#Seriously after God Game gonna make one from this musical

[anniflamma]

IM A BIT OBSESS OVER THIS MUSICAL NOW. Seriously, I can’t stop thinking about the motif of 'Didn't even look back' from Of Ashes: The Musical…

That line/melody feels like the root of all the sorrow, pain, and regret that Ashra and Matthias experience. And when freaking Jesus sings that very same motif at the end, for a millisecond, I thought he was going to change the line to 'Go back' or something similar—but he didn’t!! He said the same line but just changed the meaning! 😭

[kikiyoomis]

when you first met suna, the first thing you thought was that “yea he definitely smokes, drinks and fucks around.” and every time you saw him that impression only cemented itself.

your university program had this famed student run party. it was the only highlight of the new school year. people got so incredibly wasted, lost their virginity, got high as fuck… it was a party that encaptured the student body.

you were excited to go to the party, it was a chance to dress up, look sexy and maybe flirt with a couple of guys way out of your league using liquid courage. and besides you had your trustworthy friends with you, so at least you have someone watching your back… at least when they’re sober.

entering the party, the loud music pounded into your ears. people were dancing, drinking, playing games. you scanned the room looking for any familiar faces to go and talk to.

unsurprisingly, you saw suna standing around the patio with a couple of his friends and some girls. he had a red solo cup in hand while his friends smoked. the girls were all giggling and the boys’ body language seemed to give off a flirty intention.

a girl touches suna’s arm and he turns to face her, her hand slipping back to herself. he smiles and laughs and you think to yourself that if he does that more often he could easily be the most popular person on campus. he has the looks and the body it would easily attract a vast majority of people. and it already has for the most part.

‘but it’s none of my business’ you think before heading off towards your friends for a round of shots to start off the night.

drink after drink, dancing with your friends, talking with people you know you’ll never see again, it was really a fun night. so fun in fact, that you’ve ran away from your friends to hide in a dark corner kissing a man you don’t have a single clue about. no seriously. one moment you were dancing, and then the next moment you were no longer on the dance floor with your friends and instead with this man. not that you really care that much consider you’re having the best moment you’ve ever had in your entire life.

he was such a damn good kisser. after every breath you pull him back because you didn’t have enough. tongues fighting for dominance and lips bruising themselves purple with the intensity of the kiss.

“god, fuck, you’re really not gonna let me go huh,” he teases and you leave a hickey on his neck. he places a hand around your ass and leans back, bringing you down with him.

“mmm shut up and kiss me some more” you say locking your lips with his again. it was addicting and you couldn’t get enough of it.

“hey suna where are you?!” a voice calls out suddenly, startling the both of you. the two of you sat in silence, waiting for the guy to pass. you can hear him walking around the little corner you were in, making your heart beat in anxiousness. it would be so embarrassing if someone spots you two…

only when another friend tells him to forget about suna and to just go to the second party that the first guy leaves.

“i thought they’d never leave. that friend has some sense to just leave suna. he’s probably getting high somewhere…” you mumble, a little grumpy at the interruption. the guy you’re with laughs and pulls you closer to the point you’re straddling his lap.

“why? don’t want to share me?” the comment almost cures your drunken mind. despite literally locking lips with him for who knows how long you finally take a look at his face.

suna smiles smugly at you, amused at the fact that the person he’s been kissing simply never bothered to see who it was.

you sat there stunned, at a loss for words. suna leans forward and places a couple of kissing on your exposed nape, travelling upwards until he reaches the corner of your mouth.

“i’ve never been a stoner or done any drugs but i think what you’ve done to me is getting me higher than any drugs could” he teases.

“… you’ve never done drugs?” you say surprised as you mindlessly wrap your arms around his shoulders. though there wasn’t any proof that he did do them, it was just an assumption considering the crowd he involves himself with.

“the worst i do is drink since i am a professional athlete and need to care about diets and shit like that. but im such a lightweight that two drinks is all it takes to have me drunk.”

the reality was so far off of your impression of him. but then again it makes sense.

“do you do this often then? considering what we’re doing now?” you ask, purposefully leaning closer to him to the point you can feel each others breath.

“jealous are we?” he teases, pulling your hips closer to his.

“do you want the whole truth or should i just lie to get this over with so we can book a hotel room and have some fun” he asks, his hand reaching under your shirt, his finger lifting the underwire of your bra ever so slightly.

“if i ask for the whole truth is the hotel room offer still gonna be up?” you ask.

“of course, i’ll make you feel so good that even if you got blackout drunk your body will still remember everything when your mind doesn’t”

it wasn’t that you’ve never liked him, but you’ve also never hated him. he was someone you thought you would never be entangled with so you were indifferent. both of your lives were so different that there wasn’t going to be any reason the two of you would even speak. maybe it was the alcohol in your system but there’s something attracting you to him. something that makes you want to know him more and a little something that would make you sad to see him go.

“i want to know” you tell him.

“i don’t do these things with other people” he says.

“huh? but your frien-“

“my friends do, but i didn’t want to seem like the type of guy to flirt around and seem like an unfaithful partner around my crush. though i seem to have failed according to you”

you raise an eyebrow at suna who seemed to accuse you of ruining his character.

“did your crush reject you? considering you’re even willing to go to a hotel room with me” you act boldly, kissing his cheek while your hand caresses his body lower and lower. suna catches on quickly and grabs your naughty hand and presses to his mouth.

“i don’t think so but i don’t think they’re rejecting me since they’re so excited to go to the hotel room that they can’t keep their hands off of me”

[yourmidnightlover]

(You don’t have to do this) Xavier Thorpe x reader

The try not to kiss each other challenge on tiktok

ahh YES! i hope i brought your request to justice

i'm gonna take this as like a lovers to friends to lovers kinda thing bc there isnt enough of that going around with our beloved xavier

i also wanted to let y'all know that i am working through my requests! inspiration strikes at odd hours, and i'm trying to delegate all of my time respectively to all of the fics i'm working on. but i assure you i will work through everything!

tension

paring: xavier thorpe x reader (duh)

summary: after months of flirting, your friends take matters into their own hands and dared you to do a tiktok trend.

warnings: kissing, tons of tension (also duh),they're cuddly? i don't think there's really anything else but let me know if i've missed something!

it had been months and months of flirting between you and xavier thorpe. consistent, unending, raw flirting. this included the batting of eyelashes, shoving of arms, longing stares, buying of gifts... everything. the whole shebang.

and god, were enid, ajax and wednesday tired of it. wednesday constantly wanted to claw her own eyes out when she saw you. enid thought it was cute the first two months, but after that she was only confused as to why you would never make it official. and ajax would just tease the two of you. he voiced his concerns with xavier, occasionally with you, but mostly with xavier. he would mostly talk about how dumb he was to not just ask you out or make it official.

so, as enid was scrolling through tiktok, she stumbled upon a certain video of two friends... or mayabe they were more? either way, they were sitting in front of each other, and each one moved closer to the other. the premise was whoever breaks the tension and kisses the other loses, she guessed?

regardless, there was tension and there was a kiss and that is exactly what needs to happen with you and xavier in order to put everyone out of their misery.

so, she sent the tiktok to ajax and wednesday, the message reading:

weregirl: OMG! we've got to get them to do this! they'd totally admit everything!

middleoftheweek: this is repulsive to watch, but i hope it will be worth it as long as they get whatever they need to out of their system

snakes4hair: if this gives my boy the push he needs to make a move then i'll do basically whatever

and just like that... the game was afoot.

"dude," ajax was laughing at the lunch table. you had thrown your legs over xavier's lap, your head resting on his shoulder as he played with your hair. "there's this new thing i saw online the other day. enid sent it to me, and i doubt you and y/n would be able to do it," ajax chuckled as he looked towards enid.

"oh, definitely not," enid shook her head exaggeratedly. "they'd never be able to do it."

"do what?" xavier spoke up as he took a bite of your sandwich.

"yea, do what?" you perked up at the idea of a chellnege. "we could do it, right?"

"hell yea," xavier nodded as he pat your thigh. "we could 100% do it."

"i don't think you could," wednesday said curtly, sneering at both you and xavier's closeness. "at all."

"yes we could!" xavier removed his hands from your hair, throwing them up dramatically.

"alright," ajax spoke up. "i dare you to complete little challenge. you have to record it though, as proof, and post it."

"deal!" both you and xavier looked at each other, giving each other a high five that only resulted in your hands holding.

later that night, you and xavier had retreated to his shed as he painted before they sent you the video you had to recreate.

"seriously?" you scoffed. "they're just sitting there looking at each other with music playing," you looked at xavier as the video played.

"wait," he pointed at the screen. "they're like inching closer to each other. like one does and then the other."

"but why?" you got your answer less than thirty seconds later. "oh..." you glanced at xavier, who bit his lower lip before glancing at you with a smile.

"i never back down from a dare," xavier shrugged as he looked at you.

you nodded, "neither do i."

after setting up the camera with the video on the three-minute setting, about to start recording. you were sitting on the mattress that you had both smuggled in his shed, the one that used to be rowans before... well. yea. both sitting across from each other, your legs were overlapped with each other's. then, the music started playing.

at first you were both smiling, giggling, even. you inched closer to his face first, around 10 seconds after the music started. your faces seemed closer than they ever were before, and that's when the smiles faded and the tension built.

he reached around you and pulled you on top of his lap for his move. the longer this went on, the more it felt like a game of chess, only physical. you swore you could see every shade of green littering his irises. his cologne somehow radiated around you. you made the mistake of looking at his lips, curiosity getting the better of you. he was gently biting his lower lip. it was almost as if he wanted you to kiss it better.

then, you placed your hand on the lower side of his face, nearer to his neck. you could feel his pulse rate picking up. it was exciting to see what kind of power you had over him. you could now feel the way you affected him. now, you saw as his eyes went to your lips which only made you smirk that much more.

he used both of his hands to bring your face right in front of his. he was everywhere. to your side, you would see his hands. his hands took up nearly your entire face, and you loved the way they felt against your skin. part of you never wanted them to leave. you could nudge his nose with your own if you even slightly moved. you were getting close to losing this whole game. you wouldn't. you couldn't.

you tilted your head to the left, bringing your lips closer to his own but not touching. you were so close you could practically breathe in each other's air. you could feel his pulse pick up once more before you licked your lips, you felt his chuckle radiating around your head. but when you looked in his eyes you felt something totally different. it was heavier. it was more.

then, with a mumble, "screw it," he pulled your face into his own, kissing you with all the tension he had built up over not just the past two minutes, but from the past months of doing nothing.

your hand moved up to his hair, running through it like you had so many times. in this context, though, your hand running through his hair was so, so much different. it was much more intimate.

you let his tongue into your mouth happily, nearly breaking the kiss with how big of a grin you had on your face. one of his hands moved to your waist, wrapping around you like the warmest hug you've ever had. your other hand was holding the hand still on your face. you meant it when you said you never wanted them to leave.

truth be told, you never wanted him to leave. you never wanted to stop kissing him. you've wanted to for months on end, but you were too scared of being rejected. you thought he was joking about all of the flirting sometimes. the touches, everything. but this kiss felt more real than time.

