#Anyway! I didn't see her expression very well bc I was too high up but still

[musicaldamage]

During Maxim and Frank's little conversation at the end about why Rebecca was at the gynaecologist's and Mrs Danvers listens in - when Maxim mentions her having given a false name (Sie hat jeden getäuscht/sogar den Arzt/sie gab den falschen Namen an), Willemijn suddenly lifts her head a bit and I just had to think of how iirc in the novel its said that Rebecca gave her surname as "Danvers".......

Idk where I'm going with this but. Thoughts™

[limerence-17]

leave the door open

based on: number 7.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

masterlist

warnings: 18+ mdni p in v (bc mentioned,) explicit language, oral sex (f receiving), fingering

word count: 1.6k

A/N: all characters are 18+ here. obx season 4 didn't have to make rafe this sexy but here we are and i hope u all enjoy <3 also psa yes i know kinktober is over but i feel kinky all year and what about it

i wasn't going to touch myself. in fact i wasn't even thinking about it, and yet here i was about to spend the night at my best friend sarah cameron's house and all i could think about was the way her older brother looked coming into the house after getting off his motorbike. the way his hair swayed as he ran his hands through it, and the way he grunted as he walked by us in the kitchen.

he didn't even make eye contact and yet i couldn't stop myself from staring right at him as he walked by.

but here i was laying in the guest room, in this giant house that i still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that my best friend lived in and all i could think about was god damn rafe cameron.

────── 〔✿〕──────

that night, it was rather warm out, but i was feeling tired, dazed perhaps. sarah had come into my room, told me john b wanted to see her which was predictable as usual and snuck out through the guest room window. she told me she'd be back by 7 am which meant i'd be spending the night on my own. i didn't mind it but it could get lonely.

the sun was setting, and i felt strange spending such a lovely summer evening inside getting ready for bed but i suppose that was alright considering i spent the entire day out and about.

i nustled my legs smoothly against the satin sheets. something about staying at the cameron's house always reminded me of staying in some nice hotel. everything just smelt clean, like oranges and fresh air.

my shorts rode up my ass slightly, but i paid hardly any notice to them. it was so hot out anyway. i turned over, glancing outside the window. it was quiet out, too quiet and yet my mind wandered back to rafe in the kitchen. his hair falling ever so slightly in front of his eyes, the way he smelt. like sea salt and expensive cologne.

i couldn't help but shift my body so that my back laid against the bed, slowly arching my back as my hand glided to my shorts, placing soft slow circles against my clit. slowly, but i applied more pressure the more i circled. i couldn't help but let out a moan and had to cover my. mouth as i continued on. i wanted to take off my shorts as i thought about rafe. his hands, his hair, god his hands.

"holy fuck...rafe..." i moaned out in a hushed whisper.

my eyes kept closed, but my fingers continued to roam beneath the sheets until i heard a creak that was louder than i would've thought. i stopped dead in my tracks, moving both of my hands up over the sheets pulling them up swiftly to my chin.

oh my god it was rafe cameron. standing there with his zip up sweater, and clean cut pants. but the way he looked at me, well i couldn't tell what he was thinking but his eyes were wide. very wide.

"shit i didn't mean-"

"swear to god i wasn't listening or anything," said rafe dumbly. he ran his right hand over his mouth, looking at the ground.

"whatever you think you saw or heard or whatever the fuck you didn't rafe!" i was too embarrassed to muster up anything else. i just held the covers high.

"hey it's no big deal seriously... i mean i jerked one off like six hours ago so like-"

"jesus rafe, i mean it! delete this from your mind or i swear to god i'll-"

"see the thing is i can't really delete that from my mind. you moaning my name and all..." rafe closed the door behind him and took a few steps towards the bed.

"oh fuck you heard that?" i was mortified. just mortified. what was wrong with me?

"now the thing is...you're my sister's best friend so so like... i mean that's kinda fucked up-you thinking about me while you touch yourself and shit," rafe said in a drawl, using his hands to express it. rafe was now sitting at the edge of the bed. his eyes were glancing around quickly, his thoughts clearly racing.

i lowered the sheets but made sure that they were still just above my chest. but holy fuck, i was soaking wet now.

"but hey it makes sense- the way you look at me, always thought it was in my head and shit but-"

"it's not." i interrupt him. the more he looks at me the more i just picture his tongue in my mouth and i'm starting to get needy, my legs are clenching together now.

rafe's eyebrows raised, and he froze for a moment. but then his hands slowly crept up the sheets grabbing my thigh. i gasped feeling his hand there. his eyes widened, watching my expression.

"this what you were thinking about, huh?" his hand crept up agonizingly slow. i couldn't get a word out. just stiffled moans until eventually the sheets were down below my chest.

i let out a longing sigh as i felt his sturdy hand cup my pussy, using his other hand to move the bedsheet off completely, exposing me completely.

he looked up, asking for approval as his hands slowly tugged at the hems of my shorts and i nodded quickly.

"yes rafe."

rafe obliged immediately, pulling my shorts down, i pulled my tank top over my head. my legs lifted in the air as he threw them onto the floor. he slowly separated my legs, ogling at my obviously wet cunt.

he used his middle and ring finger to slowly trace a line up against my folds and i gasped at the touch.

"god damn my sister's best friend is a little slut huh? you're wet as shit and that's all for me huh?"

all i could let out was an innocent "mhmm," since the feeling of his fingers tracing against my folds was driving me lust drunk.

"yeah... i'm gonna need to taste you...." he said, now crouching so that his head was between my thighs.

"wait rafe-" rafe stopped immediately, glancing up at me.

"take off your shirt."

rafe smirked, obliging as he pulled it over his head, and i felt my eyelids grow heavy from lust as i looked at his chest. jesus, he was ridiculously hot. my best friend's ridiculously hot older brother was about to eat me out.

this time, more aggressively he separated my thighs and before i could comprehend it his lips were against my pussy. his tongue moved up and down, circles against my clit. as if it was instinct, i gripped at the bedframe. but it didn't last long as he gripped my hips, pulling me in closer to him. my thighs tightened against his head and it felt insane. i'd never had someone eat me out like this. so hungrily and quickly. he was incredible.

"shit you taste fucking unreal-" he grunted and gasped before licking me once more.

rafe's tongue moved quickly but he pulled away, moving so that he was now on top of me. he made eye contact before inserting a finger into me and i gasped. it was only a few pumps, hard and fast before he pulled out.

"taste yourself-" he said and i obliged, sucking on his finger. rafe licked his teeth, letting out a low hum of a laugh as he watched.

"you are fucking wild-" he said. my hands reached towards his pants and he looked down and then back up at me.

"what- you wanna feel me too?"

"rafe i wanna feel all of you- i want you inside me."

that set him off and he quickly reached to his pants, pulling them down along with his briefs. he was hung, like way more than i ever would've imagined. and hard too.

"looks like i'm not the only one whose this turned on either huh?"

rafe let out a sarcastic laugh "ha...ha...."

he got on top once more, this time pinning my legs higher in the air.

"yeah fuck i need to see all of you when i fuck you," rafe commanded.

"you're on that girl pill or whatever it is right?" rafe asked. i let out a quiet snicker.

"birth control, rafe? yeah i am," i said running my hands through my hair.

rafe nodded quickly, obviously thankful since it was clear neither of us brought condoms.

he positioned himself so that his tip was directly against my folds and then slowly pushed himself into me. i gasped, immediately reaching my fingernails against his back.

rafe grunted as his pumps started slow, but eventually quickened up. he moved quickly, thrusting and grunting into me. i let out stifled moans and he clasped his hand over my mouth.

"hey...hey... you've gotta be more... quiet than that... holy....fuck" rafe moaned between thrusts.

his paced quickened, his strong arms now moving to my waist as he pulled me to the edge of the bed. he thrusted deafening quick and i clenched my fist placing it against my mouth in a stupid attempt to silence myself. he was too fucking good at this. too strong, too fast, too fucking hot.

"don't stop! rafe jesus i'm gonna cum!"

"shit... me fucking too..."

it only took a few more thrusts before i let out a stiffled sigh and rafe collapsed, falling on top of me. both of us sweating, exhaling and my hands running through his hair.

he pulled away, laying beside me. i turned over to meet his gaze, my hands still running through his hair. he looked back at me.

"alright round two-"

[sugar-omi]

Hi Naeomi!

I have a Baxter ask, but it might be a bit angst? It's all good if you are not comfortable doing it 🤗🤗

I was wondering how Baxter would react to an MC who is kind, goofy, and easygoing with her friends but not to everyone. When Baxter goes to say, "You dont have to go out with me just to be polite--" MC scoffs, "Please, I would never date a boy I didn't like just to be polite." Seeing Baxter's surprised expression, my nervous MC laughs and goes on. "But I like you, so..." Or Baxter would tell her she's too kind or nice after giving him a compliment or treating well on a date, and she would chuckle, "No, no I'm not."

MC had a hard time in school during puberty (as in mean gossip, boys brazenly checking her out and making comments, and small instances of bullying for being 'different'). That is the MC's history, and she has learned from Liz how to stand up for herself and not let anyone disrespect her--she has instilled a mean girl essence in herself with the most cutthroat comeback that has Cove recoil at her side (she has him cover his ears for this reason).

MC finishes high school with a jaded view of boys (except for Cove and Derek, her standards are high because of how kind and sweet these two are) and developed a bit of a sharp tongue when angry, something she is not proud of. And when MC meets Baxter, her crush from 5 years old, she is nervous and blushy and treats him with the utmost consideration. She worries that Baxter would see her spitting vemon one day and not like her anymore.

crying...... your mc reminds me of myself as well bc I'm also jaded n mean sometimes 😬 I will see your mc's in therapy LOL

anyway here you go anon<333 also I had fem reader in mind but I realize it's not very implied either so I hope that's OK

n i will edit the format a bit later bc I'm on my phone again 👍👍 ALSO NEW HEADER WHAT DO WE THINK it's suppose to be coves tattoo but I shrieked it bc I didn't like how bulky it was but now I feel like u can't tell it's the ocean so.... I try I try

tags: hurt/comfort, ok for fem/masc/nb readers, shy/nervous reader, mentions of bullying/harassment, headcanons at the bottom ft step 4, perhaps I'm using this to tell everyone that I think baxter finds assertiveness/"mean"!mc attractive but we won't talk abt that <3333

the first time baxter hears about the issues you had in the past, it was when your cousin laughed about how you look like a cinnamon roll but you slapped a guy hard enough his nose bled.

baxter took note of how your face scrunched up, and you looked at him to scout out how baxter reacted to the comment.

you mutter something quickly, "he deserved it. anyway..."

the mood was a little damp for a moment after that, the joke not well received because of the new addition and baxter felt bad that you had worries about how he'd take what Lee said.

after your group parted ways, and before you could retreat to your bedroom, baxter stopped you.

"forgive me if my words are unwanted, but... if you ever want to talk about anything, I'm here." his voice was soothing, but his pitiful gaze was off putting...

you did appreciate the gesture, baxter is always so considerate but you didn't want him to feel bad for you. you didn't want him to know how vulnerable you were.

when you were still in school, all the bullying had you feeling like a stray ally cat in front of a pack of dogs.

you didn't want baxter to know about the rougher side of you...

after that, baxter starts to notice your mannerisms even more.

you just nod and thank him, hugging him goodnight.

one morning, you brought him a breakfast sandwich and coffee.

"you spoil me y/n. who knew sunset bird was hiding such lovely people."

you just laugh humorlessly, no shyness or humility in it just a pained expression. "I try, glad to know I'm doing good..."

baxter smiles, trying to bring back your good mood. "you are. that must be why cove gravitates to you so much."

you laugh a bit, thinking about your clingy neighbor. "maybe, but he's the sweetest between the two of us. cove always takes care of me, more than I do him in fact.."

when he's in your living room and you're fluttering around the house with haste and fretting over every detail...

baxter doubts that, thinking about how the stories of your childhood he heard from your family and cove when you graciously invited him on the boat trip.

"no need to be humble. now, shall we eat together?"

when he first showed up, you were in a tank top and leggings, but after seating baxter and leaving him with a bottle of water you ran upstairs to get ready and came back in shorts and flowy top in your favorite color.

not that baxter minded, you were beautiful. but you were comfortable before, and it was the middle of the day, so why the sudden change of clothes?

then it was how jittery you were while making some tea, hovering over the pot and fixing baxter's cup diligently.

"y/n..." baxter decides to approach this lightly.

"yes?" you smile but it doesn't reach your eyes. you look so worried, like you're waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"can we talk about what's going on? I don't mean to intrude, I know I'm only here for the summer.."

the reminder stings you but you listen on.

"but you're still someone dear to me, so if it's something you don't mind sharing, I'd like to know what'd bothering you. I want to help, y/n..." baxter places his hand on top of yours.

you swallow but inhale and prepare to tell him enough to paint the picture, at least.

"i.. don't want you to hate me." you hang your head. "i like you so much, baxter. I'm worried that my jaded view will make you run away..."

baxter nods, choosing his next words carefully.

he brings you into his side, holding your hand and the pressure is grounding.

"nothing like that can make me dislike you y/n. of anything, I like you even more." baxter grins at your surprised expression.

"there's nothing wrong with you for being assertive when defending yourself." baxter smiles soothingly and he decides to bring up a moment of weakness he had early in the summer.

"remember when I was a half asleep mess when we went to get drinks that day?"

you nod.

