#NO UNION JACKS UGH

[patrice-bergerons]

I was reading about the Fighting Temeraire on the National Gallery's website today and the sheer applicability of the below to Bond at the start of Skyfall took me out:

When exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1839, the painting was accompanied by lines Turner had adapted from Thomas Campbell’s poem, Ye Mariners of England: ‘The flag which braved the battle and the breeze, / No longer owns her.’

Because that's exactly it when M orders the shot, isn't it? A disowning, which is close to a betrayal but not exactly that - everyone knows after all that the Navy will discard a ship that has served its use and she will take her last voyage without the flag of the nation she served all her life flying proud on her mast.

But for Bond, the abandonment and the rejection are there just as sharply still, not only at the hands of England but equally of M's, and when he least expects it, too.

It was @aniron48 who put it the best in all the flags we've hung i think when she said "one person can feel like an entire country, sometimes" and-

“I wondered, after, if maybe she felt that way, too. If when she gave the order to take the shot, she wasn’t just Mansfield. If she felt like she was doing it as England."

[gloomwitchwrites]

There was this tiktok trend where kids and their mums would pull a prank on their dads by telling their mums to shut up...141 with a teenage son who tries it?

Anon, I am very aware of this prank. If mom is in on it, I consider it all in good fun, but omg, these guys would be absolutely stressed if they heard their teenage son tell mom to "shut up." Heads would absolutely roll over that!

Price is certainly old enough to have a teenage son on the older side. I would even say the same for Ghost. Gaz is old enough for a younger teenage son. With Soap's age...that's stretching it. BUT SUSPEND DISBELIEF Y'ALL. I'm aging Gaz and Soap up a bit for this one.

For the masterlist and how to submit your own request, click HERE

Presented in two double drabbles and two triple drabbles.

Task Force 141 x Female Reader (w/ children)

Content & Warnings (per the warnings MDNI): swearing, pranks, domestic, dad!141, brief suggestive themes, marriage

ao3 // main masterlist // imagines & what if masterlist

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick

“Ugh. Shut up, Mum.”

There is a brief pause between mum and when the television remote hurtles across the room. Your son doesn’t duck in time, the hard plastic hitting his shoulder before bouncing onto the kitchen island with a loud clack.

Before your son turns, Kyle’s baseball cap with the Union Jack, soars through the air like a frisbee. This one your son manages to avoid, but it’s quickly followed by a slipper. It flies past his head, and you catch it out of the air before it makes contact with the front of the microwave.

You and your eldest son turn in Kyle’s direction as he manifests in the kitchen entryway, the other slipper in hand, poised to launch it at the first sign of any movement.

“Wanna repeat yourself, mate?” Kyle appears calm and poised, but you notice the subtle tension in his jaw.

“It was a joke, Dad! Promise!”

Kyle’s arm holding the slipper starts to rise.

“Kyle,” you say. His gaze flicks to you. “Just a joke. No harm. I was in on it.”

His shoulders immediately sag. Kyle shakes his head. Rolls his eyes. Heading for the fridge, he opens it up, grabbing a can of his favorite beer.

Kyle sets the beer down on the island, pointing the slipper at you and then his son. His mouth opens. Closes. Opens again. No words come out, just an exasperated huff.

Kyle snatches up the television remote and sticks it into the pocket of his grey sweatpants. Keeping hold of the shoe in one hand, and his beer in the other, he gives the two of you his back, heading into the living room.

“No one bother me until the game is over,” he says over his shoulder. “And someone bring me my bloody slipper!”

John Price

"Fucking hell, Mum. Shut it."

John is up and out of his seat so fast you hardly see him move. He strides over to his son, yanking him off the stool by the scruff of his shirt.

"John! It's a prank!" you say quickly, reaching for his arm.

The boy is dangling in the air, toes just shy of touching the ground. "A prank?" asks John skeptically.

"Mum is in on it. Promise."

John sighs heavily and slowly lowers his son to the ground. The moment his feet touch ground, he tries to step away, but John holds firm, keeping his eldest child immobile. He leans forward a bit. Lowers his voice.

"Prank or no, you never talk to your mother, your sisters, or any woman in that manner again. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good boy." John releases his son. "The lawn needs trimmed."

"Yes, sir."

Your son scurries away. It isn't until the door to the garage opens and shuts that John moves toward you. His arm drapes over your waist, hand landing firmly on your ass, squeezing hard.

"You're coming with me."

"To do what?"

He presses his lips to your ear. "For a different sort of punishment."

John "Soap" MacTavish

"You’re off your head, lad.”

With Johnny’s cold tone comes a tension to your son’s shoulders. He becomes rigid, sliding down into his chair like he can escape from his father by cowering underneath the table. Johnny comes around the corner, a bit of sweat on his brow. He's been building furniture all day for the nursery.

"Want to repeat that for me?" asks Johnny.

Your son’s voice cracks. "It was just a prank, Dad."

"It was what?" Johnny strides forward.

"It's a prank. I'm in on it. Promise," you say, attempting to soothe Johnny’s anger.

Johnny crosses his arms over your chest. "Is it?" He glances between the two of you and sighs, muttering, “Am pure done in.”

He disappears down the hall, returning with a stack of instructional manuals, dropping them into his son’s lap. "You're building furniture."

"But I—"

“You right scunner. C’mon.” Johnny yanks his son out of the chair, the stack of instructional manuals goes flying. Your son reaches for them all, desperately clasping them against his chest.

“Johnny," you call out, walking around the counter to intervene.

He glances over his shoulder, frown gown, sly smirk on his face. “Deal with you later."

Simon "Ghost" Riley

“Oi, Mum. Shut it.”

Your son is a wonderful actor. You’ll give him that. Even you almost believe him. Not that he would—he’d never—but his delivery reminds you of a completely pissed football fan ready to throw a punch at a member of the rival team.

He should consider theater.

Simon, your husband, is watching a rugby match in the living room. The television is on but at a low volume.

Within seconds of the words leaving your son’s mouth, Simon appears like a phantom guardian in the entryway. In one he holds the remote like a weapon. The other arm cradles his infant daughter. She looks like a small bean. Slightly curved as she snuggles closer against Simon’s chest as she sleeps.

He's not looking at you. He's staring at his son, gaze intense and full of fire.

You’ve seen that look before.

Mission abort.

"He's joking, Simon. It's just a prank,” you soothe, knowing you need to get ahead of this.

Not that Simon would hurt you or his son, but he rarely takes any shit. This prank was a gamble, and you’re completely regretting it.

"Don't mean it, Dad."

Simon just stares for a long minute. His daughter squirms and that is when he glances down, severing the connection. Observing her must change something in him, because his gaze returns to the two of you, and there is a calmness now.

Sighing heavily, Simon shakes his head, completely exasperated. The eye roll is so apparent it’s like a shout.

In the moment he was pissed—livid. But now he’s over it, more annoyed and unamused than actually mad.

Turning on his heel, daughter still cradled in one arm, Simon returns to his recliner, settling back into the soft cushions to finish watching his rugby match.

taglist:

@glitterypirateduck @km-ffluv @tiredmetalenthusiast @miaraei @cherryofdeath

@tulipsun-flower @miss-mistinguett @ninman82 @eternallyvenus @beebeechaos

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@arrozyfrijoles23 @lovely-ateez @ash-tarte @spookyscaryspoon @enarien

[whoops-im-obsessed]

(More) Things I Noticed in UKsies: Fansie Night Edition (Act 2)

First one got too long so here is act 2!!

At Jacobi's Albert says 'why do old people talk?' Directly to Jacobi who waves him off

'Jack don't run from no fight!' '*in the highest, squeakiest voice imaginable to mock Les* Take it down short stop!!'

Katherine dances on the tables with the boys in KoNY and I'm not sure if Bronté does but Bobbie does the nerve tap!

Cup song time

Katherine and Les have such cute little interactions

Nyoom tables!!

They don't shy away from showing what they do to keep themselves safe, when the newsies grab the lamps, you can see them clip themselves on but it only serves to make you go 'something is about to go down!!'

The newsies on the ground dance around the tables and tap metal plates to the table newsies' feet

Ascension with frantic spinning, incredible

In a bit of a stark contrast, letter from the refuge is a really poignant moment

Crutchie breaks the forth wall and speaks directly to the audience, including them in his thought process

A cop watches the whole thing from the scaffolding

Crutchie is left handed

Crutchie actually starts crying at 'I'll be fine' and hearing that emotion in his voice contrasted with his trying to be optimistic - ugh, have I mentioned that I love Matthew Duckett?

