#Antoni Sings Lullabies

[mirabel393]

Augustin Madrigal

Meet Augustin, the youngest brother of Audrey Elena and the son of Julieta and Agustin

Full name: Augustin Madrigal

Age: one years old

Species: troll

Family: Abuela Alma (adoptive grandmother) Abuelo Pedro (adoptive grandfather) tia Pepa (adoptive aunt) tio Felix (adoptive uncle) Dolores (oldest cousin) Camilo (cousin) Anontio (youngest cousin) Peppa (younger triplet cousin) Spinsy (twin younger triplet cousin) Feliz (cousin) Dolorosa (cousin) Carmelo (cousin) Antonie (cousin) Felixie (cousin) Pepo (cousin) tio Bruno (adoptive father) Bruino (youngest triplet cousin) Melanie (twin youngest triplet cousin) Almara (cousin) Perdro (cousin) Alima (cousin) Bruna (cousin) Julieta (adoptive mother) Agustin (adoptive father) Isabela (eldest sister) Luisa (middle sister) Mirabel (youngest sister) Juliena (older sister) Audrey Elena (twin older triplet sister) Spinel Juliano (twin older triplet brother) Isabelle (older sister) Luisana (older sister) Mirabella (older sister) Julieto (older cousin) Abuelo Almo (grandfather)

Allies: his family

Likes: Audrey and Floyd singing together and sleeping with Floyd and Audrey too, telling a story of his big sister, spending time with Audrey and Floyd, Branch, Spinel and Spinsy, Peppa and Bruino, playing his plush bumblebee Winnie the Pooh, sing and dance with Barney on Audrey's Dino doll, eating his vanilla pudding and vanilla milk, singing lullaby, playing dressed up, art and crafts, hanging with Bruce and Clay, John Dory, Poppy and Viva, eating honey cookies and helping baking with his big sister, Audrey's Fairy Godmother, Qwerty the Disney Computer, hanging out with Audrey's Madrigal Friends and Fairy Council, going circus, befriend Veneer and Crimp, adventure, used a imagination and playing pretend, to the funhouse and Funny too, live in stage in the play, listening to her voice, singing and dancing

Dislikes: nightmares, Audrey getting hurt, Floyd was under a sleeping spell by Evil Godmother, his cousins and family in danger, scared of dark like Audrey, boogie monster under his crib, Audrey being captured, brozone fighting and arguing, sleep alone, sisters and cousins, Brozone fighting, Audrey fall under a sleeping spell too

Abilities: his gift is Honey hands of healing properties

Backstory: Augustin was in his egg, Audrey promised her Grammy Posiepuff to taking care of her new baby sibling in encanto in fifty years ago, before the new madrigal triplets separated

[hopepaigeturner]

Villainous Benophie: Part 6

Inspired by @orangepeelshortbreadcookies; BRILLIANT Villainous Viscount AU (read on AO3 here). So all creds go to her!

And while she has done a beautiful fic about Benophie in this universe, Thieves of Dusk (10% RECOMMEND A READ. Read on AO3 here). But we’ve been chatting about my own ideas for Benophie. So, with her blessing here’s the next part of my version.

Part 5 here

As always Anthony expresses no emotion when Benedict explains the peril Sophie is in but Benedict knows him enough to see the cogs in his brain tick over. But he assures Benedict that he will protect Sophie. What Benedict doesn’t see is the look Antony gives him as he leaves.

For Anthony is a criminal mastermind who has created an empire…but more importantly he has been running a family since he was eighteen. He knows his siblings. He has seen the gentle change in Benedict, the softening of his blows and ruthlessness. And while Anthony is concerned there's also still that wish of an 18-year-old who wanted his siblings to have a better life.

Anthony says nothing and life trips along into a comfortable rhythm. Sophie continues to teach Hycainth and Gregory while becoming fast friends with the other Bridgerton siblings. And most afternoons she will share a tea with Violet Bridgerton. Benedict sometimes attends and tries his best to push the line on covert flirting. Sophie is sure his mother knows all too well what the looks between them are.

And Benedict and Sophie continue their moonlight discussions but more often than not at the academy rather than the balcony. Benedict draws Sophie as they talk, or as she doodles and reads. They trade kisses as they trade dreams and plans for the future, the pair of the progressing along the scale of physical intimacy as slow and pleasurable as a lazy river. They also trade dreams and futures, half-formed plans about live in the country, of a cottage with a view to inspire Benedict’s paintings and green enough to let Sophie’s heart rest easy.

Benedict finds it harder and harder to find joy in the running of the clubs, the espionage and clandestine jobs. Yet he is still strung between his family and Sophie, although there are some nights when he looks upon Sophie and knows his heart only sings for her.

It is one such evening when Benedict watches Sophie who is doing some mending while she humms lullabies, the candlelight softening her features until she seems to glow. And Benedict knows. He knows he could not live in a life without her.

And so he tells her so, tells her about his love for her, how he is willing to sacrifice his life for a quiet one with Sophie. He proves it by showing the deed to a cottage that he is in the process of purchasing, the piece of paper slipped between the pages of a sketchbook. He tells of how the nearby estate has young children who in a year or so might need a governess and he has talented hands that can always spin gold from something. But he is ready. He is in love and he will not let her go, he never wishes to and he never will. All he asks is for her to take that leap of faith with him, to take his hand.

They look at one another. Lover to lover. Heart to Heart. Sophie knows the answer and this time she uses her lips to speak one word.

“Yes.”

New emotions roll over Benedict that do not cloud but sweep him away as they come together in each other’s arms. He bows to his love and desire as does she as she trusts him with the final step of intimacy and chooses to let go. Let go of her past and buy into a brighter future, a future she never imagined but one that shines bright with her Ben by her side. Her love, her husband.

The walk home takes twice the time for the pair stumble against lampposts and walls to kiss like lovesick teenagers. And at the door Benedict promises to have all the details agreed by the next week. Once done, he will tell his brother to receive his blessing but if not then they can ride to Gretna Green in the morning.

It is when Anthony and Benedict are returning from one of their clandestine trips that Benedict broaches the subject.

Anthony is thunderous, outraged. Benedict cannot leave, Benedict is far too valuable to the business, to this family. And Anthony will not let Benedict throw it all away for a girl. He can marry whatever chit he sets his cap at, but he cannot leave. Benedict fights back with words until Anthony pushes him out of the carriage and declares he shall make Sophie pack her bags. Even Benedict wasn’t prepared for the blow he gives Anthony and the following scuffle is ugly and raw. Both brothers use every dirty trick and technique in their repertoire by the time the two are outside the lodgings they both limp and are stained in blood.

What they find when they arrive is far far worse. All the Bridgertons in uproar, most armed to the teeth, their mother wailing at the absence of both Sophie and Hyacinth. The eloquent ransom note declares as such but only states a ransom for Hyacinth not Sophie.

All remaining Bridgertons look between one another, all with the same look in their eye.

No one touches their property. No one touches the family.

Every crook and dealer from Covent Garden to Mayfair knows the consequences of crossing the Bridgerton family.

It is always paid in blood.

[finishinglinepress]

NEW FROM FINISHING LINE PRESS: Mothers and Other People by Karen Taylor

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Mothers and Other People is a poignant collection delving into themes of death, loss, #estrangement, nostalgia, and #family. From the ache of unspoken words to the weight of unresolved conflicts, the #poems in this collection delve into the emotional terrain of estrangement with raw honesty and vulnerability. Mothers and Other People invites readers on a journey of introspection and reflection, encouraging them to confront their own experiences of loss, estrangement, identity, and the complexities of #family #relationships.

Karen Taylor has written several short stories for anthologies, but this is her first poetry collection. She lives in Queens, NY and recently celebrated 25 years with her spouse, author/editor Laura Antoniou.

PRAISE FOR Mothers and Other People by Karen Taylor

“In Mothers and Other People, Karen Taylor writes of death, grief, and memory as a tapestry woven into the life of a narrator who is both embedded in and estranged from a cultural mélange of family. Taylor masterfully writes in the hybrid form of the lyric-narrative, each poem exploring a cause and effect but as Charles Simic wisely put it, not necessarily in that order. Taylor has dramatic insight and a cinematic eye. We can pause at the end of every line, linger, and give our vision and heart an opportunity to richly experience what she has offered. She never reports. Death, grief, and memory come into her immediate realization and are then woven through her complex artistry into an enriching and empathy expanding experience, a gift that elicits the best in us. In a world where being humane is endangered, reading Mothers and Other People offers us the invitation, perhaps the challenge that only we can determine that love remains.”

–Jack Ridl, author of Practicing to Walk Like a Heron, named finest collection of poetry by ForeWord Review, and of the forthcoming All at Once to be published by CavanKerry Press, autumn 2024

“This is a beautifully written and heartfelt collection that captures moments in the narrator’s life that are particularly humane and poignant. Members of the poet’s family of origin as well as her chosen family people these poems with their distinct personalities, lodging themselves deeply into this reader’s heart. There is much to admire and savor in this fine collection, which I hope will be the first of many!”

–Lesléa Newman, author of I Carry My Mother and I Wish My Father

“Moving, vivid, funny poems with an aching sense of the passage of time.Karen Taylor‘s poignant portraits of aged family members (and departed ones) go side by side with the author’s acute and tender personal sense of the loss of old places, objects, and even childhood itself.”

–Donna Minkowitz, author of Ferocious Romance, a Lambda Literary Award winner, and Growing Up Golem: How I Survived My Mother, Brooklyn and Some Really Bad Dates finalist for both the Lambda Literary Award and the Judy Grahn Nonfiction Award

“In Mothers and Other People, Karen Taylor uses her keen eye for detail and her deep understanding of the human heart to create a chapbook of devastating emotional depth and insight. Over the course of twenty concise and carefully crafted poems, she sings her reader, and her own self, an exquisite and often excruciating lullaby as she guides us on a journey away from, back to, and finally through the tactile and tangible sights, sounds, tastes, and textures of one deeply felt life. While the objects of her attention are precise and personal, her talent and integrity as a poet shape these poems into a portal for readers to remember their own precious and particular details. Her words weave together the rents in the delicate fabric of memory as she elevates the recitation of everyday objects and events of life to the elegiac. There is loss here, and betrayal, casual cruelty, and deep and enduring witness to kindness. Let these poems be a balm to your spirit.”