"i think i won," xavier whispered as he went up for air. you shook your head.

"i think ajax won," you chuckled as you both began to laugh. "him or myself, of course," you rolled your eyes.

"we all won," he compromised.

"stupid tension, huh?"

[spif-lol]

Reasons why the simpsons hit and run stream is jerma's best stream

it's ELEVEN HOURS LONG

you get to witness his slow descent into madness as he insists on playing the whole game in one sitting

I can watch it when i replay the game, would recommend makes it way more enjoyable

he spends too much time doing really bad impressions trying to copy voice lines for the game and yelling "HIRE ME IM AVAILABLE"

He decides to confess half an hour in that he knows nothing about the simpsons and has only seen like one or two episodes

this is ten minutes after he references a specific episode, and then proceeds to get told off for 'spoiling' an episode of the simpsons (from like 1995) by chat

Chat also somehow manages to convince him that ten year old boy Bart Simpson's famous catchphrase from everyone's favourite family animated tv show is 'eat ass'

In general it switches between him refusing to believe things people tell him about the game despite being true and falling for obvious lies

he starts the game going 'lol wouldnt it be funny if you could run over simpsons characters' and then jokingly drives towards civillians thinking they'll jump out of the way. they go flying. he is so confused

the dissonance between early and later parts of the stream are palpable. It turns from a cheerful and lighthearted exploration of a funny simpsons game that he refuses to take seriously or accept that it could genuinely make him angry, and transforms into a desperate race against time, his computer and his own hubris as he seeks simply to finish the game so he can sleep. This stream destroys him.

the way the stream highlights are named on his youtube is hilarious. "Jerma will not get angry at the simpson's hit and run" -> "Jerma might get a bit angry at the simpson's hit and run" -> "d'oh"

it's extremely funny how many time he's convinced he's in the last level of the game, only to be wrong. the first time he thinks that is in the first section and hour of the stream

easily his most rewatchable stream (this is gonna cover a lot of dot points)

the amount of tragic irony and foreshadowing in this stream is almost cinematic.

at the very start of the game he complains about the music being too loud and monologues about sounds and over stimulation of game music bothers him, which of course will be very funny in the finale

he also comments a few time at the start about how annoying homer's random voice lines are, and says 'oh god he's gonna repeat that a thousand times before the end of this game'. he's right, and it nearly drives him crazy by the final mission

speaking of the final mission(s), the second time he has to transport the toxic sludge from power plant to the school he like pauses the game and very seriously addresses chat like 'alright tell me right now are the next three levels also me driving the nuclear waste to the school that cant be possible right'. and then just accepting in defeat that that is in fact how this incredibly stupid and difficult children's game finishes

when he first races against the malibu stacy car and gets destroyed he gets mad and says he wishes he could drive that car. then when he gets to drive it in later levels he quickly decides its his favourite and maintains that until the end of the game

on rewatch... you hear him audibly crack open a can that chat demands he prove to them is soft drink and not alcohol like A WHOLE HOUR before The Incident and it's a little like watching a disaster movie where you see the characters laughing and having fun little knowing how they are being hastened towards their own doom... like chat keeps bugging him about it, he keeps making excuses, he keeps sipping the drink. they bring attention to it so much and you listen to it just knowing the pain that is yet to come. dramatic irony at its finest and most heartache inducing

15. ohmyfucking gaaaawd no! no... god... ICANDOITINAJUMP! ..... BART. WHERE IS HE??? BAAART!!!! AAAUUGH

16. actually fr there's a lot of memorable jerma lines in this stream, rewatching it is like watching a jerma funny moment compilation

17. the final couple of levels where he is getting steadily more overwhelmed to the point of ferality, and then he says he has an idea and goes to the sound menu and turns everything off. voice lines. music. sound effects. and then we watch him play the level in complete silence. and it actually helps him focus its really funny

18. the whole tragic sequence where he is in the FINAL LEVEL. he has played it so many times and just missed it by a few seconds. he is tired. he is hungry. he just wants to get off stream and eat a BURGER. he is focussing as hard as he can. he is almost there. he runs over too many things and the police are after him. but its okay. he's doing it! he's gonna make it!!! he gets to the school with time to spare and is sucked up into the end of the game beam. it's over. except then the police get sucked into the beam as well. he gets arrested in the beam. which teleports him and the car out of the beam. WHICH MEANS THE TIMER RUNS OUT AND HE LOSES. so he has to do it all over again. it's actually so so so funny and also something i think i personally wouldn't survive if i was in jerma's position in that moment

19. okay we have to talk about The Incident. bc i already alluded to it and bc like, i couldn't not talk about it. as stated above Jerma cracks open a can so you can hear it and chat immediately accuses him of being an alcoholic. he adamantly insists that it is a soft drink not a beer but they refuse to believe him unless he proves it by showing camera. he's playing on a modded ps2 pc port or whatever of the simpsons so it's a complicated setup and he explains that it would be too hard and also he's shirtless so they will just have to believe without seeing. chat continues to harass him while he goes on to play the game, specifically most of the lisa level. he laughs it off but eventually caves, gets up and get a blanket to cover himself and then alt tabs, holds his can up to the camera and says 'alright you satisfied? that might have just fucked up the game'. so then he tries to tab back into the game and it. crashes. hard. so hard that the game won't actually turn back on. so jerma's cursing and fiddling with the controls and saying its over. then it finally reboots and the game works and he's so relieved and it loads and he realises that he has lost SO MUCH PROGRESS. he's back at the start of the lisa section. this is truly the turning point of the game where it goes from being a fun experience to a nightmare gauntlet

20. on a related note: jerma waiting with bated breath *sound of simpsons game booting back up after refusing to for far too long* jerma: yeeeAAAAAH

21. im watching it right now as i replay, which is why im thinking about it obv. so i will almost certainly have more to add to this

[xoxomoonlightxoxo]

Don't Get Attached | Part 3

➪ Playlist (Spotify)

➪ W/c: 1640

I Can Beg For You

Even though it has been about a week since Jungkook and I last saw each other he has yet to miss a day of not calling my phone at least once. Of course, I don’t answer, not because I’m petty but more so because I fear that my emotions might take over again. I’ve been a mess since the incident and that’s putting it lightly. I mean, I don’t remember the last time I stepped foot out of my apartment but I guess today’s the day as my friend, Jinni invited the girls and me out for a night out. Do I want to go? No, not really. Should I go? Yes, probably. As much as I’ve grown comfortable with rotting away in my room, I simply cannot keep doing this. 

So, I put on my tightest mini dress and let the curls loose before spraying the perfume Jungkook adored so much. The truth is, I can’t seem to let him go, not yet at least. In my head we are still together, so I pay the price of that delusion by filling the void in my heart with his sweet lies. You can call me naive all you want but something about him is just … I don’t know … irresistible, I guess. No, fuck him. For the love of God, don’t get attached y/n. 

- -

Making our way into the club we are welcomed by the pungent smell of alcohol mixed with sweat and cologne as Jinni pulls me straight to the dance floor. The place is packed and there isn’t much space to actually bust a move if you know what I mean, so most people resorted to simply grinding on each other. Realizing that I’m too sober to take this seriously I excuse myself to grab us some drinks. However, as the night went on, one shot turned into three which then doubled and after that, I just lost count. Feeling the alcohol in my system, the whole grinding thing no longer bothered me as much. 

Pulling Jinni closer we danced the night away, screaming our lungs out when the DJ played throwback Usher songs. It was all fun and games until I really let loose. The louder the music got the quieter my thoughts were and the more I drank the less I could think clearly, which in hindsight was a recipe for a disaster but in the moment was exactly what I needed. So, there I was, strutting away to some Timbaland on top of the wooden countertop as drunk men kept throwing dollar bills at me. While I was unfazed by the whole thing, Jinni had a heart attack after each shaky step I took in my 4-inch heels. The probability of me falling off was as high as most people in the club, so her concern was not exaggerated. 

“Y/n please come down, you’re gonna fall,” she screams, unfortunately for her, I was now surrounded by a sound barrier from the blasting overhead speakers. 

“Jiiinniii, dance with me,” I whine, eyes barely open as my arms reach for her. Shaking her head, Jinni quickly grabbed her phone and dialled the only person she knew could deal with my drunk self. 

“Jungkook? Hey, please hurry, y/n is drunk and won’t get down from bar island,” she screams into the speaker, turning her head to the lounge area where the rest of our group was. A rookie mistake, since by the time her attention was back on the table I was no longer there. Instead, I was in the poorly lit women’s bathroom with some random guy whose grip tightened around my waist. 

“Can I kiss you?” he whispers, gaze focused on my lips as my back presses onto the cold wall. 

“Do whatever you want,” I sigh, intertwining my hands in his dishevelled hair. I know it’s wrong, but if I keep my eyes closed I can almost feel Jungkook’s embrace. His veiny hands on my thighs as we both gasp for air from the sinful kisses. All that, of course, is merely the work of my imagination. At that moment, it’s not Jungkook's hands, not his lips, not him. With all the alcohol in my system, my body has become numb to external sensations until a familiar melody rings from my purse. Speaking of the devil, it’s Jungkook. Did my heartbeat increase? Maybe. 

“Come over y/n,” Jungkook says, his voice raspy and harsh as he presses on the gas pedal, speeding by the passing cars towards the night club. 

“Can’t baby, I’m a bit busy,” I whisper softly, breath hitched from the sudden feel of the guy’s hand on my ass. As he leaves a trail of kisses on my exposed collarbone I bite down on my lip, until a small moan escapes my mouth. 

“Y/n, who is that?” Jungkook growls at the sound coming from his phone. One that is too familiar for his liking as his imagination runs wild, connecting the dots regarding the context of the situation. Closing his eyes for a moment, he can picture your form in a tight dress that pushes your cleavage up with your hair laid perfectly over your shoulders. Just the way he likes it. Fuck, he thinks to himself. 

“Sorry, I have to go,” I yelp, dropping the phone on the floor as my hands now rest on his chest. Lifting my fatigued body onto the countertop, my legs naturally wrap around his torso. It hurts to do this to Jungkook but damn, does he deserve it. It’s time he finally gets a taste of his own medicine. 

- -

Jungkook’s POV

Turning off the engine, I rush towards the entrance of the club passing by half-naked women who clearly had way too much fun. As one of them stops in front of me, I look around the crowded place trying to spot y/n in the neon lights. 

“Dance with me, pretty boy,” she says, placing her hands on my jean jacket as her shivering body leans closer to mine. She’s young. Too young. No amount of makeup can cover up those naive eyes.

“Sorry love, I’m here for my own drunkhead,” I say with a wink, before noticing Jinni dozed off in the lounge area. Pushing past the wave of people, the smell of alcohol in their system can be detected from two blocks away. 

“Jinni! Jinni, wake up. Where’s y/n??” I yell through the blaring music, slightly moving her shoulders in hopes that it’ll wake her up. How does one even fall asleep when Nicki Minaj’s ‘Super Bass’ is basically shouting at you? Nonetheless, I try to catch her attention as our eyes finally lock. 