"its like that, I'm not always so prim and proper." baxter laughs, ignoring the flush of his face as he recounts the blunder. "just like I'm a mess in the mornings, you can be a bit snappy but it's all about the situation."

you grin and let out a watery laugh. "are you seriously comparing your inability to be a functioning human in the morning to me being mean when someone pisses me off?"

he grins shamelessly. although with the blush on his face, perhaps bacter feels a bit more humble than usual. "perhaps."

you laugh loudly, "you are!"

baxter grins. "it worked didn't it?"

you nod, wrapping your arms around him, allowing yourself to melt into his body as he hugs you back. "yeah.. yeah it did. thanks baxter..."

baxter loves when you stand up for yourself

seeing you snap at some douchebag hitting on you at the bar even though you said you have a boyfriend and he's right here?!

finds it hot when you're angry

always reassures you that you don't need to bring him breakfast in bed every day for the rest of his life just bc he saw you snap at some nosy Karen after she made a nasty comment about your outfit

it's a beach, what does she expect people to wear???

don't verbally or physically beat someone in front of him bc he Will kiss you

"fuck off! I'm not interested asshole!!"

baxter, heart eyes: "please kiss me, do u wanna get married?????"

[a-tale-of-legends]

Wayne has been a difficult point for me personally. It resides in the fact that he's a former grunt of team plasma- one that has mostly been sheltered from the world and thus, is still unlearning everything Team Plasma has taught him.

With Eva kinda getting a slight revamp to her backstory and personality, my mind always go back to Wayne. Like what's his deal. I've been feeling off about him for a while and Eva's changes just cements that for me. Recently I've just been. Thinking about Wayne. Nothing specific until I thought " what of Wayne was a fan of comics?" And that kinda....well it didn't open the floodgates but it did lead to a river of thoughts.

Like what if Wayne was somehow given comics during his time in team plasma. It would have to be discreet, of course, because I doubt TP would allow it ( outside forces influencing their followers and thus making them question things). But let's say Wayne practically grew up with them. His head was filled with stories of heroes and villains, high highs, and low lows. It was something he found joy in, but knew he could not express it to anyone. It was his little secret. Maybe N got a glimpse of that excitement though. I've been wondering if Wayne was one of the plasma grunts tasked to follow N around but I think he would be too young for it( he would have been 12 at the time). Anyway, comics ( and later movies ) would be something he is genuinely passionate about.

This is where a new train of thought comes to play: what if Wayne hides himself behind a persona much like the heroes of his favorite comic books? Like. On one end, literally, he literally becomes a masked vigilante, but! On a personal level, right? What if he presents himself as this outgoing, energetic person who aims to be as heroic as possible but is really a boy who is scared and riddled with guilt for his past, and who views himself as a coward. Nothing like the heroes he wished to be. This honestly makes me torn bc I still very much like the " Wayne is a bit more bashful and nervous and is kinda getting dragged into situations" but the " Wayne is trying to be like his heroes and thus presents himself as someone who he thinks he isn't ( but he is)". Maybe I can mix both? Wayne is trying to push this persona but can come off as Awkward bc of his natural bashfulness + still getting used to living in normal society.

In the end, Wayne realized that not only is he braver than he ever gave himself credit for, but also he is still very much a hero like the ones in the comic books....he's just been looking at the wrong ones. He's been looking at the heroes who are on the title screen, the ones that were hood from the start. But if he'd just advert his eyes a little ....he would find heroes with shady past. Heroes with a guilt that hangs on their shoulders. Heroes that didn't start off good. Heroes, that despite all that, try their hardest to do the right thing, despite their past. Over and over again. The Reformed Hero. That's what Wayne is. He was too blinded by the main show to see it.

Now. All of this is fine and dandy buuuuuut there's now an issue of Wayne's family. I've ...been growing to dislike the whole " clay adopts Wayne" thing. It's still very cute BUT I feel like it causes too many hiccups for the plot. I think, maybe, Wayne would know of Clay, probably interacted with him a lot and does see him as a paternal figure, but maybe was never adopted by him? Maybe he still had a parent left in his life? I'm still not sure.

But yeah! I think.... honestly writing this out genuinely helped me. I think I like this better than what I had before. This may also mean that Wayne gets a mom that's not shitty! Yippee!!!! So. Yeah! Thanks for listening to my Wayne ramble.

[kawaiijohn]

DannyMay day 7- Space

A quick drabble about space obsession Danny bc I think space, heat death, existentialism, and otherwise is super cool.

CW for existentialism and discussion of long future space bullshit.

"It's a little sad, isn't it?"

Danny turned to face Jazz with a froen. They'd both sat together in silence for the last half hour. Their attention focused on the sky above them.

"What's sad, Jazz? The fact you can't watch your lecture without power?" he asked before he turned back to the sky.

It was pristinely clear tonight, the stars vividly bright against the inky black void before them. It was a rare sight- the sky's beauty untouched by light pollution due to an unexpected summer blackout. Even though they were sweaty and miserable, Danny looked up at the infinite and counted his blessings.

"Ha ha, very funny Danny." Jazz rolled her eyes. "No, not the power outage. It has to do with the skies, space stuff."

Danny perked up and Jazz laughed as his eyes flashed at the mention of his Obsession. "What about space is sad? Like I didn't think you'd pay attention to that sort of thing."

"Well, I normally don't, but I saw an article that piqued my interest while studying." Jazz made an effort to look back up at the sky. "It's beautiful, but just a little sad to think that we're looking at stars that are long dead, thousands of years into the past."

"Why would that be sad? We can still see them- they're still here for us to appreciate!" Danny paid full attention to his sister's face and words- she was finally speaking his language and he had to stop himself from interrupting, but it was too hard. "It's kinda like ghosts I think?"

"Oh? Like... the sky is a graveyard of dead stars we can still see? Like that?" Jazz asked.

"No, it's more like everything in the sky a ghost. The night sky is a documentary we're watching years after the fact. Like yeah the stars we can see are billions of light years dead- you said thousands and man that was low balling it- but it's kind of comforting to know these things are here for us to see during our lives.

"Like, we'll never be able to leave our local group let alone the Milky Way without magic, pretty much, but that's still millions and millions of star systems we can explore and see in the future- millions and billions of phenomena to observe for the rest of humanity's existence.

"Kinda like how infinite the ghost zone is, you'd never have enough time in all of existence or reality to explore every little corner, so it's best to just count our blessings that we're alive to even experience the sky looking as bright as it does."

Danny took a deep breath and smiled at Jazz while she stared at him in awe. She quickly fixed her slack jawed expression before she nodded in agreement. "You're right- there's limits we should follow, but what do you mean by us being blessed to see the sky look like this?"

"In billions of years, all the other nearby galaxies will be so so so far away nobody in the Milkdromeda- by the way did you know the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies will eventually combine? It's a stupid name but it's pretty fuckin cool I think-

"Anyways! After a while anything left in the galaxy at that point... They won't be able to see anything besides their galaxy. They won't be able to observe background radiation or even learn about the big bang. They'll think the universe is the same, infinite blackness surrounding their single dimming spot of light in existence until it fizzles out completely."

Danny stared up at the sky, truly looking at the far, far reaches of the galaxy as best his enhanced vision could.

"There's so much we can observe right now, Jazz. We finally got high def pics of Pulto. We got a picture of a black hole's Hawking radiation ring... And we still have so many questions.

"But those people, those existences billions of years from now? They'll have so little evidence... They'll never learn how the universe works- how it was made, and I think that's the sad part. Not the ghosts of ancient stars in the sky."

Jazz stared at him for a moment before she broke down into soft laughter. "Danny, your space nerd is showing again."

Jazz pointed at his face. He blinked a few times before he noticed the green glow coming from his eyes and cheeks. "Not again!!! Ugh, why can't I nerd about space without my ghost shit making it weird??"

"Well little brother, I think your freckles are cute. Especially when they look like constellations!"

Danny groaned as Jazz's giggles died down. She finally looked back up at the sky after a moment. "Yeah, it's not that sad- the stars in the sky being long dead, like I thought- they're just ghosts, and ghosts aren't inherently sad. They just want to be appreciated and seen most of the time. I think us staring up at the stars in awe and watching the universe's longest real time nature documentary is a good use of our existence."

She reached over and ruffled Danny's hair lovingly. "If you have other stuff to say about space stuff, I'm fine with existential stuff. You can go off as much as you want."

Danny perked up immediately, almost bouncing out of his seat. "Oh man, lemme tell you about the great filter and Fermi Paradox then- like yeah we've met extra planar beings like ghosts, but not aliens yet, and there's so many theories as to why-"

Jazz rolled her eyes and smiled at him. Both looked up at the stars in silence once again before Danny began to softly speak about the paradox of life and aliens.

Both teenagers quipped back and forth- one questioned the other and the sun slowly rose over the horizon before light consumed the stars once again. They realized how late (early) it was just a little too late, but neither regretted staying up to watch the dying lights beyond.

How truly lucky they were-

Two teenagers born at the right time, in the right place, in the right reality to behild a wonderfully bright and brilliant dance of long dead ghosts in the sky.

Blessed to view this long passed moment in history; their experience a short blip of life and consciousness compared to the inevitable age of black holes and entropy.

Jazz and Danny Fenton made their way down from the OPs Center roof, lucky enough to sneak past their parents. The two decided to keep their sneaking out a secret, and would forever remember that warm summer night.

[babypandawrites]

Allies, Pt. 12

The Siege of the North, Part Two

Pairing: Sokka x F Reader Warnings: Implications of Death, I think that's all? Word Count: 3,286 Summary: With the Fire Nation waging war on the Northern Water Tribe, you didn't expect things of the past to be brought up, but, when do you expect anything at this point.

Note: And here we have, the final part of Allies :') But don't worry- the story will continue in a sequel 👀 Phew I did not mean for this to take so long, but I was having a really hard time with the end and ended up having to change where the reader was towards the end for me to... actually be able to write the chapter. Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed the story thus far! It means the world to me, really. It's crazy to think about how I've been working on this for four months! I hope you guys will stick with me for the months to come while I write the sequel :') I'll be carrying over the taglist to the sequel since it's the... same story just a different name heh. Let me know if you want to be added or taken off! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and that you all have a great day! <3 Also hi sorry bringing this poll back up bc the results are currently tied!!!

-Navigation- | -Atla Masterlist- -Last Part- | -Allies Masterlist- | -Next Part-

Taglist: @boomeraangin | @brokennerdalert

Eyes blinking open, Y/n slowly came too. Her vision was blurry, and her head was pounding. Faintly, she could hear someone talking, but her head was too fuzzy to make out who it was and what they were saying. Her vision clearing, she could see a rocky ceiling, which seemed… odd. Was she in a cave?

When she tried to sit up, she found that she couldn’t move. Her arms were trapped against her sides, and her legs were bound together. Groaning quietly, Y/n twisted onto her side. Aang was on the ground a few feet away from her, hands bound behind his back. He didn’t seem… present.

Observing the situation more, she noted the figure that stood at the entrance to what she was assuming was a cave. They were still talking, and her head was finally clear enough to make out what they were saying.

“I don’t need luck though, I don’t want it. I’ve always had to struggle and fight and that’s made me strong. It’s made me who I am.”

Struggling weakly against her bindings, Y/n furrowed her eyebrows together. “..Zuko..?”

His head turned to the side slightly, an acknowledgement that she was awake, but he didn’t turn to face her. “Don’t bother trying to get free, I’ll just knock you out again.” He paused for a short moment. “Sorry about that, I just.. I knew you wouldn’t give up. You never have.”

Zuko had… taken her too. Why…?

Grunting, she continued to struggle against the rope, stopping only when Zuko rested his hand on her arm. “What did I just say? Did I knock you in the head that hard?” Sighing, Zuko settled on the ground next to her. “I’d prefer if you didn’t make me knock you out again. You probably think otherwise but I don’t want to hurt you.”

Opting to stay silent, she shuffled in place. He watched her carefully, before awkwardly looking about once she stopped moving. He took in a deep breath, when she started shuffling again. “Are you.. uncomfortable?” Being met with silence, Zuko glanced at Y/n to see she was looking at him with a blank expression. “I can sit you up, if you want.”

Not receiving an answer once again, he let out an annoyed breath. “Conversations usually go both ways, Y/n.”

Still, she looked at him blankly. “I don’t think people typically converse with their captors, Zuko.”

“Well, we used to be friends!” Crossing his arms with a huff, Zuko slumped against the cave wall. “I guess the key phrase is ‘used to be’, isn’t it?” He clicked his tongue, before breathing out a sigh. “I didn’t capture you to turn you in, we could… still be friends.”

Y/n took on a pensive expression. “Then why..?”

“Why did I capture you..?” Receiving a nod of confirmation, Zuko shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t… I don’t know.”

“You don’t… know..?”

“No! Okay?! I just-” Breathing out another annoyed breath, he dropped his head into his hands. “Why? Why did you leave? I thought… I thought we had each other's backs and… and you just up and leave?! Just like that?! No explanation, no nothing!? So why?!” Continuing to stay silent, Y/n grimaced internally at the rise in Zuko’s volume. The more he spoke, the louder he got. It was almost hard to imagine that this was the boy she grew up with.

Zuko scoffed, shaking his head slightly. “Fine then. It doesn’t matter anyways- You’ve chosen your path.” He let out a laugh, one edging on hysterical. “You know, I thought maybe I could sit here and convince you to come back, but I can see that isn’t going to work… The Avatar and his friends have won your favor.” He was silent for a moment, seemingly calming down from his outburst. “Uncle told me that I shouldn’t be mad at you, that I should respect your decision to find your own path. How can I do that when your so-called path is going against me?”

