#I'm glad that the sequel never got made

[gwarden123]

To talk about something I actually did like, I watched The Long Kiss Goodnight yesterday. It’s got not one, but TWO really big explosions. I’m sure there are modern movies that have practical explosions rather than CG fireballs, but I can’t remember the last time I saw one and it was nice to see. It’s like the undulating rooftop set in Tremors. It’s nice when a movie puts in the effort.

The movie does get a little quippy at times. But this does make the movie a little more fun than what could have easily been quite a dour, Jason Bourne type of movie. Especially since the story is arguably darker than Jason Bourne. The quips also tend to be kept for the more cynical characters. I might be splitting hairs or losing my mind, but it felt like, while the sincere characters could be funny, the cynical characters used humour to put some distance between them and the rest of the world. More of a coping mechanism to deal with everything that they’ve done. I might be reading too much into things, however.

Samuel L. Jackson as Mitch Hennessy is probably the closest thing I’ve seen to a live action Harry Du Bois. Just a very fun dirtbag character. He feels very natural, not tropey or forced like a lot of similar characters might end up feeling. He has good chemistry with Geena Davis as well. He’s just very fun to watch.

The kid has a tendency to suffer from Movie Kid Syndrome, acting more like someone’s idea of a child rather than an actual child. Someone who has never spent much time around children and maybe doesn’t even like them. Thankfully, she does get to act more like an actual person at one or two points when it actually counts. I’m not quite sure I’ve ever seen a child get angry like that at a parent in a movie, definitely not one so young.

The movie does get a little goofy at points, particularly towards the beginning. It sometimes has a somewhat comic book idea of trauma and memory and identity. On the other hand, the movie does later suggest that the protagonist might have been lying about not remembering things, at least some of the time. This does seem to bear out as the movie carries on, but it could also have simply been covering its ass. It mostly doesn’t matter, because the movie is generally entertaining and its logic is suitable for what it is.

I did also quite like the music. It is mostly orchestral, blockbuster spy thriller stuff, but there was at least one point where I noticed the music using the sound of a silencer as a beat in a way that I thought was quite interesting. I’m not a music person, so it’s not my area of expertise. I also quite liked how loving and supportive the love interest was, in a way that you do see with male love interests, but it’s not always a given. And, since I’ve been complaining about endings, the ending of the movie does mirror the opening quite nicely. There’s even a thematic and tonal shift of day to night from the beginning to the end of the movie. Although, it is probably as simple as big explosion looks better at night.

[emdotcom]

Tbh, can't believe I'm cutting ties with Fnaf before Batim.

[vaultdwellerbarbie]

drew a map on your bedroom ceiling

boone (twisters)/f!reader (3.4k wc)

summary after weeks of being with boone, you officially cannot handle how badly you need him any longer (sequel to mary's song)

content warnings smut, unsafe sex, multiple orgasms, cannot be read separately from the first part it won't make any sense

so when i realized that i wanted to write smut about boone i wasn't sure what, and then i was like... huh... i'm just gotta write a sequel to the last boone fic. this is kind of a mid-quel because there was a time jump of a few months in the fic and this takes place in between that. yes this is also named after taylor swift lyrics who's surprised

It had been about two weeks since the nature of your relationship with Boone had changed. Though you had both decided to sleep in the same bed as each other every night, nothing beyond that had happened. Everyone you knew believed that something beyond that had happened, but nothing had. 

Sure, you’d made out with him a little bit. You had gotten a bit aroused while kissing him, and you knew that he did too, but neither of you went any further than kissing each other. He’d get a little handsy, kiss your neck, make a little noise when you did the same to him - but neither of you knew how exactly to approach anything further than just making out. You’d been friends for so long, it was different when it came to actually sleeping together. To be clear, you both wanted to, you just didn’t quite know how to approach it. 

Perhaps the only way to approach it was just to confront it head-on, at this point, it sort of felt like you were losing your mind. You almost always sat beside him when you were on camera, you would spent most of your time with him - you were always close to him, and it always made you happy. It wasn’t a new phenomenon to have him beside you, or even to have his leg pressed against yours in the truck. It was a new feeling to have his hand gripping your hand during videos, to have it resting politely on your thigh while you try to act like that wasn’t having any real effect on you. 

The moment you were back in the room that you were sharing, you weren’t even positive that Boone had locked the door before he had you pressed against him. This was customary, you would make out like your lives depended on it and one of you would have some sort of interruption. Whether it was Boone deciding that he wanted to take a shower because he ‘smelled’, or you deciding that you were too nervous to push too far - one of you got nervous, and one of you backed out before it got too far. 

But what was ‘too far’? You wanted to be with each other, you’d already told each other than you’d loved each other, you worked in one of the most dangerous paths that you could possibly work in and you had to trust each other to stay safe and protected. There was something intimate about everything that you had already done together, but for whatever reason, you were both scared to cross one line. It almost felt silly to you. Boone had been there when you almost got hit by debris more than once, he’d been there when you were doing a bit too much and having a bit too much fun and needed to be reminded that tornadoes were - in fact - dangerous. Namely, though, he had been there with you when you both almost died in that movie theater. Never before had you come closer to death, and never before were you more glad to see anyone than you were to see Boone in that moment. 

Reaching behind you, you were quick to make sure that the door was actually locked before pulling away slightly from Boone. He watched you, his breath intense and fast, his eyes curious. This was where you always cut off, actually, it was before where you always cut off. There was something else in those eyes, though. A question he didn’t know how to ask, a feeling he didn’t know how to convey.

Perhaps it was embarrassing that neither of you really could figure out how to broad the subject, and reaching down to pull him against you by his belt probably wasn’t the best option, but it was the one that you decided upon regardless.

Boone was a bit surprised by your sudden movements, a noise leaving his throat as you pressed your lips back against his. The kiss was hungry, needy, and he had no qualms in intensifying it as he brought a hand to the back of your head. His fingers tangled in your hair, holding your face against his as he slowly tugged you with him toward the bed. You’d done this before, you weren’t unfamiliar with the feeling of him sitting down and pulling you on top of him. Typically, it would end with you under him, with his lips on your throat, before something got in the way. This time, you were determined to see this through. 

Boone’s hands rested on your hips, your own hands holding onto his shoulders as your legs straddled his thighs. You could feel him bringing a hand lower, resting on your backside and squeezing the flesh there - again, normal, customary. He wasn’t doing anything that he hadn’t done before, meaning that it really was up to you if you were interested in taking things any further.

He let out a groan upon feeling your hips grinding against him, his hands tightening on you as your timid movements became a bit more fluid. It was subtle at first, it could almost be mistaken as accidental, as your body simply moving on its own. But you could feel him getting hard beneath you, and you could feel him rubbing up against your core, and it very quickly became incredibly apparent to him that you were acting on your own volition. 

“Honey, you gotta stop doing that.” He pulled back slightly, his eyes blown out in a way that you hadn’t seen them before. “I’m not- unless you want to-” 

“I want to, of course I want to.”

“You’re sure? If you’re not ready-”

“I’m ready, Boone. I want you so badly.” 

“I want you too, princess.”

His lips were on yours in an instant, a yelp leaving your mouth at how abruptly he used his strength to get you to the top of the bed. Boone broke the kiss to get your shirt over your head, his hands quickly moving to your back to undo your bra. Still, he made sure to get your confirmation before taking it off, and you couldn’t help but appreciate just how much he cared about making sure that you were fully comfortable above anything else. 

But Boone was still a man, and you couldn’t help but be slightly embarrassed by the way that he stared at your chest like you were some sort of art piece. Your hands tugged at the hem of his shirt, which he quickly removed for you before bringing his hands to rest on your torso. He pushed you down against the bed, and his lips covered yours again but it was softer than it had been before. 

The feeling of his hands exploring your skin left you feeling energized; despite this being the first time you were with him like this, exposed for him like this, you couldn’t bring yourself to feel nervous when it came to Boone. 

A sigh left your mouth as you felt his hands finally moving up to cup your chest, your back arching slightly as you felt his thumbs brush against your nipples. He pulled back to look at you, his hair hanging slightly in his face. This was probably the quietest that he had ever been in the entire time that you’d known him, but he seemed to just be savoring the moment. This was new territory in your relationship, and he just seemed a little bit in awe that it was actually happening. 

“You’re sure?”

“Boone-”

“I’m just making sure.”

“I appreciate that,” You replied, a warmness in your tone as a smile covered your lips. “But I really kinda just need you to fuck me.” 

“You’re gonna give a man a heart attack talkin’ like that.” He responded, but quickly dipped his head down so his lips were against your neck. Your fingers gripped his hair with one hand, your other hand moving down to explore the warm skin of his torso. You didn’t often see him with his shirt off, so you were typically taken aback by how well-defined his torso was. He leaned into your touch, allowing your fingers to trace his skin as his lips trailed further down than they ever had before with you. 

A moan escaped you as his lips connected with one of your nipples, his other hand continuing to explore down your body before reaching the button on your shorts. You lifted your hips off of the bed, allowing him to unbutton and unzip the article of clothing which you did your best to shimmy out of. 

Boone, seemingly with a new fire lit in him, wasted no time in continuing to kiss down your torso.

“You don’t have to-”

“Let me make you feel good, I want to taste you.” You felt a fluttering in your stomach upon hearing his words, your eyes locked on his as he continued to move down your body before he was settled in between your legs. 

“Sorry I didn’t wear sexier underwear.”

“You could make anything look sexy.” His words came out instinctually, his eyes focused on your core as he slowly removed the last layer of clothing from your body. The cool motel air against your skin told you that were definitely incredibly wet, and the sharp intake of breath that came from your boyfriend’s lips confirmed that. “This all for me?”

You nodded, a whimpered “I want you so badly,” exiting your lips as you felt him run his finger from your clit down, experimentally pushing a finger inside of you before pulling it back out. 

“You’ve got me.” He reassured you, his eyes locking with yours for just one more moment before he moved his face to where he knew that you needed him. 

The feeling of his facial hair against your skin tickled a bit, but it wasn’t course. That feeling was very easily masked by the feeling of his tongue against your clit, your eyes clouding over as you tried to focus on him. When he made a promise to make you feel good, it was incredibly apparent that he was devoted to keeping it. Boone moved his mouth against you like his life depended on it while you bit down on your bottom lip to try to keep yourself quiet. He kept his hands placed firmly on your thighs, keeping you from fidgeting too much so you didn’t interfere with what he was doing.

“That feel good, baby?” He asked, breaking his lips from yours as his fingers ran across the skin of your thighs.

“Why’d you stop?” You complained, his smile widening at the deep pout on your lips.

“Just wanted to make sure you were doing okay.” 

Truthfully, he just wanted to be a tease. But he didn’t tease you for much longer as he reconnected his mouth with your cunt. The feeling of his lips against your clit had your hand on his hair, tugging it just slightly but not enough to hurt him. He didn’t mind the feeling of your fingers tangled in your hair, it really only spurred him on do do more and more to bring you closer to the brink. 

Boone’s movement’s didn’t slow, his tongue pushing slightly inside of you before moving back up to your clit. It seemed that he was dead set on giving you the first orgasm you’d received from him (directly, because you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t gotten off to the thought of him before and you knew that the’d done the same) from his mouth alone, and it was working wonders. 

The moment you felt that coil building in your stomach, it was incredibly difficult for you to keep quiet. You knew that the walls were thin, and that you didn’t want to deal with the teasing from your friends in the morning if they all overheard you, but he was also making you feel just so good that it was harder than you would’ve liked to admit for you to keep quiet as you quickly reached your very first orgasm of the night. 

When you came down from that high, you figured that Boone would pull away. He, instead, moved a hand from your thigh and pressed two fingers inside of you. Feeling a bit oversensitive, you squirmed at his touch, but couldn’t deny the fact that he was still making you feel good.

“Boone,” You whined, bringing his attention back to you. “You’re not- you should-”

“What was that, baby?” He was full-on teasing you now, moving his body again so he was on top of you. His face was in front of yours, his breath hot against your lips. “You better use your words.”

“I want you to feel good, too.”

“I will, promise. I just need to get you ready, okay? I don’t wanna hurt you.” He responded, his fingers continuing to pump inside of you. “Just wanna get another one out of you before I fuck you. Think you can do it?”

“Can you kiss me?” 

“Happy to.” He replied, leaning down to press his lips against yours. It was sloppy, you could taste yourself on his tongue, but something about that turned you on. Not because you could taste yourself, but because it was from kissing him - because you knew that this was intimate and personal, and because you sincerely knew and hoped that nobody else would ever do this with him again. 

Boone brought his thumb up to rub circles against your clit, adding a third finger inside of you. He brought his hand down to rest on your stomach, holding you down to stop the way that you were fidgeting underneath him. 

“Come on, baby, just one more and you can have what you want.” His voice was almost pleading, but you knew it was because he needed relief, too. Bringing your hand down to his pants, you could feel him straining against them. A grunt left his lips at the feeling of your hand against him, rubbing him through his pants so gently that he almost forgot that he was trying to make you cum first. The feeling of his hips bucking into your hand excited you, a slightly satisfied smile covering your lips as he clicked his tongue. “Thought I told you-”

“I just wanna feel you so bad.” You responded, his eyes softening for a split second before he leaned down to press a kiss against your cheek.

“You will, just cum for me again.” 

It didn’t take you more than a little over a minute for your cunt to squeeze his fingers, his free hand moving from your waist so he could press it over your mouth to keep you quiet. As much as he wanted the world to know that you were his, and that he was the only one who could make you feel like this, he also didn’t really need all of your friends to hear you - it would be embarrassing for both of you, and you’d never hear the end of it. 

Despite your absolutely out of breath, slightly sensitive, state your fingers were undoing his pants before he even had time to register that you had opened your eyes again.

“You’re so eager.”

“I’ve wanted this for so long.” You admitted, letting him shimmy out of his pants. Your eyes caught on the bulge underneath his boxers, bouncing back up to meet his gaze as he let you remove them from his hips. Boone let you touch him for a moment, his head falling back as your hand wrapped around his cock. He knew that you were going to need a moment to come down from that, and he couldn’t deny how good it felt to have you touching him.

“How long have you wanted this?” He responded, his voice catching for a moment as he felt you rubbing the precum on his tip down his shaft. 

“Remember that one time you tripped and knocked me over?”

“That was like- two days after we met.”

“Mhm.”

“I knew I wanted you when Tyler introduced us.” He admitted, his voice a bit darker as he tried to focus on talking to you and not just the feeling of your hand wrapped around him. You were experimental with your movements, but just as you gained a bit of confidence in what you were doing, he removed your hand from him. 

“You got a condom?” 

“Uh-”

“It’s- I’m on the pill, it’s fine.” 

“You sure?”

“Please, I need you.” Bringing your hand up to his face, you smiled at the way that he leaned into your touch. “I love you so much, Boone.”

“I love you too, so much.” He pressed a gentle kiss against your palm, leaning down to capture your lips with his. It was slow and steady, just like the movement of his hips as he pushed into you. He did his best to ease you into it, to make sure that you were comfortable at every step. It was clear how much he was holding himself back, but the moment you gave him the go-ahead, any apprehension that he was feeling was lost.

The feeling of his hips pumping into yours was new, and there was no arguing that he was somehow bigger than you had expected, but it felt so good. It felt so good being with him, being this closer to him, having his forehead pressed against yours and his eyes gazing into your own.

“You feel so fucking good.”

You weren’t sure what came out of your mouth in response to that, a line of gibberish that made him fully laugh as he leaned down to kiss you again. There was a smile on his lips, one that made you smile. But he didn’t slow his movements down for a second, and the moment he realized that he hit that spot in you that made you see stars, he made sure to hit that over and over again until you were putty in his arms.

Pulling back, he pressed his hand against your mouth again. “You sound good, baby, but you’re too loud.” 

You nodded in agreement, knowing that everyone else would be able to hear you as he brought you closer and closer to another orgasm. Boone’s moans were more subdued, but it was clear that he was trying to keep himself quiet. His face was so close to yours, his hair brushed up against your face and his breath fanned over your skin as his hips continued to pound into yours. It wasn’t until you felt yourself reaching your third, and final, orgasm of the night that he finally allowed himself a release.

