❗️ Over a year after its initial announcement, the upcoming BL Wish Me Luck (starring Na Naphat & Fiat Pattadon) is now in production. ❗️ The uncensored Chinese BL Stay With Me was renewed for a second season. Further details are unknown.

❗️The Korean BL manhwa The Art of Taming a Tiger is getting a Korean synchronization/dub. Mingyu (Boys Planet), Lee Minwook (My Magic Closet), OBON (BOYS24) & Han Gi Chan (Where Your Eyes Linger) were announced as the main voice actors.

❗️The 2014 Thai BL Love Sick is getting a remake that is scheduled for 2024, marking the 10 year anniversary of the production. The show was Thailand's first mainstream BL and is considered a classic and a milestone in the industry. The remake will be produced by the company Tia51. Further details are unknown.

❗️The GMMTV BLs The Eclipse and Moonlight Chicken won Best LGBTQ+ Programs Made in Asia at this year's Content Asia Awards. ❗️ The period BL Man Suang (starring Mile Phakphum and Apo Nattawin) has made history as the movie with the highest advance ticket sales in Thailand in the last 20 years, grossing over 10 million baht on its opening day alone.

❗️Actor Bright Vachirawit announced that he is leaving GMMTV to start his own entertainment company.

❗️ It was revealed that the GMMTV2024 event will take place in October this year. Every year the company hosts an event where they announce their new project lineup for the upcoming year, including a trailer + a short Q&A with the respective cast. The event usually takes place in November or December. A GeminiFourth BL has already been confirmed by the company a few months back; rumors for other BL mains include PondPhuwin and JoongDunk, as well as a new GL couple. Further details are unknown.

Upcoming series & movies for September

👉🏻 Senior Love Me? Season 2 - September 1st (Thailand)

👉🏻 Naughty Babe - September 2nd (Thailand)

👉🏻 Venus in the Sky - September 2nd (Thailand)

👉🏻 Marry Go Round - September 3rd (Thailand)

👉🏻 The Promise: Honeymoon Lost and Found - September 9th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Our Story - September 9th (Philippines)

👉🏻 You Are Mine - September 15th (Taiwan)

👉🏻 Bump Up Business - September 15th (South Korea)

👉🏻 Right Time, Right You - September 17th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Kimi ni wa Todokanai - September 27th (Japan)

👉🏻 Absolute Zero - September 27th (Thailand)

[imthepunchlord]

So, going off the last few asks, here's my guesses on the new pairs of the og 7:

Ladybug and Cat (good luck and bad luck) (canon pair) (makes sense to keep them)

Peacock and Fox (opposite colors, blue and orange) (one associated with the air/sky and one associated with the land) one represents truth, integrity, and life, and the other is tied lies, trickery, and ghosts/death)

Ok, now this last one is iffy. It's either butterfly and turtle or butterfly and bee. Butterfly and Bee have some stuff going for them, opposite colors (purple and yellow) and a theme of Chaos vs. Order and Dependent vs. Independent. The Butterfly and Turtle also have stuff going for them. Depending on what color wheel you use, purple's opposite color could be green instead of yellow. They could represent both aspects of provision, protecting and supporting. And lastly their is the thematic parallel of the "main" villain and the "wise mentor" character having the miraculous that go together. Personally, I'm leaning towards Butterfly and Turtle, since going off your reasoning in your old A Declaration of Love fic, the bee makes little more sense to not have a partner. Bees have a lot of symbolism related to teamwork, connections, working with a group, hardwork, and other stuff like that, so it makes sense that the bee instead having one partner is meant to be able to work with anyone.

It's a maybe. It depends on how I do pairs, which I haven't decided yet.

Like do I work off actual animal pairs that do show up in different myths and folklore? Turtle has ties to Rabbit, Crane, and Snake. Also technically Dragon(fly). And there's possibility in doing Lion with Mouse, Wolf, or Tiger. Eagle with Fish, Dragonfly, or Snake. Raven and Dove are also an old pair that have been tied together since Mesopotamia.

Or do I work off themes? As Ladybug and Cat do work off the European themes of good and bad luck. Raven and Rabbit can also work, black and white, Raven's tied to the sun and death while Rabbit is tied to the moon and life. And yeah, Peafowl and Fox do have a nice color opposites and truth vs deception, but that's not Fox's only option, as Bull/Ox often stands for integrity and honesty, and is far more direct to Fox dancing around the bush.

Or do I do a mixture of both? Like, Lion and Mouse could work as a combo on both ideas, as they cover bravery vs fear, pride vs humbleness, power vs cunning, integrity vs deception, dark and light colors, blue and pink, ect..

There's also a debate on do I really keep all of the original 7 together? Despite often promoted together, in actuality, only 3/7 truly need to stay together: Butterfly, Cat, and Ladybug. All the others are honestly kinda removed from them and the show didn't do a good job to validate why these 7 are in a group together.

I am also going to aim for pleasing color wheels, for those that are black and white, their secondary color is what's going to count on a color wheel (blue for Rabbit, pink for Mouse, Horse and Goat are going to be more purple), which sets up Cat and Turtle to compete for the green spot of the color wheel. I don't need two greens and I don't really want to change up the canon colors of the kwamis (at most is just changing Longg to be more orange but it's still a reddish orange; or I could work off Tikki being a reddish pink and just skip out on orange for the bugs).

The other factor is, given how powerful Butterfly is, and the default set up of Ladybug and Cat both being necessary for it (though Cat is a stretch canon wise), I wonder if it should be one of the 5 that doesn't have a counterpart. As, by default, that is set up to be the "leader/diplomat" of the 7, the one who oversees things and acts as the neutral 3rd to the pairs when there is discourse and balances things out.

Though, insect wise, Bee and Butterfly are my top two picks, but I'm not sure I want two insects to make up the 5.

Either way, I do have a lot to think about and consider. At this time, Ladybug and Cat are the only confirmed pair.

[under-the-ladder]

Since all the songs have been here for a few days now, time for my top (for now. I have no doubts this will change until May.) Warning, a wall of text incoming

The middle section was so hard to rank 😫 I'm sure I'll see this tomorrow and say to myself "What did I think yesterday??". Everything's fluid and constantly changing but that's why I prefer tiers over strict ranking with places.

Best:

Netherlands 🇳🇱 - What do I even say? Joost completely satisfied the insane expectations I'd had for him. He was the sole reason eventually I learned how to use a vpn. I consider him my entryway to the Dutch culture, I've known him for almost a year and he's managed to become special to me as an artist, almost like in a completely different tier. I am definitely biased lol but I just love the song lyrically (I already elaborated on it here), musically and trust him as a performer 100%. Televote win is in the air!

Switzerland 🇨🇭 - Now this is, my dear friends, my winner vibes this year (out of the more viable entries)! Jury will most likely tank Joost and I can see Nemo getting high points from both juries and tele. The Code has just a perfect amount of drama and theatricality. It connects pop and opera - a mix that I'm a sucker for and additionally, is lyrically meaningful to me on a personal level. How could I not love this??? I'm impatiently looking forward to Nemo's looks and turquoise carpet!

Belgium 🇧🇪 - If not Switzerland, at least let Belgium win. This has some anthemic quality that draws me instantly. Takes quite a long time to get to the climax but it's soo worth it. The lyrics are a mystery to me and it still doesn't take away from the song. I might be biased because I already explored some of Mustii's discography and I love what I found.

Spain 🇪🇸 - The instrumental is a biiig part of why I love this song so much. Those synths make me euphoric every time, the message is beautifully unapologetic. I am worried about the vocals though. I've read somewhere that in Benidorm Fest the way Mery sang was an intentional nod to some other popular singer but there's no way anyone outside of Spain knows that. And even when I know that I still lack the cultural context to grasp the significance. If this doesn't get changed this aspect will definitely hold them back.

Ps. If I ever get a cat (as Baby Lasagna has been tempting me since Dora) I am naming it Zorra, mark my words.

Finland 🇫🇮 - This is just pure fun and I'm buying it! It saddens me to see people complaining thy're just a copy of Käärijä, they take themselves so much less seriously lol. The descending shorts with fireworks concept AND the eagle sounds are everything. On top of that the guys are already the highlight of this year's backstage. I will be super sad if this nqs but then semis are televote only so there's still hope 🙏

Amazing:

Slovenia 🇸🇮 - There is something magnetically drawing me to this song. I love how Slovenian sounds in it, the harsh "r" sounds and almost bird-like "rrahh" especially. Raiven's voice and stage presence are hypnotizing. Besides, Weronika is my 3rd name and the only one I chose for myself so I feel personally connected to the song. Musically this is not the easiest entry and I don't expect many televoters to get it (please just q a dalej niech się dzieje wola nieba) but I hope the atmosphere of the performance will make up for it.

Croatia 🇭🇷 - I still can't believe Baby Lasagna was a backup entry for Dora. If he ends up winning there should be a little shrine for Zsa Zsa built in Zagreb. Meanwhile the Dora executives should really ask themselves how the hell they initially declined an entry that ended up giving them a chance for the best placing since god knows when. Anyways, the hype for this was the highest around Dora, now I'm busy obsessing over others but this is very solid still. I wish the staging was less messy. I kinda don't believe it can win realistically but I certainly wouldn't be disappointed.

Australia 🇦🇺 - It's crazy how my opinion on One Milkali took a complete u-turn. From "I don't think it's my type of music" to "Gosh, I can't get it out of my head". The song does feel a bit dated but somehow special as well. Perhaps that's because I found other songs from Electric Fields that I fell in love with. I still think their 2024 is not the strongest track from their discography and I'm mentally preparing for an NQ :|

Portugal 🇵🇹 - Well, I'm myself super surprised that Grito surpassed Ramonda when it comes to ballads. I didn't feel anything for the first few listens and then something clicked. I sense until May there might be some shuffles around those positions and a lot will be down to the live performances

Latvia 🇱🇻 - Dons' monumental vocals is what makes this song 200x better. It flows nicely, the staging is lacking but that will surely get improved, right? 👀 He seems like such a fun guy with a distance to himself, the butter tiktoks will be remembered for a long time.

Lithuania 🇱🇹 - It took some time for it to grow on me. Lithuanian sounds nice here, almost like Polish, and I like the bridge(?) with the lyrics about radio. The chorus melody is kinda annoying but the rest of the song compensates for it. Tbh I like either Latvia or Lithuania more based on how my mood changes.