Before Zuko could continue, Aang came too, returning from the spirit world. Attention turned to the boy, when he started to struggle against his bonds. After a short moment of futile struggle, he sat up to face Zuko.

“Welcome back.”

“Good to be back.” Aang spoke with a threatening tone, blinding reaching around with his hands- which were tied behind his back -to try and find Y/n’s wrist. Once he was able to grab onto her wrist, he took in a deep breath and blew Zuko away from them while simultaneously shooting both him and Y/n out of the cave. The two landed in the snow outside, where Aang started to caterpillar crawl.

It didn’t take long for Zuko to get to them, grabbing Aang by the collar and lifting him in the air once he did. “That won’t be enough to escape.”

Suddenly, Appa appeared above them, before landing on the ground. Y/n breathed out a sigh of relief. Katara got off the bison, as Zuko dropped Aang back into the snow. “Here for a rematch?”

“Trust me, Zuko, it’s not going to be much of a match.”

Katara blocked a fireball Zuko shot at her, sending a wave of ice towards him. Once the ice reached him, she encased him in a pillar of ice that she raised high from the ground. When she dropped him, he fell to the ground unconscious.

Sokka jumped off of Appa, rushing over to Aang to cut his bonds. “Hey! This is some quality rope!” He commented, before moving to Y/n to free her as well.

“We need to get to the oasis! The spirits are in trouble!” Aang got up, and ran to Appa, while Sokka helped Y/n to her feet.

Everyone was on the bison, ready for take off, but Aang hesitated on leaving, looking towards Zuko’s knocked out form. “Wait, we can’t just leave him here.”

“Sure we can. Let’s go.”

Y/n shook her head softly. “No, Aang’s right, we can’t leave him. He could die.”

Aang jumped off Appa, and grabbed Zuko to bring him up onto the bison. Sokka watched him with a somewhat exasperated expression. “Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let’s bring the guy who’s constantly trying to kill us!”

As they started to fly back to the Spirit Oasis, the moon changed to a blood red, casting a red light over everything. This seemed to affect Yue, who held her head in pain, letting out a groan.

Sokka looked at her concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I feel faint.”

Aang, with a hand to his head, looked at the moon. “I feel it too. The Moon Spirit is in trouble.”

Yue glanced at the moon as well. “I owe the Moon Spirit my life.”

“What do you mean?” Sokka questioned.

“When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they’re born… But I was born as if I were asleep. My eyes closed. Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me… that night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white, I opened my eyes and began to cry- and they knew I would live. That’s why my mother named me Yue, for the moon.”

They neared the oasis as Yue finished her story, to find Zhao there- a bag in hand and Momo on his head trying to stop him from what he was doing. The group got off Appa when he landed, sans Yue and Zuko, ready to fight Zhao and the other Fire Nation soldiers in the oasis.

“Don’t bother!” Zhao held a knife to the bag he had, which must have had the Moon Spirit trapped inside.

Aang dropped his staff, raising his hands in surrender. “Zhao! Don’t!”

“It’s my destiny… to destroy the Moon… and the Water Tribe.”

Y/n glared at the man, resisting her urge to attack him. “You’re insane.”

“Destroying the moon won’t just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone- including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world.” Aang tried to reason with him, but Y/n wasn’t sure words alone would stop the man.

“He is right, Zhao!” Heads turned to Iroh, as he approached.

“General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?” Zhao spoke in a bored tone.

Iroh lowered his hood. “I’m no traitor, Zhao, the Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance.”

Unsurprisingly, Zhao continued to hold his threat on the Moon Spirit, the knife he held at the bag it was captive in not dropping.

“Whatever you do to that spirit I’ll unleash on you ten-fold!” Iroh pointed a finger at Zhao, before taking on a firebending stance. “LET IT GO, NOW!”

After a moment of stillness, Zhao faltered, lowering the bag. He kneeled and released the fish of the Moon Spirit back into the pond. The red light casted from the moon returned back to normal.

Seeing something move in the corner of her eye, Y/n’s attention moved to the right, just in time for her to see a figure sneaking away. Careful not to draw attention to herself, she followed after them, noting that Zuko was missing from Appa’s saddle as she snuck by. He was taking the chance to sneak away, while everyone was focused on Zhao. If she had anything to say about it, he wouldn’t be getting far.

In her pursuit, the moon fell dark, probably thanks to Zhao. It’s not a surprise that he would try and kill the moon spirit, even after letting it go. Keeping her distance and staying as hidden as she can, Y/n continued to follow Zuko- Only stopping when he did. Eyebrows furrowing together, she watched as he shot a blast of flames to a lower area from where they stood- Which was shot at Zhao.

The man stopped in his steps, looking up at Zuko incredulously. “You’re alive?”

“You tried to have me killed!”

He shot several more blasts at Zhao, which he was able to dodge. When he tried to run off in the other direction, Y/n moved quickly to grab her bow and an arrow, shooting it at the ground in front of him. Both Zhao and Zuko were shocked by this, not having noticed her before.

“You tried to have him killed?!”

Zhao’s gaze darted between the two, before primarily focusing on Zuko. “Yes, I did. You’re the Blue Spirit- and enemy of the Fire Nation! You freed the Avatar!” Pausing, he pointed to Y/n. “And her!” His words dripped with venom.

“I had no choice!”

Zuko fired several more attacks at Zhao, while Y/n readied an arrow- though she waited to shoot it until the right moment. Zhao avoided the attacks, removing and dropping his smoking cloak as they subsided. “You should have chosen to accept your failure- your disgrace! Then, at least you could have lived.”

Returning the fire, the two end up in a short exchange of attacks, before Zuko blasted Zhao in the chest, knocking him down. Having seemed to realize Y/n was waiting for the right moment for attack, Zuko glanced at her. “Now.”

Though she didn’t need his signal- In quick succession she fired two arrows at Zhao, one pinning his sleeve to the ground, the other pinning his pant leg. The two jumped down to the lower level Zhao was, landing on either side of him as he struggled to free his clothes from the arrows. Zuko took on a firebending stance, while Y/n pulled another arrow through her bow. They both waited to attack, watching the man carefully.

Finally wiggling the arrow free from his shirt sleeve, he scoffed, looking between the two. “Two traitors working together again, hm? I’m not surprised at this point.”

Y/n narrowed her eyes when the Admiral quit trying to wiggle the arrow pinning his pant leg down free, quickly pivoting on her heel at realization. Twisting to the side, she narrowly dodged the arrow when he threw it at her. This initiated the fight once again, Zuko sending a relentless stream of attacks. Realizing her bow wasn’t going to get her anywhere in a close range fight, Y/n hooked it away onto her quiver, running at Zhao while he traded fire blasts with Zuko. She grabbed onto his arm as he tried to send an attack at the prince, yanking it to the side so the blast shot to the right. He twisted his other arm to send a fireball right into her face, which she was able to duck away from as she released his arm. The momentary distraction gave Zuko the opening to shoot a powerful blast at Zhao, knocking him back a bit.

Unable to keep his attention on both of them at once, Y/n was able to swipe her leg at his ankles while he was focused on Zuko, knocking him down. Not relenting, Zhao shot a blast at Y/n, catching her off guard and knocking her down. She rolled out of the way of another blast, before Zuko helped her off the ground- While firing at Zhao. The two looked at each other briefly, sharing a nod.

Running at Zhao once again, Y/n twisted, ducked and dodged the attacks sent at her, while also giving room for Zuko to send his own blasts at the man. Once close enough, she started throwing punches at Zhao, taking his attention in the fight. The close proximity of the fight didn’t stop him from using his fire, leaving parts of her clothes to be singed. She ducked when he tried to punch her with a blazing fist, giving the opening for Zuko to send another powerful blast at Zhao, knocking him down once again.

He didn’t get up this time, rather looking past the two with a horror ridden expression. “It can’t be!”

Furrowing her eyebrows, Y/n turned to see what he was looking at- The moon. In the heat of the battle, she hadn’t noticed it started to shine bright once again.

Suddenly, water rose up coalescing around the bridge they were on, taking the form of a large fish like creature. It reached out and grabbed Zhao, pulling him off the bridge. He struggled against it, before Zuko reached out to him. “Take my hand!”

For a moment, it seemed like he was going to grasp onto Zuko’s hand, but instead drew back- an expression of hate taking over his features. Zhao was taken under the surface of the water, disappearing. Crossing her arms, Y/n looked at the surface of the water in near disbelief.

Silence lingered in the air, it only being broken when Zuko quietly cleared his throat. Looking up from the surface of the water, she glanced over at him. He took a minute, before speaking up.

“Listen, Y/n… I’m… sorry. For everything. I- Ugh, what am I even trying to say here.”

She raised an eyebrow in amusement. “That you’re sorry?”

“Yes- Wait, I already said that..” He breathed out a sigh, holding a hand to his forehead. Laughing softly, she held out her hand.

“Truce?”

He hesitated for a moment, before grasping onto her hand, a soft smile tugging up his lips. “Truce.”

Tugging him a step closer, Y/n put an arm around his neck, bringing him into a hug. Zuko tensed at the action, but returned it nonetheless.

“We can still be friends..” Mumbling quietly, she broke away from the hug. “But I need to get back to them.”

“I.. understand.” He paused. “Actually, no, I don’t. But… I won’t stop you.”

Offering a small smile, she slipped past him, intending to go back to the oasis. She stopped on the way there, however, seeing that her friends were gathered. Katara waved her over, inviting her into the group hug they were currently sharing. Running over, she joined them, a wide smile on her face.

---

Sea water gently splashed up against the sides of the boat, spraying past the railings. The more Y/n sat with her back against them, her head leaned back, the more the back of her shirt and her hair dampened from the water. Eyes closed, she took in a deep breath. With her terrible track record on boats, she didn’t know that being out at sea could be so… relaxing.

“Can’t sleep?”

She shook her head softly in response. “You can’t either?”

Sokka breathed out a quiet, somewhat tense, laugh. “No..” He paused for a short moment. “Do you mind?”

Opening her eyes to see that he was motioning to the space on the deck next to her, Y/n offered a soft smile. “Not at all.”

Muttering a small thanks, he gave a weak smile in return, before settling down next to her. He sat close enough for their shoulders to press together, the close proximity made her heart race.

Silence lingered over them for a long moment, before Y/n spoke up. “I heard what happened… With Yue.”

Breathing out a soft sigh, Sokka tilted his head back, looking up at the moon. “Yeah… I figured you would.”

“I’m sorry for bringing it up but- I just wanted to say if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m always right here.”

“Thanks..” He paused for a moment. “You know, I went to that shop you were working at once when you weren’t there. I was trying to catch you there, that… didn’t work out- Obviously.” He breathed out a quiet chuckle, digging into his coat pocket. “But I did meet that lady you worked for, and she asked me to make sure this got to you.” He held out a bracelet, the one she’d been looking at in the shop before she started working there.

Her eyes widened slightly. “I forgot about that.”

“That’s why she asked me to give it to you. Let me see your wrist.” He tied the bracelet around her wrist, once she held it out to him.

“Thanks.” She spoke with a smile, twisting her wrist slightly causing the stone to glint in the moonlight.

“It’s no problem.” Smirking, he took on a slightly teasing tone. “I didn’t expect you to be a jewelry person.”

Pressing a hand to her chest, she feigned an over exaggerated offence. “Just because I lived in a forest and can fight better than you doesn’t mean I can’t like girly things.”

He looked at her offended. “You cannot fight better than me!” She leaned a bit closer to him, raising an eyebrow. “You wanna test that theory?”

Falling silent, he gulped. “No, I think I’m good.”

They were both quiet, before breaking into a short fit of laughter. Leaning back against the boat's railing, Y/n hugged one of her knees to her chest.

Once again, silence fell over them. After a few moments, a sudden weight was on her shoulder. Tensing slightly, she looked to the side, to see that Sokka had fallen asleep- His head now leaning on her shoulder. She opened her mouth to wake him up, but stopped herself.

Something in her didn’t want to wake him up… The closeness was… Nice.

Letting her eyes fall closed, she leaned her head back, absentmindedly fiddling with the bracelet tied around her wrist. She felt so calm, but still her heart raced, and she wasn’t sure why.

With certain thoughts and memories coming to mind, however, the pieces started to fit together.

And it was in that moment, Y/n realized.

[stanharu]

beastars episode 24 thoughts!

this post got kinda long i have Many Thoughts on this one

Overall I had fun watching this ep but I could really tell it was rushed and there was so much that got cut, which makes me super sad. our fears about the finale having pacing issues due to all the added scenes & rearranging were confirmed & it rly sucks, but i'll elaborate more on that in a bit.

this week's ep covered the end of chapter 92, chapters 93-97, and included small bits of chapters 98 & 99.

so the ep starts with the ED and the latter part of the tunnel scene with ibuki and louis. i liked the visual effect they used to show that they were in the dark. louis' voice acting was also On Point. for the most part i think this scene was done pretty well but I can tell it's being rushed also. I really wish we got more buildup and narration instead of just jumping straight to ibuki telling louis to shoot him. the way it is in the anime feels less impactful imo.

also im sad we didnt get to see this in the anime

before i move on, i wanna talk a bit about louis and his relationship w/ the shishigumi and ibuki. i feel like in the anime quite a few of the lil moments that really endear you to the shishigumi and also ibuki were either cut or kinda glossed over, which is strange to me considering how much effort and care went into the ED. it's very emotional and good but i feel like maybe anime onlies are missing out only seeing the anime and the MV. but idk.

legosi and riz's fight was quite rushed as well. there's so much narration and dialogue missing from it and that really rubs me the wrong way. It wasn't all bad but compared to the manga I just don't think it's as good. I will say tho that I really liked the sequence w legosi and the moths. I thought it looked really nice and was pretty well done.

also i liked how the backgrounds had some anti-yahya graffiti, its a nice touch imo

it says "high quality horse meat"

I was happy to see legosi do the "tell me more" pose but I'm honestly disappointed that the anime took out the whole exposition about why legosi did it. like i feel like without that it's just legosi being weird when he has a reason for it!!! This is just one example of the anime taking out crucial narration during the fight.

