#Bee maybe waxes poetic???

[solarpunkani]

Y'know someone's probably waxed poetic about this already but it's on my mind so I'm gonna do it again.

When it comes to encouraging people to learn about native plants and habitat and involving themselves and their yards in the wider ecosystem, you gotta meet them where they're at.

And maybe that means they won't go as far into it as you are or would like them to in your wildest dreams. But even small steps count towards the bigger picture and I think we need to appreciate that more.

An example from my own life is my mom and the current gardening project we're working on. We're planning out the garden beds in the front of the yard by the mailbox--my mom's previous plantings for the most part haven't worked out, so I'm taking a crack at it.

I'm a pollinator gardening enthusiast who cares more about attracting as many butterflies bees and hummingbirds as possible than keeping things 'neat' and 'tidy'. However, not only do we live in an HOA neighborhood (though not as intense as some other stories I've heard), but I know my mother--an interior designer who has a deeply vested care for making sure the exterior of the house looks as Nice as possible.

We're still getting a pollinator garden in the front though. How? I'm meeting her where she's at, I'm making some concessions, she's making some concessions, but ultimately we're making something that works for the both of us. She doesn't want the plants too tall and messy? We'll trim them back in fall and winter--the insects can use the backyard garden to nest in. She doesn't want things too wild and bushy and weedy? We'll add a nice mulch to the beds, keep things a bit spaced out until they grow in to their larger sizes. She doesn't know the latin names for the plants I'm asking for, let alone how to pronounce them to ask for them at a garden center? That's fine, I don't know the Latin names for most things anyways, let's just use common names.

Does she care that the garden will attract butterflies and hummingbirds? Not intrinsically--she sees it as more of a bonus, if anything. She just cares about what color everything will be and if it'll be easy to maintain. The fact that they're native plants barely registers as a plus side to her. And honestly? That is fine.

If I approached this problem with a hardheaded attitude on how I wanted it to be just as wild and free as my backyard garden? There wouldn't be any native plants in the front beds. It's not like I didn't teach my mom things, but I didn't lecture her like she was lesser just for not knowing or caring as much about native gardening as I do. And that, ultimately, made her more open to the idea than she would've been if I looked down on her like I've seen too many people do to others.

Not everyone is going to develop a deeply seated care about native plants and Latin names and I don't think it's reasonable to expect that. Meet people where they're at and you just might get a lot more done. Meet people where they're at and you just might find they'll get excited enough to learn more--but if they don't want to learn more, that is fine.

We can't expect everyone on the globe to suddenly become plant experts rattling off Latin names left and right and professionally ID'ing native and invasive plants. In the same way we wouldn't expect everyone to suddenly learn the ins and outs of learning code, or how to synthesize medicines, or how to properly build a house. And that is fine. Because we can lean on those who do know when these things come up.

I lost track of where this was going but. Y'know????

[moonlitceleste]

wanna-bee your honey

bee movie au masterlist ao3

happy third birthday to the bee movie au!! i wrote this quite hastily yesterday but thought i needed to do something to commemorate this anniversary. hope this gets you buzzed! :)

“...and so, we decided his punishment would be to watch the Bee Movie,” Tim finished with a flourish.

“The Bee Movie?” Marinette made a face. “That’s quite a…targeted consequence for losing a bet.” The bet in question was over how much money Bruce would fork to prevent Jason from telling a reporter about him and Batman’s torrid love affair. The answer was nothing—though it was probably because he knew no one would believe it. Wouldn’t stop Vicki Vale, though.

“Why that movie specifically? Does he have a vendetta against it or something?” Marinette questioned further.

“He does, actually.” Steph piped in. “‘Capitalist propaganda,’ he claims, but it’s gotta be more than that. We thought that if we made him watch it, we’d finally find out why.”

She nodded. That made sense.

“Y’know,” the blonde continued, “he always gets weird around bee-themed heroes too, so maybe he just doesn’t like bees in general.”

“He’s not very buzzed about them,” Marinette observed. Tim groaned, but Cass and Dick reached over to give her a high-five.

“We’re watching it tonight, so make sure to bee there,” Dick told her. “You won’t want to miss this one.”

-

True to his words, the Wayne kids were all gathered in a swarm around the projector that night.

“Where’s the queen bee?” Marinette asked.

“Dunno, but he’s gotta be somewhere in the hive.”

“We are not doing this,” Duke spoke to the air.

He was saved from death by puns at the sight of Damian escorting Jason into the room. Escorting was a loose term, considering the katana the shorter brother was currently brandishing across his throat.

“I have apprehended the convict,” he said. He let go of Jason, who fell to the ground with an oof. “Not to worry. I confiscated his bee-bee guns.”

“Damian!” Marinette cooed, and smothered him in a hug. She was so proud. “My honey’s all grown up.” He scowled at her but made no move to push her away.

“Don’t bee such a buzzkill,” Dick said to Jason, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“I hope you all go to hell.”

-

“Bees have good qualities. And it takes my mind off the shop,” Vanessa said to Barry, waxing poetic about her fuzzy more-than-a-friend.

In what seemed like an odd mirror of the situation, Marinette leaned over to whisper to Jason. “Are you okay?”

He had seemed mildly uncomfortable at the beginning of the movie, but she was beginning to get concerned. His posture was uncomfortable stiff, he had uncharacteristically drawn into himself, and his face was awfully red…

“Do you want to leave?” she prompted. 

Jason whispered something under his breath, but it was indistinguishable.

“Don’t be such a mumble bee,” Marinette said, followed by a sheepish ‘sorry.’ The situation was funny at first, but now she was worried that the Bee Movie was emotionally triggering for Jason. Perhaps the failure to overturn capitalist institutions reminded him of his failure to get Bruce to understand his moral stance on killing, or…something.

There was no response aside from the slight grimace that crossed Jason’s face, so she let it be. Bee. Haha.

The Wayne siblings were largely movie talkers, so it was easy to let herself get swept away in their commentary and the lightheartedness of the movie. When Ken attempted to swat Barry away, however, she felt a shift on the couch and heard Tim shout suprisedly. She turned around to see Jason slipping out the door.

“I’ll get him,” she said immediately. The rest of them had already stood up, but she sent them a look. They all knew that crowding Jason wouldn’t help, and he would be the most willing to listen to her.

“Pollen, buzz on!”

She winced at both the suit and the raised brows she received, but it was her only choice! Pollen had been curious about the movie, and she would have to be a real wasp to turn them down. 

“Time to get down to bees-ness.”

-

Plan A of calling Jason on his phone didn’t work, so Marinette was forced to resort to plan Bee. It didn’t take long to track him to the top of a roof, and even less time to get herself there.

When she landed, Jason moved deeper into the shadows, his body carefully angled away from her. She could hardly make out his face in the darkness. “Go away,” he said, but it didn’t sound like he really wanted her to leave.

“Come on, Jason. You can tell me what’s wrong. I won’t make fun of you.” Marinette edged closer towards him with carefully small steps. It felt like she was trying to approach a spooked animal.

“Marinette,” he warned, but the force behind his words was getting weaker.

“Whatever it is, I’ll try my best to help you. It’s okay.”

Jason snapped out of his reverie in a flash. He took a step forward in his panic, then back, but it was too late. Judging by the widening of her eyes after she looked down, there was no doubt that Marinette had seen it. God, he wished he had a fucking ‘bee-bee’ gun to hold to his head right now.

“Jason? Wait, no, come back—”

He ran and pointedly did not heed her words. In fact, he was planning on never coming back. If the universe was on his side at all, his grappling hook would miss the next roof and he would never return to the land of the living.

Of course, the universe hated him, so he was quickly immobilized by the Bee Miraculous’s venom ability.

-

Marinette couldn’t believe it. Jason’s beehavior all made sense now: his refusal to watch the Bee Movie, his unwillingness to be seen—she just never thought it was because it gave him the urge to stick his finger into a honeypot.

“Sorry. Does it sting? No, stop glaring at me, that wasn’t a pun. Okay, maybe it was.”

The situation was a little unconventional, but she couldn’t stand to see Jason so embee-rassed.

“Truth bee told, I’m a little confused. But!” she emphasized, “I’m not opposed, per se.”

Jason looked beewildered.

“What was it that Barry said…right. I can help you, ah, drain the old stinger.”

The confusion was still plastered across his face, so Marinette released him from the effects, trusting he wouldn’t fly away. Then again, according to all known laws of aviation, there was no way a bee should be able to fly, so maybe those weren’t to be trusted.

“Why?” Jason asked. She didn’t need to question what he meant.

“I’ve aways liked the taste of honey. And, conveniently, I have access to a magical bee costume…”

Was it an abuse of power? Perhaps, but she was the Guardian of the Miraculous, so it didn’t matter. “You’re so beeautiful,” Jason whispered, and leaned in.

Safe to say, after the buzz they caused from their pollination, they needed to buy some Plan Bee.

-

BEE MOVIE AU TAGLIST

@lady-literature <333 @zorua-adorable

[piglii]

btw I have not finished Umineko (I’m literally on the last leg of Episode 8, shortly after an important jump happens) but I’m so gushing with things to say about that I feel like I need to type this all out now (will start with impressions that are non-spoilery and go into impressions that are big spoilers. there will be a dividing line which I earnestly recommend you do not cross if you have any interest reading it yourself.)

anyways

Non-Spoiler Section

Absolutely 10/10 for me. Can feel like a climb at times but that feeling increasingly goes away as you get used to the pacing. Any fumbles Umineko has for me personally are so small in the grander scope of what it’s doing that it doesn’t even feel worth acknowledging them. Literally a story that is going to affect my view on life. I really fell for the charm of Ryukishi’s goofy ass old sprites too after a while, it’s really compelling to me that Ryukishi was able to make such a good, earnest story while having kind of limited drawing ability. I’m dead ass serious, it’s really inspirational. The quality of the writing and voice acting especially is so good that after a short while you kind of don’t even process that the sprites look kind of silly-goofy at all. I highly recommend playing with the original sprites and voice acting if you can.

And the music! holy shit I can’t imagine getting through this story without the music! The fucking 1800′s pipe organ songs one minute, intense trance the next, distorted choir singing, a mellow beat that’s sampling that fucking ambulance siren! Probably my top faves are Infant Queen Bee, Golden Nocturne, far, Rain, Daydream’s End, Fall, Miragecoordinator, Melting Away, Dead Angle, Hope and probably like 15 more I’m forgetting. Absolute banger of a soundtrack. Virtually no misses and the ones that hit, HIT. I think I have spent nearly as much time listening to the soundtrack in between sessions as I have just playing the game itself.

I won’t go into detail about what the central messages of Umineko are because they could ostensibly be spoilers but they are pretty fucking hard to miss. If you have two eyeballs and a brain you will probably figure them out as you go because Ryukishi is NOT subtle about what he wants to say. He will smash you with a hammer making sure you get it. But it’s less of a giant metal warhammer and more of a little wooden mallet that he’s just hitting on your knee every 20 minutes to make sure you’re awake and following along.

The writing honestly can be very... it straddles the line between very straightforward descriptions and waxing very poetic about a particular topic. I won’t even say it’s particularly the best prose ever or anything - I think Ryukishi’s biggest talent is simply in how he’s able to convey the characters by always having a really solid understanding of how they react to things. Maybe his worst flaw is that sometimes he includes a scene or concept where I’m like  “oh Ryukishi just thought this would be super fucking cool” but I can’t even hate because most of the time it is super fucking cool actually. Umineko is so dripping with earnest cheesiness in a lot of its delivery and character interactions that I can’t help but like it most of the time. Granted I am biased because I do enjoy stuff that is earnestly cheesy like 90% of the time. The goofy ass anime interactions characters sometimes have are used just sparingly enough and contrasted with the serious scenes that I found pretty much all of it enjoyable for what it was. 

Be warned it is 150+ hours (faster if you are just reading but seriously those voice actors are top tier, big recommend) but it really needs... at least most of that time. I struggle to find a single exact point that I would shorten any part of Umineko because so much of it really is required to understand what the story’s going for but at the same time sometimes Ryukishi does love to sit you down and talk about the process of liquidating gold into cash money for 30 minutes. A lot of the worst of that is in the first episode to be honest so if you can get past that you’re probably golden. It’s got a hell of a hook by the end of episode 1. Go in as blind as possible and enjoy yourself.