Cyprus 🇨🇾 - I know it's a pretty standard girlbop but I just like it for some reason. Silia's energy is highly contagious. Hoping she can prove the gossips wrong and deliver vocally while dancing.

Good:

Ukraine 🇺🇦 - I think it's a decent entry. When Jerry and alyona won Vidbir they were pretty high in my ranking but with the rest of the entries being revealed that advantage faded gradually. Contrary to e.g. Slovenia, Teresa & Maria felt catchy and interesting at the beginning but the longer I listened to it the more repetitive it became. I can see this being an advantage in the televoting though. With that being said, it's far from being the most winning-worthy song and I'd rather root for a country that didn't score two wins already in the last decade.

Sweden 🇸🇪 - from the first time I saw this I fell in love with the staging. Loreen had a horizontal sandwich last year, this year it's a vertical one for the twins lol. I do admit the staging is a huge part of why it's so high but I do like this song. Hell, I even think it's better than Air. The last part especially, right before the end. What can I say, I hear those synths and I'm sold. It will make a good opener.

Greece 🇬🇷 - I'm still not sure why it's so high. I don't vibe with the idea for the music video (please don't try to adapt it for stage. No more cringey overlays, don't catch this virus from TVP). The parts I find highly enjoyable are the opening and ending sung in this high(?) voice, the middle is more like my guilty pleasure.

France 🇫🇷 - I really liked the trick with standing back from the microphone but even without it it's a powerful enough ballad. Slimane as a singer sells it, that's it.

Serbia 🇷🇸 - For another year I find myself in love with the sound of Serbian language. The words "lila ramonda" flow so well in the chorus and complement each other in terms of sounds. The song is almost like a lullaby, with the forward-backward movement that Teya makes during the last chorus underscoring that even more. Another beautiful moment is when the flower rises from above her at the end. The performance makes this song for me as musically I preferred Lik u ogledalu, which was kinda uncoordinated on stage with those mirrors.

Estonia 🇪🇪 - I was really a fan of this song around January and then something happened, maybe the Eesti Laul final performance? It was messy vocally and staging-wise. For now I can't really pinpoint what else is wrong but one thing is sure: this really fell more than a few places for me :/

Poland 🇵🇱 - I'm so tired of the Polish internet at this point that I'll be cheering for Luna no matter what happens. This is a song I liked from the start and still do and I sincerely hope she manages to pull it off on stage decently, I don't care whether because she' naturally a good vocalist or gets a lot of training or gets tape backing vocals. Seeing how strong this year is I'm doubting whether Karma or Justyna would score much better.

Austria 🇦🇹 - This grew on me a bit, enough to move from average to good. Not seeing the winner hype at all and as I mentioned somewhere earlier her staging is my pet peeve. If this ends up anywhere near how the mv looks like then I'll be seriously disappointed. This is a song about raving after all and making a Chanel-like choreo-heavy girlbop out of it seems so unnecessary.

Average:

Luxembourg 🇱🇺 - The funky droplet sounds(?) are quite up my alley, the song is quite fun on its own. Please change that outfit on stage, it's too dark for how happpy Fighter sounds imo. While the result of the Luxembourgish nf is not that bad I do hope they change it before the next year. Forcibly pairing artists with not-their-own songs almost always ends up badly and come on, why restrict their creativity and authenticity? It's not 2013 anymore.

UK 🇬🇧 - That's kind of a classic example of expectations vs reality. Dizzy is painfully correct and nothing more BUT I think it can still be rescued by the live performance. If they manage to bring the spinning rooms idea to life and miraculously nothing breaks and if Olly uses his charisma which he has plenty of. If you don't believe me watch It's a sin with Elton John or mv to Starstruck.

Italy 🇮🇹 - My biggest problem here is with the instrumental, it's grating and scratches my brain in a very annoying way. I like Angelina's expression on stage and all that but the song is just a barrier impossible to ignore. If Italy wants to win again please, may it be with something better (I wouldn't say no to Annalisa).

Ireland 🇮🇪 - I'm generally very glad Bambie won, this is surely progress made from the last year. Normally I'm not a fan of pagan elements, zodiac signs, etc. but the mv is very aesthetically pleasing. The quieter parts are digestible to my ears, the noisier ones not so much. People keep saying it's a chance for Ireland to qualify but honestly I'm of the opinion it will repel majority of the televoters. It will be very interesting to see how it's going to play live with staging, outfits and turquoise carpet nonetheless.

Norway 🇳🇴 - I think Norway might be the biggest fall this year, or even since I'm more engaged in ESC. This went straight up from amazing to barely average. In theory Ulveham has everything I should love - Norwegian, rock mixed with folk, powerful and charismatic vocalist. I still don't know exactly what doesn't work. It's no mystery I loved Mileo and thought Damdiggida was a letdown compared to other Keiino's songs so I don't think Norway had a better option in the MGP final than Gåte. What I like is the staging, especially the moment Gunnhild bends backwards and leans on her hand (somehow with her vocals remaining flawless!!) but that's not enough to charm me back :c

Weak:

Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 - It's a pleasant ballad but doesn't distinguish itself enough to be memorable. I appreciate the use of Azerbaijani (Azeri?), I don't appreciate the presence of Ilkin Dovlatov. What does he even bring to this song?

Denmark 🇩�� - That's just a very competent song with a good vocalist, almost no more things to say. I'm not a fan of the platform she was standing on. Also I have a weird aversion to the DMGP stage, it looks like a waterwell so it will probably be better in Malmö lol.

Armenia 🇦🇲 - As much as everyone seems to be loving Jako, to me it's rather grating. From what I was able to see I appreciate Jaklin's energy live but that's about it. It doesn't help that it's constantly stuck in my head while I'd prefer it not to.

San Marino 🇸🇲 - This just doesn't do anything to me. Feels almost too funky while I thoroughly enjoyed the heavier vibe of Arcadia. Maybe that's unfair to compare so much but I can't help it. In a weaker year I wouldn't mind for Megara to qualify but this time maybe make some room for better songs (Latvia please?).

Iceland 🇮🇸 - Jak do tego doszło nie wiem/How did it come to this? The results of Söngvakeppnin left me speechless this year and the drama afterwards left a very bad taste. Scared of heights is not a super bad song after all but it's biggest mistake is blandness. A sure NQ that I will not cry for.

Bad:

Albania 🇦🇱 - The revamp took all the kick and power out of this. The rap part turned into a shadow of itself. Contrary to many, I don't mind the language change. I can't say I liked the song before, I like it even less now. I do appreciate the mv though, it's so crisp.

Czechia 🇨🇿 - I'm sorry, I just can't ignore the live when judging this. Even if I did I still don't think Pedestal would end up much higher. I don't vibe with the shouty chorus and an nth rendition of the Mugler suit this year, the visuals in the mv are much more pleasant though and I'd like them to go that direction in Malmö.

Malta 🇲🇹 - The revamp broke it, I'm sorry. What else can I say? Didn't like it before, like it even less now. Case similar to Albania.

Georgia 🇬🇪 - This track is so noisy and overproduced that I can't remember the melody line even after multiple listens. Too dynamic, too much of everything all at once. I guess the song is not that bad, I just dislike the fact that it takes effort to make a song this overloaded and yet Georgia succeeded.

Moldova 🇲🇩 - I know I said that was the only option for Moldova but I can't help but skip this one every time it comes up on my playlist. The only catchy part is the chorus melody, all without words. I actively dislike the live performance, there's something disturbing in the way they all look and move the same way.

Germany 🇩🇪 - Eh. Every time I listen to this I physically cringe at the sound of the elephant in the chorus. The supposedly African inspiration feel disingenuous and very 2010s to me. James Newman fate is what I predict awaits this entry.

[immortal-elements]

Ele-gun first impressions

Hokay, thoughts on ele pistol

I'm gonna put this under a read-more, as usual, because I can get rather longwinded with these things, but additionally I'm going to seperate it by elite spec

So, first of all, the bullet mechanic is honestly really cool! It's difficult to keep track of though, because 1. the bullets get caught up in the visual clutter of the game so you can't always see them on your character, and 2. the buffs that they put on your buff bar are drowned out by the million of other buffs that you have. (did you eat something? Did someone put down a banner of "woe, a thousand buffs be upon ye", did you sit in a chair recently? Did you park in arborstone or the wizard's tower overnight? Did you look at an anvil in the last eternity?)

Next up is Catalyst. Due to the fact that a lot of catalyst's damage is relative to aura generation, and a lot of it's aura generation is relative to it's ability to combo at least once per attunement, this is going to be a great weapon for catalyst. It's got no shortage of finishers, (blast, projectile, leap, only one you are missing is whirl). It's also got plenty of aura generation contingent on spending bullets wisely. This weapon adds a lot of depth to catalyst that I look forward to exploring, but for right now it makes my head hurt.

However, overall the pistol skills are very smooth! Each elite spec is incentivized differently to use their bullets for different skills! The bullets also do not have a duration, so they can be held over from combat to combat.

Let's start with Tempest. I can see this being a very good pick for condi tempest, or condi alac tempest. It's got enough aura generation to synergize well, and it's got enough ways of further boosting your condi damage that it is a worthwhile weapon to consider. The main things to look out for is spending fire bullets on fire 2, and spending earth bullets on earth 2, as well as water bullets on water 3. I can see this being paired with focus or warhorn for great results, probably not dagger though.

Speaking of making my head hurt, Weaver. I love weaver, easily my favorite class, played it more than anything else in the game by far.

Pistol weaver is cracked, and confusing. I'm building it for condi, and I'm currently benching a solid 31k on it. I'm nowhere near optimal at this, and I don't think I will ever be, but here's what I've found out.

The weave self rotation is nutty. You usually want to start in fire attunement for that +20% condi damage buff, but you also have to carefully consider where you are going to spend your bullets. As I've mentioned, certain 2 skills are very much worth using bullets on, (fire 2 and earth 2 especially), but a lot of the dual attacks are worth spending bullets on too. The other problem is that the dual attacks don't generate bullets, and once you swap to a new attunement, you won't be able to generate bullets for the old attunement. I hate to say this but I could see this turning into a loop of "attune to a new element, press 2, then 3, then 2 again, then move on", or if you only swap between 2 attunements for PvE, you'd only be able to get the 2nd skills bonus effects when double attuned.