There was a scattered arrangement of words coming out of his mouth, you really couldn’t make out what he was saying, just that he felt good. When he finally did open his eyes again, he quickly removed his hand from your mouth so he could kiss you again. His kiss was gentle, but it was also messy. While you both felt relieved, you also felt incredibly, incredibly exhausted when you came down from your high.

Boone pulled back when he felt your face falling slightly, shaking you awake a little bit. “That good?”

“So good.” You replied, a sleepy smile covering your mouth as he pulled away. He was gentle with how he pulled out of you, his eyes caught between your thighs for a moment before he grabbed a clean pair of boxers and walked into the bathroom. 

You were half-asleep by the time he came back, waking up to the feeling of him cleaning you up but listening as he did his best to soothe you back to sleep. Boone would help you put one of his shirts and a pair of underwear on before climbing into bed with you. He smiled warmly at the feeling of you cuddling into his body, your face nuzzling into his chest as he pressed a kiss to the top of your head. 

All in all, it became a lot easier to focus at work after you both relieved the tension that was eating away a little bit at the both of you.

[thisgirlnamedblusy]

Holy moly, your last story had me feeling feelings.

The sentence about the unborn baby being jealous got me thinking tho, what if their kid inherited some of Donna's possessive traits, like always wanting to be by y/n's side, much to the chagrin of poor Donna, who hasn't been able to cuddle reader at night without a (sometimes two) little body wiggling into their bed. And as their daughter grows, she kinda sees Donna as a threat, someone who takes her moms attention away. Donna doesn't rightly know how to deal with the feeling of love for her child, and annoyance at not having reader for themselves.

UNTIL one day when reader and child is taking a walk through the forest, and a couple of men comes up and threatens them, only for mama Donna to turn up and rescue them. Both Donna and her daughter have a revelation that day: Donna from how scared she would be if anything happened to both her love and her child, and daughter from how she now sees Donna as her mama too, who would always protect and love her. And they make an unspoken pact about protecting reader always xD

You don't have to write this if you don't want to, I just got the mama Donna brainrot lol

Thanks for feeding us starving queers some quality Donna content

Yesss!!!! Thank you for your words, and for your request! I'm glad to read you enjoyed that one!!! I hope you like it and sorry about the language mistakes!!! :))))

A long road to motherhood

Pairing: Donna Beneviento x Fem! Reader

Warnings: G!P Donna (implied), slightly dark themes, Donna's POV

Word count: 7,112

Summary: How I can be jealous of my own daughter?

N/A: Sorry about the language mistakes!!! Requests are open!!! This is a sequel to this one!!! I love you all!!! :))

As they say, time heals wounds.

After almost losing you, after seeing how life became more and more distant from your sight, I was able to get you back.

A miracle, the sign that my sins were forgiven, I couldn't say what exactly it was. I have always thought that coincidence doesn’t exist, even when I met you, a bad deed that was rewarded, a trip to hell of having you immobile in a bed. I could never forget the two weeks when I almost lost you, when my whole world almost collapsed, because of me.

But no, life stopped torturing me, you woke up, you woke up wanting to make me feel good, to forgive me, to continue loving me as I didn't think you did.

If I had to keep a memory in my mind, only one, I would choose the moment in which I turned my head and saw your eyes open, your sweet look from that stretcher, life shining in your eyes again, looking at me.

I made an effort not to torture myself, to not let the nightmares make my nights impossible. It could be because I was still mentally ill, I couldn't separate myself from what life had given me, but I had to be strong. It was no longer you and me. There was someone, someone much more important to care for, someone to fight day and night for with my demons, with my jealousy, with my stupid and sick way of being: our daughter, Giovanna.

Born from my mistakes, from my pathological possessiveness, that girl represented everything pure that was missing in my life. My family, our family had been formed thanks to the biggest mistake of my life, thanks to that horrible afternoon in which I took what I thought was mine.

Luckily, the girl kept me away from your screams of terror, from the way you resisted my actions. Little by little I began to forget it, especially when I saw that childish smile in the girl's eyes. She had no hard feelings. If her birth was a mistake, it would be the best one in my life.

Maybe not the way she was conceived, but I could feel proud of the change that little Giovanna Beneviento made in our lives. I almost lost you because of my selfishness, but I got you back because... Well, I couldn't say why exactly. Maybe you forgave me, maybe you never could. I didn't know, with you it was impossible to know.

The years passed, the girl grew up and with her everything we had formed by chance, because of me, settled into routine, like a new way of living, of caring, of loving...

“Asleep,” you said amused, entering the bedroom, closing the door, wearing that smile on your face, the one I didn't think I deserved.

Luck smiles on the wicked, it smiled on me, the luck of having you, of having you and our daughter. I was not worthy of such honor, such light that had appeared in the darkness of my life.

“She’s alright?” I asked, getting under the covers. You nodded, motioning with your thumb, joining me.

“Yes, she's with Angie,” you answered, kissing me quickly. I frowned, with an amused look.

“That doesn't answer my question,” I whispered, kissing her shoulder, thanking with my lips that you never left, that all my flaws seemed like just an illusion to you.

“Well, I told her the story of the princess and the eel, it is her favorite,” you said with an interesting look. I shook my head, laughing at that attitude you had, that attitude that didn't disappear even in your worst moments. I didn't deserve you.

“The princess and the frog,” I corrected, narrowing my eye, with a sinister smile. You laughed, disapproving of my correction with a wave of your hand and a tired sigh.

“No, no, Donna,” you whispered, with a mocking tone. “You heard me correctly. Eel.”

“What difference does it make?” I asked curiously, admiring your imagination, your ability to make Giovanna fall asleep every night with those made-up stories. Only you could do it.

“Oh, I'm glad you’ve asked me...” you whispered, darkening your voice, making me pay more attention to you. “Well, when the princess kisses the toad, it becomes a prince, right?”

I nodded, listening to you with curiosity, trying not to let my eye go to the scar on your arm, the one that showed the worst two weeks of my life, the ones in which I was on the verge of losing you, because of me.

“Well, in my story, when the princess kisses the eel, the prize is… an electric tickle attack!” you said loudly, attacking me mercilessly, running over my body with your restless hands, making me laugh involuntarily.

“(Y/N)...” I said, grabbing your wrists to end your torture.

“Do you like my story?” you asked, climbing onto my lap, with that shine in your eyes that made me tremble, get excited. You were so perfect, so sweet... So... Fiery.

“Is that the end?” I asked, hugging your body, keeping it close to mine, rocking it. You pretended to think about the answer, which came in the form of a tender, but hot kiss on my lips, one that made me sigh.

“Well, that's the all-audiences ending,” you purred in my ear, forcing my hands to scratch the fabric of your pajamas as a result of the subtle but perceptible movement of your hips against mine.

“Is there an alternative ending?” I asked with a low voice, impatiently putting my hand in your pants, keeping your gaze, which drifted to my lap while you nodded.

“Yes, but it can't be told,” you whispered, reacting to my touch with erratic movements of your body.

“Maybe you can show it to me,” I said, with a smile close to your lips, noticing your nervous breathing, your desire to love me once again, to let yourself be loved, this time for real, that time without arguments, without terrible ideas going through my head.

“Maybe I can,” you whispered, melting into me in a passionate, hot, wet kiss, dancing with my body, caressing my hair, my back, comically fighting with your pajamas so they would disappear from our path.

 “Mom, mom!” a shrill voice sounded behind the door, causing you to move, to turn away from me with scared eyes.

Small steps approached the bed and with the strength that a 6 year old girl could have, Giovanna climbed up to meet us.

“Gio, what are you doing here?” you asked, your face blushing. “Why did you get up?”

“I've had a nightmare...” the girl murmured, looking at me out of the corner of her eye, with a strange feeling that made me raise my eyebrow.

“Oh, a nightmare?” you said, taking the girl in her arms. “You just fell asleep, darling.”

“Yes, but I had the nightmare,” she said, looking away. Was she lying?

“Oh, poor Gio, the evil monsters again?” you asked with a tender voice, placing the little girl between the two of us.

I couldn't help but sigh tiredly. It might seem like a tender moment, a moment when our daughter needed that coveted motherly love. Well, it could be like that, but I knew it wasn't.

When she was born, she was a good baby, who cried like a normal baby, who let herself be rocked, who fell asleep in my arms. That changed over the years. Somehow, as if she had noticed the absence of her mother in the first moments of her life, she could no longer live without her.

Always with you, the girl was always with you, she cooked with you, she bathed with you, and, of course, she slept with you.

The nights stopped being a small bastion of intimacy between us when Giovanna had enough capacity to reason. Sometimes I thought she did it on purpose, to annoy me. She couldn't think that way. I really was trying not to think that way.

“Yes, mom...” the little girl sighed, causing another hug from you and a look of helplessness that you gave me over your shoulder. “Can I sleep here?”

“No, tesoro,” I said, taking the girl in my arms, in a furious outburst at that interruption.

I wouldn't have acted like that if it hadn't been the countless times it happened. “Come on, let's put you to bed.”

“No! I want to stay with mom,” the girl protested, breaking free from my grip, crawling comically across the bed to reach your arms. You laughed, shaking your head.

“(Y/N), tell her something,” I said, showing clear displeasure at the situation. My patience grew as the girl did, but lately it was slowing down, maybe too fast.

You shrugged, hugging our daughter, who seemed to be having another of her usual tantrums.

“Oh, come on, Donna, poor thing. It's okay. She can sleep with us,” you said, giving in to the little girl's emotional blackmail, to those fake tears that ran down her cheek.

“It's okay if it were the first time, (Y/N)” I said, sitting on the bed. “She has to learn to face her fears.”

“Mamma mean... Mom, mamma is mean...” Giovanna said, hanging on to your pajamas, looking at me with eyes that I wished I had never seen. They seemed full of hatred, irrational hatred. Why did she remind me so much of me?

“No, don't say that, honey, mommy Donna isn't mean, she cares about you,” you sighed, cradling the little girl in your arms.

I laughed nervously and crossed my arms, shaking my head. Despised by my own daughter, was this the punishment that awaited me for my horrible acts?

“Well, then she has to let me sleep with you,” the girl said, without bothering to look at my face.

“She's going to do it, right, Donna?” you asked, looking at me. I couldn't do anything else. I had to nod in defeat, for my own daughter.

“Oh, okay,” I huffed, getting under the covers.

I looked at the girl, the girl looked at me and did something that made me sit up again. Her face radiated the sweet taste of victory, sticking her tongue out at me mockingly.

“Hey!” I protested, annoyed by that unpleasant gesture. “(Y/N), the girl stuck her tongue out at me.”

“Oh, come on, stop it and let's go to sleep,” you said tiredly, turning off the light on the table, enveloping the room in the deepest darkness.

I wanted to protest again, to punish Giovanna for treating me that way, but I did nothing, as always. I just crossed my arms again, pressed against the edge of the bed.

Silence finally reigned in my head, and in my ears. Frustrated and nervous, I thought about everything that was happening, about my daughter's unfair attitude towards me. You said that perhaps she had inherited that possessiveness.

 I trembled to think that it could be that way.

Of all my flaws, that was the worst. Just thinking that my daughter could become someone like me... My entire body trembled with terror at that idea, my stomach clenched as I imagined it. Giovanna had inherited almost all of my looks, that wasn't a bad thing. But that her mind worked like mine, that she thought she had to have you to herself...

No, that was something that horrified me, something I tried to ignore in each and every one of her tantrums.

With my eye open, thinking about that possibility, I spent part of the night, well, until a small foot hit me in the face, snapping me out of my own personal torture.

“Mamma, move, I don't have room,” the girl protested, causing me to grunt, pushing her small leg away with an angry gasp.

“You have plenty of room, Giovanna,” I said with a serious voice, perhaps too serious for such a young girl. She didn't seem to care and she continued kicking my body until she forced me to fall off the bed with a thud.

“Mamma, you fell,” my daughter whispered, with a malicious tone, with a tone I hated hearing.

A mocking laugh reached my ears. It wasn't the girl. It was you, (Y/N).

Did you really find it funny that my daughter looked down on me like that? My dark mind lurked in my thoughts, but I was stronger, at that moment I could control my impulses, although I didn't know for how long.

“Do you find it funny? Your daughter kicked me out of bed,” I said furiously, suddenly getting up from the floor.

“No, no, not at all,” you said, not knowing how to hide the mockery that appeared in your words.

I sighed again, running a hand through my hair, shaking my head.

“You know what? You can stay there, I'm leaving,” I said furiously, grabbing one of the cushions from the bed, leaving the room, stopped by your mocking hand on my wrist.

“Come on, Donna, stop acting like a child and go back to bed,” you said, your voice tired. I opened my eyes wide, offended by that reproach.

“Do I behave like a child?” I asked, with my hands on my hips. “Tell your daughter, she hasn't stopped until she kicked me out of bed and...”

“Donna, stop it,” you scolded me, leaving me glued to the wooden floor. “I don't know which of the two is more childish, really...” you sighed, turning around, letting me go.

I opened my mouth to say something, but my insides were churning furiously. I knew I was right, but I couldn't help but feel that it was internal rage, an uncontrolled rage that clouded my disturbed mind was the reason for all your suffering. I would never hurt you again, (Y/N), ever again.

“Buoa notte,” I whispered before disappearing down the hallway, walking towards the office.

Lying back on that old sofa, I thought about whether all of that was really a punishment, if the happiness I felt from having you next to me, from having a family, was just the illusion of reward, instead of a macabre game of hell itself.

“Hello, hello, hello, exiled again?” a familiar, too familiar voice asked, Angie, who entered the office with an amused step.

“What do you think?” I asked, settling down on that horrible sofa, looking away from that annoying doll. “If you did your job well…”

“What job?” the doll asked, jumping into my stomach, with a maddening voice that I didn't need to hear.

“Giovanna has had nightmares again,” I commented in a low voice, forcing Angie to get off my body, turning around, trying not to stick the wood of that sofa that little by little was becoming my new bed.

“Oh, I didn't know,” she muttered, climbing up again, just to annoy me. Why would my own conscience want to annoy me? It seemed like everyone was against me, as always.

“You didn’t know? You sleep with her,” I said incredulously, suspecting something I already knew. Angie shrugged, shaking her head from side to side. “Piccola bugiarda…”

“Don't blame her. She wants to be with her mother,” the doll said, downplaying the fact that my daughter was a little liar, something admirable at her age, but equally irritating.

“I'm her mother too,” I protested, sitting up, saying out loud a truth that my own daughter seemed to deny from the moment she said her first word, from the moment she decided not to separate from you.

“That's quite obvious,” Angie murmured, making me roll my eye and cross my arms, pressing my nails into my skin.

“But it seems like I’m not... Giovanna doesn't see me as such,” I said with a lower voice. “Cazzo, Angie, I can't even spend a moment with (Y/N) alone...”

“Oh...” the puppet sighed, forcing me to look at her. “I don't think you're jealous of your own daughter, Donna.”

“What? Of course I’m not,” I said immediately, separating that possibility from my head, the possibility that had been tormenting me for some time.

“Well, it seems like it,” Angie rebuked, earning a strong push from me to took her off the couch.

“Don’t say nonsense. I'm sure it's a phase or something...” I muttered, grabbing the cushion to channel my anger into that piece of fabric instead of losing my nerve.

I hadn't lost my mind for too long, I wanted you to be proud of me.

“Well, well, what you want is to be alone with (Y/N) to make more babies to get on my nerves,” the irreverent puppet commented.

I huffed tiredly. Of course, Angie was part of me. She was just as possessive and jealous as me, as Giovanna...

“You don't understand,” I said in a dark tone, looking away from her. “I adore our daughter but I would like to have time for (Y/N) and me and… Besides, I'm afraid of…”

“Of what, Donna?”

“I’m afraid of Giovanna being like me”

That night I barely slept. The erratic thoughts in my head wandered freely thanks to the lack of your body hugging mine, your heat dissipating my demons. No, I couldn't be jealous of Giovanna, I couldn't feel hatred towards the person I loved most in the world. Or maybe I can, I didn't know, I was incapable of controlling everything that was going through my head, I was incapable of not seeing myself in my daughter's hateful glances.

“Good morning, darling...” your soft voice, your caresses on my hair woke me up from my recurring nightmares, some in which my old self took control of my actions, some in which I hurt you, again. “Have you been able to sleep?”

“Yes, well, I'm used to that horrible couch,” I murmured, yawning, sitting up to return those precious caresses, that kiss that I wanted to give you to calm my senses.

