#INCLUDING A SOUP MAN WHO LOVES AND RESPECTS HER

[triassictriserratops]

Being nosy :) 12, 16 and/or 43?

In response to this ask game: I'll give you all three! (Also, sorry, apparently i'm just not capable of giving short answers. It's either a lore drop or it's nothing - i have no in-between. Feel free to just read the tl;dr's! 12: Relationship status (TL;DR - In a relationship) After my fiance died in December of 2019, I was adamant that I wouldn't rush into moving on. I refused to allow myself to trauma bond with anyone, or to fall into anything less than the loving and gentle relationship I had before. It wasn't worth it to me to be with someone just because I was in pain and wanted comfort. And let me tell you, grieving during that first year of COVID was lonely beyond anything else. Being locked down with no community, no family, no support during the worst time of my life almost drove me to the brink several times. I did meet someone about a year after my partner's passing. And this person was wonderful in every way. Would have been a wonderful potential partner. They matched my energy, we got along so well. Honestly, in many ways they were my ideal partner. But, after a few weeks of just dating, I had to admit to myself, and to them, that I just wasn't ready. At that point in time I wasn't planning any tomorrows. Life was a day-to-day thing for me. And I just couldn't invite someone else into that. I didn't want to make another person my reason to WANT to live. I had to find that on my own. I wanted to find my own reason - outside of anyone else. Just within me. And, depressingly, if I did lose that mental health battle - i didn't want to cause anyone else the grief I'd experienced of losing a partner to suicide. I didn't want to continue a chain of pain like that. So I told this person that I wasn't ready and they were sad, but they ultimately understood. We're still really great friends to this day. After cut to 3 1/2 years later. 4 1/2 years since my fiance's passing. 4 1/2 years of hardcore therapy for PTSD, CPTSD, depression, grief, etc. Years of trying to find my reason. Trying to either reignite old or light new dreams and goals. 4 1/2 years of learning to laugh again, learning to dream again. Learning to love again. Learning to WANT again. I felt ready. I did all of the dating app stuff. (And lemme tell you, i took that shit seriously not at ALL.) And I met someone who saw my absurd humor and matched my ante. We've now been together for about 5 months. His name is Boyfriend™ and he is an absolutely kind man who treats me with the utmost care, respect, and consideration. He's willing to sit and listen to my broken pieces. He wants to be a part of this life in which I smile and laugh again. Who makes me my favorite soup when i'm sick and drives out of his way to deliver it. (Soup that hasn't been made for me since I was a little girl.) He understands that I come with and oversized semi full of baggage, but he's willing to respectfully support me while I continue to rebuild myself. I have a cheerleader in my successes and a partner in my hardships. I have no doubt in my heart that this is someone my previous partner might have handpicked from the universe.

16: I’ll love you if (TL;DR - you gotta make me laugh, spreadsheets, and small acts of selfless consideration) You gotta commit to the bit. And I mean REALLY commit to the bit. My late fiance wrote a RESUME and PRINTED IT OUT to hand out to my FRIENDS. They APPLIED to date me. Wore a suit and everything.

My current partner handwrote me personal letters and mailed them while he was abroad in Europe this summer, like he was a soldier away at war. He is currently watching all of Crazy Ex Girlfriend and is willingly submitting to an exam (with essay questions) by @vasilissadragomir once he's done. (he's on season 4 now) I once dated someone who wrote a 3 page essay about why George Washington was a fuckboi. with citations. in mla format. (including one fake citation that led to a website she MADE just to back up her claims. EVERYTHING was clickable and led to something else, including fake websites for the fake researchers. If you commit to the bit, I'll commit to you. Also? Spreadsheets. Spreadsheets are my love language. I'm a lady in the streets but a pivot freak in the spreadsheets. My late partner and I kept spreadsheets for EVERYTHING. We tracked all of the races I was running, which ones they were running with me, my training plan, how they would support me before/during/after each race. We kept a spreadsheet of grad school applications, due dates, requirements, etc, with working date plans and co-working time scheduled in, so I could support them by body doubling. We tracked all of the movies and shows we watched/were watching/wanted to watch. We tracked all of the activities, conventions, and trips we wanted to plan - we rated them after they were completed, kept itineraries, changed itineraries when something more fun popped up. We kept a spreadsheet called Dates & Dragons with a constantly randomized list of date activity/restaurant choices. Whenever we couldn't decide what we wanted to do, we'd roll a 20 sided die. Whatever it landed on - that's what we'd do. They even made a spreadsheet of all of the things they'd liked about me when we started dating and awarded each item points. Created a point system whereby I could trade said points in for baked goods.

Like I said. Commit to the bit. 💚🦕 Our life and goals together are still in those spreadsheets and I hold them dear to me forever. Finally, small acts of considerate affection. My late fiance used to wake up every day and make the bed with me. They didn't believe in making beds, said it didn't make sense - you were just going to mess it up again anyways. But they knew that it mattered to me. They knew that to me, it was important to come home to a neatly made bed. It made me feel good and feel a sense of peace to lay down on a neatly made bed. So they did it. I never once asked. They just always, always did. They'd bring my little rocks, or my favorite treats, or a sticker or pencil - anything if they thought i'd like it. They'd stop what they were doing in the middle of the day just to tell me that I was loved and they just had to make sure I knew it. They learned to say my name. In Spanish. Correctly. They wrote a list of everything I loved and everything I didn't. A list of my favorite colors, authors, musicians. A list of my clothing sizes and my general preferences. All so they could pull ideas from that list whenever they just felt like doing something nice for me. Love is a verb. And it's not always a loud verb. Sometimes it's as quiet as making a bed. Love is a verb and they're the ones who taught me that. (sidenote, Boyfriend™ is an absolute wonder at small acts of considerate affection. 12/10 at pebbling. 💚I'd accept nothing less.) 43: Sexiest person that comes to my mind immediately This one is a twofer, i literally can't choose between them. Korra and Asami. Those two could spit on me and I'd thank them.

[mysticmourge]

꒰ SQUID GAME ROLEPLAY AD! ꒱

𐔌 ࣪ ����𐙚 ⠀ྀི ㅤׂ ABOUT ME : Hello! You can call me Powder. I recently turned 25 years old, so, I ask that this considering me as their next potential long term writing partner please be 21 or older. This is a major rule and there will be no exceptions. Please do respect this.

I’m aware I heavily slacked last year with my replies due to personal matters, but that will be fixed since everything is back in place. I am not currently working so my replies will be quite often …. so long as I have the muse for it. Usually, my muse burns brightest when writing with someone who matches my energy. So if you might consider yourself dry, I will not be interested in development.

I’d say my writing style is literate with multiple paragraphs. I can also match length …. And word vomit because I love painting a picture for my writing partners.

I have never created / warped my oc into Squid Game before, so they still need to be fleshed out. However that doesn’t mean I won’t be trying to whip up her backstory and such asap. My muse is thriving with these SG edits. My original character is a female by the way.

𐔌 ࣪ 𓈒𐙚 ⠀ྀི ㅤׂ WHAT I OFFER : Quick replies as long as our energy is flowing. My timezone is est but my sleep schedule is atrocious so, catch me at every hour damn near.

Double ups. I am also willing to play any canon character you desire. Or I can even create one if you wanted ( for your side of the double up I mean, my oc is still going to be for my part. ) Pick your poison. Though warning, I’m currently not interested in cc x cc. Though that doesn’t mean you should hesitate to ask. I might, MIGHT, consider it. Yes the recruiter / salesman counts, I would love to write that fine piece of insane man.

I can write fxf, mxm, fxm or even if your character is nonbinary they are just as welcome! All members of our beloved alphabet soup are welcome! Please please note this absolutely includes transgender characters!!! Hand them over!! <3

I will gush over your characters and ships, we can create playlists, find sounds that remind us of whatever the fuck, create headcanons galore, spam edits of characters we adore, WHATEVER WE WANT. I’ll feed your delulu like it’s my life’s mission. Trust, the demons will be fed well.

𐔌 ࣪ 𓈒𐙚 ⠀ྀི ㅤׂ WHAT I AM SEEKING : Id like someone to be able to write … Hwang In-ho aka the front man. CAN YOU BLAME ME? Im down. Down bad. Down horrendous. The stories we can cook up are DIVINE. Plus the angst, the tension, the trauma, THE DRAMA. It can have it all. If you know, you know. If you don’t … I am not the one. Trust. Also since I’d like him there is an age gap, nothing insane. But my characters are normally my age or a bit older. Because I can portray the headspace more comfortably.

Someone who has watched both season one and two.

For us to actually write our characters playing the games. WOULDN’T THAT BE FUN??? The chaos, the fear. The drama. Some good food right there! also? Our characters can be in the games, TOGETHER, WITH WHOEVER THEY ARE SHIPPING WITH. CHAOS.

Someone who can match my freak. I’d love if we can actually be friends. Not just a transactional thing. But a friendship where we are actually comfortable, having fun, and enjoy speaking to each other if we vibe! Me doing this ad is literally to also find friends who like to roleplay AND enjoy SG.

Someone who is comfortable with writing darker themes. Which should be obvious considering what the fuck squid game is, violence, gore, smut ( but I do not want the entire thing focused on it. )

Giving both my character’s reply and yours equal effort. I don’t enjoy feeling used and my character tossed aside when I work hard to make sure my reply while please you. I’d literally just ghost as soon as I notice it happening. OH and I write on discord but the way.

Like what you see? Message me with what you down to do, your name + age, and let me know what’s up!! I’ll see you then. <3 You can also like this post and I MIGHT reach out, but probably not because that makes me nervous.