While weaver cares a lot less about combos, I think it's still important to touch on them. Most of your combo finishers are hidden under your dual skills, however a few of your dual skills are combo finishers. The dual skills aren't all just "shoot a bullet", either, they offer a fair amount of dynamic decision making. Water/air, dual, for instance, is an incredible disengage. Pair it with the CC that every air offhand has, and you have some great ways of escaping and mitigating damage. The 3rd air skill is a fantastic movement skill that lets you dash, shoot, then dash again, and I could see getting skill gapped by this in PvP.

[blocky-tides]

!! Hello Hello!! Might I suggest number 42 with either qTubbo or Ren and Martyn from 3rd Life? I'm about to absolutely demolish (/pos) all your works so far, I am excited for fics based off of songs >:3

42 - spit in my face! by thxsomuch

a static drone fills tubbo's ears.

why does this always happen to him? why does it always fucking happen to him! fuck! fighting the urge to slam his hands down, hard, on his workstation.

his hands shake as they struggle to piece the fragile parts together, accidentally dropping a gear down the cracks. god fucking damnit. why can't he do one thing right. 

tubbo picks up the machine he was working on, small enough to roll around in his hands. it was a piece of art, a gift for fred before he left, died, got kidnapped.

screaming out in frustration tubbo threw the music box to the wall as hard as he could. wincing at the sudden sound as the music box crumpled into itself, the last few notes of an all too familiar song screeched in the air. the one he shared with fred.

letting another scream rip free, tubbo questioned himself. what kind of person was he? burying his face in his hands, smearing grease all of it, curling into himself as if to get away from everything and anyone.

if he couldn't even protect those he loved. he has an egg now. a daughter to consider. how any of his actions could backfire on fire on sunny.

he stayed in that hunched out position on the floor well, fighting back tears, until the weak morning sunlight shined into the factory filling it with warm light, glinting off the glass fixtures. hearing the distance conversation of fit and pac as they approached the factory, like they always do each morning.

he didn't want to pick himself up, like he always had to do. he wanted to stay on the ground forever, not facing his troubles.

all of his problems would be solved if the federation didn't exist. no one to threaten fred into compliance. sunny could have unlimited lives, not restrained by the two. they could be free.

blinking to himself, that was a great idea. why didn't he think of that sooner? carefully ignoring all attempts of rebellion that he had seen so far.

scrambling up from the floor to chase after pac, who wandered further away from the entrance to his factory. pac would most definitely help him get rid of the federation. a little blood never hurts anyone.

{spotify wrapped drabbles - send me a number between 0-100 with a character or ship and i will write a drabble}

[tiffanylamps]

3, 5, 6, 29?

Turnip, so, I meant to reply to this hours ago, but then I got bought a burger and ate like... half of it... and had to sleep it off. But I am here now, half awake with a very upset cat to keep me company. Thank you for sending me this, I hope my answers are of interest 😊 The ao3 ask game

3) What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)? This is a little hard to answer because I find small accomplishments in everything I write (I need about 3 months of distance to see the good in them, but I do see it eventually haha). But I think the one I should single out is my first fic in... 4 years... Indoctrination. I have tried to read it since publishing and gave up because I don't like the way I wrote that story. But I had given up writing in this style (fiction, 3rd person) for 4 years, sooooooo🤷‍♀️no wonder it's not the best During those four years, I had been mainly writing poetry/more introspective pieces, so Indoctrination is a massive accomplishment that I am proud of... even if I don't think it's all that good haha

5) What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? Easy, 3am. I didn't expect anyone to comment on that piece because it's not.... it's not. But I did receive some positive feedback and had interesting discussions with people, which was nice 😊

6) Favorite title you used This is also hard because giving my fics titles is one of my favourite parts of the writing process. I really like finding something that will highlight one of the main themes of the story. I normally do this through lyrics or quotes. Okay, I can't choose, so I'll just give you my top three (in no particular order): . Your Love's Whore (named after the song Your Loves Whore by Wolf Alice, which inspired that fic. I'm not linking that fic because I don't like it anymore haha)

In Another Moment Named so because of this quote:

“In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.”

- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

. courage to make love known Named so because of this quote:

“...Who could refrain, That had a heart to love, and in that heart Courage to make love known?”

― William Shakespeare, Macbeth

29) Favorite line/passage you wrote this year? I already answered this here. But I will give you a handful more from unpublished works. oh ho ho ho, aren't you lucky? (smh at myself)

Dong Sik bruises Joo Won's poor lips with a kiss, closing both their eyes for good so that look dies between them. Had he by some miraculous sequence of bad decisions slowly ruined this boy? Was his sorrowful plight a contagion? Was it fungi in the wood that rots from within?

-

Joo Won wishes for rain, a torrential downpour. With only rain can he be cleansed. Maybe if he were to embroider his wounds, he can be beautiful again. He knows he’s a liability and not an asset, but how glorious it was to finally not be needed; Dong Sik would be proud. He’s finally learned how to survive.

-

It was a breath of fresh air after a year of cigarette smoke and car fumes.

He knew they looked good together. Joo Won was able to make him laugh and he didn’t mind some of the man’s more annoying quirks. He thanks Dong Sik for that, the older man really set the standard for what Joo Won can now tolerate. The first few weeks of their casual fling were easy, the librarian enjoyed showing Joo Won the town he grew up in, and Joo Won enjoyed learning new things.

They had kissed a few times, mostly just sweet pecks on the lips or a kiss on the cheek. The first time they kissed for real, Joo Won tried everything within his power to not compare. But he knew deep down he didn’t get the same rush as he did with his last par… But that was a good thing, he convinced himself and slipped his tongue in.

-

Joo Won never felt more like dust upon long-forgotten trophies. Once interesting, once beautiful, once a useful item to paint the picture of excellence for a dynasty he brought down to the ground. Kill the boy to become the man. Slay the father to be cleansed of his sin. That man looked like his father. 

He’s a show dog, wasn’t it about time someone put him down? He can’t compete, so what was his use?

-

Dong Sik is his Elpis and Joo Won wants nothing more than to love him.  

It was shocking to him that this decision didn’t feel rash. He knew it was right. Dong Sik deserved to be loved, even if he had a flock by his side ready to do just that. It doesn’t matter, Joo Won decides, he’s willing to try. He hesitates to believe he’s worthy as one of those who loves Dong Sik, but the older man says his name so sweetly and looks at him like Joo Won is the missing piece of a puzzle, the finishing touches of gold thread in his tapestry, the subject of his masterpiece.

Everyone must feel this way under Dong Sik's genuine smile, he had that ability to make anyone feel like they were the only one that matters. Joo Won knows this. He knows better now but it didn’t stop him from vowing to make himself beautiful for Dong Sik's portrait.

-

Joo Won gives his lofty attention to the couple adjacent to his right, the good-looking woman was still whispering in the man’s ear. He was definitely enjoying whatever it is she was saying if his clear arousal was anything to go by. “Inspector Han,” Dong Sik's voice is close to his ear again and Joo Won suddenly understands the state the man is in. 

Dong Sik seems very pleased with himself and Joo Won knows what he’s going to have to do. He scoots himself along with the pink leather until his broad shoulders are shielding Dong Sik from the couple, which he seems to enjoy if his smouldering smile is anything to go by. He’s like a lioness taking a drink at the watering hole and Joo Won is the crocodile stalking in a shallow grave.

-

“I got a lot in return.”

For once Joo Won’s eyes did not look through him - into him - with a dismissive roll or a suspicious scowl, nor do they plead, beg, or cry from the pain Dong Sik created. Instead, they blink and well with understanding. He looks away and his body softens with the heaviness of knowing. 

Finally.

-

Love isn’t a craving. It isn’t a hunger pang that can be satisfied with a good feed. It isn't whimsy that is silly and vacillating, wandering from the urges of the ego to the wanting of the carnal. Nor is it the remedy for loneliness. It’s heartbreak, a bittersweet yearning for something you do not have. The desire to be with the one that compliments you on a level that goes beyond the temptations of guilt, lust, or notions as fickle as happiness. Love is the bonding of souls combining their fears, woes, passions, ambitions and strife- it is irrevocably unifying yourself to another with the hopes that it will last.

Love is fleeting and all-consuming. It’s the need to reach out and touch what could so easily slip into the abyss. It is unavoidable, glorious, and so frightening. More real than a spiritual awakening, more devastating than a missed opportunity. It is nature. It is natural. It is the knowledge that even though it will end (as all things do), whether that be from heartbreak or death, no matter how much that pain frightens you, you are still willing and wanting. It is the absolute trust that you will endure whatever you may face with your partner’s aid, together as a unit, beautifully pushing forward. 

That’s how he knows he doesn’t love this boy. You trust those you love. Nor does he love him back. 

Oh god, what has he been doing?

- Okay, I'll leave that there, as the list is getting a bit ridiculously long. Those are parts from just two fics that I wish to complete one day because I love them so much. They're definitely my longest wips (as in, it's taking the longest amount of time to complete them). Anyway, I hope this was interesting! ttfn 😊

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend, wishing you a Happy New Year 🎉🎆🍾!! Hope things are going well so far and you're not too drenched in ice or snow or cold (my brother is in NM and he's freezing his ass off apparently). For reasons that definitely include the upcoming season's proximity, I'm going to try to get more into 911 LS this year. I've decided that while we've got excellent taste in ships, we've done poorly in focusing on shows where those ships can thrive, meaning they have a showrunner who can

tell a compelling story, writers who can bring that story to life, and a promo team that can get the audience excited. Let's take just promo for example. LS just came out with its 2nd or 3rd trailer and it's still 3 week's away!! Even if they are also doing smaller emergencies, the frog storm looked a hell of a lot of more exciting than the blimp "emergency". And from what I've seen of the stills, it will feature a lot of Tarlos, and I haven't seen much in the way of guest stars. Contrast that with RNM. We all remember the seasonal promo posters that looked like an elementary school project and the 5 sec episode previews they abandoned during S4 (this isn't even considering the episode synopsis where if a particular character was mentioned my excitement level flatlined). Then there's the Malex if it all, remember we got so excited when a still of them was promoted on Twitter for 4x02 since it had literally never been done before?? Sad days. And as for OG lately we've gotten confusing/inaccurate episode synopsis, previews of scenes that were made to look intense and turned out to be "meh", stills released right before the episode and then 50 scenes released the day it premieres. Its a mess. And I guess I can't complain that those things didn't feature Buddie since there wasn't anything in the season for them to feature.  I don't think we have to rehash the baffling and horrible writing choices of both RNM and OG's showrunners those are well documented. So that leaves the individual writing of each show, where RNM abandoned logic and 911 abandoned emotion in order to force scenes that did no one any favors. Anyway this got longer than intended and ultimately saltier, I was trying to say Happy New Year and it turned into this. So again happy New year!! Maybe with time and GA input KR will come up with a plotline that doesn't make me hear nails on a chalkboard when it's mentioned.