I also think it's kinda weird how they changed how louis shows up at the fight. im not sure how i feel about riz just charging at him like that, but i liked how legosi kicked him before they ran lol.

i dont have much to say about pina's small scene but I did wanna say that during my first watch thru of the ep i was too distracted trying to read the graffiti behind him that i didn't notice him getting his phone out of the dumpster and calling the cops lmao

it says "devour yahya"

and now... here we are... the predation scene.

overall i thought it was pretty well done but, like the rest of the ep, i could tell it was also being kinda rushed. some important beats werent given enough time to really sink in, and there's a few bits of narration taken out of this part as well that i find disappointing :^(

tho i did like how the anime called back to this scene in s1 when legosi mentions utilizing his strength.

also this part where louis is remembering ibuki had me like😭

I also really liked seeing louis cry. I was crying too sjdflskjdflsjkdf. i thought that scene was really good, its prolly my favorite part of the ep tbh. getting to hear the whole predation scene voiced made me kind of a mess lol. i really liked louis' expressions throughout this whole ep too. studio orange used their whole louis expression budget on these last 2 eps lmao.

seeing legosi instantly get all beefed up was great too. he looked a little ridiculous but i kinda loved it lol. he's so huge and poofy. i love him.

big pomeranian

anyway, im also sad they took out louis' line about being reduced to a flashback character lol. instead he tells legosi "be a hero" again which... im not sure about that change. i liked the part with riz thinking back about tem tho. tho imo the way riz realizes he's in the wrong feels pretty sudden. again adding to how rushed the whole ep feels.

before i move on again i just wanna say legosi looks so cute. even all puffed up and covered in blood. how does he do that

baby boy baby. i wanna ruffle his cheek floofs.

i think one of the things im most disappointed about from this whole ep was how the fight got wrapped up. i really like how the cops show up and totally shift the tone in the manga jslkdfjskljdf. im also really sad we didnt get this interaction

tthe anime really took out most of the sillier moments from the finale, which makes me pretty sad to think about. i know the anime and manga have different tones but pls let the boys be silly sometimes!!

the next part where legosi and louis finally establish their friendship was really cute tho ❤️ even tho it was pretty different i enjoyed it a lot.

BABIESSSS 🥺😭❤️❤️

the wrap-up for this arc and this episode gave me whiplash sdjlfkjsdf. it literally speedruns thru legosi's predation conviction, being released, louis & haru's graduation, and legosi deciding he's going to drop out of school. that is SO MUCH AT ONCE. also i was holding out hope that legosi would have his new years call with haru after the fight instead but that didnt happen!! so it just got cut!!! kinda mad about that tbh. legosi and haru having a lil scene at the very end made up for it a lil bit but that's still one of haru's few moments in this arc that's just not included.

we didnt even get the part wher legosi learns he can't marry haru bc of his conviction.

ive been really hoping for a season 3 announcement once this season ended. with all the background allusions to yahya, the added plot point of someone stealing elephant tusks, and sebun and melon's lil cameos in this season, it seemed to me that studio orange was kinda teasing a 3rd season. but now, with the dismissive way the anime ended, and paru's note from earlier today, im less sure about the possibility of a 3rd season. i'd still like to see the rest of the series animated, but i guess we'll just have to wait and see if more anime is announced in the future.

if we do get another season in the future i just hope that we swing back around and actually address the things that got completely glossed over in the last couple minutes of this episode instead of charging forward w/o touching them again.

i really think the finale for this arc should've been two episodes at least. not including the tunnel scene. i think then things wouldn't have felt so rushed. people have been saying this season really would have benefitted from at least 1 extra episode and i cant help but agree. some have even suggested a whole 24 episodes just for this arc, but i think that this arc couldve been done properly with 12 or 13 episodes if there was some better prioritizing on what to include and what to cut.

like i dont mind not getting the parts about legosi's family if they can be addressed somehow in a future season (or if theres no more future anime seasons thats a plot thread that doesnt have to be worried about). i could have lived w/o seeing sheila & peach's chapter animated if it meant more time for the focus of this arc. and was the kangaroo red herring really necessary?

adaptation wise, i dont think this season was as good as the first. i still think it did fairly well, but i know that it could have been much better. ive been excited to watch this season with my friends once the dub releases, but now im wondering if i should just tell them to read the manga instead. sighs idk. perhaps it comes thru better as a bingewatch, or perhaps im being a bit too harsh. idk. at some point ill do a rewatch and see how i feel about the season as a whole, but that wont be for a while.

if you've read this far, thanks for reading my ramblings!! it's been fun to make these posts every week and im gonna miss getting new episodes every week.

[seagullcharmer]

toa things i've been thinking about but i know i'll be too busy with rott to deal with (non-comprehensive)

-steve and cows (3below s1, wizards) he loves bessie, man

-krel and claire bonding over being latine/claire teaching krel latine culture (if you're gonna look latino, krel, own it!) (we also see him speaking un poquito español in the lightning in a bottle eps) (let krel learn spanish!!!!!)

-long haired moppet douxie

-(moppet)douxie & morgana. they're both merlin's apprentices and therefore theoretically on the same level (in some regards. obvs morgana has higher status bc of her relationship to arthur BUT.) (magic siblings okay)

-steve and douxie both play guitar. krel shows interest in guitar in the ep party crashers. guitar buddies <3

-eli and his panpipes??????

-jim and aja. that is all

-d'aja vu and toby and the blanks??? adopted. they are now one big family. i remember the old alien!toby theories. well, now he just gets adopted into an alien family and also there's the whole nancy/varvatos thing. LET TOBY HAVE A BIGGER FAMILY OKAY

-toby and eli playing go-go sushi together. gaming buds <3

-AAARRRGGHH!!!'s high score on go-go sushi !!!!!!!

-mary and darci teamed up for the science fair!!!

-seamus. math whiz but also one of steve's cronies in trollhunters s1. why didn't steve just ask seamus for help instead of beating up eli?

-steve actually cared about the school play, even though he joined to spite jim. i think that's kinda sweet.

-notenrique in general as well. he's very interesting. everyone seems to know who he is, even before his changeling assignment, but as far as we know, changelings don't really?? have names before their familiars??

-also changelings are trapped in the darklands before they get their familiars right. the darklands are big and scary and ready to kill you. how was he a party animal why are there parties in the darklands

-eli & nomura, because eli was the only one who expressed interest in renaissance era pottery, a big passion of nomura's

-CLAIRE BEING A BAND KID???? ELABORATION P L E A S E

-steve calling out jim on the use of the word 'muerto-ed' in gnome your enemy (i think). steve's an idiot but he knows his spanish tenses apparently

-krel's experimental music from the battle of the bands <3

-douxie and jim bonding over shitty father figures (and yes i'm talking abt strickler here. jim canonically saw strickler in an at least vaguely paternal way- "the closest thing i had to a dad turned out to be a changeling" (roughly) in the ep before creepslayerz)

-jim & blinky found family rights!!!!!!!

-deya deya deya deya

-bagdwella <3

-DRAAL MY BELOVED DRAAL. no i do not think he was actually at killahead sorry wizards idk why you don't know your own lore 🙄

-all the background pictures in the various houses. claire's family portrait. jim at barbara's graduation <3. nana and all the cats (and the weird portrait that looks vaguely like ms janeth?? it must be nancy in her youth though right) ricky and lucy (i think they're dancing but i couldn't see very well i didn't pause) it's sweet!!! i love the attention to detail!!!

this got way longer than intended but i keep thinking anyway

[stealingpotatoes]

The World As It Should(’ve) Be(en)

(feat. some illustrations with no consistent style that were all done in under ten minutes)

I know I’m not the only one who thought Delilah’s “The World As It Should Be” could have been a lot cooler.., so get this: what if there was another mission to dh2

(trust me it's a cool idea -- if you can’t be bothered to read, just look at the pictures) 

So EVERYTHING is the same up until the bit where you go into the portal. You roll up to Death To The Empress thinking that's the last mission... but no! You go in the portal and it gives you your end of mission stats! and you're like ?? wait what i thought i was about to go kill Delilah?

The ACTUAL final mission (and actual Delilah take-out mission) takes place in a Much Better version of The World As It Should Be. 

The final mission starts and you land exactly at the port where you start Death To The Empress, but everything is different about Dunwall. everything’s completely off and wack;  it's sunny, the streets are bright, everyone looks happy! there are flowers everywhere! It's super aesthetic and pretty. The clothing’s also different from the rest of the game. 

You walk through the same streets you walked through in the mission you just did, and there aren't wolfhounds and ppl patrolling the streets, it's not in ruin, it all looks very nice! (you land at the docks for parallels/ to make it very obvious what's changed, not because it makes sense). People are talking; they're happy! there are no guards about at all so you can walk freely and see it all, explore around this world. And the people are talking about how great empress delilah is, mainly. 

And as you go through, you find notes, books, and dialogue etc that hints to an entirely different past; in the first parts of dunwall, you find that delilah has been empress for like 26 years! not just a month and a half. The story pieces together as you go along, and you work out that this is a world where Delilah was never thrown out and her father's false promises were fulfilled. This is her world as it should be. 

But things keep happening to remind you that it isn't real; perhaps the sky sometimes turns to the Void, with whales floating above you, and things will somtimes momentarily look like a painting of Delilah's, not detailed reality. People’s speech repeats and loops too often. Creepiest of all, people randomly turn to stone, then back out, as if it never happened. If you put the corrupted rune in earlier, there might be more glitches than if you didn't. the glitches get more pronounced/ more obvious as you get closer and everything starts to feel a little too perfect, more and more as you go on. Everything becomes more uncomfortable. (And if you kill people in the world, nobody reacts at all. They just let you do it)

Plus, overall it feels like a very childish city? as if this might all be a little girl's dollhouse, not a real place. 

You make your way to the Tower, where you find that there’s a party going on. A really nice party -- puts Lady Boyle’s Last Party to shame. Dunwall Tower again looks super nice and aesthetic. The outfits are again really nice but again rather childish. 

A cool glitch here would be the partygoers keep stopping and just looking dead at you w no transition or anything. One second they’re talking, the next everyone at the party is staring straight at you. Then suddenly they’re talking again, as if that never happened. Also a lot of the partygoers faces repeat too often, reminding you that this is a simulation. 

In the tower/ closer to the tower, you find more history stuff, but it's more intimate/ detailed i guess? ONE VERY NOTABLE THING YOU FIND is letters from Jessamine (!!!) who is very much alive but is just -- and has always been -- the imperial princess!!!!!!!

The letters mention stuff that shows she and delilah are close. jessamine is in this and not suffering bc it's delilah's childish, perfect world! where nothing went wrong and jess is still her sister and del doesn't hate jess! (this is to kind of push it in your face that Del is Like You i guess, but also that smthn smthn she's still thinking like a little girl bc this all stems off childhood trauma etc)

Tho as people, not the player character, Emily & Corvo are ignored in the world as it should be/ there's no mention of jessamine's family bc this is delilah's world and she's not thinking abt other people. 

At the party, you see a woman who you discover is Delilah's mother, alive and well -- which again pushes the whole "this is delilah's perfect world". She talks to you a bit, talks about delilah. Makes you see a different side of her (but you can't be sure it's real; this is Delilah’s perfect, adoring world). She says she ought to go somewhere else. Things keep glitching, whales phase through the walls (it’s super cool). 

You continue through the party, when suddenly you see a woman in a dark dress. She stands out from the rest of the party, in their bright colours, and it’s pretty hard to miss her. This woman is none other than Lady Jessamine Kaldwin, your dead mother or secret wife (whose, bear in mind, soul you let go 2 missions ago). Her outfit is similar to the one in Delilah’s childhood painting of her, childishness of Delilah’s world repeated. 

The fact Jessamine is here makes Delilah almost more relatable (especially seeing as you just spoke to her lost loved one, her mother). It makes you understand her more because you know the protag wants more than anything to have a world where Jess lives. It helps you to understand why Delilah made this more. Actually, this whole mission is sort of "uhuhuh delilah is actually sympathetic" BUT you can still very much interpret it as her lying to you, because this is a manipulation of reality -- what's to say she isn't still lying?

Anyway, you can go up and talk to Jessamine (the game sort of encourages you to talk to her). But she doesn’t recognise you. Emily and Corvo don’t exist in Delilah’s false world, so Jessamine has never known you. It’s very painful for the protag (you can hear it in their dialogue), because their loved one is alive, but she doesn’t know you. You have dialogue options to try to convince her it’s you/ she knows you, but they don’t work. 