“Donna,” you sighed, with a sad look, lack of that fun that always guided your life. “Come on, don't be mad.”

“I'm not mad,” I said defensively, bringing my knees to my chest. “How did the little princess sleep?” I asked, unable to prevent irony from coating my words.

“Well, well, it seems like she doesn't have nightmares anymore,” you commented, oblivious to the mockery of my question, or rather, wanting to be oblivious to it.

“Yeah, sure,” I said, shaking my head, with a fake smile on my face.

“Don't be like that with Gio, she's a little girl, it's normal that she wants to be with her mother,” you explained, never ceasing in your attempt to calm me down with your caresses.

 I wish it had been that easy from the beginning, I wish your love could have put an end to my jealousy.

“With you, of course,” I murmured angrily, squeezing my fist tightly, a fist you grabbed, undoing its shape before it hurt me, again.

“Don't have a hard time, my love. You know what Giovanna is like, she's like…”

“Like me,” I interrupted, making you sigh intensely and lower your gaze. That was what you were going to say, it doesn't matter if you denied it.

“Yes, but not in the way you're thinking,” you said, lying, I could see it in your eyes, you were lying.

Liar

“I need to take a shower,” you commented, leaving aside that interesting and dangerous topic of conversation. “Why don't you give the girl breakfast? So you spend some time together.”

“She’s going to to bite me,” I murmured, unintentionally earning another of your tender laughs, another of your quick kisses on the lips, caresses and kisses I never deserved.

“Stop protesting and act like a mother,” you said amused, leaving the office.

I growled, uncovering myself and going to look for that little monster.

“Come on, Giovanna, drink the milk...” I said, tired of the girl's obvious refusal.

Already dressed, I prepared to fulfill the task you gave me, bathing the little girl and giving her breakfast. To say it was easy was a dirty liar. It was not.

Giovanna's protests grated in my ears. She loved her mother, she loved you.

“I don't want to, where is mom?” Giovanna asked, in a childlike posture, crossing her arms and dodging each of my attempts to bring the glass to her mouth.

“Mom is taking a shower, come on, obey,” I said, already tired from that infernal bath, from the kicks and punches of protest from my daughter, from our daughter. If she didn't look so much like me, I'd think she was just yours.

“I don't want to,” the girl said, looking at me proudly. I snorted, getting angry.

“Giovanna...” I hissed threateningly, sternly. She shook her head. “Come on, don't make it more difficult for me.”

“What have you done to mom?” she asked, leaving me stunned, leaving me breathless because of that horrible accusation.

“What are you talking about, tesoro?” I asked incredulously at those words, at that question. Did she remember she existed because I forced you to? It didn't seem possible.

“Mom's not here, I'm sure it's your fault,” the girl repeated, without looking at my face, gracefully avoiding my attempts to get her to eat breakfast.

“Don't talk nonsense and have breakfast at once,” I said tiredly, ignoring that horrible accusation.

“I don't want to, I want mom to come,” Giovanna said, kicking in the chair, threatening with another tantrum.

“I told you... Mom is taking a shower,” I whispered, losing my patience. “Eat breakfast or I won't let you play with Angie.”

Apparently, the threat of punishment had an effect. The girl clumsily picked up the glass, drinking some milk. I sighed in relief, but not for long. With a mocking sound, the milk in her mouth shot into the worst possible place, into my face.

I blinked in shock at this evil act and tried to ignore the boisterous laughter of the Angie doll, who seemed to be writhing on the floor, amused at my expense.

“It's over, you're punished,” I said furiously, grabbing the little girl's arm, who protested with an exaggerated scream.

“Let me go! Mom!” the little girl yelled, disconsolately calling her mother, calling you, her savior.

“Stai zitto, Giovanna,” I said furiously with a dark voice, but maintaining my composure, wiping my face.

“Lasciami in pace!” she screeched in response, moving erratically.

“Io sono la tua mamma, ascoltami, Giovanna...” I whispered, stopping that protest as best I could, being totally incapable.

“Tu non sei la mia mamma, sei una stupida!” she screamed, insulting me, making it clear that she didn't love me, that she only loved you.

That was a hard blow for my fragile mind, too hard.

“Hey, hey...” your voice resonated to calm that bloody battle, appearing from the hallway with a gaze fixed on the girl, with a frown. “What's going on here? If you're going to fight, at least do it in my language, will you?”

 “Your daughter, (Y/N), that's what's happening,” I said furiously, unable to get rid of the strong accent that anger made me have. You approached, shaking your head, running a hand through my hair.

“What happened to you? Has a cow fallen on your face?” you joked, making the girl laugh in amusement, being picked up by your protective arms.

I didn't know what to say, I simply tried to fight against my wounded heart, against the tears that threatened to slide down my cheek.

With a growl, I walked away from you, quickly, ignoring your calls.

“Donna! Hey, Donna! Come here,” you shouted, calling me. I turned to look at you, but I could only see the girl's triumphant eyes, ones that almost made me lose control.

I ignored your screams, going down to the basement, running quickly towards my room, containing the rage that was beginning to build up in my fists.

Furious, I kicked a chair, kicked the bed, and pulled my hair. The situation was unbearable but... No, I couldn't lose my mind in front of you, of our daughter. I couldn't go back to being that evil woman who ruined your life, the one who forced you through her deranged mind. I didn't want it to come back, but I couldn't stop it.

“Maledizione!” I shouted, releasing all my anger in a punch that hit the mirror of the old dresser. Blood flowed from my hand. The pain was intense, but not compared to the damage to my delicate, sensitive, sick heart...

How to deal with the love I felt for you, and for my daughter? How to handle those horrible feelings that haunted me? I loved Giovanna. I loved her more than my own life, even if she didn't feel the same way.

Jealousy, possessiveness, yes, there was no longer any doubt, it was my fault. Giovanna was born for that reason. She came into the world because of my pathetic and crazy obsession with keeping you by my side. Just as it happened with me, it happened with her. My desire not to lose you, to keep you close to me had passed to Giovanna, turning her into my reflection, into an adorable version of the monster that I considered myself to be.

The situation was getting out of control. I should never have been a mother, I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve to have you by my side. Your words, the love you said you felt for me were no longer enough.

That was my punishment for keeping you. That was my punishment for all the harm I did to you, creating something wonderful, a beautiful daughter, only for me to be nothing to her, just a nuisance, a threat that stood between her mother and her.

I looked at the blood that flowed from my knuckles, that blood that reminded me that I was still a human being. I shook my head, I buried it in my arms and there, in the solitude of my room, far from my family, far from the most important things in the world for me, I cried inconsolably.

“Quando ci vuole, ci vuole, mm?” I repeated that phrase looking at myself in the broken mirror, demanding a bit of fortitude from myself, gaining enough strength to get up and return to your side.

No matter how hard the path was, my duty was to walk along it. That was my penance.

“You shouldn't treat mommy that way, honey... She loves you very much.” Your voice caught my attention, making me hide before revealing myself again.

“She doesn't love me, she just wants to take me away from you,” the girl said, sobbing. That made me squirm again, but I managed to stay calm.

“No, that's not true, darling. Donna would do anything for you, for us… Remember how she made you Mrs. Freckles? She's your favorite doll, right?” you asked, giving Giovanna that doll, one that I made her when she was three years old, when she didn't hate me.

“Yes...” Giovanna said, hugging the doll tightly. That was the closest I'd come to her to give me some love the last two years. I cried again thinking about it.

“Besides, you don't remember but... Thanks to your mom, you're healthy and strong now, I'm sure you didn't know that,” you commented, with a soft voice, cradling the girl, calming her tantrum.

Giovanna shook her head, curious.

“I don't remember,” she said, with her hand on her mouth, in an adorable way. Well, at least it made me smile.

“Of course not, you had just been born and I... Well, I got very, very sick... I couldn't take care of you, but do you know who did?” you asked, with a voice similar to the one you used when you told her a story.

 The girl shook her head.

“Donna, your mommy, she took care of you until I got well again. She fed you, changed your diaper, sang lullabies to you to make you fall asleep...” You explained, making the knot in my stomach grow stronger. I didn't want to remember those two weeks, I didn't want to.

“Mamma Donna?” the girl asked, lowering her gaze.

“Yes, honey, she was very kind to you, you should be a good girl and return her favor, don't you think?” you said, with a softer voice.

The girl seemed to think about it, but finally, just as I suspected, she shook her head.

“Go to play with Angie, okay?” you said when you looked at me out of the corner of your eye, when you realized my presence. “Then we could take a walk in the forest, would you like to?”

“Yes, yes, a walk!” Giovanna said, excited about the idea, running around the room, passing by me without even looking at me.

“Donna, darling,” you sighed, walking slowly towards me, looking down at my wound, still bleeding. “Oh, my love… Have you hurt yourself again?”

I nodded, trying not to look at her, feeling ashamed, feeling that I was the monster you seemed to fall in love with once again.

“Gods, what have you done? Come, let's heal you,” you sighed, with that look you had when my mind went crazy, something that hadn't happened for too long.

Slowly, with a sad look, you bandaged my wound, not wanting to say anything, looking at me from time to time, with pity, thinking you had lost me again.

“Giovanna said I wasn't her mother,” I murmured while you worked on my wound. You looked at me, sighing, closing the bandage around my hand, holding it in yours.

“Don't pay attention to her, she's a little girl. You know that children say a lot of nonsense,” you commented, lifting my chin so you could see my face damaged by crying.

“It's not nonsense,” I said, furious again.

"Of course it is. Giovanna loves you, even if she doesn't tell you, I know,” you said in a soft tone, trying to convince me to abandon that shameful jealousy, that lack of your love that girl was forcing me to feel.

“You think so?” I said, turning around, looking on the coffee table for one of the many drawings my daughter made and showing it to you superbly. “Where am I here?”

“Oh, well...” you said, taking the sheet of paper, looking at the figures of Giovanna, Angie and you. “Oh, look, here you are,” you said smiling, pointing to a small black figure in the corner of the paper. I raised my eyebrows.

“There are lint in this house bigger than that black stain,” I said ironically, becoming defensive again.

“That black stain is you,” you joked, nudging me. I looked at you with a burning gaze, making you step back.

“Exactly, I'm just a black stain in our daughter's life, and in your life,” I murmured, looking away.

“No, that's not true, you know I love you very much Donna. You know that I...” you said, almost begging for me to listen to you, too late.

“I have to work on my dolls,” I said, getting up from the couch, rubbing the bandaged wound on my hand. “Thank you for healing me.”

“Donna, honey, wait...”

Nothing you said could be enough to calm the tide of my dark thoughts.

Just a black stain, a monster that wanted to separate my daughter from her mother, that was me in that family, nothing else.

“We'll be back before it gets dark,” you said, kissing me on the cheek as you said goodbye, heading out the door. “Come on, Gio, give mommy a kiss,” you ordered the girl, who was tugging impatiently at your dress.

“I don't want to,” the girl murmured, taking refuge between your legs. “Come on, mom, come on.”

You looked at me, apologizing for her, I shook my head. Not even Angie stayed with me.

With nothing better to do, I leaned on the porch railing, watching you walk away, letting my mind think that this might be the last time I saw you. In my hands, I held the black veil with which I used to cover my face, imagining a fleeting hope that would allow me to go with you.

I'm just stupid, like my daughter said. I didn't deserve the fantastic family I had. I never did it, it was all my fault.

“Look, Donna, what a kick... It's incredible...”

“Do you think we should paint the room? It's a bit dull for a girl, or a boy...”

“I want to see what it's like...”

As I looked somewhere I didn't notice, I remembered those moments, those horrible moments of your pregnancy, horrible, yes, but also tender, adorable. I was to blame for your suffering and your smiles. The harm that little Giovanna did to you was the first of my punishments.

I sighed, letting a tear fall onto the wooden floor, shaking my head, denying myself the truth of a terrible thought. You would be much better off without me.

“Donna, Donna!” A shrill voice derived that horrible thought from my head. My Angie doll appeared from the trees, clumsily running towards me.

“Angie? What's going on?” I asked, shaking my head as I ran to pick up the puppet, who was panting comically from that impromptu run.

“(Y/N), (Y/N) and Gio are in trouble, you have to help them, quickly!” the doll shouted, pulling the fabric of my dress. I, scared by that phrase, calmed the puppet by shaking it so it would stop babbling.

“What? In trouble?” I asked scared, with my body trembling with fear.

“Some bad men have trapped them in the forest, you have to do something, run, run!”

Frightened by that revelation, I put the black veil over my face, lowering the doll to the ground. My gaze darkened.

Nobody touches my family.

“Okay, take me there, Angie,” I whispered.

The doll nodded and led me by the hand into the depths of the forest.

“Do you want to stay still, you damn brat?” A deep voice reached my ears. This horrible vision appeared behind some bushes.

Two men, probably from the village, were holding my daughter, holding you in the same way while you kicked, trying unsuccessfully to get out of their grasp.

“Ah! Damn! She has bitten me!” The fatter one yelled, protesting against Giovanna's surprising attack against his hand.

“Let my mom go, you silly! Let her go!” the girl shouted, now in the arms of that evil man.

“Damn child!” the other man shouted, trying to keep you still.

“Gio!” you screamed, watching how the girl kicked tirelessly. My whole body burned with rage. “Let her go, you asshole, she's a child!”

“I will if you give me what I want, young lady,” the bandit murmured.

“I already told you that we don't have money!” you screamed again, growling, fighting with the hands that went to your neck.

“I think so, look at that girl's doll, it must be worth a lot of lei...”

“No, Mrs. Freckles!” Giovanna yelled, when that vermin snatched her doll.

“You're screwing up quite well... You don't know where you've gotten yourself,” you growled, your eyes burning with helplessness.

I couldn't take it anymore.

“Mamma!”  Giovanna  said when I, with a calm, threatening step, appeared from the shadows.

“Ah!” the fat man shouted, receiving a well-deserved kick in the crotch from my daughter, something that made me smile.

“Damn... What the hell...?” the man murmured, now moaning in pain, while I picked up my frightened daughter in my arms.

“Oliver, look who she is...” the man holding you said, pointing at me, who was trying to comfort the little girl's crying.

“Oh, shit...” the fat man sighed, eyes wide open, kneeling in the snow. “Lady Beneviento…”

I didn't say anything, I just sighed, cradling my daughter who, for once, clung to me disconsolately.

“Donna,” you whispered, with a triumphant smile.

“Greg, I think you should let the girl go,” the kneeling man said. His friend, unfortunately for him, didn’t seem to pay attention to him.

“Are you stupid? She can't hurt us, she's just a nutcase,” his partner said, with a crazy look, putting a knife to your neck. “Don’t, don't move or the girl dies.”

“Greg, no...” the fat man said, pulling on his partner's clothes.

“Are you a coward or what's wrong with you?” this Greg guy snapped, smiling in a horrible way, holding the sharp blade to your delicate neck. “One, one step back, you doll psychopath…”

Of course, I didn't obey.

“Don't insult her, dude... Don’t do it...” his partner lamented, closing his eyes and bowing his head.

“Get up, now we have the control. She won't do anything if she doesn't want the girl to get hurt,” that stupid man said, making me laugh. “Give us everything you have if you don't want us hurt her. I will do it, I swear...”

“No, you won't,” I whispered, extending my free hand toward them.

“Ah! Snakes!” the fat man shouted, rolling on the ground. “They are everywhere!”

The girl looked at me smiling curiously, just like you, who was no longer trembling.

“What do you say, Giovanna? What do you think can scare that stupid guy so much?” I asked amused, looking into the scared eyes of the man who was still holding you.

“Mmm,” the girl murmured, changing terror for amusement. “Coccodrilli!”

“I like it,” I said with a dark look, walking towards that man who was threatening you. His eyes changed to ones of terror, especially since his partner continued to struggle with his hallucinations.

“No, no, wait, wait,” he said, letting you go and putting his hands up. “It, it was a misunderstanding, I... Ah! It has torn off my arm!” He said horrified, when he finally succumbed to my powers.

You ran to my side, into my arms, with a smile of relief, the three of us watching that pitiful spectacle together.

“They’re everywhere!”

“It ripped off my leg! Help!”

I approached them slowly, putting a hand on your shoulder, holding little Giovanna in my arms.