“Jungkooook, I’m sorryyy. I told y/n to stop drinking but she wouldn’t listen. I swear, I turned my head for one second and then boom, she was gone,” Jinni cries out, covering her flushed face in her palms before looking up at my concerned expression. 

“That’s ok Jinni, just stay here I’m gonna look for her,” I say calmly, putting my jacket over her exposed legs before heading back towards the dance floor. Where could y/n be? Dialing her phone number the signal goes straight to voicemail. Shit. 

It’s been about 10 minutes and I swear I’ve been going in circles. I’d already mistaken four different girls for y/n, yet she is still nowhere to be found, that is until I saw the barely lit restroom sign at the back of the club. Wouldn’t hurt to check, right? 

Walking past the men’s restroom I’m certain that y/n was sober enough to recognize the difference between the two. So, I take a deep breath before knocking on the door. No answer. I mean what was I expecting? She is probably passed out on the toilet or something. Placing a few more knocks, this time with more power, I’m interrupted by a series of soft moans. I might have lost half of my hearing since I got here, but her pretty voice, yeah … I can recognize it anywhere. Pushing the door open, my eyes focus on her heaving chest as some dumbass tightens his grip on her waist. 

“Get the fuck off of her!” I growl, pushing him to the wall as my fist meets his face. Three punches in and his nose began to bleed before y/n stepped in front of me. Eyes locked on my tense face, she places her hands on my burning chest, begging me to stop as my vision gets blurry. 

“Jungkook please,” she cries out, pulling my arms towards her chest to prevent another hit. Gaze focused on her teary eyes, I let out a deep sigh, tilting my head as an indication for the guy to leave. Which he does immediately. 

“Y/n, what are you doing having stranger’s hands all over you?” I yell out, a bit too harshly than I wanted to. But I couldn’t help it. I could feel my heartbeat in my throat as she suddenly dropped my arms, wiping the tears off of her face. 

“No better than being touched by a cheater, right?” she scoffs, shaking her head at my remark. 

“How many times do you want me to apologize? What else do you want me to do? Do you want me to beg for you? I can beg for you,” I whisper into her ear, nibbling on the soft skin before getting on my knees. Looking up at her darkened eyes, I pull her body closer before tracing small circles on her soft skin. Moving her leg over my shoulder I begin to place a trail of soft kisses up her shivering limb, gaze focused on her whimpering pretty face. Each kiss was followed by a sinful plea.

“That’s it, baby, just relax,” 

Previous l Next

[wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee28374728]

Until Dawn character hcs

Sam:

Her music taste is crazy. Like the same playlist could have Beethoven, Iron Maiden, The BeeGees and Taylor Swift

Does aerobics in her pajamas

Doesn't know how to order at Starbucks (she just wanted a medium)

Had a dog walking business in high school

Knows how to surf

Will absolutely destroy you in most strategy based board games

Favorite holiday is Halloween

Chris:

Dog person AND cat dad

Far sighted

Huge history nerd, had a ww2 phase in high school that never completely went away

Guy at a camping trip who tells the ghost story that leads up to a joke

Knows exactly what to do when a woman is on her period

Nervous fidgets; bouncing leg, tapping on desk/table, etc

Knew where everything was in his school backpack at all times

Ashley:

Say it with me people: Only. Fucking. Child.

Will get mad at you for saying pumpkin spice latte is basic

Was a horse girl in middle school

Owns more scented candles than a bath and body works

Has gotten her fortune told at a carnival and taken it pretty seriously

Had braces

Smokes weed

Mike:

Track and field

Can't find the clit

Paid other people to do his homework

Wanted to be a firefighter when he was 6

Shockingly scared of bugs, used to make Emily kill them for him, but Jess won't do it

Can swim but doesn't like it

Was really close with Sam when they were younger, Sam is the one who introduced him to the group.

Jessica:

Used to be much happier and more chill before puberty, after which she felt pressure to live up to her looks

Her and Emily used to be super close and she misses it

Was a Frozen kid and still watches it a lot

Most definitely bi curious at least(Emily to blame)

Reads her horoscope but doesn't actually take it seriously

Emily:

Wayyyy to much Disney Channel in her early childhood, now loves drama

The middle of many siblings, acts the way she does for more attention

Was vegetarian at some point

Secretly misses being close with Jess, but makes sure no one knows

Needs rain sounds to sleep

Really wants Matt to stand up to her, this is why she's so hard on him

Matt:

Easily confused when women aren't completely direct

Probably smoked weed at least once, but quit doing it when he started doing sports

Nervous around babies(so small what if he panicked and dropped them)

Had an earring in one ear at one point, but his parents had him take it out and now the piercing is healed over

Can't tell the difference between nail polish shades

Josh:

Would fight god in the Denny's parking lot for someone if they gave him a hug

His bedroom/college dorm is covered in so many movie and band posters you can't see the wall anymore

Talks to cats like they're people

Confused rich(wait his is the only family with six cars??)

Jokes about sex and women, but if he saw a girl being taken advantage of he's gonna slap a frat bro

Owns a VHS tape player

Friggin s l e e p s in checkered shirts

Hannah:

Plant mom

Inspirational quotes on the wall

Best party is a book and a blanket

Nature documentaries

Josh's partner in crime

Loved dolls as a little kid, not Barbies, like baby dolls and porcelain dolls

Fairy lights in her bedroom

Loves music, Josh started buying her cassette tapes and now she collects them

Beth

Can you say LESBIAN?

Is never seen without her hat

Tried to stop Josh and Hannah from causing trouble, it never worked

Uggs and leggings

Smokes weed with Ashley

Her side of her and Hannah's bedroom is so much neater and cleaner

Total metalhead but no one knows bcs "she doesn't look it"

Dr. Hill:

Accidentally opened YouTube once while trying to find the news app

Can't work if the music has lyrics, it's too distracting

Might have a husband

Has such doctor handwriting that he can't hardly read it himself

Coffee addict

911 on speed dial(he's worried about all his patients)

The real Dr Hill is really nice, only the hallucination version is all threatening

Flamethrower guy:

Fucking loves soup

Hasn't bought clothes in years, and got them all secondhand

Has been off the mountain exactly twice

"When did kids get this dumb?"

Secretly stays in the lodge sometimes when no one is there bcs it's shelter and it's kinda fancy

Actually feels crazy guilty for not saving the twins

Was very happy to see Mike making friends with his wolves

[legitalicat]

Get to know Appalachian Sihtric

Collection Masterlist here!

Appalachian Sihtric is getting interviewed for a local newspaper. He has become a pillar in his community, and the people want to know more. These are his real, unedited answers.

If you have any questions you want to ask Appalachian Sihtric, feel free to drop them below or send them in.

Q: You come home after a long day at work. Name three things you're doing first.

Sihtric: Kissing my woman. That is the number one thing. She opens my truck door for me when I get home just for that. And then, I'm probably gonna hop in the shower. It's dirty work I do. And my woman, YN darlin' I love you, she cooks while I'm showerin' so then I get to just relax and eat dinner with her.

Q: What is your favorite meal?

Sihtric: Aw shit, that's hard. I'm a big breakfast person. Love me a good plate of biscuits and gravy. I think otherwise, gotta say chicken and waffles, or French toast if we go to Cracker Barrel, or pot roast. YN's mom makes the best pot roast, especially her Sunday deer pot roast.

Q: What sort of activities do you like to do in your free time?

Sihtric: Keeping YN away from animal auctions, hahahaha. But seriously, I love to go fishin'. I used to go huntin', but YN worries if I go alone and Finan and Osferth can't shut up long enough to get a deer, and Uhtred has enough kids he can't come out.

Q: What would you say is your favorite childhood memory?

Sihtric: Aww man. My favorite thing ever was when my grandparents used to take me to flea markets and yard sales. I'd find so much cool shit, I was like a dragon and would hoard all the little things. It was so much fun, and I still have a couple things. Like a guitar, I got it hanging up in our bedroom, and I made my grandpa sign it for me. He was crazy talented musically and to this day, that thing is my favorite thing I've ever owned.

Q: Last one for now. Where is your favorite place to go with your wife, YN?

Sihtric: This may be the hardest question ever, hahaha. There are no bad places with her. I think the most beautiful times we have together are like, the really mundane stuff. Going to the grocery store and the like. Something that reminds me, shows me, we're working together and building a life and a future together. She gets really happy when I take her to buy video games, too, so anything that gives her that level of joy is always amazing. As far as like, date spots go? Probably Cracker Barrel. It's probably the simplest place I could take her, I know, but gods above. She loves the food, loves the atmosphere. She loves wandering the gift shop, especially around the holidays and they get a bunch of really neat stuff.

><><><><><><><><><

Taglist: @foxyanon @thenameswinter99 @zaldritzosrose @sihtricfedaraaahvicius

If you want added to the taglist, let me know!

[aquatark]

Can I ask your opinion on Endless Ocean Luminous?

Thanks for the ask anon! :D

I've been trying to get my thoughts on this game together into something that makes sense for a while now, but no better time than the present!

tldr: I seem to like it more than most people! I think this game is alright though it's still very flawed, and I'm still enjoying myself with it, but it seems very clearly rushed and it shows. I'm still very happy that the series has a third entry at all, and am looking forward to the future of the series after this game!

...okay, now I'm gonna aimlessly ramble for wayyy too long lmao (spoilers under the cut if you haven't played)

So, to get a few of my biggest gripes out of the way:

Having completed it... the plot is god awful (esp the ending, iykyk). I think I would have preferred having none at all, but Daniel is cool

The English voice of Sera isn't ideal, though this is an issue other languages (like Japanese, French) don't seem to have

The setting, character development, and lore is much more shallow, uninteresting, and poorly-explored through gameplay than any other diving game Arika has made, which is saying a lot bc EO1's plot was invented pretty close to release, and is known for also not being great

The game doesn't run as smoothly as I'd like. maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I remember a time when devs didn't feel like they could release their game if it crashes as often online as this game does

Some of this game's creature textures are far less polished than they ought to be for a Switch game. Surprisingly, most of the ones ported from Arika's defunct mobile fishing game are fine! It's stuff like the megamouth shark and bigfin reef squid that really stand out to me as sub-par

I'm not as bothered about this as some ppl seem to be, but I would have liked a little more customization freedom, ala EO2's suit cuts

Many creature descriptions are copied verbatim from EO2, which I really dislike. wasted a perfect opportunity to highlight different aspects of creatures, not rehash the same tired and basic facts

Though I love the concept of dynamic time of day underwater, it's executed very poorly imo. Could have done with some more fine-tuning (something that could be said abt... a lot of this game lol)

All of this however only detracts a little from my enjoyment of the game overall.

The fact that something like the story can be shipped in the final product with a dev team that shares many many people with the original EO games (seriously, compare the staff lists on the wiki, I genuinely teared up seeing so many familiar faces again)... suggests to me that this game was subjected to crazy time constraints, though I don't have any concrete proof. Nintendo has been known recently to be anti-crunch with some of its biggest IPs, so maybe an Arika problem? Regardless, this game shouldn't have released in the condition it's in, and definitely should not be the price it is.