While Jessamine doesn’t recognise you, she does say she’d certainly like to spend more time with you. She tries to convince you to stay here, more or less (yes, Inception is one of my favourite movies, what about it?) But the protag says they have a mission/ that they need to see Delilah.    

Jessamine will offer to take you to Delilah, which results in a conversation -- will get to that later. The other option is keep winding through the party and to the throne room yourself. 

Either way, you get to the throne room, where you find Delilah. Again direct parallel. Same pose as before, but this time, her throne room isn't dark and covered in murderous vines, it's bright and full of adoring people/ partygoers (it’s a sort of parallel to the start of the game too, especially if you walk in with Jessamine).

 Delilah doesn’t quite know you’re here. She has a vague idea of who you are, but she doesn’t hate you at all. Breanna is by Delilah’s side, no matter what you did in the Conservatory. However, you don’t see any of the other Coup Crew members there -- this highlights how they were just tools to her, not people she cared for.

So you have three (yes, three — this is where things get even more fun) options here. Lethal, non-lethal, and the option I’ll get to later. 

Lethal is straightforward. You kill Delilah however (nobody stops you), and the entire world begins to collapse in on itself/ break apart and very disruptively becomes the Void again. This maybe ends with you having to fight/ assassinate some Delilah copies in the near empty void/ something more similar to the World As It Should Be as we see in game.

Non-lethal is easier if you placed the corrupted rune on the throne in DTTE, but you can still do it otherwise. It would of course be something to do with trapping Delilah in the World -- somehow cutting off the exit before you go so she can’t escape, should she realise this isn’t reality. 

If you pick either of these ways, you go through the portal again and return to the depressing and dark Dunwall, your Dunwall, and free your family member. (Or take the throne if you’re in super high chaos, I guess). All goes the same. 

Now, the third option. The third option is to stay in the false world. It’s to stay with Jessamine, in this perfect Dunwall. To get this option, you talk to Delilah after Jess takes you to her (though you can still talk to her without Jess guiding you, Jess’ll appear). 

Of course, you have the option to talk to Delilah and say this is all crazy, it’s not real, and proceed to do the former two options. But you also have the option to say you understand her or something, and she more or less offers for you to stay. 

When you first express interest in staying, the Outsider suddenly appears. He’s there to try to convince you that you need to get rid of Delilah, and that your other family member is frozen in stone back in the real Dunwall. But then what Delilah does, absolute madlad, is make a copy of your family member, but how they looked in DH1, not now (idk HOW, but she does it -- she is god in this part of the Void so she just can). Delilah wants you to stay, especially if you’re Marked. Jessamine also tries to convince you to remain here, and she’s harder to ignore. 

You again have the option to reject Delilah’s reality (you get a lot of options to do this), but if you choose to ignore the Outsider, you say something about him “wanting to keep power for himself”, just a lot of insulting really (being about as nice as he was to you, maybe.)e’ll disappear again, unable to stay in Delilah’s part of the Void. And you can stay with your unbroken family, with Jessamine who is alive. And not return to the real world, where you don’t know if your family member will be able to be revived from stone. 

(Seeing as Delilah was in Jess’ heart, perhaps she’s able to make a Jess who is almost the same as the Jess you knew)  

The third ending plays on the themes of “emily/ corvo has been ignoring the suffering in the Empire”. This is the ultimate way you can ignore it all. You can choose to completely and utterly ignore the now in ruin empire that you walked through earlier, and ignore all the people you promised to help along the way and everything you learnt. Or, you can show you’ve changed since the start, and go back to harsh reality. It won’t be nice, but you can’t ignore your people’s suffering again. Imo it gives the character more of an arc, rather than only having the option to return to the throne. 

But yeah, if you pick the third ending, the Outsider of course does his speech. He tells you how the Empire has falled to chaos, fallen to civil war, as everyone vys for the throne and its power. He tells you how your allies fare. And then you see Empress Delilah on her throne in the false world (you see a few glitches to remind you it’s fake). But then you see the protagonist and their family together. It’s a really cute family moment, and aside from the protagonist being the wrong age compared to their family (you’ve got adult Em with dh1 Corvojess, or dh2 Corvo with Jess and 10yo Emily). There are no glitches bc the protag would be ignoring them.  Everything seems entirely perfect. 

Anyways! I hope you liked this! Don’t get me wrong, I love Dishonored 2, it’s one of my favourite games. I just think the World As It Should Be was a sort of missed oppurtunity for something VERY cool. 

[tarantulas4davey]

oh my god i just wanna let you know that. i get emotional every time you leave long tags on one of my fics ?? and i cannot thank you enough for being so kind and supportive ?? and since i Do Not Have The Words to express how much i love u and how much ur support means to me.... here are some thoughts about ralbert in the modern art-verse that i've had recently !!! as a thank u gift !!! bc i appreciate you so much !!!!

-albert and race are, like, best friends with jack through the entirety of high school. -their group consists mainly of race, al, jack, and charlie, and they all cause SO much shit -literally theyre the worst to have in class together, but that increases tenfold when it's just race and al (obviously, because they're soulmates, so, DUH, they're gonna be practically inseparable) -but race and al in one class together..... whew, that's a Handful. -it only get's worse when they realize that they're soulmates, sometime during the middle of junior year. -for some reason, they just ?? never really talked about soulmates, never showed each other the marks they'd get, so they didn't put two and two together until race wrote an address down on albert's hand and saw the address reflect onto his own skin as well. -naturally they freak out a bit, because, OH, they're soulmates, and yeah they've been best friends for years and yeah they've almost kissed each other a lot before but OH it's actually REAL now -but because they figure it out so young, they're like. so prepared for the Real World together. about a month after graduating high school, they get married, because why not? they're going to spend the rest of their life together anyway, it's only fair. -they start looking into adoption during their senior year at NYU, and adopt a three year old girl a few months after they graduate college. -this makes her about 5 or 6 when the actual fic with jack and davey takes place !! -jack is her favorite uncle and he absolutely spoils the shit out of her

in conclusion: modern art ralbert !!!!!

JAC IM CRYING YOU WROTE ME HEADCANONS FOR MY BOYS AS A GIFT THIS IS MY FAVORITE THING PLS

naturally i have ✨all the thoughts✨ about them cause,,,,,, hi it me, so here’s my additions to them

also go read chapter 1 of modern art here . go read it. go 😡

as you can see by the whole,,,,, married out of high school and parents by the end of college, race and al are kinda,,,,,, fiery??

i literally do not know how to phrase this

they love each other with everything they have and would’ve even if there’s wasn’t any provable soulmates in the world cause regardless of anything around them they’re made for eachother

that being said,,,,, they’re also the blueprint for the “idiots to idiots but in love” trope,,,, so it takes them a minute sometimes

like i’m imagining there’s so many times that they should’ve fuckin noticed and just,,,,, made an excuse for it without realizing it doesn’t quite make sense

race letting jack draw on his arms in class and then seeing the e x a c t same design on albert’s hand at lunch cause he has long sleeves and race just being like “oh jack got you too!”

like no babe

but al, being al, was just like “oh yeah he must’ve” even though thAT DOESNT ADD UP UGH YOU MORONS GET IT TOGETHER

wild turn around cause i keep getting slapped with thoughts

these boys, just like nearly all their friends, haven’t had the,,,, easiest life

they both lost their bio moms quite young, and it was something they bonded over

so when they adopt a little girl,,,,, she’s named emmaline after albert’s mom, and her middle name is aurora after race’s

she’s loud and charming like race, and funny and sarcastic like al, and she’s even got lots of that kelly charisma from trying to be just like her uncle jackie

UGH THEYRE SO CUTE

jac i love you very very much and i promise you don’t have to give me things in return for me just,,,,, telling you how wonderful you are but THANK YOU CAUSE I LOVE THIS A LOT

[transkingoryx]

I don't particularly care what fandom but could you do two hopelessly oblivious lesbians pining for each other while being friends who go to different schools and lesbian 1 is waiting for the other to walk her home from school bc how sweet and lesbian 2 is crying bc she got bullied at school for being gay and "I didn't know you were gay" "do you mind?" "No I'm gay too" "you what?" So they kiss to prove it and realise they both have feelings for each other

Sorry I took so long to write this!

“oh my god, they were roommates” 

(Kyoka Jirou/Momo Yaoyorozu from My Hero Academia)

Kyoka tapped her foot impatiently against the sidewalk, scanning the street for her best friend/crush. Yao-Momo had never been late before, and Kyoka had to say that she was a little worried about her friend. She and Yao-Momo walked home together every day, and it was usually the most time they spent together during the day. It gave her something to look forward to after a long day of tedious schoolwork, condescending teachers, and know-it-all classmates. UA High wasn’t the same without Momo Yaoyorozu. 

Yao-Momo had left UA after second year, because her parents wanted her to switch to Shiketsu High School after Midoriya collapsed the dorms when he lost control of his quirk during an argument with Bakugou. Kyoka missed her every day at school, and every time she spoke to Midoriya or Bakugou, she couldn’t help but feel bitter. Her only friend (besides Kaminari, but he was always busy with Shinsou anyways) had changed schools because they couldn’t be bothered to not destroy stuff. Her phone buzzed, and she looked at it. There was a text from Denki. 

‘Are you going to tell her today?’ he’d written. She tapped out a hurried reply. 

‘Maybe. It depends on if I think she likes me or not.’ 

He replied immediately. ‘She totally does, you know. You two are so obvious’ Kyoka blushed scarlet. 

‘First of all, we are so not! Second of all, even if she does like me, if one of us confesses first, it’s not going to be me.’  

‘Famous last words, Kyoka.’ 

‘Do you really think I’d be the one to confess first?’

‘I will annoy you until you do’

‘Fair enough’ Kyoka relented. 

Finally, she spotted Yao-Momo hurrying up the sidewalk towards her. 

“Kyoka! I’m sorry I’m so late, I promise I won’t let it happen-” Yao-Momo began to apologize once she reached Kyoka. 

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. I don’t mind,” Kyoka reassured her. Yao-Momo gave a small smile that seemed dazzling. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, of course.” Now that she was seeing Yao-Momo up close, she noticed that her usually bright eyes were red from crying. “Yao-Momo? Are you okay?”

“Yes, of course I’m fine,” Yao-Momo smiled again, but it was clearly forced. 

“You’re crying. What’s wrong? Who do I have to fight?” 

Yao-Momo’s composure shattered, and she burst into tears, and Kyoka wrapped her arms around the crying girl, feeling a strange sense of protectiveness come over her. 

“S-some people i-in my class cornered m-me after school,” Yao-Momo sobbed. “T-they were b-bullying me because I’m l-lesbian.” 

“Can you give me their names?” Kyoka asked. 

“Kyoka, please don’t fight anyone on my behalf. I don’t want you to get into trouble.” Yao-Momo created a tissue and dried her tears with it.

“What if I promise not to hurt them too badly?”

“Kyoka.”

“Yao-Momo,” Kyoka matched her exasperated tone.

“Kyoka.” Yao-Momo was not amused.

“All right, I won’t fight anyone,” Kyoka relented. She finally registered the last part of Yao-Momo’s sentence. “Wait- you’re gay?”

“Oh. Yes, I’m a lesbian. Does that bother you?” Yao-Momo seemed to realize that she hadn’t come out to Kyoka before. She pulled out of Kyoka’s embrace and stood stiffly next to her, waiting with bated breath for her reply.

“No, I’m gay too,” Kyoka said, her heart thundering. I can’t believe I’m coming out to my crush. 

“Y-you are?” Yao-Momo sounded surprised, but not necessarily in a bad way. 

“Yeah.” This is awkward.  Yao-Momo seemed to be thinking the same thing. 

“Kyoka… do you ever think about love?” Kyoka turned to Yao-Momo who was staring off into space. She seemed unfocused, and her expression was almost almost… disappointed? Ashamed? Lost? Kyoka wasn’t sure how to describe it.

“Yeah, sometimes,” she replied cautiously, shoving down the worry welling up inside her.

“Some days, I think I’m never going to find someone who really loves me for who I am,” Yao-Momo confessed. She blinked. “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t want to bother you.” She turned away from Kyoka, hiding her face. Kyoka gently took Yao-Momo by the shoulders, turning her back towards her. 

“Momo, look at me.” she did. “You’re an amazing person, and I can’t think of a single reason someone wouldn’t want to be around you unless they were jealous of you. You’re perfect in every possible way.” Oh my gosh I can’t believe I just said that. She’s going to figure out that I like her for sure. Oh well, if I’m going to tell her… it might as well be now. “Momo, I…” Just say it!  “I…” She was too scared, scared of rejection, of losing her only friend besides Denki. Pathetic. I can’t even say the three most important words of my life. ‘I like you, Momo’. How hard could it be?! Very hard, apparently.

“I like you.” a weight seemed to lift off Kyoka’s shoulders, replaced by anxiety. Oh my gosh I told her, what if she rejects me, I can’t believe I did this I’m such an idiot-

“Kyoka- I like you too.” Yao-Momo burst out. She spoke very quickly, as though scared of losing her nerve and not saying it. “I’ve liked you since I first met you in first year.” 

I finally did it! I finally told her!  

Suddenly the space between them had shrunk to just a few inches and Momo was leaning closer and oh my gosh she’s going to kiss me. Kyoka stepped forward to make up the remaining distance and her lips met Momo’s. It seemed like time stopped, and the flutter in her chest only intensified with every passing second. After what seemed like both forever and no time at all, they broke apart, grinning. 