–Tony Amato, writing coach, author, founder of Write Here, Write Now Institute

Please share/repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #read #poems #literature #poetry #family #relationships

[divineharc]

@starsspin sent an inquiry : 📁📁📁📁━ ( meme. )

priscilla can speak several languages fluently. old latin being her mother tongue, followed by italian and english, but also greek, gaelic, spanish, and handfuls of german. this goes for both the modern and ancient variants of these languages, making her a highly literate woman of her time. not only could she speak but she could also write and read in these respected languages.

it isn't unheard of that she sings to people, though not many can actually say they've heard her sing per say. she usually sings a lullaby to people, particularly, children when they're dozing off because she firmly believes that melodies aid with gentle sleep. her singing voice, however, is considered haunting and tragic yet soothing.

during the civil war between julius caesar and marc antony, she was approached for aid in her foresight. though she helped neither for they both caused chaos within rome, she did foresee their deaths. admittedly, she did admire their intelligence and ideas to shape rome, but believed both to be highly selfish. it should be noted she did slap them both on separate occasions.

her home has floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that are absolutely covered with books. from historical books to novels, she's used escapism as a coping mechanism during the years she's alone. her entire house is proof of this, with ornaments, plants, towers of books, paintings, and sketches littering every surface. there are countless projects she's started and forgotten to finish particularly paintings.

[whumpfigure]

@ashintheairlikesnow if you think I'm not trying to finally learn Russian cursive to write Antoni's former name, you're wrong. Antoni is my baby and I love him even more after yesterday ;_;

[yaaasshunnay]

The sweet song styling of Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness

[doubleattitude]

Radix Dance Convention Nationals, Las Vegas 2021 Results

Core Performer:

(Top 3/4 in Bold)

Mini Female

Top 20:

Emily Jungmann

Isabella Kouznetsova

Skylar Wong

Madelyn Murphy

Carrigan Paylor

Kate Baldwin

Madison Carmody

Karyna Majeroni

Elizabeth Bilecki

Sasha Milstein

Diana Kouznetsova

Ellary Day Szyndlar

Tiara Sherman

Fiona Wu

Savannah Manzel

Camila Giraldo

Victoria Martinez

Georgia Beth Peters

Addison Price

Regan Gerena

Winner: Carrigan Paylor

Mini Male

Top 7:

Elias Elkind

Karson Koller

Santiago Sosa

Julian Aranda

Michael Cash Savio

Nico Dahl

Josh Lundy

Winner: Michael Cash Savio

Junior Female

Top 20:

Kendyl Fay

Daniela SanGiacomo

Kinley Andrews

Laci Stoico

Haileigh Brennan

Crystal Huang

Giselle Gandarilla

Kira Chan

Rylee Young

Kaili Kester

Taytum Ruckle

Maddie Ortega

Angelina Elliott

Anya Inger

Gracyn French

Aaliyah Dixon

Brinkley Pittman

Breanna Bieler

Alexis Mayer

Madison Ronquillo

Winner: Crystal Huang

Junior Male

Top 6:

Johnny Gray

Zachary Gibson

Haiden Neuville

Wyatt Brisson

Ayden Nguyen

Coltrane Vodicka

Winner: Coltrane Vodicka

Teen Female

Top 25:

Destanye Diaz

Izzy Howard

Kaitlyn Ortega

Jada Specht

Emily Madden

Harlow Ganz

Sabine Nehls

Dyllan Blackburn

Antonia Gonzalez

Brooklyn Law

Isabella Lynch

Avery Cashen

Charlie Kautzer

Valadie Cammack

Kiarra Waidelich

Isabel Joves

Olivia Magni

Rachel Loiselle

Mia Ibach

Cydney Heard

Madison Marshall

Kaylinn Rees

Hayden Frazier

Addison Middleton

Carly Thinfen

Winner: Kiarra Waidelich

Teen Male

Top 21:

Trent Grappe

Jack Brokaw

Luke Barrett

Nathan Scott

Antony Curley

Sam Fine

Louis Sloot

Rosendo Archiga

Harrison Robinson

Christian De Jesus

Xander Perone

Noah Ayden Grady

Jonah Daquigan

Samuel Sharp Jr

Jackson Koressel

Gavin Warfield

AJ Storey

Nicholas Bustos

Tucker Gokey

Ronnie Lewis

Sam Suro

Winner: Antony Curley

Senior Female

Top 22:

Camille Fehr

Rina Kanamaki

Elisabeth Pabich

Kayla Pereira

Sara Eberhardt

Ava La France

Selena Hamilton

Anna Miller

Skye Notary

Priscilla Tom

Mackenzie Jarrett

Libby Wiley

Makayla D’Ambrosio

Camryn Bridges

Maddie Thanos

Lola Coghill

Zoe Lemelman

Makenna Okamoto

Vanessa Valenzuela

Peyton Martineau

Erin Wienke

Izzy Burton

Winner: Erin Wienke

Senior Male

Top 13:

Wysdem Caesar

Garren Garcia

John Mays

Seth Gibson

Raiden King

Alec Brown

Bronson Dahmer

Jackson Roloff-Hafenbreadl

Sam McWilliams

Levi Sherman

Konnor Kelly

Zach Buri

Thiago Pacheco

Winner: Sam McWilliams

Finals:

High Scores by Age:

Cash Prizes:

1st: $200

2nd: $100

3rd: $50

Rookie Solo

1st: Mila Renae-’Soldier’

2nd: Lucia Piedrahita-’Fields of Gold’

2nd: Aliya Yen-’Loyal, Brave and True’

3rd: Melina Biltz-’Welcome Home’

4th: Zoey Brooks-’My Boyfriend’s Back’

5th: Lexi Menjivar-’I Will Survive’

6th: Moriah Peralta-’Up, Up & Away’

7th: Kaiya Carrillo-’Love Shack’

8th: Kinsey Fitts-’Can You Imagine That’

8th: Shale Herrera-’Dream’

9th: Madison Skapyak-’Songbird’

10th: Eden Hernandez-’Chocolate Box’

Mini Solo

1st: Camila Giraldo-’Welcome to Miami’

2nd: Skylar Wong-’Lovefooll’

3rd: Carrigan Paylor-’Orange Colored Sky’

4th: Regan Gerena-’My Boyfriend’s Back’

4th: Michael Cash Savio-’Rhythm’

5th: Tiara Sherman-’Cielo’

6th: Isabella Kouznetsova-’Trouble’

6th: Emily Jungmann-’You Sleep On’

7th: Winter Eberts-’Hit The Road Jack’

7th: Esme Chou-’Unravel’

8th: Addison Price-’Je Te Laisserai Des Mots’

9th: Avery Maycunich-’Wild is the Wind’

10th: Abigail Pucylowski-’Menace’

Junior Solo

1st: Crystal Huang-’Moonlight Sonata’

2nd: Gracyn French-’A Character of Quiet’

3rd: Angelina Elliot-’Out’

4th: Aaliyah Dixon-’That’s Life’

4th: Alexis Mayer-’Vanished’

5th: Laci Stoico-’Mein Herr’

6th: Daniela SanGiacomo-’Restless’

7th: Lexi Godwin-’Debut’

7th: Brenna Bieler-’Moonlight Sonata’

8th: Naia Parker-’Lit’

9th: Vivienne Robillard-’Immigration’

9th: Zoe Zielinski-’Z’

10th: Maddie Ortega-’A Winged Victory’

10th: Zachary Gibson-’Unknown’

Teen Solo

1st: Sophia Cobo-’Do You Feel Real’

1st: Izzy Howard-’Mer de Velours’

1st: Cydney Heard-’Je T'aime’

1st: Kiarra Waidelich-’The Resemblance is Uncanny’

2nd: Angelika Edejer-’One Giant Leap’

3rd: Kaitlyn Ortega-’Ain’t No Sunshine’

3rd: Harlow Ganz-’Breaking the Surface’

3rd: Antonia Gonzalez-’Like The Wind’

4th: Xander Perone-’Elijah’

4th: Dyllan Blackburn-’Silver Screen’

5th: Charli Ortiz-Ringenbach-’Is This Love’

6th: Ava Greendwaldt-’Countdown’

6th: Sammi Chung-’Eight’

6th: Isabella Warfield-’Nicest Thing’

6th: Jadyn Saigusa-’Wonderlust’

7th: June Hurley-’Don’t Think Of Me Like That’

7th: Kenzie Jones-’Flightless Bird’

8th: Finley Williams-’We’ll See’

9th: Sarah Laskowski-’For You’

10th: Addison Middleton-’ERROR’

10th: Rosendo Arechiga-’Thanks for Asking’

Senior Solo

1st: Thiago Pacheco-’The Poet’

2nd: Selena Hamilton-’Black Car’

3rd: Jackson Roloff-Hafenbreadl-’Darkness’

4th: Maddie Nemeth-’Sycamore Tree’

5th: Olivya Sessing-’House on the Hill’

6th: Sheridan Naugle-’Irreplaceable’

6th: Mia Tassani-’Mam’

6th: Seth Gibson-’Mind Bugs’

7th: Makayla D’Ambrosio-’Consider’

8th: Leigha Agins-’Prerogative’

9th: Milan Furtado-’As We Appear’

9th: Georgi Carmack-’Creature’

9th: Minda Li-’On Her Shoulders’

9th: Britton Moore-’Radiator’

9th: Libby Wiley-’Running Up That Hill’

9th: Sara Eberhardt-’Sticks and stone’

10th: Yasmine Quintana-’Hate’

Rookie Duo/Trio

1st: Danceplex-’Stand By Me’

2nd: AVANTI Dance Company-’It Must Be Love’

3rd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Never Enough’

4th: Notion Dance Concepts-’MILK $’

5th: The Industry Dance Academy-’Don’t Go Without Me’

Mini Duo/Trio

1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’Yesterday’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Something’s Gotta Change’

3rd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Gracious’

4th: Studio X-’Vogue’

5th: Studio 19 Dance Complex-’Gonna Get Ya’

Junior Duo/Trio

1st: AVANTI Dance Company-’Go Girl’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Everything Is In Line’

3rd: Elements Dance Space-’Separate’

4th: Danceplex-’This Is Me Trying’

5th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Wild Life’

Teen Duo/Trio

1st: The Rock Center for Dance-’Make Me High’

2nd: The Rock Center for Dance-’Last Light’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Hey’

4th: Evolution Dance Complex-’Before You Go’

5th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Crystalized’

