#Heh also it's a little long as I wanted to add a bit of context but we can go shorter heh I hope this is okay <3 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mysticstarlightduck · 2 years ago

Text

Get to Know My OC Tag Game:

Thank you for tagging me @rickie-the-storyteller!

(Disclaimer: I may have to adapt some of the original questions to fit the context, as the story takes place in a medieval-esque fantasy setting, and will add some questions that I’d like my character to answer that may explain some other things about them. Also, I wasn’t comfortable enough - for some unexplained reason - to use 1st person words for the Interviewer - such as me or I - and so the Interviewer is in a generic 2nd person POV)

[The following character (and the ones that will follow in other posts like this) belongs to my Medieval Dark Fantasy WIP, The Last Wrath. The picture is just a face claim found on pinterest, as I haven’t had time to make character art for the entire cast of my book, and said picture belongs to its respectful owners.]

Let us begin!

A door opens, and 16, soon to be 17, year old Raelen Ashiren strides in. She bears a reckless smile on her face, and her steps are carefree and confident as she walks closer, grasping your hand in a firm hand shake. Her smile is a litle crooked, you notice, and just as wild as her heart. She is an unusual kid of pretty, messy long brown hair carelessly pushed away from her face in thin braids, and warm skin that bears a few small scars. Her clothes are loose and simple, designed for practicality while retaining that unmistakable burst of personality that permeates everything about her presence, a starry purple scarf giving her attire a dash of color. You can’t help but notice that while her clothes are simple and clearly worn by her frequent adventuring, they are not in a bad shape either.

Her voice is fast and joyfully loud, but her words carry a strong sense of warmth and honesty. You can see clearly in her bright eyes every emotions that she is feeling, and like an open book they tell you a story of someone who is brave and wild, but at the same time full of joy... with a touch of something else you can’t quite place. She takes a seat in front of you, awaiting eagerly for the questions you may be inclined to ask.

1) Are you named after anyone?

Raelen: Yes, I am. Heh, I um, was named after my paternal grandmother, though her name was a bit different from mine. She was called Raellyn, and my parents adapted the name to Raelen for me, I guess it was so as to avoid confusion between the names... She was a great warrior, and the pride of House Eiriant during the years she lived - I think my Da wanted her legacy to live on somehow after I was born, even if just in her name, so ... here I am, Raelen. (Cue a laugh and little jazz hands as she finishes her answer)

2) When was the last time you cried?

Raelen: Well, isn’t that a loaded question, (she chuckles awkwardly, bringing her hand up to fiddle with her necklace), one that I’d rather not answer...(she quietly adds, before begrudgingly sighing)... But I guess, if you really want to know, it was when my older brother Julyan was captured by a bunch of assassins... and I couldn’t do anything about it. I’m still looking for him, and I don’t know if we’ll find him anytime soon. (her lip wobbles a bit as she looks up towards you) Can we move on to another um... topic now?

Interviewer (you): Oh, my... um, I wasn’t expecting that, I’m so sorry... (you/the interviewer plaster their best smile on their face, trying to smooth things over) Of course, let’s move on!

Raelen: (her breathing sags a bit in relief and she smiles back at you) Thanks.

3) Do you have kids?

Raelen: What the hell? (She mutters awkardly in a laugh) Of course not, like, I’m barely not a child myself, and I don’t think I want another person to worry about in a world like mine, at least not in the foreseeable future and until I am an adult and have everything figured out. Even if I was not living on the run or there wasn’t a war between the realms about to happen, that would probably still be my answer. (She runs a hand through her hair, chuckling a bit and leaning forwards towards you, as if sharing a secret). With an adoptive brother like Azra flying around on a dragon, I’ve got my work cut out for me right now... (Suddenly she becomes pensive) I can’t imagine how Julyan handled it, like, caring for me and Azra when he was just a kid himself after our parents... you know. I don’t think I would have been able to do that so well even now... (After a pause she taps her hands on her knees, smiling once again.) Either way, circling back to your question, no, I don’t have kids nor plan to have them any time soon.

4) Do you use sarcasm?

Raelen: (smiling with a hint of laughter) Only every day! I’m trying to cut down a bit on it, that seems like a habit that is cut out to get me into more trouble than I already am, heh. But with the company I keep, I’m surprised I’m not more sarcastic or swearing like a sailor, because let me tell you, my friends can be either brilliant or the stupidest people I have ever met and there’s no in between. There are days where they are really testing my patience and I love them for it. (She laughs) I guess sarcasm runs in the family, but I try my best to be um ... politer.

5) What's the first thing you notice about people?

Raelen: Um, I guess I’m kind of good at telling when people are lying to me or have ill intentions. Everyone has a tell, though some may be harder to understand than others. I think it rather comes as a necessity when you live in Agrannor, but I’ve met some people that can prove that thought otherwise in a second (She pointedly stares at Vallerius). Also, personality wise, I am also quick to notice the little quirks and expressions, the small characterictics that tell us what they are really feeling even if their words won’t. But all of this only applies to when I am in a good or focused mood, because if I’m scared or angry the deal is totally off and I may or may not be really bad at those things I just said under those circumtances, heh.

6) What's your eye colour?

Raelen: Hazel green. At least, I think that’s what I think it is. Oh, and they only change color a small bit when I use my magic, which is something I don’t know what to make of. I’m still practicing, Vall’s teaching me more about magic, so I hope I can get those cool colorful eyes in the future, (she geeks out a bit) though I guess mine are already pretty sweet.

7) Any special talents?

Raelen: I’m Mageborn, which means that I was born with magic in my blood, unlike a regular human. So I can cast spells and change things in the world around me with them. My family is pretty ancient, especially my Mom’s side of the family - House Ashiren, hence the surname - and we’ve been mages since before the Ancient War. (She twirls her necklace in her hands, thinking, and a small smile appears in her face) When I was a kid - after our parents disappeared and it was just me and Julyan - we didn’t have much other than our own company, so Julyan used to tell me all those tales about our ancestors, to make me feel better - powerful warriors and mages fighting to rid the kingdoms of the scourge of the Secret Court (Raelen raises her arms a bit, enthusiastically, like one would telling a heroic tale) - and I used to dream of becoming a hero, like they had been... So, as far as special talents can go, I think I have them - I can do magic, I am a mage after all, though I wish I could be better at it. I’ve been improving a lot recently, ever since Valleriusand I started practicing together! Though I think I may never be as strong in the magical arts as Julyan is - I’ve always been more like my Da after all, Julyan’s far more like our Mom than he’d admit, and that includes being extremely talented with fire magic. Other than the magical side of my um, “talents”, I’m a ... good swordfighter, I guess, and I’m kinda good with daggers. I can defend myself pretty well, but that’s about it. (She laughs heartedly) I can’t shoot an arrow to save my life though. Other than that, my real passions lie on investigating forgotten things about old magic and adventuring! Does that count as a talent? I think it doesn’t, but does it count?

Interviewer (you): Uh... I don’t know, maybe?

Raelen: (smiling) Great! Because I’m a pretty good adventurer then, heh, though most people around me prefer to call me a troublemaker for some reason... (she says, a sarcastic lilt to her voice) I guess it does have a good ring to it, though adventurer sounds far more... heroic. I’m still workshopping that one, but adventurer sounds much cooler than troublemaker.

8) Scary tales or happy endings?

Raelen: Uh, life in the continent is already one scary tale and a half on my opinion, I mean, you have wars in one hand, intrigue in another, a bunch of crazy corrupted sorcerers wanting to rewrite the word in blood and everything that twisted magic entails, such as the Shroud around the forests back home. So, if I have to choose which story I want to tell or hear around the fire, I definitely would go with one that ends at least remotely happy. The heroic ones are my favorites, if you can’t already tell. I think that hope is a important skill to have in any situation, especially in dangerous ones, so a story that is inspiring to some extent or at the very least tells us something interesting, is definitely better than a terrifying one. But I maybe got a bit too caried away here (she chuckles)....

9) Where were you born?

Raelen: I was born in my family’s ancient estate near the Forests of Midtaren, during the Agrannorian Civil War. A while later, when I was around like maybe four or five, our parents went in a strange mission and never returned. Julyan and I had to move to the Kingdom of Kestrall all by ourselves, where our godmother is High General and had made a promise to our father that she would protect us if the worst came to pass. The journey to get there however.. um, is something I’d rather forget and never talk about again...

10) What are your hobbies?

Raelen: Running in the forests around Kestrall, sparring, sneaking into the Dragon’s Spire with Gareth - he’s my best friend by the way (she smiles)- and seeing all the new dragons that the Riders are training, talking, annoying the guards, watching Julyan make runic weapons, stealing old books from the Royal Archives -

Interviewer (you): Woah, woah... Wait a second, that’s already a whole lot but... stealing?

Raelen: (Laughs sheepishly) Um, kinda...? Look, its not really stealing, its complicated... the Archives are open to the public, but I got banned from ever entering those halls again because I spoke against that shithead of the Captain of the Guard (She says the title mockingly), after he, um... hurt my brother (She looks clearly uncomfortable/scared at the memory, before she clasps her hands together). Anyways... so there’s that, and now I kind of had to sneak away the books and tomes that I want, though I can’t do it anymore because I’m currently living on the run across the continent. (She chuckles and lifts her eyebrows sarcastically). Listen, if it makes you feel better, Julyan and Azra told me not to sneak into the Archives... at least for the first 10 times.

Interviewer (you): (clearly concerned, muttering to yourself) That’s so much worse though... (The Interviewer/You clear your throat)... Anyways, let us move forward...

11) Do you have any pets?

Raelen: I wouldn’t call Mystral that heh... She’s this dragon that we’ve got that like, is following us around ever since we uh - snuck her away from the Dragon Spire to escape a bunch of assassins and Azra crash landed us gloriously in the forest. (She giggles, then catches Azra staring daggers at her and answers by making a face at him). Gods, we’d better hope she didn’t hear us calling her a pet... because according to Vallerius’ translations of what she is thinking, she’s uh... (she then begins talking with a mock majestic voice) “The Tamer of Storms and the Scourge of the Earth, cower before me ye mortals” or something along those lines. (Raelen leans closer, whispering to you with a smirk)...But she does look and act like a cat, so I can’t really take her seriously and neither should you. She insists that she needs mittens for the winter, even though she generates enough heat to light up ten forges and has claws the size of a broadsword, and claims that its a disgrace that were not taking such “an important request” seriously in the middle of a war - though now that I think of it, that might just be Vallerius screwing us over with his shitty half-assed translations of Old Dragon Speech. (She narrows her eyes towards the long haired boy across the room, who pointed avoids her gaze).

12) What sports do you play/have played?

Raelen: Look, this isn’t really a sport, but I’ve sparred against some of the older Dragon Knights in a swordfigthing tourney of winter’s solstice Festival a few years ago, and did a pretty great job at it, I think. That is, before a stray spear knocked me on the helmet and left me unconscious for like, two hours. Teiva - that’s the General, our godmother - thought it was funny and seemed impressed, while Julyan nearly had a heart attack and the lecture that followed made me wish I was still asleep. But the food at the festival was good! So there’s that.

13) How tall are you?

Raelen: I don’t know exactly, but average height, maybe? Sometimes I think I am a bit taller than other kids my age, but that may be because Azra and Gareth are little ankle-biters, (she turns around as Azra prostests in the background, a smirk on her face as she sarcastically calls out). I think you’re proving my point, huh?

Interviewer (you): (The Interviewer/You smile as they start to bicker and nudge Raelen on the shoulder to catch her attention) This was one heck of a wild ride, Raelen! I hope you figure things out in your life again, and that you’ll find your brother soon. Thank you for coming to my interview!

Raelen: This was a really fun experience! Thanks for having me, I really got to go though. Have like, an Empire to topple, a brother to save, a rebellion to help.. uh, anyways, a lot of things that I don’t want to burden you with... Bye!

@lassiesandiego @writernopal @lyutenw

#writing #my characters #character intro #tag game

3 notes · View notes

herorps · 4 years ago

Note

Hey flo do you have a guide to naming Chinese characters?? So I can be ethnically correct !

i apologize for how late this is. i’ve had a very busy work day and i’m only now getting some downtime to sit down and answer this the way i want to answer this. i want to start off by saying that i am chinese-american and that what i say and how i name my chinese characters is based on my personal experiences in my community growing up and what i’ve gathered through long-sought out research and diaspora twitter.

i also want to say that of course your ethnically chinese character can have an western name, it’s very common that we do, especially in modern times and in immigrant spaces, however i think we should be able to normalize using ethnic names. also unless you are adopted ( see: leah lewis ), in my experience you 100% have a chinese name on top of having a ‘western’ name, so if you want to give your character a western name it’d be accurate to give them a chinese name as well ( see: natasha liu bordizzo/liu chengyu ).

if you find this guide helpful, please like and reblog the post, validate me and if you have any questions/corrections/add ons please let me know!

i would have you start off by reading this really helpful guide. it’s a little long winded and you don’t have to read all of it but they do a great job with describing the different romanizations of names and how they’re different across different dialects/regions. you need to first decide what context your character exists in, whether they’re from beijing or taipei or hong kong, their full name is going to be spelled differently based on what background you want to give them.

my mother’s surname is actually a great example of this. her surname is 湯 which in mandarin chinese is pronounced “tang” but because my mother’s family is originally taishanese, her last name is romanized “hong” everywhere that uses an english spelling. alternatively, if my mother’s family changed their romanization when they moved to hong kong, where they speak cantonese, her last name would have been romanized as “tong”.

another example of this is chou tzuyu. because she from taiwan, the romanization of her name is chou tzu yu but if her family was from, like, shanghai her name would be romanized zhou zi yu. same chinese characters ( 周子瑜 ), but because they are pronounced differently across different languages and because she is taiwanese, the romanizations are different.

so after you’ve decided what romanization you want to give them, the next step is to actually choose a name. i personally begin with the given name with all of my characters because i like attaching a meaning to the given name over the surname. and also surnames are pretty easy to find/figure out.

here is a guide that discusses a little bit about naming conventions in china, particularly about gendered names. i really like what tangelotime had to say about the fact that gender doesn’t really matter when it comes to naming because, in my opinion and experience, it doesn’t. i would say that what would be “gendered” is possibly the way a name sounds. idk how to explain this but there are some names that sound “girly” but more in the sense that it’s like girly vs. butch. and i can’t think of a good example of this so you’re just gonna have to ... idk go with your gut. but for the most part, chinese names are gender neutral.

what tangelotime also said about how giving a chinese name is intense is absolutely true because there are so many things that parents may consider including chinese zodiac and fengshui and radicals in a certain character and what it means---it’s a sport that i do not have the effort for nor the intelligence to properly explain. however, i think the guides that i’ve linked so far do a good job in explaining that in a way that i cannot. here is another extensive guide, but this one discusses historical contexts ( for all u historical rpers heh ) and more importantly imo, the list of themes that a parent might take in creating a name.

8/6/21 edit: i came across these pictographs of characters from mdzs that analyze the etymology by the radical that gives you a lot of insight to possible name meanings and to the written chinese language.

additionally, here is a video by avenue x, an amazing creator on youtube who reviews c dramas and gives a lot of in depth cultural context for some of the shows she watches, that explains the names of characters from word of honor and gives the poetry references that the writers may have used.

so if you’ve taken a look all the guides i’ve given you, good on you, i really appreciate you putting in all the work. now let me give you some examples of how different things may be taken into consideration when giving a chinese name.

my given name is 安儀, romanized “on yee” because my family speaks cantonese. the first character means “safe” while the second character means “appearance,” so together my name means “safe appearance”. but, my mom also took into consideration the radicals of the characters as well. the first character looks like it has a hat or a roof on it right? that is intentional. the character underneath the hat is the character/radical for girl, so my mom wanted to make sure that her daughter had something over her that would protect her. hence why she chose the character 安. the second character in my given name consists of primarily two other words/radicals, 亻+ 義. the first radical is a variation of ⼈, the chinese word for “person,” and the second radical can roughly translate to “righteous” which means when put together, 儀 can mean “righteous person.” however 儀 can also come to mean “the appearance of a righteous person” if you consider all of the meanings i’ve given so far. my parents thought heavily about what my name means, not only on a translation level but also on a structural level.

if you’re writing a family with multiple children, consider having a generational name. in short, generational names usually have a shared character among a single generation of family members. both of my parents and their siblings are named in this manner. my mom and her siblings all have the 華 ( wah ) character in their names. my dad and his brother have the 少 ( siu ) character and his sisters have the 美 ( mei ) character in their names. my grandparents ( both sets ) thought to give their kids a generational link in their names.

now let’s look at jackson wang’s given name, 嘉尔, which he explained was homophonic in meaning. this is a tangent but chinese people love homophones and it’s why we don’t trust the number 4 but love the number 8. his given name, romanized “gaa yee”/”jia er” is essentially a homophone for “plus 2″. he said ( in a video that i cannot find anymore ) that his grandfather named him because he wanted the meaning to be “a king with two guards to protect him”. jackson’s last name 王 (wong/wang) means “king” so “king” “plus 2″ is the intention his grandfather had in naming him.

but if you’re really not versed in things like fengshui or poetry or you don’t have someone with chinese literacy available to you, the next best thing is to honestly ... take a look at media. whether that’s celebrities or film/tv/book characters ( written by actual chinese people pls ) and see what their names are ( or at least the romanizations are ). this will help you figure out what sounds appropriate and what sounds like you’re just mashing sounds together ( see: cho chang is she korean... is she chinese?? who the fuck knows ). and then finding characters that give off a meaning ( like my name meaning “safe appearance” ) is just fine imo.

and honestly sometimes giving a name doesn’t have to be so deep. like fan bingbing’s name literally translates to “ice ice” and i don’t even know what her brother, chengcheng’s name is supposed to mean, i think their parents just think having the duplicated character is fun and cute. so don’t stress yourself out.

also a lot of what i’ve gone over has pertained to the common 3-character name ( 1 character surname, 2 character given name ) but you can also consider a 2 character name ( 1 character surname, 1 character given name ) ( see: xiao zhan ) or even a 2 character surname ( see: ouyang nana ).

so finally, to get you started, here is a short list of characters and their romanizations that you can take a look at.

thank you so much for bearing with me, i know this is a lot of information to take in but it is great that you are seeking this information out in the first place. i also know that this may seem very daunting, and even for me it’s daunting sometimes, but if you have any more questions, please let me know and if you have anything you’d like to add, please let me know.

#writing guide #writing help #naming guide #character resource #naming resource #writing resource #rph #rpc #rpha #rpcw #rpt #mine #Anonymous

229 notes · View notes

red-becca · 4 years ago

Text

And so, we hit 20 followers early, lol. Woo! If you have any critiques on my headcanons or want to add more, let me know!

Also, some of these probably don't make sense, so allow me to put in some context. I see Red as a secret hopeless romantic and that even when she's older, she enjoys reading about fairy tales and all that. And secretly loves watching Disney films. This is due to me loving Disney too much and getting ideas from them, lol.

But yeah, that's about it for some context that I can think I can explain right now. If you wanna ask anything about my headcanons, that's allowed too.

---

(These are headcanons for aged up Revin, just a warning/ saying. Just to be sure you guys know that. And also, these are subject to change at any point in time because I just love making hcs/ changing up my hcs for fun)

-Before they got together, they were always sad and watching from afar whenever the other was with someone. Now that they are together, they get jealous every now and again instead.

-But Kevin is the one who gets jealous more due to Red being one of the popular girls and is generally seen as a really pretty girl by most guys at their school.

-They both really frickin' love each other. Like if they had to give up their favorite thing just to be with the other, they would not hesitate to do so.

-Both of them are also huge dorky geeks and you can't tell me otherwise. Though Kevin is clearly more of a geek than Red.

-They have specific nicknames for each other. Kevin's nickname for Red is "My Goddess" or "My Alien Queen" and Red's nickname for him is "My Sweet Prince".

- But also, Red rarely calls him by his full name. Always calling him "Kev" unless she's mad at him.

- In the genderbent world/ universe, only Robbie has a nickname for Kassie so far. He calls her "My Sweet Star".