Crutchie gets up and passes on his letter to Specs before being slowly helped off stage by a refuge newsie, still struggling when the next scene begins. When he got up he winced so hard someone next to me whispered 'ooh that was real'

Jack was Properly Angry in Watch What Happens reprise and his fear for Crutchie shone through

Ryan!Davey may be the king of eye-rolls but Alex!Davey is the king of raising his eyebrows in incredulation, especially to Les

'Lighten up no-one died' is said a lot subtler, like he knows how bad that sounds but doesn't know how to confront it

'HECANTTAWLKHELLCALLYABACK'

The mayor actually shows some sympathy towards the newsies but in the end doesn't act due to Synder and Pulitzer's influence

Fun fact: Jamie Golding (Wiesel/mayor/theatre worker/police/etc) has NINE costume changes during the show, he is so many people

Pulitzer grabs Katherine as she's trying to walk away at 'you can't have mine'

George Crawford (Morris Delancey) has an amazing evil laugh which he uses a lot during the show

As the printing press is being brought out, the Delancey brothers bring Jack behind the scaffolding. Although this can't be seen by most of the audience they continue to intimidate him and get really up in his space

Shout out to Zack Guest super swing who played Oscar!!

Brooklyn newsies met with the Most applause they are so cool

Brooklyn's here is broken up with a little roll call which makes the 'now them soakers' hit harder

Spot has a slight lisp

'If we disband the union..' *outrage* 'this is your union!!'

The newsies all call Jack out in various ways when they see him take the money, Spot has to be physically held back from beating him up

Something to Believe in is a little different, the Jatherine is believable but isn't really focused on much in the show, it almost feels like an afterthought. The line 'what was ours still will be' really resonates, it feels more like they had a little whirlwind mutual attraction but both think it'll end with the strike

Universal 'oooohh!!' From the audience when they kiss

Lighting for once and for all is so pretty, they have lanterns and there's a sort of orange mottled pattern like the reflection of the lamps projected across the entire theatre

Once and For All really lets the vocals shine, it isn't as high energy as the other numbers and the scaffolding doesn't move like it does in livesies, instead a giant newsies banner falls from the ceiling that they parade around the stage. The choreo isn't missed at all, the sheer wall of sound is incredible

The newsies line the theatre as Jack talks to Pulitzer and smack their fists either into their hands of onto the railings in time with the music as they hum

'The boy, Jack Kelly is here :)))'

Spot makes the 'I'm watching you' gesture at Pulitzer

As the other characters leave Jack to talk to Pulitzer, Hannah loudly says 'I love your show!!' To Medda

So many hugs when they win

Crutchie coming in with his little police hat, greeted with the biggest hug from Race and the boys

The reaction to Crutchie calling Roosevelt 'your highness'

Crutchie & Les reunion 🥺

And perfect finale and curtain call!!

The post finale choreo is incredible and was met with applause right up to the final bows

Crutchie is up on the scaffolding for much of the choreo and makes his way down for the bows. He slid down the stair rails in the same way you would slide down a ladder. Then he kept sliding. And kept sliding. And then his leg got caught. And then he kept sliding. Basically, he ended up on the floor tangled in the stairs and had to call a couple of people to help him out of the mess he got into 😅

And that was that! Post-show Q&A was pretty short but really lovely, there were mostly questions about the audition process, advice, favourite bit of the show, etc but it was really sweet how they all cared to stay and so many people did! Plus there were mega shout outs to dance captain Alex Christian who plays Butttons and is a legend!!

Honestly this show means so much to me and to be able to see it with such an enthusiastic cast and audience was incredible, see it if you can because it is in a league of its own.

[thoselethalarts]

𝓝𝔂𝔁 𝓝𝓸𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓮 - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂

(SSR) Birthday Union Jacket (Part 2): “Happy Birthday!”

(Scarabia Dorm: Birthday Party Venue)

Lee: Alright, let’s get the interview on and over with already.

Nyx: Sounds good to me! I’m dying to get some birthday grub in me.

Lee: Alright, so, first question- “if you could take one person with you to a deserted island, who would you take?” Lee: Also, they specifically said you can’t pick anyone from your own dorm. Them’s the rules.

Nyx: A deserted island, huh…? Well I guess I’d-

Lee: Actually, one more rule. You can’t pick Jade or Floyd.

Nyx: Wha-!? How’d you-?!

Lee: Oh c’mon, I know you. Of course your default answer would be to pick one of your boyfriends, that’s too easy. Pick someone else to spice it up.

Nyx: Ugh, now you just made this like 20 times harder than it needs to be…

Lee: I know~

Nyx: Uhhhhh… Damn, well now I dunno. Nyx: My gut’s telling me to maybe pick Rook, since he’s got that “hunter’s instinct” and all. But I’d rather chew my own foot off than be stuck with him all alone on a deserted island.

Lee: Yeah, that’s fair. That guy gives me the creeps, too.

Nyx: Who else... I mean Ruggie is also a top pick. He's got a lot of personal experience with survival situations. Though, I doubt he'd want to share most of what he finds... he'd probably make me work for it. Nyx: Jack I think would be more reliable, but he's also very "earn what you're worth" oriented, so he'd make me work for for my share too. Leona's the same way, just harder to get to do things in the first place. Nyx: Whoever they are, they'd need to be tough, reliable, and willing to share with me regardless of what I do.

Lee: So you just wanna be with someone that'll let you be lazy is what I'm hearing.

Nyx: ...You didn't have to put it like that. I'm just not that physical of a person, so I know I won't be able to do much when it comes to catching sources of protein, that's all.

Lee: Uh huh, sure, whatever you say.

Nyx: Hm... Oh, ya know what, I changed my mind. I think I’ll pick Stahli!

Lee: Interesting choice. Why him?

Nyx: Well, he’s always going on about how he’s good at cooking from whatever ingredients, and how he’s good at growing stuff cuz his parents own an Apothecary or whatever. Nyx: As far as getting food is concerned, knowing someone that can actually grow stuff over long term is probably a good bet. Nyx: Plus, who knows, maybe his whole link to ghosts and the Other Side would find us a different way to make it off the island. Stepping through dimensions onto a boat or something, I dunno.

Lee: Huh, I never woulda thought about that. I dunno how the Other Side works, but it sounds possible. Good answer~

/ To Be Continued…

[like-likes]

This is Dad's Farm. I'm inheriting it.

It is still going to cost us $200k, sort of. We are buying it from my two brothers. If we had sold it like we all originally considered, we would have split the profit three ways. Yet, after all the fees involved in selling (do i really have to list them? There is a lot.), getting $100k each after all that would be wonderfully and incredibly ideal, so hub's and I factored that into this investment and we're happy to give them them each their most ideal fair share.

Fortunately, we have a home to sell (a small one floor ranch in a city suburb) and now is still a really great time to sell so it's definitely time. Our goal is to get our city home on the market before memorial day. In the meantime, we are free to move our stuff in while we clean it up.

There is a very large stone pit which was once part of a barn's foundation long ago. Ever since I first lived here back in 2002 we've always used this space as a bonfire pit for peace and parties.

Before pictures are good to have. You didn't want to see the before/before we cleaned out the clutter, did you? That was last year. I have all these awful colors and unfinished projects and the overall conditions of the house burned into my memory... Dad never did much updating. Funniest part about that detail is that he worked professionally as a finished carpenter in the Boston union.

Here's some junk on the second floor:

oh, and back to the kitchen. I decided to take off the cabinet doors on the top. They are ugly, don't open well or don't close well depending on the season so fuck these cabinet doors!

Ugh blurry video screen shots. Trust me, it looks better. We have a large pantry elsewhere for food in ugly packages. Only plates, cups, etc... clear bins of foods (like rice or pasta) in this kitchen on these shelves. The new colors I'm working around kinda go like this:

We are all so excited! Our kids (adult kids, 20 & 25), are both super excited, even after seeing all the work involved. One of them wants a dog, the other wants a cat... and as long as they can pay for their needs, as soon as we are settled in - I don't mind. We need a cat anyway for mice. We already have a dog, but my baby is getting up in the years so she's gonna have to keep to the first floor. But oh, ok wait - now we're also talking about goats to help with our landscaping and chickens because why not? Yeah maybe probably... one animal at a time! ok?