“The next time you mess with my family I won't be pious,” I threatened, giving as much fear as I could, being that monster I hated so much being, to protect my family.

“That’s right!” the girl said “Fools!”

The rats fled at last, leaving a small moment of tension behind them.

“Gods, Donna, you showed up,” you whispered, removing the black cloth from my face, kissing me quickly and then our daughter. “Gio, are you okay?”

“Mrs. Freckles!” the girl screamed. I lowered her to the ground so she could run towards her doll, now with a broken arm.

“Don't worry, honey, Donna will fix it,” you said, you now being the one holding the girl, as expected. “Come on, let's go home…”

The way back was silent. Your hand in mine expressed gratitude, love, what I didn't think you felt for me. Even Giovanna's distrustful look seemed to change, looking at me embarrassedly over your shoulder, as if she were sad, or sorry for something.

The next day the routine continued, but not before talking at length about that incident. Miraculously, Giovanna didn’t seem to have nightmares that night and, surprisingly, according to you, excited by my bravery, you allowed me to make love to you, for the first time in many months.

That small release seemed to mark the beginning of a new stage, or maybe it was just that the girl was too sleepy to want to annoy me. I didn't know.

Like every day, I worked on my dolls, well, that time, on poor Mrs. Freckles, repairing her arm in silence, with the only sound of the workshop clock keeping me company.

A tug on my dress distracted me. I hadn't heard her, but my daughter had entered the workshop like a silent breeze. I assumed she wanted to check the state of Mrs. Freckles' injury.

“Mamma...” she murmured, with her head bowed. I sighed, smiling, pretending that I had no hard feelings, pretending I didn't care about her attitude toward me.

“What do you want, tesoro? She's almost fixed,” I murmured, looking at the doll again. The girl tugged at my dress again, now catching my attention.

Giovanna didn't say anything. She just moved her hands up, opening and closing her fists with a sad look, asking, surprisingly, to be held in my arms.

I, without hesitation, obeyed her silent request, sitting her on my lap while I fixed her favorite doll.

“Will she recover?” she asked, observing my work. I smiled sincerely, nodding.

“Of course,” I said, amused. “Mrs. Freckles is very brave, don't you think?”

Giovanna nodded profusely, with a hand on her mouth, a hand that I slowly withdrew, so I could see the precious daughter I conceived.

“You are also very brave,” she murmured, as if something was stopping her from saying that. I stopped sewing, looking at my daughter's sincere expression. “You saved us.”

“I only did what I had to do, tesoro, protect my family,” I said with a slightly serious tone, accommodating the girl in a more comfortable position.

“I have a gift for you...” Giovanna whispered, taking one of her little hands to the pocket of her dress and taking out a sheet of paper.

I picked it up slowly, frowning when I saw one of Giovanna's drawings. Mysteriously, I seemed to be the protagonist.

“Look, mamma, it's you, see?” she explained, pointing to my dark figure in the  middle of the drawing, rising triumphantly over two evil bandits. “Look, that's mom and me, smiling because you saved us.”

“Giovanna, it's... Amazing...” I sighed, trying not to get too excited, looking over and over again at the surprising details of that drawing.

“You will always protect us, right?” she asked with a low voice, as if she was also about to cry.

“Of course, tesoro,” I said, wiping away a tear that finally ran down her cheek. “Mom and you are the most important things in my life.”

“And will we always be?” the girl asked, a little more worried.

“Always, my love,” I said, with a smile.

“Won't you let them hurt mom?” she asked again.

 I shook my head.

“Never,” I said, with a more serious tone. Giovanna smiled and, with an unexpected gesture, jumped into my arms, hugging me tightly, with an affection that I could never imagine or deserve.

“I love you so much, mamma...” she whispered with a tender voice, finally making me emotional.

“I love you too, my beautiful girl...”

[ist4rgirlo]

─ 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 - 𝐜.𝐟 : 𝐕𝐈𝐈

Summary: Now that your life has turned upside down, are you still willing to put your siblings' feelings first? Or would you rather fight for your feelings and do what makes you happy regardless of the consequences that might result in the future?

Prev ; Next || Conrad Fisher x fem!reader || My blog

Warnings: S2 SPOILERS! swearing, yelling, fluff, physical touch (lmk if i missed anything!)

SEQUEL TO BEFORE EVERYTHING HAPPENED

───────────────────────────

The day after the party

"Susannah would never forgive you for abandoning your boys! She would never even believe-" I heard Belly say on the other room followed by a slap that made me immediately wake up and stand on my feet - walking towards the room Belly was in but she was already there, in the hallway - holding her face. Jeremiah and Conrad was also outside of their room, their face filled with concern.

I tried to reach for Belly but she just pushed my hand away and continued to walk downstairs. I walked towards the room to see Laurel there, a hand on her forehead, "What just happened? Did-did you just?.. why are you here?" I asked, crossing my arms - leaning on the doorway. Laurel looked at me, "Oh look, you are here too." she sighed, I scratched my head - still hangover from yesterday "Mom all of us are here" I looked at her.

“That's right! And no one informed me of this? You are one of the oldest, why didn't you at least warn me? You could have said something to ease my concerns, but you did not! "I had to hear it from Belly," she yelled, "Mom, please give us a break." I commented, "She wasn't the only one who was drunk, we were too. We went through so many things, mom, I know you were concerned, but please do not scream this early." I asked, "Okay but doing this isn't going to solve anything! Why didn't you stop them?" Laurel complained. "Mom, I needed it too okay? everyone needed it, you can't blame us."

I heard Conrad come into the room "Laurel, we're sorry. Please just don't blame Y/N. We're all at fault here" Conrad explained. Laurel just looked at him before sighing, deciding to go downstairs. I sighed, as I was about to go to my room to clean up, I felt Conrad's hand grab mine, "Are you okay?" I nodded, "Thanks, but I could’ve handled it on my own" I said, I saw his brows furrow, my tone probably sounded different - he just sighed, ignoring my tone - it was too early for all of us.

He just let my hand go, I walked towards the bathroom to clean up. After that I went to my room to put some new clothes in. I decided to go downstairs, I saw Laurel looking around the house, Steven and Conrad cleaning around, "What the hell?" she said, making Steven turn around - shocked to hear his mom's voice, "Mom?", "I-I drive all night just to find.. this?" she said, her voice shaking. "I'm just glad your mom isn't here to see what you guys did to her house" she said to Conrad. I walked towards her, grabbing her shoulder gently.

"Mom you didn't have to say that." I told ger. "I want this place spotless and for every single thing of Susannah's to be put back exactly where it belongs. If even one is broken or missing, I swear to God!" she pointed at the house, Steven sighed "Mom, we weren't the one who moved all of her stuff" he said, "It was Aunt Julia" I explained, "She's the one who emptied it, not us. To sell it" Conrad shrugged. Mom's brows furrowed, confused.

She shook her head no, "But I thought Susannah already talked to her lawyers. She said she already talked to Julia before things got bad" she explained, making our brows furrow. I walked towards her, "Why didn't you tell us? Conrad had to find out from a 'for sale' sign in front of the yard!" I complained, explaining everything to my mom. "I just assumed they resolved it before Susannah.." she shook her head, looking down "Well mom, it wasn't resolved." I shook my head no, sighing.

Laurel looked at Conrad, "Connie, does your dad know?" she asked, "Of course he knows! And of course he's done nothing at all to help us!" Conrad yelled, "Yeah, that's why the guys and Belly came here." Steven explained, "They were trying to working something out with Aunt Julia themselves" She sighed, biting her lip, “And?” she asked. Conrad raised his hand, “and we failed”

We told her how Aunt Julia already sold the house. “But like you said, at least my mom’s not here to see it.” Conrad whispered, walking away. “I know I fucked up” Steven said, looking at Laurel. “And Belly too, even Y/N, we all know that mom. But at least they were here” Steven said, walking away. Laurel looked at her, hesitating to say something, I just shook my head before going to the pool.

───────────────────────────

I went to go to the backyard to just dip my feet in the pool. I felt Conrad sit down beside me, nugding me a little bit, “You okay?” he asked, looking at me — “I should be asking you that” I said, looking back at him, moving myself away from him gently. His brow furrowed, noticing how I moved away from him, “Are-are we okay?” he asked, placing his hand near my hand, I nodded. “Yeah? why wouldn’t we be?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know, it just feels like.. you are being distant” he looked at me. I shrugged, “I don’t think so, Conn-“ he sighed, placing his hand on top of mine, “Please don’t make me feel stupid Y/N, I know you are” he said - his voice filled with worry, I pulled away gently, standing up, “I promise you, I’m not” I said chuckling before walking inside the house.

Despite the fact that Belly and I have already discussed this, I can’t help but view them differently after learning that something had happened to them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in a bad light, it just makes me uncomfortable knowing that something happened to him and my sister.

I can feel Conrad walking behind me, he reached for my hand — grabbing it gently “Can you stop running away from me?” he pleaded. I turned to him, my brows furrowed “I am not running away from you, Conrad.” I said, pulling my hand away. “Y/N, just tell me what’s wrong, I’ll do everything to make it right, okay?” he said genuinely, I shook my head no, “There’s nothing to do, Conrad. What you and Belly did was special.”

He looked at me confused, “What are you talking about?” he asked. “I already know Conrad, last Christmas.” I said, looking down. He felt his stomach drop, he didn't regret it, you were supposed to know sooner or later but he wanted to be the one to tell you about it. His gaze softened, "Y/N come on that was from the past", I shook my head, "Still, I can't do anything to top that love you had with my sister. She’s still my sister, Conrad." I said, "It doesn't have to be that way, there's no need to top it off. We can create something much more beautiful, Y/N. Just please choose yourself now, please let this happen." he pleaded — reaching for my hand again, making my brows furrow.

"What? where is this coming from, Conrad? what do you really want from me?" I asked, my eyes narrowing - I was genuinely confused why he was telling me all of these stuff. "Please don't play stupid with me, Y/N. You have known from the start that I am in love with you, and I still am. Every time I see you, the feelings come back. I feel the urge to tell you constantly, every time I touch you, every time I hug you. I just can't find the courage to express my feelings to you. Just let me do this, let me love you."

In response to his confession, I walked towards him, pressing my lips against him. As a result, I was surprised to feel him smile into the kiss. I pulled away, looking at him, chasing my lips, which caused me to chuckle hysterically. "God, Connie. What do I do with you?" I asked, holding his face in my hands. He shrugged, shaking his head gently, smiling at me, "You don't have to do anything. Just stay by my side, always" he said, I bit my lip before nodding. He pulled me in again, pressing his lips against mine, kissing me one more time.

───────────────────────────

After Laurel talked to Belly, she went inside of the house to find all of us huddled together "I owe you all an apology, you guys have been there for each other and I have not, and for that I am deeply sorry." She said, "Y/N I apologize for putting all the blame on you. I never intended to do this. I guess it was just because of my emotions. You know how much I care for you right?". She said, walking up to me and hugging me.

“All of us have made mistakes, Mom," Belly said, looking at Laurel, making her nod, "It might not be possible for me to change anything, but I will make every effort to speak to Julia and get her to change her mind." She nodded. The entire family sighed, relieved that Laurel was here to save the day. Steven rubbed Laurel's shoulder as he walked up to her, hugging her and thanking her. In order to prepare for Aunt Julia's arrival, we decided to clean up and make the house look less dirty.

After a while, Taylor decided that it was her time to go, so she went back using Steven's car. Aunt Julia soon arrived, "Oh my god" her face filled with worry as she walked towards the living room to the kitchen, "Hey Julia, thanks for coming." Laurel greeted, Aunt Julia looked at her. "Can we have a chat? while the kids clean up?" Laurel suggested, Aunt Julia walked up to her nodding as they both went outside.

TIME SKIP

It was finally decided, Aunt Julia is finally pulling out of the sale Mom managed to talk to her and persuaded her to just give the boys the house since it was much more important to them, but we still could not celebrate because their father had to buy the house first before the boys could officially own it.

After sighing with relief, we returned to cleaning. As Conrad put the garbage away, I noticed Belly following him. She had been meaning to speak with him ever since we talked on the beach, and she always wanted to clarify things with him so I could understand. It wasn't necessary for her to do it for me, but she insisted nonetheless. The decision was for the best, she explained.

In the end, they embraced before returning to the house, and I saw Conrad look at me, hoping that I would ask him what had happened, but I just nodded and smiled then went up the stairs to my room. It wasn't long before their dad arrived, Aunt Julia had already informed him that she had changed her mind. "Okay, well, let's get something straight here, I'm not letting them lose anything, so don't make me the bad guy," their dad said when I reached the bottom of the stairs. As I entered the living room, I found all of them huddled together with the exception of Aunt Julia, Laurel, and Adam.

Conrad was about to go to the kitchen when Jeremiah went and grabbed him, "Let someone else try to solve a problem for once." Jeremiah said to Conrad. “I just want you to move some money around to buy the house for them” We heard Laurel suggest, “What?” Adam asked, confused, “I think I’m gonna go now-“ Julia scoffed “Why is it that the boys were trying to save this has more than you have in the last several weeks?” Julia said, pointing at him “Adam-“ — “No shut up Laurel, you don’t have a say in this” Adam said cutting Laurel off making my brows furrowed.

As I was about the walk towards the kitchen, Conrad grabbed me gently pulling me back, looking at me before going to the kitche himself, “Where do you get off saying shit like that?” Conrad asked Adam. Adam looked at him before looking at Laurel and Julia, “Do you think railroading me like this would make me change my mind?” he asked them, Laurel sighed, crossing her arms, “Excuse me, but fuck you” Laurel said. “Look.. Suze wouldn’t want us fighting like this!” Adamn pointed.

Conrad shook his head, “You wouldn’t know what she would want, you lost her a long time ago!” Conrad yelled, “Can’t you just stop it? and see what it means to the boys?” Laurel suggested. Adam looked at Conrad, “Look I thought it would be easier this way, to let it go” he said. Conrad’s brows furrowed, raising his shoulders, “Well easier for you” he said to Adam. I walked towards him, giving him the comfort. I reached for his hand holding it, I felt his hold tighten.

“Is this really what you want?” Adam asked looking at Jeremiah and Conrad, they both nodded. “Okay then.” he smiled at them, nodding. We all looked at each other, smiling. I felt Conrad look at me, sighing in relief. I pulled away from him, smiling, before walking towards to Laurel to hug her.

───────────────────────────

The house was theirs, our special place was back in our hands, and we couldn't have been happier about it. We all went out, it was time for Skye and Julia to go. “Well I am one call away okay?” Aunt Julia said to the boys, Conrad nodded “Thank you for everything” he said, Aunt Julia smiled at them “I am very glad it worked out” she said. “We should get going too” Laurel suggested, referring to us three. Jeremiah cleared his throat before suggesting if we can stay here for one more night, to help Conrad study for his finals.

“Dude you know I’m 18 right? like I don’t need permission from my mom to study” Steven said, I nudged him, scoffing “What do you mean? I’m older than you and I still need permission, shut up” I chuckled, Steven looked at me then looked at Mom, seeing her eyes narrow at him, “I need my mom’s permission to study” he said, nodding. We all just chuckled. “Laurel please? they won’t let me get into Stanford if I don’t pass this finals” Conrad pleaded. My brows furrowed, “You really got in?” Belly asked, Conrad nodded before looking at me smiling.

As I ran up to him, I hugged him tightly and whispered 'congrats' before pulling away. His hand wrapped around my shoulder, rubbing it. Laurel nodded and decided to go to the motel Aunt Julia suggested. We all went inside to study for Conrad's finals.

We heard Belly clap, “Okay!! Should we start studying?” she said, giddy. “Come on, Bells. Let’s rest first” I suggested patting her on the shoulder, Conrad hummed, agreeing. She looked at me in defeat, nodding. As we were all about to walk to the living room to take some naps, I felt Belly pull me along with Steven, “Okay, not you guys. I need your help” Belly said, “What? just take Steve with you” I whined, “Noooo take Y/N with you, let me goo” Steven complained. Still we ended up driving her to the near mcdonald’s.

TIME SKIP

It was already five which meant that it was time for the boys to get up and study. Belly woke them up using a spray and just pouring half of it on Jeremiah’s head just to wake them up. They all walked towards the kitchen, gasping with all of the food that they saw. “Alright, this is how it going to work. Conrad studies, he gets a burger” Belly said, “What about me?” Jeremiah asked, “Conrad studies, you get a burger” After Belly said that, Jeremiah immediately went to sit down and grabbed a book and started studying, making Belly chuckle, following him.