“I guess Denki was right after all.” Kyoka said the first thing that came to mind. “He said you liked me back, but I didn’t believe him...”

“I guess he and Shoto were both done with our oblivious pining,” Momo smiled. 

“Yeah.” “Kyoka,” Yao-Momo began. “Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

“Yes!” Kyoka said. “I- I mean, yeah, sure.” Momo laughed. 

“We should probably go home now,” Momo commented. 

“Probably.” Kyoka knew Momo was right, and she also knew that neither of them had no intention of doing so.  She leaned her head against Momo’s shoulder. 

“This sounds like the plot of a bad fanfiction,” Kyoka observed. 

“You’re right.” Momo put her arm around Kyoka. “Is this the part where we live happily ever after and end up being roommates at some point?” 

“Oh my god, we were roommates,” Kyoka laughed. “But yeah, happily ever after sounds good.”

[andrewjostn]

So I based this off of this song about a girl who likes to dance with her ghosts and doesn't want to leave, so I turned this into a fic about kit (+livvy, will, tessa, Jem, and some tlh peeps), a sad but sweet kinda thang I hope you guys enjoy it

@allyreynclds bc idk your undying support makes my heart go 💓💞✨

also sorry if there is no keep reading thing, if i use my computer it changes it to look weird if you look at the high school fic you'll understand, it changes into html on my phone when it wasn't on my laptop,, if anyone knows how to help please message me!!

-

Kit wordlessly walked through the halls of his now home for a year, there was a book placed under his arm and a look of concentration on his face as if he was trying to remember something important.

He silently pushed the door to the ballroom open the only sound the creaking of the door as it was moved. Kit closed the door behind him with a quiet thud, he leant against the door and sighed.

After a moment Kit moved across the floor the only sound his echoing footsteps against it. He reached the piano that was placed towards the back of the room and sat down at it. He placed the book he had purchased on the small stand.

Jem had mentioned how Jace plays piano and how Will had also played piano, Kit didn't know who Will was but Jem had spoke about him with great fondness and love in his eyes. So Kit had thought the only right thing was to try and learn piano and by how he was going it was hard.

Moments later he let his head fall with a clunk onto the piano, he couldn't understand these notes for the life of him or understand which keys were which, he closed his book and sighed. He needed something that would take his mind away.

Kit had been having a great time in Devon but even in the times admist that fun the thought of Ty would slip in his head no matter how unwelcome it was.

Kit placed his fingers over the keys and decided to screw it, he didn't need to learn off a book he could learn by how it sounded and what sounded right. Silently he closed his eyes and let his fingers glide across the keys making a beautiful yet heart-wrenching melody.

When Kit had finished he opened his eyes and stared in disbelief, he did that. He looked up from the piano and saw a shimmery figure of a girl sitting on the piano.

"That was beautiful, Kit."

Kit held the urge to get up and run towards her with a hug. "Livvy." His voice was just a whisper but she heard it. "H-how are you here?" He asked slowly getting up, tears now glistened on his cheeks.

"It takes a lot of my energy to leave Ty but I had to pay a visit to see," she faltered slightly, "there are many other people who would like to see you too." Livvy said calmly.

"If you mean anyone from LA then—"

"No, I don't mean anyone from LA." Livvy stood up from the piano and moved over towards Kit. "You play the piano like one of your ancestors, horribly sad music from the heart."

Kit looked at her in question but her gaze wasn't on him it was on a figure who had appeared behind him. Kit whirled around to see another shimmy figure this time with black hair and blue eyes. The man made a disappointed sound.

"What is it with all the Herondales these days having blonde heads," He seemed to be visibly upset by this until he moved his gaze to Kit's face.

"Who—uh Livvy?" Kit asked looking sidelong at her.

"He is rather caught up on how none of the Herondales had inherited his dark hair," She said clearly amused, "He's Will Herondale, Kit."

Kit looked at Will with newfound interest, so this was Jem and Tessa's Will, the person they talked about both with so much love and sadness.

Kit quickly wiped the tears off of his cheeks before turning back around to see Will staring at the ballroom floor.

"How are my Jem and Tessa?" He asked airily.

Kit didn't know what to say really, they are going to have a baby? they are very happy? He settled on the latter. "They are quite happy,"

Will nodded smiling ever so slightly, "Tell them I'm waiting for the days we can all be reunited once more."

In almost a blink of an eye the ballroom floor was covered in shimmering figures. Kit watched as Will moved into the crowd and took the hand of lady with the same dark hair and blue eyes, her own partner frowning in calm dislike.

Somewhere the sound of music started playing and the shimmering figures started finding their partners and dancing.

"Who are all these people?" Kit asked in wonder, watching as the figures moved around the room like water in a stream. It was rather beautiful.

"Well the hand that Will took was his sister's, Cecily Lightwood, she married Gabriel Lightwood who Will and him share quite a dislike for each other though it's settled to they won't admit they like each other."

Kit nodded, so some of these people were his family and others his friends family, it was quite a beautiful scene.

"Who are those two?" Kit had gestured to a couple one with dark hair and gold eyes and the other dark red hair and black eyes. The boy looked like he didn't want to be dancing but was doing it anyways for his partner.

"That's James Herondale and Cordelia Carstairs, they are married too. James is one of Will and Tessa's children and Cordelia is Emma's ancestor, back then Cordelia had Cortana."

Kit nodded completely taken in by all these people, "How do you know who all these people are."

"I was dead for a little while Kit, and while they had all moved on sometimes we like to visit the earthly plain." She said calmly.

Kit continued to ask who people were and Livvy would answer. Names were swirling around his head, Anna, Grace, Lucie, Alastair, Matthew, Thomas, Gideon, Alexander, Sophie, Charlotte, Henry... parabatai, married, friends... there were so many families and they were all so close.

Eventually Livvy looked at Kit, "Would you like to dance with me?"

Kit smiled, "Of course."

Kit and Livvy moved onto the dance floor, Kit lifted his hand which Livvy tentatively placed her own over hovering slightly over his. Kit held his hand at her waist keeping from touching her and Livvy keeping her hand a hairs breath away from Kit's shoulder.

At first their movement was clunky until each adjusted to not being able to touch the other and they moved as gracefully as they could.

"How's Ty been?" Kit asked, breaking the silence between them. He looked away from her face, they looked so alike it made his heart ache.

"He's doing okay, he has been better. I'm sure he would be better with you there instead of a ghost sister." She said shaking her head ever so slightly.

Kit sighed, "I—just, yeah—" He gave up trying to form words and decided to look around the room instead.

All the shimmering figures together were beautiful, Kit's breath hitched in his throat so he turned his gaze back to Livvy.

"When will you go?" Kit asked the feeling of sadness washing over him like the ocean does over sand.

"Soon, my energy is draining," She hesitated for a moment, "Once I leave they will leave too, except Will he'll stick around a bit longer." She said smiling a little sadly.

"I'm sure he'll keep great company," Kit said smiling slightly, "not as great as yours though."

Livvy smiled. "I must go." She said sadly reaching up to Kit's face to wipe away a tear he didn't know he had shed, she quickly dropped her hand realising she couldn't touch him.

"If I never see you again, this was nice." Kit said wiping away his tears as more took their place, he watched as Livvy slowly disappeared and soon the others began fading too and the music coming to a halt.

Kit now stood alone on the dance floor, not exactly alone just as Livvy said Will had stuck around.

"I know I'm not exactly the one you wanted to stay, but I'll do my best." He said warily offering a smile.

Kit nodded, quickly wiping his tears away, "It's okay, she has a brother that needs more care than me besides I have you." He grinned openly, barely any hints of sadness.

Will smiled too.

Kit heard footsteps on the echoing floors and looked away from Will to see Tessa and Jem walking towards him.

"There you are, Kit," Jem said smiling warmly. He always smiled at Kit and looked at him with a kind expression, Kit appreciated it a lot.

"Dinner's ready, we didn't want to start without you." Tessa said smiling too. They both smiled and loved Kit so much, it was almost a shock sometimes.

"Okay," He looked over to Will who was watching the two a sad smile on his face, "But we are going to need an extra chair for our guest." He said smiling. Will looked over in surprise but he too smiled.

"Guest?" Tessa asked raising her eyebrows slightly, clearly intrigued.

"Yeah, Will." Kit said smiling at Jem and Tessa looking sidelong at Will. "I guess there will be some catching up then."

[livvywrites]

“Go and die for all I care!” - tali & nora somehow pls

okay so i’m combining this with the other prompt you sent, 14 from this list. for extra angst purposes!

prompt source! 

so this one is... set in the canon universe, but isn’t exactly canon??? a similar situation to this is planned, but it’s. very different. (very, very different lmao). BUT i adapted it to fit the prompt. because otherwise it wouldn’t have made as much sense. 

CW: some discussion & references to suicide. under a cut bc it got long!!

"Fine," Talithasnapped, "just go and die for all I care!"

"Maybe I fucking will,"Alinora snapped back. "Beats hanging around in this lousy fuckinglife." Alinora slammed the door shut behind her and stomped down the hall.Tears burned at her eyes but she ignored them. That woman was so... she wasso... 

She was so irritating!

Alinora wasn't exactly happy aboutthis either, thank you very much, but it was the only way. Nomagical solution was going to drop in their laps. There wasn't a deus exmachina waiting around the corner. There was only them versus a god--and evenwith the power they had accumulated, they were still mortal. Whathope did they have against Fate? The only way... 

This was the only way.

She pushed through the doors,stepping out into the little pocket world Talitha had created. There were days,like this one, when Alinora really hated this place. Talitha was everywhere.Her magic fueled it, created it, shaped it. It no longer drew from her, but herhand was in everything. You couldn't turn around without seeing her.Which was the last thing Alinora needed--or wanted--right now.

She made for the gates. Maybe she'dvisit Elaena. Spend some time in Death's castle. Challenge Death to a game ofchess. Or poker. Or something. Anything to keep her mind off that terrible,wretched, awful woman. 

Talitha slumped into the floor. Whyhad she said that? Of all the things she could have fucking said, shesaid that. To an already suicidal woman with a history ofsacrificing herself for the greater good.

Why am I such a terribleperson? She buried her face in her hands.Her only consolation was that Alinora was probably heading for the trainingroom, to ruin a few unsuspecting dummies. Lyr would probably bitch about havingto make more, but honestly, Talitha couldn't care less right then. She'd makethem herself, if it meant that Alinora had a safe, productive wayto work out her anger.

There was a distant squeal as thegates swung open. Talitha's head snapped up.

Oh no. Oh fuck. Oh, Talitha fuckingJade, you're a goddamn idiot.  Shescrambled to her feet and threw open the balcony doors just in time to watchAlinora stride through the gates, head held high. Talitha turned and ran,nearly flying down the stairs in her haste to get outside.

She burst through the doors.Tracking Alinora would be hard, because as soon as she left, she probablyshadow-stepped away. But, Elaena was Alinora's handler. It wouldn't be thefirst time that Talitha had needed to contact her over Alinora disappearing.Not usually because of them having a stupid fight, though. Itwas usually Aishlynn. Or Asa. Or Lyr, once. Or. You know. Most everyone butTalitha, because normally, Talitha watched her fucking mouth.

Elaena. Babe. Need your help, please.Kind of panicking at the moment. Talithasent out the prayer, the thoughts lined with a desperate edge. Her heart washammering in her chest. Her tongue tasted of bile.

Elaena appeared, and for onceTalitha didn't even bat an eye at the way she materialized from shadow. Therewas a bored look on her face, instead of the usual bit of concern.

"If this is about Alinora,she's at the castle. Was in the middle of badgering Dad into playingchess." Elaena paused. "Pretty sure he's going to give in." Sheshrugged. "Got a fucking soft spot a mile wide. Guess you two got into it,then?"

"I said something stupid,"Talitha said. "And I want to apologize for it."

Elaena nodded. "You'll get yourchance. Go... prepare some grand gesture, or whatever it is you lovebirds do.I'll keep her out of trouble. Or whatever."

Talitha slumped. "Thanks,El."

She waved a hand. "S'my job. Godo yours."

And then she disappeared.

Talitha stared off into thedistance, over the bleak forest, where she could see the spires of Death'scastle. Alinora was in good hands, for the moment. Talitha needed to come upwith a damn good apology.

And then hope Alinora could forgivethe unforgivable.

Alinora rubbed her face. Three gamesof chess--two against Death, once against Elaena--, half a bottle of wine, anda really good spar later, and she was home. Sore and tired asfuck, but home. And dreading what she was going to find in their bedroom.

Would Talitha still be there? Or wasthis the last straw?

At the time, Alinora hadn't thoughtpast more than leaving. She hadn't thought about how it might look from theoutside. Not until her second glass of wine. She should have come home then. Butshe didn't. Instead, she took Elaena up on her offer to spar, and... leftTalitha to worry some more.

Obviously Tali would know that therehad to be very specific circumstances for Alinora to do what she was planning.It wasn't just something you rushed into half-cocked. But that wouldn't make itany easier to bear. Wouldn't make how they had left things any more comforting.Wouldn't have made it any more certain that Alinora was going to come home.

Alinora took a deep breath, andpushed open the doors.

Talitha was on the couch, lookingfidgety and nervous as hell, but also extremely soft and open in her too-bigsweater and leggings. Alinora's favorite dish was on the coffee table (oneTalitha hated dearly) and there was a mug of her favorite tea as well. Andcandles. The warm, cinnamon scented ones that Alinora only brought out onspecial occasions, because it was easier to just use magelights most of thetime.