[gemwolfz]

good morning chat (<- it's 12:30 pm) its time for a GEM FROG WATCHPOST (instead of putting it in the bg while i draw because ive accepted i cant draw and read at the same time)

btw my very legal straming site doesnt have episode descriptions and no way im remembering an episode thats been mentioned by number so i have no idea what im getting into. also im setting a timer to truly see how long my autistic ass can stretch a 15 minute episode. ok lets get started :)

okay first of all intro i havent seen yet lets GOOOO. PURURU SIGHTING IN THERE HEY GIRL!! i actually need to watch some eps with pururu in em btw. like hey show her to me. anyway good intro lots of guys spotted :)

^ CATEGORY 5 DORORO EVENT HI. experiencing the horrors as usual i see

i see so this is what we're doing today huh. do you intend to rip my heart out.

im sorry they have a fucking invasion planning chore wheel? thats really funny

OH IT'S THIS ONE HUH. THIS IS WHAT WE'RE DOING HUH (lovingly)

wcdonalds btw. sorry sorry wcdonalds cracks me up every time in any show

^^ his ass did NOT process what was just said!!!

he had it right the first several times cmon man.

hes taking this in stride huh. even in category 5 THE LORE situations the silly grind doesnt stop

why is zeroro resonance so fucking stupid btw. sorry man.

screenshot that speaks for itself man

somehow i dont think "my alien ninja partner is in serious trouble i need to leave immediately" will be counted as an excused absence by your teachers but after scaling a building in a single leap i dont think anybodys gonna question you. i love you koyuki

[this image set broke in the editor but it included keroro and tamama calling zeroro SO MEAN for not explaining his plan to them] frankly i respect keroros unwillingness to treat situations with the proper gravity because i do the same thing king

his ass does not care

he changed his mind something is terribly wrong

okay lets be real here the platoon would NOT have found him there. if he hadn't been able to contact koyuki he'd have been fucked. badly. something something being saved again by the person who showed you the warmth and beauty the planet has to offer

literally yeah the fate of the planet is held by natsumi being able to throw frogs like splat balls. pov youre giroro and the number one person standing between you guys and invasion is decidedly the girl who is constantly personally stopping you from blowing shit up. this is a personal attack

important and relevant but also im sorry "brat" is incredibly funny word choice coming from tamama

no reaction i can put into words. btw this episode is labelled as a filler episode. just so you know. i just think thats funny. haha so silly

aye.......................................... i would be using more reaction images but i have to prioritize screenshots. anyway god.

they were holding their fucking BREATH. his ass could have died!! badly!!! their deep sigh of relief is not as visible as i'd have hoped but you know. you feel me.

there are reactions i am making that are sound effects i cannot put into words sorry. im better at posting silly nonsense im sure you understand. hell, post horse staring at the ocean MAN again

he goes "i'm sorry about that, everyone!" as if it was fucking nothing. DUDE. This is why you caught that trauma-eating brain parasite because you just act like shit was NOTHING DUDE...

........yea...........................

NO EYECATCH OR ANYTHING? YOURE JUST GONNA TAKE US TO THE NEXT EPISODE? OKAY. OKAY THATS FINE. THAT'S FINE.

gem conclusion:

anyway i spent an hour watching this ten minute episode. sorry for maybe a weak reaction post i need to stir this episode in my head like a soup. thank you plates for your recommendation. join me in the rbs later as i may watch episode B and experience whatever tonal whiplash this episode came with

[ngkiscool]

Green manne frome thee Sky (3988)

FFF 191 You’re not alone - many thanks to @flashfictionfridayofficial​

August had always been Anathema's favourite month. As a kid, it meant a holiday from school, the perfect opportunity to read her prophecy book without boring distractions like homework. It was more fun than playing with the other kids anyway.

After she moved to Tadfield, August had a different significance for her – the month she met Newt. It was also the anniversary of the end of the world not happening, but from her point of view, meeting a man was less expected. Or, more accurately, a man she will be interested in his company even after the apocalypse was averted.  

The fact that it had also the best weather also helped, the never-ending British drizzle was getting on her nerves.

Five years passed since that weird week, and on each anniversary Newt surprised her with a different gift. The first year it was a three-course meal home-made meal he made from scratch, including soup, tomato pasta, roasted vegetables and even a vegan peanut butter truffle, her favourite dessert.  

In the following years she was given rare books, a very informative lecture about poisonous plants, and an even more informative lecture about some devices her family invented but her mum never showed her (from a former angel, former demon and a former medium, respectively).

This year, though, it was past the usual date they usually exchanged their gifts, and she was starting to get worried. Had Newt forgotten about it? Or maybe worse, was he planning to propose to her? After all their conversations about patriarchy and the need for a change in the social structure, it will be disappointing.

After a lovely supper they sat in the garden, admiring the sunset and having a small talk, but Anathema something wasn't right. Newt was more nervous than usual, and kept looking at the sky as if he was expecting something.

When something appeared in the sky, and then landed on the grass, she froze in her place, not sure how to react. The door of the flying sources opened with an impressive "swoosh", and a green toad dressed in kitchen foil emerged from it, wearing very cool sunglasses.

"Morning, sir or madam or neuter," the thing said. "How's hanging?"

Anathema watched in amazement as Newt exchanged pleasantries with the alien, like it was the most natural thing to do. After a few sentences he seemed to remember her, and hurried to say: "Ruslur, please meet my girlfriend, Anathema."  

Ruslur approached her, but as she flinched stayed one step away. "I apologise in the name of my associates, madam, for not coming to visit you earlier." He pulled something from a hidden pocket, and very slowly put it on the floor. "A small token from us, a reminder you're not alone."

The alien bid them fair well and returned to his spaceship, as she looked at her present – precious stone like she had never seen before. A quick check of their auroras confirmed they are not dangerous, and she hurried to hold them in her hand, appreciating the colour and the texture.

"Well, what do you think of my anniversary gift?"

She hurried to turn towards her boyfriend, who was all but forgotten in her excitement. "Thank you, it is the best gift ever!"

[rebelichor]

Ariadne doesn’t want a huge wedding, but what she means by that is she doesn’t want to take out a loan and pay off for one day for years to come when she would rather invest in her future with Enok.

Her parents end up putting an undisclosed amount of money into the wedding. Xemos and Lazentis want the best for their children, and by extension the partners and future in-laws that their children bring into the family. They work together with Rina and Latov to ensure Ariadne and Enok have a memorable celebration of their love.

The guest list ends up exploding and it’s a massive stress until Enok steps in to trim the outgoing invitations. He has a massive family, she does not, and where she didn’t want to offend anyone by excluding them he is more ruthless about who will have access to his special day.

Her Man Of Honour is her twin brother. Ariadne and Vergil have been through thick and thin and she is adamant that he will be standing there with her even if she goes full Bridezilla. His suit is crimson red with a matching tie and white dress shirt. Her bridesmaids have crimson red dresses. Because red draws the eyes in photographs, this worked out beautifully in terms of framing (and the bride being attention shy).

On that note, Ariadne is a perfectionist. She is terrified that people will think she is being crazy because she is her own wedding planner and she wants everything to go smoothly. Though she doesn’t demand anything outrageous, she does break down into tears a few times from the stress of things not going as planned into the lead-up, and Vergil is the one who takes her schedule book closer to the date and effectively fires her and takes over the stressful parts.

The morning of the wedding both families come together in a small Galahdan ceremony where, after exchanging gifts between the bride and husband’s families as a token of acceptance, the young couple make the ultimate promise and receive their wedding tattoos (often a single band around their finger). Afterwards the families share a meal and the parents take their respective child to finish preparations. 

The actual wedding is held just shy of sunset and Ariadne and Enok agree to have a barefoot beach wedding on the sand. Both agreed that children are allowed to attend which diverted disaster when, at Enok’s request, the children of guests helped relocate soldier crabs that had flooded the beach. Day-of, Ariadne can be seen hopping closer to her mother on the walk down the aisle because of a rogue soldier crab, but thankfully no loudmouth seagulls had any objections and Ariadne and Enok married without a hitch. 

The wedding reception is a short walk from the beach, held outside on the grass beneath a light canopy. Shoes are still optional, as Ariadne was already warned that once some of the Galahdan’s were barefoot there was no wrestling shoes back onto them. Thanks to Vergil there is a portable LED dance floor that knows no rest throughout their reception. Their one lavish decision was to splash out on a sweet treats and desserts bar where guests could collect their wedding favours throughout the night. Rina and Latov graciously organised catering (including starters served with soup, a seafood main or a red meat main and frothy chai lattes to enjoy alongside the dessert bar). The wedding cake was baked by Lazentis (salted caramel, sorry Enok, Ariadne is going full puppy eyes to get her favourite flavour). And yes, Ariadne absolutely cried happy tears when it came time to wedding speeches and she was overwhelmed with attention.

— feat. @enokvirkow / @stratagemichor

[mybookplacenet]

Featured Post: In His Keeping: Taken by Mia Frances

About In His Keeping: Taken: Sylvie Jenkins has fallen on hard times. She's lost her job, her apartment, and is down to her last can of peas! Desperate, she agrees to take a job with reclusive writer Connor Hudson at his isolated mountain retreat in upstate New York. Sylvie assumes he's a poser, a writer wannabe. She has no idea he's actually a bestselling author and billionaire entrepreneur. Their first encounter proves disastrous. He greets her in all his naked glory; and shocked, she faints dead away. Sylvie's convinced her employer is a pervert. But she can't leave…she has no money and no prospects. She needs the job. She'll just have to try to make the best of it. Mr. Hudson is a dour, dominant, and demanding boss. He issues orders and expects her to obey them, but Sylvie has a rebellious streak and gives him a hard time. She doesn't like playing power games, especially not with him. She bristles at his condescending attitude toward women in general and her in particular. As far as she's concerned Connor Hudson though male model handsome is a jackass. Connor can't believe the cheek of this sassy little imp! He's used to women fawning all over him, begging to do his bidding. But his wealth and position don’t impress or intimidate her. He finds her indifference toward him intriguing. He's never known a woman who didn't welcome his advances…until Sylvie. She ignores him, when she isn’t arguing, or cursing him under her breath. This alpha male decides his feisty assistant needs taming. And he’s just the man to do it. He's determined to make her obedient, respectful, and submissive. Sylvie eventually succumbs to his charms and against her better judgement finds herself falling in love with Connor. But something's wrong. He says he can't love her. Not now! Not ever! He’s keeping secrets. The cops think he's a serial killer. People who love him die...violently. Is her sexy boss a cold-blooded killer? Targeted Age Group: adults Written by: Mia Frances Buy the ebook: Buy the Book On Amazon Link to Series Buy the Print Book: Buy the Book On Amazon Author Bio: Mia Frances is the pen name of author Mary Vigliante Szydlowski. As Mia Frances, she's the author of the dark, post-apocalyptic romance, TRIBES; steamy romantic suspense novel, Little Girl Lost; and the IN HIS KEEPING erotic romantic murder mystery series: IN HIS KEEPING: TAKEN, IN HIS KEEPING: BANISHED, and IN HIS KEEPING: CLAIMED. Her Science Fiction works include novels: The Ark (Jarl Szydlow), The Colony (Mary Vigliante), The Land (Mary Vigliante), Source of Evil (Mary Vigliante), and novella, The Hand of My Enemy. She's also the author of the psychological thriller, horror novel, Worship the Night; and Dark Realm, the tale of a dystopian world ruled by Satan. In addition, she's the author of mainstream novel Silent Song. She’s also published 11 children's books: There's A Mouse In The House, Are We There Yet?, Little Sowbug & the Big Flood, Ghoul School, Millie Muldoon & the Case of the Halloween Haunting, Millie Muldoon & the Case of the Thanksgiving Turkey-napper, Millie Muldoon & the Christmas Mystery, A Puddle for Poo, Kia’s Manatee, The Duck in the Hole, and I Can't Talk I've Got Farbles In My Mouth. Her stories appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Dog Did What?, Volunteering and Giving Back, Merry Christmas!, Mom Knows Best, and Life Lessons from the Dog. Her short stories, articles, children’s stories, essays, and poems have appeared in books, magazines, newspapers, and on the web. She's a member of the Authors’ Guild, Society of Children’s Books Writers & Illustrators, Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America), and Romance Writers of America. Follow the author on social media: Learn more about the writer. Visit the Author's Website Facebook Fan Page Twitter Instagram Pinterest LinkedIn YouTube Read the full article