Senior Duo/Trio

1st: Mather Dance Company-’Trust Me Again’

2nd: The Difference Dance Company-’3′

3rd: MVP Dance Elite-’Bitter

3rd: CanDance Studios-’Revolution’

4th: The Difference Dance Company-’June 7th’

5th: Studio 413-’Black Flies’

Rookie Group

1st: Danceplex-’Little Wonders’

2nd: Danceplex-’Lets Hear It For the Boy’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Lullaby’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Girls Night Out’

5th: Notion Dance Concepts-’Firework’

Mini Group

1st: Project 21-’Fan Tan Fannie’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Searching For...’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Don’t Give Up On Me’

4th: Evoke Dance Movement-’I Think I Love You’

5th: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Queen Bees’

Junior Group

1st: Project 21-’No Fear But Anticipation’

2nd: Project 21-’Stuff Like That There’

2nd: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Wind It Up’

3rd: Prodigy Training Center-’School of Prodigy’

3rd: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Sing, Sing, Sing’

3rd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Un Momento Finale’

4th: Cypress Dance Project-’What Is Love?’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Wolves’

5th: The Difference Dance Company-’1977′

5th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Alright’

Teen Group

1st: Project 21-’Bring On the Men’

2nd: Project 21-’Girls, Girls, Girls’

3rd: The Difference Dance Company-’Cellophane’

3rd: The Rock Center for Dance-’Heavenly Bodies’

3rd: Mather Dance Company-’Overdose’

3rd: The Difference Dance Company-’Unchained’

4th: AVANTI Dance Company-’The Cuckoo’s Nest’

5th: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Boom POW’

Senior Group

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Prague’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’I Love America’

2nd: Mather Dance Company-’We The Soldiers’

3rd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Hard Voices’

4th: Impact Dance Studio-’Fame’

4th: The Industry Dance Academy-’When Dirt Meets Water’

4th: The Difference Dance Company-’Wolves’

5th: Mather Dance Company-’For All We Know’

Rookie Line

1st: The Rock Center for Dance-’Innana’

2nd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Ooh La La’

3rd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Wash & Set’

4th: Cypress Dance Project-’Bat Dance’

Mini Line

1st: The Rock Center for Dance-’6 Out of Six’

1st: Project 21-’Dive In the Pool’

2nd: Impact Dance Studio-’Go Your Own Way’

2nd: Impact Dance Studio-’You Can’t Stop the Beat’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Always’

4th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Booty Swing’

5th: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Distance’

Junior Line

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Derniere Danse’

2nd: Impact Dance Studio-’Mein Herr’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Whole Lotta Woman’

3rd: Project 21-’Proud Mary’

4th: Impact Dance Studio-’Hallelujah’

5th: The Rock Center for Dance-’All Good People’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’It Wasn’t Always Like This’

5th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Mahala’

Teen Line

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’New York New York’

2nd: Studio 413-’Hold On Tight’

3rd: Project 21-’Post That’

4th: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Dream Girls’

5th: The Rock Center for Dance-’Hey!’

Senior Line

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Here Comes the Rain’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’No Colors Anymore’

3rd: Mather Dance Company-’Voice of God’

4th: Project 21-’The Dictator’s Dream’

5th: The Difference Dance Company-’Cody Banks’

Rookie Extended Line

1st: AVANTI Dance Company-’Brave’

2nd: The Industry Dance Academy-’Hard Knock Life’

Mini Extended Line

1st: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Trouble’

2nd: The Rock Center for Dance-’Settle Down’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Choo Choo’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Boy Meets Girl’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Dream In Color’

Junior Extended Line

1st: Evoke Dance Movement-’Purse First’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Hold Your Own’

3rd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Better Than Ever’

4th: Studio 413-’Girl Boss’

5th: Studio 413-’Goodbye’

5th: Evoke Dance Movement-’Lose Control’

Teen Extended Line

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Euphoric’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Hush Up’

3rd: Project 21-’Desoleil’

4th: CanDance Studios-’Throw It Back’

5th: Evoke Dance Movement-’Adios’

5th: CanDance Studios-’The Colony’

Senior Extended Line

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’My House, My Rules’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’So What Now?’

2nd: The Difference Dance Company-’The Ravens’

3rd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Terrified’

Junior Production

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’One More Time’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Eminence’

3rd: Studio 413-’Electricity’

Teen Production

1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’Fly Away’

1st: AVANTI Dance Company-’Gone Too Soon’

High Scores by Performance Division:

Rookie Jazz

1st: Danceplex-’Lets Hear It For the Boy’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Girls Night Out’

3rd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Ooh La La’

4th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Wash & Set’

4th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Spice Up Your Life’

5th: The Industry Dance Academy-’Material Girl’

Rookie Contemporary

1st: The Rock Center for Dance-’Innana’

Rookie Lyrical

1st: Danceplex-’Little Wonders’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Lullaby’

3rd: Notion Dance Concepts-’Firework’

4th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Brave’

Rookie Musical Theatre

1st: The Industry Dance Academy-’Hard Knock Life’

Rookie Specialty

1st: Cypress Dance Project-’Bat Dance’

Mini Jazz

1st: Project 21-’Dive In the Pool’

2nd: Impact Dance Studio-’You Can’t Stop the Beat’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Trouble’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’What Have You Done For Me Lately’

5th: Evoke Dance Movement-’Money Heist’

Mini Ballet

1st: Summit Dance Shoppe-’This Way’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Whistle A Happy Tune’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Rosamunde’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Cats’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’A Lovely Night’

Mini Hip-Hop

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Queen Bees’

2nd: Prodigy Training Center-’JR Prodigy’

3rd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Get Up’

4th: Prodigy Training Center-’Money’

5th: Heat Dance Studio-’Work It Out’

Mini Tap

1st: Studio 19 Dance Complex-’L.O.V.E’

2nd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Booty Swing’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Choo Choo’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Swing in the Mood’

4th: Studio 413-’Critical Level’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Charleston Charlie’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Aye Carumba’

Mini Contemporary

1st: The Rock Center for Dance-’6 Out of Six’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Searching For...’

3rd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Distance’

4th: The Difference Dance Company-’Lying’

5th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Glad It’s Raining’

Mini Lyrical

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Go Your Own Way’

2nd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Don’t Give Up On Me’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Always’

4th: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Lego House’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Soon You’ll Get Better’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Dream In Color’

5th: Artistic Motion Dance-’What A Wonderful World’

Mini Musical Theatre

1st: Project 21-’Fan Tan Fannie’

2nd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Wedding Bells’

3rd: The Industry Dance Academy-’Revolting Children’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’I’ve Got Rhythm’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’All That Jazz’

Mini Specialty

1st: Evoke Dance Movement-’I Think I Love You’

2nd: The Rock Center for Dance-’Settle Down’

3rd: Studio 19 Dance Complex-’Come Little Children’

4th: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Youth Strong’

5th: Studio 19 Dance Complex-’Child of Light’

Junior Jazz

1st: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Whole Lotta Woman’

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’One More Time’

2nd: Project 21-’Proud Mary’

3rd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Purse First’

4th: Project 21-’Stuff Like That There’

4th: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Wind It Up’

4th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Mahala’

5th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Can You Dig It?’

Junior Ballet

1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’Combust’

2nd: The Industry Dance Academy-’Spring’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Bathers’

Junior Hip-Hop

1st: Prodigy Training Center-’School of Prodigy’

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Eminence’

2nd: Studio 413-’Girl Boss’

3rd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Lose Control’

4th: Cypress Dance Project-’Plain Jane’

5th: Heat Dance Studio-’Up’

Junior Tap

1st: Cypress Dance Project-’What Is Love?’

2nd: Woodbury Dance Center-’I Love It’

3rd: Studio 413-’Into The Night’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Valerie’

5th: Cypress Dance Project-’Halftime’

Junior Contemporary

1st: Project 21-’No Fear But Anticipation’

2nd: The Rock Center for Dance-’All Good People’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Hold Your Own’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’It Wasn’t Always Like This’

3rd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Un Momento Finale’

4th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Wasted Air’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Wolves’

5th: Studio 413-’Goodbye’

5th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Alright’

Junior Lyrical

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Hallelujah’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’You Are The Reason’

3rd: Stars Dance Studio-’Dawn of Love’

3rd: Impact Dance Studio-’Time After Time’

4th: To The Pointe Dance Centre-’It’s All Coming Back To Me’

5th: Studio 19 Dance Complex-’When I Look At You’

Junior Musical Theatre

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Mein Herr’

2nd: Cypress Dance Project-’Elle’s Big Day’

3rd: The Industry Dance Academy-’West Side Story’

Junior Specialty

1st Impact Dance Studio-’Derniere Danse’

2nd: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Sing, Sing, Sing’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Better Than Ever’

3rd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’You’re Mine’

4th: The Difference Dance Company-’1977′

5th: Stars Dance Studio-’Spa’

Teen Jazz

1st: Project 21-’Bring On the Men’

2nd: Project 21-’Post That’

3rd: CanDance Studios-’Throw It Back’

4th: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Boom POW’

5th: Studio 413-’Social Media Overload’

Teen Ballet

1st: The Industry Dance Academy-’To The Pointe’

2nd: Cypress Dance Project-’Hunted’

Teen Hip-Hop

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Hush Up’

2nd: CanDance Studios-’Panaramic’

3rd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Runnin’

4th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Clones’

5th: Studio 413-’Ready or Not’

5th: Studio 413-’Savage’

Teen Tap

1st: Studio 413-’No One’

2nd: Woodbury Dance Center-’I’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Go’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’25 Miles’

Teen Contemporary

1st: Studio 413-’Hold On Tight’

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Euphoric’

2nd: The Rock Center for Dance-’Hey!’