Talitha gave her a little, crookedsmile. "So, um. I said something stupid earlier," she said, becauseof course she was just going to jump right into it.

Alinora closed the door softlybehind her, leaning into it, listening. Hoping her expression wasn't toosevere.

"And... I shouldn't have saidit. I didn't mean it. I was just... angry. And that's not. It isn't an excuse.I know better. I know that, that words hurt. That they mean things.That they can cut deep. Make scars that last a long time. And, I don't. I don'twant to do that to you? That's not the kind of person that I want to be. Not thekind of relationship that I want us to have.

"And. I'm going to try and dobetter. In the future. Whether, um. Whether you forgive me or not. But I'mreally hoping that you do, and we get to continue to this, because. You'rehonestly the best thing to ever happen to me. The light of my fucking life,honestly. And I don't want to lose you because I'm an idiot. But I mean, you'dbe well within you're rights to just. Drop me. Because I was an asshole.Majorly. Worse than I've been since---"

Alinora held up a hand. "You'reforgiven," Alinora said softly. She hadn't contemplated anything else. Hadbarely registered the words, barely realized what Talitha had said in the firstplace. All she had seen was Talitha's anger, her immediate shut down of themost obvious way to end this, before it got any worse. That probably saidsomething about her mental health, something she didn't really want to examineat that moment. "It's not like I haven't been an asshole... most of thetime."

Talitha snorted. "Yeah, but you'venever told me to--" She cut herself off.

Alinora raised an eyebrow. "Howmany times did I tell you to jump off a cliff, Tali?"

"Yeah, but you didn't mean it."

"Neither did you."

"Yeah, but mine was said out ofanger. It wasn't a joke. I wasn't teasing you. I was pissed,and frustrated, and I said something stupid. It's different."

"Are you trying to talk me outof forgiving you?" It wasn't working, but Alinora was curious anyway.

"No! Yes. Maybe! I don'tknow."

Alinora snorted. "It isn'tworking. Isn't going to work either." She walked over to her, and sat onthe couch next to her. "You said something stupid. I'll grant you that.But I don't think it was out of anger."

"No? What would you call thatthen?"

"Fear." Alinora leanedagainst her side. "You were afraid. So you said something mean. Becausethat's what we do, when we're afraid. You and me. Doesn't make it a good thing.But it's an understandable thing. So. I forgive you. Because I know you didn'tmean it. I know... that you meant the opposite, really."

"I did," Talitha murmured."Still do."

Alinora nodded. "See?" Shepaused. "Besides, if I didn't forgive you, who's going tocling to me like an octopus all night? I won't be able to sleep without that, Idon't think."

Talitha laughed, wetly. "Guessnone of the others are clingy like me, huh?"

"Not even close."

"I love you, Nora."

"I love you too, Tali,"she murmured.

Talitha kissed the top of her head."Light of my fuckin' life." 

[dramayeoja]

Goblin ❣︎ 도깨비

Kim Shin, an undefeated war general, is ultimately killed by a jealous young king named Wang Yeo. After death, Shin is revived by the gods—but his revival is by no means miraculous. He becomes a 도깨비 (dokkaebi, goblin), and is cursed. He will have to pay for all the lives he took in battle by living alone in immortality, witnessing everyone he's ever loved, die. Remaining lodged in his chest is the very sword that killed him. There is only person who can see that sword, and draw from his heart so that he can finally rest in peace: his bride... whom he's yet to meet.

Things get spoilery under the cut—you've been warned! ;)

Chipper, yeah? Haha so, right off the bat, the premises of Goblin remind me of like, a much more morbid version of the legend of King Arthur. You know, a man draws a sword from stone to prove himself the greatest king in all of Britain? Yeah. Just to be clear: this is a good thing (imo). Like, I personally think this is just such a cool idea for a drama 😍

Let's jump right in. I'm gonna be honest and say that, at first, I felt a little turned off at the female lead, Eun Tak, being nineteen (in the beginning of the show), meanwhile the male lead, Shin, is 900+ years old (but physically looks to be in his thirties). It just... rubbed me weird. But hey, the Twilight series (both the books and the movies) is exactly the same—high school girl, century-old man, bananas yet somehow romantic storyline... And I loved me some Twilight as a young adult. So I mean, I have no right to judge, really. Plus, Eun Tak soon turns twenty anyway. So that's an improvement I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️ We follow her character into her late twenties, nearly thirty. So things are definitely fine by then haha! 👍

Don't let that previous bit make you think I didn't enjoy Goblin—I LOVED it. That detail is just a lil funky to me, is all. Back during my Twilight obsession days, I was nearly twenty myself, and the thought of being pursued by an older man was exciting. Hell, I mean, it still is! But now that I'm two years shy of my 30th Birthday, I feel differently sometimes. I think, LAWD get that girl away from that man, she too young for him LOL. I am definitely getting old... Enough about Twilight now, apologies! I'm only using it for the sake of conveying similarities seen in Goblin 🙏 Let's talk cast!

Kim Go Eun as Ji Eun Tak and Gong Yoo as Kim Shin

Eun Tak is a bubbly young woman with limitless energy! While still in her mother's womb, Mama Ji was involved in a hit-and-run incident which, sadly, took her life. During Mama Ji's dying moments, she prayed to anyone above that her child's life be spared. Sat on a rooftop from afar, beer in hand (lol), Shin hears her prayers, as he is a god of sorts. He appears before Mama Ji, and shows mercy to her unborn baby. Eun Tak grows up with the ability to see/speak to ghosts. Said ghosts tell her constantly that she is the goblin's bride. How do they know? A strange birthmark on the back of Eun Tak's neck tips them off. Eun Tak unfortunately was taken in by her abusive bitch of an aunt, who jabs Eun Tak every chance she gets. Her cousins are assholes. Eun Tak's aunt really only keeps her around in hopes of collecting Mama Ji's savings (intended for Eun Tak) one day. Sad, right? I mean, isn't Eun Tak being born without her mother enough as it is? Life can be so cruel 😔

Lee Dong Wook as Grim Reaper/Reaper/Wang Yeo

This is Grim Reaper (or Reaper for short), portrayed by the handsome Lee Dong Wook. His character is just this strange, not at all tech-savvy man with a constant deadpan facial expression. Said facial expression provokes so many giggles during funny moments, and drives home the longing and desperation during sad times. We learn quite a ways in that he, in his previous life (again, just in case: spoiler), was Wang Yeo G A S P ! The young king that is essentially responsible for Shin's death, as well as all the misdeeds that were done to Shin's family. Again, this is something I don't want to spoil. Well, more, anyway 😆 You gotta see it!

Yoo In Na as Kim Sun/Sunny

Kim Sun, or simply, Sunny (she loves to spell her name for people lol, S-U-N-N-Y!) is the second female lead. Yoo In Na is so gorgeous that one look at her makes you feel like such a potato hahhah. 🥔 This fact about her beauty bleeds over into the show itself—every time another character meets Sunny, the camera does this slow motion pan into her lmao. She really is that pretty! Sunny's personality comes across so odd at first... Having watched all of the episodes now, I feel the intention of Goblin's creators was to make her seem like a soul searching for something it has lost in a previous life. idk if that makes sense, but yeah. She has this way about her, like she's disconnected from others, and is sifting through the haziness to find this thing she feels she's lost.

Yook Sungjae (my BtoB bias 😍) as Yoo Deok Hwa

Sungjaeeee ahhhh 💘💘💘 I had to gush, sorry! Hehe. Meet Deok Hwa: unofficial nephew of Shin. Deok Hwa is a third-generation chaebol (heir to a family-owned corporation) and spoiled man-child, always seeking his credit card hahaha 🤣 But I love him so much. Between Gong Yoo, Lee Dong Wook, and BtoB Sungjae? Man, I'm dying over here! Deok Hwa's true identity is revealed later in the show, which if you haven't seen it yet, I won't spoil it. Just watch. But his ending sucked. Like where did he go? Everyone else's endings got tied up neatly except for his. What gives, man? 🤔 Edit: I was actually reading an online conversation about what happened to Deok Hwa online—someone jokingly said he was reincarnated as BtoB Sungjae LOL 💯

Other various comments

AMAZING OST 😍😍😍

Good pace, episodes drag at times. A little confusing in the beginning, but you get there eventually. Maybe this is just me though, viewers who are a little more keen than I will likely catch on sooner ;) My mom was a little confused as well, and actually said at one point, "This should be called the 'what-the-hell-is-going-on' show," hahaha. Like I said though, we quickly moved on from this, and loved all the things. There are actually, I think, three (?) specials that were made to aid viewers in making sure they understand the complex events and relationships clearly. I haven't watched them yet, but want to!

Quite repetitive tbh, as there are unnecessary flashbacks often. Probably for two reasons: the obvious of reminding you what's what, but also to create suspense. Typical duration of most tvN dramas seems to be about 16 episodes, so it's possible these flashbacks and things are, for lack of a better word, filler. I don't know how rigid or lax tvN is about having a drama set at 16 eps, but I get the idea this is their preference. Seeing as so many of their programs on average last that long, I feel this must be what they want. Such has the potential to affect the writing, either positively or negatively.

A continuation of the previous bullet: I think Goblin's creators oversimplified the plot at times. I'm unsure if this is due to possible pressures to meet a specific requirement(s), or what. I'd rather forgo ALL restrictions and let creativity flow, let the story be told without pressure to fill a specific amount of time, etc. but TV production is weird. And contracts are weird. tvN might not to blame for these issues, could simply be that storytelling isn't always easy, man. I'm a writer myself, it's hard! I'M being redundant now lmfao! Anyway, yeah ~

Absolutely LOVED all the scenes that were filmed on location in beautiful Québec City, Canada 🍁 Tall, romantic trees, the fall foliage, historic buildings... sigh. Now all I need is Gong Yoo chasing me and we're all set! ;D

In addition to Shin being revived, my crush on Gong Yoo has been revived as well LOL. He fine 🔥 A classic K drama crush, can't go wrong with GY👌

Gong Yoo is always stellar at doing kiseu (kiss) scenes, and in Goblin, he does not disappoint. He really goes at it 🙈 which is preferred vs. the typical person kissing a stone statue that you see so often. He even did a lift kiss with Kim Go Eun that was reminiscent of THEE Coffee Prince kiss he did with actress Yoon Eun Hye! 😍

I never saw it coming, how the sword would wind up being removed from Shin's chest. I worried what the writers were going to do, how would they approach this, and just wow. The way things turned out is such a relief. It also told me that Shin's love for Eun Tak is true. I mean, I didn't need that scene to occur for me to know that, rather it just adds extra oomph that yes, Shin really does love Eun Tak. He didn't want her to suffer knowing she was responsible for his "death," so he thought quick and used her hands WITH his hands asdfghjkl. How dumb (bc noooo now you're gonna die) and amazing he is at the same time 💜

I love how Shin made his way back to Eun Tak after passing away, it was such a powerful scene. I could really feel his struggle, and kept yelling at my TV for him to stand up lol!

Devastated that Eun Tak died 😭 I really thought as many times as she'd cheated death before, she would somehow continue cheating death again and again for the rest of her days. But no... What a selfless person, Ji Eun Tak. Her being reincarnated as Park So Min gave me some closure. Not the closure I wanted, but closure.

The relationship between Shin and Reaper is ADORABLE. Whenever they interact with each other, they just have this great dialogue. Shin pings, Reaper pongs, Reaper pings, Shin pongs. It's great 😄 I still laugh about the slow-mo scene of them returning from the market with green onions HAHAHA 😂

I love Sunny & Reaper ~ However, their history as Kim Sun & Wang Yeo in their past lives is so very sad. I don't even know where to start RE: my feelings on this 💔 imo, their ending kinda sucked. I just wasn't satisfied with them having had this complicated, tragic story, only to be reincarnated in this fashion that I ultimately found to be just... idk, disappointing 😩 Again, closure, but not the closure I wanted.

I thought Reaper, the other grim reapers, the name cards, the depiction of what happens immediately following death with the brewing of the tea, the afterlife, etc. was all very creative. We really don't know what awaits us when our time comes—it's interesting to wonder if it's anything like it is in Goblin 🍵

Can't stop thinking about Goblin, even though I'm now watching Thirty but Seventeen & Mr. Sunshine! I'm emotionally cheating lol halp.

Photo credits: tvN & AsianWiki

Yo yo! I'm sorry I took so long to watch + write up this review! It's been a long couple of weeks for me, I wasn't always able to watch when I wanted. It was maddening 😆 But I have finally watched, and feel like the most accomplished person on the planet hahaha. xoxo 💜

[thisnerdsadventures]

a summer to remember

hello friends, i definitely just abandoned this whole blog, now didn't i

well i am happy to report that i am still alive, and am thriving!

Here's a rundown of everything that has been going on:

[inserting a readmore because this is long af]

May

So in May, I was definitely just all over the place because I was 1) trying to finish a paper published in a conference!! it literally drove me insane. anyways, then i had to go and finish a 78 page thesis, which involved a really convoluted timeline because i had to finish it ~ a week before the actual deadline so my PI could read it over, but then i had to finish it a few days before THAT so my PhD supervisors could read it over, which meant that i had like one (1) week to write like. all of it.

Luckily I had most of the first half already written, during whatever shitshow April was (April was a lot of coding for the paper, and then not having time to write my thesis). But THEN i had to organize all the data from my own personal experiments, make figures, and draft the entire results section. AND i had like two final reports to do for my class, so my last weeks of academia looked like....