Wanna see some of the leftover junk and repairs involved? Here's some. I don't think I mentioned from the first picture we're working on getting a quote from a company that literally jacks up a side of your house to repair a corner post (currently incased in a green tarp, thanks, dad).

Thanks for checking out our happy little project. ;)

I hope no one minds if I tag it stardew valley since it certainly feels like the real life beginnings of one and I wanna keep that vibe going as we all settle in here. :) My daughter was asking about growing vegetables! This girl's personality is comparable to a Hailey. My son is more of a Sebastian. My Hubs? He's a Gus. What am I? A mix of Leah and Robin, I think. :)

[kellyscowboy]

Consider!!!! Queens being hella pissed after jack takes all that money and tells them to disband the union after literally begging for their help and they ain't gonna let the deed go unpunished so they find some of the Manhattan newsies to soak to send a message to jack that actions have consequences

stop it rn omgomg. i'm thinking dave finds him up in his "penthouse" before kath does and it goes a little bit like this:

cw: cussing & fighting

"What the hell's the matter with you?" David shouted, shoving a finger into Jack's chest.

Jack angrily shoved the other boy away. "Go away, Dave."

"No. You don't get to run away. You don't get to screw us all, take your money, and get your dumbass happy Santa Fe ending."

"You think I'm gla-"

"Shut up!" David all but screamed. "Do you know what happened tonight? Right after you left with your stupid fucking money; Queens beat the crap out of us!"

Jack went quiet, the weight of his actions drowning him. David didn't stop. "You can't just do that, Jack. No, not to Queens. And I can assure you, they made that pretty damn clear. You can't beg a turf to go out of their way, to lose their money, to help you and then just bail on them."

Dave chokes on his words, and Jack wouldn't have thought he had cared about them that much. "You know how I found 'em?" He doesn't wait for a response. "They were sitting in an alley, just a clump of practically lifeless bodies. You would've thought that a morgue had come and dumped some unclaimed corpses right there in the middle of that alley. Racetrack didn't move, not even when I tried to get him up. Honest to God, Jack, I thought he was dead."

"And Elmer was sitting there, and you know what he was doing? He was clinging to his rosary and he was pleading with God. Now, I don't know Elmer as well as you do, but I do know that he doesn't have the greatest relationship with the church. You know how desperate you have to be to plead with a God who hurt you?"

"You're not gonna believe this, but that's not even the worst part. The beatings aren't even close to the worst part. What's worst is that all of them are blaming themselves. And all of them are sitting in the lodging house waiting for you to walk in and fix their wounds, because that's what you've always done. The worst part is that they're all defending you with every broken bone in their body. And that's awful because it's all your fucking fault, Jack!"

Jack fell into David's arms. And David doesn't shove him away, he takes him into his arms and begs him to fix things. Because David isn't mad either, he wants to be mad but he can't be mad because he's making excuses for Jack too. All Jack can do, for at least a couple of minutes, is sob into Jack's shoulder.

-

SO SORRY FOR STEALING THE ASK LIKE THAT LMAO. honestly the idea ignited something in me bc oh my god like the angst?? i can't!! also imagining any of the boys telling him. racetrack telling him, all beaten up and sore. ugh im dead

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Today's episode of Mando made me ridiculously happy 😆

Not gonna post a long thoughts thing because it's 11pm, so here are some quick ones!

The planet looked cool as anything!

Ugh, droids just make me happy. 😁

JACK BLACK?!

Also, I got so distracted by Jack Black that it took me a second to realise that LIZZO WAS RIGHT NEXT TO HIM???

And Christopher Lloyd finally made his appearance!!!

Anyone else wanna punch the screen when the Techno Union are mentioned? 😒

GROGU IS A KNIGHT NOW???

Haha Din finally getting rid of the Darksaber he didn't want. 🤣 [edit: me finding this kinda funny in the moment has now passed and turned into ehhh??? What's that about???]

I am gonna miss him with it, though. 😕

[saints-who-never-existed]

Rereading The Terror

Chapter Two: Franklin 

Franklin reminisces specifically about dividing his men up and abandoning them on his previous failed expedition - “Franklin had dazedly divided his troop into three groups and left the other two bands to survive or die on their own.” 

Another horrendous passage sees him comfort himself with the thought that technically, only one Englishmen died - “Only one real white man” - because clearly any other kind isn’t real to him. Ugh. 

There’s an interesting little titbit about Franklin not being the first choice in his personal life too - he reads Lady Jane’s old diaries and finds her mourning on the day a previous suitor of hers marries. 

Also some absolute top-notch hubris and foreshadowing and general dumbassery - “Out of his own pocket he’d provided enough supplies to feed the sixteen men for one day. Franklin had assumed the Indians would then hunt for them and feed them adequately, just as the guides carried his bags and paddled his birch-bark canoe.”

Franklin likes his beef “rare enough to bleed at the touch of the carving knife”. Funny, that. 

And last but not least, there are two other quite gender-specific references relating to death and doom that I find quite interesting. 

The chapter closes with that famous story of Lady Jane draping the Union Jack over Franklin as he sleeps only for him to awaken horrified at the implications of it. 

He also compares the Arctic Council to Macbeth’s witches at one point - controlling fate, portending doom, but most interestingly to me, specifically female. 

[gaydryad]

number 1. Adjust the Pacific Surfliner / Coastal Starlight connection point to be in the Bay Area instead, so that the Jack London Square station is a three-way connection between those 2 + San Joaquin instead of having the Coastal Starlight and Pacific Surfliner randomly meet up in SLO.

it feels like there's no good reason for SLO to be the point where one becomes the other, except to make it infinitely more annoying or slow to get from SoCal to NorCal (since switching Surfliner <---> Starlight is only offered like 1-2 times a day, iirc, and one of those involves an annoying layover in LA). this seems like it should be actually feasible in a short time scale, since the entire length is already covered, it's just a very annoying side-effect of the routing that it costs $$$ to get from the Bay to SoCal.

if the concern is scheduling enough trains between Central Cal and SoCal, maybe instead have a shorter line that runs SLO--LA like the one that runs SAN--LA parallel the Surfliner, I think train #752? don't quote me on that.

number 2. and this one would make me, personally, take Amtrak more often: make it easier to get from Union Station in Chicago to either of the airports. if getting to, say, O'Hare was easier by train, then it'd both be nice for those us who, say, might be coming up from elsewhere in the state and want to shave some money, and would in general just make the commuter train way more useful for those of us stuck in (ugh) non-Chicago Illinois. it would replace a commuter flight that runs between certain minor airports which shall not be named and O'Hare, as well, and with a much lower ticket cost I imagine that many other people would take that instead of the flight.

the issue with this second one is that I have no idea how feasible it really is, but I will say--even just if Amtrak ran a shuttle bus (like it does elsewhere), it would both be nicer and way less of a headache than trying to figure out how to sync up the Amtrak, local public transit, and getting to one's flight on time. like this is a very non-hypothetical problem. it currently Sucks.

Girls, what do you want from a train service and how can Amtrak improve over the next 10 years to better serve you.

[dengswei]

my mum is drunk and has the tv obnoxiously loud that i can hear it from upstairs

[yakumtsaki]

We’re backoix but without Wyatt for the first time since 2017💔 Jojo is fucking devastated and goes on an autonomous home maintenance spree but keeps stopping to cry:

-OH WYATT, HE LOVED TO SLEEP IN THIS BED

-OH WYATT, HE LOVED TO SNOOZE ON THE LAWN

Ugh my poor Jojo, I know what will cheer you up, why don’t we go wait for the wolf? 

-OH WYATT, HE LOVED TO NAP IN THIS TENT

-Hey Shaj. -Hi grandma, how are you? -I’m sharing the mausoleum with Wyatt now, so not great. What’s going on here? -Literally nothing, even Cyneswith hasn’t had a new lover for like a week.

-Who needs lovers when I have my Dobrie?💗 

I can’t stress enough how ridic this relationship is, Dobronega hates absolutely everyone including her own kittens. The fuck, Cyn, are you using the voodoo doll on the pets now?

-Of course not, I’d never override an animals free will!🌸

Right, what are they, men who refuse to immediately fall in love with you? 

-Exactly!💗

Time for our mandatory ‘a new day starts’ ritual.

-Ok everyone, let’s knock this one out cause I have to get ready for work. Cyn how could you?? -Oh Donnie I’m so sorry!🌸 -𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙾𝙽𝙴, 𝙶𝚄𝚈𝚂, 𝚂𝙴𝙴 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚃𝙾𝙼𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙾𝚆.