3rd: Project 21-’Desoleil’

4th: Project 21-’Girls, Girls, Girls’

5th: CanDance Studios-’Can I’

5th: The Difference Dance Company-’Unchained’

5th: The Difference Dance Company-’Cellophane’

5th: Stars Dance Studio-’Through our Strength’

5th: The Rock Center for Dance-’Heavenly Bodies’

Teen Lyrical

1st: Mather Dance Company-’Overdose’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Take Me’

3rd: Studio 19 Dance Complex-’Particles’

4th: Danceplex-’If I Say’

5th: Heat Dance Studio-’He Loves Me’

Teen Musical Theatre

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’New York New York’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Singular Sensation’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Almost Like Being In Love’

Teen Ballroom

1st: CanDance Studios-’I Got the Boom’

Teen Specialty

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Dream Girls’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’The Future Is Female’

3rd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Gone Too Soon’

4th: Heat Dance Studio-’Freedom’

4th: The Difference Dance Company-’Pale’

5th: The Industry Dance Academy-’Flashing Lights’

Senior Jazz

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’My House, My Rules’

2nd: Impact Dance Studio-’Fame’

3rd: Mather Dance Company-’Prisoner’

4th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Need U Tonight’

5th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Cleopatrs in New York’

Senior Ballet

1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’Illumination’

Senior Hip-Hop

1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’CrAzY’

Senior Tap

1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’Funkytown’

Senior Contemporary

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’No Colors Anymore’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’I Love America’

2nd: Mather Dance Company-’We The Soldiers’

3rd: Project 21-’The Dictator’s Dream’

3rd: The Difference Dance Company-’Wolves’

3rd: The Industry Dance Academy-’When Dirt Meets Water’

4th: The Difference Dance Company-’The Ravens’

5th: The Difference Dance Company-’The First Time’

Senior Lyrical

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Prague’

2nd: Impact Dance Studio-’Here Comes the Rain’

3rd: Mather Dance Company-’Voice of God’

4th: Mather Dance Company-’For All We Know’

5th: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Wash’

Senior Specialty

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Hard Voices’

2nd: The Difference Dance Company-’Cody Banks’

3rd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’So What Now?’

4th: CanDance Studios-’I Won’t Complain’

5th: Cypress Dance Project-’To This Day’

Best of Radix:

Rookie

Winners: 

The Rock Center for Dance-’Innana’

Danceplex-’Little Wonders’

Mini

1st: The Rock Center for Dance-’6 Out of Six’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Searching For...’

3rd: Project 21-’Dive In the Pool’

4th: Impact Dance Studio-’You Can’t Stop the Beat’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Trouble’

6th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Don’t Give Up On Me’

Junior

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Derniere Danse’

2nd: Project 21-’Proud Mary’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Mahala’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Whole Lotta Woman’

5th: Evoke Dance Movement-’Purse First’

6th: The Rock Center for Dance-’All Good People’

7th: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Wind It Up’

Teen

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’New York New York’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Euphoric’

3rd: Project 21-’Bring On the Men’

4th: Studio 413-’Hold On Tight’

5th: The Rock Center for Dance-’Hey!’

Senior

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Here Comes the Rain’

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Prague’

2nd: Mather Dance Company-’Voice of God’

3rd: Project 21-’The Dictator’s Dream’

3rd: The Difference Dance Company-’Wolves’

4th: The Industry Dance Academy-’When Dirt Meets Water’

Best in Show ($10 000):

Winner: Impact Dance Studio-’New York New York’

[remember-miguel]

BDRPwrimo -- Day 16

Jukebox Musical/TV or Movie Soundtrack.

La Vida de la Musica

Listen here!

[tw: mentions of death]

La Llorona 

We open in a room lit by a single light. Acoustic guitar trickles into the room. It is nighttime. There are two figures, an older woman--Abuelita--and our main character as a small boy--Miguel. As we get closer, we realize that Abuelita is singing a haunting melody. Halfway through, Miguel joins in, showing that this is something they often do. 

**this song is in the movie, though this is a different version. also, i know it’s not like a lullaby, but work with me here folks.

Piel Canela - Mi Sobrino Memo

Miguel--older than the last scene, but still young--holds a guitar. There is a smattering of wrapping paper and his family standing about. It is clearly his birthday. He has disregarded the other gifts in the immediate vicinity for the guitar. 

“Play something!” calls one of his cousins. 

Miguel obliges. 

Besame - Play-N-Skillz

In this scene we see Miguel in the workshop with his father, mother, and a few of his cousins. For some reason or another, they are all called away, one after another. Taking this opportunity, Miguel wanders over to the radio and cranks it all the way up. He dances across the shop, having abandoned his work as we see him get lost in the joy of the music.

His father returns and scolds him...this scene fades into the next one…

**this song is like -- just really fun, but lyrically doesn’t have much to do with the scene. it’s just a current popular latin hit. (it’s a bop, it’s my favorite one on this list.)  

Hasta la raiz - Natalia Lafourcade

The music takes a sharp turn from the joyful atmosphere of the last song. Instead, it is softer and more emotional. We open on a funeral, a framed photo shows us that it is Abuelita who has died. Miguel gives a eulogy with this song. The rest of the congregation joins in.

**this is also a romantic song but look we are repurposing. i actually really like the lyrics of this one, it is about planting things and someone staying with you even after they’re gone. (“i carry you inside me, to the root.”)

Me Quedo - Romeo Santos

It is just after the funeral. We can tell because Miguel and his father are still in their same clothes as they sit on the back porch of their house. At first, they start out talking about Abuelita and Miguel’s future, but it soon develops into a fight--where they begin singing. Miguel eventually makes a deal with his father. He can go to school to study music, as long as he also studies business. Miguel begrudgingly accepts.

**disclaimer that I realize this is a romantic song, but it’s about trying to get someone to stay and being broken hearted if they leave and trying to get them to confront the impact their actions have so let’s just IGNORE THE ROMANCE. thanks. 

La Llorona (reprise) - Dueto Dos Roses

The ghosts come. They invade Miguel’s thoughts, singing this haunting lullaby from his childhood. I imagine that it would be in a round, y’know? Make it really creepy sounding. 

**i know this is kind of cheating, using it twice but LOOK -- it’s the Theme. cut me some slack i am trying my best. 

Loco - Enrique Iglesias

After the ghosts appear to him, Miguel has another soliloquy type song where he sings about his Predicament. (aka that if his family finds out that he is a medium, his father will back out of their deal and he won’t be able to be a musician.) It a mournful, desperate song. 

**okay look, again, this is CLEARLY a romantic song, but it works because it’s also about promising someone things so that they’re not mad/don’t leave, so it WORKS. it’s a break up song, but it kind of works because it talks about not forgiving someone for hurting you and Miguel knows he wouldn’t forgive his family if they find out. 

Una Vida - Natalia Lafourcade

This is the first song of the second act. Miguel is preparing for his journey. His mother is sad to see him go, and she is the first one to begin to sing. Her part of the song is mournful. But Miguel can’t help but bounce around and join in the singing in his excitement. He eventually infects all of his family with his energy and they sing him to the airport...

La aventura de la vida - Nacho Cano

Miguel goes through security and boards an airplane with his guitar strapped over his shoulder. His family waves him off and sings him through security, following the same pattern, this song starts mournful and then picks up in tempo as Miguel’s family disappears. The airport workers pick up the melody and soon the whole airport is singing, wishing Miguel well on his adventure.  

Vivir mi vida - Marc Antony 

Miguel steps foot in Swynlake for the first time. Swynlake is there to welcome him. For the first time, they are the ones to start the song in a joyful tone as they show Miguel all the amazing things he is about to experience in Swynlake! (Miguel sings along eventually, and is the one who shouts Mi gente! (My people!) 

me @ the spanish-speaking people in the RP:

[ashintheairlikesnow]

If you ever feel like writing a Drabble where Misha is on a date and gets broken up with please tag me, cause I’d love it 😈

CW: Whumper POV, sadistic whumper, Misha thinks a lot of violent things about basically everyone

-

A muscle in Misha's jaw twitches as his teeth meet, grinding together with the effort it takes to just... listen. He's wildly aware of the steak knife lying next to his right hand, convenient as can be, but probably nearly as dull as a bread knife.

"It's just... I kind of feel like you don't actually care," Michelle says, and looks at him with big, imploring eyes. He thinks about gouging them out and putting coins there, something Tyoma read to him once about paying for the ride to Hell. "Not, like, about me, but... well, yes, it feels like you don't care about anything, me included."

He nods, breathing carefully. "I don't think that's true," He says, and his voice stays mild, but the rage burns him up from the inside. It's the only thing he ever feels with any level of strength - every other emotion feels sort of faded by comparison, but anger... anger is bright and sharp and hot and good.

She raises her eyebrows, disbelieving, and then lets out a little laugh, picking up her fork to pick at her salad. "Okay, fine. Name one thing you even remotely care about more than yourself."

That's easy. Misha doesn't even hesitate. "My brother."

Her hand stills, a bit of lettuce dripping ranch dressing pierced right through, as if the vegetable bleeds white with green flecks. Misha's eyes flicker down to it, wondering if he could get a pitchfork all the way through a torso and try to recreate the image. When he looks back up at her face, the expression on her face is a strange one.

"... Yeah, okay," She says, speaking slowly. "But... like. You and your brother aren't... normal about each other."

"What does that mean?"

If she insults his Tyoma, he will slice her face to ribbons, even if the trail leads right to him. It'd be worth it, to show her ruined body to Tyoma and say, look, she said bad things about you, look how much I love you that I have ensured she can't say them again.

"I... I don't know, Mikhail." She says it almost like Michael in her stupid American accent, and he swallows down a correction. It isn't worth it. "I just mean... look, my brother's a couple years older than me. I know tons of people with brothers, and none of them spend as much time together as you guys do. And, like, he looks at me like I'm intruding on you two."

"Tyoma only wants to protect me," Misha lies, smooth like oil.

Tyoma wants to protect you from me.

"Right. But. Still, like, it's weird, right?"

Misha exhales, slowly. Tyoma always tells him to breathe away the anger before it takes over when he's in a place where people will see it. He tries, he really does try.

"I do not think so," He says, placing each word into the air, picturing them as stones he drops to weigh her down, drag her under the surface of the water. "We come from Russia when we are little, we have only each other for long time." His accent is thickening, he's dropping the unnecessary English words that used to drive him up the wall.

The other kids laughed because he forgot the 'a' or the 'the' in so many sentences, and sometimes he scratched them up or bit them, and then Tyoma taught him how to stop himself, how to breathe first.

"No, I get that-"

"Do you?"

She swallows, and she sees something in his face. He knows she does, because she sits up suddenly, her spine straightening. She's tense, now. He thinks about when she explained to him that she keeps her keys between her knuckles when she walks late at night out of her job at the mall, how she never wears her hair in a ponytail because that would make it easier to grab. All the little rules she lives by to keep herself safe. He hadn't been paying much attention, it had seemed like so many pointless little games.