[itwas50yearsagotoday]

My Top 125 songs of 1973

12/31/23: Greetings! This is my last annual top songs list, the Top 125 songs of 1973, as I will be retiring the blog when I turn 50 in seventeen days. It's been an awesome journey all-around, but lets stick with '73 on this post. Only one song asterisked this year as a new-to-me song. All of these songs rate 82 out of 100 or higher (see previous post somewhere that describes my rating system). One of the themes I've been discussing over the year is decline, that is the decline in quality of mainstream artists' material--sometimes this is just slightly less, and other times it is a major decline. Probably the worst offender is Deep Purple, who released a huge stinker of a record following arguably their best effort; Yes also is in this category with their four-side ugly behemoth. Then there are just slightly inferior records like Houses of the Holy, Quadrophenia, and Goats Head Soup. That said, there are several artists that released excellent records like Pink Floyd, EL&P, Elton John, Neil Young, Blue Oyster Cult, Paul McCartney (Wings), Genesis, Steely Dan, Roxy Music (x2!), Caravan, Stevie Wonder, Black Sabbath, Mott the Hoople, the Stooges, and, of course, Gentle Giant. Finally, 1973 would feature many newbies including Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel. One may ask 'where are all the women?'… yes, it's a travesty, I know. Thankfully this would get much better over time. But for now, here's my top 125 of the year that was 1973:

10CC 'Rubber Bullets'…like Steely Dan and Sparks, some good old SmArt Rock here… great story song too about a jail riot

Abba 'Ring Ring'…too bad we can't get more into Abba on this blog, but at least you get a taste here

Aerosmith 'Dream On'… song wasn't a hit until a couple years later… probably the one Aerosmith song EVERYONE knows (even my teenage sons)

Aerosmith 'Movin' Out'… as sinister as B.O.C. but they mean it!

Aerosmith 'Somebody'… now there's a dirty-ass opening riff

Alice Cooper 'Unfinished Sweet'… I dig the James Bond shit in the middle; they shoulda used his song for The Man With the Golden Gun

Brian Auger 'Happiness Is Just Around the Bend'… in all the darkness of this year, a more friendly tune

Roy Ayers 'Coffy Is the Color'… blaxploitation fare at its best

Bachman-Turner Overdrive 'Let It Ride'… I like the frequent mood changes in this essential Classic Rock tune

The Beach Boys 'Sail on Sailor'… the last Beach Boys song that we can take as serious art? maybe… but what about 'Kokomo'?

Black Sabbath 'A National Acrobat'… Iommi just tears it UP on this song, probably my favorite Sabbath song ever

Black Sabbath 'Killing Yourself to Live'… an anti-drug song, how ironic

Black Sabbath 'Sabbra Cadabra'… quintessential Sabbath riff and fast-paced melody

Blue Ash 'Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her?)'… Power Pop strikes again--if any interest in this genre, the album is a must-listen

Blue Ash 'Wasting My Time'… doing their Beatles impression, much respect

Blue Oyster Cult '7 Screaming Diz-Busters'… don't know what it means, don't care… the slow-down in the middle is too cool

Blue Oyster Cult 'Baby Ice Dog'… owoooooooo!!!

Blue Oyster Cult 'Hot Rails to Hell'… feels like it says it is

Blue Oyster Cult 'The Red & the Black', 'O.D.'d on Life Itself'… I usually combine these two songs as they flow into each other nicely… great way to open BOC's arguably best record

David Bowie 'The Jean Genie'… classic Bowie blues rock stomp

Tim Buckley 'Stone In Love'… a pretty good place to start with Tim Buckley, but don't expect the rest of his material to be this accessible

Budgie 'Breadfan'… Metallica's cover is great, almost as great as the original by this underrated power trio

Buffalo 'Sunrise (Come My Way)'… the only new song on this list that I didn't know before… it's pretty epic*

Captain Beyond 'Evil Men'… a little bit Sabbath, little bit BOC

Caravan 'C'Thlu C'Thlu'… one of my favorite songs ever, they get the marching of the beast during the bridge just right

Caravan 'Hoedown'… funny, EL&P had their own 'Hoedown' in '72, but a completely different song… not sure which is better, as both are fun little prog workouts

Caravan 'Memory Lain, Hugh Headloss'… this tune sounds like it could be the soundtrack of an epic journey, or maybe a lavish game show

Chicago 'Feelin' Stronger Every Day'… talk about a mood-booster, seriously… the song is an anti-depressant… the band's A.M. apex

Chicago 'Just You 'n' Me'… a Chicago love song before they sucked

Deep Purple 'Woman From Tokyo'… the Purple's last stand… forget anything else that follows it (even on the same album… especially on the same album!)

The Doobie Brothers 'China Grove'… Classic Rock perfectly distilled, I can recall a KSHE rival advertising their station using this song sometime around 1990

The Doobie Brothers 'Long Train Running'… almost didn't make the list, but it just such a seminal Rock tune… plus it feels like a fucking train

The Doobie Brothers 'Without You'… not as well known by the Doobs, but it's a total rocker, and Johnston's singing sounds great

Electric Light Orchestra 'Showdown'… knowing more about the Move now, I can tell this was an evolution from that sound

Emerson, Lake & Palmer 'Jerusalem'… English poetry turned into a song, turned into another song… if I were unabashedly British this would be my song of national pride

Emerson, Lake & Palmer 'Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression (part one)'… the part you probably don't know but should

Emerson, Lake & Palmer 'Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression (part two)'… the part you might know, if you're so inclined

Emerson, Lake & Palmer 'Toccata'… a modern classical music song (1960) turned into prog… it works

Faces 'Silicone Grown'… ode to fake boobs… how did THIS song not get airplay on Classic Rock radio? Seriously, they play the shit out of Rod's solo stuff (from Every Picture), but this is a sloppy, drunken masterpiece

Fleetwood Mac 'Hypnotized'… height of Bob Welch's involvement (he should be in the R&R HOF with the rest of the Mac incarnations, fucking morons)

Funkadelic 'Nappy Dugout'… not enough Black music on this list, but this is a great funk song--quite a title, ahem

J. Geils Band 'Did You No Wrong'… dig the tappy-tap shoes at the beginning

Genesis 'Dancing With the Moonlit Knight'… takes a minute to get going but worth the journey, excellent album opener

Genesis 'Firth of Fifth'… Genesis' best song, bar none… Hackett's guitar solo is something to behold--goosebumps, man

Gentle Giant 'Runaway'… clever intro with the glass breaking to the beat

Gentle Giant 'Way of Life'… progressive rock that defies description… the song's got this frantic, almost-Disco like, drumbeat at the beginning, but turns into a beautiful wall of sound by the end, one of this weirdo band's greatest

Gong 'The Pothead Pixies'… yep, they are

Grand Funk Railroad 'We're an American Band'… yep, they are!

Hall and Oates 'Abandoned Luncheonette'… besides kinda corny lyrics in the verses, it is the chorus that just rules with those faux-Buckmaster strings, holy shit the shiver

Hall and Oates 'She's Gone'… the duo's first hit, and wouldn't be their last (duh!)

Herbie Hancock 'Watermelon Man'… this whole jazz-funk album is uniformly excellent, but this workout is probably the most accessible

Hawkwind 'Brainbox Pollution'… perhaps one of the greatest B-side singles ever

Lee Hazlewood 'Poet, Fool or Bum'… "Bum!" (stole that from a critic describing a contemporary album review)

Billy Joel 'The Piano Man'… where it all started for Mr. William Joel

Elton John 'All the Young Girls Love Alice'… this album rocks, and this is a quintessential number from it

Elton John 'Bennie and the Jets'… a song I've both loved and loathed and loved again, one of EJ and Bernie's best

Elton John 'Funeral For a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding'… an eleven minute epic worth every second… one of the best album-openers of all time

Elton John 'Grey Seal'… don't skip this very 1973-ish gem--crazy coda!

Kool and the Gang 'Hollywood Swinging'… happy slow funk, if that's possible

Led Zeppelin 'Dancing Days'… I think this side opener comes off as generic initially, but it rewards the listener over time

Led Zeppelin 'D'yer Mak'er'… that's "Jamaica" in Cockney… for 'reggae' it's not bad, and it actually reached #20 on the Billboard charts (!!)

Led Zeppelin 'No Quarter'… LZ not necessarily at their hardest, but perhaps their gloomiest

Led Zeppelin 'Over the Hills and Far Away'… I think this has something to do with Tolkien

Led Zeppelin 'Song Remains the Same'… great album opener for a great album, it rocks (surprised it doesn't get more airplay)

Led Zeppelin 'The Ocean'… perfect album closer (okay after their previous album closer)

Led Zeppelin 'The Rain Song'… can Zeppelin actually write a love song?? Yes they can!!

Lynyrd Skynyrd 'Free Bird'… you know it--the ending jam makes this song a bonafide CR standard

Lynyrd Skynyrd 'I Ain't the One'… kind of an unexpected first album opener for what is essentially THE Southern Rock band par-excellence, as it has all that weird Hendrix-like backwards shit, but then it turns swampy and it's awesome

Paul McCartney & Wings 'Band on the Run'… finally, McCartney making some consistent tunes again!