Hi my friend and Happy New Year to you as well, even though this is now a few days late. (I wanted to finish the book I started yesterday, a sequel to a romcom I very much enjoyed and one of the only actual books I’ve managed to read recently, but it ended up being kind of awful and torpedoed my whole day and sucked the serotonin right out of me instead of giving me MORE like it was supposed to 😒😒😒 hate this for me. So I put this off a little longer so I didn’t end up being TOO salty or going off on a fully unrelated tangent). Luckily I’m back home where it’s chilly (for me) but nothing too wet or miserable and I got to enjoy some sweatpants for a few days before I have to go back to my cold office and uncomfortable work clothes.

You’re so right, we DO have excellent taste in ships but whooo boy WHAT is the deal with being shafted by shows? (And now books too apparently because my life is a joke, hell bent on not allowing me to thrive with the things I find joy in.) I have been soooo jealous of not just the promo coming out so early, but also official stills coming from set during filming! OG couldn’t even get stills for for some episodes until a few hours before airing! To say nothing of the incorrect synopsis/previews, and 700 clips released on episode day messes. Plus LS got new cast photos this year while OG has still been using stuff from s1-2!  I’m not gonna lie, I haven’t been paying much if any attention to news about LS so all I know is the Tarlos stuff sounds really exciting and the only guest stars I remember is for some FBI/DEA something or other operation that (of course) Owen is for some reason involved in helping with. Color me unsurprised. But knowing that’s how LS has been pretty much from the jump, it’s easier to just grit my teeth through the Owen centricity and sometimes it’s at least entertaining 🤷🏻‍♀️ The frog thing sounds interesting but definitely feels like a “hook” that’s going to end up being almost nothing and quickly resolved but if we’re lucky we’ll at least get some jokes out of it about TK taking one home and Carlos getting a panicked look about it. Also, the LS emergencies have never had quite the resonance or the tie in with the main plots that OG had so them cutting back after the ice storm (which really was excessive at 4 episodes and by cutting down on the weird Owen centricity could have been done in 2 *maybe* 2.5 or 3 episodes tops, revolving around the group as a whole more) isn’t probably going to change the format of regular episodes much from previous seasons. But with the wedding coming up, the possibility of Carlos getting injured, and Ronan being a tease and really excited for multiple episodes, I feel like the Tarlos stuff is going to be really good!

I’m cackling because taking shots at the RNM promo department will never NOT be funny. I mean, honestly WTF was their deal with promo posters?! *insert “is this a promo poster for ANTS” gif here* At least they were somewhat more honest by always seaming to make Alex the smallest and furthest away and never near Michael which is....mostly what we got after s1 so 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️. Not that OG 911 is much better since there’s a fan that does massively impressive posters for episodes that completely outshine anything the official team does.

ANYWAY, I’m with you down in the salt mine and surrounded by wasted potential so lets hope this year we can finally get some more fulfilling stories/storylines, and that our beloved OG wee-woos can get back on track. The only good thing about them having a longer hiatus is they have the chance to take the reaction to the finale, especially Buck’s mess of a storyline, and 6a as a whole into consideration and maybe make some changes. Honestly if they completely dropped Buck’s storyline and it never came up ever again I wouldn’t even care and would actually prefer that at this point. Remember when he got meaty storylines that involved the other main characters and was the focus for a few episodes and then arcs finished and new ones started and we got several things going on for multiple characters at once? *cracked voice* yeah.... Well, here’s to hoping! 🍾🥂 *clink*

[hadesisqueer]

I don’t really understand this voting thing on OT. Kiki was top 3 last week for favorite I think and she has been in the past a lot too. She has a lot of followers on socials too. But Lucas is leading in a lot of the polls. Idk if those polls usually reflect the actual results or not. I assume they do?

Who do you think will be in the final and predictions for winner and other placements?

The polls in directoot and otactualidad on instagram are usually very accurate, and so far he's winning, though the gap seems to be becoming smaller. The reason Chiara is losing in the polls even though she has twice as many followers on instagram and nearly twice as many monthly listeners on instagram? Easy, 1) most of Naiara and Paul's fans are voting for Lucas 2) the dumb hate campaigns Chiara has unfortunely been through; a lot of locals aren't voting for her 3) that, minus Ruslana's and part of Bea's individual fandoms, the supposed fans of Juanjo and Martin (Chiara's friends, mind you) hate Chiara and they are trying to vote her out, which strategically it's stupid as fuck considering that Lucas is tied in popularity polls with Martin and could easily kick him out in the finals if he stayed. Same with Naiara fans, if Lucas stays, Lucas' fans will vote for him and Naiara will lose votes and won't win the contest, because according to the polls, the winner right now could be either Naiara or Ruslana, because they're both tied. That could change, though. If Chiara is expelled and doesn't make it to the finals, all her fandom's votes would definitely go to Ruslana, which really isn't good for Naiara either.

Now, do I think Chiara will for sure be expelled this week? No, because, for example, the gap yesterday was of 45%-55% in otactualidad and now it's 50%-50% or so I believe; plus, Directoot has posted good things about Chiara today, and Directoot has a lot of influence on the casual fans. We still have a lot of time until Monday and a lot of things can change in a week; look, for example, Cris started off losing 30%-70% and he ended up losing 48%-52% and almost kicking out BEA of all people. Salma started off tied and even winning against Alex and in a week she was gone with like 39%-61%. And listen, I watched OT2017. I saw Ana Guerra stay with 50,3% of the votes against Agoney after the most stressful week of my life. After that, anything is possible and we're campaigning hard and we still have a few days, so I'm not just gonna give up lmao. Keep voting and this could still change.

Now, if Chiara stays, I predict that she'd most likely make it to the finals and a 4th place for her, or a 3rd place maybe due to how big her fandom is, and both Naiara and Ruslana could end up either 1st or 2nd place. Juanjo is definitely a finalist but honestly I'm not sure in what position he'd end up, most of all if Martin is a finalist as well because they share a fandom and they'd divide votes. Martin could get his place easily taken by Lucas if he stays (which is why his fandom is dumb to vote to save him). Paul is definitely a finalist and a possible top 3 or 4 as of now, and Bea is in the air because even though she is one of the most talented people of the edition, her fandom is small compared to the others; if she's not chosen by the teachers to be a finalist, Chiara and Ruslana's fans would definitely vote her so she could be one UNLESS the one also fighting for the spot was Chiara or Ruslana, but you never know with the other fandoms. In any case, what position you end up in the contest doesn't really matter tbh; in fact, a lot of people don't want their faves to he the winner because most times the most successful ones end up being the 2nd place (see: Aitana, Alba Reche or David Bisbal being more famous than Amaia, Famous Oberogo or Rosa López) or even THE FIRST EXPELLED can end up being the most successful (see, Lola Índigo). You never know with this contest; honestly, the ones I see being more successful outside are Chiara, Ruslana, Naiara, Violeta and Paul. The others? Who knows, but in a few years no one will remember some of them; it always happens.

[homesliceadulting]

OMG! This was supposed to be posted on 8/12, but I didn't hit post! Guess who's 30 lbs down in 6 months??? Me! What what! Look at this milestone! Just in case you're just now reading this, on Feb 5th I started a journey to get active, eat better, and lose weight. On Feb 5th, I weighed in at 338.6 lbs. I weighed in today at 308.4 lbs and that makes my total weight loss 30.2 lbs! I'm so happy about this and I'm super proud of myself. At this rate, I'll be down 60 lbs total by next February!

Aside from the celebration, this week has been interesting. On Sunday, I took my dog for an hour long walk around our neighborhood. It was great to explore my neighborhood, get some fresh air, and spend time with Beaux. When we were done with our walk, I had only burned like 475 calories and my heart rate barely reached the fat burn zone. If I do a Just Dance workout for the same amount of time, I usually burn 700 calories and most of the time, my heart rate is elevated to the fat burn category, with some cardio sprinkled in. I will say adding in the walk as a third weekly workout is great and low impact, even if the results pale in comparison to doing a Just Dance session in my house. I will be walking the dog again tomorrow and this time we'll take different streets.

I actually skipped 2 workouts this week--been having a hard time managing my time--but I think I may have made up for it. Last night, I went to karaoke with some friends and while I was there, I burned like 1300 calories. Wtf? I performed twice (sang Kids by Prince & Dream On by Aerosmith) and of course I was dancing and jamming along with the other performers as well. I drank tons of water, I sweated quite a bit, and I didn't even really walk around that much. I am astounded that I burned so many calories in a non-conventional. I earned 115 zone minutes (this is Fitbit terminology)--87 minutes were listed as Fat Burn (heart rate between 122-143) and the remaining 28 minutes were considered Cardio (a heart rate of 144-170). That's literally like 2 of my Just Dance workouts put together. I'm amazed and so happy. I'm going to work out today (Just Dance) to keep the momentum going.

As far as food, this past week was the 2nd week of me meal prepping and I realized I need to be more efficient with it. I made a meal on Sunday, then spent a few hours on Monday prepping the 2nd meal. This Monday prepping is why I couldn't work out. It's becoming apparent that I need to carve out times on the weekend to plan and prepare my meals. The 2 recipes from this week were really good. One of them was a Cajun sausage and vegetables recipe I found online. The other was a chicken/broccoli/potato recipe I found online as well. They were both very good and relatively easy to make, even though the sausage one was tedious. I don't like cooking, so batching my meals sounds as perfect as its going to get.

I've also been worried about my consumption of Baskin Robbins. I've been there way too many times in the past month trying to get the Beach Day flavor. It is SO good. In an effort to curb my cravings and not flare up my lactose intolerance, I've been buying and trying new dairy-free ice creams from the grocery store. So when I want a frozen treat, I eat a third of a pint and call it quits. I'll share my thoughts later. This approach is helping me, though. I find I have more discipline and I'm less tempted to grab fast sweets.

Overall, things are going great. I have 6 more weeks to lose 8.4 lbs--this is the goal I set in my Self Journal. With the addition of a 3rd weekly workout and paying special attention to my diet, I feel confident I can meet or exceed this goal.