I felt Conrad look at me, I looked at him raising my brows, “So this is like a reward system huh?" he asked me, tilting his head, I nodded. I felt him walk towards me, his hand sliding on my back, pulling me closer to him. I felt his hot breathe near my ear, "What else do I get?" he asked, pulling away, smiling at me. "Study and you'll see" I looked up to him, poking his chest gently, he just smirked before placing a kiss on my cheek.

Making me slap his chest in return, I turned when I heard Steven gasp, I saw him already looking at us. I tried to push Conrad gently but failed, Conrad pulled me in more, nuzzling his face on top of my head. "WHAT IS GOING ON?" Steven asked, his brows raised, I shook my head. Conrad pulled away, walking towards Steven to give him a high five, making me chuckle.

I saw Belly looking at me, she was smiling, raising her brows at me. I just shrugged and smiled back before walking to the seat next to Conrad, helping him study. Everything was fine, everything was back to normal. The house is finally Conrad's and Jeremiah, me and Belly cleared things out, her and Conrad too, me and Conrad came back to normal, our bond became much more than it used too. I like it, I do. It makes me genuinely happy to see all of us happy.

───────────────────────────

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hope everyone likes it !! sorry if it took so long but her it iss !! lmk if you want get tagged and that if you have any requests :)) lots of loves !!

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Mr. Egg, Mr. Pickle, and Mr. Hot Dog

Debut: BurgerTime

BurgerTime is one of those retro games and that's about it. It existed, and it's Retro!, and I feel like people don't really care about it aside from that. It never even got an awkward attempt at a scrimblo adventure reboot, like Frogger did! Poor BurgerTime.

Anyway, my first time playing BurgerTime was not by playing BurgerTime at all, but a SpongeBob Flash game clone of it. I have no personal connection to BurgerTime itself... but I know it has some enemies that are living foods! I always get a kick out of that! So I'm going to talk about some of the various design incarnations of them!

These original designs are exactly what you would expect from a 1982 arcade game. I feel like I've seen Pac-Man ghosts drawn EXACTLY like this. I like how Mr. Egg has the strangely realistic crispy bubbling detail around his edges. They're all fine.

...is what I felt before I noticed their elbows and knees! Ew! Bones! Wretched creatures!

Ohoho... now what have we here? The in-game sprites are delightful! The simplicity makes them very cute! Their feet are interesting, being just little floating lines, except for Mr. Egg's, because his legs are made of amorphous albumen! Mr. Egg is really the breakout star here. Look at his yolk! That's his EYE! This is so awesome! That's such a rare design choice to see, especially since egg creatures that are not of the "creature hatching from them" variety are pretty rare themselves.

Mr. Pickle is no slouch either! I appreciate him being specifically a pickle slice, often portrayed as nicely crinkle-cut. I just have to question why he is a villain! Pickles are one of Burger's best friends! This is like if Cheese was a villain! I think if anything Mr. Pickle should be a cute little sidekick on the side of burgers, and in his place can be, I don't know, Mr. Olive? Of course, pickles are much funnier than olives!

Mr. Hot Dog is not as interesting as the other two, but a simple sausage with eyes and feet is still cute. He is like the leader of the bunch, the main antagonist of our hero, Peter Pepper, who I do not really care about. I like that it's him! Burgers and hot dogs are like counterparts, but in no way equals. Hot dogs are easier to hold and eat, but burgers are just Better. And hot dogs have finally decided to give burgers a piece of their mind!

This flyer art is funny. I don't LIKE any of the designs showcased, but they're funny! Faces are moved around on the foods, noses are introduced to the series, and Mr. Egg is now a slice of a hard-boiled egg. You will also notice the elusive Mr. Lemon! Mr. Lemon is not real! I don't know why there is such an emphasis on lemon here. Finally, of course, you will notice the personified Cheese, as she noselessly beckons Peter to recline atop a beef patty. Ooh la la! Don't you wish you were invited to hang out with such a beautiful female cheese who is a girl woman?

Really, the designs of the core food fiends never diverged much from the classic cartoon-style versions they started out with, appearing like that in pretty much every sequel. Except...!

In BurgerTime World Tour, which was not a good game at all, these guys have been utterly rebooted! Now known as Frank Furter, Ruthless Dill, and Sonny! Are these their real names? Or just some similar guys?

The designs are rather basic, as to be expected from Foods With Faces, but it IS interesting seeing them generally made so much more monstrous. Something ESPECIALLY interesting is that Sonny the egg is the only one with limbs, reminding me of how Mr. Egg is the only one to have actual legs in the original sprites!

Ready for the SCARIEST redesign from World Tour?

This game's version of Peter Pepper is this horrible gentrifying millenial and I'm glad his game was prematurely delisted. I hope he got eaten by an egg and chewed by teeth made of yolk. I hate him!

[a-living-canvas]

Would you make a sequel of Darling Fool? It's got me QOXIWIXJKQKZAK SCREAMING PUKING CRYING AND SOBBING

I hope you enjoy this! <333

Part 1

Darling Fool II

"Excuse me?"

Whumpee turned their head to an old lady beside them. They returned her smile as she looked at them up and down. It's a normal thing for Whumpee by now, having people glancing up at them, at their scars and bandages.

Whumpee flinched when the old lady snapped her fingers in front of them, grounding them back to reality. 

"Yes?"

The old lady smiled sympathetically at Whumpee. She wrapped Whumpee's hands, the warm contact made Whumpee's heart flutter slightly. "Did something happen? Is it your parents? Or your dad—"

"No, no. Nothing happened."

Not with their family, of course. But with Whumper. Tormenting them everyday with their sick games. It's exhausting, but Whumpee felt better living with Whumper when they just accepted their fate.

The only reason they could talk with the old lady right now was because Whumper trusted them enough not to run, and to come back with the groceries to cook for dinner. Without a collar or leash and without cameras…maybe?

Thinking back, maybe the collar still wrapped around their neck…just not visible to the eyes. The invisible string that made Whumpee kept coming back to Whumper, even though they were given many chances to escape. 

Whumpee still remembered the relief on Whumper's face when they did return  along with the groceries that day. It had been etched into their mind until now. And they couldn't help but wonder why their tormentor would be glad to see them again when Caretaker looked at them in disgust. Someone that was supposed to love and care for them. 

"Are you sure? You don't look okay—"

"I'm fine. Thank you."

Whumpee walked away from the old lady. They felt like calling Whumper, asking them to protect them from all these nuisances. But they wouldn't want to bother Whumper, they wanted to be good for them. At least their punishment would be lessened that way. 

They could still feel the sting on their back from Whumper's belt last night. Wondering what could have went wrong, maybe they should be more responsive.

"Whumpee!"

Whumpee stopped their movement for a second but then they continued walking, faster this time. They knew that voice, and they hated it. Whumpee made their way to the crowd but before they could blend in, a firm hand wrapped around their arm. 

Whumpee jerked away instantly, hissing in pain. Caretaker frowned, approaching Whumpee again with a worried face. "Whumpee…I-I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

Whumpee tried to back away but Caretaker suddenly cupped their cheeks, looking at them with eyes glistening with tears. "I was missing you, so so badly. Why didn't you come home? Why didn't you tell me that you finally escape from Whumper?"

Fake.

Fake tears.

Fake concern.

Fake everything.

"I didn't escape from them."

Whumpee said, grabbing Caretaker's wrists and lifted their hands away from their face. Caretaker felt panic rising on their chest at Whumpee's action. They never denied their touch before.

"Whumpee, please come home. I don't know what Whumper did to you that made you change but you can't trust them…! They are manipulating you."

Whumpee blinked twice, looking at Caretaker with indifference. Maybe they should call Whumper, after all.

Caretaker grabbed Whumpee's arms, sighing in frustration as they trailed their gaze all over their form. "Look at what they did to you Whumpee…!"

Caretaker narrowed their eyes. "You are broken. Look at those scars and wounds! Can't…can't you see how ugly—"

Before Caretaker could finish their sentence, a harsh slap landed on their face. Whumpee's eyes widened, they looked at Whumper who was standing between Caretaker and them. Whumper looked angry and annoyed, their commanding voice sent shivers down Whumpee's spine. 

"Stay behind me, pet."

"Y-yes, master…"

Caretaker looked at Whumper in disbelief, not expecting them to be here. They tried to pull Whumpee to their side but Whumper's glare was enough to shut them down. "W-whumpee, come back here please…" Caretaker pleaded.

Whumper let out a soft chuckle hearing that, wrapping their arm around Whumpee's waist possessively. "They won't do that. They already have me."

"No, they aren't. They are just scared of you."

Whumper raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?"

They pushed Whumpee forward to Caretaker before crossing their arms. Whumpee immediately panicked at the change of situation. 

"Go ahead. Take 'em."

Caretaker sighed in relief. They pulled Whumpee into a warm embrace before Whumpee pushed them away, running to Whumper and clinging on to them tightly.

"N-no, Master! Please…please don't leave me!"

"Oh? Isn't that what you want?"

Whumpee looked up at Whumper, shaking their head desperately. "No! I want to stay…I want to stay with you, Master! Please…!"

"Shh…don't make a fuss. We are in public, remember?"

Whumper stroked Whumpee's hair, watching Caretaker with a smirk. They tightened their grip on Whumpee when Caretaker tried to reach for them again. "Ah ah ah, no touching my property."

"They are not your property!"

Whumper hummed, looking down at Whumpee. A smug grin returned to their face. "Is that true, Whumpee?"

"N-no, master! I'm your property! I'm yours, I'm yours, I'm yours…."

Whumpee buried their face against Whumper's chest, tears streaming down their face. Whumper smiled softly, feeling contentment washed over them. 

"I understand that, little one. But maybe Caretaker here needs more explanation from you?"

Whumpee nodded, wiping their tears away as they turned to look at Caretaker. Resentment dripped down from their voice and Caretaker's heart clenched tightly inside their ribcage.

"I don't need you anymore. Please forget about me "

"Whumpee, please—"

"Don't come searching for me. I don't want to see your face again."

Caretaker was left in shock and disgust. They balled their fists, eyes tearing up in frustration as they watched Whumpee walked away with Whumper, away from them. Caretaker sighed, muttering softly under their breath,

"You will regret this, Whumpee…"

~

@nothing-but-glitter-and-lashes

[romancemedia]

I'm gonna be honest, I've always kinda found it irritating that Ursula never got to make full use of her tentacles in the movie, unlike in the original deleted version of Poor Unfortunate Souls.

It just seems like a waste to me. Why make her an octopus lady if she never gets to really make use of her tentacles by binding Ariel like she did in the original version?

She hardly uses her tentacles with Ariel at all, even though there were so many opportunities she could've but didn't.

I'm at least glad the franchise learned from that mistake and made better use for the sequel and live-action remake. I'm just saying.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Checked out the last couple chapters of My Hero Academia bc i was curious how it ended

-I actually thought the chapter with Ochaco going to cry and Deku following her to comfort and telling her she's his hero and has been from the beginning and saying she's always put her needs before others but she deserves support too was EXTREMELY sweet. like awwww. such sweet kids. Especially when the whole class ran up to her and Tsuyu tackle hugged her what!!! i'm glad the manga still has that sweetness in it, despite all the other faults, I think it looks like it did carry through the importance of friendship and supporting each other here.

-Ochaco spearheading an effort to give kids counseling about their quirks and any mental health issues they might be having regarding them, expanding the hero role beyond just crime-fighting (with Momo and Tsuyu and Iida), is also actually incredibly sweet and in-character too. It's actually surprising to not see her get shafted, considering how incredibly shafted she was in the parts I watched

i can't believe Ochaco has a dead gf now (joking)

-did...did momo actually get a decent costume where she doesn't have to be walking fanservice in a way she's uncomfortable with at the literal last minute when we can't even fully see it?

she-she did didn't she. She gets sexualized to hell and back as a teen when it's super unsettling and gets to wear a not stupid looking outfit as an adult when it would be less so. I mean I'm glad I guess but the fact Horikoshi just decided to do that in her last couple panels where it doesn't matter anymore really speaks to having your cake and eating it too huh

-I am shocked Ochaco and Deku don't seem to have gotten together in the end when horikoshi was setting her as a love interest so hard. Though it might be because it really seemed like the last chapter was leaving things open for a sequel (we'll never be free) or maybe Horikoshi didn't want to upset any shippers, wise of him. But it lets me imagine she hooked up with Tsuyu. or maybe both her and momo (i guess iida's there too) who knows.

-I guess Deku lost his quirk again during the battle and then All Might gives him tech the tech girl came up (with Bakugou sponsoring it. i guess that's fine. as his penance) that i guess gives him the advantages of a quirk so it doesn't matter actually. I mean I have been wondering why he and others never just got to use tech to compensate so i guess that's fine, but the sacrifice he apparently made was seemingly meaningless lmao

-I like that MHA was apparently wasted all this time with the villains backstory and how they could be redeemed and how society had failed them then apparently just killed ALL of them at the end? how completely pointless, it's actually extremely funny.

-"Kirishima is popular with the male demographic" yeah i bet he is.

-:/ all the short haired girls have longer hair as adults while everyone else looks largely the same. wow convenient.

-did endeavor die? wait let me check.sigh of course he's alive, but i it appears dabi beat him up so bad he can't stand up on his own (good 4 u dabi) and he's retired i guess that's something. Even dabi is dying slowly horikoshi really could not let a single villain survive lmao

-I do not know why Deku needed to tells that kid that his quirk of creating little flying saucer disks could absolutely be useful as hero if he trains like...obviously it would be? That's a pretty good power? but i guess it's a sweet callback, and I also like that he's a teacher, I think he would be good at that.

-my mind would likely change if I read the nonsense leading up to this. but it wasn't that bad as a final chapter overall, though weirdly low key. definitely comes off as being as ambiguous as possible for the sake of a sequel. at least it wasn't one where we have to follow the child characters who are conveniently carbon copies of their parents. I have closure now.

[alienssstufff]

idk if u talked abt it b4 but i would LOVE to know why u see autumn as 3L (and i assume LL as winter - DL as spring - LimL as summer) tho i 100% see already purely from aesthetic why thatd be the case itd be so so cool to see a more in depth opinion?? it does fit so well in with the 2 arcs being 3L into LL & DL into LimL as autumn into winter then starting as a new arc of spring into summer?? literally perfect i feel??

[ context ] nooo I never have! I'd love to!

The Life Series thematically happens cycles upon cycles within itself. Each season is like a different part of a year like seasons ending on the very climatic Limited Life as its Summer.

[AUTUMN 3RD LIFE] While there aren't many interesting biomes in 3L that give it away, it's more about the progression of the Beginning as players are taken out of the comfort of their previous lives and all social constructs are thrown out the window and into the deep end. People make pretty bases, feel hesitant to steal, and build monopolies in a world that virtually does not have a currency - all because these are things the Hermits and Empires alike have been doing prior to the Life Series. It's Autumn because it's a learning experience, a transition period as the players grow more accustomed to these new customs in preparation for the extreme.

[WINTER LAST LIFE] HONESTLY the one I'm glad we all agree on, that server is SO #wintercore with so many horror elements. Deeeep alpine forests, winding rivers, tall snowy mountains it got all of them! The perfect winter sequel to 3rd Life and the one where the players (after being a part of 3L) are put the most on edge with the levels of betrayal and distrust the season had going on with the Bogeyman mechanic. People straight up start HUNTING each other for sport it's an example of the most dire of situations and I LOVE IT!

(putting the other 2 under the cut before it gets too long)

[SPRING DOUBLE LIFE] Much kinder than Last Life congratulations you have made it through the winter. Double Life is a season centred on relationships, about all the different types of love between players - if you live in the Northern Hemisphere spring happens during valentines. New bonds like in Spring are made here and old ones resurface and/or are broken in history of the previous seasons. Double Life is kind of like 3rd Life in the sense that people's relationships, and how they go about them are in influence to things that have happened in the past (previous seasons).