Paul McCartney & Wings 'Jet'… feels like a dinosaur wandering into your living room

Paul McCartney & Wings 'Live and Let Die'… one of the greatest James Bond themes ever

Paul McCartney & Wings 'Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five'… dig the Moog all over this one, and I like how it ties up the album as a loose concept

Mott the Hoople 'All the Way to Memphis'… some little known R&R that should be more well-known IMO (at least it was in that Scorsese movie)

Mott the Hoople 'Whizz Kid'… simple little song about poor twenty-somethings living in NYC… gotta great melody, and it rocks

The O'Jays 'For the Love of Money'… you probably know it as 'money money money mon-ay… MON-ay!', but don't dismiss because the song gets down and dirty quick… I can't believe this groovy funk-pop song wasn't in a Blaxploitation flick

Danny O'Keefe 'Madgalena'… this is just a purty song here… underrated singer-songwriter

Ozark Mountain Daredevils 'If You Wanna Get to Heaven'… yay, Missouri rock

The Pink Fairies 'City Kids'… some proto-punk fer ya, check out Lemmy's version on Motorhead's first album

The Pink Fairies 'Street Urchin'… the last stand for one of the most unknown-but-awesome bands… it even has kind of a finality to it

Pink Floyd 'Any Colour You Like'… a dream on headphones, Wright vs. Gilmour, then combined!

Pink Floyd 'Brain Damage / Eclipse'… perfect ending for a perfect album--turn the volume way up at the very end!

Pink Floyd 'Money'… always one of my top three favorite songs of all-time… I think it is the 7/4 time that just grabs me, and then the change to 4/4 at the bridge, and back

Pink Floyd 'Speak to Me / Breathe / On the Run'… must be heard together for full effect

Pink Floyd 'Time'… fun to scare the kids with the clocks at the beginning

Pink Floyd 'Us and Them'… Floyd would never again sound quite so lush and lovely

Alan Price 'Sell, Sell'… this ex-Animal has a talent for making somewhat unique and timeless music, and this is no exception… more sinister, kinda filthy and in the gutter

Queen 'Keep Yourself Alive'… where it all started for this World-famous band

REO Speedwagon 'Find My Fortune'… the only time the guitarist would sing on an REO tune, and it's totally sweet sounding

REO Speedwagon 'Ridin' the Storm Out'… original lead singer (sorta) is better on this one

REO Speedwagon 'Whiskey Night'…swampy, dig it, like the Doobies but better (usually it's the other way around)

The Rolling Stones '100 Years Ago'… IMO the most underrated Stones song ever--killer jam at the end

The Rolling Stones 'Coming Down Again'… love Taylor's wah-wahs on this one… the ultimate hangover song

The Rolling Stones 'Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)'… zeitgeist, baby!

The Rolling Stones 'Silver Train'… I think they're talking about heroin here… or maybe just trains, I dunno

Roxy Music 'Do the Strand'… look for the awesome video of this track on YT

Roxy Music 'Mother of Pearl'… over time this has been my go-to Roxy song--love Ferry's singing here

Roxy Music 'Street Life'… quintessential Roxy thumper

Roxy Music 'The Bogus Man'… Eno could create some crazy sounds back in the day

Seals and Crofts 'Diamond Girl'… blurs the boundaries of A.M. Gold and Classic Rock

Bruce Springsteen 'Kitty's Back'… kind of an unknown tune (overshadowed on the record by 'Rosalita') but I love the swift changes in tone throughout (whispers, then loud horns, etc.)

Bruce Springsteen 'The E Street Shuffle'… if all of Springsteen sounded like this I might be more interested--one of my favorite codas ever

Steely Dan 'Bodhittsava'… hard not to get swept up in the high-speed excitement on this album opener… LOOK OUT!

Steely Dan 'King of the World'… maybe my favorite Dan tune… has this 'cosmic game show score' feel to it

Steely Dan 'My Old School'… one of the first Steely Dan songs I ever heard (some retro-Bandstand video shown on VH1)--for whatever reason this song did not crack the Top 40, but I think it is probably the most representative song of the band's first three albums… great lyrics, great hook, dig the horns

Steely Dan 'Razor Boy'… some excellent lyrics about a woman who is trying to look classier than she is

Steely Dan 'The Boston Rag'… a slow burn of a song, but the guitar solo by Denny Dias (or it could be Skunk Baxter, not sure) just rips a hole in the pleasantness

Steely Dan 'Your Gold Teeth'… they did 'Do It Again' again, but better… much better!

Iggy & the Stooges 'Gimme Danger'… again, sinister is a theme in 1973 music… but somehow this song seems just a bit out of time, like it could have been made much later

Iggy & the Stooges 'Penetration'… when I first heard this song I didn't like Iggy's breathy growls but they've grown on me

Iggy & the Stooges 'Raw Power'… more proto-punk

Iggy & the Stooges 'Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell (Hard to Beat)'… even more proto-punk

Styx 'Lady'… the guiltiest of guilty pleasures, I absolutely know all the words

T. Rex 'Tenement Lady'… barely made this list, but I really like the groove of this tune

Three Dog Night 'Shambala'… perhaps the best A.M. Gold song of all time… it's that high note: "TELL ME HOW!!!"

The Who '5:15'… one of Keith Moon's greatest drumming performances

The Who 'Bell Boy'… Keith sings too!!

Wizzard 'Bend Over Beethoven'… this tune did not make the album (I think it was a UK single) but it's possibly the most accessible Roy Wood song out there

Stevie Wonder 'Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing'… another out-of-time song, from Stevie's masterpiece record… love the excited Spanish spoken intro

Stevie Wonder 'Higher Ground'… an unending argument in my head is which song is better, this one or the RHCP cover?

Neil Young 'L.A.'… Neil's snarky ode to Los Angeles

Neil Young 'Time Fades Away'… another theme of this year as there are a lot of 'best song by' fill-in-the-blank… here's another one, and I don't care if Neil hates it, it's one of his most depressing yet somehow upbeat songs… works perfectly in the live setting

[owlixx]

Comics I Read Yesterday

Moon Knight ‘16-‘18

So, Marvel Unlimited is weird. They count 3 very distinct runs here as one big run. The ‘16 Lemire run was pretty fun because the tv show clearly rips it off but the comic is of course way better. But then yesterday I finally got through to the end of the ‘17 Bemis run about fighting Amon Ra/Sun King which was fine, I guess, but not on the same level. And then that turned into the ‘18 Bemis run which started by revealing an insane version of how Marc Spector developed his split personalities that seemed a little over the top edgy to me, so I put it down.

In the end, I like Moon Knight. He’s cool. But now I know to be a bit more skeptical of Marvel Unlimited’s comic issue collections and just put a series down if it suddenly changes art style and writing style in a direction I don’t like. And I also wanted to put this down so I could get cracking on the long list of good, short series ahead of me.

Contest of Champions ‘82

This was just kind of a silly, fun one. Very early crossover, of course. Only 3 issue. It was apparently supposed to be a tie-in for the Olympics until the US pulled out in ‘80. That explains the focus on now-obscure international and why they must compete “at all four corners of the Earth”. Very simple, very straightforward. Not a ton of questioning the nature of the competition or nitty gritty about the rules, just some toe-dipping into “hey wouldn’t it be neat if X met Y”. It is very funny to see these all-powerful deities drafting for their team and leaving out Hulk/Thor so they can instead take “Le Peregrine” or whoever so more countries can be included. And the contest itself is so silly - just lay hands on a golden object that’s…nearby. Easy read since it’s so short, but so funny that there’s a sequel and a whole phone game based on this and that it’s really the template for a lot of these crossovers.

Secret Wars ‘84

This one I was much more looking forward to. I love Symbiote Spider-Man, although we really just get the design and origin here. Overall this was a lot of fun, much more fleshed out than Contest of Champions. I really liked the dynamic of villains vs heroes vs xmen vs galactic. I also liked that they didn’t just play the game here, and instead Doom tried to break the rules. Also I just generally like Doom and he was pretty cool in this one. I think I had only ever read the last issue as a kid since my dad owned it physically so it was nice to finally make sense of how Cap broke his shield, plus the general events leading up to the finale. I also really liked when they were stuck under the mountain and all combined tech and powers to soup up Iron Man for one big laser. I think the weakest part of this was the weird Jonny Storm/Colossus love triangle with the local alien healer woman. It was funny also though how the villains included respectable names such as Doom, Galactus, Kang, Doc Ock, Lizard, but then also people like Absorbing Man and Wrecking Ball who have really faded into obscurity. Also fun to see what seemed like the origin of Titania! Surely her backstory has been retconned to not be “in the 80s, a chunk of Denver was pulled into a planet arena and Doom gave magic powers to two random women off the street”. Also cool to see Rhodey in the Iron Man suit and Monica Rambeau Captain Marvel! Certain unsavory folk would have you believe that such characters only started to exist like, a year ago. Also I switched from reading on just my phone to busting out my foldable laptop and reading these in portrait mode on it. The Marvel Unlimited web interface is a nightmare, so it’s best used in tandem with the app, but it’s fine once you’re actually inside the comic you want and boy does it look good on a larger-than-life screen.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine ‘84

This one was a lot of fun! Seems like this is where the name Shadowcat comes from as far as I can tell? I really liked how small-scale and personal this was, especially coming off the heels of Secret Wars. I would imagine that at the time, this kind of intimate, personal story was a little less common, but that’s just me guessing. I genuinely wasn’t sure how this was going to go, which is a lot of fun. I do always think there’s something kind of inherently funny about Wolverine being a weeaboo, but it’s not a problem or anything.

[cocktailsfairytales]

Hook Shot by Kennedy Ryan is now live! 

 

From award-winning author Kennedy Ryan comes the emotional final installment of the Hoops trilogy.

She’s not the plan he made, but she’s the risk he has to take.

A single, divorced dad in the final years of his basketball career, Kenan Ross’s perfect life has blown up in his face. He’s still picking up the pieces when he meets Lotus DuPree. A wildflower. A storm. A kick to his gut and a wrench in his plans from the moment their eyes meet. He promised himself he’d never trust a woman again, but he’s never wanted anyone the way he wants Lo.

At twenty-five, Lotus is finally living out her dream, becoming a force in New York’s fashion scene. Focused on her future and not looking for love, she’s seen where trusting a man leaves you. Kenan is the last thing she needs. But from the moment they meet, she’s drawn in, even if he’s eleven years her senior and her opposite in every way.

When Kenan moves to New York for the summer to be near his daughter, Lotus can no longer avoid the attraction that pulses between them—but she still won’t let him in. Not after what she’s been through. Except Kenan wants her so badly, he’ll do anything to knock down her defenses.

He won’t give up on her…and soon, she’s no longer sure she wants him to.

Get your copies today!

https://www.bloombooks.com/hook-shot.html

New paperback includes Bonus Epilogue and Author Q&A!