Of course, the day before my thesis was due, I pulled an all nighter, because, of course. What other way would I ever end my academic career. Submitted it though, and I graduated! [LINK TO MY THESIS]

Also! I got vaccinated and felt like death for a whole day, but then my friend came over and we ate fried chicken and watched this show called Miraculous, which is a kids show from France, but for some reason is actually hilarious and really entertaining. Then I felt better, so I proceeded to work on my thesis.

Also, I guess I should talk a little bit about the class I took this semester, which was an industrial organization economics class. We looked at things like how different markets are organized, why they are that way, what market concentration means, how mergers affect competition, and what kind of effect that may impose on consumers. For the final case study (which, I will say, I wrote like 2000 words in a single day, so . applause for me), I looked at the Nvidia-ARM merger and how that may or may not affect competition in the GPU market, the CPU market, and the mobile chip market. I think my analysis was a little bit more surface level, which was fine for me, since I'm by no means an economics expert or even remotely should have any expectations at all, but I read a lot and learned a lot and that's the goal!

So yes, my brief excursion into the field of economics was overall positive, I feel like I learned a lot and now I can read financial articles about the tech industry and not be completely lost, which, again, was the goal.

But yes, May was a lot of work, and once it wrapped up, I got to spend a lot of time with friends post-vaccination! After the 1 or 2 week mark after my second dose, I started going back to the gym, especially to play basketball with folks, which I had missed a lot. I spent a lot of time at my old dorm just hanging out, and got to have a cute salmon dinner over at my other friend's place. And we made cheesecake too.

June (MA->NY->MA->CA)

I finally went to visit my best friend in New York. I hadn't seen her in > 400 days, so it was really a very anticipated event, except we saw each other across the crosswalk, but then the light took like five minutes to turn green, so it was really anticlimactic. Anyways, we ended up bumming around New York and Long Island for a week, and it was nice to spend some time with her after such a long gap.

We spent a day at a vineyard and I fell asleep so

After getting back to Boston, my mom came back from Taiwan to help me move out of my apartment. It was a lot of finding people to sell things to, sweating because it was very hot that week, and praying everything would work out (it did). I also got to have a few final meals with various friends and my mom and I got to take one last lark down the Infinite, which I was really grateful for because it was the first time visitors got to go inside campus in over a year.

Also got into my school's MBA program! Yes i applied to a deferred program (which is like you get into a program, but you don't have to go for 2-5 years, as a way of getting in right after undergrad/grad school, but then accumulating some work experience first). It was hilarious, I was literally shopping in my campus store for a new sweatshirt and I got a phone call from the admissions office saying I got in. My mom had been pushing me to apply to grad programs, and I didn't tell her about it because I didn't know if I would actually follow through. But I got to surprise her with the news, and she was so happy she did the whole "calling all the relatives" thing again.

After flying home, I told myself I'd read more and exercise more, which I have been doing. I got a membership at Planet Fitness, which has been really good for me (going 3x a week), and I've made my way through at least 5 books this summer so far. My holds list at my local library is literally insane. (For recs, I recently read Normal People, which I absolutely devoured, and In the Dream House, which hit really hard for me.)

This summer was also really about reconnecting with high school friends. All three of us were unemployed, with plans to come in the fall, so we were all free to hang out all the time. We started out at the local library planning out a road trip, and we worked out a few times together, and a few coffee dates too. We took a fun day trip down to LA one day, and we visited Malibu, went to the Getty, hit up some local food places in the city. Driving down the PCH with Taylor Swift blaring and the windows down on a hot June day, just hits so different. There is nothing like it.

My friend's birthday was in June, so we put together a little video for her and bought some jewelry, and had a Zoom call to celebrate. Then I got BBQ with some friends and sat in the parking lot eating ice cream until 11 at night just trading stories from our pasts. It felt like the perfect summer life, just staying out until whenever, grabbing food wherever we wanted, with friends I had had for literally a whole decade.

It was already a really good summer, but then July. July was crazy.

July (CA -> MI -> CA -> NV -> CA -> WA -> OR -> CA)

So one Sunday morning, I woke up to a text

Actually, I'm going to do a separate post on the whole Michigan trip because that sh** was on another level of spontaneous, impulsive, crazy life stuff. But anyways, so July started off with a trip to Michigan to visit my friends, and then I came back for the 4th, had 36 hours of rest before my high school friends and I went on a road trip.

This road trip was a little ambitious. We hit spots all up California, from hiking in Sequoia Nat'l Park to Kings Canyon, driving up to Sacramento and visiting art museums, and then going up to Tahoe but staying in Nevada, going kayaking and hiking and sitting on the beach for hours. It was reallllllly hot, but luckily I don't think it ever broke 90 degrees. The views were beautiful, especially at Kings Canyon. The drive in, you're surrounded by huge rock walls, with a thin river rushing by next to you. The hike itself literally feels like you're in nature, like the trail is somewhat defined but not paved, there are no sounds of traffic, the path isn't heavily trafficked so we were the only ones there for the most part. We even saw a deer and washed our faces in the river. Throughout the whole thing, we climbed into so many waterfalls, trying not to slip on rocks.

I hadn't been to Sacramento in over a decade, but it was a cute day trip. There isn't a ton to do there, but it was a nice reprieve from the constant driving and nature. We visited the Leland Stanford Mansion, the Crocker Art Museum, and Old Town Sacramento. A good chance to get a nice coffee, a sit-down meal, and some air conditioning. At Tahoe, we went kayaking on Pope Beach, with the clearest water I have ever seen, followed up by a hike up to a beautiful view of the Lake.

On our way back, we stopped at a lot of interesting places, like small towns like Lee Vining, where we found an Upside Down House; Manzanar, the site of an old Japanese internment camp during the WWII era (which also hit hard); and Randsburg, a literal living ghost town. Overall, getting to travel with my friends finally was so fun, they were so much fun to be around for five days, and getting to explore so much of California was so fun - even though I'd been here for so long, I never knew these places existed.

So I came back and had around 48 hours to recover before my mom and I took a trip up to the Pacific Northwest!

I've always wanted to visit Seattle, and figured I'd hit Portland on the way too. We originally wanted to go to Hawaii but it got so expensive by the middle of the summer, so we decided to stay a little closer to home (probs the better decision bc I was already so tired by this point).

Seattle! Got to visit Pike Place Market many times, grab some coffee at the original Starbucks, see Mt. Rainier, and grab food with three friends! Also went to Bainbridge Island for a day which was SO cute - got to do an olive oil/balsamic vinegar tasting, which sounds so extra, but is actually really unexpectedly fun. At Starbs, I did a cold brew flight, which resulted in a rough night of tossing and turning for me, but I think it was worth it. Other things included the Pinball Museum, Space Needle, and Chihuly Glass Museum!

So I lowkey really wanted to visit Portland because I wanted to achieve a long-lasting dream of seeing an NWSL game in person. So I went to the Thorns Pride game!!

The Thorns fanbase is actually insane, I cannot express to you, like there's this whole fan section that actually did synchronized cheers and routines and was actually ROARING when they scored the entire game. I swear the audience was actually watching them at points instead of the match. Overall, the stadium was going crazy, like I thought I was at a tied Celtics-Bucks game with how loud it was in there. Also I swear, Ali Krieger made eye contact with me and waved.

In addition to that, Portland also has a huge rose garden, a nice Japanese tea garden, a lot of good donut stores and a huge bookstore, so all very up my alley. We also took a day trip to see Mt. Hood and more waterfalls!!

That's a summary of the SEA - PDX trip. Once I got home, my high school friends and I did not waste any time on reuniting to hang out - we went and played ball, grabbed lunch, and then coffee, and then did the same exact thing like two days later and watched a bunch of TikToks, and then spent a whole day at the beach to send my good friend off to medical school in Arizona. They somehow convinced me to go in the water and I got body checked by a wave.

Saw this sculpture on the beach and teared up a little

So proud of my friends for making it to med school, I am so excited to see them at their white coat ceremonies and beyond, I swear I will cry at every step of the way I'm so happy for them. Now that July is pretty much over, most of my fun summer plans are too, and I finally get a chance to catch my breath from that busy busy month. Spending a lot of time watching the Olympics and trying to muster up the motivation to start a fulltime job in < 1 month!!

Overall, I feel like I've been having a really solid summer given the year that was the covid year. I had a Lot of fun, literally probably two summers worth of fun consolidated into one. I think in the beginning of the year, I really wanted this summer to be good, and I didn't have a lot of set plans for the summer, even by the end of May. But somehow, things came together, like Really together, and I had the best summer of my life in this summer 2021. On top of that, I'm reading more than I have since probably middle school, I feel the most in shape that I ever have, I can DRIVE NOW. Only thing that would've made it better was if I got to go back to Taiwan to visit the fam, but unfortunately I can't go back because of strict travel restrictions there and they had a COVID outbreak too :/ I still got around 3.5 weeks of summer to go, so we'll see how the rest goes :)

[leavesfrommytree]

This week, as I was asking God to help me grow stronger in His Will, I was led to Proverbs 31.

While I had heard of "The Proverbs 31 Woman" before, I realized that as much as I may have wanted to fully grow into the woman God wants me to be, the woman I know He already sees me become, the righteous woman He wants all His daughters to be, I had never actually a.) Set out to be her, b.) Opened up my Bible and actually STUDY what He had already told me about her, nor c.) PUT IN THE WORK TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!

It is mindblowing, when you think about it, how we can pray to God for the very things, the very answers that He has already given us. The answers to our prayers could very well be sitting in this Book of Life that He composed for us, AND ALL WE HAD TO DO WAS SEEK THEM! And to just think that The Bible was put together long before we were even born!

I've been struggling emotionally my entire life. My upbringing was bananas and I was always slipping on 'em head first. The "family dynamic" in my "home" was pretty much non-existent. Generational curses, Catholicism consequently involving idolatry, shameful shades of sin, you name it. Through that all God was always with me. Though I didn't know Him as I do [and am getting to know him more] now, I always knew that He was with me, and I never let go. Not through my crazy teenage years, not through figuring out many things alone as a young girl, then as an adult, and now as a hurt little girl in a woman's body trying to play catch up in order to mentally, emotionally, and spiritually arrive to where she belongs.

It wasn't until I truly sought after God with my heart, after just being tired and fed up of all the HURT and confusion that was my life, that I realized what the problem was all along:

I need spiritual emotional healing.

(I recommend Joyce Meyer's Beauty for Ashes. Wonderful book, helped me arrive at said realization. 📚)

So here I am, wearing this engagement ring given to me by the love of my life, the man I prayed to God for in such detail and was there (in my life) all along. My high school sweetheart in disguise. We love each other dearly, but just cannot take the next step in elevating our relationship until I can fully HEAL in different areas and fully blossom 🌱 into the woman God intended me to be.

I know this has been a very long read. All this is part of my healing process. If you're still here, I thank you for "listening." I was deprived of that a lot in my life. I hope that this helps you and/or helps you help someone in some way or another.

I typed all this out bc once I started it just kept goingandgoingandgoing until it became this. I realize that this is an outpour of my inner voice. I don't really have a girl friend, sister, or anyone to deeply express myself with. Sadly I cannot even talk about my feelings to my mom. She is simply emotionally unavailable herself. I am choosing to share this because I feel it to be part of my emotional healing. Y'know, the *opening up* part? Yeh, that's reallyyyyyyy hard for me to do.

Hmm, I guess this is why people blog...

Me gusssssta. 😌

Anyways, I say allllllllllllllllllll thisssssssssss to say that The Spirit led me to Proverbs 31, and I just feel so hopeful in my heart that everything's gonna be alright. I'm gonna become not only the woman I know I can be, not only the wife that my fiancé and best friend deserves (Glory to God for him, he truly is amazing,) but also the strong, gentle, wise, humble, compassionate, righteous Proverbs 31 woman God already created me to be by nature 🌻. I want to do the right thing. I want to walk in Light and in Love. I want to nurture this man, who God placed in my life to guide me back to His Kingdom, the way he truly deserves, as his loving wife.

I want to be happy and in peace. 🌞

I want to share this in hopes of encouraging any female struggling with emotional or any kinda instability, crazy situations at home, spiritual warfare (I recommend Ephesians 6 🙏🏼📖, staying prayed up is MAJOR 🔑,) hurt and heartbreak, unable to be in a meaningful steady relationship, thinking there's nothing but fuckboys out there, claiming "fuck love" as her anthem, etc. LIES! LOVE IS REAL, LOVE IS TRUE, LOVE IS ATTAINABLE! And how do I know!? Because GOD IS LOVE, and He made all this possible for me. He loves me, just as He loves YOUUUUUUUU! ❤

I may not have arrived to where I want to be yet, but I'm heading in the right direction towards emotional healing. I love myself soooooo much more than I did even a year ago, and that's the 1st and hardest step. If I can do it, so can YOU! NEVER CEASE TO LOVE, NEVER LET GO OF HOPE, AND NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR PRINCE CHARMING. Do NOT let this world mislead you into thinking that that 90's R&B Real Love *Mary J. Blige voice* doesn't exist anymore, BECUZ IT DOESSSSSS!

By Grace through Faith God saved a lonely wretch like me, and with Jesus' blood He made me saved, born again, NEW. He can do that for you too! Give Him a chance, the little girl inside you will thank you. 💗📖🙏🏼🌸❤