[SUMMER LIMITED LIFE] The final season of the First Cycle. The server has a WARM OCEAN biome. I really do wish mojang developed their beaches or the tropics better Limited Life would have been perfect with palm trees. I built a bit on the Limited Life world HERE and HERE It's about teamwork, fun and games - the tone Limited Life has in comparison to Last Life is its polar opposite in the way people trust in each other so much. Even the whole meaning of what it means to be Bogeyman here is flipped on its head it's treated as a gift. It comes perfectly after Double Life as the soulmates made in there (eg Boatboys, Ranchers, etc) continue from here. If anything it reminds me of the summer break before everyone gets back to work (Secret Life).

Side note: Secret Life Bit of a weird one honestly. It to me is the strangest out of the 5 like yeah it COULD be spring aesthetically because of the cherry trees, but it could also be autumn (thus the new cycle), the way it is handled so far is reminiscent of how things were in 3rd Life with everyone being so careful of their lives. Waiting for more sessions to come out to build more on this :]

HWWHWH anyway hope that makes sense ty for letting me talk about the Life Seasons >w<

[geode-crystal]

And we finally have a sequel to the Used as Bait story!

Rescue time! Darius and Mianu have gotten themselves into a bit of trouble. Can Mianu get them out? Or will his own dark magic just make things worse?

("Porque no los dos" lol)

Directly continues my previous story. Characters: Darius the knight, Prince Mianu, and some random mercenary whumpers.

Contents: kidnapping, restraints (chains), a little bit of magic torture, a little bit of blood, tons of threats, a knife, implied minor character death (left somewhat open ended)

______________________

“Let. Him. Go.”

Mianu’s voice rang through the room. There was power behind it, more than just the typical authority of royalty. His magic, already swirling around his arm, was making him even more imposing than usual.

It was terrifying. But gods, even in these circumstances, Darius couldn’t help but find it insanely attractive.

Not that he had time to think about that.  

The mercenary woman stepped forward, looming right in front of Darius. Darius couldn’t even see Mianu anymore. But that didn’t stop his heart from pounding so hard it nearly burst out of his chest.

“Ah, the lost little prince,” the mercenary sneered. “So glad you made it.”

“Don’t waste your breath,” Mianu hissed. “We both know I'm not here for games.”

Darius didn’t need to see his captor’s face to know she was smirking. “True enough. There’s far more at stake here than any simple game, isn’t there? Especially if you want your darling knight returned to you in one piece.”

Darius struggled against his chains once more. It was infuriating. It was agony. Mianu was right there, already falling to his dark magic, and Darius couldn’t reach him.

Not with his actions, anyway. But his captors had made a mistake. They hadn’t bothered to gag or silence him.

“Mianu, run!” Darius shouted. “Whatever she wants, it’s not worth it! I’ll be fine, just get out of here!”

“Silence.”

The mercenary’s command was followed up by another spell. The same one from before. The burst of magic flew right towards his head. Darius flinched, barely managing to avoid the worst of the damage. The curse cut into his cheek. He gasped at the harsh sting of it.

Mianu let out a wordless scream.

The room instantly got colder. And there was another sound, one that echoed and amplified Mianu’s cry. It was like the growl of a furious beast.

Darius struggled against his chains again. Mianu’s power was only growing. Gods knew what kind of a toll it would take on him…

“You have made a big mistake,” Mianu growled. “I will give you one. More. Chance. Let him go, now. Or I will show now mercy.”

“Yes, yes, very intimidating,” said the mercenary.

She snapped her fingers. The sound seemed to echo, repeated over and over. And more mercenaries appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

Mianu hissed in surprise. Darius tried to cry out again, to warn him, to get him the hell out of there—but any attempt was cut short as someone roughly grabbed his hair from behind. His head was yanked back. Something cold was pressed against his throat.

He didn’t need to see it. He knew the bite of steel all too well.

Mianu froze. Even the air seemed to go utterly still. The other mercenaries moved around them, drawing weapons, preparing more spells. Darius sensed more than saw the movements, only catching glimpses out of the corner of his eye. The only thing he could see clearly was the look on Mianu’s face.  

Gods, that expression was going to haunt him, no matter what happened next.

“You strike any one of us down, your highness, and your knight will be the next to fall,” Darius’ captor warned.

Slowly, his eyes never once leaving Darius’ face, Mianu lowered his hand. Magic still curled around his fingers. But he closed his fist, making sure that none of it could escape.

Not yet.

The lead mercenary laughed, a cold, cruel sound, as sharp as the knife against Darius’ throat.

“Much better.” She swept off to the side, deliberately walking right in front of Darius and over to something else that he—infuriatingly—still couldn’t see. But Mianu clearly could. The prince’s eyes went wide.

“Do you recognize this?” the mercenary hissed.

“Where did you get that?” Mianu demanded.

His shock sounded genuine. Darius tried to shift a bit, struggling in vain to get away. Of course, the figure just gripped his hair even tighter. The knife pricked his skin, drawing beads of blood. Not that Darius cared about his own state at the moment.

“Mianu, don’t listen to her,” he choked out. “She’s a liar. A thief. She’ll—”

“Oh, good, I’m glad you recognize it,” said the lead mercenary. She was completely casual. And completely ignoring Darius’ shouts.

Mianu scoffed. “Of course I do. It’s my sigil.”

That cut Darius off far more effectively than any threat. The royal sigil? How in the name of all the gods did these cowards get their hands on something like that? Especially when they were so far from home?

“Then you understand why we needed you,” the mercenary smirked. “Our task for you is really quite simple. All you have to do is get this open.”

“You don’t even know what’s in there,” Mianu countered. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

The mercenary sneered. “I’m eager to find out.”  

Open it? Darius desperately wanted to know what was going on. And why Mianu was hesitating. If it was something that made him respond like that, then it was something that should stay firmly shut. Especially when magic was involved. Who knew what could be sealed in… whatever it was that happened to be sealed up.

Darius looked right at Mianu. It was all he could do. Mianu met his eye just for a moment. Darius could feel his hesitation. He could see the magic still curling around Mianu’s fingers, down his arm, like a snake coiling around its prey.

Then Mianu’s eyes flicked back to the mercenary.

“Release Darius first.”

Mianu’s tone made Darius shiver. Or maybe that was just the way the temperature in the room had dropped even more. But that clearly did nothing to the mercenary.

“And lose the most important card I have on the table?” she said. “Not likely.”

Mianu scowled. “Fine. Then step back. All of you. I think we both know how dangerous this might get.”

It was a warning to Darius as well. But when Mianu looked back at him, he saw something more than that. Mianu’s eyes blazed with determination. He had a plan. All Darius needed to do was trust him.

Darius wanted to nod. To give any kind of sign that he did trust Mianu. But he could hardly even move. So he hoped the look on his face would be enough. And he risked speaking once more.

“Do what you have to do,” he whispered.

Even across the room, Mianu heard. So, unfortunately, did the mercenary.

“Oh, how noble,” she jeered. “A knight’s loyalty in action. However foolish that might be.”

Mianu said nothing. His eyes remained locked on Darius.

“Perhaps I must remind you what’s at stake,” the mercenary hissed.

She must have given some kind of signal. Darius’ head was jerked further back, fully exposing his throat. He couldn’t help another hiss of startled pain. Mianu visibly flinched, his magic surging again.

“Do what we ask, or we kill him,” his captor said simply.

Darius tried to keep his breathing steady. He wasn’t sure if it worked. But he kept his gaze firmly on Mianu, unwavering.

Mianu’s eyes went ice cold. He glared at the mercenary with pure hatred.

“You kill him, and you’ve lost any chance of me doing anything you want,” he hissed. “He dies, and you fall next.”

“Of course,” said the mercenary. She didn’t believe a word. “How about a compromise, hmm? We will step back. Allow you to do what you must. But he stays exactly where he is. And you know what will happen if you fail to comply.”

As though to prove her threat, there was another bright flash. Another spell cast. Darius didn’t have a clue what hit him this time. But he would have buckled under the agony of it if he hadn’t been held up by the hair. He tried to bite back his pain. It didn’t work. A strangled noise burst from his throat.

“I understand,” Mianu said quickly. “Just get out of the way.”

The mercenary laughed. Darius had heard laughs like that before. It was the laugh of someone who had already claimed their victory.

With a single quick order, the other mercenaries immediately went into action. Darius was finally released. His head dropped and he gasped for air, just for a moment. He was sickened by his own sense of relief.

He forced his head back up as quickly as he could. He locked eyes with Mianu. He didn’t even care that the other mercenaries clearly still held his life in their hands. Though they stood back, away from whatever magical object they wanted Mianu to deal with, all weapons and dark spells were trained directly on him. Darius could feel a dozen pairs of eyes on his back.

The leader was the only one who didn’t look directly at him. Her gaze was still firmly fixed on Mianu. Which was made clear by the way Mianu glared back at her.

But then, finally, Mianu looked at Darius again. And he whispered something that even Darius couldn’t hear. But the message was clear just from the shape of his lips.

Brace yourself.

Not an apology. Not any reassurance. Just a warning. The prince had nothing else to give.

There was nothing Darius could possibly do about it. So he nodded, praying that his determination would shine through.

He trusted Mianu with his life. A trust that Mianu had proven himself worthy of time and time again.      

Darius just hoped that Mianu believed that.

Mianu tore his eyes away from the captured knight. He stepped up to the magical artifact. His eyes blazed in the dark, glowing, shining like emeralds. His magic surged, billowing around his arm. Shadows slid up towards his shoulder. Mianu grimaced, his body tensing in the pain it caused.

Darius instinctively struggled against his bonds again. But there was nothing more he could do.

Mianu raised his hand, palm facing outward. Magic pooled in his palm, forming a near perfect sphere. He took a deep breath. Closed his eyes. Let all that air out in a slow, quiet sigh.

Then all hell broke loose.

The worst part of it was the sound. The noise alone seemed to pierce right into Darius’ skull. Or maybe into his heart. For at the center of it all—of the howls like beasts, the roar like gale-force winds, the shattering and snapping sounds, the cries of the mercenaries—was one single, haunting scream. Mianu’s scream. It was a broken roar. A feral cry that was more animal than human. The sound of all of his rage and fear and pain bursting out of him.

And his magic exploded out with it. Shadows leaped forward, taking on beastly forms. They attacked the mercenaries without mercy. Despite all their weapons and magic, the mercenaries were clearly unprepared for the onslaught. Some of the magically manifested monsters were struck down. But more appeared to take their place.

Darius lurched forward. His chains bit into his skin. He didn’t care. He shouted out, calling Mianu’s name. Begging for him to stop. He had to stop, no one was meant to wield power like this, it had already cost him, he was just going to hurt himself more…

But Mianu was too far gone. He didn’t hear any of his knight’s cries.

As quickly as it had started, everything ended. The wind died down. The shadows faded, drawn back towards Mianu. The room grew warmer again as the darkness slowly drained away. And everything was silent.

Darius instinctively glanced around, taking in everything that he could. All the mercenaries were on the ground, unmoving. The door that Mianu had burst through was wide open, but no other assailants came through. And now that he could actually turn his head, Darius could see the artifact that had started all this trouble.

It was just a chest. A relatively small one at that. The only two things that stood out about it at all were the familiar insignia etched into the lock and the small, circular mirror built into the lid. Other than that, it could have been any old trunk.  

All this… for something so simple.

Mianu dropped down to his hands and knees. Magic still snared around his bad arm, the shadows pulsing with his heartbeat. He was breathing heavily. He looked far too pale.

Darius tried to fight against his chains again. He didn’t notice how badly he was trembling.

“Mianu!” he called. “Mianu, talk to me, you have to be alright…”

Mianu didn’t respond. He took several more shaky breaths. Then he forced himself to is feet. He swayed, barely able to keep his balance, his opposite hand instinctively clutching at his cursed arm.

“Mianu…”

Darius’ call seemed to bring Mianu back to reality. If only for a moment. He stumbled over to Darius, almost falling to his knees.

“Gods… I’m sorry I took so long,” Mianu gasped out. He immediately grabbed at the chains around Darius’ wrist. Another burst of magic, and the chains turned to dust. “How long have you been bleeding like that?”

“I’m fine,” said Darius. He didn’t know the answer to Mianu’s question anyway, and that would just worry the prince more. “But Mianu, you—”

“Don’t worry about me right now,” Mianu snapped. He grabbed the chains at Darius’ ankles. Those, too, were reduced to dust. “We need to get you some help. Maybe I can…”

Before Darius could say another word, Mianu stumbled to his feet again. He was gone for only a moment before he returned with some torn fabric. Probably from the clothing of one of the mercenaries.

Darius glanced at a fallen form. “Are they… did you…?”

“I don’t know,” said Mianu, already roughly bandaging the wound on Darius’ side. “But I don’t want to stick around to find out.”

As soon as the fabric was tied around Darius’ waist, Mianu stood up again. He hauled Darius up with him. They both stumbled. Darius managed to catch himself first. He grabbed Mianu. The two of them practically fell into each other’s arms. Darius held Mianu tight. His heart was pounding so quickly and violently that he was sure Mianu could feel it. But neither of them seemed to care.

They stayed like that for a moment. Just long enough for a few breaths. Then Mianu pushed Darius away… though he kept a firm grip on his knight’s hand.

“Come on,” said Mianu. “We need to get out of here.”

Darius didn’t argue.

Neither of them were up for much running. Mianu stumbled again and again. Darius pressed his free hand to the wound at his side. But they managed to escape the mercenary stronghold. And they kept moving. They had no idea where they were going. Half the time, they didn’t have it in them to look for any kind of shelter.

But Darius was sure they would find something. They were together. Despite all the odds. Despite all of his own failures.

They would get through anything. They’d done it before.

He just had to hope that Mianu would recover… in more ways than one.

_________

@whumperofworlds I believe you wanted to be tagged in this? And @tildeathiwillwrite you might be interested in this as well (I will absolutely take your tag off if you want me to)

[satinique]

Blood in the Wine

sequel to blood in the liquor

warnings - established relationship, soft, angst, stripper astarion, blood, vampire, wholesome, soft , fem reader, sexual harassment

You and Astarion had kept contact from your little rendezvous, he going so far as to break up with his Boyfriend to be with you.

The idea of having a man like Astarion as your Boyfriend shocked you still as you realised you would have to introduce him to your parents eventually, they would definitely ask for his occupation, you were never ashamed of Astarion but you were sure your parents would disapprove of your relationship with the eccentric male.

Arriving at the club, you thanked the taxi driver and walked in, your ID didn't need to be checked as you were rushed in by security guards, already knowing you to be Astarion's devoted Girlfriend.

Instantly you were met by the workers, and customers each of them going about their lives, making a living, offering services.

You weren't as intimidated by them now that you got used to the club, although the offers you and Astarion would have to engage in gangbangs or threesomes were inevitable.

Greeting the other strippers you make your way to Astarion's private dressing room, you are let in without a single world, Astarion himself had made it quite clear that you were to be accepted in anywhere in the whole building.

Sitting on his sofa, you whip out your phone and text your friends, informing them that you had plans with your Boyfriend, Karlach and Shadowheart had also made it official, the night they both bailed on you when they admitted their feelings to one another.

Making yourself comfortable you poured yourself some water from Astarion's fridge in his room.

Sitting back down on the sofa you heard the door open to reveal a tired looking Astarion, "Sweetheart?" He asked, he looked so tired, there were dark circles underneath his usual bright eyes, and he wore a skirt that looked like it'd been ripped.

Standing up, you lean forward capturing his waist in a hug, "Oh what happened to you?!" Keeping your voice low, you cradle his face, your hands soft and gentle, "A few rowdy customers, security kicked them out."

Astarion sighed softly as he leaned into your embrace, his head resting on your cleavage.

Slowly you beckoned him to the sofa so you could run your fingers through his soft hair, "I'm glad you didn't get hurt.. but they ruined your favourite skirt." You frown as you press a kiss to his forehead.

"I know, I was really annoyed." Astarion replied, he held you in his arms as his hair tickled your nose, "Do you want anything..?" You whisper, looking at your Boyfriend lovingly, "Just stay with me please.."

Nodding you smile and kiss his head, "Of course, I'll be here whenever you need." Sitting back down, you glance at his appearance, "Baby? Do you want me to run you a bath?"

Astarion paused as he looks at you, "Yes please, that'd be nice.." the silver haired male strips out of his clothes and chucks the remains of the skirt in the bin.

You place his high heels over on the other side of the room, "Do you want me to join you sweetheart?" Looking at him you reach forward, touching his face.