[his2023]

Nina Jabar

HIS 111

Prof. Green

April 3rd 2023

Journey to the City of Babylon

I started my journey in my homeland, Media. I traveled through the desert for three days to visit my sister and what a journey it has been so far. I arrived in the beautiful city of Babylon yesterday, and I must say, the city is magnificent. The towering walls, the bustling streets, and the magnificent palaces are all a sight to behold. I feel as though I have been transported to another era of time. I met my sister and her family in their beautiful palace and was thrilled when she expressed she wanted to show me around the city during my visit. We had dinner and stayed up all night drinking and planning my next few days in Babylon. I'm going to write about each day so I'll be able to return to these memories in the future and live in these moments again. 

On my first day in the city, I had the incredible chance to tour Babylon's Ishtar Gate. One of the most impressive displays of construction I have ever seen is this magnificent entry gate. I was struck by the complex carvings and vivid hues as I entered the gate.

The entrance is made of polished bricks and is painted with pictures of lions, bulls, and dragons. The animals are painted in hues of blue, green, and yellow, and as you get close to them, they seem to come to life. The degree of precision that went into making this masterpiece left me speechless.

King Nebuchadnezzar II, who is renowned for his support of the arts and development, fashioned the gate. The gate symbolizes the strength and riches of the Babylonian empire and is dedicated to Ishtar, the goddess of love and fertility.

I could sense the weight of heritage and customs surrounding me as I moved along the gate's walls. I made an effort to picture what it must be like to reside in such a lovely city and be able to see such amazing architecture every day. 

I took a minute to consider the significance of the Ishtar Gate before I left. It is more than just a monument; it is a symbol of human ingenuity and innovation.

All in all, my encounter at the Ishtar Gate will never be forgotten. It served as a sobering reminder of the enormous potential of people and the value of protecting their cultural legacy. 

One of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, was one of the privileges I had to see today. Today was also my second complete day in the city. I was astounded by the gardens' size and grandeur as I got closer to them. The gardens were built on an immense structure with many terraces, and each level was covered in bright flowers and lush greenery.

King Nebuchadnezzar II created the Hanging Gardens as a present for his wife, who yearned for the lush surroundings of her native country. The king then built this paradise inside the city, and the end result is genuinely amazing.

I was astounded by the variety of plant life as I strolled through the grounds. Exotic trees, fragrant blooms, and fruit trees with ripe, juicy fruit were all present. The numerous fountains and waterfalls created a calming sound as they flowed water, filling the air with their sweet floral fragrance.

The Hanging Gardens are both an engineering and horticultural wonder. Huge stone pillars support the terraces, and a complex network of irrigation tunnels makes sure the plants get the water and nutrients they require to grow. I was in awe of the effort and talent required to create such a masterwork.

I was filled with awe and wonder as I exited the gardens. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are proof of both the beauty and ingenuity of humankind as well as the strength and riches of the Babylonian empire. I am one of the many tourists who are enthralled and inspired by them. 

All in all, my trip to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was an unforgettable one. For years to come, I will cherish the recollections of this incredible site.

It is now the end of my third day in Babylon and what a day it has been! Today I had the honor of attending a marriage ceremony in Babylon. The bride and groom were both from prominent families, and the event was a grand affair. The ceremony was held in a beautiful temple dedicated to the goddess Ishtar, and the setting was breathtaking.

As the bride and groom exchanged their vows, the temple was filled with the sounds of music and chanting. The air was thick with the scent of incense, and the room glowed with the light of countless candles. I was struck by the solemnity and reverence of the occasion.

After the ceremony, we adjourned to a nearby banquet hall for the reception. The hall was decorated with vibrant tapestries and floral arrangements, and the tables were laden with delicacies from all over the region. I sampled some of the local dishes, and they were exquisite.

As the night wore on, the celebration became more lively. Musicians played traditional songs, and guests danced and sang. I was struck by the warmth and generosity of the people of Babylon, who welcomed me into their midst as if I were one of their own.

As the wedding drew to a close, the bride and groom were showered with blessings and well-wishes. It was clear that they were deeply loved by their families and friends, and I felt honored to have been a part of this special day.

In all, the marriage ceremony in Babylon was a beautiful reminder of the importance of love, family, and tradition. It was a celebration of life and all its joys, and I felt grateful to have shared in such a meaningful experience.

Today was my fourth day in Babylon and I had the opportunity to visit the Great Ziggurat of Babylon, one of the most impressive architectural feats known to the region. As I approached the towering structure, I was struck by its grandeur and magnificence. The ziggurat stood over 90 feet tall, with a massive base that covered an area of several acres.

The Great Ziggurat was built by King Hammurabi, and it has served as a religious center for the Babylonians. The structure was made of baked mud bricks, and its distinctive stepped design was intended to symbolize the connection between heaven and earth.

As I climbed the stairs to the top of the ziggurat, I marveled at the sheer size of the structure. The stairs were steep and uneven, and the ascent was challenging, but the view from the top was well worth the effort. From the summit, I could see the entire city of Babylon stretched out before me.

The ziggurat was surrounded by a massive wall, and I could see the remains of several smaller buildings and temples nearby. It’s clear that the Great Ziggurat is the heart of the city's religious life, and I felt a deep sense of reverence and awe as I stood in its shadow.

As I left the ziggurat, I reflected on the importance of this structure to the Babylonian people. It was not just a monument to their power and wealth; it was a testament to their faith and their connection to the divine.

In all, my visit to the Great Ziggurat of Babylon was a humbling experience. It reminded me of the power of faith and endurance.

Today is both the first day of the Festival of Marduk, the god who serves as Babylon's protector, and my last day in the city. People from across the area have gathered in the city to celebrate, and the place is buzzing with excitement. Music, laughter, and applause can be heard resonating through the streets.

This morning I got up early to see the massive parade of the Marduk statue being brought through the city. Professional Way, the street that leads from the temple to the Ishtar Gate, was crowded with locals on both ends. The Babylonians paying homage to their deity was a magnificent spectacle. The statue sparkled in the sunshine and was covered in gold and jewels.

There were numerous vendors offering food, beverages, and trinkets on the streets. I couldn't help but sample some of the local specialties, such as fresh bread and roasted meat. I loved the festive ambiance and the rich, delicious flavors.

I was present at the ceremony tonight commemorating the holy union of Ishtar and Marduk. It was a union of symbols, signifying the fertility and abundance of the country. The ritual was a lovely homage to the gods, complete with music and dancing.

The festivities intensified over the course of the evening. Fireworks light up the night sky, and the aroma of incense fills the air. Drums are audible as people dance and chant in praise of Marduk.

Overall, I had a great time at the Festival of Marduk. The devotion of the Babylonians to their gods and civilization has touched me. I am appreciative of the opportunity to have taken part in this celebration, and I will treasure these recollections.

I had the chance to meet a few locals during my comparatively brief visit to Babylon, and I was deeply moved by their warmth and generosity. Their compassion and humility really stuck out to me. We were able to converse through gestures and smiles despite the language barrier. I consider myself lucky to have had this opportunity to communicate with the Babylonians.

I've had an amazing experience in Babylon overall. I am appreciative of the opportunity to travel to such a significant and culturally significant city and to have witnessed its beauty and culture firsthand.

Works Cited

Van de Mieroop, Marc. “Reading Babylon.” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 107, no. 2, 2003, pp. 257–75. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40026077  Accessed 3 Apr. 2023.

BOWE, PATRICK. “A DELIBERATION ON THE HANGING GARDENS OF MESOPOTAMIA.” Garden History, vol. 43, no. 2, 2015, pp. 151–67. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24636247 Accessed 3 April. 2023.

Mark, Joshua J.. "Nebuchadnezzar II." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 07 Nov 2018. Web. 30 March 2023

Babylon: Hanging Gardens & Tower of Babel - HISTORY, 2 February 2018, www.history.com/topics/ancient-middle-east/babylon  Accessed 3 April 2023.

Beaulieu, Paul-Alain. “A New Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II Commemorating the Restoration of Emaḫ in Babylon.” Iraq, vol. 59, 1997, pp. 93–96. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/4200440. Accessed 3 April. 2023.

“Ancient Mesopotamia Explained: Sumerians, Assyrians, Persians and Babylonians.” YouTube, 12 March 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZedmncHt3OQ  Accessed 3 April 2023.

Haldar, A. (1972). Mesopotamia: myth and reality. Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, 6, 31–44. https://journal.fi/scripta/article/view/67068 Accessed 3 April 2023.

BARKHO, LEON. "Scholars Zero in on Nebuchadnezzar's Ziggurat; Iraq: A Team of Austrian Archeologists has Determined the Design of a Temple the King Built 2,500 Years Ago. He Wanted it to Rival the Tower of Babel, 7 Miles Away.: [Bulldog Edition]." Los Angeles Times, Dec 06, 1998, pp. 34. ProQuest, https://eznvcc.vccs.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/scholars-zero-on-nebuchadnezzars-ziggurat-iraq/docview/421321250/se-2. Accessed 3 April 2023.

Naranjo, Roberto. “Marriage in Ancient Mesopotamia and Babylonia | eHISTORY.” eHISTORY, https://ehistory.osu.edu/articles/marriage-ancient-mesopotamia-and-babylonia. Accessed 3 April 2023.

Rodler, A. S., Klein, S., Artioli, G., and Brøns, C. (2019) Probing the provenance of archaeological glaze colorants: Polychrome faunal reliefs of the Ishtar Gate and the Processional Way of Babylon. Archaeometry, 61: 837– 855. https://doi-org.eznvcc.vccs.edu/10.1111/arcm.12455. Accessed 3 April 2023.

Wordsworth, Araminta. "Treasures of Western Cultural Heritage Lie in Path of War Machine: Iraq's Monumental Riches: [all but Vancouver Edition]." National Post, Mar 21, 2003, pp. A18. ProQuest, https://eznvcc.vccs.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/treasures-western-cultural-heritage-lie-path-war/docview/330214219/se-2. Accessed 3 April 2023.

[princessozera]

Demonus

Warning: Manipulation, illness, vomiting, poisoning, I think this may count as dark content but let me know

Word Count: 1.8 k

They/Them used (3rd ppov)

"It's so nice to get some time alone with you MC," Satan all but purrs as he nuzzles against MC's neck. "My brothers are always butting in, can't they see we just want some peace and quiet? They're always pulling you away from me."

"Shh, don't worry about them. You have me right now don't you?" MC leans back into the couch, petting Satan's head with the arm that was wrapped around him. He scoots closer still, considering just laying on their lap at this point.