I really don't like being too negative though, so I won't be! After all, and this may be controversial coming from an EO blog... but the various flaws of Arika's previous diving games made this not be the biggest surprise to me. I mean, I 100%ed EO1, including collecting every salvage and getting all gear/hairstyles! Do you have any idea how hellish that is? I eat slop for breakfast!!

I've still been playing a lot of this game with my dear friend MDB (us pictured below), and there are a lot of things I like about it!

I will, for example, drool all over this game's sound design till the day my son "dies" in a tragic submarine accident. Ayako Saso (main talent behind Everblue 1/2, EO1/2, and Luminous' original compositions and sound in general) knocked it out of the park as usual, with the menu sfx feeling really Everblue reminiscent in a way I adore, and the music easily being some of the best in the series. I know many fans are disappointed by there being no vocal tracks, but honestly? While I like the fact EO1 and 2 had them, they simply wouldn't have fit in this game. So I'm chill about it.

I think the random generation and focus on multiplayer are fun and fresh for the series! I have EO1 and 2 when I want polished singleplayer gameplay, and this game when I feel like something else. EO1 and 2's multiplayer objectively sucked, so it's a really interesting angle to take. The gameplay loop is entertaining enough for me - I like salvaging, scanning creatures, collecting tags, and hunting orbs, both in solo and shared dives. The framework is solid, but could use a little more meat.

The fact they were finally able to realize the "Ancient Sea" concept that had been thrown around during development since EO1 is lovely. Despite having been a dinosaur kid, I'm not really knowledgeable on any of the species depicted in-game, so their designs don't bother me... I'm just a sucker for human ruins overrun by prehistoric life!

Though there are some categories of sea creature that I'm a little sad not to see anymore, like seadragons, sea slugs, and many marine mammals... I don't mind this game's different roster. I like the creature variety, because imo, it would have been a little boring and predictable to have the roster just be every creature that was previously in EO, plus some new ones. This system avoids the kind of problem Pokémon games are currently having, where they have so many critters that they can't possibly put them all in one game, but fans are upset not to have the entire dex ported, y'know? It's like playing EO for the first time again!

I've seen several people theorize that the series was "intentionally sabotaged with a bad new game, so that they have an excuse not to make any more EO games", and... I mean... all I'll say about that is that there's no use killing something that's already dead lol. There'd been no games for over a decade, and very little demand for one - why would a game company looking to make money put so much effort and money into marketing, development, pre-order bonuses, and My Nintendo rewards in order to create hype for a game that's bad on purpose... when they could have kept the series dead for free? Nintendo clearly believe the concept of diving games has legs (or fins ig), with a staff team who love the ocean and dive irl, and are trying new things to see if it sticks better than the previous four games they've made, which collectively sold worse than Luminous did.

It may not all be great, or even good, but experimentation and trying unconventional things is what made EO such a special series in the first place baybee! We just remember the parts of it we liked, and forget the really dumb stuff. The EO team has never been perfect, and I can see their smudgy fingerprints all over this game... I mean, these are the same devs who didn't notice a crash so bad it had their game recalled, and repeatedly yoinked copyrighted material without permission to use in their games... but that's a long post for another day lol.

Soooo yeah! Those are some of my thoughts! Feel free to express your own thoughts on the game here - I'd be curious what other people think, and I'd be more than happy to answer more asks on specific elements of the game, or just getting me talkin' about this game, or any other game in the series for that matter! Any EO questions at all, ask away~!

Thanks for reading, hehe! >( ')

[adrinoir]

Lesbian Headcanons Pt. 1: Chloe

I seriously enjoy writing all kinds of headcanons and analyzing this show. I want to talk about Chloe. She was such a queen from the start and Thomas just hardcore assassinated her character. So, I’m gonna put a good spotlight on her.

Also there are a ridiculous (utterly ridiculous!) amount of signs that backup this headcanon.

Her crush on Adrien seems theatrical & superficial

Chloe has always been very over the top acting as like she has this big crush on Adrien and that they’d be so good together. But, it seems very superficial.

What proves this superficiality is the way she talks about him in Sole Crusher. When she’s trying to teach Zoe how to behave, she talks about Adrien like he’s arm candy.

“Rule #148: you obviously need a guy BFF to wrap around your finger, preferably gorgeous and very rich. That one over there is mine!”

That is the direct quote from Chloe. Also take note as to how she doesn’t mention him being her crush nor claim that he’s her boyfriend. She only calls him her BFF.

Does she even value him as her friend? That’s tough to say. But, he’s given her ultimatums on multiple occasions and she hasn’t really followed through with trying to better herself. It’s sad.

She only goes after him when Marinette gets in the way

Have you noticed this? Chloe doesn’t really make much of an effort to pursue Adrien unless Marinette is stepping in to make a move on him. She makes it her mission to specifically target and sabotage Marinette. There’s less of an effort to get Adrien and more of an effort to sabotage Marinette.

There are very few times that she actually goes after Adrien on her own. But god forbid Marinette takes action, things start to blow up. She’s gone great lengths just to stop Marinette. For instance, in the Gabriel Agreste episode, she takes a video of Marinette and her friends planning to break into the party at the Agreste mansion. Then, she keeps running around the party trying to make sure the video gets exposed.

I feel like she’s secretly crushing on Marinette but either doesn’t realize it or is purposely hiding the fact that she does.

Try and tell me this sounds like a stretch, but I stand by what I say lol. Let’s do a comparison as some back up: Sharpay Evans in High School Musical is a rich, blond “mean girl” type just like Chloe. She’s friends with Troy and is very over the top about the crush she has on him. However, the difference is that she pursues him on her own plenty of times, not only when Gabrielle gets in the way. She did a fantastic job of impressing him in the second movie, going as far as to give him a scholarship and a connection with people who work for the college he wanted to attend. Chloe has never gone that far to try to impress Adrien on her own, despite having the ability to do something like Sharpay did.

She fits the “Enemies to Lovers” Trope

One could also argue that she’s bullied Marinette for years, which is obviously cruel. If she cared for her, why would she treat her that way? Well, this fits the “enemies to lovers” trope and that unhealthy narrative of “if (so and so) makes fun of you, it just means they have feelings for you.”

Bullies typically have a lot of underlying insecurities which is what makes them bully others - projection. And, while yes, we see Chloe has a bad relationship with her mother, she’s pretty damn confident in herself (like, seriously, this girl thinks she’s so popular knowing damn well most people in school don’t like her) and doesn’t really show many signs of having loads of underlying insecurities. So, with that being said, if it’s not self projection, then what is it? A crush on Marinette doesn’t seem too far fetched.

Will the enemies to lovers trope come to fruition? Will she ever get with Marinette? Obviously NOT. Marinette and Adrien are end game. Chloe won’t get with either of them. But this doesn’t mean it’s completely impossible for her to have a secret crush on Marinette.

Kagami intimidates her

Kagami is very upfront and serious which can be intimidating in itself. But she somehow scared Chloe right away, Chloe - a girl who’s supposedly a big bad bully. 

In their very first interaction, Kagami is the one to dish out the very threatening line, not Chloe. In the span of this one sentence, she’s able to make Chloe back off which is very unlike Chloe.

After that, notice how Chloe now targets Kagami. She went great lengths to humiliate her in front of Adrien in Animaestro. And even fast forwarding all the way up to Perfection, she gangs up with Lila specifically to sabotage Marinette and Kagami. So, with that repeated behavior on Kagami, there’s that possibility that she’s secretly crushing on her, too. 

Her & Sabrina play as Ladybug & Cat Noir

Of course any friends can dress up as Ladybug and Cat Noir without the possibility of them liking each other romantically (like Ladybug and Cat Noir do). But, Sabrina has shown signs of being fruity, too, which makes this a bit different.

Sabrina dedicates a lot of time to Chloe and has this undeniable super strong admiration for her. Unfortunately, Chloe abuses this and constantly asks her to perform favors for her. To do another character comparison, if you’ve ever watched Dan and Riya’s YouTube series Beverly Valley High, Rhubarb mirrors Sabrina in a lot of ways. Rhubarb is the dopey friend of the popular mean girl, Cinnamon. She’s often her sidekick in her plans to wreck the two main characters, and is also asked to do favors for her. Initially, the audience is led to think that Rhubarb is sticking by Cinnamon to be popular and benefit from her wealthy lifestyle. However, in recent episodes, it was revealed that Rhubarb has had feelings for her this whole time which is why she doesn’t leave her side. With that being said, I feel like this same thing could apply to Sabrina.

Her own half-sister is canonically queer

It can no longer be denied: Zoe isn’t straight. Not only were there pretty obvious signs in previous episodes, in Deflagration, she openly flirted with Scarabella.

It isn’t said how Zoe identifies, but what’s interesting is that her color scheme is all the colors in the pansexual pride flag. Obviously there’s many different sexualities that involve attraction to the same gender that Zoe could potentially be, but the colors are just a little sign I noticed.

Anyhow, considering she is canonically queer, that means Chloe could be too. It’s definitely not impossible. There obviously doesn’t have to be “one straight sibling and one gay sibling.”

She has really high standards

Chloe makes it very clear many, many times that she wants a guy who’s gorgeous and rich. She won’t consider or talk to any guy who she doesn’t think is attractive and isn’t rich. This can be seen as comphet behavior.

In case you don’t know what comphet is, here’s the definition: compulsory heterosexuality (comphet for short) - When somebody experiences "attraction" to the opposite gender because that expectation has been pushed on them by the patriarchal society, this is quite often experienced by lesbians.

Unnecessarily high - or completely unrealistic - standards can be considered as comphet behavior because it gives the closeted lesbian a reason to deny men and validate the fact that they don’t want to date a man. Chloe has only shown desire for Adrien and Prince ? (I forgot his name, oops) who are both rich, good looking guys. But, again, both of those “crushes” are very superficial.

Conclusion

Chloe seems like the stereotypical mean girl chasing after he popular boy in school. But, taking a second look, she doesn’t seem to really be all that attracted to Adrien nor any of the guys in the show like she tries to claim.

I think Chloe shows a lot of comphet behavior and there seems to be far too many reasons to back up the headcanon that she isn’t into guys. I like this headcanon that she’s a lez. It makes sense and seeing her in this way makes me like her more! She has so much potential to be a more well-rounded, in depth character.

This is going to be a multi part headcanon because Chloe is definitely not the only girl in Miraculous who seems fruity. I plan on writing about any who have shown a lot of signs.

[incomescrane]

random AWII thoughts after finishing Final Draft

or: the ramblings of someone who’s thought about this game way too much. Lore, speculations, and silliness under the cut.

Both endings bug me a bit in terms of how Saga acts towards Alan. Now I’m not going to blame her too much- the stress of what the story is doing to her family is enough to make anyone break, and my girl stays strong in the face of all that. But I do think she was a bit too quick to judge him and assume he wrote those details himself, as opposed to the Dark Place filling them in when she was edited into the story (making up a cause to fit the effect, etc etc).

Following that: Saga is probably critical of Alan because she thinks existing and moving through the Dark Place is as easy for him as it is for her- moreso maybe, since he's been there for 13 years and should be experienced. In reality it's the complete opposite.