"Yes.. please.." Astarion nodded and walked with you into his bathroom, it was fairly small but had a extremely large bath that had different kinds of soaps and scents.

Nodding silently, you strip off your dress and begin to run the bath, you look at him every now and again, his eyes seem to be far away.

Eventually, the bath is right for the both of you to get in.

Cautiously, Astarion climbs in, the bath wide enough for the two of you to fit side by side.

Wordlessly, you begin to wash his hair being soft with him, he allows you to touch him as he plays with the bubbles in the bath.

[thebestworstidea]

So I was listening to some old Hbomberguy videos, and he touched on the response to the Ghostbusters trailer

and how it had put everyone's panties in a twist. So I went and watched the original Ghostbusters trailer

(it really was shot like it was a horror/action flick not comedy, wasn't it?)

and I was once again struck by the thought.

The girl team had a better story. just looking at the trailers, I know which one I'd be more interested in learning the plot of.

(Nevermind that when I saw it, I burst into tears because 'I can be a Ghostbuster'. The Cartoon had an action figure of Janine in a suit but that's as close as it got until Extreme Ghostbusters and look never mind, aren't you glad I don't make videos?)

Is this bias? I mean having watched these movies (and the origonal a lot, I liked that movie as a child.) Holtzman is a little irritating, but compared to Venkman? A few years ago we had a Ghostbusters marathon and I just kind of sat there durring the first movie, eating too much halloween candy and wondering why anyone liked this character. (Even as a kid, my preferences went like Winston, Egon, Ray, Janine and I guess Venkman is here too.) What the fuck did Dana see in him? He was a slimy bastard who pushed boundries. Yes when the chips were down, he did do the right thing, but I got the impression that he did it because he was kind of backed into a corner, not out of any real desire to help people.

So, yeah 'kind of annoying' is not really the same thing. The movie is solid, the effects were solid, the story is solid, the science is sci-fi, so I just... couldn't understand why it was being tanked so hard. I heard 'oh they made sex jokes' and I Was like 'when was the last time you watched the original, they might not have said dick but holy shit were there sex jokes.' (they might have said dick, I don't remember the whole movie, just a bunch of scenes I learned by rote as a young willow) (no wait, they said dick. and there was the blow job thing)

And when you can't find a rational reason why people are hating on something, you're stuck with the irrational one and you just kind of sit there dumbly going 'wait what?'

Can I prove the movie was just as good if not better?

NO.

It's fucking art, okay, it's subjective.

And it's not even the same world.

takes place in the same world and it is so... HELL YEAH I'M A SEQUEL! LOOK AT ALL THE SHIT YOU LOVED AS A KID COMING AT YOU IN A WAY THAT YOU CAN SHARE WITH YOUR KIDS

okay too be fair, I was so annoyed at the way they panned the 2016 "Grrl-busters", I haven't watched the 'legacy' (CoughSEQUELCough) movies. They do look pretty good, and I should sometime I wouldn't have to rent them through Youtube. (even though I kind of resent the 'teen movie' reframing they seem to be going for. The original Ghostbusters, even on the recorded from tv VHS I had probably deserved a pg13 more than a pg. It wasn't a movie for kids, she said hypocritically)

[meimi-haneoka]

Report of CLAMP’s Twitter Space ~ May 5th, 2023 (part concerning Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card)

On May 5th, CLAMP opened two Twitter Spaces, one as a late celebration of Ohkawa's birthday and one as an "afterparty", dedicating this second one both to the Holic stage play and Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card. Actually, the mentions of Sakura-related stuff started already in the first Space, so I'm going to write the report starting from that one!

The first mention of anything CCS related is past halfway the first Space, when a question from a fan prompted CLAMP to talk about their current favorite Sakura costumes! (It seems one of them - I think it was Mokona - was about to speak about a certain costume and Ohkawa interrupted her, laughing: "That's too soon!! That's a spoiler! 😂" what a tease!) For Satsuki, her favorite costume is the classic cat one with the apron, from Clow Card Arc (side note, it seems she still had a strained back and that's also the reason why they couldn't celebrate with a Space on the actual day of Ohkawa's birthday), while for Nekoi it's the costume with shorts and diamond shapes all over it from the Clow Card Arc (when she had to sneak into a museum). For Mokona it's the bat-themed coat she had designed for the manga chapter (Sakura Card Arc) when Sakura went out with a fever, and she wore over her pajama this coat Tomoyo made her to keep her warm. Lastly, for Ohkawa it's the costume from volume 3 / the Clear Card anime OP, even though she knows it's one of the most complex ones (but she loves that it mixes both cuteness and a more mature vibe)! If she had to choose a simpler one, then it would be the classic Clow Card anime OP! Mokona also mentioned the fan favorite frog costume from Clear Card Arc, which it seems got a very slight criticism by Ohkawa because it looked too "childish", but Mokona was glad that in the end they used it anyway. Ohkawa actually explained that what she meant was more how it looked too "simple" and more reminiscing of a raincoat than a proper costume. And this is when the first interesting info comes!

A fan indicated the costume of chapter 36/37 of Clear Card as one of their favorite, and Ohkawa confirmed that they got a lot of praises for that....and then...

Ohkawa: This will become slightly spoilerish, but there is actually a reason why Sakura didn't wear (officially) this costume yet! 😉 Please stay tuned!

A few minutes later, a fan asked Ohkawa about what is usually “the driving force” that pushes her forward when she’s writing her stories. Ohkawa replied: “The end. The end is what’s most important to me. Even in Clear Card Arc’s case, the only reason why I’m doing it is because of the finale, that I decided right away and came to me like a spark. When that doesn’t happen, I get bored halfway through. To be honest, with Clear Card Arc it’s not even exactly the finale. There’s a certain event I wanted to write for it at all costs. If it wasn’t for that, I would’ve never given the OK to restart ‘CCSakura’ once again.” Nekoi: “So for the sake of the end, the story spun on itself and started once again.”

Another fan asked right after if there was any highlight they are looking forward to for the sequel of the Clear Card anime, and here CLAMP confirmed that the cast of voice actors will of course be the same! So they said that’s certainly a highlight. They also mentioned how the peak of the story will come all in the part that’s going to be portrayed in the anime from now on, so all of that is another highlight in itself. Ohkawa looks forward to hear Sakura Tange as Sakura once again. Then, talking about the source material for a moment: Ohkawa: “It took a long time, and we’ve been told that the story is kinda boring, but please trust me. They tell me I take long time to reveal all the “tricks” beneath the story but there’s a reason for that. Just wait a little more~ 😊”

Mokona mentioned that she personally looks forward to see how the director (Asaka, I guess) will portray the world inside the book where the kids go to halfway though the play (She’s talking about Clockland, of course 😊). They also wondered how they will portray the Mirror Card and the important role she will have in the later part of the story, Ohkawa in particular said Mirror has always been a very special Card (it’s one of the only 3 who can speak).

This is the content for the first Space! Only a few minutes later, CLAMP opened one more Space to focus on the Holic stage play and to talk about Sakura. Skipping to the Sakura content, a fan asked if Meiling is going to appear in the sequel of the Clear Card anime, since they liked her relationship with Syaoran, particularly the scene where they fought together. Ohkawa: “She won’t probably join a battle, but of course she’s going to appear!” (everyone clapped their hands) Mokona: “The funny thing is, when we started working on the Clear Card manga, I was wondering why Meiling didn’t appear...and then I remembered she was an anime-only character!!😂I had my memories messed up!”

Following that, Ohkawa announced something we were all hoping for as if it were nothing of importance 😂 Ohkawa: “This is something no one cares about, and I know they haven’t announced it for the new anime adaptation yet, but the script writer will be me, Nanase Ohkawa” (everyone clapped) Ohkawa: “It’s really nothing important” Mokona: “It is, instead! Thank you very much!” Mokona: “You’ll be working again with that director…” Ohkawa: “Yep, it’s real. I said I would’ve never written any more anime scripts, all on my own…” Mokona: “But since we’re rooting for you…! 😂” Ohkawa: “I’m saying this just to laugh a bit, but when I write the anime scripts, I enter my ‘nursing care mode’, I just can’t do anything else, I’ll be causing lots of trouble to the other CLAMP members who will have to take care of me...I’ll have to do this job alone, it’s a solo trip! 😅” Mokona: “The Costume design…” Ohkawa: “That’s going to be yours, who else? (to the audience) Mokona-san is going to be in charge of that.”

SO we got three important confirmations (+ the seiyuu cast one in the first Space) for the new anime sequel in the matter of a few minutes!! 😂And all of them are “spoilers”, meaning that none of this has been announced through official channels 😂But they were pretty expected...Ohkawa later in the Space said that she’s perfectly aware that Kodansha will probably get mad at her later for doing that! She said “They’re going to kick my as* right after Golden Week….but it’s okay!” 😆

After this, CLAMP were kind enough to read my message of deep appreciation for the story (Mokona said she wants to go to Italy! I wish conventions planners in Italy could take the hint…! 😂), and Ohkawa made me laugh as usual with her comments about Kaito:

Ohkawa: “This person...doesn’t think something like ‘come on, grow a pair and do the right thing!!’ towards Kaito?” Mokona: “Ah, I think it’s because she actually loves him a lot, at least that’s what it looks like! 😁” Ohkawa: “I see, I’m really grateful then 😁” Mokona: “Kaito-san should really stop messing around, though 😆”

Mokona then remembered that back when the old Sakura anime was airing, they had 2 manga serializations + the anime series to work on at the same time, and her blunt comment was “it was hell, back then”. Ohkawa: “I’m sure there are people out there who would’ve wanted somebody else as scriptwriter...sorry about that, but it’s going to be me! 😅 Actually, I haven’t even asked permission to anyone to announce these things, after all, isn’t it taken for granted at this point? Only me can do it” Mokona: “You’ve been doing this since the beginning, after all”

Ohkawa explained that there are several not-so-small differences between the anime and manga storylines, so the fact that she’s the only one writing the scripts makes everything simpler. She brought up a thing that many fans are interested in, the fact that Nadeshiko’s pendant watch from the manga is actually a key in the anime. If somebody else were to take over at this point, they wouldn’t know how to deal with that difference, because they wouldn’t know why the change was made in the first place. But since Ohkawa is taking care of it, it’s all right! Mokona said that she’s really curious to know what’s going on with Nadeshiko’s key in the anime, and what would be the developments from that. Ohkawa: “You have to trust Sakura-chan for that, not me!” Mokona: “But I believe in your storytelling skills! 😆”

Mokona then said that since the anime and manga storylines end up mixing up in her head, she’s refraining from watching the anime till everything is over. She brought up the example of Meiling of earlier on, and Ohkawa took the chance to express how wonderful the anime adaptation is and how much Meiling is loved by the fans, despite not being present in the manga.

Surprisingly enough, they also mentioned how fastly the season changed in the latest part of the story, jumping suddenly to winter. Satsuki pointed out that for most of the story the season didn’t change at all, and that the seasons actually reflect the situation of the story. When Satsuki said that, I realized it’s really true. And thanks to this comment, I think I might have understood even better why there’s a swallow coming to little wintery Kaito in the color page of chapter 62. Swallows announce the spring, after all… A fan asked a question about the handwritten text that appears in Cardcaptor Sakura, whether it’s Mokona’s real handwriting or it was created that way specifically for the manga (particularly, some kana have a little swirl that makes them cuter). Mokona confirmed that it was created specifically for the manga: in the old series she used to make it more round and cuter, but for Clear Card Arc she realized that a text like that impaired the readability, so she used more straight lines (though in the comedy parts she still tried to make it more rounded, but she admitted that there aren’t that many comedy parts in Clear Card 😅). Another fan sent a message saying they really love Lilie and would like to live with a person like her and Ohkawa was really curious to know what kind of person they thought she is, and what it is they like about her. Mokona: “Maybe she likes her assertiveness, which is very reminiscing of Akiho.”

That was for CLAMP an opportunity to talk about magicians in CLAMP world and how strong magic can distort their personality quite a bit! Mokona wondered if even Lilie is affected by this peculiarity in CLAMP world, since it is a thing (she remembered Momo talked about it in the manga), and in the end they decided to not reveal clearly whether her personality is distorted or not to not spoil the volume-only readers, because it became clear only in the chapter published last month, but invited them to guess the correct answer with a hint: “She became Nadeshiko’s friend, after all”. 😁 They also said that Lilie’s “pushy” nature is an interesting and nice trait of her. That lead CLAMP to make a list of their characters who are considered magicians:

Clow Reed – Yuuko – Fay – Syaoran (CCS) – Yuna D. Kaito – Sakura Kinomoto – Watanuki

and those who haven’t their personality “messed up” are Sakura, Syaoran, Watanuki (they say he’s on the edge, though 😆) and Ohkawa was surprised to find out that it’s almost half of them! Mokona also mentioned King Ashura from Celes country, but Ohkawa reminded her that his powers had severely messed up his personality. Then someone reminded them of Fei Wang, and of course he’s one whose personality was distorted greatly by magic, Mokona commented that the distortion went as far as it could go with him 😅

Ohkawa went further with the topic, telling a fun trivia about powerful magicians with distorted personality. She established that all people with very strong magic powers bear a burden on themselves. Supposed someone were to ask them to act properly in a situation without messing around, they’re people who don’t understand how to do that. They end up thinking 'what a bother, though'. Some of them, among that confusion, make up their own rules and become people like Clow Reed. Others just keep thinking 'it’s a bother, just a bother' and eventually end up thinking 'I don’t give a damn about it': those are the people like Fay or Yuna D. Kaito. 😆

Ohkawa: “Those two had a completely different life, though. Because Kaito had Akiho. So I guess for him it’s a bit different. But if someone were to tell him ‘You, sit down there’ he’d be like ‘Damn, I don’t want to sit down, I want to go back home’. Kaito wouldn’t just ‘sit down’. 😆Fay neither!” Mokona: “Those two are really similar” Ohkawa: “Yet they’ve lead a completely different life. My bad, but in my story Kaito became all ‘what a bore this, what a bore that’ 😅” Mokona: “I guess that can’t be helped for him, because he was severely abused and faced very rough life situations” Ohkawa: “Yeah, that’s right” Mokona: “Fay had Sakura-hime with him, so I wish those parts of him could be tamed for what it’s possible, much like it happened for Kaito with Akiho” Ohkawa: “That would be good, although I don’t know if those parts can ever settle down 😅” Mokona: “Yeah, after all, no one knows what goes through the minds of those magicians 😆”

A fan pointed out that Seishirou could be also included in the list of magicians, but Ohkawa explained he’s more of a shaman than an actual magician and those two shouldn’t be mixed up. It seems the kind of magic they summon is different.

The Space was supposed to end, but then Ohkawa had the sudden idea to ask her colleagues what’s the Card (from any arc) they would want to use the most! For Mokona it’s Fly or Flight (because she’d like to fly like a drone to somewhere, at least once 😆), for Ohkawa it’s Mirror from Clow Card Arc (because she always wanted to have a twin!! No one realized that, sensei), for Satsuki is Create and for Nekoi it’s Lucid (because she’d want to hide in uncomfortable moments 😆).

CLAMP also ended up mentioning, in their chat about the Cards, that it’s sad the Flight Card disappeared, due to its closeness to Sakura and the fact that it’s almost as if this Card had feelings of its own, even more than the old Fly Card.

Ohkawa, throughout the Space, reiterated her request to the fans to keep reading Clear Card’s story till the very end, even if right now they’re thinking ‘I would’ve wanted it to be more like this, instead’ or ‘This isn’t the kind of story I like’. She said in an earlier part of the Space that she’s aware there might be some parts difficult to understand, but that this is at the very core Sakura’s story. For her, as Cardcaptor Sakura’s writer, what makes Sakura the protagonist of this story is the fact that she’s the one deciding what to do within the story. That’s what a main character is for her, even when the “camera” of the storytelling is aiming at someone who’s not the protagonist. She talked to the volume-only readers, saying “If you keep reading and see what Sakura has decided in the next volume, I think you’ll realize just how much she’s grown up”. Mokona agreed, saying that Sakura has always chosen for herself, even in the past arcs.