 And now, for the spoilers.

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Spoiler Section

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Don’t Go Beyond This Point If You Haven’t Read It, Seriously Holy Fuck!!!

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Seriously, The Author Wants You To Go In Blind!

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Alright.

All the losers are gone let’s partay.

Heads up I’m a little blasted so this might be a bit scrambled and all around the place so sorry, just writing stuff as I think about it.

I really adore the way that Beatrice is in literally every layer of this story. Like the concept of the masses being in such a rush to figure out what the truth of the Rokkenjima Massacre is that they end up literally trampling over the deeply embedded and sad story of Beatrice really gets to me. Like, the people who are looking at the Massacre from the angle that she even “exists” at all literally only see Beatrice as a piece in their own constructed games, an explanation that’s just one step to figuring out what was really important. But of course, Beatrice IS the heart of the story. The whole family is arranged around her like a web and she’s right at the center. She’s in every possible layer of this story that she can be, she’s the connecting fabric of everything important.

Also I really adored Battler and Ange as characters. It’s rare that a main character feels so relatable but I ended up really enjoying his personality by around episode 2 or 3. He’s just so stupid but also earnest and flustered. Try to give him a slight pass on episode 1 because he is supposed to be kind of dumb and immature on purpose... even if it probably could’ve been toned down maybe just a bit. He gets better, I promise.

(btw literally been here. so relatable.)

anyways moving on. Ange. absolutely enjoyed the hell out of her story in episode 4 and was so glad to see that she’s basically the conclusion to the whole Ushiromiya family story in the final episode as well. also, her being the focus of this really inspirational message of what it means to move forward with your life was really well done. it’s insane to me that people are still out there trying to “figure out” the mystery when Umineko tells you as bluntly as it possibly can that it doesn’t really matter - finding out what “really” happened can’t bring closure no matter what and holding and walking this tenuous tightrope between belief and non-belief is a better way to live. her goodbye with the family and battler was about where it got me pretty good I could not fucking hold back crying at that.

and speaking of the family at large, I really like pretty much all of them! even the stinkers are fun to make fun of. also, Eva in particular is the milf of all time for me, personally. in fact thinking on it the only character I can really think that still rubs me badly (even though it is of course entirely intentional that the reader feels this way) is Rosa. good fucking lord the moments of episode 4 with Maria and Rosa’s relationship being explored (or rather, the complete lack of it except for the spouts of child abuse) really hit me. that... is probably the most I’ve ever been emotionally effected by a piece of media in a long ass time, it was a rough chapter to get through. that said ryukishi’s understanding of domestic abuse is fucking incredible, does not surprise me that he was a social worker before working on VNs. beyond even just that dynamic he clearly has an understanding of the kind of broken adults that come out of highly abusive households. the final game of episode 8 with ange getting to see this world that could theoretically have been real had kinzo chosen love in the future versus love in the past was so sincerely sweet to me. sorry I am a sucker for sappy shit, it got me.

anyways let’s talk about the illusions. loved them all too. feels obvious to say but Beatrice is one of the characters of all time. also really liked Ronove, his and battler’s occasional moments of being bros out of nowhere were really enjoyable to me. also sorry gamers Virgilia is another milf of all time. loved her tender and sweet personality. but as for beatrice and co as a whole - I do enjoy what Ryukishi has to say about fiction. Indulging too much of your life in fiction is ultimately harmful but it can be a valuable crutch to people who are dealing with life or even just people who could stand to learn and grow more. it’s also such a loving letter to mystery as a genre, you can really tell Ryukishi was going hog for mystery at the time. and it does work as a completely conventional mystery too - figuring out stuff as you go and putting the pieces slowly together is a huge blast! I loved the scenes where he’s clearly celebrating that with the readers who tried their best to understand the story.

I managed to avoid most spoilers - the ones I saw beforehand were really minor and didn’t really help me in putting the mystery together - that said, I really only figured out that Shannon and Kanon were being performed by the same person not terribly long before the game revealed it pretty directly - I think only a few hours ahead of time. that said, I really did give it my all, I’m just not super good at mysteries. I did pick up on some hints early on, like being able to figure out some of the early closed rooms but I didn’t have enough context to join them all together and realize the Truth before the game spelled it out for me. and tbh, that’s fine! I loved how the game congratulated people who simply try to figure it out for themselves, regardless of if they’re successful.

btw it also took me so fucking long to read because I was reading it side by side with a friend (who had read the manga but not the VN) and we basically set it up to auto play (with japanese voice acting + the original sprites of course.) we’d play intermittently roughly every few months in leaps and progress little by little. I can’t fucking believe I wasn’t spoiled on any of the major elements playing like that, it’s a fucking miracle. we started reading it on and off like that nearly two years ago now but honestly it was worth.

god I have so many thing I could spend rambling on about this manga but it genuinely is up there with, like, War and Peace and Crime and Punishment and I’m not even joking. there’s some of what I would call “Goofy Anime Bullshit” that happens (and it’s especially coated in that layer of stuff you only really got in the late aughts anime communities) but even that I found pretty enjoyably silly after a short period of time and just ended up rolling with it. if you know someone who can see past that layer of Goofy Anime Bullshit and enjoys reading 150+ hour long visual novels, this is the thing for them.

and speaking of the length boy fucking howdy. it’s worth it. the amount of time dedicated to fleshing out every character and making me understand what kind of person they are underneath everything else really makes me appreciate everybody in this fucked up family unit. it’s not something you could replicate in a movie or any reasonably lengthy manga. the magic of getting to know the whole family, flaws and all, really sells you on what a tragedy it is regardless of what happened. there are so many early scenes where I was like, “okay what’s the point of this” that I look back in hindsight and I’m either like "oh that was actually super fucking important and I just didn’t realize it” or “oh this was giving me time to become familiar with this character.” fuck man, I even liked Hideyoshi and he almost didn’t do shit!

btw I got the culprits in bernkastel’s game figured out in one try (with the help of my friend bouncing ideas off of eachother)

feels good, feels organic, thank you, etc

anyways... I think that about wraps it up for me... honestly just a stellar game. It feels like one of those things where I’m going to catch myself thinking about the themes and what it was trying to say, just like Disco Elysium or a lot of Wildbow’s works or EEAAO. It almost makes me wish this story was in a more conventional book form because I think you could tell the core of what’s there but at the same time I don’t think it’d be worth losing all the other aspects that make it so memorable. It’s going to have probably 1/100th the readers it could have just for being a long VN rather than a long book series but I’d honestly rather have it this way. It’s such a weirdly specific gem of that era of internet-anime culture that I think the time has already passed that anything quite like it could come out. What a special little piece of media.  If I have more to say after finishing out the ending proper I‘ll probably just edit my impressions on to this post and reblog again at a later date.

EDIT: It is now two days later and I have finished everything, including the last “????” segment. My thoughts on the ending - I liked it. It’s very sweet and depending on how you want to interpret certain facets of what you see, it can be read several different ways. Of course the way the narrative is set up, it very much wants you to pick the most optimistic interpretation but I like that there’s always room to explore just a bit. The point of whether Beatrice as a witch is real or not is entirely beside the point almost - there was a woman named Beatrice who brought happiness to her family (at least, in one world) as well as she could given her fucked up circumstances. That’s honestly all there really is to say on it. I can very much vibe with that message.

I was also earnestly expecting the last scene of Umineko to be even more bittersweet than it ended up being - I was really waiting for the very last scene to be Ange literally throwing away the key to Eva’s diary into the ocean. That is kind of what happens in a way, and the scenes in which they do explore Ange opening the diary and reading it are left deliberately obscure (as they should be) but I was really expecting it to be even more poignant than that. I was thinking Ange would literally never see the diary in any part of the story the reader saw at any point. It would’ve been very Titanic-esque in a way - Ange throwing away the only way for her to even possibly know what happened on Rokkenjima. The story does effectively do this, kind of, anyways, it’s just a lot more roundabout.

But yeah. Supremely sweet story. I will probably be thinking about it for much of my life.

[sciencestyled]

Holding a Quantum Cat by its Schrödinger's Tail: A Ride Through the Microcosmic Madness

Hey there, you intrepid souls of the internet! Strap yourselves in and hold onto your beanie hats because we’re about to serve up something that’ll make your neurons do backflips. Remember those times in science class when your teacher mentioned quantum mechanics and everyone’s eyes glazed over? Well, forget that snoozefest because we're about to reintroduce you to quantum mechanics in a way that's as far from boring as the Earth is from the edge of the observable universe (which is, FYI, pretty darn far).

We’ve all heard of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, right? Classic tale of one man with two wildly different personalities – the proper, buttoned-up Dr. Jekyll and his unhinged alter-ego, Mr. Hyde. Now, imagine these two hosting a TV show about quantum mechanics. Sounds like a train wreck waiting to happen? More like the most bizarrely enlightening crash course in the microcosmic universe you'll ever witness!

First up, Dr. Jekyll will swoon over atoms like they’re delicate flowers in an English garden – with protons playing the part of the noble knights, and electrons as these flittering, unpredictable creatures that you just can’t pin down (literally). He’s all about the poise and eloquence, painting a picture of the atomic world that’s more like a Renaissance painting than a high school textbook diagram.

But wait, there’s more! Just when you think you’re wading through a Victorian novel, in bursts Mr. Hyde – tearing down the fancy language and giving it to you straight. He sees atoms more like a rowdy bar on a Friday night, with electrons as the shady characters slipping through your fingers just when you think you've caught them.

And oh boy, when they get to wave-particle duality, it’s like a comedy show. Dr. Jekyll waxes poetic about particles being waves and waves being particles, in a manner most scholars and romantics would appreciate. But Mr. Hyde? He compares it to a drunkard staggering home, sometimes walking straight like a normal person (particle), and sometimes swerving like a snake (wave).

But wait, there's a plot twist! Just when you think it can't get wackier, they start talking about quantum entanglement. Picture this: Dr. Jekyll eloquently describes it as a mystical connection transcending space and time, like star-crossed lovers' hearts beating in unison across galaxies. Enter Mr. Hyde, scoffing at that notion, likening it instead to gossipy neighbors who can’t help but mirror each other’s dramatic reactions.

As we wind down this wild ride, we confront the infamous Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. Dr. Jekyll will likely get all philosophical about it, musing on the nature of reality and our place in the universe. Hyde? He’ll probably just grumble about how it’s as impossible as taking a clear photo of a running squirrel on your first try.

So, there you have it, folks. If your brain’s not buzzing like a bee after this, check if you’re still awake. It's quantum mechanics narrated by the most unexpected duo since peanut butter met jelly. And just between us – it’s a way more thrilling story than anything about apples falling on people’s heads. Tune in, geek out, and who knows – you might just end up loving quantum mechanics more than cat videos on the internet. Maybe.

[itsokaydean]

castiel or jack or mom or ( insert muse ) + sam caring for a domestic herb&veggie garden above the bunker grounds. our boy visits regularly to soak up the summar rays and relax so maybe lighthearted threads. sam pumped to show jack how only for the two to discover jack insta-knew plant-care. somehow he ends up teaching sam new things which the man takes in stride, but jack clearly needs work a gentle touch and patience. mom and son (!!) times gossiping about dean's latest obsession with taylor swift, a secret only to one dean winchester. && cas prattling on about the bees, soil foods, waxing poetic over some niche subject and sam, as sam is wont to do, luxuriating in castiel's droning voice in an undemanding ambiance. refreshingly unpressured. listening as he shares specks of divine wisdom in that v endearing appreciation for all things small. but also when sam is soul-searching or drawn thin, when he doesn't want to talk to anyone, sneaking off to the garden. for air. air that refuses any relief. like he's held his breath for days, lungs burning, shriveling, brain cotton-filled and hunkered by weighty thoughts or fears and so frustrated with life that he's gone numb. your muse joins him. perhaps they work in companionable silence, willing to lend an ear as needed or talk about anything but the issue. quietly appreciating the flow of nature. the world that exists outside his problems... no matter that a winchester's problems tend to be literally earth-shattering.