"Yeah," She says, and her voice is a little husky, now. "Yeah, I do. You were all by yourselves when you moved here, I understand that. But, like... that was more than ten years ago. And dating you still feels like I'm dating you both, except that I kind of get the feeling that your brother isn't into the idea."

Misha hasn't ever considered it that way. He looks to the side, out into the eternal rain. Why his parents moved to this part of the country, where a drizzle is good weather and sun is a rarity, will never make sense to him. "I can see why you think this," He says, finally, and his voice is softer now. He can see Michelle relax.

It's her own fault, not realizing that predators are often quietest just before they strike.

"I like seeing you," He continues, and looks down at his own steak, half-eaten, so raw it might as well be bleeding on the plate. "I am sorry you do not want to see me any longer, but we can stay friends?"

"Yeah," She says, and he wonders if she's lying. Misha lies all the time, about everything, constantly. But he can never tell if other people are lying - mostly, he doesn't care. "Yeah, friends. Listen, I'm gonna-... if you're okay, I'm gonna go. Do you mind grabbing the check?"

She's leaving, he thinks, and making sure she's gone before he can follow her out.

It doesn't matter.

He knows where she lives, works, who her friends are...

Tyoma would tell him this would be too close, people would look at him. Likely suspect, unlike the strangers in bars he's never seen before. Unlike the women walking the streets with no one to report them missing. Tyoma is right, he's right, and so Misha pushes it down. Instead, he looks over Michelle's face, memorizing it as best he can.

"No problem," He replies, and pushes his chair out, standing up to offer her a hug. She looks unsettled, but unwilling to make a scene - she steps into the hug, and he reminds himself not to hold her tight enough to hurt. He breathes in her perfume.

"I will see you around," He says, voice kind and soft, unworried. Unbothered.

"Yeah," She mumbles as she breaks away from him. She grabs her purse and he watches her go. She has her phone in her hand and then to her ear before she disappears from the window, and he thinks about how she's probably calling someone so she'll be on the phone all the way to her car, in case he runs after her.

In case he gives chase.

Misha, though, just sits quietly back down and cuts another bite of his steak.

He will forget her in a week, or two or three, and find some other girl. He has no doubts he'll find someone new, there's always someone new. It's not like he cares about them, he just hates when they leave him.

But Tyoma will still be there.

He finishes every single bite of his own dinner and about a third of Michelle's remaining salad before he pays and leaves, walking out into the nighttime rain without even batting his eyes against the droplets that land on his lashes.

Even the anger is fading, now. No feeling stays in him for long, he flits from one to the next. Only the itch is permanent. Michelle can go - he doesn't need her, or even care about her very much. He just hates being refused.

He sits in the driver's seat and dials the only number he knows by heart.

"Allo," Tyoma says, sounding like he's been woken up out of a dead sleep. Misha grins, knowing he'll be all mussed up, hair in his eyes. "Mishka? Vse khorosho?"

"Yeah, is fine," He answers in English. "Michelle breaks up with me tonight."

"Oh." Tyoma hesitates, then asks, gently, "Are you okay?"

Misha's smile widens. If he can't feel enough for things to matter, Tyoma at least feels enough for both of them. It's cute, that he thinks Misha might be heartbroken. "Da. Is fine. I want to go out tonight, though, find someone."

Tyoma's silence is so long that Misha breaks it with laughter, shaking his head where he sits in his car.

"Not like that! Uspokoit'sya, Artyoshka. Just to meet girls. Do you have work?"

"Mmmf, no. My night off. I can go. I can... what time s'it?"

"Eight-thirty."

"Mishka..." Tyoma groans. Misha can see him collapsing back into bed, head against the pillow. "I sleep for only four hours!"

"I know. Mne zhal', Artyoshka," He isn't, he isn't sorry at all, "But I want to go out. You will come with? Yes? If I come home, you will go with me out tonight?"

If Tyoma says yes, he won't kill anyone tonight. If he says no, Misha will find someone who looks like Tyoma and kill them instead, take pictures, and show Tyoma what he's done by caring about a little sleep more than his own brother.

He's picturing, with delight, what it would be like to see Tyoma's eyes go so wide and scared of him, like the others do before they die. How handsome Tyoma would be bleeding. But all his big brother does is sigh heavily. "Da. I need to shower and dress. Come home?"

"I will." Misha sighs, feeling so much better already. Even just thinking about fixing the itch helps, a little. Even if he would never ever hurt his brother, sometimes thinking about it is just... fun. "Tyoma?"

"Da?"

"Thank you. You are a very good brother."

He hangs up before he hears if Tyoma says anything back. Tonight will be just for drinking, dancing, and maybe seeing if any girls will go into the filthy bar bathrooms with him, and he won't hurt anyone. He won't hurt anyone at all.

He can save that for later.

Especially if any of those girls like Tyoma more.

[ladatheimpaler]

The Forgotten Queen (Part 2)

Book: A Courtesan of Rome

Pairings: MC x Marc Antony, MC x Cassius

Summary: When Marc Antony pardons Lysandra for her crimes against Julius Caesar, he gives her the choice of either staying in Rome or returning to Gaul. Scared for her life, she makes the decision of leaving Rome-and those she loved.

@thechoicesvita @nikkisha16

***

The sun glared down on her as she stood in front of Cassius’s front door. Her resolve fractured a bit. Lysandra’s heart ached for what she was about to do, but not enough for her to run away. It wasn’t enough for her to change her mind and decide to stay in Rome with him.

Steeling herself, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door. The pattering noises of feet grew louder as someone drew closer to the entrance, then the door opened. A servant girl looked at Lysandra with shock. With hasty movements she welcomed her inside, “He’s in his room, domina, I can sh-”

“Thank you, but there is no need. I know the way.” She brushed pass the servant and made her way to Cassius’s bedroom.

She stopped at the entrance of his room when she saw that he was asleep. Lysandra frowned as she had an internal battle with herself. She could leave now and not have to say goodbye to him personally. Sabina had already offered to update her on Cassius when they wrote to each other; Lysandra could write a note to Cassius and leave it with Sabina to give to him. Lysandra looked at him as he slept. She could leave.

He shuddered in his sleep and pain clenched Lysandra’s heart. No, she couldn’t just leave. She wanted to be with him in this moment, when he needed comfort the most. Pushing herself off from the wall, she crossed to the other side of the room to him. Slowly, she sat down onto his bed, trying not to disturb him. Up close she could see the worry lines framing his face. Saw how they aged him. In his sleep he was truly vulnerable. He could tell her that he was fine when he was awake, but seeing him like this she knew the truth. Lysandra couldn’t help but blame herself for his worry. Whenever he would ask her what he should do about Caesar, she pushed her own agenda. She told him that violence was the only way to stop Caesar. She made him change his ideals for her.

She had corrupted him.

She had turned his soul black.

She was the reason why he had fell from grace.

She would hate herself forever for extinguishing his light.

He mumbled something in his sleep, and even though his words were incoherent she could still sense the fear in them. Lysandra wasn’t surprised that he was sleeping in the middle of the day, she had come to fear the dark as well.

“It’s okay. You’re safe with me,” she whispered to him as she slowly sat down, the bed creaking slightly. Seeing him asleep softened her heart, his handsome face truly mesmerized her. She was tempted to run her hand along his face. To run her thumb over his full bottom lip, over the creases around his eyes, along his rosy cheeks.

But the longer she gazed at him, the more it occurred to her that she would never see him again. She leaned in closer to him, to brush his hair out of his eyes. He jolted awake at the touch. His eyes widened with alarm as his hand closed around her wrist.

Lysandra tried not to show her surprise at his reaction. Instead she smiled reassuringly, “It’s okay, Cassius. It’s me. I’m here.”

“Lysandra,” her name came out in a breath before he reached to kiss her. She could feel the desperation in his kiss but she didn’t return the fervor. She decided then that this would be the last time she would let him kiss her. She wanted their last kiss to be soft and sweet, she wanted something that was the complete opposite of what she was. To pretend that she was as great as Cassius thought she was. So she kissed him slowly before pulling away.

She grinned down at him, her knuckles grazing his cheek, “Go back to sleep, you look terrible.”

He gave a startled laugh before his expression turned serious, “Will you stay with me?”

She nodded, “Of course.”

Cassius pulled her down gently next to him as he lay back down. She wrapped an arm around his torso and draped one of her legs over his. Once she was comfortable she rested her head over his chest, as he pulled the blanket up to cover them both. The gentle rhythm of his heartbeat nearly lulled her to sleep like a lullaby. Forever the song of her dreams.

“I wish I could forget,” Cassius said quietly. Lysandra looked up at him in a daze before snapping back into reality, quickly recognizing the sorrow and horror written all over his face. Lysandra knew that look all too well; it was the same look she had seen in the mirror. But she remembered that she hadn’t felt that pain when she created her song earlier that day. She wanted to share it with him, so that for a moment he could be happy. “I wrote a song today, would you like to hear it?”

“I would love to.” Sunlight filtered through the drawn curtains, reflecting off of the gold ring he had given her. The light illuminated his face. He looked like a sun god when he smiled at her. Like he had made the sun shine on them alone. She pretended that Apollo would shed a light on them forever.

Lysandra closed her eyes, letting the calm that had washed her clean earlier overtake her, and she began to sing.

When she was finished, she slowly opened her eyes to see that Cassius was just opening his as well. “That song Lysanda… I don’t know how to describe it… it felt like it set me free. I wanted to forget everything and for a moment I did.”

He met her gaze with wonder.

She smiled cheekily at him, “I hope it didn’t make you forget me.”

Cassius kissed her forehead. He smiled sincerely at her, “You’re like a song, Lysandra. I could never forget you.”

Lysandra beamed at him, she opened her mouth to tell him something but the words died on her lips. The words slipped from her thoughts…

“No one will remember your name, Princess of Gaul. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Lysandra? Are you alright? Lysandra-”

Cassius’s voice brought her out of her memory, but it was too late. Her mood was spoiled once again. What’s worse, she remembered why she had came here in the first place. Frowning, Lysandra pulled herself out of Cassius’s embrace. She could feel him watching her, confusion radiated off of him. She refused to meet his gaze. “I have to go,” she mumbled.

Cassius sat up in his bed warily as Lysandra stood up and straightened her dress. She pulled her hood tighter around her. Lysandra knew that Cassius had suspected that she was hiding something from him. It was still painful when he asked, “You’re not returning to the scholae, are you?”