"Oh, careful there-" MC is quick to scoop up the cup before Satan can let the demonus spill over them. They put the cup on the side table and guide Satan into laying down. They run their hand through his hair as he gushes over the latest book he read- a brilliant and headstrong protagonist against a cunning philanthropist hiding a dark secret with twists that don't hit you could never see coming. It was a little hard to make out his words, slurring almost unintelligible gibberish as he grew more tired, but MC continued to comb his hair and agree like they understood. When Satan finally stopped raving, MC saw him lick his lips so they open a fresh bottle of golden demonus to top off his cup. They try to hand it to him, but Satan makes a face.

"I dunno MC, I'm starting to feel kinda sick." Satan doesn't realize just how true this was until the words were already out. He was feeling hot flashes and the room was spinning a bit too much considering he was still laying down- just how much had he already had to drink?

"You always feel sick after a few glasses, don't you?" MC gives a half-defeated sigh and puts the cup back down. "I'll get you some water. Maybe I should have started with this demonus after all, I ordered it for tonight because-"

"No, I'll drink it!" Satan lunges over the couch arm rest, elbowing MC in the stomach in the process. He downs the cup before giving a rather undignified burp, " Sorry MC."

"I'll live," they give a breathless chuckle, rubbing their stomach as they pull Satan off. "But let me know if you start feeling worse. Just because you're a demon doesn't mean we shouldn't worry about alcohol poisoning."

Satan tries to speak, but gags on something. He goes to wipe his mouth and pulls away a handful of silver bubbles, no, froth? He gags again and this time he can taste it in the back of his throat- pungent and bitter, as if he had just stuck his head in a tub of bathroom cleaner. It's taking over his senses, filling his mouth and spilling over his lips and into his throat.

Satan vomits on to the carpet, coughing and hacking- trying desperately to clear his airways and get even the smallest bit of clean air. He's gifted no such mercy; it's coming out of his nose, his head's full of cotton, the clothes are constricting him to death and he was all too aware of eyes staring him down.

Satan tries to claw out the bubbles- his tears and saliva now dyed red. He tries spitting, blowing his nose, desperately wiping at any body part that felt like it was leaking. With his heart pounding and no clean air, he was quickly succumbing to the fear of asphyxiation.

Satan falls to the carpet, curling up and rubbing his face against a clean spot as he continues to scratch at his exposed flesh, flinching away from everything that felt unfamiliar and far too agitating for his overloaded senses. He reaches out to MC, but they stand back, watching him convulse on the ground. He couldn't see up to their face, but they made no move to come to him, or get help. Instead, he sees them pull out a thin rectangle from their pocket, there's a click, and a mumble barley audible above the static in his ears.

"15th of March, hour 3. Subject is showing signs consistent with-" is all he can make out before his vision goes black, losing consciousness to a lack of oxygen.

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

Satan wakes up sweaty and still suffocating, thrashing under the covers until he can manage to throw them off the bed. There's a muffled cry from the blankets, but he pays it no mind, attempting to jump out of bed like a bat out of hell, only to collapse on the ground when he can't hold up his own body weight. His head on a swivel, looking for the danger that his body was telling him was nearby, in this unfamiliar environment.

"Shh, it's okay, I've got you." Someone pulls themselves free from the blankets and guides Satan back to sitting on the bed, but he's still looking around. A cold hand cupped his face, and when Satan tried to pull away, another hand forced his head straight. After a few minutes of hyperventilating, MC's face came into focus and Satan's heartbeat slowed significantly. Once he stopped struggling against them, MC let go of Satan's face and wiped away his sweat with a damp washcloth. He let the cool water continue to calm him and help him reorient to his surroundings. Looking around again, he recognized his room, just a bit brighter than normal and smelling of disinfectant. He even let's them change his shirt with no complaints, but takes the glass of water himself, grimacing at the metallic taste it left in his mouth.

"MC, what happened last night?" He takes another sip of water to gargle, trying to get the awful taste out of his mouth.

"You mean you don't remember?" MC gestures to the couch behind them, piled with a small mountain of bottles. "We were hanging out yesterday and I think we over did it with the drinks. You got sick and I wanted to call Beel or Mammon, but you said you just needed to sleep it off and that they'd never let you hear the end of it."

Satan balks at the sight, counting at least 15 bottles on the couch. He's had more of his share of booze when partying with Asmo, or competing against his brothers, but this was another level. He still couldn't remember anything, but throwing up would explain the taste in his mouth, and maybe even the nightmare he probably had while sleeping to cause him to wake up with palpitations. Satan ducks his head into MC's neck for comfort, and to hide his embarrassment for being seen in such a horrid state. "I'm so sorry MC, that was from the special bottle you got me too wasn't it? I promise I'll make this up to you."

"No, it's okay really. I'm just glad you're feeling better." MC wraps an arm around Satan, rubbing circles into his back to soothe his agitation. "And anyways if I had gotten your brothers, Lucifer would have ripped us both a new one if he saw how much we had last night. So really, you helped me." Satan didn't believe them, and was ready to jump straight into planning his big apology. It was going to take a big effort on his part to make it up to them after such a colossal screw up, and MC was still being so caring with him.

"I love you, MC."

"... I love you too."

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

Experiment Catalog 21:

Codename 'Demonus'

Preliminary Notes:

Much in the same way that liquor is toxic to humans, but consumed by the masses none the less, a little birdie let it slip that there is a high likelihood that Demonus contains some degree of holy water. A little bit of time in the RAD food science kitchen verified as much.

The thought that spraying bottle of demonus over a crowd being as effective as using my holy water gun on demons pissed me off to no end, but I digress.

After I was done steaming, the flood gates opened. Demonus, it's perfect. If it really is just diluted holy water, stronger demonus contains a higher percentage of pure holy water and by that logic, it would only take a few bottles to push it into a deadly concentration.

Observations:

Test specimen (those before testing on subjects) took an average of 4-6 drinks before they could no longer identify the more potent holy water drink. Symptoms set in within 30 minutes of drinking the strongest concentration. Symptoms include: fever, chills, uncontrolled muscle spasms, crying, auditory hallucinations, paranoia, heavy sweating, dizziness, and smoke from ears/mouth.

Subject 1 (weight: XXX, Height: XXX): Specimen is larger than those before him and is known to hold his liquor well. 6 cups were given before the elevated dose was administered and seems undetected. 1 hour after dosing the subject finally showed symptoms of fatigue, decided not to risk a second dose for now. Antidote administered by air.

Subject 2 (Weight: XXX, Height XXX); Another large specimen that can hold his liquor well. 6 cups before dosing, but there was also a surplus of food in his system. Symptoms began at about 25 minutes after dosing, taken to my room for closer investigation. Dilated pupils, low grade fever and chills, and sweating. After 40 minutes of observation without much change, antidote was administered with food.

Subject 3: Data inconclusive. Experiment was not conducted in ideal conditions and large doses of unregulated drugs were introduced to the person's system. Antidote administered with more untainted demonus.

Subject 4 (Weight: XXX, Height XXX): Smaller than most before him, but a well seasoned drinker. 5 drinks before the high dosage was given. Seemed inconclusive at first, but upon closer inspection, subject was very good at concealing their symptoms. Of those I could see after the 30 minute mark: increased sweating, auditory hallucinations, dilated pupils, chills, and dizziness. Antidote administered with food.

Subject 5: Experiment aborted. Subject fell ill much faster than all test subjects before him and needed immediate treatment to prevent long term harm and exposure. Antidote administered after only 10 minutes of observation because the symptoms were evolving rapidly.

Ending Notes:

Minimum of 5 drinks need to be administered before attempting a high dose.

Antidote can be administered up to 4 hours after ingesting poison- unless the symptoms are extreme, developing rapidly, or are not in accordance with the most commonly recorded symptoms.

H.W concentration can be up to 75% concentrated in standard 12oz cups.

Death sets in at 8 hours after poisoning.

[plan-d-to-i]

So, I ran into this lovely discussion about the "discourse" between JC and Wangxian after the ending of Donghua and I found this lovely person attempting to explain why "people" started to side with JC and dunked on Wangxian!Donghua??????. Also this will be a bit long.

"JC antis are just an irrelevant minority both here on Tumblr and in general. JC is litterally the 3rd most popular character [after twisting his characters to the point of OCC] of the series after Wangxian and this speaks for itself. The same day the final episode of the donghua was aired, JC was trending WORLDWIDE on Twitter and not Wangxian. Pretty much everyone was taking JC's side against Wangxian because of the way they deeply humiliated him (things didn't remotely go that way in the novel) [But it still ensured JC received the consequence like the novel intended]. If ppl started hating donghua!Wangxian because of that, then I perfectly agree with them"

"Antis love to claim, so lost in their delusions, that the ending of the donghua was the most accurate to the novel but they must've read a different version of the novel because in the book things are completely different [The so-called JC antis knew this very well, they were happy that JC was not woobified and received consequences though, which is still accurate to the novel in term of theme]. If you're guessing who these idiots are, look for the "canon JC tag" and you'll immediately know the clowns to block"

"It was very different from both novel (the original) and Cql, they changed a bunch of stuff, it's impossible to miss. There are very detailed posts about the differences between novel and donghua ending here on Tumblr [Urgh, duh, we knew it before for the last episode, no need for detailed explanations] and how the events of the donghua ruined the moral of the novel [So having consequences for your actions and having a chance for self-reflection are bad now?]. Also, if million ppl rioted complaining about the humiliation JC received (never happened in the novel so wtf are you talking about?), in particular the chinese fandom who knows very well the symbolism of certain behaviors (they consider LWJ's behavior toward JC the ultimate humiliation for a clan leader [and JC deserved it]) that belong to their culture [So because he was a Clan leader, he was free of criticisms and backlashes????], this definitely means something. Btw I'm satisfied by the fandom behavior [Yeah, by shitting on the main pair for defense themselves], we can't change the ending but JC trending that day was definitely a message to the authors." [Like being a bunch of whiny babies?]

"When it comes to the mood of the whole fandom, JC was always the most popular character after Wangxian [Because he got woobified] , but in the specific situation of the Donghua the whole fandom sided with him against Wangxian [uhm, so JC antis were not in the fandom???]. In this moment here on Tumblr there are just a few idiots [lol] using the "canon JC" tag to spread their delusion, but we're talking of the same 4-5 antis and few random other ppl. If one blocks them, the tag is clean."