- They have specific ringtones for each other. Kevin has "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars for Red. And Red has "Love On Top" by Beyoncé for Kevin.

- Kevin got her a black rose necklace for one of her birthdays. The same black rose necklace she would constantly stare at whenever they had dates at the mall. She would tell him that he didn't need to buy it for her and yet he did, anyway. Meanwhile in a genderbent world, Robbie would have gotten Kassie a Star Trek necklace.

- Then what Red got Kevin that he treasures so much is a custom Stormtrooper motorcycle helmet that he wears whenever they go on rides on Red's motorcycle.

- Kevin always gets her a bouquet of red roses whenever he can afford it and Red does her best to lengthen the lives of the roses. While Robbie gives Kassie a bouquet of forget me nots.

-Their first kiss wasn't as romantic as Kevin hoped it would be, he ended up headbutting her out of pure nervousness. And despite getting better at kissing, Red regularly brings up the incident to him and her friends.

-Most of their dates consists of just watching Sci-Fi movies at Red's place with some snuggling in between.

-But their favorite kind of date is strolling around with ice cream in their hands. Well, it's mostly Kevin's favorite as he enjoys watching Red messily eat ice cream and happily cleaning her face.

-Though if their date is to somewhere outside and it gets cancelled because of rain, they will simply slow dance to old music with the rain softly being heard in the background.

-They always celebrate Chinese New Year together and even wear the traditional clothes for it. And once they get married and have a family of their own, they get their kids to wear traditional clothing too.

- And speaking of getting married... When they do get married, their first dance will be based on the first dance from the live-action Cinderella movie. (The only good live action adaptation, imo-)

- Because they loved practicing and performing that dance, they can't help but recreate it whenever they have nothing to do at home.

-They rarely go to Kevin's house to hang out because Kevin's mom will literally not leave the two alone despite Kevin's countless protests.

-Kevin's mom absolutely adores the red head Kevin is dating. Which Kevin appreciates but sometimes, she can be a bit too much.

- Red's parents, on the other hand, while they tease Red on how overwhelming sweet she is to Kevin, they respect them enough to leave them alone together. (That or they are too busy with each other, lol-)

-They love wearing matching outfits/ shirts whenever they go out for dates. (Yo, I don't know about you guys but this shit is legit the most cutest thing a couple can do) (Also, lowkey want to see them with like Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears but I can't draw, so yeah. :/)

-Because he's an adorable little gentleman, he always waits on Red after his basketball practice to take her home. Whether it be a long cheerleading or volleyball practice, he will always wait for her. Granted, because of how long they take, he ends up falling asleep each time but Red always appreciates the gesture and/or thought.

-Part of the headcanon above is Kevin learning first aid just to tend for Red whenever she gets injured during these practices.

- And then when it's Kevin who's busy with his practice for basketball, Red returns the favor by waiting for him and then taking him home on her motorcycle.

- During their respective events, the other will do their absolute best to cheer for the other.

-Kevin always takes stolen pictures of Red and posts them on Instagram with the caption "Just my red head goddess looking beautiful as always" or anything cheesy and sweet like that.

- Red does the same, sometimes. She captions them with the sweetest thing she could ever type or pretty much just describes what's happening in the picture.

-Kevin tries his best to be more suave and less dorky around Red by like trying to flirt and using tips from Kenny and Clyde but whenever he uses them on Red, he quickly becomes a blushing mess which Red always finds to be hella cute.

-Red just absolutely loves grabbing Kevin's face and giving him Eskimo kisses. To which, no one's surprise, Kevin absolutely loves, too.

-As much as other people dislike it, Red loves (or maybe gets even turned on, heh) whenever Kevin speaks all geeky and stuff like that. Meanwhile, Kevin really loves it whenever the girl speaks Klingon.

-No matter what Red does, Kevin will always find what she does to be the absolute most coolest shit he's ever seen. He always loves to gush about how cool his red head goddess is.

-Even though it's a struggle for her, Red's doing her best to give up her smoking addiction just for Kevin to stop worrying about her health.

-When they start living together, Kevin adopts an adorable Siberian Husky puppy for her to keep her company while he's at work and then that's their baby until they get married.

- But before that happens, he will be the one who buys her little black kitten, Serendipity, for one of her birthdays.

-Speaking of living together, the jobs they'll be having are the following: Kevin is a streamer who streams pretty much anything that he wants to stream and Red is a model. They keep their dating life private for the most time. Mostly due to Red not wanting to steal attention from Kevin in any streams.

(They didn't look like a lot from where I originally posted them but, I guess, I shouldn't be so surprised, lol. I am Revin trash, after all.)

#south park #red sp #sp red #idk what else to put here #red x kevin #kevin x red #kevin stoley #sp revin #revin #red tucker #south park red #red mcarthur #south park headcanons #south park ships

23 notes · View notes

of-daisies-and-dandelions · 3 years ago

Note

Nat why and how did you just made me fall in love with ur wol in like 1 ask omg I REALLY DO TRUST HIM WITH MY LIFE NOW, WILLINGLY, BUT I WOULDN'T BC HE DOESN'T DESERVE THAT MUCH PRESSURE AFTER GOING THROUGH THAT. Instead, let me offer him a hug and some tea, please. This is so well thought, and seriously you say you have to squint but it really isn't like that, you made up an incredible independent backstory that totally ties up with the MSQ without taking anything away from it. It's insane bc we don't get too much of the personal side of WOL esp before Endwalker so the way ur story just brings so much character to him is insane to me!! I adore it!! I would also like to say that Mia? That girl? She deserves the whole world. It's such sad story but it's somewhat so comforting how it seems like she found peace in someone that knew her struggles just like Ardbert knew hers!! I love how you also grabbed the main point of endwalker and just gave it so Cain! The whole idea of him trying to find his place and I cannot believe how surreal it must have been for him to fight Zenos specifically, after everything Mia has gone through! And you don't need to apologize about anything, don't worry about the wait!! It's so worth it so I wouldn't mind on u going full details lol if u have like anything else to talk abt personality whise or lil hcs you have about him, please do. You really made me so invested in that hard-working bunny!! The whole thing about Cain not fitting vs 'now u have someone's life with you but hey you still have to find ur own purpose dummy' - must've been just too hard. He deserves a rest. Excuse me if I'm asking too much hahah this might be a long ask but I feel like his bond with Ardbert and Mia is just literally soulmates thing, even Hydaelyn, but besides that, is anyone he shares just as important bond with? Any npc or oc you can like trust to give this man a hug every once in a while? I need to know!! And please my thoughts for my bunny is just not as well thought as yours, but if you don't mind that heh I can share some hcs I have for a backstory pre ARR that I have for her!! It's a bit of generic viera bg, but I just love fran a lot hahah again THANK U FOR THE CAIN INFO! He must be protected at all costs even if he can do that himself! Such precious soul, Azem really is just the best source ♡

Your messages are adding years to my lifespan, I think about them every day,,, thank you, honestly, it means so, so much to me.

You are asking a super good question, I was itching to talk about this actually, but didnt want to add three more pages to my previous answer hahaha.

I actually have a little story for you! I usually write for myself and my partner only, I havent really worked up the courage to publish anything so far, but I really wanted to share this one with you and so I posted it on ao3 :D link is right HERE. It is pretty sad, though, so I completely understand if you do not feel like reading, but if you want more context, it is there :)

Rest is under the read more once again.

Mia had a family of her own, her partners being Diabo, a Hrothgar merchant, and Mikh, a miqo'te rascal. I used to joke with my partner about their house basically just being a giant cat nest hahaha. Eventually, Arnaud Durendaire joins in, which is a ghost of an Ishgardian dragoon. Yes, it is pretty silly, but I always loved ghosts and have a tendency to make characters of various levels of cryptid energy and obviously had to continue said tradition in FF as well xD.

Diabo basically takes him for his own and so does the rest of the family, so he is practically their son. Arnie had a shit family to begin with, the only thing his parents cared for was his success to further the family prestige, and he himself knew nothing besides training and study, before dying too young at the claws of Dravanians. In a way, Arnie got a second chance at a somewhat normal life and family and friends that really love and care about him.

From NPCS, all Scions are like an extended family to Mia, closest relationship she had was with Yda and Papalymo, because they met each other first, as well as Minfilia. Y'Shtola was basically a sister to her, until they had a falling out during Shadowbringers, because Mia thought Shtola became too ruthless and didnt agree with how she talked to Ryne especially. They made up eventually, but the strain in the relationship was still there.

G'Raha is another sibling in all but name, their relationship being extremely close.

The twins are practically her kids. They have their own rooms in their house as well. But then again, the twins are every WOL's almost kids or siblings, arent they hahaha.

Zenos is a special case. Mia always felt drawn to him, despite being unable to figure out why. She wanted to understand him, help him, in a way. It was only after he killed himself that she realized the reason was because he and she were the same in a way, two sides of the same coin. All that power, yet Zenos had noone who tempered him. Noone who cared or tried to understand. Mia was fortunate to have so many loved ones around her, that helped guide her. In a way, she saw herself in him, saw a version of herself that never got to be loved. Only after he died did she realize how awfully alone she truly was, deep down. Because noone, no matter how much they tried, could fully understand the burden and inherent loneliness of her position, noone but him, or so she thought, at least.

When Cain comes to the scene, her original family is... well things are complicated, as one would expect. Diabo shut down, not really wanting to even look at Cain because it just reminds him of everything. Mikh takes it better, eventually finding her way back to him, because, in her words, "Cain smells like Mia did."

Scions take it... well, that depends, I guess. Thancred was one of the most suspicious ones, but after realizing it was true, he warmed up to Cain a lot. In a way, he went trough similiar stuff with Ryne and Minfilia, therefore it was easier for him to relate than the rest. Thancred also has the most guilt of not protecting Mia, of failing her. Urianger saw Thancred trust Cain and so he does too, slowly.

Shtola is the hardest to come around, despite being able to see that unmistakable hue of ember in Cain's soul.

Raha tries his damndest to be supportive, but it is extremely hard for him, because after EVERYTHING they went trough, after EVERYTHING he did, he still lost her again.

The twins take it hard, because it's like losing family, but they try their best to be supportive. Alphinaud does, especially.

It is in Garlemald that Cain meets a new character, an escaped Garlean test subject, a female Viera. She has no name, only thing she was called was Project Raziel, so after Cain asks her about it, he inquires if she would want a name and offers that he could think of one for her, because she herself doesnt really care.

He settles on Carrion, the name just coming to his lips. Carrie for short. Carrie is basically Zenos in a viera body, which is hilarious, in a way, because of his already extremely weird relationship with the man. (Having to fight him again with Mia's memories and feelings and feeling the same way about him, despite wanting to punch him in the face so bad).

So, in a way, the only person who gives him hugs is Mikh, for now at least, and we love her for it.

This is Mia before and after Shadowbringers. Her eye got injured in the Shinryu fight, and it completely lost color in SHB, along with her hair. She grew her hair back after she got rid of the light, slowly, but her eye stayed white.

This is Arnaud with his Hawk companion called Talon.

Diabo and Mia

Mikh

Carrie

These characters belong to my partner :)

This is already, once again, too damn long! Thank you so much for these, truly!!! I wuv you!!!

And PLEASE, I would LOVE to read anything you have as well, anything about your bunny, her relationships and such, I am all ears.

I hope you've been keeping healthy and safe and wish you the bestest of days! ��

#ffxiv #wol #answered ask #nat rambles

2 notes · View notes

vargaslovinghours · 4 years ago

Text

Vargas Playlist Part II (Part I)

Honey I’m Home - GHOST

Final Chapter - Snake City

Empty - Boyinaband & Jaiden Animations

Beauty and the Beast - Disney (covered by Chase Holfelder)

I want you to want me - Cheap Trick (covered by Chase Holfelder)

Toxic - Britney Spears (covered by Casey Beeves)

Devil’s Backbone - The Civil Wars

Stand by You - Rachel Platten

Monster - KIRA (covered by Aruvn)

Kitchen Fork - Jack Conte

The Mind Electric - Miracle Musical

Manipulate - Nathan Sharp

(And more talking under the cut)

Honey I’m Home

Religious imagery and familial rejection and abuse ahoy! I’ve already doodled Scriabin with a moth chained to his hand (and Moth Edgar lol), but he obviously suits the spider just as well. The droning repetition suits Edgar too, especially since it’s centered around repression of thoughts and wants. That vivisection could be a lot of things, “Done by God for all to see” makes me tempted to pin it to Scriabin and Edgar’s separation.

Final Chapter

I mentioned briefly in my first set of tags that I liked this song for juuuust After Scriabin gets his own body. “For a second let’s forget and pretend” feels very much like how they want to act, they want to have what they had even though they never can again - “Never thought we’d come to an end” is the first line! Wanting to hold each other, like nothing happened; especially Edgar, but Scriabin too. I think it could pair well with You Can’t Live Like This as well, they’re trying so hard not to turn that page!

Empty

Like I said the first time I mentioned this song, I’m still a little conflicted including such a personal song, but there are so many weirdly appropriate lines that it feels unavoidable to add it to my list. Since it talks about a voice arriving, it lines up almost perfectly with their relationship before they started being weird about each other, terribly hate filled. “Fill up on water and shame” and “Convince myself I’m in control and it’s not all the voice that makes me sick” especially stick out to me, as well as “empty” as a theme, Edgar’s mindscape is so blank! (Also if you watch the behind the scenes, there’s red yarn which is weird :0)

Beauty and the Beast

Well that’s a bit obvious, isn’t it lol. I only really started to consider it because of the minor key though, the way the tone twists and shifts with the new notes and mixing, ah it’s lovely. I especially like the way “Barely even friends, then somebody bends unexpectedly” hits, they’re always surprising each other! Bittersweet and strange indeed.

I want you to want me

Yet more minor key covers, yay. I was originally going to tie this one to mainfic, most specifically Edgar’s desire to get home from work to see Scriabin heh, but now there’s some interesting new layers with Manual Override, especially Scriabin trying to convince Edgar and himself. Scriabin is Scriabin no matter what though, so he’s always going to push for what he wants, in every context!

Toxic

A bit on the nose perhaps ♪ I think my mind was wandering while I was thinking about Once Again and it landed just long enough on this song to desperately want to give it a relisten, and whoops ♪ For whatever reason, Edgar drinking from “the Devil’s cup” really stood out as a strong image to me, either from his visit to Hell or redirecting those feelings onto Scriabin. Somehow this version really gives the vibe of them fully permeating each other, hateful and desiring and hard to pick apart.

The Devil’s Backbone

On recommendation, I have indeed added this one to my personal playlist! I was surprised, I’m usually so picky with my music but I could not stop listening to it. It fits Edgar/Nny so well! That said, I can see Scriabin stealing a line as well now, “Somewhere between a hangman’s knot and three mouths to feed” with Edgar’s new life situation of Nny’s threat of death and living with Scriabin and Todd. The bridge is still completely Edgar tho, that absolute desperation is so good.

Stand By You

Ngl, I almost cried listening and recontextualizing this one, the line “If your wings are broken, borrow mine so yours can open” just- agh. Also they never got to walk through Hell together so it only half works but I’ll take it! Probably especially relevant to the final chapter of You Can’t Live Like This, their little discussion sitting on the floor, pledging their lives to each other again fdjsalkfdsf

Monster

I can’t but imagine a bouncy Scriabin gloating about how he was made, “Feed me your negativity, talk some more about me ♪” Too bad it’s Monster rather than Demon eh! “I see how you’re going crazy, always thinkin’ ‘bout me” works rather well too, there’s a lot of lines that suit him! He’s so insufferable haha. The bridge is quite good too, “It could’ve been so different between us, then you went and messed everything up.” He’s always blaming Edgar!

Kitchen Fork

I’ve wanted something of Jack Conte’s for a while now, there’s so much chaotic energy in all his songs. I feel like this one and Bloody Nose both really suit Violation, there’s a really lovely disjointed energy, though I think Kitchen Fork works more generally. “Wake from the scar” and “Save us from our own two heads” are both really great lines for Edgar especially, and the rising violins are so unnerving.

The Mind Electric

I drew to this one quite early but it wasn’t until I started thinking about it a bit harder that I realized just how well it works, especially with Diaryfic/Hospitalfic. Much like with Stay, I can imagine this one working well as an animatic, it’s all very evocative of imagery. Would Scriabin be the “Lord” or would the doctors? Hmm. “Doctor, I can’t tell if I’m not me” continues to be a great line for both of them.

Manipulate

Nate needs to stop with making literally every song so adaptable, I can’t keep giving away my heart like this. Another song that switches POV from verse to verse, starting with Edgar and then with Scriabin: “Find somebody else to call your home.” “You stab me in the back and then you make demands! You say it’s only you? I got another plan.” “Maybe you could torture someone else.” “Maybe I don’t have the strength to follow you Hell.” I cry okay. I can’t just list all the lyrics, they’re all too good.

#💟#I basically have enough songs in my Tentative pile that I could make a part 3 almost immediately but mmmmm #This one took long enough lol I had all the songs picked out literally days after Manipulate was first published #Months!! Darn focus |P #I think that only one that really has an argument is Fear and Delight by the Correspondents since it's moved off and on that list thrice #At first I was like ''Maybe?'' and then I was like ''Nah'' but then Once Again came out and I was like ''Perhaps???'' Lol #Anyway #Yet more YT links! Enjoy the jankiness ♪#I relistened to all of them again and some of the imagery goodness me #I kinda can't believe it took me this long to start adding minor key covers to my list lol #Minor key gives great spooky vibes I would've thought I'd pick that out immediately but nope #Also tangentially related - the YT channel that introduced me to Final Chapter - Philosophy Tube - helped me push past a writing block #Might be seeing something related to that soooon :P #Some of her videos tho honestly I'm just like ''Oh I guess I'm thinking about Vargas now didn't expect that from a philosophy video''#It's happened at least a couple times now lol

15 notes · View notes

teacup-baphomet · 4 years ago

Text

G/t Drabble (Crash landed on a hostile planet trope but NOT via the a tiny vulnerable human in a planet of mean powerful alien bigs route)

tw: a bit of censored cursing. Uh. I’m not sure what else. Maybe broaching of sensitive tops such as sexuality and religion. But not really. Mostly it’s just rlly dumb word play/lame humor and a confused alien being confused (and kinda freaked/troubled due to the confusion? you’ll see if you read it i guess). there is some sad lorg boi times. idk. no romantic relationships. just a shaky friendship is forming between a crash-landed big-arse alien (a human! *gasp* i woulda never guessed something as vile as that o: ) and one of the much smaller, very much not human locals. most want to kill the poor dude who got stuck on this planet of hostile lil guys who think he’s a monster and immediately decide they much off him asap. so like having this one ally is kinda important to him. But it’s hard. because. lots reasons rlly. culture differences. the language tech can only do so much. the size diff creates definite issues because trust is hard in general. and trusting a big being that could easily cause havoc on your planet mostly just cuz he /seems/ nice is not a very good foundation... there is much to learn between the two before they can be truly good frens. so uh good luck to them lol *raises glass* I mean. I don’t think I’ll ever write these two again. but I’m sure they’ll end up good friends. probably.

Anyway without further adieu, here have a disappointment (read: attempt to be creative but i’m kinda lazy tbh and still kinda bitter I can’t draw for more than like 10 minutes before I start spacing out :/ )

"We are called humans or the scientific name is homo sapiens" spoke the large alien, Lyle.

"Homo sapiens? That is rather long, is it not? Why is a "scientific name" even a thing? Why would that be necessary? Scientific name versus what kinda name? Emotional name? Why are these science names two words? Seems annoying. What is wrong with just calling yourselves simply homos? Or something else just as nice and concise. Straight to the point if you will. Probably. I... Uh.. I obviously don't know what exactly is the purpose of a scientific name as i already implied... Sooo..." The much shorter – and much scalier- native being (called Torrynts) awkwardly looked off the side to stare at the plain, blank, siding of their dilapidated, isolated house as if it were the most interesting thing in the entire vicinity. Which it wasn’t of course. There was a f***ing alien 15 times their size only a few them-sized lengths way…

Lyle gave his new comrade – and only friend on this gawdforsaken planet that mostly wants him dead- th pondering, and possibly ironically, rather colourfully scaled Torrynt by the name of Kyvlar a bemused look, bordering on coy.