[wisteriagoesvroom]

oh, the ways i could wax poetic and rhapsodic about oscar in baku... brudda was p2 behind charles... charles, one of the most skilful drivers of all time... charles who max and seb rate for skill... charles who is il predestinato and has red written all over his race suit, all over his car, all over his story... charles who took off the starting line with a roar, who is ferocious in his drive and the way he drives.

but the boy in orange said: maybe not today. the boykid overtook him with the audacity, he overtook him with courage, he overtook him on a gamble that the car might not even hold and it might not even work and with one single microscopic error he would've ended up in the barriers... the engineers said themselves that oscar's overtake was a statistical impossibility... like a bee that shouldn't fly, it was a demonstration of not why we do it, but why we must...

not only was the overtake CLEAN as hell too. it's what oscar himself said about what happened after: he took that lead in lap 19 and he held onto it by his teeth for 32 more laps, along with carlos and checo scrapping behind them (one of whom eventually crashed). all while the walls and teams were playing 4D chess with pitlane strategies. the tyres shouldn't have lasted as long as they did - and remember, one of the main criticisms of oscar was his tyre management at the start of this season?

so this was a statement about not being a one-hit wonder. to show how much oscar's arrived and progressed in f1. that it wasn't just about the MCL38 being a rocketship but very much having the right driver at the helm who could take the wheel and do what was necessary. (also see: lando starting P15 in the same race then driving his way up, also skilful, but that's another arc altogether).

baku is a key chapter in what i think will be a long and impressive biography for op81 one day. the kind of defying, jaw-dropping, awesome racecraft that he's capable of, and will pull out of his hat, when given the opportunity. he looked the odds in the face and really said: do everything you can, anything you want, but do not look at the house and the cards and bet against me.

you can't deny that the lore goes incredibly and unbelievably hard.

hungary and qatar are interesting, but do not even come close.

reblog for reach / make your case for one of these in the tags?

[disasterbialert]

So, I finished The Untamed and ok ok I think I have collected most of my thoughts about it. (I’m late, so I guess these thoughts don’t really matter, but I wanted to put them somewhere and here seemed like the place.) SO here’s a post absolutely NO ONE WANTS and imma do it anyway cool cool.

Firstly: love. This entire show is about love. Obviously other things too ok I’m simplifying for the sake of my point. But importantly it is about love. The love for our families, found, made and blood. The love of soulmates, romantic and platonic. The love of humanity, of the people known and unknown, love for them purely because they are human and are therefore deserving of love. The love inherent in honour and duty, the sacrifices made for that love. Loving someone—bravely, in the face of every adversity, despite being told it’s wrong. Learning to be true to that love, learning to love faithfully, learning to love, to show love, to be loved.

Bless the tireless translators. Y’all. The work you do is often thankless but y’all are so valued. Thank you.

The music. I actually don’t have the words for this, I can only thank the composers and musicians for the gifts they have blessed us with. My heart my heart my heart.

The costumes, set, props and cinematography are all so exquisite. I’m not an expert in any of these fields but I can see the care and detail paid to each facet of this show. What an absolute visual joy. Stunning.

And now, the characters.

I’ll start with the ladies. They deserved so much more. We deserved to have more than just one by the end, but I understand this wasn’t their story (still hurts tho).

Jiang Yanli. Proof that kindness is powerful. Her heart holds entire worlds. She is not weak (don’t even try me I swear to the gods). She holds her family together. She takes care of her siblings. She feeds their bodies and their souls. WWX is right—JZX does not deserve her but that’s because nobody does. But Jiang Yanli deserves to be happy, therefore her marriage to the Flower Peacock is valid purely bc it makes her happy. She stands up for what’s right, she will not compromise her morals, she will defend her family to her last breath (and so she does💔). She does not harden herself, she does not have to. Her patience and kindness, her softness, her gentleness—things that are seen as weaknesses or inferiorities—are what put her above all around her. She is gracious, she is strong, she is loving, she is determined, she is brave. She deserved better.

Wen Qing. A queen. A powerhouse. The most brilliant mind. A lightning-quick and sharp-bladed tongue. She loves Wen Ning so much and her love is powerful, just as Jiang Yanli’s. Her dedication and devotion to her people, her true family, not just a name, is incredible, inspiring. Why? Because she’s not perfect. So she learns. She grows. She becomes herself. When she’s at the Burial Mounds, she essentially adopts WWX as another younger brother, caring for him because she knows he won’t care for himself, and she does so out of love and respect. But she never replaces Jiang Yanli. She is keenly aware of all she perceives WWX loses because he aids them. Hence the pivotal, crucial: I’m sorry and thank you. She walks to what she knows is her own death with her head held high and her hand in her brother’s, offering love and support and what protection she can to the end. She does not flinch. She does not bow. She fights with all of her and surrenders with grace not reflected by those she surrenders to. Honestly I could write an entire thesis on Wen Qing but I’ll cry too hard so I’ll just leave it here that she deserved better, she deserved to live, she deserved to be free.

Mian Mian. Mian motherfucking Mian. Here is a woman who stares injustice full in the face and says no fucking way, says over my dead body, says you and what army old man. Strips the robes of the hypocritical off her own damn body, throws them at the feet of a false god and walks out, back straight, head held high. She makes her own way in the world, carves out her own life, finds love and happiness and lives. She does not compromise. She does not bow. She fights and she wins and she is glorious. And she lives she lives she lives.

Yu ZiYuan. I may be in the minority here but that’s ok. No I don’t approve of her abuse, just gonna nip that one in the bud right out of the gate. Was she fair? No. Was she cruel? Yes. Was she an incredible fighter who fought for her family, for her home? Who showed raw courage and furious strength in the face of insurmountable odds? Who loved a man with her whole bitter heart, loved her children with that same fractured heart? Was clearly the subject of spiteful rumour and vicious gossip and did not let it defeat her? Refused to bow to anyone? I do not like her, do not like how her bitterness made her cruel. But seeing her wield her blade, take wound after wound, witness the death of her love, then take her own blade and rob the monsters invading her home of the satisfaction of taking her life, took her own life with her own hands because that’s how she did everything in her life so why the fuck wouldn’t she do it in death too, who crawled her way to the man she loved, laced their fingers together so he wouldn’t die alone, so they could both die held? How can I not respect her.

Ok. The lads.

Jiang Cheng is a man-child idiot with the emotional expression range of a loquat, an inferiority complex the size of the moon and self-worth issues going back farther than the Big Bang, and I love him, ok? He loves so hard and so much and it is heartwrenching that he cannot communicate that. Some of his best moments are actually in the background, which is both funny and terribly sad. His rage is at times ridiculous, at times frustrating, at times all he has left, his joy is bright but brief, his grief is devastating. Watching JY greet WWX after the 3 months in the Burial Mounds. The entire temple scene. Crying on his knees. We were to be the Heroes of Yunmeng. Take care. Fuck me right in my feelings ok.

Wen Ning is so fucking precious and I would die for him for all eternity. What an absolute gift his character is. I honestly can’t write much more about him because I’ll cry. But special mentions to his interactions with A-Yuan/Lan SiZhui and the incredible scene where he reveals to Jiang Cheng the truth about his/WWX’s golden core. Unparalleled emotional intensity. The equal parts tenderness and fierceness of his love is breathtaking.

And the loves.

Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen. There is a lot of tragedy in The Untamed. There is great sadness in the main plot line and even in the small side plots. The Ballad of Song Lan and Xian Xingchen (as it’s come to be known in my head) is for me the most devastating and poignant. They just wanted to do good, to wander the world together and do their part to make it a better and safer place. It’s noble, yes, but it’s also so human, so close to home. Because we all want that, to know that we can do some good before we leave this world. They do not want to be involved in the petty squabbles, the undignified and cruel vying for power and dominance. They simply want to live and be. The fact that both of their deaths are pointless, could have been avoided, are the faults of poor timing and terrible terrible luck and cruel turns fate is almost what makes it sadder. Xue Yang screams that XXC is not better than him, that his righteousness and the righteous way he has attempted to live his life is all for naught. And then he is immediately proven wrong—XXC’s heartbreak means he can’t become XY’s puppet. SL is free from XY’s control and avenges himself and XXC. Which is also somehow just as devastating. That XXC and SL were so close, so very close to being together, to living, to making it, but didn’t. Nothing grand or heroic about their deaths—just the unknown and unpredictable nature of life. There is no rhyme or reason, no big important plan, no fate or destiny. They both simply die as we all one day will. And it is their potential cut short, the love and life they could’ve had, that hurts the most. They are not Lan Zhan and Wei Ying: they do not get their second chance, their reunion, their happily ever after. The look shared between SL and LWJ—the shared grief, the recognition, the understanding—and LWJ’s brief and unelaborated-on comment to WWX ‘how fortunate’ speaks volumes. How fortunate you came back/I found you/that’s not us when it could’ve been. That final shot of SL walking away and the brief out-of-focus moment of XXC walking beside him—particularly when it’s echoed with the parallel of WWX and LWJ—chokes me every time.

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. Soulmates in every sense of the word. Their song. Their bunnies. Their child. The years they were robbed of. The yearning. The pining. The loyalty. The growth. The love the love the love. The loss the loss the loss. Every Lan Zhan. Every Wei Ying. Every glance. Every soft breath. Every gentle touch. The tenderness. The intimacy. The quiet acceptance. Their love story is one of the ages and, on a personal note as a queer person, what a gift it is to see a queer love story like this. (even when censored as a bromance, which like I mean, they tried but the glances alone are +9000 gay pining but whatever and yes I am making a joke because I’m crying don’t look at me)

TL;DR: I am so thankful The Untamed/CQL/MDZS and all of its adaptations (the source material included obvs) exists. I am so thankful to the writers, translators, casts, crews, creators. I am thankful for the community of fans that exist that love it as I do, who share that love and passion—whether through passionate discussion, rich fanfic or mind-blowing fanart. I am thankful I live in a time where content like this exists and can be shared. I learned a whole lot and I’m so grateful there aren’t even words. Love y’all. I’m gonna go be soft now. 💙

[cashasideas]

Concept;

A large group of people who wish to live in small towns/woodland cottages get together to form their own community, some calling dibs on certain roles and others agree to open businesses together.

There are no downsides, only people living out their quiet life dreams

[gretavanlace]

Sugar (Part 5)

Jake Kiszka x reader

18+ only! Minors do not interact!

Warnings: graphic sexual content, unprotected sex, fingering (f/r), language, etc etc

You wake to the morning sun falling warm atop the sheets, creating a snug, golden world for the three of you. Jake and Josh are conversing in hushed tones, being careful not to disturb you. And maybe you shouldn’t, maybe it’s intrusive, but you feign continued sleep. If they are discussing your unique...situation, this will be a clearer window into Josh’s thoughts, and you need to know if he is as okay with this as he claims to be.

“Do you think she’s in love with you?” Josh whispers, ghosting his fingertips across your cheekbone while you fight to keep your eyelids still and your breathing deep and even.

What?!

Jake denies it too quickly. However, where the real problem lies is with yourself, and your inability to answer the question even in your own head with no one to hear you but your own heart.

Are you?

Josh curls around you closer. “I think she is.”

“She’s in love with you, Josh.” Jake insists. His tone is quiet, but insistent. He wants his brother to really hear him, to understand him.

“I know that. Doesn’t mean she isn’t in love with you, too.” he breath sweeps warmth against your shoulder as he speaks.

“She loves you more.” Jake’s statement is firm, leaving no room for Josh to overthink or question. It is a fact, and he has phrased it as such.

“I know that, too.” you can hear Josh’s smug grin.

It’s quiet for a stretch, leaving you to ponder Josh’s words, ‘I think she is’, until he speaks up again.

“Are you in love with her?”

Your heart begins to drum a harsh, uneven beat in your chest. Flashes of moments invade your thoughts. Jake staring into your eyes so deeply it stole the air from your lungs,

‘You’re so fucking pretty.”

The swarm of bees in your stomach when he called you his girl.

“That’s my girl.”

The emptiness you felt last night when you thought he was leaving you for the night. The gentleness in his kiss when he promised he would never leave without saying goodbye.

“No.” Jake’s response would gut you if it didn’t sound so sad, if you didn’t know the reason behind the melancholy tinge. Jake hates lying to his brother, and if you know why Jake sounds saddened, his twin certainly knows too.

“Does it seem like I’m looking for a fight here, Jake?” Josh prods. “Does it sound like you need to bullshit me right now? Just answer the question.”

Now it’s Jake’s body you feel moving closer. “I don’t know. I think, maybe. I didn’t mean for it to be this way.”