Exhibit A: After she's thrown in she experiences the same fragmenting Alan does in the Signal + Writer DLCs, but is able to break out of it easily because she has her Mind Place. She confronts her doubts and insecurities without them manifesting in the Dark Place and actually attacking her in the shape of barrels and tires with annoying physics.

Exhibit B: When she meets Breaker and get the page about Door traversing the Dark Place, Tim mentions he followed the instructions but wasn't able to follow the path, meaning the rules Alan follows actually exist and are not self-imposed. Alan had to write the first draft of Initiation to be able to go through Caldera Street Station and arrive at Parliament Tower. If the story doesn't make sense, reality won't shift. Saga in the meantime is able to will the door to take her where she wants to go, because she is a Door. 

TLDR: Saga’s a superwoman genetically engineered to be able to survive the Dark Place.

Alan’s cheeks look very pinchable. I made this known at every possible opportunity to my friends, who I was streaming the game for.

We are now up to 3 types of people with powers: Parautilitarians (can bind and use OoPs, manifest various effects), Seers (can access and make use of a space they manifest in their minds), and what I’m gonna call Plane shifters (like Door and Ahti, can traverse planes of existence with ease). Granted Ahti might just be a straight up god but who knows, the Remedyverse is complex.

I don’t know if/how Ahti knew the original Tom Zane, but I like to think he calls Alan Tom because he’s friends with the Old Gods, and picked it up from them.

Speaking of Ahti, the last time he and Alan meet, Alan takes care to pronounce his name properly. The interactions between those two get me every time cause they show the softer side of Alan still there even after all the Dark Place’s torture.

No seriously, look at his DBD model and tell me you don’t just want to squish his little face.

Zane in Room 665 doing the exact same dance as Scratch from AWAN, to the exact same music, cannot be a coincidence.

After Alice supposedly offed herself, Barry was left to pick up the pieces and empty out her apartment- that’s why we see the Blessed company boxes there.

Speaking of which: I need an Alan-Barry reunion yesterday. Or an Alan-Jesse team up to deal with Chester Bless and break my boy Barry out of his cult. Control 2 when?

If the Clicker is an OoP then the Angel Lamp might also be one. Heck they might be two bits of the same OoP. Is there a plug somewhere out there that also has a power? Or a lampshade?

After years of references to Campbell’s monomyth, from AWI, to the lyrics to Sankarin Tango, to AWII, the moment Alan calls himself the master of many worlds broke me to tears. Like hell yeah Alan, you go babygirl, you deserve it!!!

[rainbowangel110]

Horizons Episode 33!! Wow this was a good one

AMETHIO!!!!! He's back :D and apparently they're following Rayquaza and found it! Looks like he's going it alone, Zir and Conia are on standyby in case anything happens. And looking back at the previews.... somethings gonna happen. He's going in with just a Corvinknight and a Ceruledge. His ass is not surviving.

A cool shot of the RVT and Rayquaza. Arcues he's huge. This is not a fight you want in on. And it's still got it's tera form on, what is up with that (can it mega evolve with it or no???)

Roy no-

Well okay it's his dream to catch it again cuz well... it did come out of his pokeball that his grampa gave to him. If I had a unique legendary come out of mine I'd be down to catch it again so really I can't say much.

On the other hand, Terapagos is making some noise too and now Liko is getting nervous which I can't blame her. Rayquaza is one of the stronger legendries out there so you really don't want it's full attention on you. And it appears to be angry af so uhhhhhh maybe we should, ya know. Run?

Haha. No :) I highly doubt it.

Oh that cannot be good.

Again, bro is fighting this bitch with nothing more than a Corvinknight and a Ceruledge. You are not surviving this Amethio, chill. Have you even looked at the type matchups? Geez kid.

But again, he's like.... very much looking for validation in the Explorers after not managing to get the pendant, and now they've shifted to Rayquaza cuz well.... bigger target and also very powerful, one of the Siz Heroes of Lucius (who I still suspect was killed by one of them long ago (seriously if it isn't what happened I'll eat paper))

Also btw the music was fire this episode, love what they had going on.

Oh he is not that far away from them okay.

Sequences that make me wanna scoop these kids up (specifically Roy) in a blanket and just get outta here.

He's really pushing it now, Rayquaza has been his whole goal this whole way. It's the reason why he even joined the Rising Volt Tacklers, and by god he's gonna get that fucking dragon back no mater what.

On Liko and Diana's side of things, they realize that Terapagos it trying to talk to the giant angry dragon but it won't fucking work cuz well it's a tiny little turtle with no powers of it's own here and well, as Diana said in the screenshot, it's just too riled up to notice Terapagos.

Also there's so much that y'all are missing here cuz I cannot take that many screenshots or even make gifs so uhhhh watch the show trust me there's a lot going on.

Speaking of moments that would be so enhanced with gifs....

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD THAT CERLUEGDE IS FUCKED.

So Amethio realizing that attacks from the ground just aren't working on it and Rayquaza can just dodge them easliy, deicded to get Ceruledge to hop onto Corvinknight and LAUNCH ITSELF onto the dragon to get a hit in at the least.

Only for Cerulegde to go from "Swords of Regrets" to "Face of Regrets" as it realizes that move did fuck all and then the poor thing gets thrown onto another rock outcropping.

AND THIS FUCKING DRAGON BEAMS THE GUY MULTIPLE TIMES GOOD LORD CHILL MY GUY.

And Amethio in a panic just hops onto Corvinknight to check on his Pokemon, who is most definitely out of the fight now.

I see why Kyogre and Groudon decided to retreat instead of fighting back in the games now. Homie does not hold back.

And apparently there's an image limit of 30 so I'll brb with a reblog oh god this episode was PACKED

[joprompts]

the great gatsby (2023 musical) starters. part two. *starters from the musical. slightly edited for rp purposes. adjust as necessary.

better hold tight or i might fly away.

do you know what i did when my baby was born? when i found out that she was a she? i prayed that my beautiful child would be the fool that i could never be.

if that's the plan, you can count me out.

only four hours left and there's too much to do. i don't know what to wear, what to say, how to stand when i'm standing inside the foyer!

can justice be done? what a joke!

soon, we'll share in what i've done.

when the party's over, can you find another party somewhere?

we live for today.

one way road, is that what this is? have i traveled down it from a very early age?

it's tea, it's only tea! no need for such commotion!

today is never over if the party never stops.

god sees everything, but is slow on his commands.

i wonder what [she'd/he'd/they'd] do, if i walked through.

what if i turn into her?

she should know that i mean business, but i also mean causal, with teeny tiny sandwiches!

i'm sure you're the second-best she's ever had!

with only a nickel to my name, i've but it all to get in the game.

even for you, that was a scandal for the ages.

it took no time to love her, just to be worthy of her.

this could turn for me and i can guarantee when all this is done i'll be forever in your debt.

i wouldn't trust myself.

i kissed her and knew i'd ever stray, but then the world got in the way.

can you see through the mist? look out this way. can you see the green light, just across the bay? sometimes, it's blinking, sometimes it's warning, blinking it's message to me until morning. it's a lighthouse.

none of this was made to last.

i will be a rich man's wife with a rich man's baby and be set for life.

will she see i've made my world in the image of her dreams? the closer that i get, the farther that she seems!

i've become the man her world demanded me to be.

they want me to come in while the killer roams free.

better listen to that man. people say he takes the world seriously.

can you believe we now have a child?

she never loved you and she never will.

i built the perfect place to stay locked away.

we pay off the cops.

there must be some justice! someone has to pay!

how's the view from up there?

i spoke those words to gain security. it was maybe a mistake and the only choice to make.

i think you two are birds of a feather. i must find ways to fling you together. lock you both up in a closet for tea, charter a boat, push you right out to sea!

i've always known what i was fighting for.

to have and to hold. til death do us part.

only we know what we're going through. if i save you, will you save me too?

i'm gonna walk into the ocean!

we had to give up all the parties and drinking.

the party's roaring on.

marriage is more than vows and devotion. it is a ferris wheel of emotion. lifting you up, right after you fall. marriage is not what you picture at all.

i'm not going anywhere.

but now, today i see an open door at last that could lead me to a future i gave up in the past.

she eats and sleep and it is utterly wild!

i'm paralyzed with happiness.

i built a home beyond my childhood dreams.

breathe, i can't breath! can't hold it together! i try to inhale and my head starts to swim.

when i saw him walking down the aisle, he actually looked cute.

i've come so far for her.

if we don't go now, we might never know what this could be! who we really are!

i'm smart enough to know i'd lose everything if i ever strayed.

and boy, was i a sucker.

we'll be living back in time, just as it was before. only now she will have everything and more.

i've always liked swinging at little white balls.

it's time for tea!

can we stop for a moment and just look around. look at us all and the joy we have found.

i can't run away.

at the end of the night, i'm going home with him.

can you see through the mist, across the bay?

i let him put a ring on me.

but don't you think that every newlywed believes their marriage will endure and that somehow will escape their fate? is that every wedding's curse?

everyone can stop tip-toeing.

money can't buy happiness, no sir, but it brings you closer.

am i chasing a dream?

[zephywolf0]

Very Long update!

hi to esteemed followers and (mostly) mutuals!

looks like i've done one of those things again where i leave my blog for months, convinced i'll never post anything again, only to return later with my art vastly improved. the only thing different this time is that i'm openly discussing it and not just quietly slipping an image onto someone's dash.

if you followed me for art - firstly, thank you kindly, secondly: how!? god some of this old stuff looks downright terrible!

and thirdly, you can expect at least some crumbs!.. unless i start forgetting to post again.

in my last personal update post i announced making this an "everything blog" which in hindsight was aributary because i still draw... mostly just greasers and psychobilly stuff with a few exceptions. i think when i posted that i was having one of my annual Vampire - the Masquerade fixations and expected most of my art to be centered around the game for much longer than it actually was. in the end, this remains The Blog of What I Was Gonna Draw Anyway.

i even actually got into making the comic i've been wanting to make forever (since like 2021 lol) and it's super exciting! i actually got the story kind of ironed out and i feel like i can maybe really stick to it this time? back then i constricted myself too much w composition and also just didn't have the skill to pull most of it off and now i actually can!!!!! i'm seriously surprisngly proud of myself! look at this compasion of march vs a few days ago!

march on the left new on the right lol

now into some actual personal stuff - mostly just because i seriously need to get this off my chest and for anyone interested in why i've been gone to get a little context, so tread the next couple paragraphs carefully as it is just a whole lot of complaining. unless you love reading internet strangers' woes it's not for you hahaha

things for me for the past couple of months aside from a few bright spots have been whatever the opposite of rock n' roll is (stand still and shuffle maybe.)

i graduated - obviously this was a lot of stress; i'm an animation major and crammed an about two and a half minute music video into a couple months, which was uhh hard. the band subsequently left me on read which i'm both mortified by and also can't blame them for cuz it did turn out ass. the entirety of my time after graduation was spent trying to find a job: as a non-citizen, getting into university didn't exactly seem in the books for me if i can't pay for it myself as i seriously didn't wanna put that additional stress on my parents. this was mostly fruitless as the job market is in the absolute crapper right now.