The kitts grew up! This is Scorpion, under him is Ermac, on the right is Mileena, and under her Kitana, who is the chonkiest one and thus the automatic heir! I’m gonna send the other 3 to live with Angel and Wulf while Sophie is at work because she throws Komei-tier tantrums whenever a pet leaves.

So Sandy is a romance sim, which I keep forgetting, and is like 1 second away from aspiration failure, so it’s time for a blind date. I spend the max amount and we get GILBERT JACQUET?? LMAO. Do you guys feel like he’s open-minded enough to date a zomb? They have 3 bolts tho, his turn-ons are black hair/green eyes so I guess that was enough to overcome the rotting part?? 

This is going great?? Honestly wtf. Gilbert tell me the truth, does she remind you of your mother?

What’s up Sophito, how was school?

-What the hell is this?! 

I’m sure you already know what it is since you went out of your way to cockblock, but this is Sandy on a date. 

-Well stop it, I don’t like it! 

Ya despite what Sophie has told you, the world doesn’t revolve around Sophito Union’s wishes.

-My world does!

Guess who got fired on his second day!

-𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝚄𝙶𝙰𝚁; 𝚆𝙴𝙻𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝙷𝙾𝙼𝙴. -WAAAAAH 

-OH, WYATT, OH CRUEL FATE

-FUCK YOU AND YOUR ONE CHANCE AT HAPPINESS, SANDY

Ya ok I’ve had enough of this house-

-let’s gtfo, Cyn! It’s hoeing time. 

-When isn’t it!💗

Huhu!🌸

-Huhu!💗

Man this place is DEAD. Where tf is everyone?

-They’re on the terrace, dumbass.

Ok that’s a lot of lip from you, bandana-bowtie. To the terrace! 

OMG IT’S CORNROW DOWNTOWNIE. The top townies I wanna marry in genetics-wise is this guy and Hot Downtownie that Shaj brought from work the other day. I zoom out all happy to have Cyn go talk to him and what do I see??

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, JACK DO

-OVER MY DEAD BODY IS CYNESWITH CHEATING ON ME IN THIS RESTAURANT WHERE MY OPPRESSIVE MOTHER IS THE MAITRE D’!!!

OH FFS

We relocate to this weird hot tub club where thankfully none of our existing lovers are. 

-Oooh, Neon Vest Downtownie is hot!💗   -Fuck me, here comes the voodoo doll. 

-SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND, VESTIE!!!🌸

Hehehe, ok Cyn let’s knock this one out on location because we’ve really fallen behind!

-Ya so I’ve been increasingly concerned about nuclear weapons- 

-WILL YOU TWO GET A ROOM FOR YOUR POLITICAL DISCUSSION? WE’RE TRYING TO HAVE PUBLIC SEX HERE

Kaching!!! Man that was quick, thank you, Neon Vest Downtownie!

You don’t walk from the table when you’re on a roll, so we move on to this guy, who I thought was Komei’s old enemy Shea Johnston, but is actually a ginger version of him.  

-Didn’t you use to steal my grandpa’s garden gnome?💗 -Oh no, that was my evil twin brother! I’m the nice one!   -Aww, we have so much in common, I’m the nice one with an meanie sister too!🌸

-Now let me just channel the ancient evil of voodoo to manipulate your consciousness!💗

-Oh, Ginger Shea Johnston, let’s take this upstairs to the hot tub, it’s more public!🌸

Bro I love Cyn so fucking much, on her way upstairs to the hot tubs with GSJ she stops to flirt with the Count, LOL

-Hiiii, didn’t you use to sleep with my grandma?💗 -I sure did! -Seems like a good family tradition, huhu!🌸

-Oh Cyneswith, today is the best day of my life! -It better be, my daddy worked really hard for that voodoo doll!💗

Never stood a chance, against us, GSJ!

-Hey girl, if you ever get tired of these warm meatbags you know where to find me!🧛

Ya Count, we actually DON’T know where to find you, that was also our big problem when Victoria wanted to bang you.  

-Oh, I live in the animal sanctuary! Bat section.🧛 

You don’t have an ancestral castle on top of a misty hill? What kind of flop vampire even are you??

-You know what the rent for ancestral castles is these days??🧛

Good Lord, get out of here Count Bumula, you’re ruining our night. Time to return home, Cyn, great job! 

I was hoping Sophito would outgrow this Sandy bullshit on his own but clearly I have my work cut out for me.

-Look Sandy, another A+++! Much better than some stupid momma’s boy baker, right??

You of all people wanna talk about mommy issues, really? Go do your goddamn homework.

Valentina becomes an elder during her favorite activity: shitting on our flowers.

-You better put those dream date ones away, too tempting!

Val, let me just say, and I truly mean this, you are a literal monstrosity.  

Cyn rolls that ‘woohoo with a service sim’ want, so goodbye Kaylynn, it’s Remington time.

-So let me get this straight, you’re firing me because, and I quote, ‘You’re really sorry but you want a guy maid to raw you, huhu🌸’? -Exactly, huhu!💗 -You’ll be hearing from the labor department. 

-Oh hiii Lucy, welcome, now get out!🌸    

-OMG OMG HI I’M CYNESWITH💗 -Well hello, I’m Remington Harris and I’m a true professional as you can surely tell by my aggressive decolletage.  -Oh Remi, you’re a godsent, I’ve been so lonely in this house with only one available choice to cheat on my husband with!🌸 -Uh, what’s that now?

-Don’t worry about it!💗

Ah, the glory of love! Cyn do you think that having both iVan and Remington in the house everyday might not be like, a super good idea?

-Of course not, what could possibly happen, huhu?🌸

Well iVan already tried killing you once?

-Oh, he didn’t mean that, it was on oopsie!💗

Credit where it’s due, this is one aesthetic af affair-

-I MEAN!

-GODDAMMIT, MOTHER, DOES YOUR DEGENERACY KNOW NO END??

Sugar you little oedipal freak, did you seriously run out in the rain in your pjs just so you could do this? Even your father doesn’t give a fuck anymore! 

Finally, God decided to put an end to this house of sin.

-WHAT THE FUCK KID, STOP PUSHING ME INTO THE FIRE -SORRY, HOT DOWNTOWNIE, I WAS TRYING TO PUSH MY MOTHER

Finally the rain stops and it’s time for Cymi (Cyn + Remi, cute, right?) to defile Jojo’s wolfwatching tent. The very place where Wyatt napped??? Cyn, come on!

-It’s what daddy would have wanted, he was always supportive of my romantic endeavors!🌸

Ya I guess that’s true, ugh I miss Wyatt :(

Real talk, Jojo has been the saddest I’ve ever seen a sim be over a spouse’s death, like non-stop crying for days. I did get very emo just by seeing him sleep alone, but then he gets up and does something that freaked me out so much I straight up shut the game down..

..HE AUTONOMOUSLY GOES TO LOOK @ WYATT’S PORTRAIT. I swear I’m not making this shit up, at first I thought he was interacting with the urn, but then I check his action panel and it’s the ‘view’ thing @ the portrait!!! 

These aren’t ‘real’ portraits taken with the portrait mechanic (which I don’t know if even with those ones sims know whose portrait is whose), they’re screenshots I put into the custom painting folder which I then have the sims paint, so there’s no way game-wise that Jojo would know this is depicting Wyatt. I’m also 100% certain I’ve never had another sim in the family autonomously go view a death portrait, because I would have definitely taken a pic and included it in a post. Point is, bro I was already convinced Jojo was sentient and was equal parts freaked and moved..  

..and then he goes to Shajar’s portrait..

..AND DOES THIS. H E L P

[get-back-homeward]

The Saga of the Bowler Hat: In Four Acts

Sep 30-Oct 15, 1961: Paris trip

We planned to hitchhike to Spain. I had done a spot of hitchhiking with George and we knew you had to have a gimmick; we had been turned down so often and we’d seen that guys that had a gimmick (like a Union Jack round them) had always got the lifts. So I said to John, ‘Let’s get a couple of bowler hats.’ It was showbiz creeping in.

Gustafson happened to bump into them the day they left, Saturday September 30. “They both had bowler hats on, with the usual leather jackets and jeans. They said they were off to Paris, so I walked down to Lime Street station with them and watched them go. They were an incredible pair: always great fun, irreverent, and so close.” [x]

We still had our leather jackets and drainpipes – we were too proud of them not to wear them, in case we met a girl; and if we did meet a girl, off would come the bowlers. But for lifts we would put the bowlers on. Two guys in bowler hats – a lorry would stop! Sense of Humour. This, and the train, is how we got to Paris. [x]

March 2-4, 1964: Filming A Hard Day’s Night train scene

The specially-hired train was destined for Minehead and back, where for the next three days scenes were filmed in the suitably cramped setting. There was a dining car for The Beatles to eat in...[their] dialogue was recorded using microphones hidden inside their shirts, but numerous retakes were required due to sound problems.