"Huh. 'Straight' to the point you say?" He paused with a small snort. "Well, my not-so-statuesque friend, do I got news for you~"

Kyvlar suddenly blanched, giving a Lyle a look that was like a knife to the heart while blurting out. "Wait, wait, wait! Hold up! We? There are more than one of you? Here? On this planet? Were you just a distraction the whole time. Oh... Oh no.... Have we really been victim a secret homo invasion this whole time! I-"

Their panicked monologue was interrupted by a most horrendous noise. Like a slowly dying tornado with the hiccups or something.

"STOP. Stop I-I can't. I can't. This is too much much!" Spoke Lyle with his hand covering the bottom half of his and his eyes scrunched shut.

'Welp,' thought the Torrynt, 'This is the end. This is when I die. I should have known better than to immediately put my trust in such an enormous obviously dangerous specimen. Ho-'

Kyvlar’s dramatic internal speech was interrupted when the alien surprised them by uncovering the his face, revealing a huge grin. ‘They weren't upset? Huh?’ The Torrynt blinked owlishly at the human in confusion.

"Sh*t, bite-size (Kyvlar noticeably paled at the impromptu nickname not 100% the foreign joking tone, well it would have been noticeable to someone their size at least), I know you don't mean to, context-wise, but you reminded me of my great aunt Karen when my Uncle Todd and Uncle Copper decide to have their friends over along with relatives for a gatherin'."

Plastering on a faux distraught look and blatantly mocking tone, he continue with exaggerated hand gestures. "Oh no, it's the...the...," he paused with snort, "... the homo invasion... No, no, no... Not here... not in this... this good, Christian neighborhood. Aren't just two of them enough? Oh woe is me!" The alien dropped the mocking tone and smirked towards the smaller being. "Heh. Good ol' great aunt Karen could never remember Uncle Todd was Jewish and so was the majority of that neighborhood.... It’s where my Uncle Todd was raised actually…"

The said smaller being just stared blankly at the homo-no-human they supposed as just “homo” meant something else, they weren’t sure what else, beyond just something else.

"Uhhm. Wh-what? U-Uhm, so what exactly is “homo” then? And what’s Christian? And Jewish too. What’s that? Are... Are those other types of -uh- intelligent, sentient creatures on your planet? Y-you know, b-beside hom-er-h-humans? Or are these subtypes of humans? What kinda are you? What is a great aunt? or Uncle? Does the great indicate a larger size? Oh gawd, a-aren't you humans b-big enough regularly? Oh... W-wait. O-or are you a great- uhm- great aunt, was it? E-er, g-great something? Ohhh. Zyntall (Torrynt swear). I'm sooo confused r-right now... " The timid tiny being, sighed in frustration before their eyes snapped open wide in a panic, and they did an immediate one-eighty with their behavior, and it was off all their previously trust, as wavering as it was, vanished in an instant, squeaking out a quick "sorry. oh, Z-zyntall... I'm so-so-sooo sorry. I-I hope I d-didn't offend y-you or anyth-thing... p-please, oh please, don't hurt me" while gazing everywhere except towards the much larger alien, hoping desperately the 'bite-size' nickname was just a bad joke...

Clearly they not only didn't get what so hilarious about the whole thing but also thought he was a monster prone to violence – still. Lyle sighed, all the mirth that was previously in his expression draining out of him leaving him with an uncomfortable grimace on their face. How disappointing... They really wish there was another human here to share in the jesting. But alas, that was not meant to be. At least as far as they knew there was no "homo invasion" in the making. Lyle wasn’t naïve. He knew humans were easy to slip into a gray moral state, at best. The role of villains at worst. And many of his kind would likely take advantage of a planet full of tiny, vulnerable people. Lyle couldn’t help but inwardly cringe at the thought, getting nervous about something that wasn’t an issue. At least now. Currently, human-wise, it was just him on this distant planet. And as far as he knew, no one - well, no other human at least- had any clue where they were. It probably just seemed he simply disappeared. Never to be seen again most likely. Trapped on this random alien planet in scenario that is akin to some sort of a personal hell of sorts.

'Wow. Hello, major depressive episode that’s making me overly dramatic. I haven't seen you since I was - what - eighteen?' thought Lyle regretfully. Calling this planet a personal hell was probably a bit over the top. But still, he couldn’t even seem to keep the trust of his single native ally. It only adds to his feelings of lonely isolation. And he feared his lonely angst will only get worse and worse. But only time will tell.

Giving a small sigh, he mentally prepped himself to try and get back his small friend’s trust. At least he was able to laugh for a wee bit earlier. It had been so long since he had done such. It was nice. Hopefully next time it will not lead to a backtracking in his attempted friendly ships with an open local, or even worse, a hostile local. The little laser guns that native being had stung like a b*tch. It reminded him when he got bit a couple times by some fire ants during a vacation as a child.

-----------

So yeah these were rando improvised characters made on the spot.

But Lyle is a guy (he/him. He’d be chill with they/them too)

And Kyvlar is… a Torrynt. So like they/them I guess. Torrynts don’t have genders. Like at all. I guess they hermaphroditic (intersex if talking by human terms but not really as they are capable of reproduction and they aren’t human so… I dunno… Not even sure if hermaphrodite is a useful term. As idk if hermaphroditic animals, in nature, are capable of reproduction… I don’t think so? But I’m not sure tbh…). There is no variants like there are with human “sex”. And male/female concepts are 200+% foreign to these wee reptile-like aliens (albeit warm-blooded minded, so perhaps more draconian than reptilian idk. Also aliens being described as reptilian gives me hives due to a conspiracy theory that is like super bigoted actually n’ stuff. Very yikes. Don’t want to talk it about it rlly…). Their reaction would def be “wtf. That’s the weirdest sh*t ever” to such a thought as male n female binary dynamics & whatnot. No exceptions. They’d be like why a lot of you guys limiting yourself because of whether or not you are a potential offspring vessel or not. I don’t understand.

So Yeah. Uh. Anyways.

Their conversation about this prolly (or close to this):

Lyle: Hi. I’m Lyle. Just some random dude form Earth I guess.

Kyvlar: a random dude what?

Lyle: uh. I’m a dude. I guess I meant that I’m a boy though dudes don’t really have to be boys I think. But not to derail too much… Yeah. I’m a man/guy/boy/brosef, whatever you wanna call the male gender. Please not by brosef actually, heh. Anyway. Yep. A boy. That is what I am. Uh. How about you. I can just tell… you ….you have uhm two legs. Oh damn. Wait. That sounded so stupid. I wouldn’t assume your gender or anything. I just… You don’t look exactly human so..uh. UGH. Nevermind. I don’t even know where I was going with that... Heh. ANYWAY, so yeah what’s your gender is what I’m trying to say. Sorry I’m awkward as f***. I’m not used to socializing much. Been doing deep space sh** on my own for a few years now and.. uh.. yeahhhh….

Kyvlar: *stares blankly*

Lyle: Uh. Yeah. So. A Gender? Do you, uhm, have one? Or…????

Kyvlar: Uh. I think so? I mean I’m mostly a day-by-day I’ll figure it out then type but I, I really want be able to fix my home up. I want to learn to cook. Kinda suck at it now. Uhm. I guess… Uh. I should probably help you get on good terms with my people so they stop trying to kill you. You seem nice n’ stuff… so yeah. There’s that. I could use a little more purpose in my life. Not to-

Lyle: wait. Huh? What are you talking about? Are you talking about an agenda?

Kyvlar: Yes????

Lyle: *snorts* I didn’t say an agenda. I said a gender. As in A. Gen. Durr. Like are male or female or maybe something off the typical binary track??

Kyvlar: Uh. Er. Huh??? I, I’m so confused right now…

Lyle: Hooo boy. I’m so not prepared for this discussion at all.

-----------

One of these days I’m gonna have a character that’s silver-tongue and smooth af and not some bumbling awkward doofus (*cough* like I am *cough*).

#g/t #g/t writing #i think this is sfw #i don't know why it wouldn't be #giant/tiny #giant dude #but he's really a human #it's like the crash landed on a hostile planet g/t trope #but the crash landed is a human #and he is the BIG #and the tinies are a bunch of hostile aliens #except for one #and they aren't really tiny #they are technically normal I think #i mean it is their turf yknow?#the tiny alien in this drabble is non-binary I guess #or maybe agender would be a better term?#the tiny aliens have no gender #or rather they have one gender #so it basically is means little to them identity to wise #like how humans are humans and thus that doesn't honestly say much about them.#except gender means even less to these aliens than that #not in a offensive way #in a they have no knowledge of gendered creatures so the concept of gender is very new to them #actually it's a non-issue to most of them because they don't give a shit about Lyle at all #oh your a guy #we don't care just die already #poor dude #he just wants a friend #but's awkward

9 notes · View notes

geekgemsspooksandtoons · 4 years ago

Text

Archie And Atlas

This is a story set within my Bioshock Rebirth AU. A reimaging/reboot of the Bioshock franchise. https://geekgemsspookyblog.tumblr.com/post/626141727587270656/bioshock-rebirth-timeline-this-is-a-timeline-of-an Just as a heads up if anyone is wondering about the context. I’ve had some stories in my drafts for a long time now and I’m finally publicly sharing them.

Deciding I’m gonna post this. I made this as a short story to a friend. Gonna add some stuff. @fishtankinhouse has read this before. I’ve been thinking of more stories and this was in my drafts for a long while.

So yeah understand this wasn’t made in my regular format of writing. Just finished the tags. I added some stuff and changed some things.

After a long while when Archie comes to Atlas's hideout. He finds the fisherman grabbing and opening a beer. No one is there. The man hears his footsteps. As Atlas took a chug, he turned his head to his left and saw Archie standing, holding a wrench for some reason. He assumed it was maybe to defend himself from any Splicers around. Even though the young man would hold up a gun usually. Atlas: Ah Arch you're here! You're back. You did it son! Nice work boyo! Archie: Yeah I did. Atlas: I was worried about you. Glad you're okay. Do you have the genetic key? Archie: Where's everyone else? Atlas: Oh some of the others went to a place to get more weapons for us in case. Daisy, Diane, and Bill are probably around here some where. But it's mainly me. Archie: Atlas I need to ask you something. Atlas: Sure lay it on me lad. Archie:.....how did you know of the trigger phrase? Atlas's eyes widened as he was drinking. Atlas:.....what? Archie: Ryan told me something. Atlas: Ryan told you something ey? Heh I wouldn't believe him. He'd probably say anything to make himself live longer. Even some weird shit about a trigger phrase. What the Hell are you talking about? Archie: Atlas.....I didn't kill Ryan......he put together some things. I discovered some things, recordings. Atlas:.......listen Arch I don't know what the Hell are you talking about? Maybe Ryan was going mad like I said before. Archie: How in the Hell did you know about the WYK programming?.......how did you know what Fontaine was gonna do before he died? How did you even know that phrase? You said it a couple of times when I was out there with Elizabeth. Atlas just looked surprised. Just honestly baffled. The look on Archie went from confused to more serious. Almost angry. Atlas was a man Archie he met this week. But the young man admired him. Because Atlas was filling in the hole left after his parents had died. To have a father figure after 4 years of being alone felt like the greatest feeling in the world. It was only made better when he got closer to Elizabeth, Tenenbaum, and those Little Sisters. But also meeting others like Jasmine, Diane, Daisy, and Bill made life felt different. Including whoever else. But the relationship with Atlas felt important. To Archie, he felt like he was looking at an older version of himself. Even though some of Atlas's ideas seem questionable and he was rough. But Atlas had the best intentions. It was the first time in years he felt like he had genuine best friend, or even a brother. But most importantly a father. Archie: Where are they? Atlas: Who are you talking about? Archie: Elizabeth and Tenenbaum. They were with you last. Atlas: Meh they went back to their safehouse. Archie: Atlas....be honest with me. What did you do to them? Besides they would of told me if they went back. Atlas:.....you know what I'm sorry I fibbed a bit there. I didn't wanna tell you this at first. But Elizabeth and Tenenbaum....they were just using you. Archie: What? Atlas: When you left them with me. Things changed. Elizabeth may seem like a sweetheart. But inside she's just a spoiled girl who was using you to get to Ryan. Even Tenenbaum was too. She wanted to get the Hell out of the city. But she teamed up with Elizabeth at first. You know to get rich in case.

Hearing this from Atlas, Archie’s heart began to break a little. Ever since he met Elizabeth this week. He had developed a sort of crush on her. Nothing too serious. Almost like a puppy dog crush. He loved her as a person and tried to make sure she didn’t go crazy after everything going on in Rapture. But she noticed how she seemed to get excited about this Atlas person.

She seemed to have this little crush on him. You couldn’t blame her. He had this charm to him. Even if he was married. It was sort of like how his own feelings towards Elizabeth. It almost felt like a bit of betrayal hearing this from Atlas.

Was she really using him? Maybe that’s why she acted so differently about Atlas. Archie’s feelings were so confused. *Atlas takes a chug of the beer again.* Atlas: You know what Elizabeth did after we were done with that call with you? She grabbed me and smacked her lips onto mine. So me and Daisy had to tie them up. We were heart broken to see who they were actually. I didn't wanna call you about it because you would be heart broken.

Archie’s sadness soon went into confusion. Tied up he said?

Archie: What you did what? You tied them up!?

Atlas: Arch just calm down. Archie: That's not true. Atlas: Arch......let me be honest with you. I've seen you got close with her. There's no shame in that. She's a beautiful girl. I don't blame you for liking her. I'm thinking she was getting tired of the nice girl act. That's when I noticed something was wrong. That's why I offered to look out for them. I needed to find out if they were truthful.....I'm just looking out for you Arch. I warned you about Tenenbaum. But I didn't knew Elizabeth would stoop that low. Archie:.....where are they?

Atlas: They’re not ready to talk now. Please understand that.

Archie: Then how did you know of the trigger phrase? Atlas: I don't know what trigger phrase you are talking about. But I'm gonna be honest with you and I may sound weird. I'll admit when Elizabeth kissed me. It was strangely amazing. Especially the taste....mmmmmm strawberries. Atlas just touched his lips when he said that. His mannerisms were different. When he was mentioning the so called kiss Elizabeth forced onto him. It looked like he was remembering it fondly instead of disgust. Because Atlas said he was a married man who had a baby child. In those moments. Archie finally realized and thinking back to what Atlas saying. It was that moment though he truly realized. Atlas was actually lying. In a quick second, Archie swung the wrench across to the left of Atlas's head. The man dropped the beer and it broke. While Atlas was surprised but couldn't do anything. He was knocked out.

Archie: Elizabeth! Brigid!

The young man had looked around the headquarters. It seems like nobody was around. He kept yelling out their names in case they would respond. Archie had made sure they were safe. He couldn’t handle the idea of something terrible happening to them. Until he heard Atlas’s radio go off and he heard Daisy’s voice.

Daisy: Atlas! We made it to Tenenbaum’s apartment. You sure Archie isn’t gonna find us....I’m sorry I don’t believe Arch may go against us. I can understand these two bitches using him. But Arch....I just can’t believe that...Atlas can you read me? Is everything okay? We brought Ryan’s kid and Tenenbaum here. Do you not have your radio on you?

Archie heard Daisy’s voice. He knew they had them. Now he just had to find Brigid’s apartment. He remembered a little during talks with Brigid at her safehouse. Olympus Heights is what she mentioned. He decided to try to rush over there as fast as he can.

#bioshock #bioshock rebirth #archie wynand #atlas #bioshock au

18 notes · View notes

isocrime · 5 years ago

Note

Please give us some smut tips

1) get comfortable with dirty words

Pick words you’ll be using for junk and desensitize yourself to them. Nobody wants to see “maidenhood” in a sexy context (or ever), but it doesn’t feel comfortable to write “cunt” either unless you practice. Same for cock, dick, balls, asshole, erection, nipples, tits — descriptions of all the physical parts are necessary to write explicit sex, and it’s a necessary evil. Repetition makes it easier. you are now a member of the PEN15 club, get used to it

2) match kinks and emotions

sex scenes should be approx one third filthy body slappin’ and two thirds FEEEEEEELINGS. ideally the filthy bits and the feelings bits should be related to each other. if your characters have Issues, use kinks that will drag those issues out into the open! then it’s all sexy because every tiny action is laden with intent and anticipation, all ooooooooOOoh look who’s having all his walls broken down and giving in to pleasure! the earthy body stuff arouses all these feelings that are then connected to broader emotions and boom, your porn without plot is now Deep.

when i have a fic with Emotions in it and i want to write some hot hot lovin’, i go shopping around for kinks like i’m picking out a top to match my pants. so, say i want to write about how tasha stark from 3490 is visiting 616 and tony is a wreck because he loves steve and steve doesn’t love him back and woe is tony! so like, tasha’s looking at him with pity and a little bit of contempt because how is he such a disaster in his personal life, and tony looks at tasha with terrible yearning and self-loathing, but he’ll die before he shows it and i go hm........what sex will pair best with this snack? tasha topping him into next week is good, obviously, and she needs to fuck into him the fact that he needs to ask steve out. so she could peg him all “this is just how i fuck steve, now you know exactly what he likes, what he’d feel like if you fucked him just right” and “you want me to describe his dick? i don’t have to, i made this toy from his measurements. get on your knees and kiss it, dude-me. how’s it feel to be so fucking close to sucking steve’s cock and still too much of a coward to get it?” until tony’s basically crying because he wants it so bad and she’s satisfied that she’s taught him a real good lesson about being a weenie. or there’s other kinks that could work. they could be making a sex tape because 3490 steve shyly told natasha that he thought it would be hot, and then tony spends the whole time obsessing over the fact that not-his-steve is going to see this, and thinking about what if his steve was watching. some stuff doesn’t work: i thought about mirrors but that’s not about steve -- it’s more kinking on how trippy it is to fuck your clone.

sometimes i also start with a kink and work backwards to the emotions. lets say i want to write some bloodplay. what’s emotionally resonant with that? with 616 steve, he’s always worried that someone will take his blood and the serum will fall into evil hands. you could focus on how tony was taking something precious from steve, something steve’s sworn to protect, and steve wants tony to do it because he wants tony to have a piece of him. then the emotional core could be “steve trusts tony to do this which means he trusts him with his life,” and maybe tony hadn’t been sure of that but once steve’s bleeding tony realizes he's looking at something incredibly dangerous and valuable and if steve trusts him with this steve must trust him with everything.

that stuff really amplifies the sexiness. the body stuff is like “the blood smeared red where tony had just cut steve and was drying in rusty flakes in the older ones and that made tony’s dick hard because it was so sexy to see steve bleed, the blood is sexy, sexy blood yes sexy” and then you add emotions which are all “tony wiped steve’s back with a towel and it came away bright with blood, which tony realized made the towel into something people would kill for, holy shit nobody else could get this close to steve with a scalpel without a fight” and without the second part mixed in it’s not nearly as spicy.

3) use metaphors for orgasm

orgasms, like pain, are indescribable. if you want to write a vivid word-picture of how somebody feels when they come, you have to use figurative language. a lot of times, because it’s hard to describe orgasms, a sex scene will speed right through it and it’ll feel (heh) anticlimactic. my fix for this problem is to write a big honking paragraph of metaphor every single time. i try to avoid like, swirly sunburst galaxies of pleasure, but without something flowery you’re just stuck saying synonyms for “finish” and “pleasure” and describing jizz, which i can only keep up (heh) for so long.

#there are more tips but i'm limiting myself to three per ask #Anonymous

26 notes · View notes

defectivenancydrew · 5 years ago

Text

MID Review (finally)

Now that I’ve had a while to reflect on MID, I feel like I can give an honest, spoiler-free review. This turned out to be a much more in-depth review than I had planned on doing, but you can just read the italics at the end of each section if you just want the gist.