“You loved her before.” Josh points out casually, as though it is common knowledge. “Sometimes I think you might have loved her before I did, even.”

Silence anew washes over the room.

“It was always you, for her. So I left it alone.” Jake’s candor sets your head spinning. Did you already know this somewhere deep down? Did you feel it? Was that the pull that always seemed to be tugging you towards him?

“She has trouble sleeping, you know.” Josh’s comment seems strange and out of place. He doesn’t give Jake a chance to ask what the hell he’s talking about. “It takes her forever to fall asleep, and when she finally does, it doesn’t last long. She’s up and down all night, tosses and turns. I’ve never seen her fall asleep as quickly as she did last night, with the both of us here next to her.”

Jake’s lips graze your forehead and you silently pray they won’t notice the blushing heat you feel rising on your cheeks.

“What are you trying to say here, Josh?” There we go, Jake...finally asking the burning question.

“I don’t really know.” he moves against the sheets, you imagine he’s shrugging. “But I don’t see any reason to deny her anything. We make her happy, both of us. Who the fuck am I to take that away? And for what? Jealousy? Why should I be jealous? She loves me...and god knows I love her. None of this changes that. And, not to wax too poetically, Jakey, but we practically love with the same heart, I know how you feel about her, I know you’d never hurt her.”

Jake speaks, barely over a whisper. “I’d rather die.”

“And they say I’m the theatrical one.” Josh’s remark lightens the room palpably. With the shift in mood, you expect to be gently shaken awake soon. Round two perhaps? Instead, you feel the covers being tossed away and then pulled back up around you as Josh climbs out of bed.

“I’ll go make breakfast. You should talk with her. Tell her how you feel, show her. Then we’ll figure the rest out together.”

The shifting sheets and blankets send both of their scents floating into the air around you, surrounding you in them. There is nowhere in the world that you would rather be. “Why don’t we wait until she wakes up?” Jake asks, quiet as a mouse.

“She’s already awake.” Josh sounds smug and extremely pleased with himself.

The door clicks closed and you open one eye, peeking up at Jake, guilt written all over your gaze and pinched pink cheeks.

“Good morning.” he drops a kiss on the tip of your nose. “How much did you hear, you little eavesdropper?”

Nestling into his chest, your lips find his soft skin with a single taste “Enough.”

“You too, right?” he murmurs, rolling until your body is tucked beneath his. He’s asking if you feel the same, though he seems to already know that you do. If he didn’t, he’d want to talk it over more seriously.

“Yeah, Jake.” your hands dive into his locks, nails scraping delicately over his scalp. “Me too.”

He shivers at your touch and drops his mouth to yours. He kisses you slowly, but with a deep, languid urgency.

You feel relief in the acknowledgment of something that has been lingering between the two of you for so long, and you know he feels it too.

“I don’t want to fuck you this time, sugar.” he confesses, quiet as a secret against your ear. “I want to take my time with you. I know that’s not really our thing, but...”

“No,” you smile, wrapping your arms around his neck. “That sounds nice.”

He lowers the rest of his body down onto yours, and since neither of you dressed before falling asleep last night, his length –-already half hard and warm– rubs directly over your clit.

You sigh his name, sinking deeper into your pillow.

His mouth finds your forehead, placing a peck of a kiss there, and then another and another, all the way down along your face until his tongue laps lightly over your mouth.

Soft sighs of pleasure and need tumble out of you unendingly, spurring his gentleness on.

“My sugar...” he breathes, sweeping his tongue, light as a breeze, against yours “My sweet little girl.”

He moves down your body and begins showering your breasts with attention. Sucking and lapping at them slowly, and gently. Kissing and nipping with his perfect teeth, nuzzling his nose against your nipples, tugging them lightly with his calloused fingers, making love to them, with his eyes cast up to your face, as though he would be happy to just lie here and spoil them for the rest of his life.

Your hands move continuously through his hair. Stroking and fawning over him carefully, scratching the nape of his neck on every downward draw, wisping your nails along his scalp with each pull forward.

“You make me feel so good, Jakey. Everything you do to me feels so fucking good.”

“Thank you, sugar.” His mouth brushes against yours. How endearing that he should thank you, how sexy.

He reaches down and slips a finger into your warmth, and then another. “So wet already. Who’s this for, baby?”

A louder noise of bliss sounds out of you and it makes him smile. “You, Jake...it’s all for you.”

“That feels good, doesn’t it, pretty girl?”

“Yeah.” you sigh, hands smoothing down his shoulders as you settle into the pleasure.

“Yeah, it does.” he agrees, forehead now pressed down to meet your own. “You feel so nice inside. So warm, so soft.”

“Kiss me.” your eyes are still staring into his, love burning hot there now that neither of you feel any reason to hide it.

Your mouths meet with gentle desperation, and his hand stills between your legs for a moment as the two of you meld together.

When he pulls back, his nose nudges yours as he licks and sucks at your lips lightly. “I shouldn’t say it yet, right?” he whispers against your mouth. “We should wait. We should talk to him, right?”

“Right.” you repeat just as softly, as your palms slip down to his waist, pulling him tighter against your body.

Moving together, you kiss and touch each other, licking at one another’s increasingly salty skin, fingers digging into flesh and skating over the dips and valleys of your bodies. Sighing and moaning into the air, into each other’s mouths. He rocks his hips into yours, now reaching down to hold your chin between his thumb and curled fingers. “I won’t say it yet, but I need to hear you say that you know I do.”

“I know, Jake.” you assure him. A euphoric shiver travels the length of your entire nervous system just hearing him allude to the love that has likely always been there.

He slips his hand back down between the two of you and resumes drawing his fingers in and out of you slowly, curling them upwards just right until you’re writhing and gasping under his body and under his spell.

“Come on then, sugar.” his voice is so soothingly silken and low against your cheek. “I can feel how close you are. You gonna let me watch you cum slow and sweet?” his fingers curl so gently, drawing you closer to the edge like a lazy sunday morning.

A nod is all you offer, enjoying the quiet, rasping words floating straight into your heart too much to interrupt.

“I want it, sugar. Wanna see you cum...” his tone becomes the slightest bit more insistent as his fingers continue to fuck you with more careful reserve than you would have guessed him capable of. “I’m right here, baby...I’ve got you. Let it happen.”

Let it happen.

You’re reminded of that first night, where this all began (or at least where it all began officially, you know now that this has been burning, hot and slow, on the back burner all along) he had said the same thing to you then. I’ve got you, let it happen.

So let it happen is exactly what you do.

Quiet cries of pleasure drift past your parted lips no matter how hard you’re trying to remain subdued to match his actions. Your orgasm ripples through you with a softness that takes your breath away. You feel so warm and safe wrapped up in it, with him hovering above you like an angel sent to love and adore you.

“So good, sugar.” he smiles, as you dreamily come back down. He strokes your hair with his free hand, holding his fingers still deep inside you with the other. “You did so good. So gentle. So different from all the other times, it’s like you’re brand new.”

“You too.” you agree, wrapping your arms around his shoulders to pull him down against you. “Who knew fuck god Jakey could be so sweet?”

“You think I’m a fuck god?” he grins, angling his hips to slide his cock inside you.

A blissful hiss sucks through your teeth. “You know you’re a fucking god. Stop fishing for compliments.” Your eyes drink him in as he laughs, completely addicted to the way he looks at you.

“We’re gonna go slow.” his promise falls quiet into the crook of your neck as he rests a bit more of his weight down on top of you. “Just like I said, sugar, I’m gonna take my time with you.”

It should feel unnerving, knowing that Josh is just downstairs, and that he knows what is likely going on up here. But it strangely feels like...well, maybe not the most normal thing in the world...but close. You decide right here and now that you aren’t going to think too hard. You refuse to look for a problem where there clearly isn’t one to be had.

“You feel so good, pretty girl.” Jake breathes a sharp, shaky gasp and squeezes his eyes closed tight as he slowly pushes his way in and out of you.

His hand travels up and wraps carefully around your throat without pressure. He cradles you in his loose grip as if you are a cherished family heirloom that he has been tasked with caring for. Given your place between brothers, maybe that’s exactly what you are.

“I want to say it.” he whispers, eyes searching yours desperately as he fucks you so sweetly you want to clutch him close and sob for him to never stop. “I’ve wanted to say it for so, so long, but you’re his. You’ve always been his. Right now, though, it’s like I have to say it...the words won’t leave me alone.”

Your hands find his face. “I think I’ve always been yours too– I think maybe this has always been coming...this was always gonna find us.”

You wait a beat and stare up at him, sounding out a tiny whimper when he works his cock into you with a hint more urgency. “Say it, baby.” you breathe. “Please, just say it.”

His eyes are fierce with passion when he fixes them down to stare into yours– halting all movement to focus solely on this moment, and when the words shake out of him your heart suddenly feels whole, like a piece you didn’t even know was missing has been fit into place. “I love you, sugar. I always have.”

Your lips part to reciprocate but he swiftly shakes his head. “Don’t say it back. Not yet. It’s not right. We have to talk to him first.”

“Jakey, it’ll be okay.” you begin, trying to reassure him as he resumes moving, tilting his hips upward to catch the sweet spot deep inside you. “I want to say it.”

“Shh,” he soothes, smoothing his palm over your cheek. “It’s enough that you want to say it.”

“But...”

“Hey,” he pitches his voice with just a touch more authority. “I’m still me, little girl. Behave yourself and hush.”

The quick flash of aggression springs goosebumps to life on your flushed skin. He notices, and acknowledges with a little wink that absolutely melts you.

“Fine.” you pout. “I like you more than most people.”

“You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you, sugar?” he smiles. “Such a brat.”

“Can I have it harder, Jakey? Just a little?” you beg, reaching down to coax his hips closer.

There’s a frantic edge creeping up in your tone and he picks up on it immediately.

“Are you gonna cum for me again, baby?” he bends and licks a droplet of sweat away from your neck. “Be a sweetheart and cum right on my cock. My cock loves you too...love it back.”

“Mmm fuck.” you groan, arching up closer to him. “Tell me your cock loves me again, Jakey. Please.”

His hands fist in your hair, keeping himself propped up with his forearms planted on either side of your head. When he speaks, he is breathless with sex and adoration “My cock is so in love with you, pretty girl. Feels like home when I’m inside you. You love my cock?”

“Oh my god, Jake.” your nails rake across the back of his neck and then bury into his hair. “Yes, I love it...it belongs inside me. I wish it never had to leave. Wish you could just fuck me and fuck me and fuck me forever.”

“Fuck, sugar.” he groans low into your ear, tickling you with the vibration. “You feel so good. So tight.”

You tangle his thick locks in your clutches tighter and guide his head back, closing in on the column of his throat when it’s presented to you.

“You feel good, baby.” your words are slurred through the rush of sucking kisses you’re covering his neck with. “So fucking good inside me. So deep.” Reaching up, you grab his hand and drag it to your belly, pressing his palm flat. “I can feel you all the way up here. You fill me up. You make me whole.”

You both understand that you aren’t just talking about right now, that you don’t just mean sex. That you feel whole when he’s with you...that the world is complete when it’s the three of you.

His eyes burn down into yours as he draws his hips back, only to swiftly push them forward until your bodies connect with a dull smack. “You’re everything. I love you pretty girl, I love you so fucking much.”

You want to return the sentiment, but he has asked you to wait, and you no longer know how to do anything but bend to his will in these delicious moments with him. Instead, you stare up at his pretty face, pupils blown wide with affection and desire.

He nods his understanding of your silence and gives it to you harder. “I want it so bad, sugar. You gonna give it to me? Come on, baby. Let me have it.”

“Talk to me, Jakey.” you beg. “Want to hear your voice when I cum.”

“Shit...” the curse quivers out of him, drenched in need. “Gonna talk sweet to you, baby. Wanna treat my little fuck doll like the princess she is.”

“Oh fuck–” you nails bury themselves in his shoulders. “I’m almost there. Will you touch me? Rub my clit while you fuck me?”

A thunderous growl rumbles from his chest as his hand pushes down between you to circle you. “There you go, princess.” he pants, biting at your throat between words. “That’s a good girl, asking for what you want...I’ll give you anything, baby. How’s that? Feel good?”

“Yes...” the word drags it’s way slowly out of you on a labored breath. “Like that. Just fucking like that. I’m gonna cum...fuck, please.”