"I'm not here to discuss opinions about JC's character, especially because I firmly believe one can either love or hate a character but still be objective about a shit treatement said character receive. To me JC is neither a total saint, nor a total monster. He's an extremely fucked up individual like many others in this series and I just tend to appreciate the most morally grey characters compared to 100% good guys or assholes. [But you seems to have problem with morally grey characters received consequences, ex. "humiliation" like JC]. Also I never believed much in the "tsundere JC" portrayal , it's funny to see sometimes [dude, it almost everywhere in this fandom] but in canon I don't exactly see him that way"

"About Wangxian, I've always loved them but the ending of the donghua ruined them for me. [I smelled bullshit in this sentence, just admit you're a JC stan] Donghua authors ruined a bunch of characters tbh. Op wanted infos on the fandom mood about Wangxian and JC after the donghua and I just talked about it. It's not just my opinion, if the whole fandom complained about the donghua epilogue [maybe only the JC Stans complain as I also saw many people didn't give an F about JC's ending and were relatively happy for Wangxian's cottage gore ending] this means that there was actually something big to complain about ["How dare they gave JC . Like, a character (not even the main one) doesn't trend worldwide every day [Wait, WWX also trended on his birthday]. This means that this ending was a general disappointment, Wangxian was supposed to trend that day to celebrate their happy ending but guess what? JC trended because ppl were giving him support. I think this speaks for itself, being a fan of him or not is irrelevant. These are facts"

Yeah, I need helps to unpack this.

HAHHAHA wow. jc stans are deeply deeply DEEPLY divorced from reality ...and the definition of gray morality. Fuck they can't even learn one simple term how are they supposed to understand a whole novel (눈_눈). But love to see all the old favs gathered together :

gray morality

culture

I toTalLy liked WangXian before this >:-/

"if million ppl rioted" 🥴😂...why not a billion? Why not one billion, gajillion, fafillion?! They should go find a story where the mc is another basic, shitty, self absorbed whiner, and just be happy. lol and stop putting out their cringe, unhinged, butthurt ex energy on the internet. oh Wow jc trended 🌝! WangXian is still canon and jc still ends up alone, yk like in the novel. xx ∠( ᐛ 」∠)_

[lizisshortforlizard]

Living Dangerously - Chapter 22

Jurassic Park’s animal handlers: none of them ever mentioned by name in Michael Crichton’s original novel. Who were they? What were their lives like on Isla Nublar? Did any of them survive the disaster?

A year in the life of those responsible for the care of the dinosaurs. Many people would kill to have their jobs.

But would they die for it?

Jurassic Park Novel/Jurassic Park Film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

Warnings: light swears, relationship breakdown, butt-load of angst

Wordcount: ~65.7k (22 Chapters) [incomplete]

Tagging: @heresthefanfiction @howlingmadlady @arrthurpendragon @ocappreciation

Read on Ao3

Chapter 21 | Chapter 23

How’m I Gonna Sleep - Tim Finn

“You’re joking.” Lizzy objected flatly.

”Do I sound like I’m joking?” Muldoon didn't back down.

She shook her head in bewilderment, face like a smacked arse. “Why?”

“Your skills are required. I can’t say any more just yet.”

”I thought you were on my side.”

”And you have a job to do. You’re going. Pack your bags.”

Lizzy didn’t say another word. She turned around and walked straight out of his office before she told him exactly where he could shove that idea. What the Hell was happening?

Richardson might be the one to pull a fast one on her like this, but Muldoon?

She felt betrayed more than anything. She'd thought they were friends. He didn’t even ask her if she’d consider it. Just told her.

Pack your bags.

What exactly had she done wrong?

***

Tom was outside, in front of the still-incomplete visitor centre, doing shirtless pull-ups off a tree branch, all while smoking a cigarette.

“…Seven…c’mon, come to Daddy…eight…Hey, Liz!” He stopped and dangled, sweat dripping off him, when he saw her heading his way. “Betcha can’t do more than three of these!”

No answer. Huh, that was weird. She’d normally leap at the chance to prove him wrong.

”Where ya goin’, lady?”

She kept her head ducked, hurrying along. Tom didn't like that at all. He dropped down from the branch and picked up his shirt, mopping his brow.

“Liz! Talk to me."

Still nothing.

Tom frowned and stubbed his cigarette out, pulling his shirt back on before sprinting after her.  

***

“Armstrong, come in Armstrong, over.” Arnold sounded supremely fed up as he tried to reach her. Kathy and Rico were beside him, tracking the weather systems for the next few days and working out how their dinosaur care plans might be affected.

"She isn't in the park." Kathy called to him. "She went to Muldoon's."

"Then why the Hell is she not answering, huh?! Somethin's goin' on, I'm tellin ya!" Arnold threw his radio down and spoke into his phone instead. "No, no, nothing's wrong, buddy. It's a big island, that's all."

Tom's voice drawled over the radio. "Dr Armstrong isn't feeling well, can I take a message?"

"She with you, Kennedy?" Arnold asked grumpily.

There was a break as Tom clearly consulted with someone off-air. "...who wants to know?"

"Her New York man's on the phone. It's important, apparently. Needs to get her butt down here, now. Over and out." Arnold clicked off and yelled to Kathy again. "I told you this tie was a mistake, Kitty-Kat! I am not a messenger boy!"

***

An important call from Simon. Something awful must have happened. He'd only rang her yesterday, when he'd agreed to visit.

Lizzy wasn't sure she could take any more bad news so close together. Sorry she whispered to Ray as she hurried in, he was glaring at her furiously.

“I'm here. Who died?" She asked abruptly as she took the phone.

“Huh? Nobody died, Liz! I just have some good news. Some really great news, in fact. Gonna make your whole month, babe. Couldn't wait until I saw you in person."

“Out with it then!" Maybe a little snappy, she realised.

“Uh, okay, well since I was promoted to partner at the law firm, my folks gave me a bit of money. Rather a lot of money, actually, and Liz-“ Simon paused for effect. “-we’re getting married in a year. A year next Tuesday to be exact. I did it. I booked the Plaza.”

“Oh.” Lizzy didn’t know what to say. “I, uh-…” She should be excited. But dread was rapidly filling her from the toes of her boots upwards.

Kathy, Rico and Ray had stopped conversing and were quietly watching her, sensing something was wrong.

“And my mom’s picked out a dress for you. Isn’t that great?”

What?

She fumbled for whoever’s hand was closest and grabbed it before sinking down in a chair.

“Hermana?” Rico was immediately concerned. “Lizzy?”

Suddenly she was struggling to take a breath. Her chest felt like she was being crushed inwards by a boa constrictor. Kathy stared at her hard for a moment before scurrying off to source a glass of water.

”Liz? Isn’t that great?” Simon repeated.

She didn't really hear him. She was back in Africa. Standing in the pink dawn glow, looking out to the horizon, listening to the waking calls of animals and birds echoing across the plains.

New York was crowded, and cold, and a different kind of noise. The grey kind.

Then she thought of Costa Rica, her new home. African animals replaced by dinosaurs bellowing through the hills. Her job, the job of a lifetime. The countless doors that had opened for her and her research because she was working at Jurassic Park. Simon had never understood why she just couldn’t stop, couldn't give it up, and he would never try to.

It was all so very clear now. Whether he visited or not, they just weren't going to work. They had both changed, no longer two kids in New York City, too different now.

“Uh, hello? Liz? Say something, please.” Now Simon sounded worried.

“You should have asked.” She replied quietly.

“Sorry, the line broke up just then. What did you say?”

She suddenly felt unbearably hot. The control room was so stuffy. Her breathing was shallower, she felt like she couldn't breathe out, only in, and that her ribcage might burst from the pressure.

Lizzy had always wanted a family. A real one. Ten years ago, when she first met Simon she had thought that meant a husband and kids. A Volvo and a house you paid a mortgage on. Picket fences. The American Dream. But her friends on Isla Nublar, Jeff back in Africa, that was her family.

Falling into fits of laughter with Kathy when they tried and failed to toast marshmallows on the stovetop without setting off the fire alarm. Gerry making her coffee just right. Ray's sarcastic comments that always made her laugh no matter her mood. That was home. And Simon wasn't going to ever be part of it.

She couldn't, wouldn't get married. She didn't want it, and nobody was listening to her.

“That’s very generous of them-“ She blinked hard to keep the tears in check. “But I told you, tried to tell you, I don’t want a big wedding.”

“Yeah, but this way you don’t need to worry. It’s taken care of. It’s happening.”

It’s happening. He hadn't even asked her. Africa had never seemed further away. And now Isla Nublar was being ripped from her, twice in the same day.

“Babe...aren’t you excited?”

“Simon!” She started to panic. “There isn’t going to be anyone on my side of the room in New York!”

There was a long pause, and she knew she was in trouble.

“Mom said you’d be like this.” He told her flatly. “You’d find a reason to hate it.”

“I thought we were talking about getting married in Africa-“ She tried to pacify him.

“Well, it isn’t always about what you want, Liz!” Simon was clearly upset. “I’ve waited long enough for you. We need to start having kids, before-“

“Before what?”

“Before you’re too old!”

“What did you just say?” Lizzy raised her voice, and for once, Simon didn't back down.

“You know what I mean! We’re thirty-four, and well…no offence, but time’s running out.”

“What’s happening?” Tom walked into the control room. "You havin' a team party without me? Nice, real nice." Kathy hushed him.

“I can’t do this.” Lizzy couldn’t believe the words were coming out of her mouth.

“What do you mean?” Simon’s tone became negotiating when he finally realised she was genuinely upset. “Look, if it’s that big of a deal to you we can postpone, again-“

“No, we can’t.”

“It’s fine. Maybe the year after next.”

It wasn’t fine. Nothing was fine.

“No. I can't do this. I don’t want to get married. To you…I don’t want to get married to you.”

“You don’t mean that.”

She didn't deny.

“Lizzy? Tell me you don’t mean it.”

“I can’t-“ Lizzy gulped and crushed the life out of Rico’s hand. “I don’t want to anymore. You and me. I’m so sorry-“

The disconnect tone sounded. He had hung up.

She slowly put the phone down herself, and realised what she’d done. Regret, pain, and most worrying of all, relief, filled her to the brim.

Arnold spoke first. "Baby girl, I'm so sor-"

Lizzy held up a hand. She wanted quiet. Her mind was going off the rails.

"Shit..." Tom wasn't much help.

Kathy pushed the glass of water towards her. "What do you need?"