The first we did was the train, which we were all dead nervous in. Practically the whole of the train bit we were going to pieces.

I’m sure it’s less noticeable to people watching in the cinema, but we know that we’re dead conscious in every move we make, we watch each other. Paul’s embarrassed when I’m watching him speak and he knows I am. [x]

March 29, 1967: With A Little Help From My Friends day

At two o’clock in the afternoon John arrived at Paul’s house in St. John’s Wood. They both went up to Paul’s workroom at the top of the house...John started playing his guitar and Paul started banging on his piano. For a couple of hours they both banged away. Each seemed to be in a trance until the other came up with something good, then he would pluck it out of a mass of noises and try it himself. They’d already established the tune the previous afternoon. Now they were trying to polish up the melody and think of some words to go with it.

“Are you afraid when you turn out the light,” sang John. Paul sang it after him and nodded that it was good. John said they could use that idea for all the verses, if they could think of some more questions on those lines.

“Do you believe in love at first sight,” sang John. “No,” he said, stopping singing. “It hasn’t got the right number of syllables. What do you think? Can we split it up and have a pause to give it an extra syllable?”

John then sang the line, breaking it in the middle: “Do you believe—ugh—in love at first sight.”

“How about,” said Paul, “Do you believe in a love at first sight.”

John sang it over and accepted it. In singing it, he added the next line, “Yes, I’m certain it happens all the time.”

They both then sang the two lines to themselves, la-la-ing all the other lines. Apart from this, all they had was the chorus: “I’ll get by with a little help from my friends.” John found himself singing “Would you believe,” which he thought was better.

Then they changed the order, singing the two lines “Would you believe in a love at first sight/Yes I’m certain it happens all the time” before going on to “Are you afraid when you turn out the light,” but they still had to la-la the fourth line, which they couldn’t think of.

It was now about five o’clock. [x]

The Beatles began by recording the rhythm track in 10 takes, the last of which was the best. It had Paul McCartney on piano on track one, George Harrison’s rhythm guitar on two, Starr’s drums and cowbell played by John Lennon on three, and George Martin playing organ on track four.

A reduction mix, numbered take 11, made free some space on the tape for further overdubs. Starr then added his lead vocals to tracks three and four, with backing vocals by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison. This session ended at 5.45am, and recording for the song was completed on the following day. [x]

1967-1968: Paul’s favorite artist inspires Apple Corp name and logo

We were discovering Magritte in the sixties, just through magazines and things. And we just loved his sense of humour. And when we heard that he was a very ordinary bloke who used to paint from nine to one o'clock, and with his bowler hat, it became even more intriguing.

René Magritte, The Son of Man (1964)

One day [Robert Fraser] brought this painting to my house. We were out in the garden, it was a summer's day. And he didn't want to disturb us, I think we were filming or something. So he left this picture of Magritte. It was an apple - and he just left it on the dining room table and he went. It just had written across it "Au revoir", on this beautiful green apple...So it was like wow! What a great conceptual thing to do, you know. And this big green apple, which I still have now, became the inspiration for the logo. And then we decided to cut it in half for the B-side!

René Magritte, Le Jeu de Mourre [The Game of Mora] (1966)

The title was found by Magritte's friend, the Belgian poet Louis Scutenaire, and is probably a play of words on Les Jeunes Amours [Young Love] (1963), the title of a work by Magritte showing three apples. The game of mora is "a game in which one of the players rapidly displays a hand with some fingers raised, the others folded inwards, while his opponent calls out a number, which, for him to win, has to correspond to the total of the raised fingers.” [x]

Epilogue

Paul McCartney’s 1989 My Brave Face single cover

My Brave Face lyrics, written early 1988 with Elvis Costello

January 1988: The Beatles are inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

[mosscaps]

#he and Chilchuck would be best of friends#or worst of enemies tbh @vegetable-soup-wizard

you are so big brained and SO correct because let me tell you. chilchuck and taako at the END of their journeys? best of friends. taako politely offers up an entire chili pepper out of his sleeve while they're cooking dungeon dinner tm and says "we should be thinking about our wine and dessert options" and it's besties for life after that. chilchuck is like sooo about worker's rights and taako is like oh my last employer lied and withheld and stole my memories, long story, i just didn't feel like my value was appreciated. so i saved the universe, ugh, hassle, and quit my job and now i'm a jack of all trades, ya know? i told my employees it was cool to organize a union as long as they didn't, like, poison me in my sleep or anything. btw all of my income goes to starving orphans (yes he WOULD lie about this). chilchuck is like say less, Welcome to the party chiliboy, our morals do indeed align somewhere in the nebulous field of not really giving a shit except for the people we dearly love.

but chilchuck and taako at the BEGINNING of their journeys? worsties. enemies on sight. taako would make a bad joke about chilchuck's height ("lil shorty") and play dumb about chilchuck's age on purpose and it would drive him literally insane and drive home his anti-elf biases. chilchuck would immediately dismiss him as a fop better suited to talking about fashion design with marcille than of any particular or practical use and if taako ever found that out, he would intentionally act so incompetent that it would almost cost them their lives. malicious compliance (chilchuck) versus "i don't know hoss, I just work here" energy (taako) would collide in an explosion so big that the party would be picking bits of chilchuck out of taako's hair while he insists he has done Nothing Wrong Ever and actually chilchuck punched HIMSELF in the face, marcille, we all saw it and that's what happened, i would never hit a CHILD, etcetera

taako 🤝 labor unions

[azulsartdump]

Torben SSR Union Birthday

~ Happy Birthday (Part 1) ~

Torben: It seems like Donar and Perun’s interviews are going well. That’s good.

Dietrich: Hello, Torben.

Torben: ...

Dietrich: I’m your interviewer for today.

Torben: ...

Torben: I’m leaving.

Dietrich: Hold on you can’t just leave like that! Look, I don’t want to do this either, but it’s required by the school, so let’s get this over with as fast as possible.

Torben: Fine. Make it quick.

Dietrich: Glad we at least agree on that. Happy Birthday, Torben. Here’s your gift.

Torben: These are... vials?

Dietrich: You’re in the Science Club, right? I assumed you were sharing supplies with the rest of the club for the most part, so I thought something useful like this would be best. I don’t really know anything else about you, so I couldn’t think of anything else you might enjoy.

Torben: No, this is good enough. I have actually been hoping to get some more potion bottles with my next paycheck, so this is very convenient. The glass is pretty good quality too. Thank you.

Dietrich: Wow, that’s slightly uncomfortable. Didn’t think I’d ever see the day where you’d thank me for anything.

Torben: I’m not so stubborn that I can’t admit when someone’s gotten me a good gift, even if I dislike them.

Dietrich: Good to know. I suppose I should have assumed that. Marsella wouldn’t hang out with anyone that wasn’t a good person at heart.

Torben: I don’t know about that. Mama hangs out with you, after all.

Dietrich: Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?

~ Happy Birthday (Part 2) ~

Dietrich: Here’s your first question. “If you could have anyone outside of your dorm as a sibling, who would you choose?”

Torben: Ah, well Donar and Perun are gret siblings already, but if I had to choose someone else to add to my siblings, maybe Jack?

Dietrich: Jack, huh? Kind of hard to imagine with the size difference between you two.

Torben: HEY! I’m still growing! I’ve already started building up muscle from my training with Lilia.

Dietrich: Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, why Jack in particular? Like I said, it’s kinda hard to imagine.

Torben: Well, Donar and Jack are pretty good friends, being in the same club together and all, and they get along very well so I wouldn’t have to worry about him being friendly with my brothers. He also has his own siblings too, so I’d imagine he’s used to having a big family. All that aside too, I think he’d be a great work out partner.

Dietrich: Huh, well now that you mention all that, I guess Jack would be a pretty good sibling for you. Would give you a goal to work towards too with your training.

Torben: Right? That’s what I was thinking too! I gotta ask him about his routine next time I go on my morning jog with him and Donar.

~ Happy Birthday (Part 3) ~

Dietrich: Alright, the next question is “If you could choose another dorm to be in, which dorm would it be?” As the language of the question implies, you can’t choose the dorm you’ve already been sorted into.