Controls: Okay, so for like the first fifteen minutes (or however long it takes you to adjust), the controls are frustrating. Once you get used to how to move (and it is still point-and-click), you’ll be fine. The only thing that I still didn’t have a solid grasp of by the end of the game was moving Nancy’s head around with the right mouse button--it might have helped to slow the mouse down for this function. That being said, the controls offer a lot to the game. The environments and navigation feel more realistic, and instead of jumping from scene to scene, Nancy slides through the space. It’s weird at first, but it’s ultimately superior. (Just for kicks, I went back and played a bit of LIE as a comparison, and the jumpy movement felt so weird after the smoothness of MID). Controls get a 8/10 for the steep learning curve and the more realistic movement.

Graphics: They’re not that bad, okay? On high render, the environments actually look really good and the characters are decent (low render is an understandably different story). Given the technical reasons behind the graphics looking as the do (full 3D render here versus painstakingly painted video files before), I don’t think that they’re really that bad. Puzzle renders and zoomed-in items/POIs really shine, appearing arguably better than previous games. It’s also important to consider what SCK/STFD look like compared to SEA--MID obviously looks better than SCK/STFD, but it has room for improvement. Just like the development team refined the graphics on their proprietary engine, they will refine the graphics on Unity over time. Again, looking back to the first three games, there is a huge jump in graphics quality between each game, indicating their ability to improve quickly. I’m willing to best that the next game (yes, I believe there will be a ‘next game’) will look much better than MID, and so on from there. Character renders are not as great, but this, too, is likely to improve and is probably also due to the fact that it’s 3D and not a painted video file. Their movements may be awkward, but the fact that they are mo-cap means that they may improve in future games. The only real gripe I have about the characters is the lack of facial expressions. Graphics get a 7/10 for up-close realism and room for improvement.

Performance: If you have a gaming PC or a relatively new device, you should be golden. The game runs smoothly at high render on my 2018/i7/SSD PC, but has some lagging issues at high render on my 2014/i5/HDD PC (issues that all but disappear by adjusting to low render). For those with older PCs or PCs with less processing-power, you may have to deal with way-off lip-syncs and choppy cut scenes if you also want to see the best possible graphics. The game only crashed once on my older PC (and it was more likely due to unrelated background processes I was running), but the autosave feature prevents crashes from being anything more than a brief annoyance. Performance gets a 6/10 for high requirements and the Sophie’s Choice of graphics or speed.

UI: I love the sleek, full-screen appearance and minimalist inventory/phone bar. If I had to ask for any improvements here, I might suggest that the inventory collapse into a bag icon when it’s not in use. UI gets 10/10 for maximizing space and minimizing distractions.

Environment (independent of graphics): HeR definitely stepped up their game (heh) on this front. While there are arguably no more locations to explore than in SEA, the environment is far more expansive and cohesive. You feel like you are in a small town (Salem), and you have the freedom to explore all the relevant places without jumping around or magically transporting. There’s only one location that is distant from the town center, and Nancy travels via car to get back and forth, which adds a dose of realism. We have our usual forest navigation (though it is mercifully straight-forward, unlike DOG or CAP), with the added bonus of looking around and using it to get from one place to another. The game makes good use of each space, though it’d be nice if there was more to do in certain lesser-used locations. Some of the locations really only seemed to be present to flesh out the whole environment--which is fine--but it’d be nice to utilize those locations a bit more. And when graphics are set high, the environments are quite stunning. The lighting and weather also do a good job of reinforcing the current atmosphere in-game. Environment gets a 9/10 for cohesion and light usage.

Characters (independent of graphics, story): This is probably one of the spots where MID won me over. Not only do we have eleven (11!) official characters, we have background characters that make the setting real! I didn’t count, but there were probably 10+ background characters that were present for minor commentary and realistic liveliness. For the first time in a Nancy Drew game, I wasn’t questioning where the rest of the world was. Yes, their movements were awkward and if your computer couldn’t handle the graphics, then their lips were flapping in mysterious ways, but they moved around and interacted with each other in semi-human ways. It is absolutely baffling to me that there are people who think there were too many characters. For one thing, we as fans asked HeR for more characters and that’s what they gave us. For another, the game never felt crowded. There were seven characters that were considered “main” that you interacted with often, three side characters that you interacted with occasionally, and one character that you only interacted with once. If they hadn’t been fully-formed characters with solid backstories, I might be persuaded that the number was an issue, but almost all of the characters were fully- or mostly-developed. Characters gets a 10/10 for quantity and quality.

Puzzles: This is probably the one facet of the game where it is most clear that HeR listened to fans’ requests. We asked for more realistic puzzles that were integrated into the game play and not totally irrelevant. That’s what we got. For some people, I think this made it seem like there were fewer puzzles, but I think there were just as many as before, it just wasn’t always super obvious that you were solving a puzzle (and they all but eliminated chore-type puzzles). The cooking mini game and serving mini game were both fun, nostalgic time-wasters in the best of ways. Another nice thing about the puzzles was that they weren’t super difficult as long as you were paying attention, so there wasn’t any need to google solutions or get frustrated. Puzzles get a 9/10 for fan service and perception (after all, perception is reality).

Story: MID really shines when it comes to the story line. The game delves into the full history of Salem, rightfully choosing to discuss topics that were always skirted in earlier games (prejudice, discrimination, slavery, torture, etc.). My only issue regarding the presentation of history is that a lot of the learning is optional, and can be easily ignored or missed. The actual story line of the game is well-established and doesn’t have any gaping plot holes (at least that I noticed on my first play through). There are multiple crimes to solve, multiple items to recover, and thus multiple endings/outcomes to achieve. I can’t go into too much more detail without spoiling parts of the game, but suffice it to say that the story has depth and gravity that might even place it ahead of previous games. Story gets a 10/10 for more mature themes and multiple, successfully interweaving story lines.

Dialogue: While the content of the dialogue is great and forms the foundation for much of the story, it loses me in presentation. First, the line-by-line captioning system is awkward at best, and a monologue behind at worst. I see no reason not to present the player with sentences or paragraphs at a time as before. Second, dialogue options are not so much options as dialogue tasks. You have questions you can ask, but there is no choice of how to ask them or how to respond to an answer. For the most part, you are just choosing the order in which to ask things. This, in my opinion, is a step backward from the previous games, where Nancy could be optimistic, pessimistic, direct, or passive-aggressive. Lastly, there is a strange lack of subject in Nancy’s sentence structure at times. She says “should do xyz” instead of “I should do xyz,” or “wanted to ask about abc” instead of “I wanted to ask you about abc.” While this isn’t really too weird in the context of modern speech patterns, it is still a little awkward. There are examples of this in previous games when Nancy speaks to herself, but never in dialogue with other characters. Again, this isn’t a big deal, but it crops up enough to make it noticeably strange. Dialogue gets a 6/10 for solid content and poor presentation.

Music: At first, the music seems to be nothing special; the main theme is quiet, unassuming, and a bit repetitive at times. But much like the rest of the game, it gets better as you progress. The music in Luminous Infusions and at the end of the game really stick out as great pieces, although the rest of the tracks are also very well-composed. There is thematic continuity between tracks and the tracks also reflect the game’s current atmosphere well. The music, while from a new composer, is still reminiscent of the old games, particularly the mystical tracks in CUR. I’m hoping HeR releases a soundtrack for MID in the future, but I do know there are no current plans for an official soundtrack (though you can find unofficial ones on YouTube pretty easily). Music gets a 10/10 for quality and cohesion.

Nancy: Nancy finally sounds like the late teen that she is meant to be! Nancy is witty and assertive, no longer speaking with the voice of a thirty-year-old and expressing the thoughts of a thirteen-year-old. The new voice actress is just what Nancy’s voice needed, in my opinion, though I have admittedly been a supporter of replacing Lani since about DED/GTH (don’t get me wrong, I love Lani and she will always be the classic voice of Nancy in my head, but I could also admit that her voice was losing its spark and pep). It takes a little while to get used to the new voice, but once it stops sounding different, it’s easy to fall in love with. Another great aspect of Nancy 2.0 is that she’s willing to get into it with other characters, even if they are in a position of authority. Nancy has always been an assertive character who stands up for what is right, even if it’s not easy to do. We see the return of this kind of Nancy in MID, and I hope we don’t lose her in future games. The only thing that I found a tad bit odd was how sugar-sweet Nancy was toward Deirdre. I like how their relationship was updated in order to model more appropriate/healthy female friendships, but it is a little weird considering the canon interaction model set forth by ASH and DED. Nancy’s other relationships have also matured and improved. Nancy gets a 10/10 for assertiveness and expressiveness.

Physical Copy: Well, almost two weeks after the release date, I finally got my physical copy of MID. This is unprecedented, as I always received physical pre-orders the day of or even the day before release. The long wait drove me to buy the digital download, which I didn’t mind doing, but this could be very frustrating for those not willing to pay for the game twice. I was disappointed to find that the disc art is just a copy of the cover art (which is minimalist at best), and not a characteristic color like the other games. The box art seems like it was put together at the last minute, not unlike the cover art. If it weren’t for my compulsive need to own all of the physical copies, I probably would have skipped it. Physical copy gets a 1/10 for slow delivery and lackluster appearance.

Weird Things to Complain About: Yes, there is one background character whose voice sounds like it was recorded on a Motorola Razr, but she says one sentence that you don’t even have to listen to. Yes, some of the background characters are overt clones, but we’ve never even had background characters to complain about before. Should there have been more to do in the Hathorne House or other one-off locations? Yeah, probably, but we were given a ton of locales to visit. The characters were always bobbing around and breathing, but--surprise!--this is something that real humans do. Did their feet/hands occasionally meld with other objects or the environment? Sure, but why were you looking at their feet during a conversation? Admittedly, Teegan sometimes looked like she was trying to scare off a bear or prepare for flight, even I can’t argue that that wasn’t odd. But for the most part, these are minor, petty issues. There weren’t gaping plot holes, there was actually a mystery to solve (looking at you, MED), and we got a lot of the things that we asked for over the years. There is always room for improvement, and this game is certainly no exception. I expect that the next game will make refinements based on our feedback and be even better. HeR completely changed the Nancy Drew game formula, but they used our input as a guide. They’ll take what we say about MID into consideration with the next game, and hopefully over time we will see the same level of improvement we saw from SCK to SEA. They started from scratch, and even though they had five years to work on it, the first time you try something new is almost always the worst. I don’t condone the way they treated us over the hiatus or how they treated their own staff, but I don’t think it’s time to abandon ship yet. If you play this game with nostalgia goggles on and a closed mind, you’re going to hate it, you’re going to ask for a refund. If you go into it with an open mind and excitement for something new, you might just find that you like MID more than you’d care to admit. Weird things to complain about gets an 8/10 for minor oddities that should be expected in a pilot endeavor.

Conclusion: Change is inevitable. If you were around when TMB came out, you might remember the absolute uproar that came with the UI change. People threatened to walk away from the series because of the new menu screen and bulkier interface. If you’ve played the original SCK and STFD, then you know how drastically the games improved over the span of a single year. And compare those games to SEA and it’s clear that the games are always improving. But you have to start (or in this case, restart) somewhere, and MID is our new starting point. The games will get better, and we’ll still find things to complain about (like we always do), because there is always room for improvement. There’s no point in lamenting about how good the game would have looked on the old engine, because that misses the point. The old engine could not deliver what we as fans desired. It could not handle more than six characters or more than eight hours (this is being generous) of game play. It couldn’t give us more expansive environments or smoother navigation. The new engine gave us all of these things, but sacrificed a bit of graphics. Big whoop. I’m willing to bet that none of us got into the games for their graphics, especially those of use who became fans early on in the games’ history. Bottom line? HeR gave us a good game. Not their best game, maybe not even one of their better games, but it’s certainly better than MED or SCKR. And hey, at least we finally got the game. Midnight in Salem gets an 80%, an admirable B-, because the effort and progress is there, but there are definitely things that they could have done better.

#nancy drew #clue crew #midnight in salem #mid #review #open to feedback #wow this was way longer than i intended it to be

65 notes · View notes

marie-lamb-b · 5 years ago

Text

Why wolves howl

Alright, so. Yesterday he had a black out at my home thanks to some branches that made the electricity wires to explode right behind my house/straight in front of My window/right above our hen coop (chickens are fine, nothing happened to them).

But although I had no light, I started to itch with an idea and I wrote this 4 pages lenght story with no names, no context, no fandom afiliated nor headcanon implied (for now, maybe I'll rewrite and reuse this thing for something in the future, but not for now.) Nice excersice to get out of the block!

The only clues I could give: one is tall, older (than the other) with hazel eyes; and the other is at least a foot shorter, younger and with brown eyes.

Hope you enjoy it!! ^-^

-----

"What are you doing up here?" He asked as he closed the door to the roof right behind him.

His hazel eyes trailed where the other was; sitting on the edge, his tail out of his pants and swinging with lazy content as well as his legs over the building's border. As he approached him, he saw the sweet, mirthful smile he had drawn on his face as he stared contemplative to the half-formed moon.

"Do you know why wolves howl?" The smiling young man asked him, not tearing his sight off the moon and not directly noticing the confounded stare his new companion threw at him. "It is to communicate with other wolves. They can warn a foreign that's their territory, or alert their fellows about something. But mostly, they do it because they have someone; a family, a friend, they're members of a pack, a clan. It also means, lone wolves don't howl." He broke stares with the moon and turned towards the man next to him, letting him also see his pointed ears that peeked up as he took off his cap. "Ever since I'm with you, that you are with me, I've had to swallow the urge to howl around, specially when I was in need or pain. I feared to give out what I am, who I am, specially in front of you, that you'd recoil and leave me for good." His voice wobbled a hint and his eyes glistened with menacing tears, but the fondness in his smile only grew. "But... I guess with all we've been through, that was kinda absurd, wasn't it?" He let out an airy laugh as he got off of the roof's edge to stand right in front of the other man, brown eyes locked into his hazel ones, though couldn't really control the swinging of his tail, not like he really wanted it to stop.

The man, still dumbfounded over his behaviour, couldn't help the loopsided smile that tugged on his lips. He really was cute with ears and tail popped out, but couldn't really match the pieces, just taking the other's speech as just matters of facts of the reality.

"Why are you telling me this?" He asked right away, as he pressed his hand to the side of the younger one's face, sweeping with his thumb some loose hair back that had no human ear to acomodate behind, all the while leaning on his sweet stare.

And so, with the tenderness of his other to rely on, he took a soft breath that released on a dreamy sigh. "Because I don't wanna keep swallowing that urge. I wanna howl out and loud that I'm with you, and you're with me. That I finally have someone that makes me feel at home, makes me feel safe, that I belong somewhere. I wanna howl... for you... I love you... so much..." He let the silence to fill on the rest, as not much else he could add.

Eyes on eyes, dreamy ones versus contemplative others, the taller one couldn't help but release a snort before the giggles. And with a long, heavy sigh, the other just tilted down his head and shook it lightly; he knew it wasn't a mockery of any sorts.

"Alright... sorry... sorry..." He breathed out once he calmed a bit. "But seriously, are you asking me permission of sorts?"

And the orther simply shrugged. "More like making a dedication for you." He stated as he enclosed him with his arms around, crossing them behind him and up until reaching his shoulders.

And his reaction to that was a smirk with some sort of playful defiance in his hazel eyes, grabbing him as well by the waist and resting his arms lazily around his hips, closing the space between them.

"You know you surely will make the dogs around the block to burst with barks and..." He lifted his wrist momentarily to watch the time before returning to his relaxed hug. "...is past 11 in the night. A lot of people will start to yell and complain about."

"They won't know who started it." He breathed softly, eyes half lidded, as he expected for the certainly approbatory response of his lover.

"Alright then." He whispered as he closened slowly the space between their lips. "I'd love to hear your song."

And with no more ado, both their lips pressed together in a deep kiss. Savouring the taste of the other, hands started to trail on their backs in a passionate frenzy, each claiming the other as theirs. Air was been stolen from the lungs of each, making them to agitatedly recover it by their nosetrills, in quick and short successions that made their heart rates to increasingly hit against their chest faster, stronger. Even stood up, the taller one's leg tangled around the shorter's, pressing him against his hip and asserting his domain over the other's self.

Their rush might have lasted several minutes, but the excitement of the young man impulsed them to break apart an instant. His breaths were excitedly ragged, a wide, toothy beam plastered on his now wolfish face, with his nose now turned black and his mouth slightly elongated forward, giving away more of the façade his other already knew. Even his tail hit side by side frantic, getting to brush his lover's legs with each hit.

Breathing shortly in, trying to hold as much air as he could manage, he felt the burst rising from the bottom of his belly and up through his rapid beating heart and upper to his throat. And with little anticipation, he recoiled a bit before shooting his whole head upwards to the sky and moon, howling with a profound sentiment of joy and excitement towards whom was his lovingly saving grace, his protector, the one who kept him safe and warm with the pure love he gave to him. He howled with passion, with eagerness; he howled as loud and long as his lungs allowed him. And he joined him.

He actually didn't though that howling would sound anything like real wolves sound, but he was a real wolf after all in a sense. And seeing him so eager to show the world what he was capable of, all for him- his family; he really called him his family with this!-, he couldn't help but be infected with the mirth he was spreading around them, and join his howling with one of his own; a lousy, off-key, cracking howl that couldn't match the wolf man's one, not in harmony, volume, or even time that his howling lasted. But it didn't matter.

He wanted to howl along, to share what's his. It didn't matter how perfect he could do it (he already was), nor the dogs around the block already barking and howling by their own; he was his lover, he was his partner, his boyfriend, and now he was declaring he belonged to his family as well. It only increased his excitement, and joyous tears dripped down his cheeks as he shoot once again to the sky with a louder, higher-pitched howl to encompass the man's sweet crude howling.

But he was right. Every dog in like 4 blocks around started to hysterically bark and howl meaningless, and people also, be them their owners or not, started to shout along with claims and complains for the animals to shut up. And as soon as them both stopped to howl for each other and stared to their brown and hazel eyes, couldn't help the fit of giggles that bursted in them both over the foretold situation.

"Oh, I told you this was gonna happen!" He playfully remarked as soon as they both were able to regain composture. "I can't... I can't believe I just... followed you with the howlings!" He added, unable to hide the blushing tint, not even in the dark night.

"Honestly, neither could I...! But..." He stayed still for an instant, collecting his thoughts out of the rush and tenderly looking at him, rubbing his own tears away. "I loved it... that you joined me." He leaned his arms over his shoulders. "I love you so much, do you know it?"

"I can't not know it, you say so all the time." He replied humorously with a brow arched, but it quickly softened. "I love you too, so very much."

That answer made him earn pecks all around his neck, his cheeks, his nose. But as before, as excitement grew, also grew his wolfish urged, and the pecks quickly turned into soft licks that started to leave him all drooled over with each frantic "dog smooch".

"Hey, hey! Stop- stop that, you--!" He tried to complain, to resist, but couldn't really manage to do more among the snickers he let out of the tickles the smooches provoqued him. And so, he tried to recoil, only to stumble with their own tangled legs and fall into his back, sending his boyfriend over him and making him stop the affection show.

He gave him a sheepish grin as he stood up and off from him, ceasing the swing of his tail as he helped the other on his feet once again. And as he saw the other dusting off his back, he was ready for the lecture he would give him, even retreating his latest wolfish features, keeping although his ears pinned back and his tail low and hidden between his legs. One of the things he always feared, to give in on his nature and instincts and getting to hurt someone, especially him.

He saw him straighteing up, move towards him, hold him by the shoulders and give him a... soft peck on his forehead. The surprise made his ears peek up again, dumbfounded about the reaction he surely didn't expect, even tilting his head a bit to the side.

"Heh, have I told you how adorable you are?"

His blush was blazing just like the moon shone, and its warm was warily saved by his lover's hands on his cheeks.

Although, he pinned his ears down again, and lowered his stare below where the other's hands were.

"I'm sorry." He pouted unwittingly as his cheeks were still pressed. But couldn't keep his eyes down much longer, as those gentle hands moved lower so one could lift his chin and the othe could brush his hair strands.