"Si, hermana. Anything."

Lizzy got up from her chair and took off. She didn’t know where she was going, just that there were too many people staring at her and it was too much for her to stand. She ran out into the park.  

***

”Lizzy, hun!” Kathy screamed into the trees. She was getting desperate. It had been hours. The sun was sinking low, Lizzy wouldn’t stay out all night…would she?

Damn, but the island was a lot safer than the middle of the Namibian bush. It was still warm enough to sleep out. Lizzy was sure as Heck stubborn.

But accidents happen. She might have tripped and broken her ankle, and be lying unconscious at the bottom of a valley.

“Where are you, girl?” She whispered. “Don’t do this to me.”

“Want me to round up the guys for a search party?” Isaac asked her. “We could check the motion sensors too?”

“Worth a shot, but she might not be moving. Cameras won’t pick her up.” Kathy groaned.

“Well then, what do we do?”

“We don’t need a search party.” Kathy turned to walk back towards the lodge. “Unless it's a party of one."

***

Kathy made a shooing motion and nodded towards the door. "Go on, get out there. Do what you do best. Go hunt."

"It's a bit more complicated than that. And why wasn't I informed before now?" Muldoon asked gravely. "Have you been making decisions again, Baker?"

"Tom told me what happened. Between you and Lizzy. That she didn't take the idea of moving to Sorna very well." Kathy answered quietly.

"She did not." Massive understatement. Although at least he wasn't the main reason she'd done a runner. In a rather interesting development, Armstrong was no longer engaged. Which meant that his plan for Sorna had gone awry. But Muldoon couldn't worry about that yet. At this moment in time, she was a missing person. His priority was to retrieve her, and quickly.

"Well, she's not back, it's dark and we're out of options. Can you find her or what?" Kathy demanded.

"Almost certainly. She won’t get very far, at least." Muldoon grumbled as he headed to the door.

"Need some help, boss?" Tom offered.

"Hunted more vicious things than her, I'll be fine." Muldoon answered. "Maybe I should take a shock prod though, what do you reckon?"

Kathy just stared at him, open-mouthed. Even Tom looked stunned.

"I was joking." He muttered. "Christ, that bloody woman."

***

Think like Armstrong.

Damn, now that was a scary notion.

At least they were on an island. Even so, thirty square miles was a massive search area. He had to narrow it down.

So, let’s go about this logically. If he knew her, which he did of course, then this disappearing act was her way of saying she needed help. She just didn’t know how to ask, and she hated appearing weak in front of the lads.

Meaning, she wanted someone to come and get her, bring her back. She had to know it would most likely be him, since he was the only person on the island that could track worth a damn, except for Kennedy, perhaps.

So where would Armstrong go, that only he might think of?

Muldoon braked hard and put the Jeep in reverse, going back on himself to take the other turning that led towards the tyrannosaur paddock.

Of course that’s where she is.

He was certain she would be perched on the very same tree she’d riddled with bullets not long ago. A place not obvious to just anyone.

Fortunately, Muldoon wasn’t just anyone.

He chose to kill the ignition and stalk the last few hundred metres. Headlights and engine noise might scare her off, if she thought she was in trouble.

Muldoon was actually enjoying himself. Out in the park alone, at night, was a rare opportunity. Good to know he hadn’t lost his touch. It had been a long while, since he had needed to hunt for…anything, really. And this time, he had no weapon.

Because he was hunting for a wildcat. He found the clearing where the fallen tree was, without much difficulty.

”I know you’re here, Armstrong.”

He hadn’t heard her, yet. Just a feeling. That from somewhere close by, he was being watched. And his feelings, instincts, call it what you will, were very rarely wrong.

“Hurry up and say something, woman, before I trip over you.” No girl this time. He did value his life, somewhat.

If he remembered correctly the tree was off to the left, in the direction of where the tyrannosaur was rumbling around in her paddock.

Muldoon reached for his torch and scanned the ground in front of him.

Ah, there it was. He had been right all along. Boot prints tracked away from him through the mud. Looked about a size seven US. Yes, she was definitely here, definitely wanted someone to come and get her. She knew better than to wear her distinctively small boots in boggy ground if she was trying to hide from him. The prints were partially filled with water, and the surface wobbled every few seconds. Rexy was on the move.  

“Over here.” A small Scottish voice finally spoke up. “How’d you know?”

Muldoon pointed the torch in the right direction. Sure enough, hazel eyes were staring back at him in the beam of light.

“Because I know you, daft bugger.” He went to sit down next to her on the tree trunk. “Can’t hide from me.”

They were silent for a few minutes, until his radio hissed, earning a quick grunt from the startled tyrannosaur.

“-uldoon, give me some good news. Can’t see you on the monitor anymore, over.” Arnold complained.

“Found her.”

”Oh! Oh thank God- Is she-“ Kathy started babbling away until Muldoon answered she’s fine curtly and switched his radio off. They could wait.

”I had to leave, it was all a bit much.” Her voice was hoarse. She’d been crying. “Just needed some space.”

“Nobody can hear you scream out here. Except the tyrannosaur.”

”That was kind of the point.” She let her head flop back, staring up at the stars.

“Still a bloody stupid thing to do. Running off like that.”

Away from her problems, yet again.

”You must be fuming.” She stated unhappily.

“Baker’s the one who’ll crucify you when we get back.”

Just glad you’re safe. He thought the words but didn’t say them. “Did you ever pull a stunt like this with Blacklaw?” Distracting her was a good move.

“No, but he grounded me once.”

Muldoon turned his laugh into a cough. The thought of his mate attempting to ground an unrelated woman in her twenties who wasn’t much shorter than him was quite funny.

“What on Earth did you do?”

“I called Sarah Harding a c-, er…the c-word. To her face.” Lizzy grimaced. “Apparently it’s much more offensive in the States.”

“Practically a friendly greeting, back in Glasgow, I’d imagine.”

”That’s what I said!” Lizzy groaned. "Thought she was going to bloody bite me."

"Wouldn't put it past her."

"At least I won't run into her anymore if she comes to visit Gerry, since I’m meant to be packing, I suppose.”

Muldoon shifted uncomfortably. Ah, Sorna. Now he had his wits back about him, maybe he had been too hasty about sending Armstrong away. He’d acted out of spite, hadn’t asked, just told her.

”Don’t worry about Sorna at the moment.” He said eventually. “We’ll talk about it properly in the morning. When we’re both more rational.”

”Really? Do I get some input this time?” That seemed to cheer her up a little.

”You can plead your case.”

She sniffed loudly and nodded.

“Shall I give you a lift back?” It was more of a threat than a question.

There was the faintest scuff of gravel as she planted her feet further apart. Was she really about to give him the runaround?

Oh no, he wasn’t having that.

“Careful. If you think I won’t drag you back inside that Jeep just to get Baker off my case, think again.”

She was silent, the cogs were turning. Trying to figure out if she was faster than him. In the dark. Without her glasses.

Not a chance he thought.

Was she going to bolt? Or just feeling well enough now to wind him up about attempting it?

He liked either choice, to be honest. Both meant she’d forgiven him.

“Don’t do it, Armstrong.” He warned. “Don’t you dare run.”

I’d catch you. And it would make my day.

She turned to him with a tiny smile. “Yeah, okay, you win. Let’s head back.”

***

On the journey back, Lizzy took off her engagement ring.  She rolled the Jeep window down, looked out at the jungle, down at the band, debating, then rolled the window back up again, still with the ring in the palm of her hand.

”Say you lost it. Believable enough.” Muldoon offered. He’d seen the state of her bedroom.

”Better not. It was his great-grandma’s. Survived a concentration camp. Makes me a complete arsehole.” Lizzy decided. “I’ll send it back.”

”Shame, that rock would probably put my daughter through university.”

”How is she?” Lizzy was grateful for the change in subject.

”Thoroughly enjoying being the class elephant expert, thanks to you.”

She nodded, pleased. She’d spent ages on that book. Good to know her efforts were appreciated.

Lizzy felt guilty now that Muldoon had gone to all this trouble for her. She would've come back of her own accord, eventually.

She didn't remember running from the control room, or even what direction she went in once she left the building. Only that she somehow reached the tyrannosaur paddock at twilight just as the quartz lights were coming on, all over the park. Her favourite time of day.

It had seemed a good place to stop. Not too far from home, but quiet, where she wouldn't be disturbed. She'd found the fallen tree and sat for a long time as the darkness drew in around the island, listening to the bugs buzzing around and the stegosaurs lowing like cattle as they gathered together for the night.

And then Muldoon had found her. Lizzy surprised herself with how glad she was to hear his voice in the darkness, despite their falling-out.

She was even more relieved, yet  surprised he didn’t have Kathy in tow, the renowned over-thinker. Lizzy didn’t want to analyse every detail of her break-up right at that minute. Maybe never.

What did it matter? It was over now.

Muldoon put the Jeep in neutral and idled out of view of the visitor complex for a minute, turning to speak to her. “I can drive you around the other side, if you’d rather. Sneak you in through the garage. You don’t have to face everyone just yet.”

She shook her head. “It’s okay. Can’t avoid them forever.”

He nodded and they moved off again. Kathy was waiting for them on the steps at the sound of the engine in the distance, hopping from one foot to the other, trying to see if there were two people inside the Jeep.

As they drew up Lizzy spoke again.

”Thank you.”

”For what, exactly?”

”Just for knowing."

He had a feeling she didn’t mean how he'd worked out exactly where to find her. Lizzy got out of the Jeep and walked straight into Kathy's arms, holding her tightly in a hug long after the vehicle moved off again.

Muldoon ended up sitting in the parked Jeep by himself for a while, doing some thinking of his own in the garage.

Armstrong was single. It hadn't really sunk in yet.

Since she’d floored Richardson with that technical question within the first hour of her first day, he’d fancied her something terrible. And it was only getting worse the more time they spent together.

Simply put, she was brilliant. And she wasn't the only one who wanted a challenge.

But in a way, this was worse, much worse. Before, she was completely off-limits, for obvious reasons.

Now there was hope, but Muldoon's hopes had been dashed before. He wasn’t sure if he could take much more of it.

***

Thanks for reading!

The chapter title song is one that Tim Finn wrote just before he and Greta Scacchi split up in 1989. Greta in the 90s is my faceclaim for Lizzy. The song seemed fitting for this one 🖤

And Lizzy and Simon are through. A comfortable relationship isn’t always a happy one, unfortunately.