“You like that, sugar?” he taunts with a sexy grin. “I know exactly what your pretty cunt needs, don’t I?”

“Yeah...” you whine and writhe beneath him. “Oh my god, I’m so fucking close.” It feels so near, and yet so far away in the most delectable way...chasing it is half the fun.

“Oh, little girl.” he whimpers, his voice pitched soft and needy in a way you’ve never heard before. “Do it. I just wanna make you cum. Come on, baby...please.”

That soft-hearted ‘please’ flips your stomach and makes your cunt clench down around him violently. He feels it, and begins pounding into you exactly right. Fucking you so perfectly you’d sooner set the entire world on fire before you’d ask him to stop.

“Fuck yes...give it to me.” you raise your head and sink your teeth into his chest to keep from screaming.

“Is that what my sweet little sugar needed?” he teases in your ear with the exertion of trying to hold off for you evident by the rasp in his throat. “My cock, hard and deep inside her perfect little cunt?”

“Yeah, hard and deep.” you whine with considerably less composure, reciting his words back to him because you’re too far gone to think straight.

“I love you.” he whispers with a softness completely opposite of the brutal force of his hips driving his relentless cock into you. “I can’t stop saying it.”

“I—”

In the blink of an eye, his hand is stifling your mouth. “I told you not to say it.”

You roll your eyes, but he knows that he’s successfully shut you up and releases his hold over your lips with a devilish smile. “Roll your eyes at me again, little girl. I dare you.”

That gruff challenge is what finally does you in, and you cum hard around him, but quietly. Almost in shock of it all as you watch him work you through it with his tousled hair a veil around you both, swaying softly across your breasts, teasing your nipples as his name sighs into the room over and over.

“There it is...” he sucks in a sharp breath and then releases it with a shudder. “That’s my girl. Fuck you feel good. So warm and soft...tight. Such a good girl, aren’t you sugar? So good for me.”

This is what you’ve already learned about your Jake: When he talks to you this way the closer he gets to his release once you’ve found your own, all the dirty, gentle affirmations of praise, they aren’t just for you, they’re for him as well. It’s his way of staying present with you while he works toward his end, it’s a means to take you with him. He doesn’t want to go off somewhere in his head and leave you behind. Not even for a moment.

Dragging your fingertips over his mouth, you dip them inside when his lips part. “Come on, Jakey. I want it inside. Will you give it to me?”

He nods and sucks feverishly at your fingers...nipping and licking when his mouth drops open with a choked whimper.

“Fuck...” he sounds almost whiny and you cannot even begin to describe how staggeringly intoxicating it is. “I’m there, sugar. Please, baby, please...make me cum...please.”

He’s begging incessantly and it causes your entire body to flame hot with white hot lust.

You squeeze around him as tightly as you can and watch his beautiful face contort with unbridled pleasure. You are a fucking glutton when it comes to the way he sounds and looks when he cums, you could watch him like a movie and never get bored of it. Fucking gorgeous.

He cries out for you, muffling it into the crook of your neck as he slows to deep, shaking thrusts...cumming hard with your name on his lips and in his heart.

You lie there in silence for what seems like a very long time, just breathing in tandem, wrapped up tightly together with his soft cock sleeping inside you.

Finally, he lifts up, breaking the illusion that you two are living in your own little world. One of you had to do it. “Think we should go down and see if Josh has burned the kitchen down yet?”

“He’s a good cook, and you know it.” you curl up in the sheets and watch as he disappears into the bathroom.

When he returns, he’s bearing a warm cloth and your robe.

This is another thing you’ve learned about Jake. He thinks only of you and your comfort after sex just the same as he does during.

“Would you come to my defense that quickly, sugar? Or should my feelings be hurt? It isn’t nice to play favorites.”

“Don’t be a baby, Jakey.” you smile against his mouth, sinking into the kiss he offers as he cleans you up. “Now, come on.” you pull on your robe and push him toward Josh’s dresser. “Put something on and let’s go downstairs. I miss him.”

As you move through the house, following the sound of the blender and Josh humming over the grinding mechanics, with Jake trailing behind you, your world has never felt so complete.

Taglist: @greta-van-chaos @gardenofgreta @moonlightbrekker @theweightofstardust @celestialfauna @kdarling1 @gretasintrees @s0livagant @groggyvanfleet @kiszkathecook @shesalrightshesouttasight @brokenbellz @llightmyllovee @doodle417 @weightofdreams-gvf @imdepressedaf1996 @alisonwonderland29 @agirlwithmanytastes @gretavanfleas @gretavangroove @janegvf @sparrowofthedawn @dakotadovato @xserenax-13 @gretasmokerising @tripthelightfandomtastic @tripthelight-fanfic @mckenna4 @trplshotofdopamine @sarakay-gvf @theweightofjake @joshsmama @sammysvanfeet @kiszkashorizons @pardeeinsaginaw @tripthelightjaketastic @jakeslovehandles @loofypoofy @heatmyfleet @age-of-nyahh

[a-tomb-with-a-view]

for the first sentence thing :)) "And what exactly did you think was going to happen, when you decided to do this?"

Hiya lottie, thankies for the ask! (Send me any sentences and I’ll write a short fic from it :)) have some boblexie

“And what exactly did you think was going to happen, when you decided to do this?”

Alex is struck suddenly with the realisation that Luke has finally taken his place, stood in front of the kitchen table with his hands firmly on his hips, not at all regulating his volume despite the fact that Alex knows Luke exactly how painful every damn word is. He shrugs helplessly, groaning at the wave of nausea that rolls through him. “I don’t know,” he complains, keeping his eyes trained on the box of Bobby’s cereal on the counter. “It seemed like a good idea at the time!”

“So let me get this straight,” Luke says slowly, letting go of his hip to pull Reggie against him when his boyfriend appears in the kitchen doorway. “You thought that getting incredibly drunk was the best way to deal with introducing your boyfriend and the guy you’ve been in love with since sixth grade?”

Alex doesn’t bother to deign that with a response. Honestly, he’d thought introducing Bobby and Willie was the worst idea ever, but Luke and Julie and Reggie had insisted that he’d only hurt both of them by putting it off, seeing as they’d been introduced before Alex had even gathered the courage to ask Willie out.

So he’d… prepared.

And maybe those preparations shouldn’t have involved daring Bobby to see which of them could get through the most shots before they tapped out, but in Alex’s defence, it had certainly helped relax him.

“I’m not in love with Bobby,” he said instead. “We’ve been over this.”

“Oh don’t even try that.” Julie wormed her way between Luke and Reggie, tilting her head up until the both obligingly kissed her cheek. “And your guest is doing just fine by the way, Bee’s holding their hair back while they throw up.”

Alex groaned again, letting himself pitch forward until his forehead made contact with the table. “Do you think they’ll hate me forever?”

“For what?” Reggie asked, tone far too innocently. Alex opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Reggie continued. “I mean, you only rambled for half an hour about being in love with both of them but not being sure why to do about it. I’m sure they’ll be totally fine with you dropping them on that after you drank half our vodka and convinced Bobby to have near the same in whiskey.”

“They won’t hate you,” Julie promised, flicking Reggie’s cheek. “I don’t know if you remember, seeing how gone you were, but you all fell asleep curled up together.”

“We have photos!” Luke chimed in, apparently done with telling Alex off. “They’re very cute.”

“We’re thinking sunset curve merch,” Reggie agreed. “To prove we’re for the gay agenda and all that.”

“Two poly relationships, that’ll make us popular,” Alex said faintly, relishing in the cold radiating from where his forehead was pressed against the table. “Super gay.”

Bobby appeared in the doorway, making room for Willie to squeeze in next to him. “You done panicking now?” He asked, voice rough probably from both sleep and the insane amounts of neat whiskey he’d drank the night before.

Alex sat up slowly, wincing when his stomach protested. “No.”

Luke glared at him.

He sighed and stood up, something warm flaring in his chest at the sight of Willie and Bobby curled against each other in the doorway. If he were any more sober, or maybe any more drunk, he’d probably start waxing poetic about his oldest and newest loves, but instead he just shuffled towards them, like some sort of zombie.

“Yeah.”

[ahsbitch]

Something Strange In The Air (Part 2)

Word Count: 2544

Summary: In the aftermath of your...incident with Michael, you’re still tumbling to figure out what you’re doing. 

Warnings: It’s probably bad idk, oral (male receiving), face fucking, degradation, Mean!Michael & Being Mean To Michael, blue balls, waxing poetic, lots of cursing (as always), idk i can’t think of any others 

A/N: Sorry this is really short and sorry it took so long I’m in college so I’ve been busy and I was writing a oneshot for a different fandom which took some time, the next chapter will have more plot to it and stuff I promise, my apologies for shitty writing and being a super slow writer, I’m doing my best I promise. As always, comments (even just in the tags) are always ultra appreciated!!!!!

Mini Tags: @wroteclassicaly @1-666-coven @michaellangdonstanaccount uhhh there are others but i can’t remember if i forgot to tag you i’m sorry pls remind me 

ALSO I PUT IN THE KEEP READING THING BUT IT REFUSES TO WORK SO SORRY ABOUT THAT

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

There was poetry flashing through your mind.

Some say the world will end in fire

Bits and pieces. 

Death, be not proud

You couldn’t get him off your mind. 

Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart 

Couldn’t get your dream off your mind. 

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams 

The way he had looked at you, in it, how he had held your hand.

He kindly stopped for me-

Michael often called you little witch,

Leave my loneliness unbroken 

But he had never called you his little witch, as he had in the dream. 

There will be time to murder and create

He was beautiful, almost angelic in appearance, you had to admit.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

And he pulled you in, in spite of how hard you tried to ignore it

I can no longer remain away from you

It was almost disgusting, how much you thought about him. 

Curse, bless, me now with your tears, I pray

There was something about him that frightened you.

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

A lot about him that frightened you, actually. 

A waking on a morn

“Y/N,” Cordelia spoke, and you could tell from her tone that this wasn’t the first time she’d said your name, “Are you with me?” 

Shit, you’d gotten distracted. 

You’d been called to a meeting in Cordelia’s office, made it to one of the chairs, and immediately spaced out. 

You hadn’t really seen Michael in almost a week, nothing more than passing glimpses in the halls and quick pulses of his energy in the air. You’d been avoiding him. Or maybe he’d been avoiding you. Honestly, you couldn’t remember. You hadn’t spent a single night in your bedroom, instead floating around to parties and going to the swamps to practice your magic rather than spend time in the study room. 

Fuck, things were getting complicated.

“I’m with you,” You smiled cautiously at her, “I’m sorry.” 

She smiled back, something you couldn’t quite determine just behind her eyes. Concern, of course, her whole aura was clearly very concerned, but something else, and then she was speaking, her voice as calm as ever, “Don’t be sorry. Are you feeling okay?” 

Of course not.

“Of course I am!” 

“Try again,” Her hands were folded neatly on her desk, and you dropped your gaze to look at them, Cordelia’s words making you feel a strange sense of shame, “I’m a little worried about you, Y/N.” 

Your ears were burning, your heart jumping wildly in your chest, “I’m sorry.” 

She sighed, shaking her head, “Don’t be sorry. Just... what’s going on with you? What’s going on between you and Michael Langdon?”

Shit.

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t been sleeping in your room, or studying in the house,” Cordelia looked at you strangely, and you held your breath, “Have you still been fighting?”

She didn’t know.

Thank fuck. 

“Yes,” You responded, perhaps a little too quickly, “Yes, we have. We just can’t seem to agree on anything.”

Not entirely untrue.

She nodded sympathetically, and you were relieved to feel that she believed that was it, “I’m sorry. I feared something like this might happen. But Y/N, you need to return to your room.You can’t be out every night, and you can’t do all of your studying in the swamps. You’re still a student here. You have to be present, at least sometimes.”

“Okay,” Nodding, you worked on getting your breathing fully back to normal, “I’ll be back in my room tonight.” 

“Good,” Cordelia reached out and squeezed your hand gently, “I’m proud of you, Y/N. You are a powerful witch, and a good woman. I believe in you.” 

Not able to make yourself respond, you simply flashed her a smile and bolted for the door, blinking back tears.

Fuck, she’d bee so disappointed if she knew the truth. 

You were barely out of the office when the door to a closet opened and someone tugged you inside, slamming it shut. 