"Hey, is alright. You don't have to apologize, alright? I love you, for real. And I meant it when I said you look cute."

"You said 'adorable'." He lifted his brow, confidence slowly returning as the other gave him a light heartful smile and laugh, to what he couldn't do much but stretch his own wary smile.

And with locked stares, the taller bent a little to softly, tenderly kiss his other. Might not be as fervent nor as long as the previous, but was as deep and meaningful like any other.

After a short while they parted lips, but not so their stares, both raptured in the other's eyes.

"I love the way you are. But when you want to howl again, better we go to a more aparted place. I don't think the neighbors will be too thrilled to hear all the dogs around barking in the middle of the night." He commented, noticing the subsiding barks from around, albeit the people's yelling did a lot to opacate the remaining dog talk.

With not much more left, he turned to the roof door, sliding his hand down by his arm, hooking slightly their finger tips before parting to the door, leaving the gesture as an implicit invitation for the other to do so as well. But he barely could move from his frozen spot.

'When he wanted to howl again', he said. He practically was expecting it from him. He wanted him to be himself, but also reading between lines wholehearted commands in regards to his safety. Gosh, how could he fall for someone as perfect as him!

"You aren't gonna stay standing there all night, are you?" He shouted back, and the wolfish young man responded, making his way next to him as he kept the door opened for them, tail swinging softly.

As they stood there, a new soft kiss was pressed into their lips before entering back to their home, but he couldn't really take the idea off his head.

Where could be a well aparted place so they could go and howl together...

#I did a thing!#I wrote a thing!#Lamb's work #undefined tag #shape-shifting #were-wolf #m/m

10 notes · View notes

sleepy-summoner · 5 years ago

Text

dirsteh (summoner)/silas supports c-s

here are the dirlas summoner supports! they continue off of the FB conversations :^)

i’ve also had the a and s supports done for a while, but all the new summoner content inspired me to finish the others!

(this is also self-indulgent as hell but w/e)

C Support

S: Did you need me for something, Dirsteh?

D: Yeah! Remember how I said I was going to help you find your strengths? Well, that starts today! I was going to introduce you to the squad, and then we’re going out for a little training. While you guys get your exercise, it should give me a feel for how you are in combat. Does that sound good to you?

S: Uh, wow... Y-yeah, that sounds great.

D: ...Is something the matter?

S: No, not at all! I’m surprised you have a plan so quickly.

D: Hah! Well, I’ve done the same kinda thing with most of the Heroes here, so you could say I’ve had some practice.

D: Anyway, lemme introduce you to the crew. First, we have Ephraim! He’s the prince of Renais from the continent of Magvel.

E: Nice to meet you. *grins* Hope I can get a good sparring match out of you!

D: Eph, you just met the guy and you already want to fight him? *sighes and shakes head as Ephraim shrugs*

D: Next, this is Reinhardt! He’s a general of Friege from the continent of Jugdral. He’s equally skilled with magic and swords...but I asked him to use his sword today to add some balance to the team.

R: *nods curtly* A pleasure, Sir Silas.

D: And lastly, we have Gunnthrá, the eldest princess of Nifl. She’ll be supporting us with her really cool magic! (Heh, “cool”...)

G: *smiles gently* It is very nice to meet you, Sir Silas. I look forward to working together with you.

S: *bows* It is my honor to meet all of you. I’m very eager to work with you all, and I hope I can pull my weight.

D: *pats Silas on the back* Oh, you don’t have to worry about that! I’m sure you’ll do fine.

D: With that out of the way, let’s saddle up and head out!

—

D: So...how’d the first day go?

S: Really well! It’s interesting to see how people of other worlds fight compared to what I’ve learned as a knight of Nohr. I’m definitely learning a lot!

S: That Prince Ephraim though... He’s amazing! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone take out so many people so quickly!

D: Yeah, Eph is pretty good! He’s one of the strongest we have in the Order, so I trust him to take care of a lot of things on the battlefield. I poked fun at him before, but I would definitely recommend that you take him up on his offer! You could absolutely learn a ton from sparring with him.

S: Will do. I’m excited to see how much I can improve from training with other Heroes!

D: I’m happy to hear that! As for me, from today’s training I think I’ve got a better idea of your abilities in combat. It might take me a bit longer to come up with a definite plan for you, but it shouldn’t take too long!

S: Sounds good to me. I can’t thank you enough for all your help, Dirsteh. At the very least, I promise to work my hardest to be a knight you can be proud to have in your service!

D: Oh, don’t sweat it too much! You’re doing a fine enough job as it is.

D: Anyway, good work today! I’ll call on you whenever I need you for some more training.

S: *salutes/bows* Of course.

[Dirsteh and Silas have reached support rank C.]

B Support

S: You wanted to see me, Dirsteh?

D: Oh! Hi Silas! Yes, I think I’ve figured out your role for this army!

S: Is that right? Well, lay it on me.

D: So I had a hunch the first few times we went out training and even back when went looking for tea leaves with Alfonse. I talked with the others and they pretty much confirmed my suspicions. Eph tells me that in your spars with him that while you may not exactly match him in physical strength, he has a hard time getting past your defenses. Rein and Gunn also note that you’re very protective, often taking hits meant for them. On the other hand, you seem to struggle with defending against magic-users and dragons, but I do have a few ideas on how we could improve on that.

D: In all, I think you could work really well as a protector to pull others out of danger, and maybe even draw out enemies with your good defensive capabilities!

D: ...Phew, that was a lot. So, what do you think?

S: *mouth agape* ...

D: Oh God, I broke Silas. Are you OK? I’m so sorry, I dumped all of that on you so quickly...

S: I’m fine! It’s just...you figured out all of that in such a short period of time? You’re incredible, Dirsteh, you know that?

D: *blushes* Oh! Well... *looks away bashfully* Like I said, I’ve done this before, so it’s nothing too special, but thank you...

D: You’re the one who’s been working so diligently this whole time, though! So if there’s anyone who’s incredible, it’s you.

S: Y-you really think so?

D: *smiles brightly* Yes! Ever since you were summoned, you’ve been one of the hardest workers in the Order of Heroes. I’m super proud of how far you’ve come.

S: *blushes and rubs back of neck* Goodness...that really means a lot coming from you. Thank you.

D: Of course! Also...there is something else. I’ve also...uh, been thinking of rewarding you for all your hard work.

S: A reward?

D: Yep! Anything you want from me! Like a new weapon or whatever, or anything you want to do.

S: Well... *ponders for a few seconds* How about we go on a picnic together? I’d love to see the scenery around Askr outside the context of a battlefield.

D: Huh? A picnic?

S: Is something wrong? I can try to think of something else if you want.

D: No, you’re fine! I just didn’t expect that as your answer. A picnic sounds great, actually! Next time I’m free, we can go. *grins* I call bringing dessert!

S: Haha, of course! Whatever you want to make.

D: *claps hands excitedly* It’s a da—uh, I mean... We have plans, then! This is going to be so much fun—I can’t wait!

[Dirsteh and Silas have reached support rank B.]

A Support

S: Dirsteh, you didn’t tell me you were a baker! These are amazing!

D: Oh! Well, thank you! I used to bake a lot for my family back in my world. But lately I haven’t had the time to bake, so I’m glad I haven’t lost my touch.

D: You’re a pretty good cook yourself! The food you made was delicious!

S: Really? *rubs back of neck sheepishly* Ah, well... I don’t consider myself a great chef by any means, but I’m happy you enjoyed it.

D: Maybe a little too much... *sprawls out on the blanket and groans* Ugh, I think I ate so much, I might get the itis.

S: *also lays down and faces Dirsteh* “Itis”? What’s that?

D: Oh, it’s a term from my world. It’s just that sleepy feeling you get after eating a big meal.

S: I see...

S: ...

S: Dirsteh, I’m curious. What’s your world like?

D: My world? Hmm... Where do I even start?

D: Well, first off, it’s way more advanced than Askr. Like...hundreds of years more advanced.

S: H-hundreds of years?

D: Yep! We have buildings that can be over a hundred floors tall, metal cars we can drive without the help of animals, water that flows with the turn of a knob...

S: Whoa... That sounds amazing!

D: Yeah, it’s pretty convenient! I definitely took it for granted before I was summoned to this world. Honestly, thinking about it now, I still miss some of that stuff from my world.

S: Oh. I’m sorry. It really must have been hard for you to adjust.

D: *waves hand dismissively* It’s OK. It was difficult at first, but I think I’ve gotten used to it for the most part.

D: Though...the thing that was the hardest for me to get used to was being constantly at war.

S: Are there no wars in your world?

D: There are, but they either happened in the past or they’re far away from where I live. I’ve only really known peace, so suddenly being summoned and thrust in the middle of a war was...a challenge for me, to say the least. I was just a nobody studying medicine, and now I command an entire army! All this responsibility stresses the hell out of me, and sometimes I still feel out of place here!

D: ...Oh! Sorry, you just wanted to hear about my world and I started venting...

S: No, no, it’s OK! I had no idea you were under this much stress...

D: Yeah, well... As the Order of Heroes’ tactician, I feel like I should be this confident, level-headed leader, so I try my best to hide it. I don’t really want anybody to worry themselves over me.

S: Dirsteh... Everybody here cares about you and your wellbeing, myself included. You may be our tactician, but you’re also a person. You shouldn’t feel like you have to bottle up your real feelings to be a strong leader.

S: In fact, if I may... I think you’re the strongest of us all. We come from worlds that are similar to this one, so there’s not too much that we had to adjust to. But you... You had to adjust the most out of all of us, and I think you’ve done an amazing job. You’ve led the Order to so many victories, you’ve saved entire kingdoms from ruin, and you’ve helped a lot of people here, even someone like me. So please don’t feel like you aren’t already a good leader.

D: *wipes corners of eyes and nods* ...Yeah, I guess you’re right. Thank you for that.

D: Heh... This is kinda a reversal from before, huh? It’s almost like the pep talk I gave you when we were looking for those tea leaves.

S: Speaking of, do you remember what I said around that time? I said that I wanted us to be the kind of friends that can talk about anything.

S: Now, would you consider us friends?

D: Wha... You’re so silly, Silas. Of course I do!

S: *holds up hands defensively* Just wanted to make sure! Anyways, I meant what I said. If you ever have any worries, feel free to vent them to me. Or if you ever need advice, ask, and I’ll do whatever I can to help.

D: That’s so sweet of you! But I can’t let you shoulder all of the burden! So the same goes for me.

S: Haha, of course. Now...is there anything else you wanted to talk about?

D: Hmm... Oh yeah! So my family...

[Dirsteh and Silas have reached support rank A.]

S Support

S: *sigh*

D: (Oh, there’s Silas. Though he seems a little worked up... I should make sure he’s all right before we head out.)

S: ...

D: Hey Silas!

S: GAAAH!

D: Oh gosh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.

S: I-it’s OK, Dirsteh. What did you need?

D: I was just going to let you know that we’re about to head out in a little bit for a mission from Commander Anna. I’ve already let the others in the team know, so they should be at the stables getting ready right now. Though...are you OK? You seem a little jumpy.

S: Y-yes, I’m fine. I was just lost in my thoughts, that’s all.

D: You sure?

S: *wordlessly nods*

D: Um...OK. Well, lemme just walk you to the stables and I’ll explain our mission along the way.

—

D: ...Anyway, it’s just a simple scouting mission. Nothing too hard, I think.

S: Right...

D: Well, I’ll leave you to prepare. Meet me at the castle gate when all four of you are ready!

[Dirsteh leaves. Silas stares at her as she departs.]

S: *sigh*

G: So have you told her yet?

S: O-oh! Hello, Princess Gunnthrá. W-what do you mean?

G: Heehee, don’t pretend you don’t know what I am talking about.

S: ...Is it really that obvious?

G: Quite.

S: *sigh* Typical of me to fall in love at first sight and take weeks to realize it. Though I worry that she doesn’t have the same feelings for me...

G: You realize that she is not obligated to reciprocate, correct?

S: Of course she isn’t! If things don’t work out, I at least want us to stay friends. I’m just worried that it’ll make things awkward between us.

G: *smiles knowingly* ...Well, I would not fret too much over it.

S: Why do you say that?

G: Perhaps just as obvious as your feelings is her favoring of you. I believe it would be worth it to at least let your feelings out. It will be much better than letting those worries fester within you and cause even more problems.

S: ...Yeah, I think you’re right. How should I do it, then?

G: I think something private would be a good start.

S: Hmm... We did go on a picnic a little while back. It was pretty secluded and we talked a lot... I think I could ask her on another picnic and tell her my feelings there.

G: It seems you have a plan, then.

S: *sigh* I feel so much better about this. Thank you so much for talking this out with me, Princess Gunnthrá!

G: *smiles gently* It is my pleasure, Sir Silas. Remember that we’ll be here to support you.

—

D: Thanks again for inviting me out on another picnic! It’s nice to wind down a bit especially with all the crazy stuff going on right now.

D: Though you didn’t have to make everything by yourself, you know! I could have taken some of it off your hands.

S: It's all right! I figured you already had enough to worry about. Anything to make your life even a bit easier.

D: That's so sweet. Thank you.

S: Of course.

[The two sit in silence. The air is so thick that a blade could cut through it.]

S: ...Say, Dirsteh. Do you remember the first time we met?

D: Hmm... Oh yeah! You were with Princess Laegjarn when we stormed the temple to stop Surtr from performing the Rite of Flames. I wandered too close to the front lines, and you almost skewered me but Grima knocked you flat.

S: *grimaces* ...That sounds about right.

D: ...But before that you stopped yourself. Why? You had the perfect opportunity to take out the enemy tactician.

S: Well... As I was charging, I caught a glimpse of your face under your hood. And...you looked like Corrin.

D: What? Last I checked I didn't have silver hair or red eyes.

S: No, the Corrin from my world. She doesn't look like any of the Corrins you've summoned to Askr. She looks more like you.

D: Huh, that’s strange. But with so many worlds and timelines I suppose anything is possible.

S: *nods* In the end, I just couldn't bring myself to hurt someone who looked like my best friend.

D: Hmm... Interesting. So I guess that's also why you seem a bit awkward hanging around the Corrins here.

S: ...Y-yes, that too. I think it also made me want to get to know you better and become friends. I hadn't seen Corrin in years, and I thought it would be the closest thing to meeting her again. I’ll admit, I might have been...projecting a little.

D: I'll say! But still... I'm really grateful for our friendship.

S: Me too. Which is why I hope the next thing I say won't ruin it.

D: ...What do you mean?

S: Dirsteh, I...

[Silas takes a deep breath and takes one of Dirsteh's hands into his own.]

S: At first, I was drawn to you because you looked so much like my friend. But...the more I got to know you, the more I saw how kind and compassionate you are. You care so much about everyone in this army, even someone as plain as me. When we’re together, my heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest, and when we’re apart, my mind only thinks about you. That’s why I...

D: ...

S: I think I'm in love with you.

D: What?! Y-you're...

[Blushing, Dirsteh falls silent and looks downward. After a while, Silas speaks.]

S: *gently* Dirsteh? It's all right if you don't feel the same. I know someone like you is way out of my league. I just wanted to get my feelings out before they started eating away at me.

D: N-no, it's not that. It's just... Are you sure this is how you really feel? This isn't the summoning contract speaking for you, right?

S: *nods earnestly* Yes, I’m sure. I've been in love with you since I first saw you, before you properly summoned me.

D: I-I see.

[Dirsteh absentmindedly rubs Silas's hand with her thumb.]

D: Sorry about that. I just, um...have a difficult time believing that anyone would actually be in love with me. In my world, when you look like me, you don't exactly have people lining up to date you. Even when I was younger, some people treated going out with me as a joke.

S: Dirsteh... I'm sorry you had to go through that.

D: *shakes head* It's OK. Over time, I kind of gave up on romance and just focused on my studies. I still would have crushes, but...I never acted on them because I thought that there was no way they would like me back.

D: But you... You said you love me?

D: Because I...I'm in love with you too.

S: Y-you are?

D: *nods* Ever since we went with Alfonse and the others to find those tea leaves. You were so sweet and earnest, I think I just...fell in love. You're also pretty cute, so that helped a bit. [Dirsteh laughs lightly as Silas blushes.] But you seemed so determined to be friends that I didn't want my feelings to get in the way of that.

S: Really? I was the same way. I knew I was projecting and I felt so guilty about my desire for something more.

D: I’m just glad you confessed when you did because it’s been eating away at me too.

S: *laughs incredulously* Well, how do you like that... Does this mean we can be a couple?

D: Heehee, you're so silly, Silas. Do you even have to ask?

[The two laugh as they embrace each other.]

[Dirsteh and Silas have reached support rank S.]

Confession Quote:

"To the Order of Heroes, you are the Summoner, wielder of the Breidablik and our revered tactician. But to me, you're so much more. I love you, and I am honored to be your partner in this life. On my honor, I promise to stay by your side for as long as you will have me."

#text #fire emblem heroes #silas #summoner oc #fe summoner #summoner dirsteh

5 notes · View notes

psychosistr · 6 years ago

Text

Sparks Fly- Part 2 (CaeJose Dancer!AU)

Summary: It’s date night and poor Joseph is all kinds of nervous! Will Caesar see through it long enough to turn this date into a success?

Also: Didn’t state it before, but the name for this part is based off of the song Sparks Fly by Taylor Swift because I felt that it fit the general mood of the date with how confused and nervous but excited and happy Joseph is about all of it. Then, for the dance later, this is the sort of music I picture them dancing to.

Saturday soon arrived and Joseph found herself waiting downstairs in the lobby of her apartment building. Caesar had texted her saying he would be there to pick her up for their date about thirty minutes ago and that he would be there within half an hour. She’d actually been waiting in the lobby for the past five minutes, wanting to make sure she was ready to go when he arrived. She wasn’t normally one to worry about punctuality, but her nerves and the desire to make a good impression on the Italian Casanova gave her the energy to make sure she would DEFINITELY be ready on time.

While waiting, Joseph caught the sight of herself in one of the large glass windows of the lobby. She decided to check her reflection one more time to make sure she looked fine.

Her dress looked as gorgeous as the first time she’d tried it on, so that was good. The jewelry she’d picked out complimented the dress perfectly- the cocktail ring, earrings, and necklace looking lovely next to the green of her gown. She’d decided on a pair of black silk thigh-high stockings to cover her legs and a nice pair of glittery golden mary jane high-heeled platform shoes. She’d argued with herself constantly on the heels, worried that they would make her too tall and that she would fall over as she didn’t have much practice in them- they were almost brand new and she’d only worn them two or three times before- but, in the end, her mother talked her into it and said they added a nice flare of color to her look.

Speaking of her mother, Lisa Lisa had been a big help when it came to Joseph’s hair and makeup. They’d decided to go simple but elegant for the makeup, using deep green eyeshadow in a soft smokey-eye style to match her jewelry, black eyeliner and mascara, black nail polish with both of her index fingers painted glittering gold to offset it, a touch of amber colored blush applied to her cheeks to soften her cheekbones and jawline a bit, and, simply because Joseph couldn’t resist going a LITTLE flashy with her makeup, her lips were painted ombre style with ink black around the edges that melted to gold for the main color. Then, for her hair, they’d decided to smooth down most of her shorter locks and take the bulk of her hair that usually stuck up in the front, braid it, loop the braid around to the side of her head, then pin it there using one of her flower hair pins- this one was a yellow ranunculus with two green leaves.

Logically, she knew that she looked drop-dead gorgeous. Emotionally, though, she was fretting over her appearance. Caesar was way too charming and way too good at flirting (and kissing) to not have gone on several dates with countless women already. Would she measure up to his standards? Would she look like she was trying too hard? Would she-?

Her thoughts were cut off by the muffled sounds of “Mambo Italiano” by Dean Martin.

Joseph looked down to her shimmering golden clutch bag in her hands and opened it up to retrieve her phone. She saw Caesar’s number displayed on her screen and quickly answered it. “Hello?”