She tried to control her heartbeat before she answered. Gods. “No, I’m not returning to the scholae,” was all that she had managed to say. Composing herself, she tried again. “I’m going home. To Gaul.”

When she finally lifted her head to look at him, she saw that he was surprised with her news. She rushed on to say, “Antony let me go unpunished. He even gave me the option to stay in Rome or return to Gaul.”

Cassius’s eyes widened at that. Then his jaw slackened.

“I-I would rather rebuild my tribe than try to make a life here.” I would rather rebuild my tribe than try to make a life here with you. She didn’t have to say those words out loud for him to understand what she meant. She wanted to tell him that she loved him. That in another life she would have chosen him. If she had felt like she was safe in Rome she would have stayed with him. But she knew that she would never be safe in Rome. Even though Antony had pardoned her, she didn’t trust him enough to uphold his promise.

There was no doubt in her mind that he would make her life difficult. She could already imagine him smirking at her when they crossed paths while he had another woman on his arm. She could picture him not blessing her baby during Vulcanalia just to spite her. Her heart ached when she thought of Artemis picking Antony over her. Of him demanding that she give Artemis back to him. She couldn’t live like that! She wouldn’t let him her control her like that. Living in Rome while Antony was alive would be torture and Lysandra was done living in fear.

She needed her freedom more than she needed Cassius’s love. Gaul meant freedom, Rome meant imprisonment. She hoped that Cassius understood that. Cassius was the only thing she had in Rome. That paled in comparison to what she would have in Gaul: her family, her tribe, her best friend. She would rather be the chief of a forgotten tribe than be the wife of a fallen senator. He had to understand that.

Please understand that.

Lysandra stepped up to Cassius, cupping his cheek in her hand. Her voice was just above a whisper, “Cassius?”

Cassius shook his head slightly, eyes blinking rapidly. It looked like he was trying to wake up from a bad reverie. He drew his head away from her, his whole expression was one of angst. It took a few moments before he replied, “I don’t know what to say… Lysandra, I-”

“Cassius, I do care for you. I tried so hard not to but deep down I knew. I always knew that I l-”

Cassius’ eyes lit up. Lysandra stopped herself. She wouldn’t tell him that he was the love of her life. She wouldn’t tell him her true feelings. Or what she truly thought of him. That she believed that no man had compared to him. That no man had made her want to sigh when she saw him. How his green eyes filled her with tranquility when she looked into them.

She redirected her words, despite Cassius fully knowing what she was about to say. His posture slackened once he realized that she wasn’t going to declare her love for him. He nodded, letting her know that he would listen to whatever she had to say and not interrupt her.

“I never expected you. You walked into my life as a patron, and somehow you became something more to me. And you were so different from me. You were sweet, and gentle, and-and-and I don’t know how you brought down my defenses. Before you, I never thought I would want to marry and have children. I never thought I would have what my parents had. All of a sudden I wanted that with you, Cassius.”

Lysandra paused for a moment, pondering her words. Surprised that she had even admitted that to him. Even though her mother had told her that her greatest wish for her was to find true love, Lysandra never thought it would happen. She hadn’t had a lover prior to the invasion of Gaul, nor did she have any strong feelings for anyone either. She hadn’t realized how strong lust was until she had kissed Marc Antony. But that lust faded in comparison to the love she had felt when Cassius smiled at her. To fall in love with Cassius, a Roman no less… it had to be orchestrated by the gods.

But it didn’t matter what the gods wanted, all that mattered was what Lysandra had wanted. She wouldn’t let anything stop her from achieving her dreams. Not even love, not even Cassius. “But you weren’t part of my plan. It was always my goal to go back to Gaul. That is my dream. And your dream Cassius, your dream is Rome.

“And I’m choosing Gaul over Rome.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. “I don’t want to lose you, Cassius, but I need to choose Gaul over you.”

Cassius was silent for a moment. He reached out to tuck a strand of black curls away from her face. He looked at her earnestly as one of his hands cupped the nape of her neck while the other grazed her cheek. “You will never lose me, Lysandra. I’ll track the sun, I’ll gaze at the stars, I’ll climb mountains and cross rivers just to be with you.” Her whole body softened at his words. Her heart sped up, then slowed down to a dreamy rhythm. She imagined Cassius waking early to see the sunrise, looking over the horizon for her. Of him searching the night sky for her. Of him making the journey from Rome to Gaul.

She leaned in closer to him, but stopped herself. How desperately she wanted him. To be with him. She fantasized about what would happen if she had allowed herself to love Cassius the way she had wanted to love him. They would go to the lake together. He would write his poetry and she would write songs. Then one day they would take their children to that spot. Tears pricked her eyes as she thought of the life she would never have with him. But she couldn’t allow herself to become enchanted with what could have been.

He reached for her hands. Once they were entangled in his, he kissed hers and rested them against his heart, “Lysandra, I lo-”

“No, don’t say that.” She loved to hear those words too much. Pulling her hands out of his grip, she stepped away from him. She could have sworn that he smiled sadly at her.

Why couldn’t he be Gallic? Had he been born into her tribe, she would never have to choose between the two. But he wasn’t and now it was time for their story to come to an end.

It was time to let him go.

“Don’t come to Gaul, don’t come looking for me.” Though a piece of her died, she told the biggest lie she had ever told a patron, “I don’t want to see you again.” Her fingers fumbled over her ring as she tried to remove it. Momentarily getting stuck on her knuckle before she yanked it off.

She thrust the ring at him. He stared back at it, shaking his head, “No.”

“Take it,” she held the ring closer to him, whispering urgently, frantically. Borderline hysterical, “Take it.”

But he didn’t make a move to grab it, still insisting that he wouldn’t take it back. Her whispers grew more frantic, more chaotic, until she became frustrated.

“Take. The. Ring. Cassius!” She reached for his hand, and pried his fingers open. Slapping the ring into his open palm, turning his skin bright red. The smack echoed throughout the room.

Cassius was incredulous, “You told me moments ago that you wanted a life with me and now you’re telling me that you never-”

Lysandra snapped, “I’m a courtesan, Cassius! I say whatever people want me to say! I’ve been doing that with you for months!

“I did that to Antony and you knew it.” She crooned tauntingly at him, “So what made you think that I didn’t do it to you? What made you think that you were above being a courtesan’s pawn. What made you think that I could have possibly loved you?” A cruel laugh, “What made you think that I would have married you.”

From the corner of her eye, she saw the sky darkening through the curtains. The room was soon cast in shadows, Cassius’s face with it. A muscle ticked in his jaw, his eyes no longer held any warmth for her, no love. Good, she thought. Make him think that he disgusted her so that he would hate her. Just like she did with Antony.

Her gaze dropped to the ring in his hand. It had lost all of its luster. It had shined so bright, now it was dim. Not even Apollo’s light could save them from the darkness she caused.

“You were a fun distraction, but that was all,” she quipped with a nonchalant shrug before turning away from him. “I wish you well, domine.” His gaze burned her as she sauntered out of his room, out of his villa, out of his life.

Lysandra waited until she was a few blocks away from Cassius’s villa before she found an alcove near the market to duck inside of.

She slumped down it, her hand going to her mouth as she tried to stop the tears from coming, trying to stop the whimper that threatened to escape from her lips.

She had no regrets about choosing Gaul over Cassius, but she hated that she had to choose at all. Hated how she had left him. By turning him against her, making him believe that there had never been anything between them, when in reality loving him was the one thing she did right. It was the only way to convince him to let her go, she told herself. But maybe she didn’t have to let him go.

Maybe she could have convinced him to run away with her, Rome was in chaos and Antony…

Antony would want revenge.

There was no hope in her heart that Cassius would be as fortunate as she was. And if he were, that fortune wouldn’t last for long. It couldn’t. Surely he would be punished for what he did to Caesar. Antony was and always will be his enemy.

Even though Antony had decided to negotiate with the Senate for peace, she didn’t believe that he was sincere about it. She remembered how Lena had told her and Xanthe to never trust that powerful men would choose peace over battle. She didn’t trust that Antony would uphold his promise. He was too ambitious for peace.

Then there were rumors that Octavian was to return to Rome soon…

Anxiety overtook Lysandra, clawing at her heart and making her feel ill. Cassius was in danger and she left him. She had never even told him that she loved him. He would die believing that she hated him.

Her nails dug into the stone at her back before she pushed herself from the wall. When she looked up, she stopped in her tracks.

Her blood ran cold.

Antony was here.

[soft-moomoo]

Tagged by: fabulous @lavenderatboy​

Name: Dorian// Dorian Antoni// Moomoo

Hair Color: light brown// strawberry blonde (depending on the amount of sun)

Zodiac: cancer

Height: 171cm// a little over 5′7′’

Hobbies: Walking around, watching the people and the streets, counting graffiti on the walls, staring at the sunsets, petting animals and taking in the scent of plants// reading books, mainly fantasy, science fiction, history and culture related books// listening to music// cuddling and crying// slowly but surely learning to cook

Fav Color: green as the rug of fresh grass and saplings

Fav Books: It’s really hard to think of one. I love works by sir Terry Pratchett so much// The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington// The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft// various tales by Edgar Allan Poe

Last Song I Listend to: American Murder Songs- Lullaby (from my Bad Omen playlist) 

Last Film I Watched: Bohemian Rhapsody 

Things I Love: the softness against my body and my cheek and my soul, no matter if the one of the loved one or a chubby// kitty’s fur, birds singing// flowers blooming// people laughing sincerely// seeing my body changing slowly, the way i always desired it to change// getting fascinated with topic and getting to know more about it

What Brings me Peace: warm embrace// soft blankets// laying in darkness and soul- piercing silence after a hard day// hot, mint tea// nature

Meaning behind URL: soft-moomoo, I’m a soft man, both by the body and soul// moomoo? moo is the sound cow makes. Because I have nose piercing (septum) i did when i was around 15 yo strangers on the street were bullying me, calling a cow. It was my way to deal with the stress and embracing the way i look and want to look like with pride. 

Tagging: anyone who wants really

[ltcol-laurens]

Hamilton workshop good bits, should be in chronological order and I’ll try to put time stamps, spoiler alert I guess:

Act 1:

 Eliza saying ‘shit’ - she’s a cinnamon roll so I’m glad it wasn’t in the real thing

‘In New york you can be a new mann??’ - It sounds like a question at 2:30

Just you WAIIIIIITTTTTTTT 2:42

Burr sounds done from the beginning 

ME! I’m the damn fool that shot him 3:28

yo yo yo yo heh yo yo yo yo yo (then Antony’s little laugh is so cute) I SAID I’M JOHN LAURENS IN THE PLACE TO BE 5:10 ish

The ahs at the beginning of the story of tonight 11:42 it sounds weird

17:21 IN JERSEY?!

FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE

maANNNN I aint scared of ships

Laurens sounding super sad and depressed at the beginning of Satisfied 32:40

LAURENS SAYING HELLLPPLLESSSS 33:20 This is what listening to that feels like: It feels like I’m in a tunnel and I’m listening to Helpless but I’m tripping some hallucinogens and LAms

 Just the whole of the story of tonight reprise at 36:36 they sound so much more drunk lol 

the newly not POOR of us

bUrr 37:23

44:14 Laurens saying shit what a smol bean

LAURENS SAYING ALEX OMG MY LAMS HEART 44:20 (heh 4:20)

And the way Laurens speaks really quietly like it’s a little intimate moment oh my LAWD

That would be enough 47:34 - Who’s crying??? Also it sounds like a lullaby with the piano in the beginning I love it

Dear Theodosia with guitar (I think) sounds so good I like it 59:40 

Also just the whole bit after 1:01:55 is incredible 

ALEX DONT CRY 1:02:02

OH FRICK NO LAURENS DIES IN THIS ONE TOO he could just not

Act 2:

Founding fathers in a line looking all humble 

He CAN DO THE SAME AMOUNT FROM THERE 1:16:03 chill Al

Keep it brief - Lmao 1:17:22

‘They have tied me to a stake, I cannot fly But, near- like I must fight the course’ - No one understood the reference and as someone who did Macbeth for GCSE I don’t know the reference lmao that’s why they changed it to ‘tomorrow and tomorrow..’

Philip sounds less depressed in this one 1:20:55

ELIZA SINGING HELPLESS IN SAY NO THIS IM NOT OK 1:25:53 

FUCK 1:26:25

How could you do this? - Bitch you did it to yourself ugh. I’m glad they changed it though. 

‘ Company screams in chaos ‘ - Great

Checkmate, game finished

I’ve gotta stop a homicide! - Eliza I love you

Eliza and Burr making polite conversation is cute 1:34:42

Yeah one day he’ll run Manhattan 1:34:56 God he’s like one of those parents that puts everything their child does on facebook 

Eliza saying ‘hon’ how cute (sometimes I cheat on shipping Lams with shipping Hamilton and Eliza don’t kill me)

YOU SWING AT MY FAMILY YOU BETTER NOT MISS YOU BETTER HAVE A BETTER PUNCH TO THROW

People will always be critical They’ll make the personal political They’;; try to knock you off your pedestal, your pinnacle Let other people be cynical

You’re smiling because you know I’m right

You didn’t kill him did you?

Were you here this whole time? 1:26:05   Lmao

JEFFERSON CALLING HAMILTON A BITCH loooooll 1:40:03

He likes taxes so much; can we enact an asshole tax? 1:41:13 MADISON CHILL MY DUDE 

I hear he’s George Washington’s illegitimate son. We don’t know where he’s really from 1:42:13

They’re saying my mother’s a negress 1:42:20 First of all: racist. Second of all, LEAVE RACHEL ALONE 2K17 

Madison wrote the first draft It’s a mess. 1:44:46

PAY YOUR FUCKING TAXES - 1:46:27

Just the whole bit of 1:51:30- 1:52:25

Yes, I confess, I’m a sucker for a damsel in distress. 1:54:14 Well that’s true: that story with Peggy Shippen , his mother, Eliza ‘helpless’, Maria etc

‘I tried to’ 1:54:07 Doesn’t that sound like he was unsuccessful and like it was one sided

 Uh OH 1:54:08

Young soft and supple 1:54:13 First of all, that’s gross, second of all ‘young, scrappy and hungry’

Ugh chill out Hamilton

Or you could let it go 1:57:04 MY BOYS BACK EVERYONE. HE ROSE UP FROM THE DEAD. I missed you Laurens. 

The friend who would tell me not to do it is in the ground. 1:57:05 HE TALKS ABOUT LAURENS IN ACT 2 hold my parsnips whilst i cry

Also when Hamilton says ‘I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory’ and LAURENS is there that’s like he misses Laurens so he wants to be dead to be with Laurens ahh i cry. 

1:58:07 NO

1:58:40 JEFFERSON’s laugh oh my

Just Congratulations is amazing 1:58:52

George’s blatant ‘fuck off’

Thank Theodosia for warning me - Those Philodosia (is that the ship?) feels tho 2:08:13

 DONT VOTE BURR 2:19:18

Your obedient servant is so different woah

Sorry if your life is difficult without your wife - 2:22:37 I would’ve killed him right there and then

Philip never hurt a soul, he must’ve been so scared 2:26:21

My Eliza - 2:26:28 ahhhhh

God I can’t wait to see her again 2:27:03

The real life quote from Alex’s last letter to Eliza makes me want to cry 2:29:18

[whump-tr0pes]

Jake/Isaac comf part 3/3

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Isaac Moore works in the pet lib movement, rescuing pets from the BBU. After an op goes sideways, he ends up on the doorstep of Jake Stanton’s safehouse for rescued pets, bleeding, and needing a safe place to lie low. Jake helps treat Isaac’s wounds and sets him up on the couch to sleep until Isaac’s medic can get into town. When he’s awoken by Isaac screaming in his sleep, he goes downstairs to investigate, and finds a kindred spirit in Isaac.

Jake, Chris, Antoni, and Ash’s BBU story belong to @ashintheairlikesnow and are used here with permission. You can find Isaac’s story here.

Content warning: touch starved Jake, accidentally flirty behavior, scars, past torture, past pet whump, implied conditioning, implied past noncon, implied death

~

Jake shivered as Isaac’s arm settled around his shoulders, a warm, welcome pressure. Isaac’s hand gently rested on Jake’s bicep, roughened and calloused. In spite of himself, Jake’s eyes fluttered shut, and he drew in a deep breath. 

“Sorry I punched you,” Isaac said softly, and Jake’s shoulders tensed. “I… I wouldn’t have, ah, done that if I—”

“I should have turned on the light,” Jake said, his voice settling in the smooth, even tone he used with frightened rescues. “I mean… Jesus, you showed up on my porch, bleeding, and I… I don’t know. It’s just… it’s alright,” Jake said, turning his head. Without planning on it, without meaning to… he nosed against Isaac’s shoulder, and pressed his lips to the shirt stretched over what Jake was sure was more scars.

Isaac went still. “I…”

“I’m sorry,” Jake said in a rush. He pulled away from Isaac, his face burning. “I… I’m not trying to, I mean, I’m sorry, you literally just said…” He trailed off in a tight, miserable silence. “I’m sorry,” he breathed, looking down at the pattern of the blanket pulled around him. “It’s just… nice to be touched.”

Isaac relaxed, pulled Jake closer. “Yeah,” he said softly. “Yeah, I… get that.”

“It’s just been a while. Since… anything.” I will never, never touch the rescues that way, and I don’t exactly have time for any other… anything…

Jake relaxed as he rested his head on Isaac’s shoulder, feeling just a little strange at being the one being held, this time. He was so used to being the one doing the holding. “You’re the world’s best big spoon,” a girlfriend had told him once, settling comfortably in his embrace. He breathed a sigh as Isaac leaned back against the arm of the couch until Jake was lying in his arms, with Isaac’s legs slung across Jake’s like he was sitting in his lap. Holding and being held. 

Jake found himself tracing one of the scars around Isaac’s wrist. He froze and dropped his hand.

“It’s okay,” Isaac said softly. “I’m… used to them, now.”

“What…” Jake’s mouth was dry. “Wh-what… happened?”

“There?” Isaac said softly, glancing at his wrist. Jake said nothing. After a moment, Isaac shrugged and tightened his arm around Jake’s shoulders. “Those were just from… fighting the cuffs. Over and over. After a while it leaves marks.”

Jake shivered as he thought of the marks below Kauri’s collarbones – and the lack of other marks, evidence of soft leather cuffs and silk rope and whispered promises that were never kept. His throat tightened as he imagined the entirely different kind of torture than the kind he was so used to dealing with, where shame and conditioning were more effective than any physical restraint.

I don’t think the ones like Isaac live to find us, he thought with an ache in his chest.

“And… and your stomach?” Jake said softly. 

Isaac shifted, but not uncomfortably – just adjusting where he sat on the couch. “Chest and stomach was a knife,” he murmured.

“Oh.” Jake’s voice shook. “And… wh-what else?”

When Isaac spoke, his voice was gentle, even, calm. As if he was speaking about someone else, something else, entirely. “Knife on the arms – cuts and burns. Back was the whip. And he… sometimes they’d just make him beat me, choke me. That usually didn’t leave marks. But I…” He rotated his left arm in its socket as if warding off an old ache. “When he got me out, he uh… kinda blew the place up.”

“What?” Jake gasped, sitting up slightly.

Isaac laughed softly. “Yeah. Gas. He turned on the gas for the burners in the kitchen and started a fire. When it finally blew…” Isaac’s eyes went distant. “A door exploded as we went through it. Tore up my shoulder. Gavin tells me I, um…” Isaac cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I nearly died.”

“Jesus,” Jake breathed. 

They both fell into a slightly tense silence. 

Still, with Isaac’s arms so tightly around him, with Isaac’s weight pressing down comfortably in Jake’s lap, a warmth moved slowly through him – a pleasant buzzing starting in his skin that made him feel sleepy and safe.

It made him feel safe.

Jake wet his lips and pressed his forehead against Isaac’s neck. Isaac’s arm tightened gently around Jake’s shoulders. 

“It’s… not your fault, you know,” Jake said softly. 

Isaac shrugged and said nothing, just stroked his other hand up and down Jake’s arm. 

Jake breathed slowly. “The… the rescues, I mean.”

Isaac went rigid against Jake. “Jake, I—”

“This is my life,” Jake said softly, heart sinking as Isaac’s skin seemed to cool against his. “Believe me, I… I know.” Slowly, he reached out and took Isaac’s hand. “It’s… not your fault.”

Isaac’s head tipped back, and Jake was certain he was trying to conceal tears. “Th-thanks, Jake,” he rasped.

Jake opened his mouth to push the issue, and found himself out of words to say. He knew nothing would ever soothe the pain if he lost a rescue, and Isaac had lost many. He laid his head back on Isaac’s shoulder and squeezed Isaac’s hand. Isaac sniffed, his head still tilted back. 