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

“What the fuck, Michael?” You snapped, blinking into the darkness. 

Michael’s hand clamped over your mouth as he let out a growl, “Be quiet, little witch.” 

You worked your mouth until you managed to clamp your teeth onto the skin of his palm, biting as hard as you could. 

“Fuck,” He hissed, jerking away from you, “That hurt!”

“Good,” Glaring, you reached for the cord on the light and tugged on it, the weak bulb flickering overhead, “What the fuck?”

Glowering at you in the dim light, Michael crossed his arms, “What did Cordelia want?”

“None of your business.”

“I’m pretty sure it is,” Shaking his head, he scoffed at you, “It was about me, wasn’t it? Does she know?” 

It was childish to play dumb, and you knew that, but you were doing it anyway, “Does she know what? Why would we want to talk about you?” 

It took only a single step for Michael to back you against the wall, pinning you there with his hips, "Don’t even bother with that shit. Answer the fucking question.” 

You shoved at his chest, although even you had to admit that it was a halfhearted push. His proximity, especially after so long away from him, was overwhelming, and you felt your mind slipping to a place you didn’t want it to be, “Get the fuck away from me, asshole.” 

Another shove, and he wrapped his hands around your wrists, holding them over your head, “You weren’t asking me to do that last time we saw each other, were you, little witch? Now. Does Cordelia know?” 

“No,” Growling, you tried in vain to pull your hands back, “We talked about you, but she doesn’t know about that. Now let me go.” 

Tilting his head to the side, Michael laughed at you, “How many times do I have to tell you? You’re not the one in charge here.”

“Fuck you,” You spat, beginning to shake with something between fury and a feeling that you didn’t quite want to acknowledge.

“This is a pretty color,” Michael shifted both of your wrists to one hand and brought the other down to trail across your lips, tapping at the soft flesh, smudging a bit of the golden sheen, “Did you put this on for me?” 

Ever since that day in the study room, not that day but the one before, you had taken to wearing more and more lipstick, coating your lips in a new color everyday. 

Today was gold, one that shimmered when the light hit it, and if you were honest, yes, you did put it on for Michael. Every time you reapplied a coat of lipstick, today and every other, he flashed through your mind, the sneer on his features, the echo of his words in your ear when his fingers were down your throat. 

“You look good like this...Gagging...You wear revealing clothes and you act like you’re doing it for yourself...But really you’re just a dumb, depraved, desperate little whore who wants nothing more than to be dicked down by your rival.” 

Fuck, just thinking about it sent a wave of wetness gushing through you, and you tensed your legs in an effort to ignore it, and the smirk on Michael’s face told you that he had noticed. 

Yes, you were wearing it for him. 

“No,” You had to crane your head to glare at him with how close he was, “I don’t know if this is the first time you’re hearing this, but not everything is about you, Boy Wonder.” 

He hummed, drawing his fingers along your cheekbone, and you cursed yourself for the way you leaned into the contact ever so subtly. After a moment he pressed his lips against yours, and although you fought to keep yourself in control, to keep from kissing him back, cursing yourself once again when you couldn’t hold yourself back, your noses smashing against one another, your mouth slipping open with a groan, quickly intruded upon by Michael’s tongue, which battled fiercely with yours. 

And then suddenly he pulled away from you and stepped back, and you fell to your knees as he chuckled, his hands unbuckling his belt, “All the same, little bitch, I think that color would look wonderful smeared all over my cock, don’t you?” 

“I fucking hate you,” You glared up at him through your eyelashes as one of his hands gripped your hair, the other pulling his dick out of the confines of his slacks. 

“That just makes this all the more pathetic, doesn’t it?” He slapped your cheek with his dick gently, and it wasn’t lost on you how perfect it was, the size and the ridging and and the pulsing veins and the furious pink of the tip all making your mouth water, “Get up and walk away if you want, little witch bitch. But I don’t think you will. I think you want this. I think that being a little whore is the calling you’re pulled to most.” 

Get up and walk away.

You could do that. 

He pulled his hand from your hair, letting your head drop back, and you knew that if you moved to stand he would release you, would let you go. His precum had leaked onto your face as he continued to hit your cheeks, waiting to see what you would do. 

Just get up and walk away. 

But you couldn’t, couldn’t bring yourself to walk away without having the chance to taste him, not when the very thought was sending arousal roaring through you, and while you wished you could directly blame this on Michael, could say that his magic was holding you in place, that simply wasn’t it. 

You opened your mouth as wide as you could and in an instant his cock was down your throat, Michael setting off to fuck your face at an intense pace. 

Gagging, you brought your hands up to his thighs, and when your nails scratched against his legs through the fabric or his dress pants Michael let out a high, desperate groan. 

Although you couldn’t quite smile at that, with how full your mouth was, there was a little voice gloating in the back of your head, and you squeezed his thigh tightly, drinking down his moans as you moved until his own back had hit the wall, his hands desperately moving from your hair to your shoulders to simply slamming down on either side of his body. 

“Your mouth is good for something, I guess,” Michael grunted, as though he wasn’t as desperate for you as you had been for him a week ago, “You’re much prettier when you’re not talking, did you know that?” 

You managed to flick back your middle finger enough to flip him off, although you didn’t pull back to make a verbal response. There was something urgent about this, and the idea of dropping him from your mouth seemed too great a sacrifice to make, when the harmony of Michael’s shockingly soft, animalistic moans mixed with the lewd, wet noises of his dick hitting the back of your throat was so disgustingly lovely. 

Michael’s hands twitched, as though he was going to grab at your hair again, and at that moment he seemed to finally notice your own magic in the air, holding his wrists in place.

“You little bitch,” He snarled, straining against the magic, but all he could do was buck his hips into your mouth even harder, letting out a hiss as your teeth grazed him, as your tongue swirled around his head, “Let me go.” 

But where’s the fun in that? 

You didn’t let him go, and you didn’t stop. If anything, you grew more intense, your hands managing all over him, sneaking past the fabric of his clothes to leave angry scratches on his skin, so smooth underneath your touch. Eventually one of them trailed to his balls, tugging and toying with them roughly as he began to strain even harder, began to make a choked noise at the back of his throat that made your thighs clench, and you knew he was going to cum soon. 

You pulled your mouth off of him. 

He looked down at you with a raised eyebrow, panting, desperate, watching as you trailed your tongue over every inch of his dick, pulling his balls into your mouth and sucking them slowly, and finally you pressed a kiss to the skin just above his cock and leaned back with a grin.

“What the fuck,” Michael growled, although his face showed a kind of manic desperation that he clearly wasn’t used to, “Get back to it!”

“No, I don’t think I will,” Your smile got even wider, although your mouth was sore and your voice scratchy, you decided it was worth it, “You call me a little bitch all the time, but who’s the bitch now, Boy Wonder?” 

“Y/N, I’m serious. I will ruin you,” Snarling in spite of the pained expression starting to grow on his face, he thrusted against you, and you let out a giggle at that. 

“It’s so cute that you say that while you’re humping my leg like an unfixed puppy,” Shaking your head, you took a step back, out of the range of his hips, and looked down to admire his flushed, throbbing dick, “You were right, y’know. The gold does look good on there .Especially the contrast it has with the blue of your balls.”

He looked down to see that your words were true, the skin becoming overtaken with a pale, bruise like color, and when Michael looked back up at you there was something murderous in his eyes, “Quit fucking around. Let me go, and finish.” 

“Why should I?”

Arms straining against their magical containment, face twisting with the growing pain in his balls, Michael’s voice had grown croaky, “Do it. I will never touch you again, if you walk away from this, do you get that you desperate little whore? You want me. You need me. Do what I fucking tell you.” 

“I think there’s been a serious misunderstanding here, Langdon. I don’t need anything from you. You keep saying you’re the one in charge, but look at you. You’re nothing but a little blonde bimbo. So fuck you,” You scoffed, trailing a single hand across his chest and giving his nipple a harsh pinch, letting out a laugh at his angered whine, “And by the way, Cordelia says I have to move back into our room. I’ll be back tonight. I’ll see you whenever you get around to being the powerful warlock everyone thinks you are and break through my magic.”

With that, you pressed a quick, chaste kiss to the corner of his lip and turned away, not bothering to fix your own appearance before you went out, turning the light off before you closed Michael in the closet. 

You were proud of yourself, you had to admit. 

Scared, perhaps, of what he might do, and curious as to whether or not he’d keep the promise that he’d never touch you again-not that you wanted him to, of course, you were just curious-but you were proud all the same. 

Fucking Michael Langdon. 

[abluescarfonwaston]

Loid opened the door.

“You’re married!?” A female voice screeched.

Loid closed the door. Holding it closed as the person on the other side banged against it frantically.

“Loid?” Yor’s voice was high and concerned. Butter knife clenched in her hand. “Who’s that?”

Anya’s eyes went wide. Loid pressed his forehead against the door as it pounded.

“That.” He lamented. “Is my sister.”

“Stop yelling. The neighbors are staring.” He scolded when he finally opened the door.

She shoved past him. Taking in the apartment. Surveying their domain before her eyes settled on them.

She was all blue eyes and wild blond curls.

His sister.

Yor’s hand stayed tight around the butter knife. Half afraid she attack.

The hand not holding the knife was firmly clasped between both of Loid’s sister’s. Blue eyes drilling into her as she opened her mouth – undoubtedly to comment on how quick it must have been or how she wasn’t good enough or how she didn’t approve- and said,

“You deserve better.”

The door clicked closed behind Loid as he sighed. “Olivia –don’t.” He plead.

“No you seriously do. I once listened to him wax poetic about bumblebees for eight hours straight and I once watched him dive into an empty swimming pool and-“

“Yor, Anya, meet Olivia Stahl. She’s been working abroad the last few years. She was an intern I helped train during residency.”

“You helped train me?” She turned on him. “I’m sorry which one of us drank that spiked cocktail just to prove a point about how strong his liver was? Because I specifically remember telling you not to drink it and then you downing it in one go because-”

He did not make eye contact with her. Eyes train well above her head as he continued on ignoring her. “I didn’t realize she’d come home. Lovely to see you again Olivia but I only made enough for three so you’ll have to be going now-“

“Auntie!” Anya jumped out of her chair and hugged her leg. Halting his shoving her back out the door. “I missed you!”

There existed gratitude and irritation in equal measure in his heart. Gratitude that Anya had decided to play along with the situation. Irritation that her ploy would slow his removal of Olivia.

Olivia smacked his stomach with the back of her hand. “Well your daughter has decided I’m staying so I’m staying! It’s fine I’ll just eat your portion.” She settled herself down in his seat with a smirk. Anya stared up at her expectantly. Olivia smacked her forehead and dug around her bag pulling out a small figurine. “Sorry I didn’t bring your official present Anya. I heard he’d tricked some poor woman into marrying him and I forgot your gift at home.”

She’ll just pick something up later and pretend she got it abroad.

“But maybe you can keep an eye on this little fellow for your Dad until then?”

It was a small figurine of a bumblebee. Incredibly lifelike. Its eyes tiny ordered hexagons. She frowned and shook her head.

He plucked it from her palm and set it on the counter. “A Bombus Fernaldae. Will you drop this joke? It was one time.”

“It was not just one time! And the fact you could identify what kind of bee it is says plenty about how much you secretly like it.” She turned her focus to Yor. Ignoring Loid’s put upon sigh. “So tell me how he managed to trick you into marrying him.”

“I- well I actually asked him?”

Her lips curled with revulsion as she stretched the word “Why?” into an eight syllable groan.

Loid sat down with a new plate serving himself a new meal while Olivia ate the remains of his old one. “Eden requires children who apply to have two married parents. She was helping us out.”

You’re telling her that? I thought we were keeping it quiet.

“Oh I gathered what you got out of it but I was asking what she got out of it.”

“She doesn’t owe you an explanation Olivia.” He scowled. Olivia yipped in pain drawing her legs up onto the chair.

“Don’t kick me!”

“Don’t interrogate my wife.”

“Is it blackmail? If you need me to get rid of him for you I can-“

“I’m not blackmailing her!”

The conversation rapidly dissolved into bickering. Full of stories and inside jokes that were thrown and discarded far too quickly to unravel.

Loid ran his hand through his hair for the fifth time in as many minutes. The floof levels rising higher and higher. His locks growing more and more bedraggled as they continued.