“Hey. I just pulled up out front, but I can go park somewhere else if you need a few more minutes.” She could hear the soft sounds of music and the thrum of an engine in the background when he spoke.

“Oh, what a coincidence!” She said with her best “surprised” voice. “I’m actually down in the lobby already. I’ll be right out!” She hung up, took a deep breath, and put her phone back in her bag. “Okay..” She said to herself. “You can do this!”

She took one more breath before going out through the front doors. She looked around, expecting to see Caesar on his bike, but was surprised to see him standing beside a silver Mercedes SLR with the passenger-side butterfly door already open.

Caesar himself was dressed in a rather flashy white and purple suit with the jacket and pants being white and the buttons, some stripes on the pants, and the inner flaps of the jacket being purple; also, when he shifted slightly, she noticed that the shirt beneath the jacket had a dark gray and black striped color scheme. His accessories were equally eye-catching with a green belt decorated with a metallic silver sun, a purple bow tie on a black choker, and a pair of brown fingerless gloves with odd holed-metal plates on the back, the brown gloves matching his surprisingly tame-in-comparison brown dress shoes. The finishing touch, she saw, was that for once he was without his headband, but he kept the feathered clips and donned a black and white checkered top hat on top of his head.

Caesar looked at her as she walked up to the car and his eyes widened as he took in her appearance. “……” Oh god…he wasn’t saying anything…was that bad? Should she go back upstairs and change? Was he having second thoughts? Maybe she should- “Dio mio..” He breathed out as he gazed at her, the earlier wide-eyed look of surprise melting into something filled with awe and adoration. “Sei come qualcosa da un sogno..” He blinked and quickly shook himself out of whatever trance he’d been in from seeing her and stood up straight to greet her properly. He took off his hat with a flourish and bowed. “Sorry to keep you waiting, signorina.”

She smiled a bit, relieved that he seemed happy with how she looked, and walked the last few steps over to him. “Eh, don’t worry about it. Like I said, I was already down here.” She looked him over with a smile, glad that she’d decided to add a bit of flare with her makeup and shoes so as not to be outdone by this showy charmer. “You look really good- I love the hat.”

“Grazie.” Caesar said with that charming smile of his as he flicked the hat skillfully so that it flipped back up onto his head. He took her hand that wasn’t holding her purse and kissed it sweetly. “And you look absolutely stunning, mia splendida dea.”

She blushed a bit, not knowing what the new adjective meant but, knowing Caesar and the context of the compliment, it was something really sweet (she made a mental note to look it up later). “Heh, thanks- thought I’d pull out all the stops, y’know?”

“I’m honored you would go so far for me.” Caesar said with one last kiss to her hand before moving to help her into the car. “Shall we be on our way?”

Joseph couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up inside of her- he was just so cliché and cheesy sometimes, though she found it was cute- but she managed to restrain it to a small chuckle. “Heh, sure.” She held his hand as she got into the passenger’s seat and he even closed the door for her after she made sure none of her dress was sticking out. After he got in on his side and they were both buckled up with the radio turned down to a dull hum so they could talk, Joseph took a good look at the expensive car. “I thought you said you didn’t own a car?”

“I don’t. This belongs to a close friend of mine. I set him up with his girlfriend about a year ago, and now they’re engaged. Seeing as I helped him find the love of his life, he figured it was only fair to loan me his car so I could attempt to do the same.” Caesar said while driving down the street, eyes on the road but one hand reaching over to hold her own hand. “Besides, I wanted to pick you up in something stylish: I do love my bike, but it is hardly suitable for a romantic evening in formal wear.”

Joseph’s cheeks felt warm as she smiled and held his hand. The comment about finding the love of his life was not lost on her and it made her heart flutter in her chest. “Well, maybe we can save it for next time. After all, first dates are supposed to be fancy, but second or third dates can be more relaxed, right?” She said as she watched the scenery go by.

“Ah, you are quite right, mia bellisima angela.” Caesar said with a smile, his thumb stroking along the back of her hand. “Perhaps next time we can go for that race I promised you.”

She looked back at him with a challenging smirk. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I’ve still gotta kick your ass and show you the brilliance of British engineering!” Joseph froze up slightly after realizing what she’d just said. Shit! She shouldn’t be swearing on a date! That wasn’t very dignified or lady-like at all and she was trying to make a good impression on him! She decided to quickly change the topic, her smirk trying to force itself down into a calmer smile. “So, where are we going tonight, anyway?” She tried to be smooth with her word choice, but she still felt nervous over her earlier slip up.

Caesar cast a slightly confused and curious glance in her direction while they were stopped at a red light, but his eyes quickly snapped back to the road when the light turned green and they continued driving. Crap, was she too obvious? “Oh, I know a good place that prepares actual, authentic Italian food- not this Americanized junk that some New Yorkers try to pass off as Italian.” The way his face scrunched up briefly in distaste at the apparent “junk” he’d tasted before was adorable and it made Joseph muffle a quiet laugh behind her free hand as he continued. “Anyway, the owner is an old family friend and I pulled some strings to set up something special.”

“Something special?” Joseph echoed with a curious tilt of her head and a grin. “What did you do, you clever Casanova?”

He merely smirked and winked at her using the side of his face closest to her. “That, my dear, is a surprise that you shall have to wait and see.”

Joseph gave him a fake pout and barely resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. “Fiiiine. I’ll be patient, I guess.” She said with a sarcastically fake put-out tone of voice before breaking into a grin alongside Caesar.

So far so good. Joseph could do this, no sweat!

Arriving at the restaurant blew Joseph’s previous round of nerves out of the water…and replaced them with an even bigger ball of straight-up anxiety.

Joseph had seen the small brick restaurant with ivy growing along the walls several times on TV and in magazines. It was one of the most well-known places in the city, but she’d never actually eaten there because it was the kind of place where if you didn’t have a reservation set up weeks or months in advance, then there was absolutely NO WAY to get a table. It had been a fixture in the city for decades, was one of the top ten most romantic restaurants in New York, and was located right beside the river to give a gorgeous view of the water, as well as the city.

Joseph was about to ask Caesar if they were in the right place because, seriously, there’s no way he actually got them a table here, right? They’d only made plans to go out a few days ago, so there had to be some mistake, right?

But, no, it was very clearly the right place as Caesar got out of the car, greeted the valet with a smile that spoke of familiarity while handing off the car keys, then walked over to Joseph’s door and opened it for her while offering her his hand. “Come, we should head inside before they give our table away.” He joked with that charming smile once again.

“Uh, y-yeah, right..” Joseph took his hand and stepped out of the car. She was still stunned to think that Caesar went to so much trouble for her and her mind was trying to catch up to the situation at hand.

Joseph allowed Caesar to guide her to the front doors, walking confidently past the long line of people outside and going straight inside. Caesar ignored the glares sent his way for getting to skip the line of impatient socialites and Joseph did her best to avoid eye contact with them (several of which she recognized due to her own social status) as they went towards the host’s stand.

The dark haired host seemed to recognize Caesar as quickly as the valet had and greeted him with a smile. “Caesar! Good to see you!”

Caesar smiled back at him. “You as well, Ricci. Is Emilio still here? He had a table prepared for us.”

“Ah, yes, of course.” The host nodded and gestured at one of the waitresses. “I’ll let him know you’re here. In the meantime, why don’t you two go have a seat?”

“Grazie, amico.” Caesar said with a tip of his hat before leading Joseph to follow the waitress.

Along the way he also ended up waving to the bartender, the live band playing in the corner of the restaurant, and a few of the waiters- each person he greeted smiling and waving or nodding back to him.

“Wow..” Joseph commented as they carefully walked through the busy restaurant. “You must come here a lot.” She was partly curious about that, but, mostly, she was trying to distract herself from the odd stares that people were giving her.

Her body must have tensed slightly from her nerves, because she felt Caesar’s hand giving her own a reassuring squeeze as he replied to her comment. “As I said, the owner is a good friend and he often keeps a special table set aside for me.”

To Joseph’s relief, they were led outside to a much quieter, and far more intimate, location. The waitress took them through a side door out to a small veranda overlooking the river. There was only one table set out there, kept tucked away by the wall just out of sight of the patrons within, giving the guests who used it a chance to eat and talk and enjoy the same view without all the noise of the full room inside.

Joseph smiled a little as she looked at the table, it was small enough that they would be able to hold hands or lean in close if they wanted to while still being big enough to accommodate them both properly. It was covered by an embroidered red table cloth and even had a three-candle candelabra burning in the middle. ‘Damn, that’s REALLY romantic.’ Joseph thought to herself as the waitress set their menus and silverware down for them.

Caesar pulled a chair out for her and gave a bow of his head. “Ladies first.”

“Thanks.” Joseph couldn’t help but grin as she took her seat, Caesar pushing the chair in for her before taking his own across from her. “I swear, you must watch nothing but cheesy romance movies.”

“I would say I watch a healthy amount.” He replied with a wink. He then turned his attention to the waitress. “Could you ask Gabriele for one of my usual bottles?” He paused a moment before looking at Joseph. “Oh, sorry, I should ask first- are you okay with red wine? I can order something else, if you’d prefer.”

Joseph quickly shook her head. “No, no, red wine’s fine- I’ve had it plenty of times at parties and stuff.” She gave him a slightly challenging smile, the urge to tease him a little bubbling up again. “Besides, I wanna see what sort of ‘special treatment’ they give you here, Caesarino.”

Caesar’s cheeks turned the tiniest bit red from the nickname and when the waitress hid a giggle behind her notepad before he dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “Very well, then- you shall have the full experience.”

“Oh, now I’m excited.” She teased again before she decided to reign it back in. Guys got annoyed if you teased them too much, right? She should change the subject and try to seem more grateful for being here (which she was, definitely, she just couldn’t help her natural disposition). Picking up her menu, Joseph read through the choices. There was almost nothing she recognized on here, even with her mom’s cooking history. She recognized some of the basics like caprese salad, spaghetti, and mozzarella sticks, along with certain soups and salads, but she was otherwise lost. “So, since you’re a regular here, what would you recommend?”

Caesar gave her that same look he had in the car earlier when she tried to change topics, but he quickly shook it off and his face lit up as he reached over and pointed out a few things on the menu as he spoke, clearly happy to show off his knowledge of authentic Italian cuisine. “Well, there’s a good variety to choose from depending on what you are in the mood for. I grew up eating a lot of my mother’s Neapolitan style cooking, so I’m a bit partial to certain dishes they have here, but the variety in general is excellent. For an appetizer, I would recommend anything with their buffalo mozarella- it’s made fresh every day and has excellent flavor and texture. My favorite appetizers are the fresh caprese salad when the tomatoes are in season, and the fried mozzarella the rest of the year- the actual slices of pan-fried of mozzarella, that is, not just the deep fried sticks.” His hand moved over to the main courses section as he continued. “You mentioned before that your favorite food is fried chicken, right? Then you would probably enjoy the mozzarella stuffed chicken parmesan they serve here, or the spicy chicken cacciatore. If you want something exotic, I’d recommend the spaghetti al nero di sepia.- it’s spaghetti in a squid ink sauce.”

Joseph made an odd face at the idea. “Squid ink? Does that actually taste good, or is it just something Italians use as a way to make fun of tourists?” Seriously, squid ink on pasta? That just sounded weird…

Caesar grinned and laughed at her words as well as the face she made, but shook his head. “No, it’s an actual dish and it’s quite delicious. Though, it does startle a few people who try it for the first time when it turns their mouths black.” He tapped a few other entries, his smile looking almost nostalgic. “My personal favorites, though, are the pasta ai fagioli- that’s pasta with beans-, their ragu dishes- pasta with a delicious meat and tomato sauce-, and the pasta alla Genovese- that’s ziti pasta with a white sauce and beef and onions.”

Joseph smiled fondly as she listened to him talk. “Are those some childhood favorites?”

Caesar’s smile softened as he looked down at the words on the menu. “Yes. Those were my mother’s best dishes. She would often make those for special occasions, such as holidays or one of our birthdays. That was the one advantage of coming from a big family- we had plenty of birthdays spaced throughout the year, so we got to have her special recipes fairly often, but not so often that they became any less special.”

Joseph noticed how Caesar’s smile, while fondly nostalgic, held a bittersweet sadness to it. “Has it been a while since you’ve had any of it?” She guessed, knowing she had hit the mark when he glanced away to the river.

“Yeah..” He sighed a little, bringing his hand back to lean against it as he gazed wistfully at the water and passing boats. “Coming here is nice, but I do miss the home-cooked quality her meals had..”

Joseph felt a tug on her heart strings seeing the slight sadness in Caesar’s eyes. She knew a bit about his past, the part about him being a street thug when he was younger, but he hadn’t really talked much about his family before. Hell, she didn’t even know why he left home, both his family’s home and his home country, to come all the way out to America. She imagined it must have been a painful story for him…

“Well then,” She began while reaching across the table to gently grab his other hand, catching him by surprise and making him look back at her. “I guess you’ll have to teach me how to make them sometime. That way you won’t have to go out and spend a fortune here whenever you want something to eat, and I’ll get to impress you yet again with my culinary genius.” She grinned at him and squeezed his hand in what she hoped was a comforting gesture.

Caesar gave her that same look of awe he’d had when he picked her up earlier. “……” His expression melted back into a smile that spoke of adoration and fondness once again, his hand turning over so he could lace his fingers together with hers. “Si…I would like that, Jojo.”

They smiled and gazed at each other, the only sound around them the muffled chatter from inside and the gentle crashing of the waves from the riverbank.

They decided on the fried mozzarella- both the slices and the sticks, simply because Joseph was still a bit of a kid at heart- for their appetizer. Caesar ordered the weird squid ink pasta just to goad Joseph into trying a bite. It was actually GOOD! Who would’ve thought?! She ended up stealing a few more bites just because she liked the taste, though it was funny to see Caesar’s lips turning black as he ate- their lips almost matching by the end of the meal. Joseph herself decided to try the bowtie pasta (she already forgot the fancy Italian name that Caesar told her for it) with the ragu sauce that Caesar seemed so fond of. She gladly shared some of hers, too, since she’d taken a fair share of bites from Caesar’s plate already.

Everything was delicious, from the wine Caesar ordered to the main courses. Even the free bread was tastier than most places she’d been to! Caesar happily showed her how to serve it with the olive oil and balsamic that was placed on the table for the bread and it made it taste even better.

Part of her felt a little bad for not being aware of how much everything cost. This was one of those fancier restaurants where they didn’t put the prices on the menu- one of those, “if you have to ask, you probably can’t afford to eat here anyway” deals, she presumed. She knew that she could definitely afford it, but she didn’t want to make Caesar pay that much for her. Joseph brought up the subject of paying for herself or splitting the bill, but Caesar firmly yet politely informed her that he would not allow a lady to pay for herself on the first date, no matter the cost. After a brief debate on the matter, Caesar ultimately won and reaffirmed that he would be paying this time, but Joseph only allowed it on the condition that she pay for him the next time they went out.

When it came time to order dessert, a short, older man with tan skin and dark hair walked out with a big smile on his face. “Haha! There he is! E 'bello vederti, bambino!”

“Emilio! Bello vederti, amico mio!” Caesar looked at the man with a big smile and stood to greet him, the two engaging in a quick, friendly hug.

When they separated, the shorter man looked at Joseph with what could only be described as a proud smile. “Ah, and this must be the lovely signorina you spoke so highly of!”

Caesar’s cheeks turned a touch red and he coughed into his fist to clear his throat, muttering something in Italian that Joseph wouldn’t really understand or remember. “Potresti tenerlo segreto, Emilio?”

“Io non la penso così.” Emilio shot Caesar a smirk before returning his attention to Joseph. “Caesar was awfully excited to bring you here- he kept calling every night to make sure we’d remember to set his table aside for you two.”

Joseph smirked conspiratorially at Emilio, her tone clearly teasing Caesar as she took in this new information. “Oh did he now?”

Emilio chuckled as he pretended to think back on their conversations. “Si. He kept insisting how important tonight was, and how he ‘could absolutely not afford to mess this up for any reason or he would never be able to forgive himself’- though I may be paraphrasing a bit.”

“You don’t say..” Joseph grinned at Caesar, the blonde’s face now completely red as he hid his head in his hands.

“Per favore..” Caesar groaned as the two continued to grin and chuckle at his expense. “Please stop..I am literally begging you..”

Emilio laughed and patted Caesar on the back good-naturedly while continuing his conversation with Joseph. “I haven’t seen l'insalata del bambino blush like that since he was smaller than me! Haha! It is too cute!”

Joseph couldn’t help giggling at Caesar’s flustered state- it was nice to see him losing his cool for a change. “What does that name mean? I got ‘bambino’, but what’s the rest?”

Caesar looked up from his hands to glare at Emilio. “Rispondetela e non parlerò mai più con voi!”

The shorter Italian just smirked wickedly while leaning close to Joseph as if whispering a secret. Joseph happily leaned in to hear him clearly. “It’s a nickname from when he was a little bambino. He HATES it. It means..” He leaned in closer and she cupped a hand around her ear exaggeratedly to hear his stage-whisper. “Baby salad.”

A hysterical fit of laughter rang out from Joseph and she threw her head back to let it out properly. “BABY SALAD?!!” She laughed so hard that she had to grip the table, otherwise she would risk falling out of her chair. “OH MY GOD!! That is too funny!”

Caesar’s face turned a darker shade of red and he buried his face in his hands once more with a muffled scream. “Auugh! Ti odio!”

Emilio laughed along with Joseph, the two having tears in their eyes by the time they were done. The short man wiped his eyes with his hand while Joseph pulled a tissue out of her purse to dab at her eyes and, mostly, avoid smudging her makeup. “I hope you make good use of that nickname, signorina.”

“Oho, I definitely will, thanks.” Joseph said with a devious grin. Oh, she already had plans for all manner of teasing floating through her mind.

Caesar shoved at Emilio with a glare, his cheeks still red. “You just had to say something, didn’t you?”

Emilio easily ignored the half-hearted shove while looking up at Caesar. “But of course! No one else is around to embarrass you in front of your date, so I have to do it myself!” He laughed again at Caesar’s annoyed glare before looking back to Joseph. “Now then, signorina, I am certain you can handle yourself..but, if this boy gives you any trouble or treats you like anything less than a proper gentleman, you come right in and tell me and I’ll set him straight, alright?”

“You’ll be the first to know.” Joseph replied with a smile, one that was born from both amusement at Caesar’s embarrassment and the genuine sweetness and concern of the older gentleman.

Having said what he wanted to say (and thoroughly embarrassed Caesar), Emilio took their dessert orders and let them be once more.

Caesar sat back down heavily in his chair, holding his face with one hand. “I am truly sorry about that interruption. Emilio, he…” He heaved a long suffering sigh and rubbed at his eyes with his thumb and index finger “He does what he wants, despite what others ask him.”

Joseph grinned smugly and reached across the table to flick the blonde’s hat playfully. “Oh, I don’t mind him one bit, my little salad~<3” She teased with a wink.

He looked up at her with a light glare and readjusted his hat, muttering something in Italian under his breath. “Accidenti a te, vecchio…”

Joseph flinched slightly at the glare and pulled her hand back. Crap, was that going too far? She should probably save the teasing for later in the relationship. Was there a set time limit on when it was okay to tease your boyfriend like that? Wait, was it too soon to be thinking of him as a boyfriend? She didn’t know any of the rules for this! Damn it, she needed to change the subject before she blew it!

“Sooo..” She began while placing her hands on the table in front of herself, desperately searching for anything else to talk about. “I know I got that tasty looking chocolate panna cotta for my dessert, what was that pastry thing you’re getting called again? You said something about it looking like a shell?”

Again, Caesar gave her a look that was partly curious, but mostly confused. “It’s called sfogliatelle.” He answered shortly before reaching across the table to gently touch her hand. “Jojo, is something wrong? That’s the third time tonight you’ve done that.”

“Huh? Done what?” She tried to bluff her way out of the situation by playing innocent.