Torben: Oh, that’s easy. I’d choose Diasomnia.

Dietrich: Why would you want to join Diasomnia? It’s not the most attractive or friendly dorm out there.

Torben: I mean, I’ve been doing some training with Vanrouge-senpai and Silver-senpai. So it would be nice to just wake up and begin training immediately instead of having to walk all the way from Octavinelle to Diasomnia.

Dietrich: Ugh, I don’t know how you can even stand to be near the Vanrouge man.

Torben: He’s a bit eccentric, but he’s helped me a lot building up my strength. I don’t really understand why you can’t get along with your dormmates.

Dietrich: It’s something you wouldn’t understand.

Torben: If you say so. Regardless though, I don’t think I would transfer to Diasomnia unless I was forced to. Octavinelle is a nice enough dorm and I get to stick with my brothers here.

Dietrich: I see. Good to know I won’t have to worry about seeing you around the dorm hallways on the regular.

...

Dietrich: And that was the last question. Thank the Great Seven it’s finally over.

Torben: Good. I’m leaving now.

Dietrich: Hold on! I still have one duty as your interviewer today. I’ve actually been looking forward to this part a lot.

Torben: Oh, the “Gift of Good Fortune,” right? Of course you would. Get it over with then. The faster you do the faster we can leave.

Dietrich: My pleasure. Alright, steel yourself, soldier! Happy Birthday, Torben!

(Dietrich is the lovely @faehistorian​ ‘s OC)

[12timetraveler]

A Day Worth Celebrating

A drabble for my giveaway second place winner @fangirl-ramblings

SUMMARY:Reader doesn't like attention, so she hasn't told a soul it's her birthday. But now she feels a little sad that she's the only one celebrating.

You can read the whole thing below or on my ao3

It was your birthday, and you weren't sure how you felt about that.

You hadn't told anyone in the gang your birthday was coming up. How do you even bring that up without seeming desperate for attention? You couldn't think of a good way to casually mention it. That information didn't easily work it's way into conversation without it being obvious you wanted people to know.

But did you even want people to know? You didn't really feel like having everyone's focus on you. It was just... Awkward. You weren't one for making a big fuss, and you didn't like when people fussed over you. It made you feel uncomfortable, and drained your energy pretty quickly. You could only take so much socializing.

But at the same time, you did want to celebrate with a few of the gang members. Your close friends. You considered asking a few of them to ride with you to the local saloon where you could buy them rounds, but word would get out pretty fast and soon half the gang would be there.

So your indecisiveness made your decision for you. The morning of your birthday came, and no one said a thing. No one even knew.

Despite this, when you woke you couldn't help but look around casually to see if maybe some little present had been left by your bedroll. But unfortunately none of the gang were mind-readers, and there was nothing waiting for you by your pillow. Pushing aside the disappointment, you pulled yourself out of bed, not wanting to start your birthday with a lecture from Grimshaw about sleeping in, and got started your day.

You tried your best to not let it get to you. It was your own damn fault after all for not telling anyone. You were the one who hated being the center of attention. But still you were a little down in the dumps.

Ugh, doing laundry on your <em>birthday</em>.

Bleh, gutting fish on your <em>birthday</em>.

Good lord, washing Uncle's rancid union suit <em>on your birthday</em>.

Every time you had those thoughts you'd try and push them away. You were no spoiled little princess. You were a woman of the land. Life wasn't glamorous, even on your birthday. But still the whiney little thoughts persisted.

Fortunately the chore load was light for the day, and by mid-afternoon, all the chores were done, and Grimshaw gave the girls the rest of the day to do as they pleased.

At first you wandered camp idly, not sure what you wanted to do with your free time. You paused at one of the tables when you saw Jack scribbling furiously on a scrap of paper.

"Hey, Jack," you said, walking over. "Whatcha drawing?"

"It's a present!" He said proudly.

"A present?" Your heart skipped a beat. Did Jack know it was your birthday? Had you caught him in the process of making you a present?

"Yeah! For Uncle Arthur." He said. You had to fight to keep your face neutral.

"I'm sure he'll love it, Jack," you said. Jack grinned up at you before returning to his drawing. You slunk away, feeling pretty embarrassed with yourself. Maybe it would have been better to spill the beans and let the gang go wild, any excuse for a party. Then you wouldn't feel so forgotten.

How could you feel forgotten when it was your own goddamn fault for not telling anyone?! But still you couldn't shake the weight on your heart.

"Hey," Charles voice called out your name, stopping you in your tracks and pulling yourself from your thoughts. "You busy? Wanna go for a ride?" He asked.

"Sure," you said with a smile. Getting out of camp would distract you from feeling down, and being out with Charles would be a nice way to spend the rest of the day.

Charles was one of your best friends. Beyond that you'd been sweet on him since you joined the gang. If there was one person you wanted to spend today with, even if he didn't know it was your birthday, it was Charles.

You followed him across camp to where the horses were hitched. Charles easily helped you up on Taima's rump before climbing on in front of you. You rested your hands respectfully on his ribs, and Charles pushed Taima into a trot, riding out of camp and down into the canyon below Horseshoe Overlook.

It was a familiar routine, going riding with Charles. He'd sometimes take you out to collect herbs while he did some hunting, or whenever you needed some time away from the rest of the gang. The two of you found peaceful companionship in each other.

"Where're we going?" You asked as you crossed the river.

"Not far." Charles said simply.

"What are we going to do out here?" You asked.

"I want to show you something," came the cryptic answer. Charles was never one for long-winded replies, but he was rarely quite so secretive with you.

"Are you hunting or picking herbs...?" You trailed off, hoping to get some more information out of him. Charles glanced back at you, and you thought you saw a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

"I think you'll like it. Do you trust me?" He asked.

"Always," you replied without hesitation.

"Then quit prying and enjoy the ride," he chuckled.

So you did as he instructed, watching the world pass by as you loped along. You followed the road up the river as it curved West. Just as the river began to curve north once more, Charles turned off the main road and up a small incline.

At the top of the hill, he turned left off the road, slowing to a walk as he steered Taima through the trees.

"I found it while out riding a few days ago," Charles said. "Local man said it was called Diablo Ridge." Charles stopped as you came through the trees, and you gasped at the view in front of you.

You were at the top of a cliff overlooking the canyon and the curve of the river. In the distance, to your right, you could just about see Horseshoe Overlook. To your left, the river snaked back up toward Cumberland Falls.

It was a clear day. Warm, but not too warm, and you could see for miles up here. Birds flitted by, almost at eye level you were up so high. The river was a beautiful teal color as it rushed by, speckled with some white foam as it met with rocks or rapids.

You were up higher than at Horseshoe Overlook, and there were no trees blocking your view of the canyon below. It was breathtaking.

The only thing that pulled your gaze away from the scenery before you was Charles' hand on your knee. You looked down to see he had dismounted and was standing in front of you, arms outstretched. You leaned forward and let him help you down off of Taima.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"It's incredible," you breathed, looking out over the landscape once more. "What a view," you turned to Charles, who was watching you with a wide smile on his face. "Thank you for bringing me here. I could sit here for hours."

"I'm glad you like it. I thought you could maybe use a change of scenery on your birthday."

You blinked in surprise. "I... How did you know?" You stammered.

"You mentioned it some time last fall. I think it was Davy's birthday. You told me when yours was," He said, pulling a blanket from his saddle bag, as well as a satchel that seemed stuffed full. He led you to what you thought was the edge of the cliff. But a couple feet down as another ledge. He jumped down with ease, and reached up to help you down. "I figured the gang would throw a big party like they always do for someone's birthday, but no one else seemed to know." He said.

"I didn't tell them. I don't even remember telling you," you admitted.

"I figured as much. You're not one for attention. You don't like people making a fuss. It makes sense you wouldn't want the whole gang focused on you for the whole day." He spread out the blanket on the ground. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't get to celebrate. I thought maybe you'd be more comfortable if it's just the two of us," he explained.

He sat down on the blanket, and you sat down next to him as he opened his satchel. He pulled out a couple tin cups, a bottle of fresh cream, and some wild raspberries and blackberries.

"Charles," you couldn't suppress your delighted giggles. "Thank you. Thank you so much," you said, taking one of the tin cups from Charles and making yourself a little cup of raspberries and cream.

"You're welcome," he replied with a smile, adding some blackberries and cream to his own tin. "It's a day worth celebrating."