Ohkawa: “In Cardcaptor Sakura’s story, Sakura always chooses how to take action, so I think it’s ok for me to variate a little bit what kind of main character she’s going to be. My partners Mokona, Nekoi and Sacchan are drawing this story with lots of care, so I’d like for you to keep reading it. Right now volume 14 is out, and when you’ll read it, I’m sure many of you will think ‘Kaito, you…!!! 💢’ 😂” Mokona: “They’re going to feel the same way Momo is feeling 😂”

And here sensei switched to another very important topic.

Ohkawa: “Apparently, the translation abroad is completely different” Mokona: “I guess it’s very difficult to convey the right meaning of some complex words” Ohkawa: “I’ve been told once ‘I just can’t translate it like this’ by the person who’s in charge of the translation. I think it’s great that they still want to try their best with a script like this one.” Ohkawa: “It’s just, you know...I can’t ask people who don’t understand Japanese to read it in our language. Therefore, I’m really grateful that they’re uploading those versions on Youtube, despite the translation being different. Especially with CCSakura right now, if the translation is different, it will end up conveying a different meaning (to the story) 😅(note: her tone right now suggests she’s uncomfortable about this) But still, I’m grateful they’re delivering the chapters to the whole world.” “I’m aware there’s someone (else) who’s writing blog posts about the translation because they feel uncomfortable about those differences, and if you can just look at those, I think it’s already enough. For example, something that really surprised me is how the word わからずや (wakarazuya) cannot be translated properly. (note: she’s referring to the ‘insult’ Momo yells after Kaito before he’s engulfed by the book at the end of chapter 70, and that Lilie mutters in chapter 72). It seems like there isn’t a word to express it. This is really a subtlety, though… There seem to be many words that aren’t perfectly translatable into English. Like 頑張れ！(ganbare!)” Satsuki: “よろしく (yoroshiku) too.” Ohkawa: “That’s right. Or 仕事 (shigoto).” Mokona: “Since the culture is different too, they have to look for a word that’s got the closest meaning to that one.” Ohkawa: “I think the people in charge are really doing their best, but when I’ve heard of (how they translated that word), I didn’t really feel good about it.” (Mokona: “yes, it’s true”). Mokona: “Even the official translation can be wrong! It’s totally understandable” Ohkawa: “I know. I guess translating わからずや is really difficult, but I think you’ll still able to understand it if you consider the feelings of that character in that moment.” Nekoi: “It's more like ‘blockhead’ ” Ohkawa: “When re-translating the word they chose back (in our language), I felt like it got translated into something closer to 馬鹿 (baka).” (note: the ENG used "dolt" which indeed got more of a "stupid" nuance) Mokona: “Ah, that’s not what she meant…” Ohkawa: “And to us, 馬鹿 means something completely different”. (Mokona agrees)

Ohkawa: “Even so, I think it’s still worth uploading the chapters officially on Youtube, so please keep checking them out. At the same time, I’m really grateful to those who point out where (the translation) got it wrong.” Mokona: “There’s really a language barrier!” Ohkawa continued saying that she’s often told by translators that it’s difficult to understand what’s the subject (of a sentence) in her writing. She brought as an example how, to this day, Yue still doesn’t have a personal pronoun he uses to refer to himself, so that makes difficult to establish the subject when he talks. Mokona wondered how the translations abroad are dealing with translating how non-human characters are referring to themselves, when in Japanese they don’t use pronouns such as “ore” or “watashi”. Ohkawa guessed that probably in foreign languages it doesn’t really matter. Despite being really grateful to all the people who are translating her work with care, she expressed lots of interest on this topic and would also like to talk to them freely about this matter, because it’s true that there are parts that are translated differently (note: or wrong, the word used can indicate both).

She extended her gratitude also to people who give their comments and impressions about every single chapter, reading them on Nakayoshi or Youtube, even when those comments are really harsh towards them and their work. Ohkawa: “I’m also very grateful to those who tackle the translation differences every month, saying things like ‘This is not right’ or ‘This is not what they’re actually saying!’” Mokona: “We could call it ‘collective knowledge’, or rather, we could really say this world is built by what everyone is saying, in a collective effort” Ohkawa: “It’s my fault, but since Momo’s wording is a bit difficult to translate, she might have been misunderstood (abroad).”

Changing topic slightly, but always staying in the CCSakura area, Ohkawa reiterated how this is Sakura’s story, and she would like us to read it till the end to witness how Sakura figured out what she can do for someone she’s just met (like Akiho), coming from a position of someone who’s always been protected and guarded by other people till now. She wants us to see how much she’s grown up going through that process. Ohkawa: “Mokona praised a lot the conversation between Sakura and Akiho in the script I’ve written for the latest chapter, which hasn’t been published into volume format yet, so I can’t say much about it…. All four of us are taking good care of portraying properly how both Sakura and Akiho will do what they can, each in their own way, so I really want you to see it.”

While repeating the fact that Ohkawa will be the one writing the scripts for the sequel of the anime, Mokona commented that she really doesn’t think anyone but her can do it. Ohkawa said “I know this myself, but if you’ll end up saying 'This is not ‘Sakura’!' because of the direction it’ll take in the future, well...sorry about that”. She saw some fans commenting in the hashtag that they were happy and relieved that she’s at the script writing again, and Mokona said the same. She was very grateful.

Ohkawa: “Sakura-chan will always be the same Sakura-chan (you’ve known till now). Cardcaptor Sakura is the story of the main character Sakura who will choose for herself what to do within the story.” Mokona: “Please watch carefully Sakura’s choice ❤️”. Ohkawa: “Really...Someone might end up telling Kaito 'Ugh, Kaito, sit down there!' (in reference to the magicians discussion earlier on) 😂” Mokona: “I really think that will happen! 😂 I think so too about him” Ohkawa: “And Syaoran...Syaoran will still have a little role! He really did his best, till now.” Mokona: “It’ll be good if he can get to have a say in this” Ohkawa: “I think he will. Really, everyone is doing their best, so...I really hope you’ll stick around to see it.” In response to a fan comment, saying how they like Sakura’s character because she is who she is, they said “We have no intention to betray that. That’s what makes her the main character and betraying the main character is not okay”. Satsuki mused that Sakura-chan was still an elementary schooler till the other day, she’s worked hard and she’s grown up so much now.

At this point they finally started wrapping the Space up with one last birthday wish for Ohkawa from each CLAMP member, while she jokingly (?) asked everyone to write again “Happy Birthday” in the hashtag. 😂 Mokona wished her the best with the imminent work on the anime scripts (judging by her words, she’ll start as soon as the scripts for the manga will be over), which she could already predict it’ll be a difficult job, even more so than the first time around. Satsuki also wished her to take care of her health since she’ll be very busy from now on, and that she hopes to be able to drink some delicious drinks with her soon. Nekoi expressed her love for her “boss” telling her that she still keeps a hat she got from Ohkawa when they weren’t professional mangaka yet ❤️ Ohkawa: “Do you love me?” Nekoi: “I do, a lot ❤️” Ohkawa: “Thank youuuu! 😂” The last message of course was from the boss herself. She mentioned the end of Clear Card which is imminent, and again invited everyone to watch the story unfolding till the end. She was talking with Nekoi earlier about how even Eriol and Syaoran were really hated while the old arcs were still ongoing: apparently back then, dozens of fans told Kumai-san (Syaoran’s VA) that they hated her because her character was being mean to Sakura! 😂Mokona sounded really apologetic towards Kumai-san and how hard it was on her back then, but she was grateful that she could endure and shake all of that off with a smile😅 Ohkawa said that the same thing happened to Eriol, both for the anime and manga versions, for how he caused trouble (to Sakura) 😆And it’s not over! Ohkawa continued saying that even Nakuru received her good share of hate because she was standing between Touya and Yukito 😂 Mokona yelled her “indignation”, because ‘Nakuru is such a good kid!!’ 😂 and expressed her wish to see more affectionate scenes between her and Yukito, since now they get along as good friends. All things considered, Ohkawa expressed her hope everyone can wait for the end to see things change. Of course, she’s well conscious there’s no 100% guarantee that people won’t hate Clear Card even after it’ll be over, and she’s ok with that. She defined herself a “selfish writer”. 😆 Mokona asked everyone to have a little bit more of patience (implying it’ll be worth it).

“Whether you laugh or cry, whether you want it or not, soon it’ll be over, so please read it till the end” ❤️

[miggysbabymama]

At Last

the long awaited sequel to "Everyone Adores You (at least I do)" Thank you for your patience.

Summary: You've been waiting long enough to confess to your best friend but does he feel the same way?

TW: mentions of injury and blood.

Word count: 1k

Coming back to the apartment, you felt a sense of loneliness, and heartache. Desperately wishing that Miguel could see your true feelings that lie underneath the surface of your heart. He was the only one you truly desired.

You had distracted yourself with various men in the past as a way to hide yourself from the true feelings which plagued you. You had finally come to the conclusion that you were in love with Miguel, but nothing could bring you to confess. Fortunately for you, his hectic schedule as Spiderman caused you to keep a comfortable distance literally and figuratively.

"I'm to old for this" you spoke quietly to yourself. How long would it take you to confess. You were acting like a middle schooler hiding from your crush and giggling every time you made eye contact.

That is exactly how you felt when you spent time with Miguel. Nothing else mattered. You felt like an idiot for putting off your true feelings for so long but you never felt like there was a right time.

After many sleepless nights you promised yourself that the next meeting with Miguel would result in you telling him how you honestly felt.

The morning of your meetup you could feel there was something off, Miguel hadn't texted to confirm you were meeting up and you just felt strange. You continued getting ready until you heard someone knocking. As you opened the door you saw Miguel standing in front of you leaning against the doorframe. His suit was ripped in various parts while blood was dripping from his arms, side, and face. Tears spring to your eyes as you carefully bring Miguel inside to the couch.

“Who did this to you?” you say, unable to focus. Your hands were shaking as you applied pressure to his wounds.

“Don’t worry about it cariño I got it under control, it’s a few scrapes and some blood, who cares” he replied nonchalantly.

"No, tell me now, I can't handle seeing you like this." you said looking deeply into his eyes. "I care about you Miguel, I know how strong you are and this villain really did a number on you."

Miguel maintains eye contact, his face softening seeing your reaction to his wounds and lacerations. He grabs your hand and gives it a squeeze as you clean up the blood.

"¡Puta madre!" Miguel exclaims not being able to hide his emotions.

"I'm sorry Miggy" you reply trying to finish dressing his wounds quickly. Once Miguel is patched up you bring him a glass of water and some aspirin. In the back of your mind is the promise you had made to yourself, you silently curse yourself.

"Are you seriously ok?" you ask, "stay as long as you need to, whatever you need, I'm here." you say, reaching out to hold Miguel's hand.

"Si mi muñeca, I'm ok, I'm definitely better since I am here with you." he replies, "I apologize for showing up without letting you know first, there was no where else I could go with the amount of injuries I had." he continues. He looks ashamed for showing up unannounced but that is the last thing on your mind. "I knew I would be safe here." he finished.

Be safe? Here? His words register in your head as you realize that he considers you to be a safe haven. He trusts you, and you trust him.

"I'm glad you decided to come here, don't feel bad, were you afraid I would be mad?" you tell him, holding his face in your hands, your thumb brushing over his cheek.

He holds your wrist, "I was actually worried about something more serious than this." He laughs sheepishly gesturing to his injuries.

"How could you be worried about something more serious than being hurt?" you ask, trying to decipher what Miguel was trying to say.

"Um, to be honest with you, (y/n) there is something that I've been wanting to tell you for a while, I've just been acting like an idiot." Miguel says, looking downward. You rub his back, urging him to continue.

"The truth is (y/n) I'm in love with you, I have been for as long as I can remember. I thought by staying friends, those romantic feelings would stop but to be honest it only made them worse. After seeing you with so many guys I started devoting more time to my work, as a way to take my mind off you. Truth be told, I never stopped thinking of you, my heart is full of you, my whole world is you" He says, gazing at you with a look so full of love and devotion.

You catch yourself staring wide-eyed and slack jawed. Unable to reply, for the first time in a while you are at a loss for words.

"You ok (y/n)? What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" Miguel says in a lighthearted tone. "Any confessions you'd like you make?" he says nudging you gently.

Your body is still in shock, did the Miguel O'Hara just confess his undying love for you??? As you try to grapple with the news you just heard, you also try to form your response.

"Miguel" you begin, eyes welling with tears, unable to speak without sobbing into his arms.

"Querida, what's the matter? Don't you love me too? Isn't that why you're crying." Miguel says, speaking softly into your ear. His embrace becomes tighter the harder you cry.

You nod, "Yes Miguel, I love you too," you start, "I feel like such a fool for making you believe that I didn't feel the same" Miguel rubs this thumb catching the countless tears on your face." Do you even know how badly I've wanted to tell you how I felt. I always thought my feelings towards you were one-sided, imagine my surprise seeing you at my door all bloody and disheveled confessing your love for me." you say, your eyes moving from Miguel's eyes to his lips.

He shushes you, giving you a kiss on the forehead, "Don't worry about the past, mi corazón, neither of us confessed until now." he adds, "so wouldn't you say we're both in the wrong?" You laugh, still in awe of being the object of Miguel's affection.

As if he's reading your mind, Miguel brings your face close to his and kisses you, his lips taste so sweet and you begin to wonder how is it that you've gone this long without them.

[eukarisparadise]

There's something I really needed to get out of my system for the long time, and I understand that many have probably said this before.

Look, I adore MTMTE. I respect Roberts as a writer and he made an absolute masterpiece that changed my life (literally, I've met my life-long friends over this comic) and I think that he did a fantastic job in terms of plot-twists and character development.

However, what he did specifically to Rodimus was... uh.

I know that the entire IDW universe is, essentially, a one big anthology of the works of various authors, who, let's be honest, didn't always read each other. That's how, I believe, we got an MTMTE Rodimus, who does things... that feel so unnatural to him that you can't help but wonder, what was really the reason for doing so.

When I started reading this series (it was 2021, so shortly after the «Lost Light» ended), I asked my friends, what do some of his actions mean – «why the hell did he even agree to take Overlord?»; «why would he allow Drift to take all the blame on himself?»; «HOW DID HE ACCEPT MEGATRON ON THE BOARD??» – and their answer was... nothing. Nothing essentially to explain here, because the only reason for these and many other of his actions I could think of, is:

Roberts needed the plot to happen. And for that, he sacrificed Rodimus's already established character integrity.

I don’t remember which comic it was in, but I vividly remember one scene from some other, not connected to MTMTE series: Optimus (as usual) refused to kill Megatron and Rodimus, his face twisted with rage, started torturing Megatron with electricity. You mean to tell me, this guy would listen to anyone and let him on the ship? You mean to tell me, he wouldn't kill him on sight the second they make the quantum leap from Cybertron, trial or not?

And, although I don't like Getaway and the way he left the entire crew with DJD, but Rodiums I got first familiar with would be just thrilled to hear all of his ideas on how to creatively get rid of Megatron, because- no, literally, what the hell was that?

Okay, I understand the fact that I'm biased. I live in a country that's currently under siege, and I share the internet space with people who, in the safety of their homes, sometimes are still choosing to humanize and sympathise with a crazy fascist dictator that would be glad to wipe them out like he does with us. I acknowledge that that's alters one's perspective a little bit. But the entire Cybertronian race (AND MANY OTHERS – let's not forget countless organic civilizations that endured genocides after genocides in Megatron's colonial expansion) had to deal with this guy for four million years.

And I get that it probably wasn't entirely Roberts' fault – IDW publishing had the universe ending planned beforehand and that's why the entire «Lost Light» sequel felt so rushed. But are you seriously implying that MEGATRON, of all people, could be reformed by one fun trip? And forgiven not just by the crew – but Rodimus and Ultra Magnus specifically??.. Mind you, they already made their mind on him before the sequel – and it absolutely wasn't the one that they would make if they weren't so heavily OOC'd.

I hate the fact that the plot just wouldn't happen the way it did without this forced character dumbing. I hate it, because I love MTMTE story, and its crew, and its captain. And its lessons. But the way of teaching these lessons sometimes makes me want to throw in a towel, because no. I refuse to believe that someone who's entire life was defined by the want to be the leader his friends wanted, could do this many mistakes that lead to their hurt (and both allowing Overlord AND Megatron, were such mistakes). So, I choose to continue to be delulu and pretend that none of this happened – and they never returned to Cybertron as well, and they achieved something more. Don't blame me, I know you all are doing the same.