The act apparently failed when Caesar gave her a troubled, worried frown. “You keep changing the subject. On top of that, you keep choosing safe, generic small talk to distract from what you said before.” His frown grew a bit more and he looked even more worried. “Are you..not enjoying yourself..?”

Joseph quickly shook her head, holding his hand with both of hers to get her sentiment across clearly. “No! I mean, yes, I am, and no, that-that’s not it at all! I’m having a great time with you, Caesar, really! It’s just…” She trailed off, glancing away nervously.

Should she tell him? He was always so patient and understanding with her. Then again, everyone’s patience had a limit. Would this be his? Damn it, she wasn’t used to feeling this confused!

“Just what?” Caesar prompted while bringing his other hand closer to cup the back of hers and rub it soothingly. “What is troubling you, mia dolce angela?”

Ah, another new adjective she’d have to look up later. “……” She took a deep breath to calm herself, as she had done earlier in the night. She still couldn’t meet his eyes, choosing instead to focus on their joint hands. “It’s just…I..I don’t want to mess this up..”

Caesar raised an eyebrow, looking more confused than concerned now. “Mess it up? How on earth do you think you could manage that?”

“I don’t know.” She answered with a slightly annoyed sigh, the annoyance focused completely against herself. “I’m just freaking out because I really like you and I want to make this work and I don’t want to make a fool out of myself by saying something stupid or doing something that pisses you off because then you might get annoyed and won’t want to go out with me again and then I’ll be kicking myself for screwing things up so badly with the first guy that ever asked me out-” God, she was rambling now, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop the words that just continued falling from her lips. “-and you clearly put so much thought into all of this with the fancy restaurant, and the car, and the outfit, and I’m freaking out more because I don’t know if I’m actually worth all the trouble you went to for tonight and it just all freaks me out because this is all new to me and I have absolutely NO idea what I’m doing and now I probably sound like a crazy person to you for worrying so much over what must seem like nothing to you since you’ve clearly been out on a bunch of dates before, but I haven’t so I don’t know what’s okay and what’s not okay and I just REALLY want you to like me enough to go out with me again because I’m really happy being with you, damn it!” She finished her rambling and gasped hard, trying to replenish the air she’d just drained from her lungs.

“……” Caesar seemed stunned, busy taking in and processing everything Joseph just told him. When he finally finished sorting through her mashed together words, though, he lifted his hand and gently tipped her chin up with one finger to make her look at his face again. He had that warm, kind, patient, understanding smile on his face that instantly put her at ease. “I think we both may have been trying too hard tonight.” Then, to Joseph’s surprise and slight confusion, Caesar got to his feet and walked around to her side of the table. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, brought something up on it that she didn’t have a chance to see, then set it down on the table before gently pulling her to her feet. As Joseph rose out of her seat, she heard music fill the air around them from speakers hidden along the sides of the building that she couldn’t see- it was a beautiful waltz melody, but a bit more upbeat and modern with a slightly gothic sound. Looking at her with a far more relaxed smile, Caesar kept one hand clasped around hers while the other moved to her waist. “How about, instead of trying to be something we’re not, we both just relax and do what comes naturally?”

Joseph felt her heart skip as she looked him in the eyes. She looked into those gorgeous green eyes and saw no ulterior motives, no flirty playfulness, no charming mask- she only saw Caesar. She saw a man who was clearly enjoying having her with him and who wanted to relax and enjoy himself with her.

A relaxed smile slid across Joseph’s face to match Caesar’s as she held his hand and brought her own free hand up to rest on his shoulder. “I think I’d like that, Caesarino.”

They began to sway in time with the music, already finding the rhythm with it and each other almost instantly. The swaying quickly turned into measured steps and quick turns. Before long they were dancing together with the same energy, passion, and chemistry they always had when they danced together in class.

Caesar would guide her down into a graceful dip, able to easily hold her weight without breaking a sweat. He would raise one hand above both of their heads so she could spin smoothly on one leg, the slit in the dress allowing an ideal range of motion for her legs. He would grab her around the waist and lift her off the ground as they spun together in large circles.

At one point, a sly grin slipped across his face and he moved his thumbs a certain way and she heard a “click” sound come from his gloves. She gave him a questioning look, but before she could voice her curiosity she noticed the holes on the back of those odd metal plates opening up as well as a couple of smaller panels on the sides that she hadn’t noticed before slipping open too. She noticed some sort of clear liquid moving just beneath the surface of the holes.

Then, on the next spin they executed together, she saw them:

Bubbles.

As they moved together seamlessly, the gloves on Caesar’s hands seemed to take in air from the panels on the sides before coming out through the holes on the back of the metal plates as bubbles. Soon the floating orbs filled the air around them, catching the lights from both the city in the distance and the windows of the restaurant that neither noticed they’d moved in front of while dancing due to being caught up in their own little world.

“So, what do you think?” Caesar asked while dipping Joseph down gracefully, the sly grin still on his face. “I used to do odd jobs as an engineer- I made these using some spare parts I found.”

Joseph was still in awe of the bubbles floating around them, but she soon came back to herself and smiled at Caesar as he brought her back upright. “Flashy and fashionable. I like it!” She laughed while spinning around on one leg, trusting Caesar to keep her from falling. “You certainly planned for every possibility, didn’t you?”

“Yeah..” Caesar’s earlier grin softened into something calmer and even a touch melancholic. “I was nervous about tonight too..” He admitted as he let her finish her spin, ending it with her back to his chest and the hand that was still holding hers crossed over her waist as he held her close. “I ran through countless lists in my mind about what could go wrong and how to prevent it, as well as ways to impress you whenever the opportunity presented itself.” He held her to him while they swayed to the music, his free hand tracing along the lace of her sleeve to hold her other hand as well. “As much as I hate him for saying it, Emilio was right: I was sweating over every little detail because I knew that if I messed this up..I would never be able to forgive myself..”

Joseph spared him a confused glance over her shoulder. “Huh? How could YOU mess this up? You clearly know what you’re doing- hell, I’d bet you’ve dated at least fifty girls before me!” She was joking slightly on that part, but, in reality, she supposed it could be possible- he never really talked to her about any past girlfriends, after all.

She felt a quiet chuckle rumble through his chest where it was still touching her back. “I stopped counting a long time ago, but you might be right.” He was silent for a little while after that, slowly turning her around in his arms so that they were facing each other properly again as they moved together in slow steps and spins across the ground. “I did not want to say anything before, when you thought that I was dating Suzi behind your back..but..there was a time not too long ago when you may have been right to assume such a thing about me…” He looked so pained, like he had a deep, burning guilt on his conscience that was eating him alive. “During my street thug days, I was…well, to say I was not a good person would be putting it mildly..” He lamented with a sad smile. “I went through each day not caring if I would live to see the next or not and thought little of the consequences of my actions. I got into fights without caring if I was attacked later for revenge. I stole from people without caring if I would be arrested. I hurt and used people without caring if I would ever see them again.” He looked down, avoiding her eyes like he was ashamed to meet her earnest, caring gaze. “I went out with many girls and women when I was young, but I never truly felt anything for them. I would see women who looked lonely and woo them with a charming smile or a flashy gesture, then leave them after I’d had my fun..I never thought I did anything wrong, even though I’m sure now that I left many of them broken hearted and alone..” Joseph could tell how much it pained him to admit that, and she couldn’t blame him- admitting you used to date girls only to leave after a one-night stand wasn’t exactly the coolest thing to talk about, but he seemed like he needed to get it off of his chest. “I lived my life that way for a while..but..I have tried to distance myself from the person I used to be: I still fight, but I try to only do it for a good reason. Earning an honest living can be hard at times, but I feel better knowing that I am no longer stealing people’s wallets just to get by. Also…” He took a slow, even breath before looking up to meet Joseph’s eyes once again, his own bright green eyes shining with a sincerity and strong sense of conviction that made her breath catch in her throat. “You are the only woman I have had any interest in at all for the past two years. If I am being completely honest, you are really the only woman whom I have EVER had any genuine feelings for. I wanted tonight to go perfectly so that I could prove I was worthy of your time and attention- so that I could continue seeing you as often as possible and hold you and kiss you and tell you how lovely and amazing you truly are.” His smile lightened slightly at his confession, one hand sliding around her waist again as he leaned her back slowly. “You may find it a huge cliché for me to say such a thing, but..”

Joseph reached up and put one hand on his cheek, gazing up into his eyes with a playful but understanding smile. “Now you’ll say ‘You’re different from the other girls- you are the first woman I’ve ever fallen for, Jojo’, and then you’ll lean in for a kiss.”

“You’re different from the other girls- you are the first woman I’ve ever fallen for, Jojo.” He said before leaning down with her in an elegant dip so he could kiss her lips. Just as his lips made contact with hers, he finally realized what just happened. “!!”

He seemed mildly startled, looking like he might pull away to say something, but Joseph was having none of that. “Mhh..” She moved the hand that had been on his cheek around to the back of his neck and held him in place so she could kiss him properly.

She’d done research since their last kiss and now had a better understanding of what to do between that and what she’d learned from kissing Caesar already: Tilt the head slightly to find a more comfortable angle. Breathe through the nose to make the kiss last longer. Purse the lips in smooth motions back and forth, responding to how your partner moves theirs.

Caesar was again surprised by her boldness, but did not seem to mind if the way he held her closer and sighed silently through his nose was any indication. “Hmh..” The kiss lasted much longer than their first one, the two of them taking their time to fully enjoy the experience. By the time they finally pulled apart (only by an inch or two so they were still practically breathing each other’s air), they had matching red cheeks and black lips- a combination of Joseph’s lipstick and the squid ink from Caesar’s pasta. “Jojo..” Caesar said while gazing at her with awe and pure, loving adoration. The smile on his face was so warm, so genuine, so clearly and completely Caesar that it made Joseph’s heart melt. “I may grow tired of that trick one day, but I don’t see that day coming for many years.”

Joseph’s heart pounded at the meaning behind his words and she smiled back up at him, sharing that hope and desire for the future with him. “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”

<-Previous Part Next Part->

-From the Beginning-

Italian Translations:

“Sei come qualcosa da un sogno..” - “You’re like something from a dream..”

“E 'bello vederti, bambino!” - “It’s good to see you, boy!”

“Bello vederti, amico mio!” - “Good to see you, my friend!”

“Potresti tenerlo segreto, Emilio?” - “Could you keep that a secret, Emilio?”

“Io non la penso così.” - “I don’t think so.”

“Rispondetela e non parlerò mai più con voi!” - “Answer her and I’ll never talk to you again!”

“Ti odio!” - “I hate you!”

“Accidenti a te, vecchio…” - “Damn you, old man...”

Also, the new nicknames he drops for her are “splendid/gorgeous goddess” and “sweet angel”.

#caejose #Caesar Zeppeli #Joseph Joestar #Dancer!AU #Modern!AU #trans!character #trans!joseph #first date #datenight #long chapter #interesting bonus fact: rananculus flowers mean #i am dazzled by your charms in the language of flowers

7 notes · View notes

cartoonfangirl1218 · 6 years ago

Text

Estoma kiss fic

So in honor of my favorite month of the year, I’m posting a kiss fic that I did ages ago. It’s a continuation of the Estoma fic I did for Ship Appreciation week. For context, it's in present time and Doña finds out that the kiss had actually happened and was not some drunken dream she had imagined. And is angry that Esteban never told her, "Were you really so ashamed that we kiss that you wanted to pretend it never happened? Am I really not that good enough for you?!?" And go... "Don't you think 13 days is enough of the silent treatment! How ridiculous and pigheaded are you going be with this?" Esteban scowled, banging at the locked office door.

The anger and frustration he had been feeling the past couple of days faded as he sighed, his chest clenching with anticipation and nervousness at what he was about to admit.

"Doña, please just listen to me. I swear that kiss had nothing to do with being better than you or being ashamed. Really, it wasn't. I thought that that kiss was just a fluke because you are unusually affectionate when you're drunk. But I was also scared of things going further. That maybe if we became too close it would affect our work, or Shuriki would be displeased and do who knows what. Most of all, I was scared that if we went further, I would fall in love with you."

The defeaning sound of silence from the other side of the door made Esteban feel a bit faint, wondering how she was reacting to this or how she would reply to what he would say next.

"Which honestly was useless because I think I already am in love with you. So if you want to continue this grudge, I'll just forget about it and go home."

The door slowly opened and Esteban let out the breath that he had just realized he had been holding in.

Doña didn't look angry but confused as if she couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth or if she was questioning his sanity.

"We should talk about this" She said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. "We should," Esteban took a step forward and cupped her cheek, and tilted her chin so they could lock gazes.

It was an odd sense of deja vu from the drunken kiss they had shared so long ago. It was just the two of them, and as he stared at her large emerald eyes, he felt their surroundings fade away.

It felt claustrophobic but thrilling, and his senses heightened to where he felt all sorts of small points he never had noticed before like softness of her skin, the faint whiff of rose perfume, the heat of their bodies so close to another.

He waited to see if she would say anything but she seemed too shocked by the turn of events to know where to start.

It was new ground for both of them but at least he had the foresight to prepare a small speech before coming here.

He licked his lips in anticipation, and his heart pounded faster than before. His mouth felt full of cotton and he panicked, wondering if he could say it aloud. He forgot what exactly he had wanted to say first, if it would make more sense to talk about their first impression or maybe he should just talk about what he wanted their relationship to be like or a million other ideas flooded his mind in a jumbled slew of words and sentences.

He opened his mouth and spoke in a rapid fashion, trying to make sure the words made at least made some sense even if he babbled.

"You drive me crazy, you annoy me, you insult me, but these last few days of not talking made me miss you. It made me think about the kiss a lot. Really think and I've realized it was one of the sweetest moments of pleasure I had during Shuriki's rule. The more I thought about it, most of the time I spent with you during Shuriki's rule are some of the only good memories during those dark years. You challenged me, and made me become more enthusiastic and ambitious than before. All that in the hopes of proving you wrong I'll admit. I haven't had such riveting conversations about politics with other leaders, at least ones that enjoy doing.”

“We understand things about each other that I don't think anyone else knows. We talked about our families and the guilt and the loneliness. I know our love may not be as picture perfect or "adorable" as the king and queen's but we understand each other and we still, care at least I care about you in all the years we've worked side by side. “

“And if you feel the same way...I don't think we'll be lonely or in want for any sort of affection. So if you'll let me start with this one..."

Before he could even lean in, Doña pulled him towards her. Their lips crashed against each other in a passionate fervor that Esteban felt was equal to the taste of delicious, gooey melted chocolate with the surprise of a firework.

He felt a boyish sort of giddiness as one thought sped through his mine, "She likes me!"

She raked her hands through his hair, pulling a bit, urging him to move closer. He did so, sliding his arms around her waist to pull her closer, savoring the warmth and perfect fit of their bodies plastered against each other, and revealing in the feeling of affection.

Her other hand slid down his back, stopping to grab at his butt then drew back, quickly traveling up to shoulders as if realizing how inappropriate that gesture had been.

However for Esteban, that move made something in him light up so he grabbed tightly and lifted her up so her legs crossed around him and she only could hold onto him lest she wanted gravity to do its duty.

His breath became shortened and he forced himself to part lips for a moment, air rushing through before he returned to those soft lips that he had begun to associate with what paradise must feel like. Thrilling, all encompassing, warm, delightful, and the need to never leave it.

The kissing that had started tender eagerness became a small battle of vigor and who could put more fire into the intertwined embrace they were in.

He had new sense to win, not for dominance of tongues but for love. That he could somehow win this and then proceed to lavish her with warmth and devotion that they had been longing to have and to share for far too long.

He gave another shuddery sigh as they part and Doña nipped at his neck allowing him to regain another gulp of air, her nails pinched at his shoulder blades with an animalistic want.

A sense of satisfaction filled him as victory was achieved. He combed his head through her hair, knocking off her hat. From there, he drew small circles around the small of her back, then placed a kiss on her collarbone, holding it there sucking and letting the tension build until he finished by sliding his tongue across the bone and nip at her mouth. She let out an incomprehensible murmur, tensed, relaxed and melted into him.

The kisses slowed down to a steady eager pace so Esteban began to sneak his hand up her dress and brushed against her thigh.

"No no we should stop. I mean we shouldn't stop. I mean we should talk first" Doña stammered.

"Oh right we should" Esteban agreeded readily removing his hand and kissing her again.

"I do have a few things to add after your speech" Doña added between the kisses.

"Of course you do." Esteban murmured stopping for another kiss.

They quickly lapsed into silence, fully enjoying the lingering kisses between them, talking was far from their minds.

Then there was a knock and nervous laugh. They both turned to see Mateo at the door.

Esteban was momentarily confused in what possible situation would have brought the wizard to Doña's office when he remembered that Mateo had been the one that encouraged him to say his feelings, and had come with him to the emporium for moral support.

"Heh uh the door wasn't fully closed." Mateo said sheepishly.

"Sorry" Esteban said hastily putting Doña down and smoothing his rumpled clothes.

"I was wondering if I could go? I promised Elena I would be home in time for dinner." Mateo continued on with a teasing smile, "And I think you have things handled here. I'll tell them that you're occupied."

"Uh well maybe not. We could keep this a secret for a little bit?" Doña said a bit breathily, looking at him for confirmation. "You know, until we talked this out."

"Yes, that would be an excellent course of action." Esteban cleared his throat, willing his heart to stop beating like a hummingbird at his realization that this kind of encounter would happen again.

"Secret got it. Sure can do" Mateo nodded eagerly and ducked away.

Esteban turned to Doña who was still flushing profusely and bowed, "Will you save a date for tomorrow night?"

"Yes, of course. We'll defiantly have plenty to talk about." Doña winked.

Esteban bowed again and didn't bother fighting the broad smile that spread across his face when he left the store.

"Told you it would work!" Mateo cheered.

"Ay Mateo, it was...yes it worked. But remember not to say anything." Esteban reminded easily falling in step with him.

"Did you get a date?" Mateo asked.

"Yes, yes I did." Esteban answered catching on to Mateo's enthusiasm. And hopes to many more.

#estoma #mateo de alva #esteban flores #doña paloma #my fic #my fanfic #estoma kiss fic #elena of avalor

11 notes · View notes

lightsandlostbells · 6 years ago

Text

Skam NL episodes 4 and 5 reaction

This is incredibly late but there was no way I was not going to write about Engel’s detour into waxing hell.

Episode 4

Clip 1 - Piesiepoepselaar

Isa and Kes are lying together in the morning and it’s very serene. He’s had the same nightmare as Jonas did in the original, though I think the context is different … russ is like a thing that Jonas objects to on principle, would Kes be against just taking a city trip?

He’s like, “You took off your shirt and made out with everyone, boys and girls.” Lmao, I don’t think Isa is going to get that wild in Tallinn.

Isa replies that she’ll only take off her shirt for Kes. So this isn’t really a hint of an actual problem or any condescension on his part, they’ve re-purposed this exchange into some purely flirty interaction.

This cute moment is interrupted by Isa’s mom unexpectedly popping in. She calls her daughter “pissing pooper”? Hands down the best/worst nickname I have heard a parent call their child. And of course Kes loves it.

Clip 2 - Orgy preparation

Isa gets a call from “Pap” soooo her dad is still kind of in the picture?

Engel bounds up to Isa, she looks very happy to see her. And when Janna and Imaan come up, she also looks happy to see them. Engel is so cute.

Except LMAO, GOD. She addresses Imaan with “Salaam-Alaikum,” and seems a little proud of herself, as if she Googled “how to speak Muslim” over the weekend. So I guess instead of being an outright exclusionary racist, she’s going to be like … a well-intentioned white ally who goes too far and ends up othering her Muslim friend by not treating her the same as the non-Muslims? That’s a pretty interesting take. It certainly puts Engel in a better light than Vilde, since she is trying to be inclusive rather than rejecting Imaan, but it also explores Imaan’s struggle with having to deal with people treating her differently than her peers, or changing their behavior toward her since she’s a Muslim.

Imaan is just like “.... Hi.” I feel like at some point she’s going be like, “Look, you can just treat me like you’d treat anyone else.”