then i finally got covid after avoiding it for literally the entirely of the pandemic; the illness itself went surprisingly fine, but what came after is the actual disaster i live today. my immune system was completely destroyed and my chronic illnesses spiked. this caused me to lose the job that i did manage to get (let's go somehow below minimum wage!!!!) as i had an inflammation in my spine and was fired cuz i couldn't go into work.

right now my time is spent being sick ever since i got covid in august and also trying to get some documentation sorted. i need a citizenship and i need a disability status cuz if my health keeps on going this way i seriously can't see how i'll have a "real job" and even the measly hundred coin that the goverment can provide would be a massive help.

now this is where we circle back to one of the reasons this blog was started in the first place: being an immigrant really sucks! while yes, every day i'm grateful i'm here and not back there there are still some major fallbacks that can't exactly be ignored - mainly the fact that my current country may not want to let me in while my home country may not want to let me go. this is not something i have control over.

and speaking of my country, some big changes have been happening here that have definitely affected me hard. i mentioned in a previous textpost some long while ago that i'm no stranger to xenophobia and being stereotyped, and that has lately been blown way the hell out of proportion. PEOPLE ARE GETTING MEANER. PEOPLE ARE GETTING MORE CLOSE MINDED.

i don't really wanna disclose where i'm from in this post, i think i've mentioned it before, but if you're familiar you'll catch on.

yes, i understand this is an issue that affects all immigrants everywhere. yes i understand i'm super lucky to be where i am. but i am human and i can hurt and by god i am hurting right now. there's been a massive effort on my country's behalf to remove my first language from media; all schools that taught in my first language have been transformed to, well, not do that; there's a massive stained hole at the main train station where a sign in my first language was hanging. and i feel it. a child born here will no longer be of whatever family they belong to but they will be of the country and it hurts me.

again, i understand that this is a universal experience for migrants but to see it happen in real time is terrifying and absolutely discouraging. people see this change as a nice excuse to become absolutely horrible to those around them, and it's separating us instead of one country into two communities - "us" and "them," and i don't see the benefit. nobody i personally know sees the benefit, and yet somehow nobody who chooses to actually speak out on it seems to find this objectionable in any way at all - in fact, most outlets and spokespeople, whether they are from here or not, see this as a good thing, that those like me should just suck it up, "be more like them," that this is common sense. sure, in the vacuum of historic context, it might be, but we aren't living in history, we are living in the present and real people are affected and hurt by this. our great-great grandfathers don't give a shit. they're dead.

i'm alive and i breathe and i have a family i want to speak to and celebrate with in the way we are comfortable. i can keep moving, i can keep going, but i can't outrun my face which i feel gets more and more foreign the longer i look at it in the mirror.

all of the things above combined have been a massive strain on me psychologically and social media was seeeeeeriously the last thing on my mind. i gotta be honest i don't know WHAT force is holding me together rn but it's doing a damn good job because recently i actually started enjoying existence again. maybe it's cuz i learned not to be so depressed indoors; usually i couldn't go a few days without going outside without completely breaking down, but now sometimes i completely forget that going outside is something you Need To Do and just enjoy indoor hobbies. i know people usually say the opposite but i'm very sporty and active and enjoying being inside the whole day is kind of nuts. i've been loving my space more and more and i guess found a way to adapt my energetic nature to a constricting situation. i'm proud of myself for that too.

thanks for reading if you stuck it out this long and look forward to more drawings, hopefully.

[quill-pen]

A Christmas Confession pt. 2 (Married!ScroogeXReader)

Yeah, y'all are gonna have to let me know how you feel about the song in this one. I've debated on whether to stick some musical numbers in the fic to kind of keep up the atmosphere from the movie that this is a world where people will just randomly break out in song and it's just a normal Tuesday, but I don't know. Musical numbers are really not meant to be in writing like that. Songs, sure--Tolkien comes to mind--but not musical numbers. It's just so hard to make them flow well. Ugh. I don't know. Let me know what you think.

Pairing: Ebenezer Scrooge x F!Reader

Warnings: ANGST--oh, we got ANGST--the ANGSTIEST of ANGST. AND pining--more pining. AND SO. MUCH. CRYING. Seriously, this bitch is dehydrated after this. What else we got? Love confessions, forceful kisses, kisseskisseskisses (seriously, how are these people breathing?) some innuendo, face-smushing and nuzzling, some self-deprecation, Ebenezer being an absolute sweetheart of a husband, RO-FREAKING-MANCE, Prudence being called a "dumb mutt" (it's said lovingly, and with context, it's valid), AAAAAANNNNNNDDDDDD... a song and dance number (seriously, this one is a warning--I am not a dancer nor am I convinced song and dance numbers should be in writing like this)

Summary: With children put away, the adults will play! Or at least some adults will. Other adults--mainly Ebenezer and you--still discover just how much you mean to each other.

A/N: As promised--PRUDENCE!!!

Part 1

When you and Ebenezer had finally made sure all the children were tucked snug in bed and had come back to the sitting room, the Cratchits and Huffmans were in the middle of a rousing game of Snap! and hardly seemed to notice your return.  Even old Prudence was trying to get in on the game, squeezing in between Harry and Hela as she watched on, panting heavily and wagging her tail with her tongue lolling in a giant Mastiff grin.  

“I thought we’d just put the children to bed,” you remarked to Ebenezer with a wry smirk.  Really, the adults were being almost as loud and rowdy with the game as the children had been throughout the night!  Everyone was certainly in excitable spirits this evening! 

The man chuckled and shrugged.  “I suppose when the cat’s away,” he said, arms crossed over his chest as he reclined against the wall.  His slate-blue eyes focused on the game, and he seemed to be enjoying it quietly from afar just as much as he would have if he actually participated in it.  He did so seem to enjoy just taking in things at this time of the year, just reveling in the sights and sounds and sensations of it all, as if he were experiencing them all for only the first time.  You supposed, in a way, he was, considering everything he’d told you about his past up until the last couple of years.  How he’d changed from a miserable, cantankerous, stingy, covetous old miser into the cheerful, charming, kind, generous, all-around lovely, and wonderful man you knew now, you still didn’t understand.  When you’d pressed him for details on it, he’d simply told you it was all too fantastical to believe--that he still didn’t believe it himself sometimes.  Oh, well, it didn’t really matter the reason (although you did have a burning curiosity as to why he credited your late father for being the catalyst of it all).  Whatever it was you were just happy it had happened because you quite liked this Ebenezer.  Your Ebenezer.

My Ebenezer… the thought lingered in your mind in a heady way.  He wasn’t yours--not truly.  If he was really yours you would be sleeping in the same bed instead of separate rooms; sharing kisses and secret whispers and other things that married couples shared.  If he was really yours there would have been something more than a signed sheet of paper and a ring that bound the two of you together, something primal and absolute in nature--God-given.  But there wasn’t, as much as you craved for there to be.  Even so, you couldn’t help but think of him as yours anyway, because it hurt too much to live in the reality of your situation all the time; the fantasy of thinking him yours helped keep the edge off.

Speaking of fantasies, you were half in the middle of one now, staring at him.  It was the first chance you’d had all evening to truly get a good look at the man what with all the running about after children and making your Christmas hostess debut.  Salt-and-pepper hair brushed, slicked, and sculpted back, Ebenezer was dressed in his finest attire: a matching deep blue tailcoat and cravat over a brilliant green, swirling jacquard waistcoat, and pristine white starch-collared shirt; crisply ironed dark green trousers; and black shoes polished to an absolute sheen.  All of it tailored to him perfectly (Particularly the trousers, you thought).  He looked sharp and clean and festive and--as far as you were concerned--like the most handsome man in all of England: a Yuletide Adonis.  But as fine as he looked in all his holiday attire, you found your mind wandering.  And wondering.  Wondering… just what Ebenezer might look like… without that coat… that waistcoat… that cravat… that shirt… and those trousers.  With his perfect coiffure, all teased up and flyaway.  On second thought, maybe it would be nice to leave the cravat--might make for good leverage.  You could have chastised yourself: Such sinful, unladylike places for a woman’s mind to go!  Oh, you were starting to feel warm….

“I win!”

You snapped out of your desirous thoughts with a start, gaze flying away from Ebenezer (who seemed to have not caught you staring, thank Heaven) to your guests.  Harry was currently bouncing up and down, laughing and swinging his arms in the air in triumph.  As if she had been teamed with him, Prudence was jumping around with him, her deep bark resounding enthusiastically around the room.  

Laughing heartily, Ebenezer finally made his way into the room and over to his nephew.  “I say, good show, everyone!” he exclaimed, clapping the younger man on the back.  “What shall we play next?  The night is very young!”

“Oh, might we play blind man’s bluff?” Hela piped up excitedly.  “It’s my favorite!”

“All right, why not?” Ebenezer said.  “But I feel I must warn you, I am very good at Blind Man’s Bluff.”

“And I call that a bluff,” Ethel snickered good-naturedly.

Ebenezer gave her a comically pained expression, clutching dramatically at his chest.  “Woman, you wound me!”  That started the whole group to guffaw.  

“All right,” you called out.  “Blind man’s bluff it is.  But we need to make a bit more room in here; I don’t want to be calling the ambulance on Christmas Eve because somebody split their head open tripping over a footstool.”  With hands on your hips, you pointed a look at beloved but altogether clumsy Harry.

“What?” Harry asked innocently.

“Right then,” Ethel said.  “We’ll let the gentlemen move the furniture.  Ladies, why don’t we help ourselves to some refreshments while we’ve the time?  I don’t know about you young maids, but I’m goin’ to need a little somethin’ to boost my energy afore we go scamperin’ about.”

“I am rather peckish,” Hela agreed.

You, Ethel, and Hela all made your way out of the sitting room to be out of the men’s way as they worked and went into the dining room where the snack foods and drink still graced the table, and would grace it for the rest of the night.  A little Christmas Eve buffet.  You remember how the cook had looked at you when you’d told her that’s what you wanted like you were insane.  (“It’s just not how things are done in England, Ma’am.”)  But in the end, it looked like it was working out.  Certainly, nobody seemed to be complaining.

You were just serving yourself up some wassail when Ethel sidled up to you.  “And just where has your mind been tonight, bud?” she asked, her tone teasing.  

You looked at her in genuine confusion.  “I’m sorry?”

The older woman smirked knowingly, an eyebrow raised.  “I saw you,” she said pointedly.  “Standin’ there, gawkin’ and gappin’ like a lovestruck schoolgirl at Ebenezer all decked out in his togs tonight.”  A sinful glimmer sparked in her blue eyes and her smile turned wicked.  “But I’m willin’ to bet it wasn’t him in his togs you was daydreamin’ about was it?”

Your face immediately flushed a bright, crimson red, only made redder by the fact that Hela giggled.  Oh, you were feeling hot again, but this time not in a good way.  “You both saw me?” you squeaked out, positively mortified.

“Of course, we saw!” Hela laughed with a beaming grin.

“We women who���s been in love before always notice when another woman’s in love.”