Read it FREE in #kindleunlimited

https://bit.ly/3LVvFR8

Order signed copies here:

https://bit.ly/46tQsna

Read the other books in the Hoops series!

Long Shot

https://www.bloombooks.com/long-shot.html

Block Shot

https://www.bloombooks.com/block-shot.html

Meet Kennedy



A RITA® and Audie® Award winner, USA Today bestselling author Kennedy Ryan writes for women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. Her heroes respect, cherish, and lose their minds for the women who capture their hearts. Kennedy and her writings have been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, TIME, O magazine, and many others. She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son.

 

Connect with Kennedy

Website: https://kennedyryanwrites.com/

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Text KennedyRyan to (678) 647-7912

[thevoicefromthestars]

chibi-oneiros replied to your post “Suffering(TM) through a bachelorette weekend AMA”

What TSCOSI ships do you like?

um what tscosi ships do i NOT like, that’s a better question

though my top 5 (in no particular order) are probably:

violet/arkady

brian/krejjh

sana/campbell

sana/arkady

agent mccabe/hugs

[veiledsilver]

What Your Favorite Black Bull Says About You

I’m sure this list has been made already, but has a list been made with these sizzling hot takes that are specifically mine? Doubt it. Before you go in, this list was made for fun and not an actual attack on your character lol

Asta: You don't have the patience for this wizardry book nonsense, not when all you need is your huge muscles and willingness to throw hands. Essentially you're this post:

Noelle: It doesn't matter whether you love or loathe her siblings, you all want them to be punished on such a grand scale it resets the karmic balance forevermore, preferably in a hilarious fashion. You also think her next few outfit spells should include pants and a sports bra so Tabata can't traumatize you ever again.

Magna: You like delinquent tough guys with hearts of gold, or you like underdogs who never actually get a mysterious powerup that make them strong- or both! In any case, Magna is your special little boy and when he did THAT in the manga you damn near exploded. If you haven't seen it yet... I guarantee you will.

Luck: You like characters that act all bright and cutesy but... deep inside their hearts... they harbor d̵͍̲͑ä̴̜̻́͝ṛ̷̗̑̇k̶̟̿͘n̵̮͈͑ẻ̴̥ş̸̪̐͊s̴̙̀̐. To be fair Luck does not hide his feral energy deep within his heart but you still like the contrast between his cute :D face and the way he causes bodily harm. His backstory spoke to you in some way.

Finral: Hm. I would say you relate to his struggles as the least favorite kid in the family, or feel like you can't keep up with your peers in general... but it's actually his dyed tips isn't it. Also you have to deal with people being like "but isn't he a pervert?!" like ALL the time even though he's trying to be better. My heart goes out to you.

Gauche: I don't know if you guys actually exist, but if you do, you probably have to deal with people being like "but doesn't he nosebleed over his sister?!" like ALL the time even though he also kills people for her. You wish he had more moments where he's cool and strong and not nosebleeding.

Charmy: You saw Charmy going around eating food to her heart's content and wearing a cute sweatshirt instead of participating in the stupid male gaze and said "oh, I respect that." You like the rare fictional women who participate in traditionally female roles like cooking but can also be terrifying on command.

Henry: Henry is your poor little meowmeow and you want to snuggle him and feed him soup. Like, I may be exaggerating, but am I wrong? You may also like how cool his magic is- I mean, rearranging buildings is a pretty slapping power- and that he can still play a role in fights without his disability magically being cured or handwaved away.

Zora: You want the heroes to destroy the system that thrives on classism and corruption, and are disappointed that Zora kind of stopped doing that. Sorry, bro, but this is a shounen, and 2/3rds of the Big Three ended with the corrupt system not being destroyed, so. I think you listen to songs about bringing down the Man and not wanting to be an American.

Secre: Let me guess, you watched Princess Tutu. Well, if you didn't, Secre fans, I suggest you do. You think you're emo and want to drown in those moody feelings because you like it or your crush turned out to be dating someone already. Do you make those artsy monochrome edits of anime characters with kpop idols because I always see Secre on there.

Vanessa: Look into my (metaphorical) eyes. Do you have a complicated relationship with your mother? Hm... I see... really?... ok... well, I'm glad we had this talk! Anyway I'm guessing you really, really like women. I think that should be our topic of conversation next time. Just make sure you look respectfully.

Gordon: You probably also have that problem where people can't hear you and they're like "SPEAK UP I CAN'T HEAR YOU" until you give up. I can relate. You... also... (mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. Mumble mumble mumble mumble).

Gray: You think shapeshifters are really cool and probably headcanon Gray as Not Cis in some way, which is extremely valid. You are proud of her for how she's starting to speak up and stand up for herself, although you might (like me) think she's way too good for Gauche. Sorry, Gauche fans. But she really is.

Yami: Quick! Close your eyes and visualize Yami! You didn't actually see Yami, did you. Only the wide expanse of his very defined abs. You either don't like Charlotte for being a homewrecker or you relate to her strongly. I don't think I've met even one Yami fan who hadn't been drawn to him for his tits you can crack walnuts in.

Nacht: If you went one anime generation back, you would be into Sasuke. I've never seen the show about Boruto's dad but I know this to be the case. They're both edgy, have dark powers, and have a tragic backstory involving their brothers. You want a significant other who's mean to everyone but you, but let's face it. Nacht will also be mean to you.

Morgen*: You want the illusion of the same thing, but you also actually want to be treated nicely instead of nitpicked for your flaws at all times. I know you have a fanfic of him not dying somewhere in your writing medium of choice. Come on, show it to us, don't be shy haha. Your fellow Morgen stans are withering away...

*I know he's a Grey Deer but I needed the joke to set up properly. Let me live

[robininthelabyrinth]

Initiative pt 2 - ao3 or tumblr pt 1

It was just typical of his brother, Nie Huaisang thought. He finally, finally, finally found a girl that might suit him, agreed to marry her, and then he spent all his time worrying about…saber.

Typical.

Nie Huaisang volunteered himself to act as the family representative in negotiations with the Jiang sect, seeing as his brother would undoubtedly get them fleeced if he were trying to do it himself – “Try not to be too mercenary, Huaisang. We are the ones in the stronger position, through no fault of theirs.” –  and with one thing or another he arrived at the Lotus Pier less than a week after Jiang Yanli did.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian seemed rather surprised to see him.

“I haven’t had a moment to tell them,” Jiang Yanli said, pressing her head to her forehead and looking a little tired. “They’d just completed the memorial hall, when I arrived.”

“And it’s been nothing but keeping them from fighting ever since?” Nie Huaisang said, not without some sympathy.

Only some, though. If Jiang Yanli couldn’t handle Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, even the grieved and tragic versions of them, what was she going to do the first time his brother went into a rage?

Maybe he was being too cold-blooded. After all, they’d been her parents, too.

“Your arrival is a good thing,” she said, narrowing her eyes a little in satisfaction. “Now they have no excuse to run away from me.”

Nie Huaisang couldn’t help but smile a little at that.

She summoned a few sect disciples, divided them neatly into two groups – one larger than the other – and instructed them to go bring her two recalcitrant brothers to the main hall. “You may use force,” she informed the larger group. “I would advise you that A-Xian is especially weak to tickling around his ribs, and don’t let him scare you off with that Yiling Patriarch stuff. And as for the group going to get A-Cheng – may I suggest looking especially pathetic when you convey the message that his sister, who he left alone for almost the entire war, would really like to see him if he has a moment to spare for her?”

Nie Huaisang’s smile broadened. “Tears,” he added solemnly. “Tears are very good. He hates tears.”

“Just so. Thank you all.”

“My brother is already planning out your saber,” he told her once the disciples had left, and she brightened visibly. “If there’s anything you want to contribute in terms of design, now’s the time – I brought mine in case you want to have a look later on.”

Aituan was in his luggage. Somewhere. His brother had refused to let him leave the Unclean Realm before he’d produced proof of saber, and he hadn’t unpacked since then, so surely it was somewhere.

“I’m sure whatever your brother comes up with will be fine,” she said. “I don’t know anything about weapons.”

A brief hesitation.

“Although, perhaps not – so large…?”

Nie Huaisang decided to be daring. He opened his fan in front of his face and looked at her over it, allowing his eyes to curve up in a smile. “Don’t worry about that – though if all goes well, you’re going to have to accustom yourself to dealing with a large saber at some point in the process.”

She burst out laughing, which was good.

“Nie Huaisang!” Oh, look, Jiang Cheng was here. “What are you saying to my sister? You’d better not be harassing her!”

“What would you do if I was?” Nie Huaisang wondered. “I mean, I’m not, I don’t think, but –”

“Just don’t.”

“A-Cheng,” Jiang Yanli said. “Be polite. Where’s A-Xian? I have something to tell you both.”

Wei Wuxian came in a few moments later, grumbling and rubbing his ribs but brightening when he saw them all gathered up there, and he slid into place by Jiang Cheng’s side easy as anything even if they did sort of stare awkwardly with quasi-glares, quasi-grimaces at each other first.

And then Jiang Yanli told them why Nie Huaisang was there, and all awkwardness fell away at once so that they could unite in glaring at Nie Huaisang.

“Why are you looking at me for?” he asked. “I’m not the one marrying her, that’s my brother.”

“If you had anything to do with this –” Wei Wuxian started, doing his whole looming-with-the-subtonal-wailing-of-dark-forces Yiling Patriarch thing, but ticklish around the ribs and a summer of nonsense didn’t really do much to encourage fear in Nie Huaisang, who’d never had as much common sense as a regular person ought.

“Oh, no, I objected to it,” Nie Huaisang said breezily. “Your sister doesn’t deserve my brother.”

And that, of course, got them both up in arms even more.

“What’s that supposed to mean? What’s wrong with my sister?” Jiang Cheng shouted, and Wei Wuxian’s aura-of-darkness got even more out of hand as he crossed his arms and glared death. “She’d be a great bride for anyone! Give me one reason –”

“I’m glad to have your support, didi,” Jiang Yanli said, calmly ladling out the soup she’d promised Nie Huaisang as if they were sitting in the midst of a nice breeze instead of a hurricane, and okay, fine, maybe his brother had a point about the importance of things like backbone and patience. “Don’t worry so much. If Nie-er-gongzi is here as his brother’s representative, that must mean he’s accepted the match.”

Or that he was here to sabotage it, but he appreciated her good faith interpretation.

“Please, just Huaisang is fine,” he said, smiling at her. “You’ll be my sister-in-law soon enough, won’t you?”

“We haven’t agreed yet!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed.