You felt your cheeks heat up, so you didn't reply, just tipped the cup back to pour a few of the cream-covered berries into your mouth. It wasn't the neatest way to eat them, but you weren't terribly concerned.

"Really, thank you," you sighed. "I was feeling a little... Upset that I didn't have anyone to celebrate with. Even though it was my own choice not to tell anyone."

"I could tell," Charles said. "You seemed a little down today. But you and I can stay up here as long as you want. We can watch the sunset, count the stars, whatever you'd like."

"That sounds wonderful," you sighed.

"Oh. Also, I uh... I got you this," Charles pulled out a little box from his satchel. "Happy birthday,"

"Ah... You didn't have to. Just being out here is enough. But, thank you," you said, accepting the little box. You leaned forward and kissed his cheek in thanks. It was a bold move, and you'd never really done anything like it before, but you couldn't help yourself.

"It's no trouble. Like I said, it's a day worth celebrating. You deserve a little something,"

You flushed and focused on opening the little box. Inside was a small necklace with a polished stone set in the middle. It was your favorite type of gemstone.

"I found the stone a whole back. Had it polished and set in a necklace for you," Charles explained, as if it were some simple little thing he'd done. Some embarrassing, small, mundane task. But you knew polishing a stone and putting it in a necklace wasn't the cheapest process. And it was beyond anything you'd expect.

"Charles, I love it!" You gasped.

"You do?" He asked.

"Yes. It's beautiful," you said, lifting the necklace out of the box. It was a sturdy necklace, made of quality silver, so it would survive your rough lifestyle. But still it was so beautiful and intricate. "Help me put it on?" You asked.

Charles nodded and scooted around to sit behind you. You handed him the necklace and brushed your hair to the side. Your breath caught in your throat as Charles gently draped the necklace around your neck, his fingers brushing against your skin as he did. His large rough fingers were soft and careful as he clasped the necklace securely.

The two of you were quiet for a moment, reveling in the closeness. You wanted to jump into his arms and slam your lips to his as a thank you. But you resisted.

"How does it look?" You asked, turning your upper half so he could see. He sucked in a deep breath.

"Beautiful," he replied with a smile.

You couldn't resist turning and wrapping your arms around Charles, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you, Charles," you sighed. "I love it,"

Charles wrapped his arms around you and hugged you back. "Happy Birthday, sweetheart," he said. Neither of you really wanted to let go, so the two of you held each other for a while, just enjoying the feeling of each other's embrace. But finally you broke apart.

"Thank you. I couldn't ask for a better birthday," you said sincerely.

"I'm glad I could make it special," he replied.

The rest of the evening was spent chatting and nibbling on berries. You watched the world grow darker as the sun set, and lay back together on the blanket to watch the stars twinkle into existence.

After the sun went down, it got a little brisk. But you weren't ready to go back to camp yet. So where the two of you lay, you subtly (or not-so-subtly) scooched closer to Charles until you were pressed up against him, taking some of his body heat as the two of you watched the stars.

You didn't mean to fall asleep, but at some point you dozed off. Charles didn't mind. He was just happy to have you next to him like this. He stayed awake, listening to your even breathing as he watched the stars. It was your birthday after all. He could grant you this moment of peace and quiet out here. And if he got to pull you close to keep you warm, all the better.

[perperam]

Do you have any Harlivy fic recommendations? Preferably something that is already completed?

OH I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE

okay okay so quick little tangent fact !! I actually just finished my undergrad degree in "english literature analysis & writing" and reading fics is so fun bc I get to analyze them and break them down and if it's particularly well written the stars align and it's just UGH so good. 

ratings are: E (explicit) M (mature) T (teens and up) and G (everyone) anyways here is a HUGE list of my favorite fics to date, their stats/details/plots, reasonings as to why they're on the list to begin with, and a short analysis:

SHORT STORIES (less than 30k words)

for your convenience they’re in order of length bc I’m focusing on this super hard rn

KISS YOUR BEST FRIEND CHALLENGE (T)  STATS — 340 words, shenanigans, fluff PLOT — Harley, TikTok and general Social Media queen, decides to do the trending challenge to kiss your best friend. The best friend? Her roommate and the woman she’s been crushing on for fucking ever: Poison Ivy.

AM I TOO CLOSE? (CAUSE YOU FOLD INTO ME LIKE A HEART WITH A BEAT) (G) STATS — 839 words, fluff, shenanigans PLOT — Harley genuinely wasn’t looking for trouble, but it’s hard to just have a day out when you’re one of Gotham’s most wanted. Running into Ivy, she takes drastic measures (and her hoodie into the mix) to distract the police from looking in their direction.

I’M HOME (G) STATS — 892 words, domestic fluff PLOT — After a long and rough day at work, Ivy comes home to Harley. Relaying the details of her day, she basks in the comfort of her girlfriend, who provides gentle questions and is a phenomenal listener. General cuteness.

CONFLICT DIAMONDS (G) STATS — 990 words, wedding shenanigans, banter, humor PLOT — Batman and Renee Montoya respond to a break-in at a jewelry store, except even though the owner is duct-taped to the wall, it isn’t really a break-in; Harley’s just trying to shop for a ring for Ivy, and that’s difficult to do when the owner is screaming in the corner. Batman and Renee both pitch in to help pick something nice for Harley’s girl, resulting in hilarious banter.

OF COURSE (T) STATS — 1.1k words, hurt/comfort (kinda), harley quinn animated tv show centric PLOT — In the aftermath of Ivy’s death, rebirth, and the fall of Joker Tower, Harley collapses onto the ground. Since she never mentioned that her parents are the reason for most of her injuries, Ivy isn’t sure why she’s so out of it.

PERFECT MORNINGS (T) STATS — 1.1k words, domestic fluff/bliss PLOT — Ivy, who usually wakes up early and before Harley, takes a moment to look at the countless muscles, ridges, scars, and tattoos on Harley’s body as she sleeps. General cuteness.

I’D LOVE TO CHECK YOU OUT (T) STATS — 1.7k words, university au, fluff PLOT — Harley visits the library virtually every day, and it’s definitely not because she needs to work on her university courses and homework. She finally works up the courage to speak to the alluring redhead she sees there every day while absentmindedly looking at a book on sharks. 

I’LL LOVE YOU IN THE MORNING (NOON, NIGHT) (T) STATS — 2.1k words, angst, hurt/comfort PLOT — A snapshot look into Ivy and how she comes to know, care, and love all the sides of Harley—from psychiatrist to criminal to girlfriend. She loves her throughout it all. 

DAY-DREAMING (T) STATS — 2.2k words, shenanigans, psychiatrist Harleen PLOT — Ivy’s falling for her psychiatrist—her humorous, intelligent, caring, and downright gorgeous psychiatrist. It’s difficult, to say the least.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THEMYSCIRA (DOESN’T) STAY IN THEMYSCIRA (T) STATS — 2.3k words, humor, wedding shenanigans, angst with a happy ending PLOT — In a surprise twist of events, Harley and Ivy were drunkenly married at Themyscira. When asked at the wedding if anybody had objections to the union of Ivy and Chuck, Wonder Woman and the Queen of Themyscira herself come to object. Ivy, for lack of a better word, wants to die a little.

NOT A ROCKER CHICK (T) STATS — 3.1k words, rock band au, fluff PLOT — The last thing Ivy wants to do is go to a rock band concert with her best friend, Selina. Despite her best efforts, she can’t help but completely fall into the rhythm of the band and their music, so different than her own norm. And okay, maybe the singer (who Selina was friends with and called “Harley”) was also kinda hot...

A TENDER HEART AMONG THE GREEN (T) STATS — 3.2k words, gotham city sirens raise Lucy au, domestic bliss PLOT — Harley and Selina come back home to the apartment to find Ivy passed out asleep with Lucy cuddling into the crook of her neck and Selina’s cats cuddling her legs. Knowing that Ivy would rather be caught dead than in such a compromising situation (after all, she is the Poison Ivy, who “hates humans”) the two take a photo, since it lasts longer. Shenanigans and cuteness ensue.

BUILDING YOUR GIRL’S SECOND STORY (M) STATS — 3.3k words, university/grad school au, angst with a happy ending PLOT — Snapshots of Harley’s battle with her violent and abusive boyfriend, Jack, and the way in which Bruce, his boyfriend Clark, and her best friend (and potentially lover) Pamela all love Harley and will do anything, anything, to make sure she gets the help, care, and love she needs.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF NORMAL (T) STATS — 3.6k words, coronavirus pandemic/quarantine au, family au PLOT — Ivy is requested by the Justice League to help create and manufacture a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus. As she works on the vaccine, she video calls Harley and their daughter Lucy, both of whom miss her very much. 