“In love,” you repeated with a dry chuckle.  “Is that was this is?  Yes, of course, it is, when all I can think about, all I can see, all I can hear, smell, taste, breathe, feel and hope to want and have is that devilishly wonderful man.”  You instinctively twisted your wedding ring and looked down at it.  The golden band housed both yours and Ebenezer’s birthstones as well as the stone of the month you married; hidden inside the circle, nestled against your skin would be the beautifully scripted words ‘Come what may’--a reminder that, whatever happened in this marriage of convenience with regards to your future where your uncle and inheritance were concerned, you and Ebenezer would both be in it.  Together.  A friend supporting a friend.

The delicate little ring sat so perfectly on your ring finger, so simple yet so fine and elegant and beautiful in its simplicity--just like you liked it.  Just like Ebenezer knew you liked it.  You still couldn’t believe the man had gotten it so perfectly right without even consulting you.  Yes, you’d been friends for a while by that point, and he’d known you quite well; but designing a wedding ring without the input of the woman it was intended for was always a gamble, even one so low maintenance as you.  But somehow Ebenezer had just known.  He always seemed to just know with you.  About everything.  Unfortunately, that only made your unreciprocated feelings for him all the deeper and more painful.

You felt tears prick at your eyes and you tried to blink them back.  “I thought love was supposed to be wonderful,” you trembled, looking at both women in desperation.  “So why am I hurting so much?”

You must have sounded even more pathetic than you thought, because the next thing you knew, Hela was sweeping you up into a big, tight hug and murmuring comforting things into your ear.  You just clutched at her, looking for any sort of contact to empty the heartache into.

“I feel crazy,” you admitted after Hela let you go.  “I mean it--I feel like an absolute mad woman.  I’m married to the man, he’s a long way off from dead, I know there's no other woman, we are best of friends, he cares a great deal for me and takes care of me--even spoils me--adores my siblings like his own, we aren’t fighting--in fact, we’re quite happy in our lives together--and, in the end, our marriage will lead to my gaining my inheritance and finally being out from under my uncle’s thumb.  But even with all that, I feel utterly miserable.”

“And why do you think that is?” Ethel prodded gently, a motherly hand on yours.  

You shook your head, tears still stinging your eyes.  “Because… I love him,” you answered softly.  “I love him more than life itself.  But he… he doesn’t feel the same way about me.”

Much to your shock, horror, and chagrin, the two women burst into uproarious laughter.  

“Oh, my poor, poor child!” Ethel gasped, wiping her eyes.  “I didn’t know you were blind!”

“What?” you asked incredulously.  You didn’t much relish the concept of being laughed at.

“Can you really not see it, Y/N?” Hela asked.  “Truly?”

“See what, pray?”

“Ebenezer!” Ethel cut back in, giving you that sly smile again.  "He's positively besotted with you, lovey!"

You blinked at the Cratchit woman, trying to see if she was having you on. "Ha-ha–no. I think not."

"You think not?" Ethel said. "Why?"  It was a challenge.

"Why do you think he is?" you challenged back.

"I have functioning senses, pet."

"Pardon me?"

“We've all seen the way he looks at you, Y/N,” Hela offered, wrapping a sisterly arm around your shoulders. "As if you're the only woman in existence."

“And the way he smiles at you or whenever your name comes up," Ethel continued, “like your the source of all joy itself!”

Hela went on: “No one could miss how he speaks to you.”

“In all the time since he changed, I’ve never heard him call anyone ‘Sweetness’ except for you,” Ethel declared.  "Not even your Millie!"

“That’s simply because of our friendship,” you insisted. 

“Is it?” Ethel pressed, ever bullheaded.  “Only because of your friendship?”

You scowled a bit at the woman.  “I don’t think I need to remind you that Ebenezer’s and my friendship runs a bit more deeply than most,” you firmly stated, “as well as a bit… unconventionally.”

“You don’t say!” Ethel gasped sarcastically.

“But it does not mean that we are in love with each other,” you continued on, scowl deepening.  “Yes, while I’ve come to love Ebenezer because of it, it seems quite clear to me that he continues to see me as nothing more than a friend.”

“Oh, it seems quite clear to her,” Ethel pointed out, giving Hela a pointed look while jutting a thumb at you.  The Indian woman tittered.

You rolled your eyes in complete exasperation.  “That’s it,” you deadpanned, throwing back the last bit of your punch and walking away.  “I’ve had enough of being laughed at for one evening.”

“Can’t help you much, if you wish to think yourself unloved, sweet,” Ethel called after you.  “Just keep in mind what we said!”

You stormed out of the dining room and through the hall back towards the sitting room, slowing down when you heard the jolly singing of Christmas carols accompanied by Prudence’s howling.  Creeping to the door of the sitting room, you quietly and carefully peeked inside.  The men had moved the more trip-hazardous pieces of furniture while leaving the bigger pieces in place to serve as barriers for the game.  Now, they were simply having a jolly old time singing, Harry dancing around with Prudence by the front paws.  All their voices were raised high in song, but Ebenezer’s rose above them all, rich and full and beautiful and full of emotion as always.  Again your heart contracted in love pains for the man who was your husband, yet not your husband.  Why?  Why did he have to be just so. Damn.  Perfect?!  Any sort of flaw would have helped to dull the hurt, but here he was, apparently completely without faults!  Oh, why did this have to happen to you?!

Pulling back behind the door, you sidled away until you could press your back up against the wall.  And there you stayed, listening to your husband-in-name-only and friends singing, your aching heart thudding in your chest to the point you felt your entire being vibrating from it.  Again you began to twist the ring on your finger.  Again you looked at it, this time pulling it off your finger to gaze closely at the script inside.  Could ‘Come what may’, possibly mean something more than your and Ebenezer’s friendship?  Could Ethel and Hela be right?   Could Ebenezer be hiding feelings of love from you, just as you were hiding yours from him?

You wondered….

No.  Ebenezer didn’t hide things from you.  He was above that.  And he had to know you felt something for him because, again, with you, he always knew.  So if he felt something for you in turn, why would he not come out and say it instead of hiding it? What would be the point if he knew you felt the same?  That could only mean he was trying to spare you from being hurt, by pretending as though he realized nothing about your feelings.  By acting like a close friend would normally act.  He was trying to make it easier for you–the rejection.  In reality, he was just making it that much harder.  

With a heavy sigh, you slipped your ring back on.  The little weight it provided was both sad and comforting at the same time.  You pushed off the wall and moved towards the windows, using them as a mirror as you checked yourself over.  You tidied your hair, straightened your dress, and took deep, long breaths to try and calm yourself.  It was Christmas Eve and tomorrow was Christmas.  You had company--most of which were children–and tomorrow you would have more.  You weren’t going to turn into a blubbering mess over things that couldn’t be helped--that wouldn’t be a good hostess.

“Ah-ha, Y/N!”

You turned from the window and smiled at Bob and Harry.  “Ready?” you asked them.

“Yes!”  Harry exclaimed.  “All ready for the game!”

“I’ll go let Hela and Ethel know,” you said.

“No, we’ll go,” Bob said.  “We want to get something to eat and drink before we start anyway.  You go help Ebenezer with the blindfold--he’s to be the first blind man.”  With that, the two of the hurried off down the hall.

Your stomach dropped out.  You and Ebenezer alone?  You helping him tie a blindfold on?  Presumably, having to be fairly close to him in order to do so--particularly his face?!  Oh, this was not a good situation for you right now--not good at all!

All at once, the cause of your dilemma came walking out of the sitting room, Prudence clicking loyally along at his heels.  Ebenezer was scowling now, fiddling with this cravat, trying to work it loose.  “Damn… bloody… tie,” he muttered.

You couldn’t help the smile that curled your lips or the little giggle that escaped you.  The sight tickled you so; watching him do battle with his own necktie.  And his expressive eyes and brows were almost comically grouchy.

Ebenezer then directed his scowl at you, but there was a definite playful twinkle in his eye.  “And just what might you find so funny?” he demanded.

You smirked at him.  “You,” you admitted.  “You’ll strangle yourself if you’re not careful.”

“And you find that funny, do you?”

“No.  But the way you’re wrestling that tie as if it owes you money, I do.”

“Well, perhaps instead of laughing at my predicament, you would be so kind as to find it within yourself to help me.”  The man was smirking himself now.

You stopped laughing at that.  Immediately you were right back to where you had been, realizing you were going to be close to Ebenezer--very close--and panicking over it.  “Uh-Y-yes,” you stammered, swallowing hard.  Your mouth felt so dry.  “O-Of course.”  Slowly you approached him, feeling as if you were in a daze.  Did he notice?  Oh, please God, don’t let him notice!  Please don’t let him realize the state I’m in!

Ebenezer, now smiling pleasantly as ever, loomed before you. Like a tree. A great, attractive, charming spruce tree of a man.  You came to a stop directly in front of him. He towered over you, the top of your head just reaching his chin. That beautiful, strong, sculpted chin….

Suddenly that chin was coming closer as he bowed down a bit for you to reach his cravat.  "Is that better?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you," you murmured tonelessly.  You reached up and took hold of the cravat and began working your fingers through the knot.  You tried to focus solely on that. Not the fact that you were so close to Ebenezer you could feel his body heat. So close you swore you could hear his heartbeat.  You tried to forget the fact of how close his face was to yours–just a bit above and angled towards you–his warm breath caressing your skin. You tried to ignore that you could feel his eyes on you, tried to ignore that you could smell a mixture of his cologne and his natural scent.  Mother of God, what a heavenly smell!  A man's smell!  Ebenezer's smell.   You fought against the urge to go weak in the knees. Good God, why am I so feeble?

"You look absolutely lovely."

You froze, his silky cravat nearly untied and threaded between your fingers.  Eyes wide, you snapped your face up to his, heart leaping into your throat.  E/c stared into slate blue.

Ebenezer looked just as surprised as you as if he hadn't intended to say that.  But he had, and there was no backing out now.  "I-I don't believe I told you that this evening," he went on, trying to explain the sudden statement.  "And… well… y-you look lovely, Y/N. Very lovely indeed." He cleared his throat and tore his gaze from yours, lips pulling together in a thin line.  His cheeks and ears were tinged the slightest shade of pink. 

"Oh," you said, a bit dazedly. Your eyes fell back to the cravat. "Thank you."  You finished your work and smoothly slipped the tie from his neck, the smooth, body-warmed material seeming to slither into your hand.  You know, technically, you're undressing him, the concept slipped out of the dark, wicked crevice of your mind before you could stop it.  You felt yourself flush all over from both horrified embarrassment and–God help you–flaming desire.  Without a doubt you were your own worst enemy in this!

"Not that you don't normally look lovely," Ebenezer suddenly continued on from his previous statements. His voice was rushed, his tone jittery.  His eyes darted to look everywhere but at you.  "You always look lovely–there is no question of that! It is just that you look particularly lovely this evening. And… well…" he cleared his throat again and forced himself to look at you, "... you look lovely."

A corner of your mouth twitched into a slight smile, Ebenezer's sweet, nervous charm working its way through the veil of panic.  The man could be positively adorable sometimes. "Thank you, Ebenezer," you repeated, your voice sounding more like you this time.

Evidently, your smile and tone were noticeable, because Ebenezer's own lips quirked into a soft smile as well, the nervousness fading from his eyes.  He remained blushing though; that only made him more endearing in your view.

There came an annoyed huff from somewhere around both your legs.  And then-

“Whoa-oof!”