“Oh, like your opinion matters,” Nie Huaisang said, rolling his eyes. “You know how many people have put good money down on you leaving the Jiang sect in the next three-to-six months?”

That got all of them looking like they’d just been unexpectedly stabbed in the chest, Jiang Yanli included.

“What?” he asked, batting his eyelashes innocently at them. “Did I say something wrong? Everyone knows you aren’t doing anything for the Jiang sect anymore, Wei-xiong. All the rumors says so, and the only reason for that is if you were planning on ditching now that you don’t need them anymore.”

“That’s enough,” Jiang Yanli said, and there was a bit of steel in her voice. “A-Xian isn’t leaving, and even if he was, his opinion on my marriage would still matter to me.”

“That’s one of the reasons I objected,” Nie Huaisang said to her, deciding that she was clearly the only one mature enough to have this extremely necessary discussion with. “Meaning no offense, but in every possible respect, you’re a bad match. If you marry my brother, will you be expecting him to run around defending everything the Yiling Patriarch does whenever he’s in the mood to thumb his nose at the cultivation world? Or paying for the Lotus Pier’s reconstruction costs, even though Jiang-xiong hasn’t made a single overture to our Nie sect in terms of reestablishing trade routes or even just swapping craftsmen for mutual benefit?”

Both Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were positively black in the face.

“Of course, even if you weren’t going to anchor him down with even more political obligations, there’s your personal value,” Nie Huaisang continued, tapping his finger against his cheek. “Word has it that you’re weak and sickly. Who’s to say that you won’t die along with the first child you bear –”

“How dare you talk about my shijie like that!” Wei Wuxian shouted, slamming his hand down on the table, while Jiang Cheng’s Zidian crackled lightning like an overactive firework. “How dare you –”

“And do you still support the marriage, even with all of these disadvantages?” Jiang Yanli asked, holding up her hands to hold her brothers back. Her eyes were a bit wet, but she was otherwise unperturbed, at least on the surface.

“I do, actually,” Nie Huaisang said, pleased. Even if she went to go cry later, which he didn’t think she would, she’d done well enough to pass his personal test of what constituted backbone. “My brother doesn’t care about politics, we have plenty of money, and there’s doctors for the rest of it. If you’re really willing to put in the effort, I’d be happy to call you my sister-in-law.”

Jiang Cheng was hissing like a pot of water on the boil. Wei Wuxian was grinding his teeth.

“I appreciate that,” Jiang Yanli said, disregarding them entirely. “I can promise you that I’ll do my best.”

“Good, good,” Nie Huaisang said, and grinned at her. “There’s only enough room for one useless flower vase in the Nie household, and the position is taken. By me, if that’s not clear. I brought my brother’s eight characters – do you have yours at hand? We can calculate the auspicious date immediately.”

“I still haven’t agreed!” Jiang Cheng exclaimed, and Jiang Yanli reached out to touch his arm lightly. “I haven’t! Jiejie, you don’t have to marry anyone you don’t want to, no matter what good things you think it’d bring to the sect, okay? You should marry for love!”

“Jiang Cheng’s right, shijie,” Wei Wuxian said at once. “You should get anyone you like. Even if you still want that stupid Jin sect peacock, we’d find a way to get him for you.”

Nie Huaisang looked at Jiang Yanli carefully at that one. It was even odds if his brother minded her having some vestigial affections, especially in the beginning, but he himself wouldn’t be having any of that – least of all with a Jin, no matter how much better Jin Zixuan seemed to be than his father.

His brother deserved someone who would put him first, this time.

“No, thank you,” she said without the slightest hesitation, and Nie Huaisang nodded in approval. “Young Master Jin has made his opinion about me clear enough, and not just once. I’m not going to run after him like I think that’s all I’m good for. And anyway, Chifeng-zun is a good man, who you both greatly admire – why can’t I marry him?”

“You can marry anyone you want,” Jiang Cheng said at once.

“And I want to marry him,” she said, and smiled. “At first, yes, it was primarily because he seemed to offer the most advantages for our sect, but…I don’t know. He’s very nice.”

Nie Huaisang mouthed the word ‘nice’ to himself, rolling it around in his mouth like a fine wine. It might be the first time anyone had ever described his brother that way.

“I think I would be happy being married to him,” she concluded. “Even very happy. Will you approve?”

They folded like a stack of cards.

“Oh, I like you,” Nie Huaisang told her, finally but now wholly delighted. “It’ll be good for my brother.”

And it’ll be interesting to see how the Jin sect takes it, he thought with a smirk half-hidden behind his fan. Since you bring the power and influence of whole Jiang sect with you, and the Yiling Patriarch too.

He wouldn’t mention that, of course.

Only an idiot would negotiate against themselves.

[comeandreadawhile]

Introducing Ezra to vegetables goes well, too well. # We've created a monster # He won't stop trying to eat random plant life they encounter # Like a loth cat after some tall grass # Erza please those are not edible to humans # He's snatching fruit from the empire # Eating Sabine's dye plants much to her dismay

Growing up on the street hadn’t leant much to Ezra’s diet. While the occasional fruit could be exchanged for an errand ran (or through sleight of hand), vegetables on Lothal were harder to come by, and more-so to steal. Besides, without proper knowledge of how to cook, any vegetables obtained were usually eaten raw. Lothal’s vegetable crop left much to be desired when eaten raw. As such, Ezra reached the age of fifteen without many leafy greens to his meals, having no need or taste for them. That is, until his newfound parental figures learned of his deficit.

It had been in an offhand comment when inquiring after the boy’s usual meals, their captain worried about her charge’s small size for his age. That night, Ezra found vegetables on his plate. More accurately, he found some mashed root vegetable he was sure didn’t grow locally on Lothal, and sections of a gourd, shining with the oil and salt Kanan had baked it in, next to the slices of rehydrated, ration pack meat.

The boy’s deep grimace was met with the offer of trading the meal for a couple of ration bars and gifting Zeb an extra portion that cycle (and the lasat was more than agreeable to the deal), and Ezra’s distrust of the new food was quickly outweighed by his disgust for ration bars. It was a well-baked squash that created the monster.

There was a noticeable difference in the teen after that. He and Kanan trained more often, Ezra’s increased energy needing an outlet during long space travel. He ate more often too, often crunching on some green stalk or another between meals; soon enough, it seemed he was taking in enough vegetables to make up for his years-long deficit, and it was all Kanan and Hera could do to keep their reserves stocked when the former street rat was so good at sneaking snacks.

“At least he’s eating”, they’d say. It wasn’t as if any real trouble had come from their vanishing stores beyond smaller dinners.

Then it became a problem when Ezra started picking market goods he didn’t know, curiosity over compatible and interchangeable food items. Almost poisoning Hera with a stock loaded with greens lead to a conversation about asking a vendor the use of a plant before buying harmful lookalikes to soup ingredients.

Things escalated to eating random things planet-side. As time went on and Ezra’s taste for cellulose and iron grew, he developed a bit of a habit with Sabine about taking nibbles of plants he found on different planets they visited. As most grass on Lothal is inedible but workable, Kanan shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was the slightly feral teen was munch on plush green leaves from different fauna; most of the places they went didn’t have very toxic flora anyway. Until one planet where Ezra, Force help Kanan, took a respectable chomp out of a spiny purple stalk, claimed his tongue went numb, and took another chomp out of the plant while giggling. He didn’t giggle when he vomited a minute later. No one was giggling when it didn’t stop until they were back on the Ghost and Sabine jabbed an antidote hypo into Ezra’s neck. Hera certainly wasn’t giggling when the boy was finally lucid again and on the receiving end on just how not okay that was.

Ezra didn’t nibble random plants after that without asking first, and Kanan kept a healthy stash of crunchy snacks for the kid from them on when they could afford it. When they couldn’t, more than one argument had been caused two weeks into a hyperspace trip by Ezra snatching some of Sabine’s dye plants (rich green dried leaves or deep red roots for boiling the colors from), or ripping off unseemly sections of Zeb’s pet cat-grass.

It became another natural thing among the Ghost crew, make sure Sabine has paint, treat Hera with Meilooruns, make sure Ezra has vegetables. So on and so forth were these upheld the best the crew could even after more additions to the family came. Don’t touch Rex’s helmet without leave, don’t speak too loudly around Ahsoka (Ezra still struggled to not be loud around the Togruta’s sensitive montrals), don’t mess up AP-5’s system. Sometimes Rex and Ahsoka would look at Ezra, smile fondly, and reminisce to him about an old friend of theirs who loved fruit best instead, having grown up on a desert planet where plants of any kind were hard to come by.

Ezra got a partner in crime when they took in Kallus.

The former imperial was lithe and slender for his size, but upon seeing his reaction to the food he was given and hearing what an imperial cafeteria rationed out, no one was surprised that muscle mass was about the only mass he had to speak of. Ezra made a point to try to eat lunches with him—both to make sure Kallus was eating and to be a bit annoying—and slid over portions of his vegetables to the tired, beaten officer.

Between Zeb and Ezra, Kallus filled out to the size a man of 6’5” should’ve comfortably been. The free access to food found Ezra including Kallus in his snacking habits whenever the two had chance, and the two schemed together on how to obtain more fresh provisions for the base often over a container of some chopped veggie. The snack stealing still occurred, but while Kallus was still on thin ice with his status as a turncoat, he could easily figure out the base’s security rotations and pass along the information conversationally, and if Ezra happened to employ such knowledge to slip a small, hardly missed, armful of snacks for them, Zeb said nothing when he’d catch them red-handed later in the day. Kallus is still horrified to learn what all foreign plant munching Ezra had partaken in.

[camthesolemnone]

*crashes through door*

HI I HAVE ANOTHER ONE!!

Ok. Soulmate AU!! it's the one with the red string connecting you to your soul mate by your pinkie. Make up some rules for it if you need to!! I like to do the thing where the string gets tighter/looser as they move closer and farther from their s/o.

Ok, goodnight, I love you, bye!

*mwah*

*passes out just outside door*

Whoops accidentally made Zhanna older than Heavy in this one. Well I mean, maybe she is, but I've always written Mikhail as the oldest child in his family. Anyway, enjoy!

Wide eyes full of tears and flushed cheeks was what Mama came across upon turning to face who was tugging at her shawl. Little Zhanna, no more than five, was highly concerned about her baby brother.

"Mama! Misha’s finger is blue!"

Fearing that her son had developed gangrene from the cold brought on by the heavy storm outside, the distressed mother turned away from her soup pot and made haste towards the living room.