Janna starts coughing, and at first I thought she was trying to salvage the awkward moment, but she’s actually gesturing for Engel to look over yonder because GUESS WHAT, a certain dude is climbing the stairs.

Dutch William has a very long coat and seems more like an artsy edgy hipster kid, maybe, than a regular king-of-the-school fuckboy. His head is down so we don’t get a full view of his face, it’s like he’s ~mysterious and gives no fucks.

That blond dude from the party, Gijs, is part of Dutch William’s (Noah’s) crew, of course, and nods in recognition to Isa. They’re like, HOLY SHIT, Isa, what happened there?

Apparently one of them (Gijs or Noah) the wildest parties, with orgies. And not some weak-ass orgies where people sit in the hot tub together. Full-on power orgies with naked bodies. Janna sure knows her orgy classifications.

Engel’s facial expressions when Janna mentions orgies, lmao. This little frown.

The girls are like, “There’s a party this Friday,” and Isa’s like “...OK?” Imaan has to explain that Janna and Engel want Isa to flirt with the guy so they can get in to the party. She takes Isa’s phone and does her thing. Well, that’s interesting because Imaan doesn’t seem so invested personally in going to the party? I mean, there’s no real benefit to their city trip. Is she doing it because Janna and Engel want to? Like she wants to be in with these girls and have friends?

Janna is amused and laughs at Imaan’s liking all of Gijs’ pics. Engel just seems stunned. A Muslim did that???? Maybe she had Imaan all wrong. Maybe she needs to consult Google again.

Clip 3 - BUY YOUR OWN GODDAMN FRIES

Isa, Kes, and Lucas go out for food. Isa is the only one to order fries, and when she asks if they want fries, they’re like nahhhh. IMMEDIATELY my bullshit detector went off. They’re going to steal her fucking fries, aren’t they?

At one point the word “EVEN” is visible through the window, heh.

Lucas has injured his left hand, which I am assuming is a thing the actor did IRL and they had to explain it into the story. Kes roasts Lucas about his injury (which happened while skateboarding) and Lucas is like, “At least I take risks.” Yeah, some of those risks will apparently involve fucking up your friends’ relationship?

Kes asks Isa if they’re going to hang out at her place, I am assuming just the two of them, while Lucas gives Kes a long look. Actually, those are some high-quality Looks that Lucas has been serving to Kes. Make sure this show gets to season 3, okay? So he can put his pining face to good use.

Kes says the whole thing about Isa’s mom not knowing about him, and that Isa is ashamed of him, and Lucas is like, well, she’s right!

But of course Gijs is now sending her messages about Isa’s IG stalking. Just as Kes is offering to cook for her and her mom. Isa, let him cook for you! That’s more proactive than any Jonas has offered yet, right?

Gijs is turned on by Isa stalking him. You know, I’ve never just how many kinks the P-Chrises have, like he’s into nerds, being stalked, pretending to be the Eva’s dad/mom/whatever ... he’s just up for anything.

Lucas mentions that Isa has too many new friends, maybe even a new boyfriend, and THAT is some snake-ass shit, planting that seed out there. Even if he’s just talking shit and kidding. He doesn’t know he’ll be kinda right, but man, will Kes remember that when shit hits the fan? Kes seemed so indifferent though, like he’s all “lady friends” and not taking it seriously.

I WAS FUCKING RIGHT, THEY STEAL HER GODDAMN FRIES. Taking advantage of her distraction while messaging Gijs.

This is the realest shit though, like nothing Jonas and Isak said about Eva’s involvement in russ compared to this disrespect. Teenage boys are the WORST.

But yeah, there’s not nearly as much putting down of Isa’s friends or activities (since who is gonna be like “it’s so CAPITALISTIC that you want to take a fun trip to a city”?) apart from some passive-aggressiveness about Kes not meeting Isa’s mom and Isa being too popular. Still, it feels less mean, and Isa didn’t seem as attacked.

Clip 4 - The most important conversation I’ve ever heard

The title of this clip was “full bush baby” and I was like … is that really going to refer to what I think it is? Like either we are talking about a small primate, or someone’s private hedge maze.

I love Janna looking like a hot mess in every scene. Like she literally rolled out of her bed, which is an ostrich nest, and went to school. She’s telling a story about opening a beer in class while Engel looks bothered about something in the background.

OH MY GOD, Engel looks troubled not because of any angsty Noah pining or Imaan drama or any of what you’d expect, but because she shaved her pubic hair and it itches. WE STAN.

…. Is this taking the place of the birth control conversation??? Instead of Engel asking about birth control, she wants the girls to tell her how they remove their pubic hair?

I am not remotely surprised that Janna is a full bush baby.

Imaan saying she dyes hers red, white, and blue = MY LOVE.

Engel takes that completely seriously judging by her confused little face. Engel’s life is 90% confusion.

Janna says if she waxes, she can wax a lightning bolt. Please be a Harry Potter reference. (You know, I’m sure wizards have hair removal spells and all, but I’m imagining someone being like ACCIO PUBES and ripping out everything at once.)

Engel is nervous about waxing. Oh my God, instead of the nurse, are they going to go for a bikini wax together?????

Isa gets a text. Turns out they’re going to the party! Engel gets excited and starts throwing out outfit possibilities.S he rambles a bit and then Imaan does the “shhh, you talk too much” moment.

Now it feels a little out of place, because Engel, while not behaving perfectly, has been way less of an ass to Imaan? And I get that this is for Engel’s own preservation, sort of, but they’re not trying to gain social capital at the level that Vilde and Sana were. The OG girl squad wanted to attract cool people to their bus and hook up with popular boys; NL girl squad isn’t concerned with getting cool people on their trip, and while they want to go to parties, they don’t have this firm objective of hooking up with the popular dudes. So the moment seemed a bit out of nowhere. I mean, Engel rambling about her outfits is tedious, but harmless.

Imaan has some gorgeous lashes, by the way.

Clip 5 - This is a very serious show

Oh my God, they DID go for a bikini wax. So is the state of Engel’s pubic hair going to be a plot point? Does she want it to look groomed for him?

Okay, I’m laughing that Norwegian-style bush is a heart (ALT ER LOVE), French pubes are a mustache, and Dutch hedges are … flames? A flower? A flower for the ladygarden.

THE GRAVE IMPORTANCE OF THIS SCENE. The music and the cherub mural really add to the atmosphere.

Janna talks about an ass wax because of course she does.

I love that you hear a scream from the other room. Perfect.

I laughed out loud that Engel just shakes her head and runs. And that Imaan puts her arms around the girls and eggs them on.

I like Skam to have a plot and all but I would thoroughly enjoy 10 episodes of just random calamities in pubic hair removal.

Clip 6 - Orgy time

OH DAMN, I LOVE

This is my favorite episode 4 (or equivalent) power walk other than the original. I LOVE it. The song choice! The girls look like they’re having a blast. Engel jumping on Liv’s back!!! Imaan yelling in sync with the rooster crying!!!

ESPECIALLY with the juxtaposition of this badass power walk, the girls getting hyped and feeling cool on the way to the party - because yeahhhh!!!! Young and free, bitches!!!!! - with the pause where they’re actually standing in front of the door, debating over who has to ring the bell. That’s utterly beautiful, I love it. Expectations vs. reality right there.

Liv being like “It’s open,” lol.

Engel knows Olivia and company, I don’t think they said how?? Because we knew how Vilde knew Ingrid. But I mean, they go to school together, soooo. (Or did Engel get kicked off a city trip group?)

Janna, you promised an orgy, and this is a bunch of teenagers drinking and dancing in a basement. The clothes are most definitely on.

I was spoiled for Janna’s making out with a girl, but I still got hella excited when she and this girl were sticking out their tongues at each other.

Lmao, is Engel rambling about her car malfunctions to Noah? Maybe Imaan was right to shush her.

Also, Engel’s dad is in the picture. Or was, at a certain point.

Okay I don’t know if maybe this is fashionable for Dutch kids, but I love that Noah is wearing this baggy old man shirt.

And that his kiss with Engel is a little awkward.

Who is this kid. Why is he like this.

Lmao, Liv telling Isa to talk to Gijs about Tallinn so he’ll leave. Does not bode well for their city trip if that’s what she thinks?

WHOOPS, Isa forgot that dinner with Kes was supposed to happen.

Gijs does not know Tallinn is a city, so he’s like, “Who’s Tallinn?” lmao.

JANNA AND THAT GIRL GOING TO TOWN, YESSSSSSSS

So in terms of Skam remake wlw content, I believe we have:

Skam France: Alexia is bi. Of course I appreciate this but they haven’t really spotlighted it outside of like one or two comments, and they don’t really integrate her sexuality into the story or into the dialogue even when it would be relevant (which is a big problem with Skam France as a whole). It’s canon by the actress’ Word of God.

Druck: Mia is bi. In canon she “doesn’t like labels” and is shown to make out with Hanna, though that was for telling off Alexander. Bi by word of God.

Skam Austin: Shay takes Isak’s place in the story, having a crush on Megan which is her character’s motivation. This is the biggest wlw content, clearly, since Shay will hopefully get her own season. The character is a lesbian and her sexuality plays a role in the story, plus I’m pretty sure the actress is a lesbian herself (and is a black lesbian so we have intersectional diversity).

Skam NL: Janna makes out with a girl at a party. HOPEFULLY she isn’t straight and this isn’t just a drunken makeout because girls kissing at a party is hot. I hooooope.

Hmmm, you know what? I actually buy Imaan’s throwing water at Olivia a lot more, because Engel has at least tried to be nice to Imaan. Like I understand that Sana is fiercely loyal and once she’s on your team, she’s with you 110%, so once she’s with the girl squad, she’s ride or die. But assuming Imaan was throwing water at Olivia because Olivia called Engel a slut, I get why. Engel has been awkward and othered Imaan but she’s tried to be nice. (But for Engel, you know she’s going to be like WTF?)

I love this closing song as they run away into the night!

Is it wrong that I kind of like Noah so far? Because I get that he’s likely going to come with all of William’s bullshit, but ... he’s fucking weird, man.

Episode 5

Clip 1 - Making a family party awkward

Kes’ sister is a cutie!

Oh, I love that we got a little glimpse of his family? His mom, and his grandparents.

This really changes the tone of this scene from the original, because Eva goes over and encounters Jonas when he’s just hanging out with his friends and being passive-aggressive, and it felt like having the boys there made Jonas ramp up his attitude. Kes appears to be relaxed, he’s having a good time with his family. I wonder if these are the actor’s real relatives? The boys look like they could be his brothers.

But Kes does get in a passive-aggressive comment about her friends, and he’s been ignoring her for a few days.

Also, Lucas isn’t part of this moment where they’re ganging up on Isa, when the Isak is typically snickering at what’s happening.

We cut inside where relatives are having a pleasant time while the Youths fight. We don’t hear their argument but I mean, we know what they’re talking about.

Kes is like, “I forgot about the dinner,” as if he’s not upset, which makes Isa storm out, and his family notices that she’s upset.

Isa is out on the street and she once again puts in her earbuds and listens to music to get out her feelings. I like that as a stress release/coping tactic/whatever you want to call it for her.

This is a Sigrid song, by the way! “Strangers,” a totally appropriate song for relationship dysfunction and dismantling the perfect movie romance. Really interesting with Isa’s somewhat romanticized view of love - sometimes you just know, that’s how it’s supposed to be, etc.

Is Kes going to run out after her?

Nope, he doesn’t run after her. Not like in the movies. Isa just does a walk down the street. She’s not happy but it seems like listening to music steadies her a bit and gives her an outlet for her emotions so that she’s not a total mess.

Clip 2 - Engel does not know how the pill works, sigh

The title of this clip was Het is Zover and there was a still of Liv so I was like … are we finally headed down this f/f romcom route? Het is Over? (I know, I know, it has an actual meaning in Dutch.) But it ended up referring to something heterosexual, lmao.

I like Isa’s little toucan key chain.

Isa is not in a good mood, Liv looks fondly at her girl and asks about Kes. Liv knows what’s up with 17-year-old boys.

Engel pops up and says it’s time for her and Noah to go to the bone zone. Isa is like, that was fast. So I guess they are going down this sex storyline; the wax was a fun bonus.

Engel being like “I know It’s Time because I DMed with Noah all weekend and he’s perfect” - God help us.

Engel asks for the pill like she’s asking for ibuprofen, and when she says eh, it’ll be nothing then, Liv is like nuh uh, you’re going to the doctor. Thank you, Liv.

Engel gets them to agree to go by offering a bottle of wine each. When Isa tells Liv that she (Liv) doesn’t even drink, Liv is like, two for you, right? WHOOOOOOA. True love right there.

I had the worst thought and wondered if Engel’s failure to get her pubes waxed is going to lead to Noah making a shit comment about them later, like when Engel confronts him. Because teenage boys think girls should be completely hairless, like porn stars or babies!

Clip 3 - Isa can’t sleep

Isa is watching a video on her phone when she gets a notification about something her dad posted. It’s a little kid getting a swimming certificate, so I’m guessing that’s her dad’s new family.

Isa gets up to go sit on her mom’s bed. She asks for a foot rub, which her mom gives her, until her mom starts asking about Olivia and Tess. Then the feet come back up to Isa’s chest.

Her mom’s like, I’m just trying to show interest. Isa is probably thinking that’s more than her dad does. She extends a leg again.

Perhaps that’s why Isa opens up to her and tells her she has a boyfriend. When she tells her mom his name is Kes, her mom doesn’t comment on it being Olivia’s boyfriend’s name or anything, so maybe she didn’t know Kes and Olivia dated?

Isa asks her mom whether she thought she and her dad would be together forever, and then when she change her mind. Isa’s mom says that sometimes things go differently from how you expected. I really like this scene. It goes in with Isa “just knowing” that you’re meant to be with someone, as mentioned in episode 2, and then this reality that crashes in on you. It’s awesome that they tied in these elements of Isa’s absent father and divorced/separated parents, Isa’s relationship with her mom who’s locked out of certain elements in her life, and Isa’s relationship with Kes to the overall idea of being with someone forever. I think Isa questioning the nature and longevity of love could end up being a really satisfying part of her arc. I can’t wait to see the final clip of the season; I hope they modify her speech to Kes so that it fits with all these moments and what she’s learned.

She gets back into bed and apologizes to Kes for being a bitch sometimes, because obviously she doesn’t want their relationship to end, and then stares at the ceiling with that one damn glow in the dark shooting star.

Clip 4 - Doctor visit

The girls go to the doctor with Engel. Liv and Imaan entertain themselves by playing with a model of a torso. Kes and Isa make up via text, he says he loves her even when she’s angry.

I love that Engel looks small in that big chair against the giant window, truly mimicking how overwhelmed she must be feeling.

Where’s Janna? I have to say that I look forward to her reactions on anything vagina-related.

I guess she had to miss the fun because she had to make up for being late to German, but it’s really cool how Imaan volunteered to join them considering I think the Sanas usually sit this excursion out.

The doctor comes out and IT’S A MAN THIS TIME??? Oh fuck!

I mean I know plenty of women don’t have a problem with a male OB-GYN, but for a girl who’s perhaps afraid to get a bikini wax, I think she would be a little shy about talking about birth control with a dude.

This doc is handsome, not gonna lie. I can’t imagine if that would make it more or less awkward. I do think that it’s less awkward with your friends, so good call, Engel.

The doc is asking Engel some basic questions and Engel answers more confidently than I expected, so good for her. Imaan rats out Engel by saying she’s only known the guy for a week. Well, maybe it’s not the wisest choice, Imaan, but that means Engel should definitely be on birth control!

Liv also shares that Noah sleeps with the whole school, and the doc mentions that the pill only helps with pregnancy, not STDs. Bless him. I mean he’s just doing his job, but bless. This is a good message to include on the show.

OH MY GOD when that doc brought out the dildo for the condom demonstration. He was completely matter-of-fact and professional but geeeeez I would have found this to be the most embarrassing thing at 16.

Clip 5 - CONDOMS, ENGEL, CONDOMS CONDOMS CONDOMS

The girls evaluate condom choices. Strawberry, banana, glow-in-the-dark. Don’t get the banana ones. I love real bananas but artificial banana flavor on anything is a gamble.

I can’t tell, who said that king-sized wasn’t for Noah? Janna? I want to give her an award.

This clip was so short but I loved it! Just sweet and funny, wonderful girl squad dynamic, adorable.

As an aside, please watch the first 30 seconds of this scene and imagine it with Engel as Rose, Janna as Blanche, and Imaan as Dorothy.

Clip 6 - Engel’s softcore fashion fantasy

Janna has the right idea by blowing up a condom into an elephant trunk.

Janna doesn’t remember anything from her first time. That bit never stops being alarming, tbh.

Janna is also adamant that Noah needs to do his best and make sure Engel has an orgasm. Good job, Janna! That’s something I’ve always wondered with the Williams of the show: do they actually try to make the experience pleasurable for the Vildes? Because Vilde is like, “It was great!” but she’s also speaking from inexperience, and she might just be overcompensating, who knows? I mean, I don’t think she would actually tell the girls if it sucked.

Engel doesn’t know what an orgasm feels like, she doesn’t know how to get wet, she doesn’t want to get horny. Look, everyone should learn at their own pace, but my professional opinion is that this poor girl should take some time on her own before sleeping with a random dude she has known for a week.

Who hasn’t even arrived on time to get laid. Oh God, please just blow her off completely? Don’t make us and Engel go through this again. Lesser of two evils.

Janna eats a banana. I just wanted to write that.

Liv is there to administer horny-making fantasies to Engel. Lmao, Isa had to get up off her chair and go sit on the bed next to Liv while Liv is talking dirty. I wonder why….

Ohhhh my God. This fantasy of Engel’s? WOW. It is really not “allowed” within the Skam format but honestly, fuck it, this is too weird not to appreciate. This is some ’90s music video realness, I expected 98 Degrees to walk out. Except it mostly focuses on Engel’s attire and makeup and hair, so maybe it’s more like a perfume ad?

Lmao, Engel getting turned on by herself more than Noah really stands out when you see the visual.

Janna tells the anecdote about getting turned on by donkeys, but it was supposedly just a whole other village that had the donkey kink rather than her. Bless her.

The girls need to get out because Kes is supposed to arrive, but of course, when Isa opens the front door, it’s Noah, come for his booty call. Isa’s mom is really cute in how she’s excited to see “Kes.”

Engel is? “Not my girlfriend.” Noah, you dumb fuck. Why do you need to clarify that shit to someone’s mom who you’re only going to know for like two seconds?

I mean, it’s foreshadowing as to Noah’s fuckboy ways, and that Engel will get her heart broken, but duuuuude quell your ass down.

Isa is like, nah mom, those girls tripping on the stairs and babbling weren’t drunk! Lol, sure.

When Isa calls Kes, it absolutely sounds like he was at a party with the level of background chatter. You hear Olivia’s voice clearly but they’re definitely surrounded by people.

Of course Kes is not coming, and Isa’s mom overhears enough on the phone conversation to realize. She tells her that they can eat, just the two of them. I really like Isa’s mom, she’s cute.

Great sad closing song.

General Comments/Social Media

Engel stuck Liv’s own song on their Tallinn playlist and Liv’s like, time to delete that!

I love Janna naming the group chat weird stuff, and everyone acknowledging that group chat names are never normal.

This remake makes my heart so warm! The girl squad is so lovely and fun. I adored the pubic hair side plot, lmao, and the twists on the doctor visit and the condom retrieval. Little moments like that with the girls have made the dynamic so entertaining.

As for the boys, I think Lucas is a fantastic Isak. Kes has his typical Jonas S1 dickhead moments, but he’s also got charm, and God help me but I am enjoying Noah’s whatever-the-fuck-ness. Like I’m aware he’s going to be a creep, but currently I like taking the piss out of him and his wardrobe and attitude.

As I mentioned previously, I think they’re doing some great moments with Isa’s character arc and tying in her family issues to her relationship issues, and having her talk about love or question love in the abstract.

I am not Dutch, so feel free to correct me if I missed anything.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

#skamnl reactions #skam nl reactions

17 notes · View notes