RABBIT IN THE GARDEN (T) STATS — 4.4k words, implied suicide attempt, hard angst PLOT — Winters are difficult to Ivy. When Harley comes home one day to see her submerged fully in water in the bathtub, the only thing Harley can do is cry and take her out. Ultimately Ivy is alright—but it doesn’t make it any easier.

WE WILL BE (EVERYTHING THAT WE’D EVER NEED) (T) STATS — 5.8k words, high school au, angst, hurt/comfort PLOT — Harley and Ivy are best friends from high school, living in the middle of Arizona. Ivy is absolutely head over heels for Harley, but the latter is in a growing and increasingly abusive relationship with the older “bad-boy” (literally) Jack. Eventually, the two grow together in more ways than one.  

WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS (EXCEPT NO DOGS DIE) (M) STATS — 9.7k words, domestic bliss, no powers just botanist & psychiatrist au PLOT — After her abusive ex-boyfriend tries to maniacally tear down the front door of her apartment with an ax as her best friend, Selina, pushes the table against the splintering wood, Bruce recommends that Harley gets a dog. She gets two German Shepard brothers—Bud and Lou—who lead her one day on their walk to the most beautiful flower shop owner Harley’s ever seen. The story of Harley and Ivy, told with Bud and Lou present to witness every moment.

THE MOMENT I AWAKEN GHOSTS (T) STATS — 11.7k words, falling in love, feelings & realizations PLOT — A deep look into Ivy’s feelings and how they evolve from general hatred against Harleen the psychiatrist at Arkham to a blooming, kind and gentle love towards Harley Quinn, the crown jester of crime. 

HARLEQUIN’S ISLE (T) STATS — 17.5k words, hurt/comfort, happy ending, shenanigans, humor PLOT — Harley and Ivy decide to go on a vacation on Bruce Wayne’s new eco-friendly plane, but in a surprise twist of events, things go terribly wrong, Ivy falls out of the plane, and the two (as well as all the other rich and wealthy big-name CEOS on the plane) get stranded on an island with someone actively trying to rob the investors. Harley and Ivy will fight them, god damn it, because they deserve this vacation and they will have it.

LONGER STORIES (30k words to 100k words)

YOUR LOVE (DÉJÀ VU) (G) STATS — 33k words, slow burn, mild angst, canon divergence PLOT — A what-if-Harley-found-Ivy-first fic, YOUR LOVE wonderfully illustrates Dr. Harleen Quinzel treating Ivy in a wonderfully humane and kind way, including learning floriography, the language of flowers, in order to better relate to her. Ivy is taken aback by her doctor's genuine care and begins to develop feelings, all the while Harleen falls hard and fast which wholly confuses and frightens her. The one caveat is that while this is happening, Harleen is also treating the Joker as well, who tries (keyword: tries) to manipulate her. Ivy and Harley dance a timid tango around one another as they try to navigate this new playing field of romantic feelings for one another, and things come to a breaking point when Harleen realizes that, perhaps, all of her patients have a point and that the real villains are not the ones inside the asylum, but rather the ones running it. FAVORITE DETAILS — I just love the way this is written. It provides a wonderful and almost skinny-love like romance (except this takes place in an insane asylum) as Harleen and Ivy both try to understand their strong feelings for one another. The way in which the rogues and other inmates/patients all look out for one another was very heartwarming, and Waylon and Eddie's thinly veiled camaraderie with Ivy—and her thinly veiled appreciation for it—were both lovely and created a really warm environment. It really underlined why Harley loved them because you love them too in the process, and see how she reaches her breaking point.  CHARACTER DEPICTIONS — Harley, as she is in all of my favorite fics, is depicted as an incredibly intelligent and talented psychiatrist. Her caring nature is wonderfully outlined in this fic as she helps Waylon, Eddie, Ivy, and everybody else in the asylum be treated with genuine respect and care, going as far as to get them personalized gifts. Her psyche fracturing slowly never once makes her seem unintelligent to the reader, even as she actively places a ditz persona in order to fool the rest of the asylum staff (and the Joker). Ivy, on the other hand, is illustrated in a way that perfectly shows how all she genuinely needed was someone to listen. She's sometimes harsh and crass but you can see how she begins to soften as Harley helps her and treats her with: you guessed it, genuine respect. FINAL VERDICT — I would get this tattooed on my ass if I could

NOVEL LENGTH WORKS (100k+ words)

ACROSS THE WAY (M) STATS — 128.7k words, slow-burn, tattoo artist & flower shop owner au  PLOT — Botanist and flower shop owner Pamela Isley moves to Gotham from Seattle in search of a new life. Her shop is located directly next to a tattoo shop—one that is incredibly loud and bothersome. Upon walking in to give the shop a piece of her mind, she meets one of the resident artsits, Harley Quinzel, and cannot get her out of her mind. The two become best friends, and feelings slowly start to develop. On a night when Harley is most vulnerable and in need of a place to escape, Pam offers her apartment as a refuge, and from that point on things are never the same again (in the best way possible).  FAVORITE DETAILS — The SIT sessions were a wonderful touch and I loved seeing the recovery of both Ivy and Harley, because it was so real. I also loved how once Harley got out, she did everything in her power to protect both herself and Ivy from Jack, and we got to see her and Ivy grow into their wonderful, healthy romance. CHARACTER DEPICTIONS — I love how all of the characters are illustrated; Selina, who is the caring best friend and genuinely does her best to help others around her all the while being her cocky, usual self. Pam, who escaped Seattle and started anew in Gotham and is the crass botanist and also the insanely kind and caring lover. Barbara is the adorable coffee shop owner, Floyd is the caring figure for Harley that she never had, and everyone is just wonderful.  FINAL VERDICT — literally go read this rn, what are you even doing

MAD LOVE: THE BEGINNING & MAD LOVE: THE FINAL CHAPTER (M) STATS — nearly 400k words total, angst, canon divergence, domestic fluff, slice of life PLOT — imagine YOUR LOVE except this is much longer, much more heart-wrenching, a whole lot more angsty, and Harleen's break with Harley is a lot more prevalent. Another what-if scenario of Dr. Harleen Quinzel meeting and treating the illusive Poison Ivy instead of the Joker, MAD LOVE shows an interesting depiction of the way they manipulate, hurt, care, and love one another. The entire story is riddled with well placed metaphors, recurring themes, and both Ivy and Harley's characters are illustrated in the most complex and interesting way. All throughout both the initial and the sequel, Ivy and Harleen play a metaphorical chess game in manipulation as a means to gain the upper-hand on the other, which creates a dangerous foundation for their following love story. In the sequel, "The Final Chapter," the story starts with Harley and Ivy—already married near the end of "A New Beginning"—having two kids and the entire piece spans over Harley's lifetime until she's on her deathbed, with Ivy still stuck at 33 years old beside her. I personally stopped reading the story after Harley died (I was too emotionally vulnerable to continue on) but if you continue reading on, you get to see Ivy move on and appreciate Harley's impact on her life as she finds love and happiness again after the loss of her wife. FAVORITE DETAILS — We get insight into both Ivy and Harleen's trauma, and how not everything can be fixed with love. Neither Harleen nor Ivy (or their actions for that matter) are characterized as perfect in any way, and the story never excuses any of their more-than-questionable actions; in fact they make MANY mistakes and manipulate one another throughout the story, and both have power over the other (Harleen is her psychiatrist, but Ivy could easily kill her, so emotional power over someone with immense physical power). CHARACTER DEPICTIONS — Harleen is depicted as an incredibly intelligent and capable psychiatrist, and the story somehow wonderfully mixes Harley's desire for violent chaos with Harleen's desire to help others. v Ivy is illustrated as the epitome of "I hate you and will not be nice unless you're literally either my wife or kids." She is seldom kind to others, is often crass, but an entire softy when it comes to Harleen and their children. She's a hard worker and is heavily involved in her research. Harleen, on the other hand, is equally cunning but more lighthearted, extremely athletic and active, the "fun" mom, and less into power trips (unless it's about Ivy). FINAL VERDICT — definitely the most interesting fics I've ever read in my entire fucking life, it's so complex and wonderful and a literal minefield of analysis worthy literature, I'd also get this tattooed on my ass if I could