"Zhanna! Go get your father!" She instructed, entering the space, and the small girl nodded rapidly as she dashed off to where Papa was doing laundry.

Mama approached her child. The infant was situated in the center of the carpet, tiny hands shaking and eyes also leaking. Mikhail couldn't form words yet. He could only helplessly wail as he became light-headed; he had lost all feeling in his pinkie finger.

Mama kneeled down near him, and Zhanna and Papa appeared a second later.

"What is going on! Is moy syn alright?" The older man cried.

Mama took the boy’s hands in her own and examined them closely. As Zhanna had announced, his left pinkie was a light shade a blue. At the base of Mikhail’s finger was a small red string, fastened so tightly that it constricted the blood flow. The Russian mother breathed a sigh of relief.

“There is nothing to fear, he has simply acquired his soulstring,” Mama explained, standing up and giving her family a reassuring nod.

Papa let out his own held breath at the fortunate news, but Zhanna simply stared at her parents in confusion.

“Mama, what is a soulstring?”

Her father reached out to grasp her mother’s hand, and the two of them smiled down at their daughter.

“Young Zhanna, a soulstring is leetle red string around your pinkie that connects you to your soulmate: the person you are destined to fall in love with. Some people’s thread appears immediately after birth, but for others, it can take several years before their special partner is chosen,” Mama revealed.

Papa added on, motioning to Mikhail in the process.

“The tighter the string is, the farther you are away from your soulmate. Seeing as your brother’s is strong enough to cut off circulation, there is good chance his soulmate does not live in this country.”

Zhanna glanced over at the thread on Mikhail’s finger and then back to her parents, crossing her arms.

“What happens to the string when you find your ‘soulmate?’“ Zhanna inquired.

Papa crouched down to ruffle his daughter’s hair while Mama picked up Mikhail and left the room to resume dinner.

“Once you meet fated love, the string falls off for good,” he explained.

The small girl beamed and ran a hand through her black hair.

“Chudesno! I can’t wait to get my soulstring!”

.

Mikhail had given up on his chances of ever finding his love or feeling his finger again.

Forty seven years had passed since the red string initially appeared on his pinkie, and not once had he ever felt it loosen up. He felt hopeless and silently wondered most days if the higher beings had made a mistake. Maybe he truly wasn’t attached to anyone and they had tied the thread just to spite him. Instead, the Russian decided to spend his time taking care of his family.

His father had long since passed and Yana and Bronislava had run off with their soulmates, but at least Mikhail could still provide for his mother and Zhanna.

An ad in the newspaper intrigued him one morning: a mercenary job in America offering thousands. The giant immediately took to calling the company, known as Mann Co., and asked for a position. Not only would he be able to make enough money to provide a comfortable life for Mama and his sister, he was delighted at the opportunity to wield guns against evil men with no consequence. Moving away from the Russian blizzards would also prove to be a positive change.

Within two months of his interview, the new Heavy Weapons Specialist was landing down in New Mexico. A few days were spent getting used to his new surroundings and signing paperwork, but eventually, the bus came by his hotel to take him to the Reliable Excavation Demolition base. 

While lounging in the tough leather seat, Heavy glanced at the surrounding seats and took notice of two other men sitting in the back. They both wore red and yellow bands on their arms, indicating they were some of Mikhail’s new teammates. Preferring not to spend a year with a group of people who disliked him, the Russian moved to the back of the bus to make a good first impression.

“Privet, I am Heavy Weapons Guy,” he began.

The two men looked up from their respective pieces of literature. The younger of the two lazily held and flipped a baseball magazine with one hand. The other man, taller and masked, was gripping a thick, plain-covered novel.

“Yo! I heard that our Heavy was supposed to be, well, you know, heavy, but damn you’re fa--OWW!” The Bostonian shouted, being met with a swift slap from the man sitting beside him.

“Please ignore Scout here. This rotten bunny doesn’t seem to have any manners.”

“Go to hell, you French bastard!” Scout shot back.

The insults continued and Heavy found himself silently slinking back into his seat. He had the strength to snap both of them like toothpicks if he so desired, but it was better not to end his career before it started.

Along the ride, the bus stopped several times to pick up the rest of the RED team. First came their pyromaniac and engineer, then the sniper and soldier. The demolition’s expert came by himself and the final stop was saved for a relatively young woman in a purple dress.

“Er, hello, everyone. I am Miss Pauling, your boss’s secretary. I’m scheduled to give you guys a tour around the base and to break down your jobs. Raise your hand if you have any questions and please, try to cooperate with one another,” the woman sighed.

Dell, the shortest man on the team with a yellow hardhat, raised his hand.

“Yes, Engineer?” Miss Pauling prompted.

“Isn’t there supposed to be one more fella here with us?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Miss Pauling glanced toward the ceiling briefly as if she were really pondering the answer before turning to Engineer.

“Medic’s flight got delayed due to a massive snowstorm in Berlin. He should be here tomorrow at the earliest.”

It was impossible to notice the difference just by looking at it, but Mikhail nearly jerked forward when he felt it. Was he really going insane in his desperation? Had the string really just loosened? It most certainly had, he had felt the pressure ease up ever so slightly, but something in the back of his mind that told him it was just his imagination. The giant shook his head and groaned, barely able to pay attention to anything else Miss Pauling said.

His mind became a battlefield of longing versus absurdity. The thread had suffocated him during his prime. There was no possible explanation as to why his soulmate would be appearing now of all times. By forty seven, Mikhail was overweight, balding, had several scars from his time in Siberia, and was rated ugly by every woman he had attempted to romance. He couldn’t think of a single reason as to why his love would find him attractive now, and it deepened the eternal hole in his heart.

But Heavy held onto the faintest thread of hope. Maybe, just maybe, his suffering was about to come to an end. He would meet with the woman or man fate had binded him to, and he could finally be happy.

That night, Mikhail stared at his bedroom ceiling wide awake. Once their team’s doctor arrived in New Mexico, he would know for certain what destiny had in store for him.

.

Ludwig’s attempt at getting some shut eye on the flight failed. He couldn’t fall asleep even if he wanted to, for his pinkie was regaining its color. Somehow, this job as a battlefield medic that he had selected out of the blue was leading his soul to its missing half.

“It’s only a matter of time,” he murmured to himself, eyes more hopeful than the day he earned his doctorate’s degree.

.

Heavy awoke to the sound of loud yelling and banging on his door.

“Attention! You will be dressed and be stationed in the recreational room for role call in five minutes! That is an order!” Soldier commanded.

The softer, more compassionate voice of Miss Pauling sighed and spoke through the door.

“I’m sorry Heavy. I couldn’t say anything to convince him not to come with me to wake you guys up. Just settle down in the rec room in a few minutes, okay?”

Mikhail groaned, both from a lack of sleep and the sudden wake-up call. He complied, however, adorning his red, short sleeved shirt, his bulletproof vest, the bandolier for his minigun, pants, a belt, and a pair of sturdy combat boots.

When the heavy weapon’s specialist arrived in the rec room, it was absolute chaos. Spy had moved on from insulting Scout to bickering with Sniper, Demoman was already sloshing around a bottle of alcohol, Scout had stolen Engineer’s hardhat and was taunting him with it, and Soldier was shouting at a terrified looking Pyro.

“RED Team! Enough! It’s only the first day and you’re already at each other’s throats!” Miss Pauling stomped, placing her hands on her hips.

Some the the mercenaries, including Heavy, faced towards their higher-up while the others continued to do their own thing.

“Now look, your first battle will begin as soon as Medic arrives. I’m heading over to the airport to pick him up, so I advise you all check over your equipment,” her words more of a command than a suggestion.

Heavy’s eyes widened. He felt it again. 

He decided in that moment that polishing Sascha could wait.

Before Miss Pauling could leave the room, the large man scurried over to her and placed a massive hand on her shoulder to grab her attention.

“Yes, Heavy? Do you need something?” She asked plainly.

Mikhail nodded, his cheeks slightly flushed.

“Da, I want to come to airport with you, if you do not mind. I promise not to cause any problems.”

Pauling raised an eyebrow.

“Pozhaluysta, Miss,” the Russian begged, rubbing his forever blue pinkie with his other hand.

Miss Pauling opened her mouth to speak, but her words died on her lips when she noticed the tiny gesture. Instead, she gave him a short nod of understanding and proceeded out of the building.

.

In the car, Heavy’s leg bounced. His breathing was deep, and his whole body seemed to sweat with fear and anticipation. With every inch the vehicle moved, he could feel the burden on his finger lighten up. This wasn’t just some illusion or dream, it was really happening. After forty seven years of waiting, he was about to meet the love of his life.

Miss Pauling took note of his anxiousness, but didn’t say anything during the trip, giving Mikhail plenty of time to ask himself a million questions. What would his lover look like? Would they be a man or a woman? Would they have a heart of gold, or a rotten core that sought to make the Russian miserable at every turn?

Finally, the airport was in sight. Mikhail could hardly withstand the separation between himself and his soulmate. He wanted, needed to find his other half. He needed to shower them with all of the affection he had been waiting so long to administer. He needed to hear their voice and inhale their scent and feel their body against his own.

Miss Pauling nearly tripped over her high heels trying to catch up with the eager Russian. She had seem some truly heartwarming instances of soulmates meeting over the years, but never before in her life had she seen someone so desperate to unite with their fated love.

.

He had to hold onto a railing as he stepped out of the plane to avoid passing out. 

Ludwig had always experienced air-sickness while flying, but more than that, his hand was trembling. The string that had plagued his right hand for decades was loose, looser than it had ever been before. The doctor was overwhelmed; he wanted to throw up and cry tears of happiness at the same time. This was his moment, his soulmate was waiting for him.

As he stood near the loading gate, the thread loosened further, and it signaled that his soon-to-be lover was getting closer, closer.

Unable to withhold his excitement, Medic dashed across the airport. He got caught up in several crowds and passed right by the luggage pickup, but none of that mattered. He was following his heart’s call now; he let the slackening of his bindings guide his every step.

.

“Heavy! Please slow down!” Miss Pauling yelled, but the giant had blocked her out a long time ago.

There was only one voice he was willing to let in now. He pushed past a group of adults with the tiniest apology as he charged up the stairs. If he were anywhere else, he would have most likely been stared at and thrown out by security. In the chaos of the airport, everyone assumed he was simply running to reunite with a loved one.

An opening in the crowds.

Everything went silent.

The world slowed down.

Mikhail spotted him, his soulmate across the grand building. He was more handsome than he could have ever imagined, and although he didn’t know it yet, Ludwig also firmly believed that he had just encountered an angel.