Anya’s wide eyes snapped between the two of them like a riveting tennis match.

“Actually,” She started, interrupting the flow of their verbal sparring. Loid froze mid stab of the steak on Olivia’s plate. Suddenly remembering they weren’t alone. “Loid helped me out. Being single at my age can attract the wrong kind of attention.” Screams of the people the secret police dragged away filled the space between words. “And my brother was worried. I was very lucky to meet Loid when I did.”

Olivia side eyed Loid. “Lucky. Right.” She smiled brightly at Yor. “You have a brother?”

Loid settled back into his chair, the impish grin falling away as the conversation drifted to calmer waters.

“Walk me out?” She requested after the last of the dishes were put away.

He nodded. Anya’s eyes followed them out the door.

“Anya you have to finish this if you don’t want to miss spy wars.”

Her focus turned back to the homework with a groan.

She offered a cigarettes to him.

“I quit.”

“For your fake family up there?”

He shrugged. “We’ve both read the studies. Seemed as good a reason as any.”

She blew out a smoke cloud. “Sure but it’s not like cancer’s going to get a chance to kill us.”

“Was there a point or did you just want to make my laundry more difficult?”

She hummed. “Can’t it be both?” Elbowed him.

He settled against the brick wall with a sigh. “What’s the job?”

“Get a solid night’s sleep? How’s that for a mission.”

His head tapped against the wall. Eyes closed and face turned upward to the hazy sky. It did nothing to hide the lines of deep seated exhaustion.  “They send you to do a psych eval?”

“Should I?”

“I’m fine.”

“Fine like I’m just overworked but am actually fine or fine like you’d get your makeup perfect before going in for an eval?”

“My makeup is always perfect. Yours however-“ He tilted his head to peer down at her. Tossing a cheeky grin her way.

“Is impeccable.”

“Just like I taught you.”

“You did not!” Shoving him. He bobbed to the side dramatically before returning to his position. “They seem nice.”

“They are.” His eyes found the carton in her hand longingly. He tore his eyes away. “Bombus Fernaldae huh.”

“Going to pull a cuckcoo bee on them when the mission is over?”

“The mission comes first.”

“Not going to turn you in for wanting more asshole.”

His eyes dragged up to their window as she took a drag of the cigarette.

“We can’t be more than we are.”

“Did you just make a bee pun? Cause I will tell the entire department. I’ll report you for that. Assault on a coworker.”

“I rented a castle and they barely batted an eye. No one will believe you Nite Lite.”

“I have an actual title these days you know.”

“And I promise I will never use it.” He assured like that was the problem. Which it wasn’t. He pat her head. She considered biting it off. “Just overworked. This has been. Good for me I think.”

“Aside from the potential cleanup?”

“I try not to think about that.”

She snorted. “She deserves better.”

“Of course.”

“Don’t agree with me. It doesn’t make you less of an asshole.”

“She knows it’s fake. It’s not like I’m lying to her about that.”

“Oh so she knows that. Great and I’m sure your brat totally got the memo about how-“

“Stop.” His voice heavy and dark. “I didn’t design the mission.”

The smoke curled in the air. “Yeah I know.”

Cold threaded its ways slowly into their jackets.

“Did she actually propose?”

“She did. I was so shocked I fell flat on my face.”

“Ugh! Don’t tell me shit like that! Literally no one ever believes me when I tell them what a mess you are! It’s Agony! Agony you hear me?”

“So sorry my lying is more effective than your honesty.” He leaned over her. “It’s this handsome face of mine. People instinctively think I’m put together.”

She gripped his smug face. Shoving it away as he pushed against her. “I will break your handsome face and then we’ll see if anyone can put you back together!”

He laughed as she shoved him away. She stopped.

It sounded genuine.

It had been so long since she’d heard him laugh like that. Not since his last partner had been –

Twilight cocked his head at her questioningly.

“She still deserves better than you and your knockoff curries.” She told him one last time. Stamping out the cigarette butt with her shoe.

But it seems like she might be good for you.

[mindlessbehavior2011]

Thank you for the tag, @youandthemountains​!

Figuring out who to tag is really stressful for me, so if you read this, please consider yourself tagged!! 😁

It's the year 2021 and you're obsessed with The Karate Kid. How are you feeling? 

I love it! It’s overall been very positive for me and I’m really happy to have something fun to focus on given that this past year has been really hard. Also, there’s no shame in liking older media! Good content is good content no matter when it came out!

Did you grow up with TKK or are you new to the series?

I first watched TKK when I was 10 or 11 (around 10 years ago) and had a whole phase back then. The obsession slowed down after about a year and came back once CK came out (especially since season 3).

We gotta do the basics. Favorite character:  

I’m indecisive :/

I love Mr. Miyagi, Daniel, Johnny, and Kumiko, so I’m just not going to pick lol

Favorite ship:  

Fanfic ship: Lawrusso

Canon ship: Damiko

Underrated character: 

Kumiko! I love her so much! She’s so smart, ambitious, and independent. Also she connects with Daniel on such a deep, emotional level, and they’re  now connected for life through Mr. Miyagi and Auntie Yukie and it melts my heart. Also, she’s unbelievably beautiful and I am incredibly gay.

Underrated ship (don’t say therapy, lol):  

I’m obviously going with Damiko. I just think they connect on such a deep level and clearly still love and care for each other after 30+ years. They weren’t able to keep in touch but the connection was still there and I thought it was so beautiful 😫

Also Mr. Miyagi/Auntie Yukie because they were so sweet and wholesome. I also think the way Daniel and Kumiko’s love story ended up was meant to mirror Mr. Miyagi and Auntie Yukie’s in a way, and it’s so poetic that I want to cry.

Wax On, Wax Off or Sweep the Leg? 

Wax On, Wax Off, because I find it to be the more memorable line. I’ve also never swept any legs but have side blocked many times lol

Which of Daniel’s dumb little outfits is your favorite? 

Ugh we stan his iconic queer outfits. The best one was definitely the unbuttoned brownish/burgundy shirt with the black tank top and the hachimaki. I would definitely wear that. CK needs to bring back these biconic outfits.

Character from the films you most want to return, who’s not Terry Silver: 

I definitely want Kumiko and Chozen to come back again, but out of the characters who still haven’t made an appearance, I’ll go with Jessica. I thought her and Daniel just being friends without there being much of a romantic angle was really refreshing. Also, her coming back might prompt the return of Mac&Cheese!Daniel, and EYYY you KNOW what I LIKE! 

Scene that lives in your head rent-free: 

From TKK, the scenes that always get to me are Mr. Miyagi’s drunk scene and Mr. Miyagi giving Daniel the car. Getting choked up right now just thinking about those 😥

From CK, I definitely rewatch the scene when Daniel and Kumiko first see each other wayyyyy too much. I also love Johnny attempting to figure out the Internet and his dream sequence about Carmen. And the garage fight scene. And Daniel visiting Mr. Miyagi’s grave and then doing kata again. Honestly, there are way too many so I’ll just stop now.

Will Anthony LaRusso ever be relevant?

No.

You live in The Valley and are forced into the karate gang war. Which dojo do you join? 

Definitely Miyagi-Do. I believe strongly in karate being for defense only since that’s the philosophy I was taught (we had to repeat it at the end of each class).

What’s your training montage song?

“Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees. I have no reason for this. I just think it would look and sound cool. 

It’s the crossover event of the century! Which TV show are you combining with Cobra Kai for an hour-long Saturday night special?

Maybe Jane the Virgin so we can just devolve into absolute chaos.

[feitanswife]

how to write a horror/mystery/gothic novel that takes place in Washington State:

General:

Kent is a shithole, no one goes to Seattle unless they absolutely have to, the beaches are not for swimming really it’s almost always too cold, and Yakima calls itself the Palm Springs of Washington and whoever decided that should be shot. It’s not the Palm Springs of anything. Palm Springs of depression and murder maybe.

our weather is moody and unpredictable, use that. The other day it went from brilliantly sunny to hailing in a few minutes. It just does that. Monday can be 75 degrees, Tuesday it could snow. Especially in spring.

Western half:

It doesn’t matter where your characters live, if it’s not the absolute heart of a big city your characters WILL have convenient access to woods. Maybe not a lot, but there will be, within fifteen minutes of brisk walking or eight minutes of driving, there will be trees and bushes enough to explore. There are narrow walking trails in green belts between suburban housing developments, undeveloped awkwardly shaped plots of land between grocery stores parking lots, and woods at the edge of parks that may or may not be part of the park.

1 in every 8 houses in the average shitty suburb is full of cultists. The cults have splinter fringe cults. It’s cults all the way down. If your neighbors go to ANY church that isn’t like, one of the big well known branches of Christianity, it’s generally assumed you should cut contact with them cause they’re not worth trying to save. My town had people who pretended to be Mormons to get away with even worse shit. If your characters are in high school, they WILL be accosted by people holding signs and spouting slurs outside the school gates at least once a year. It’s just a thing that happens.

Conversely: everyone knows a couple witches. It’s just a thing. If you go to a community college there’s like a 1 in 10 chance any student you talk to practices witchcraft, and the chance goes up exponentially if they look gay. In my friend group there’s only one non witch, somehow. Stick with the witches, they’re usually pretty cool.

Other gothic genres would have you believe that forests and fields and wild places are scary, don’t be fooled into believing that’s always the case here. It’s not. In fact, the forest is often a place of refuge from, yanno, the weirdos outside of it.

You may think I’m exaggerating but I had neighbors who boarded up their own house and tried to poison the rest of our street when they moved in and spent all Halloween trying to Indoctrinate children. And there was a group of like ten people who faked being from a nearby church as an excuse to harass high schoolers and nobody knew they were fakes until I accidentally told the story to someone who ACTUALLY WENT TO THE CHURCH and was like “uh no we don’t do that wtf???” And that’s how we found of that there were people to fucked up for even the Mormons, and got kicked out and started their own operation! So what did we all do? We started walking home through the woods behind the highschool!

Basically tl:dr if you’re writing on the western half of the state, frame it like there’s scary paranormal goings on in the woods only to plot twist that the villains are humans and the forest’s paranormal activities are helpful, not harmful. Nothing in the woods is scarier than what’s outside of it. Except like, bears and stuff. But usually bears aren’t actively trying to fuck your day up.

Eastern half:

FUN GEOGRAPHY LESSON: rain shadows! We got MOUNTAINS! And when you go over the mountains there’s a huge closet wasteland cause the water gets trapped in the west side! But, between the mountains and the wasteland there’s this beautiful strip of pine forest and meadows called Central Washington it’s beautiful, it’s heaven on earth, once you go there you’ll never want to leave.... except the people there are horrible. It’s like you took a chunk of the Deep South, shook all the actual good stuff out of it, and plopped it in the PNW. Everyone is so up their own asses with politics. trump signs everywhere. So many of them are those godawful rich people who think they’re not rich cause their four story log mansion happens to be in a rural area. I can’t believe I’ve never been hatecrimed over there for how damn gay I look. THE EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE is Ellensburg. Ellensburg my beloved. It’s the best town on earth. Most pedestrian friendly location I’ve ever lived, everyone is super nice, and it’s a college town so there’s always something fun going on!

Tri cities has a bunch of nuclear plant related stuff, do with that what you will.

Back to the fact that half this state is uninhabited due to being completely dry and barren: holy shit the east is scary. It’s just nothing. Rolling hills of nothing. A three hour drive of nothing, then you get to nothing (Idaho edition).

Wine country is its own beast and I would have to make a whole post waxing poetic about how much a vineyard has to give as a gothic setting but here’s the cliff notes:

very isolated, far outside a small town where all the locals know each other, lots of big machines, old dusty barns with cluttered lofts, for straight lines of grapes you can EASILY get lost in the fields, sometimes they scare crows with LOUD AIR CANNONS, hot as hell all the time, people are on the verge between “your cool uncle with money” and “this person has never existed on the same plane of reality as you”, every house has trained hunting dogs for some reason, there’s weird mysterious birds, possibly venomous snakes, and SWARMS of bees and wasps. Oh and everybody and their brother does vineyard weddings. I’m sick to death of vineyard weddings.