“I remember every single one,” Isaac said softly, and his voice broke.

Jake bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut. “Yeah?” he croaked.

Isaac nodded, and his stubble brushed against Jake’s cheek. “Every single rescue I lose. I remember them all.” His shoulders shook in a dry sob.

Jake lay still, his skin still warmed by Isaac’s touch, his torso shaking with Isaac’s sobs. He held his breath for a moment, lips trembling. “Do you remember the ones you save?” he said softly.

Isaac froze. He trembled in Jake’s arms, scarcely breathing. “Wh-what?”

Jake pulled away and met Isaac’s gaze. Tears swam in his eyes, and he looked up at Jake as if he had just thrown him a lifeline. Jake swallowed hard. “I remember the ones I save,” he whispered. “Every single one. Every name, every face. Some aren’t here for very long, some are here for years, but… I remember them. I remember them all.”

Isaac’s eyes darted between Jake’s. “Y-yeah?” he breathed. 

“Yeah,” Jake said as he settled in Isaac’s embrace again. Isaac’s arm was still tight around him, his hand still clasped in his, but it was a comfortable sort of silence. Jake settled even more as his muscles slowly relaxed, his breaths slowing, matching Isaac’s. Jake’s eyelids drooped shut as Isaac’s head fell back against the arm of the couch, drifted as Isaac started to snore. 

-

In the morning, Jake woke slowly, confused, sore. He blinked and looked around at the living room, lit by the soft grey of the coming dawn. He rubbed his eyes and sat up quickly as he suddenly remembered why he had fallen asleep on the couch. 

He was alone. The blankets were cold, his neck stiff from how it had twisted while he slept. He cast his gaze around the room, looking for Isaac. Hoping he’d stayed. 

Jake’s throat tightened as he saw the clothes he’d given Isaac, neatly folded in a stack on the coffee table. There was a single post-it note on top that Jake recognized from the stack in the kitchen, a single line of scrawl in black ink:

Thank you.

Jake raised his head to the sounds of feet on the floor above him. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. I should tell them they can come downstairs. They’re probably hungry and I...

Shit.

He groaned as he stood and made his way up the stairs. He saw a flash of copper hair as Chris peeked around the doorframe of his room and disappeared around it again. Antoni stood just inside the door, fixing Jake steadily with his almost-black, feline eyes. 

“Who was that, Jake?” Antoni asked softly. 

Chris bounced on his toes, tapping nervously at his stomach. “Wh-who, who, who was it? Was-was, was, was it…?” He chewed his lip as he focused his eyes just to the side of Jake’s face.

Jake tried to ignore the twist in his heart, the ache in his chest, the burn in his eyes. His lips trembled and he pressed them together. 

“A friend,” he said softly. “He was… a friend.”

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Aeipethy For Jake/Antoni pretty please 🥺

Aeipethy: an enduring and consuming passion

-

"If I could... If ever I could." Antoni's voice is slight, as always, the softness hiding the nervous waver beneath. Jake blinks open eyes heavy with near-sleep and turns his head to look over, in the dark. Kauri, between them, breathes slowly, deeply asleep.

"Could what?" Jake keeps his own voice a whisper, too. His shoulder has been hurting more, and he took an extra pill after dinner. It leaves him gently floating above the nerve pain that might lessen or might not, no one knows. It makes him wonder if he's dreaming this conversation. Dreaming Antoni in their bed when usually he stays in his own.

"... Sleep with you. If I could do this, to have-... To have sex. If I could-... If I did not-... If I had not had the want taken from me. If I still had it, and felt the want for you. If I could feel it for you. Would you?"

Jake has to blink again. He must be dreaming. So he's honest, giving a soft nearly-silent huff of laughter. "Ant... Antosha. Yes. Every day, if Kauri didn't wear me out first. The two of you could take years off my life and I'd die happy."

Antoni answers Jake's laughter with his own, relief making him seem to melt beneath his blanket, just a mop of dark hair and glimmering dark eyes. "I am sorry, Jasha, that I can't... want to."

"That's fine, Ant. I don't love you because of that, or Kauri either. I mean with Kauri that's definitely in the list, but-"

"I heard that," Kauri mumbles, half-muffled by his mouth against the pillow. "Talkin' 'bout my ass and I'm not even awake to join in."

"We weren't. I swear. Your ass was absolutely only distantly relevant to the conversation."

"M'ass is relevant to all conversations," Kauri mutters, and seems to fall immediately asleep again before he's even finished speaking.

There's a beat of silence.

"Ya lyublyu tebya, Jasha," Antoni murmurs.

Jake closes his eyes. If this is a dream, it's one of the better ones he's ever had.

"Love you, too, Antosha."

[ashintheairlikesnow]

I was looking at the words on the ask game and I’ve intrigued myself…. Illecebrous For Antoni? 🙏

Illecebrous: alluring, attractive, enticing

-

CW: Implied noncon, noncon touching, creepy whumper, intimate whumper

"It's a wonder, really, that it took so long for someone to snap you up," Mr. Davies mused. Smoke hung thick in the air around him, sweet and heady clove settling like a weight on the ashtray's shoulder, sifting onto his nearly-shaven head like falling snowflakes.

He held the ashtray's thin wrist in one large hand, rubbing his thumb back and forth along the inside where blue-tinged veins seemed to linger just beneath pale skin. A scar or two added texture to the touch, but they were old and healed, and didn't cause pain at all.

Still, the ashtray held perfectly still, silent, eyes down. His eyelashes seemed impossibly long. His collar was cinched a little too tight. Oscar leaned over, pressing the thin, embered end of the cigarette just below the collar's leather edge.

The ashtray shuddered, hissing through his teeth, but he didn't pull away.

"How did anyone ever walk past you and resist? Hm? Boggles the mind." Tears glinted at the corners of those downturned eyes. "Oh, that must ache," Mr. Davies cooed in response to those wet eyes, the trembling lips. "Perhaps you wore too much armor for anyone else to see what I see now. But here you are... laid bare for me."

He nudged the toe of his Italian leather shoes, softly gleaming in yellow lamplight, between the ashtray's legs. Even wearing the soft sweatpants that are all he was ever allowed, the pet shuddered with disgust and ducked his chin even more, shoulders hunching. The fresh burn on his neck was bright red. It must have been throbbing.

Oscar dropped the young man's wrist and sat back, looking at his cigarette, before he snapped his fingers. "Light," He commanded.

The ashtray moved instantly, jerking forwards and grabbing the gold-plated lighter that sat on the side table next to Oscar's leather chair. His hands trembled, but there was a flame soon enough.

He leaned forward, taking a long drag when the flame touched the tip.

The ashtray's eyes - just briefly - met his own.

"You're suffering for what you've done to me," Oscar murmured, exhaling a cloud into the ashtray's face until he can't quite cover up his cough. "And you'll suffer more. But my God, will you look incredible while you do it."

He snapped again, and pointed down, between his own legs. "Mouth, love. I'll want no begging tonight."

There was no protest. Only the slightest hesitation - the look of such despair in those beautiful eyes - and then the ashtray moved forward, shuffling in his knees, hands already working to open Oscar's robe.

As soon as that mouth was wet and warm around him, he leaned over, one hand on the top of the ashtray's head, and pressed the cigarette directly between his pet's shoulder blades.

The light moved over pale skin as every muscle locked. The ashtray's eyes closed tight, tears running down his cheeks, following the sharp cheekbones, making their way down to the line of his jaw.

Oscar groaned, shoving the pet even further until his nose was pressed to Oscar's pelvis and he had to fight to breathe, grinding the cigarette until it all but fell apart in his hands.

The noises the pet made were incredible.

The way his throat worked as he fought not to cry or choke, and yet still did both, was divine.

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Any chance Antoni wants to share how he's doing today?

He sits at the kitchen table, the fingers of one hand loosely curled around the handle of his mug of tea, the other hand supporting his chin. The look in his dark brown eyes is distant, seeing something far beyond the wall he seems to be staring at. His hair is missed and a little overlong, needing a cut but he hasn't had the energy for it.

Not for a while.

He doesn't see her at first, because she stands in the doorway off to one side, perfectly silent. It could be seconds - it could be minutes.

But when he sits back, he catches a flash of bright blue from the corner of his eye and jumps, heart skipping, thinking for just a moment he sees the woman, with her dulled eyes and dark bruises and incongruous luxury, the woman who wore furs and bloodied lower lips with an equal lack of understanding.

Then he realizes, time crashes its layers together, and his heart beats again. "Chort voz'mi!"

Nova stares at him, almost unblinking. She is, as always, impeccably made up, with a carefully casual updo and thrift store clothes that she wears like they cost more than this house. "Are you sad?" Her voice is oddly light for the question, vaguely curious, not concerned.

He swallows, shrugging, looking away from her and back down at his mug. He forgot the tea for too long - when he sips, it's lukewarm and too bitter. "No. Only thinking. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. Maybe you looked sad." She shrugs. "Is there any breakfast left?"

"Mmmn. Somewhere. Fridge, maybe."

Her eyes narrow, looking him over. Nova looks at everyone like a math problem to be solved, and he wonders what calculations she has made about him. "You always cook breakfast."

"Yes, well. I did not today." He puts the mug down and winces as it cracks too loud against the table, but at least it doesn't break. "There is plenty to eat."

"But-"

"I did not cook today." His voice is chilled, now, each word carefully spoken with perfect articulation. "Please feel free to eat anything you like."

Her eyebrows raise. "Oh, you are sad. What are you sad about?"

"I do not talk about it."

"Why not?" She moves into the room with artificial grace, leaning over with her back straight to look into the fridge. When she turns to look back at him over her shoulder, curling tendrils of hair frame her face, just the way she wants them to. "Dr. Berger says-"

"You are not Dr. Berger. And I do not talk about it."

"Well... Fine." She pours herself some milk after smelling the top to check if it's still good, then turns to look at him as she drinks, eyebrows raising. "I don't actually care, you know."

That manages to pull from him a faint, faded smile. "Yes, you do. Or you would not ask."

"I'm just being polite."

"You do not care about being polite."

"No, I don't." She thinks about it. "But I care about you."

"What? Why?"

Nova doesn't answer. She sets the glass down, emptied and still marked with milk, and then swans out of the room, leaving him staring, baffled, after her.