The soulstring unraveled and landed on the ground.

All remaining distance between them was covered in a second. The force of the impact sent them to the ground, but neither of them cared. Arms wrapped around strong bodies, tears spilled out of adoring eyes, and lips whispered the pledges of love they had so desperately longed to hear.

At last, Mikhail and Ludwig were home.

[iricathel]

🧩 🍣 Cooking Together HC... We both know Rukina are godlike chefs 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️ 🧩

-> Headcanon Ask Meme

Cooking Together HC with Ruki&Irina

🍣 Both vampires share in common the talent in the kitchen and the desire to be as healthy as possible, but alongside this there is also their domineering character craving for power and their distinctive stubbornness. Each would try to adapt to the tastes, techniques and practices of the other but at least that would take a few minutes of a little bickering.

"Calm down and listen to me. We already had that for dinner last night and I would not like to repeat my meals, besides, this technique that I show you is much simpler! At least let yourself try it, I'm not forcing you to change your techniques."

🍵 Luckily, the heated situation is chilled and the couple, once they have reached an agreement, can finally continue with the preparation of their dishes. Knowing them, they would be very varied meals to have all the possible benefits at your disposal and prepared with the least care and detail, but obviously there would be two special dishes that must be on the table: Soup to please the jet-black man and slices of smoked salmon for cream-colored hair woman's fancy.

🍣 Coordination would quickly be found so as not to be elbowing the other, each proposing to do a specific task to be faster and more productive. If there is any gourmet dish, Ruki would take care of it while Irina would take care of the bakery as it is her specialty, but both would share equally the other tasks of the domestic kitchen.

🍵 Games, laughs and flirting are not lacking even in this scene. Well, although the blonde is a person who is already a bit restless, especially around her partner who would intentionally stain with sauces and creams in feigned innocence, the black-haired vampire also lets his playful side shine with her to tease her equally.

"Keep your hand still, Ruki, you should be holding the ingredients and utensils and I doubt you accidentally got the wrong flesh... Hmph, I guess it wouldn't hurt if my hand slipped too, huh?"

🍣 With the preparations almost completely finished, the moment arrives when both begin to test each of their preparations in order to receive a neutral second opinion waiting to see if it was perfect or something should be modified.

"There, test it carefully because it's still burning... So, how it is, Cœur~? Be totally honest with your judgment."

🍵 Once the table is decorated with sophisticated simplicity and the dishes are served along with their respective drinks, the couple can now sit together to shower with praise and compliments on the look, smell and taste of the food. Valuing the efforts and talent that each one has.

🍣 Even during the meal the games don't stop and it is quite common that in order to steal a blush from the other they offer to feed the other with lovely tenderness. Perhaps if they are in a good mood, they could escalate the intensity and play around with teasingly and unsuspecting caresses and holds to surprise their partner, being able to even go on to devour each other in a passionate flavored kiss with an arid encounter if the occasion arises. Food play included.

"C'mon~~ Say 'Aah~'... Look how adorable you look with a pretty reddish blush on your cheekbones, they would even look like red apple candy that I would love to be able to bite into."

[nightingtalehearts]

2Ha Thoughts.

I honestly applaud Chen Feiyu for taking on the role of Mo Ran. It's really hard to act out his character, so I said to myself that I wouldn't have any high expectations for the incoming live drama adaptation. Most people think that Feiyu will act out 3 versions of his character - Mo Ran 0.5, Mo Ran 1.0, and Mo Ran 2.0 - but for me, I like to think that there are 4 different ones.

SPOILERS AHEAD!! BE WARNED!!

First, he'll act out as the infamous Taxian-jun, who is a savage, bloodthirsty, and lustful mound. He is quick to anger and won't hesitate on killing anything that's on his path (except umm..of course, Chu Wanning hehe). This version is the evil form of his emotions, the one that the flower brought out, and twisted himself so hard that he would be horrified by the things he've done if he had any left sanity in him. (2Ha readers would, of course, know this as we experience his thoughts and emotions as he was reincarnated in his second life later on.) Everything this person did was on the image of his supposed lover, Shi Mei. He thought he dearly loved him so held everyone, most especially Chu Wanning, in contempt after Shi Mei passed away.

Second, he'll act out as Mo Weiyu. In this version, he is a disciple of Chu Wanning, the Yunheng Elder, and he is also a cultivator and an acquaintace to others, such as Ye Wangxi and Nangong Si. People see him as a person with filial respect (which WE know will be ironic since he fell in love with his shizun later on, for goodness' sake 😂) and average skills - he doesn't have a spiritual weapon yet, nor does he have good calligraphy or communication abilities. He is a hardheaded person, as we can see from his vehement denial on many things, including his affair with Rong Jiu. At this point, he is slowly "falling out of love" from Shi Mei and he begins his path towards redemption, looking for things and silver linings in every situation.

Third, he'll act out as Mo Ran, which subjectively, is the hardest role yet. Even I can't explain him this well because this version of his character is so complex. It can actually be divided into two parts. The first part: as a child, in his heart, he desperately craves and needs love. Mo Ran was the child that loved his mother, who named her as the first person that he liked the most in the world. He was the child who saw the hope and joy in everything despite all the pain and hurt that the world gave him. He was the kid that was beaten down to the dust, yet when he recived food from a stranger, he held the latter dearly in his heart, grateful for his blessings. He's the teen who entered Sisheng Peak, who immediately picked Chu Wanning because he said that he looks the gentlest and the most easy-going. He's the person who only had the purest love for Chu Wanning, and he's also the person who died just to protect him. (For me, this version of him died when he made Shi Mei take him instead of Chu Wanning. At that point he slowly became Taxian-jun, a puppet molded by Shi Mei.) And let's not deny it: just like how Mo Ran unknowingly loved Chu Wanning here, the latter also unknowingly loved him too. As of that point, they didn't "fall in love" with each other, but they were each other's light - they both gave each other the love they both deserved, so at most, they were each other's precious treasures.

The second part is on his next life. He is now known as the cousin of Xue Meng, the adopted nephew of Madam Wang & Xue Zhengming, the sect brothers of A-Mei and A-Meng, and the unruly disciple of Chu Wanning. At this point, he realizes that he may not have loved Shi Mei that deeply as he thought, but take note that he doesn't think that he is in love with his shizun yet. In the contrary, at this point, he is still adapting to his new circumstances, and he is learning new things as well as patching up misunderstandings. From his past life, his personality drastically changes, as shown from the immense change in spiritual weapons, from Bugui to Jiangui. This goes to show that even if they are the same person, he is a breaker that can lead himself to a different path. (Readers would also be giddy when they find out that Jiangui is similar to Tianwen, which symbolizes the deeply encased love he has. It also symbolizes that Mo Ran is an oblivious idiot periodt.)

Mo Ran is also the version who was conflicted by his own emotions. He is the person who begins to understand and notice some things, the person who finds out that his shizun was protecting not only him, but also everybody all along. It is he who sees Chu Wanning truly, and he notices that despite all the harsh wards and cold persona that the latter has, deep inside, he has a soft heart. It's he who notices everything that went wrong in his previous life, and he's also the person who's confused on his past actions. After Chu Wanning died, through Xue Meng drilling it into his brain, he found out that he was protecting him from the shadows, going as far by carrying him through more than three thousand steps to save him. (catch me crying in the corner I CAN'T WITH CHAPTER 97 HUHUHU) He's the person who regretted deeply.

Finally, the last version he'll act out is Mo-zongshi. This version started after the death of Chu Wanning, and also when he was about to go to the underworld. At that point, he saw all the instances where his shizun showed his love. He saw the wontons scene, in which he tried his best to assure his shizun that he doesn't need to be sorry, because on that specific day, the very reason why he was whipped, was because he stole that flower just for Chu Wanning, him. (btw all the symbolisms in this novel ARE INSANE like the flowers?? it could be for either the one mentioned or the ones Shi Mei planted. let's not mention the food: wontons, bowl of soup, bowl of congee, EVEN THE DAMN HOTPOT) He's the person who put back the pieces of the one he loves, brought him back to life, and waited five years for him.

He's a man in grief. He's a man in love.

While he waited for Chu Wanning to wake up, he now became the person that he very much wanted to be when he was younger: a hero. Now, he was Mo-zongshi, a famous cultivator known for his strength and bravery. He took on fights and got injured, but he never once stopped because he did it all for his shizun, to make him proud. Unconsciously, because of his yearning (CATCH ME CRYING AGAIN the quote?? "To yearn unwittingly breaks the willow branch." nOO), he copies Chu Wanning, down to his handwriting, his style of fighting, his outfit, and the way he looks. The person that's deeply in his heart is shown outside, so much that even Nangong Si mistakenly thought that he was Chu Wanning. Later, after Chu Wanning wakes up and after certain circumstances, he realizes that he was and still is in love with him all along, not Shi Mei.

At this point, Chu Wanning also falls in love with him. He saw the goodness in his heart, the strength and bravery he had, and the kindness he showed towards others. Aside from the bonus brownie points which is Mo Ran's looks (not blaming shizun, our husky is too good-looking!!), they now resolve their misunderstandings and their relationship turns deeper. When Mo-zongshi finally confesses...incoming fluff all around.

But like the Mo Ran version, his ending is way too sad. He deserves to know that it wasn't his fault that he turned out this way. It wasn't his fault that he turned out to be evil and hurt his lover. I know this, you know this, all readers know this, Chu Wanning knows it, but he doesn't, which is the most painful thing ever, because how much does it hurt for you to think that you abused the man you love in your past life? I was quite literally sobbing when he mentioned that Chu Wanning was his "God", his dragon, who had come to save him even if he felt like he didn't deserve it. He died, and he was the person who Chu Wanning mourned over, because it wasn't his fault, it never was.

(...i'm so empty inside...chapter 279...that chapter legit suffocated me due to my tears...)

But at the end, all those versions of him are, at core, the same. They may not show it similarly, but they are all strong on their beliefs, they are all stubborn and determined, they all love deeply and fiercely, immensely passionate and protective over the ones they love, and they are all a good person, if you look deeply into his heart.

Through Taxian-jun's dreams and his protection of his lover's corpse, through Mo Weiyu's determination on his redemption, through Mo Ran's regrets and understanding, and through Mo-zongshi's grief and love, it can be said that this character is one that you couldn't help but love. It's been so long, but his character really stood out to me from the many novels I read. This character is complex, with different versions of himself, but at the end of the day, it's still the person we love: our very own husky A-Ran.