Don’t let the maps deceive you. There may be a bunch of town names out there, but that doesn’t mean anything’s there. One time to go camping we drove out into the middle of the state on I-90, took an exit and turned left and kept driving for another hour on completely abandoned roads with no sign of life (but dozens of abandoned rotting houses in the distance) just to get to a “town” that reeked of “we’re getting murdered here cause half of us aren’t white and one of the 3 white people has neon pink hair”. If people wanted to go anywhere they’d have to drive an hour just to get to the interstate. They had one school building for k-12. One gas station, one tiny store, one restaurant. I could lap the entire town in thirty minutes walking. And the first building we saw was a church. Just one. As if the townsfolk weren’t given much of a choice. And there are probably 50 identical towns scattered across the east of the state. Completely isolated.

Tl:dr: want a fresh spin on the “small town full of weirdos” story? Don’t set it in the rural south! Set it in Washington, where you get all the same archetypal weirdness except they think because they’re not in the south they have some kind of moral superiority, and also your lead has nowhere to run cause the landscape is so barren you can damn near see the curve of the earth, where are you gonna hide when the tallest plant goes up to your ankles?

[comorbidfascination]

Maul Sees the Light in the Dark

full fic list here

maul and caris list here

maul and caris have been parents for a while, but their daughter imrie is now showing signs of force sensitivity and needs some guidance. sequel to caris makes a lightsaber.

Maul was almost certain that babies weren't supposed to shoot sparks out of their hands, but what did he know? He hadn't even met his brother Savage until they were adults. But his daughter was definitely crackling with electricity, and Caris was out of the house.

"Let's stay away from the outlets, little one." Imrie giggled and stumbled into his outstretched hands. "I do commend you on your walking skills, though. You seem to get better every rotation."

Snug against his chest, she babbled an answer.

"I see." Maul carried her to the playpen set up in the living room and took a seat nearby. "I'll be right here, my sweet."

Imrie protested, but soon crawled over to her toys. Two orbits old, and already so much like her mother. Maul watched her play with a small smile, amused by the way she gnawed on a toy like a dog rather than simply teething. His attention strayed to a datapad, but was quickly recaptured when he heard a sharp crack!

Imrie had tears in her eyes, but did not wail; perhaps the surprise replaced the initial upset. The reek plushie in her tiny fingers was singed black - the toy had been thoroughly electrocuted. Maul scooped her back up and threw it into his chair to be discarded when she wasn't around to miss it.

"I suppose you need to learn how to control this. Your mother will occasionally shoot sparks when she's particularly emotional, but your case is different." He paced around the room as he talked; he and Caris both had formed a habit of narrating their thoughts to Imrie. "She would make a better teacher, but I'll have to do for now."

Maul set the pen aside, but left the blanket and toys on the floor so the two of them could sit down. He let her do as she pleased, which was mainly allowing her to gnaw on his finger. Her tiny teeth felt like bee stings, but he had endured worse for far less worthy endeavors. His goal was to observe what instigated the sparks, and he was used as a chew toy for quite some time before seeing any results.

Imrie flopped onto her back and giggled, making grabby hands at her father. Electricity crackled at her fingertips as she moved them, and Maul had an idea. He reached out with his fingers splayed wide, and she mimicked the motion with no sparks. Then he made a fist, and she did the same with the opposite result.

"Little one, I believe we have found the way your mind has chosen to produce this ability physically. The force is a tool, yes? And tools are made to be used a certain way. It seems that the beginnings of force lightning have been linked to this action."

He took her through the same motions, opening and closing his hands to encourage Imrie to do the same, and found that his conclusion was right almost every time. It was apparent that, the harder she squeezed her tiny fists, the more likely they were to spark. As Imrie practiced, she relaxed into the motion and laughed along with her father's visible excitement.

"You know, my sweet, that lightning is considered a Dark power. But if you'll allow me to wax poetic a bit, I'd say that there is Light and Darkness in everything. A night sky is hardly worth looking at without stars, but lightning is difficult to see and be in awe of without the storm behind it. This interchange is what brings balance, you see. One cannot exist without the other."

But a baby can only stay awake for so long, and it was almost nap time. Maul laid down on his back and helped her to crawl onto his chest, where Imrie could feel his warmth and hearts beat best. As she drifted off to sleep, he continued to muse quietly to her, or maybe just himself.

"Your mother and I have tried to raise you between the realms of Light and Dark, but I often fear that I will unconsciously teach you to act as a Sith does. I was raised to hold onto my hatred and anger to use as fuel, but she taught me that there are much better ways to motivate oneself."

As he spoke, hardly above a whisper, Caris opened the front door and puttered around the front hall. He heard, but continued on.

"I want you to be fueled by things like confidence and curiosity. I want you to enjoy your life as a force sensitive being. The Light is no longer my enemy, but it is not my friend either; I would say we're tentative allies when it comes to your education. We needn't stray too far into either side, as your mother is so keenly aware."

Caris walked into the living room to see her husband on the floor, baby fast asleep on his chest. She smiled, listening to him ramble.

"I want you to be free of any ideological trappings and truly be one with the Force. I still struggle with this, but perhaps my mistakes can serve as lessons to you. I hope you know that I would do anything for you, my sweet."

She padded over to Maul and laid down beside him. "I've always loved the way you speak."

He turned to her, golden eyes soft and warm. "Hmm, I'd rather hear your voice. You sing so beautifully when you put her to bed."

Caris leaned in to kiss the tip of his nose. "I can do that now if you'd like to get up."

He peered down at Imrie, fingers curled around the fabric of his tunic. "No, I think we can stay like this awhile. Though I do wish to speak with you about the sparks."

"Sparks? Did I singe something?"

He laughed softly. "No, dearest. Our daughter had been exploring a primitive form of force lightning, and I think she could master it in a few years time."

Caris watched the way he gazed adoringly at her, speaking proudly of her ability. "That'll be fun. We'll need to be careful about it, though. My parents' house still has burn marks from my childhood."

"Of course." Maul stroked his thumb across Imrie's back. "Safety is the highest priority."

The extra security measures added to their home two years prior said the same. "I can't wait to see how it all turns out."

"Neither can I. If we're lucky, she'll keep taking after you."

Caris rolled her eyes. "You always ignore your own qualities in her. Where do you think she learned to keep trying until she gets something right? Or her patience? She's two, and already better at waiting for things than me."

He smiled, leaning over to press their foreheads together, unthinkingly aligning his horns so they didn't catch on hers. "As long as she's inherited the best of us, I'll be happy. But I think she's more herself than anyone else."

"As she should be."

They both watched their daughter fidget and sigh into Maul, resting peacefully without a care for her parents' discussion of her future.

[spelltorn]

𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑷𝒀  𝑶𝑵𝑬  𝒀𝑬𝑨𝑹,  𝑵𝑶𝑿 !     (   day  two :   six  characters .   )

↳     i  can’t  reiterate  this  any  more  than  rachel  or  cherry  or  maeve  already  have  ,  but  it  was  so  hard  to  narrow  this  down  ,  and  at  the  end  of  the  day  ,  it  almost  became  a  love  letter  to  all  of  you .     nox  is  SUCH  an  amazing  space  and  all  of  y’all  are  incredible  and  talented  and  i’m  so  ,  so  glad  to  have  been  able  to  be  part  of  it  for  the  last  six   (  how  has  it  been  ??  six  ??  )   months .     so  let’s  rock  n  roll  -

𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚎  𝚣𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚒     (   @ofzvbini   )     -     mozz. listen. LISTEN. every day that i see a blaise post on the dash i gain three years on my life. i could write a thesis on why your blaise (and luna......and ofc even eulalia........) is hands down the most well - written and well - crafted portrayal i’ve ever gotten to write alongside. blaise is one of those characters in canon that we really didn’t get to see much of (even what we DID see, death to the author baby), and you’ve fleshed him out into such a nuanced and compelling character. there’s this casual elegance that comes with every word you write about him that i’ve never felt before in someone’s writing. maybe i’m easily charmed or maybe blaise is just ridiculously charismatic, idk, but i’m so sucked in with the lyricism of the narrative you’ve crafted for him. it’s beautiful and layered and so, so entertaining to follow along with.

𝚊𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗  𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚛     (   @avalcn   )     -     alyssa, my love for u and lonnie knows NO bounds. i was so excited when i saw you had come back and brought her with you  -  watching as you weave her into the fabric of the nox canon and the hp universe as a whole is fascinating and fun and so ? fresh ? for lack of a better word. i always have so much fun talking and plotting with you because avalon is a character that really gripped me from the start. she feels like she belongs here and is really just a fun character to continually be learning more and more about. i also feel obligated to mention how much i love the ron and avalon dynamic here  -  after we first talked about them it really just sort of felt natural and integral to him as a character following the second war that avalon was also there. it’s so easy to bounce off of you and them and the unique feel of avalon  -  i’m so excited to be able to write more with her!!

𝚗𝚒𝚔𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚒  𝚔𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚏     (   @monstrovs​   )     -     you know how i told you a couple weeks ago that the one year anniversary would be me turning into a rachel lovebot? yeah. consider this part one. you have no idea how hard it was to choose just one of your characters  -  it got to the point where i had to consider the day three prompt and where else i could shower you with my undying love and affection, because honestly, i’m obsessed with every single one of your characters. 

niko, however, is one of those characters that i regularly forget isn’t plucked directly from canon. there’s so much humor to him as a concept and the way you write about him, but every reply never ceases to make me more and more intrigued by his characterization. he’s genuinely such a fascinating character to learn more about, and is unlike any i’ve been lucky enough to write against  -  he, like the rest of your characters, just feels so real. there’s a rawness to the karkaroffs that feels uniquely human, despite the total fuckin memeing about them. your narrative for niko is so clever and gritty and captivating; he, and the karkaroffs, are just incomparable.

anyway have it on the record that i love this unhinged bastard and i love u

𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎  𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛     (   @dolors   )     -     the love in my heart for you and all your chars........unbound. your talent? amazes me every day? it’s ridiculous. it was so hard to choose between lucius and hermione for this, but i am nothing if not a hermione granger stan, and i’m never over the amount of care you’ve put into your portrayal. hermione is such a grounded and flawed character  -  sometimes it can be easy to reduce the core book characters into their most basic tropes, but the way you write her only continues to build and flesh hermione out into something far beyond what canon could have ever accomplished. you capture her in a way that just brings her to life  -  all of her vibrancy and wit and blunt edges and strength, as well as the twinge of sadness that runs as a sort of undercurrent to everything she’s gone through. your voice for hermione feels natural in the way that writing does for people who clearly just love a character; it’s lyrical and distinct, and so so beautiful to read. not only that, but i find it incredibly easy to bounce off of and reply to; threads with hermione (any of your characters, really), are often some of the most effortless for me to feel inspired by and start cranking out responses for. every thread i have with you always pushes me and inspires me in a way that feels so unique to you and nox. moral of the story is that i love all of your characters and your big brain and i can’t wait to see what else we come up with as nox goes on!!!

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎  𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚢     (   @dragonw   )     -     charlie......charlie weasley if ur reading this im free on thursday. pls respond and then hang out with me on thursday when i am free  -

bee, the way you’ve taken charlie and turned them into so much more than what was given in canon is unmatched. i could write sonnets on how much i love this family, and all three of your characters, but there’s something about charlie that i really have a soft spot for. charlie as a character is so fuckin cool  -  the epitome of the rad older sibling we all deserve, tbf. but you’ve also turned them into a flawed, compelling human being that leaps out of every reply you write. the weasleys have gone through so much, and i love seeing the way that impacts and shines through in your writing  -  there’s this warmth and liveliness that emanates from charlie, and the thread of anxiety and regret that’s interwoven so well alongside it is so lovely to read. 

𝚝𝚑𝚎  𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜     (   @pclearwaters   )     -     vicky. vicky!!! i could write essays forever on why i love each and every one of your characters. having me root for dudley dursley? the way you’ve integrated him into the wizarding world? icb how big your brain has to be to accomplish everything you have with him. and alicia? alicia spinnet could punch me in the face and i would thank her. but instead of going wax poetic on them, i’m going to cheat a lil bit by talking abt tempest AND penny. you’ve taken a character that’s given so little in canon, and developed them into something larger than life and wildly fun to keep up with. the entire family sucked me in  -  their death eater ties. penny defecting. tempest’s history and personality like nature in all of its extremes. the relationship between the two of them. everything in between  -  i have no words for how in awe i am of everything you’ve done with them, and i can’t wait to see what you have planned for the future!!