You froze, eyes wide in alarm at the predicament you suddenly found yourself in:  Ebenezer had just quite literally toppled into you!  Your hands were pressed flat to his chest as they’d shot up and out to try and stop his fall, and his hands had come to find purchase on your low waist as he’d instinctively reached out to find something to grab onto a save him from falling on his face.  Speaking of face, his face was against yours, his angular nose slipped right in aside yours, pressing into your cheek.  Your lips just barely ghosted against each other, startled pants of breath mixing together and warming your faces (though that definitely wasn’t the only reason your face was so hot).  You stared pop-eyed directly into each other's eyes.  To top it all off, you were just ever so slightly bent over backward with Ebenezer bowed over you as if the man were taking you into a dip.  And you stayed like that.  For how long, you didn’t know, but you both just stayed, unsure of what to do, or how to react.

A little whine caused you both to look away from each other (though only your eyes moved) and down to see Prudence sitting there between you.  Her loveable brown eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked between you and Ebenezer, her lolling Mastiff grin as wide as ever.  Ridiculous to think it as it was considering she was a dog, you knew immediately that Prudence had done this on purpose.  After all, you’d come to the conclusion a while ago that the dog wasn’t exactly an ordinary dog.  And due to all of that, you had even less of an idea of how to react to this.

“Prudence…” Ebenezer growled warningly, his brow furrowing against yours.

His lips brushed a bit more firmly against yours as he spoke, his growl vibrating his firm chest beneath your palms.  The reaction in you to these sensations was immediate and startling: your breath hitching into a small gasp; a warm mist floating into your mind that blocked out every other thing except the man before you; a great heat flushed throughout your body, warming you to the very center of your being, leaving you feeling lightheaded; your already hammering heart sped up to a flutter; your stomach lurched and twisted and twined in sickeningly beautiful ways; your eyes fluttered to half-mast.  You felt like you could die, cry, and fly all at once, and Ebenezer hadn’t even kissed you yet.  Without thinking, you curled your splayed fingers into the lapels of his coat and gently tugged at him.

The man’s eyes came back to yours and immediately melted into softness upon finding your half-lidded gaze.  Whether he realized what he was doing or not, his grip on your waist tightened ever so slightly.  That caused you to quietly whimper, which in turn caused him to pull you closer.  His hair coif draped down and tickled the side of your face.  His heart--his wonderfully good heart--beat out a strong, steady rhythm against your palm.

Your eyes slipped closed in reverie at the deepening touch.  “Ebenezer…” the whisper of his name escaped your lips before you realized it.

“Y/N,” he returned, voice husky and rumbling even as it was quiet in tone.  He gently pulled you even closer, angling his face so that his lips pressed and slid against your mouth and cheek--not in a kiss just yet, but a sort of nuzzle, flat and flush and warm.  And it felt completely divine: soft and smooth as velvet against your sensitive skin.  Except for his muttonchops, which left a delightfully ticklish twinge behind as the hair brushed against you.  Lightning sparked along your nerves.

You opened your eyes just a bit to look up beneath your lashes to see that his eyes were now closed, looking to be in as much of a trance as you.  God above, he looked heavenly; felt heavenly too.  You felt the slightest hint of pursed, pillowy lips on your cheek, again not kissing yet, just caressing your flesh.  The man was working his way up to it and, by God, you were going to let him!  His process was going too well to interrupt him now--magic was happening!

Slowly Ebenezer pull you into him and straightened the two of you up, his face still pressed to yours, lips against your cheek, your temple, your brow.  He slid them languidly down the bridge of your nose before lifting them off your skin.  The tip of his nose still nudging yours, he opened his eyes and met gaze again.  You’d never seen those slate-blue beauties so liquidy before, the black centers expanded and endless.  The tall man said nothing, but merely let his gaze drift from your eyes down to your mouth and back again, silently asking permission.

God, you wanted to give it!  You wanted nothing more than for him to sweep you into his strong, warm arms and claim your lips and mouth for his own.  You longed to feel him, taste him--longed for it more than you longed for breath.  (If he could have been your breath, that would have been a godsend.)  But… you didn’t give permission.  You couldn’t bring yourself to.  Because you didn’t know for sure what all of this was, what it meant, what it could possibly mean and lead to.  What you did know was if you did give permission, if you let him kiss you, you would be committing an irrevocable act by giving your heart wholly to this man.  He practically had it already, and that was painful enough; but if he took the whole thing and it came to pass that this… display was nothing more than an excess of Christmas cheer mixed with good food and drink you would be shattered beyond repair.  And it would have been better to die than be a walking husk.

Your heart throbbing with love and want and hurt, you forced yourself to turn your face from his.  “Don’t.”

“Y/N?”

Good God, the softness in his voice, his obvious confusion as to why you were pulling away when you so clearly wanted it--it stabbed you right in the gut.  But you had to turn him away.  You had to stop this--to try and protect yourself at least a little bit.  You let him go, pushing away from him.  “Please, don’t.”

He gently reached for you, looking hurt.  “Y/N, please.”

You jerked back from his touch.  “Don’t!”  The tears back in your eyes and spilling down your cheeks this time, you rushed across the hall to the front doors.  I’m dying!  You were sure you were dying--your chest felt like it was going to cave in and you couldn’t breathe because of it.  You felt so incredibly hot like you were being roasted alive.  Air--I need air!   

Throwing open the door, you burst out into the frigid London night and practically stumbled down the stairs.  When you reached the cobblestones your legs gave out from under you and you collapsed into a snowdrift with a muted fwoomp!, the fluffy snow fwooshing up around your skirts to create your own, personal flurry.  You gasped.  Then you retched and coughed, your stomach heaving violently.  Nothing came up, but you retched again and continued to dry heave and gasp for air.  God in Heaven, you felt like hell!  But you could feel the crisp, coldness of the air and snow around you now, and that loosened the tightness in your chest so you could breathe again.  When you weren’t trying to gag up your innards, that is.

“Y/N!” Ebenezer’s horrified voice reached your ears.  Both it and Prudence’s bark sounded muffled through the ringing din in your head, but you heard them all the same, and you felt Ebenezer’s presence come to kneel beside you in the snow.  A warm cloak was draped over your shuddering shoulders.  “Love, are you all right?!”  A hand pressed to your forehead; a wet, black nose sniffed you over in investigation.  “Mother of God, you’re burning up!  We need to get you to the hospital!”   He made to stand, but you grabbed his hand, keeping him with you. 

“I’m all right,” you croaked, eyes on the ground as you still tried to wrestle your breath back.  

He wrenched out of your grip and brought both his hands to hold your shoulders.  “You are clearly not all right!” he insisted, giving you a little shake for emphasis.  “You’re ill, my dear--violently ill!  You could be suffering from cholera--or maybe scarlet fever with as red as you are--or something worse!”

Your head was starting to clear out, the ringing fading away.  You managed to look up at the panicking man and give him a feeble glare.  “Ebenezer, I’m fine,” you said as insistently as you could.  “I’m not ill.”  A whining Prudence pressed her cold nose against your cheek, her gentle eyes worried.  You turned to her, wrapping your arms around her neck and burying your face in her warm ruff.  “You dumb mutt,” you muttered meekly.  “You put me in this position.”

“Well, there must be something wrong,” Ebenezer continued, standing upright in indignance, “because I don’t believe you would be having this violent a reaction to simply not wanting to kiss me.” 

You pulled your face from the Mastiff’s fur and looked up at the man to see his face flushed.  Whether it was from his panic over you,  his anger at your denial of medical aid, or the fact that he had just admitted he’d meant to kiss you, you didn’t know.  Your eyes slipped from his to Prudence again, focusing on her soft, golden-brown fur as you stroked it.  “No,” you agreed softly.  “This didn’t happen because I don’t want to kiss you.”  You stopped petting Prudence and grasped at the cloak, pulling it closer and tighter.  Biting your lip, you squeezed your eyes shut, trying to hold back the absolute storm of tears that you knew was coming.  It had all been building for so long; now everything was about to break loose and turn what should have been the happiest and most beautiful night of the year into an utter disaster.  And all because you just couldn’t keep your emotions in check.  Damn it all, you were so pathetic! 

A choked sob escaped you and you buried your face in the velvetiness of the cloak. 

Once again, Ebenezer was kneeling back at your side, his arms coming around you and pulling you to his chest.  He gently tried to hush you.  “Shhh,” he whispered against your ear.  “Hush now, Darling--I have you.  It’s all right.”

“It’s not all right!” you spat bitterly, face still hidden in the cloak.

“Then tell me, Y/N--tell me so that I might make it right.”  His long, large fingers combed over your hair as he pressed a tender kiss to your hairline.  “Please, tell me, Sweetness.”  He dared to slip a finger beneath your chin and lift your head just enough so he could meet your eyes, which he did so beseechingly.  “Please.”

You stared at him through silent tears for a moment, so many things swirling around inside you that you didn’t know where to start on what to say.  How could you possibly tell him when there was so much?  “How do you not know?” the question finally squeaked out of your throat.  Your vision swam as tears welled up in your eyes, ready to overflow in a torrent.  “When you always seem to just know when it comes to me… how could you not know, Ebenezer?  You knew with my ring; you knew with my wedding dress; you’ve known with every single thing you’ve ever gotten me or done for me or said to me.  H-How can you possibly not know… about this?  How can you not see what you’re doing to me?”

Ebenezer looked both baffled and fearful.  “How can I not know what, Y/N?” he asked urgently.  “What am I doing to you?”

You closed your eyes tight and swallowed hard, tears burning down your cheeks.  God, help me.  “It’s not that I didn’t want to kiss you, Ebenezer,” you started slowly, your voice raspy.  You dared to open your eyes and look at him again.  “I did want to.  I do want to.  God above, ever since you proposed I’ve wanted nothing but to kiss you every day so damn badly it hurts!  Kiss you and…” you felt your cheeks burn in a way that had nothing to do with your tears, “... and more.”  

Ebenezer remained silent, all his attention on you as if he were hanging on to every word falling from your lips.  Well, I least he was going to let you get it out, and not cut you off in the middle with his rejection.  There would be some catharsis in that at least.  

“I-I know it’s… unladylike to say such things.  But I’m not a Lady. … So I suppose the only reason I haven’t said or done anything before now is entirely due to cowardice.”  You took a deep breath and pulled your gaze from the man’s and looked down at your hands as they fiddled with a loose thread at the hem of the cloak.  You knew you wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye when you finally confessed your secret.  You wouldn’t be able to handle the sight of rejection before the word of it came.  “The truth is… I love you, Ebenezer Scrooge.  I love you and I’ve been in love with you for a long while--though I can’t rightly say when it happened; I know it was before we married. … I think even before you proposed.”  You just dared flicker your gaze up to see the man still knelt there, his expression completely stunned.

“The point is, I love you,” you rushed on, looking down again.  “I love you and I don’t want an annulment after I’ve gained my inheritance.  In fact, I don’t ever want to leave or be without you, Ebenezer.  You make my world better just by being a part of it.  Being around you makes me indescribably happy.  Hearing your voice, seeing your smile, listening to your laugh, touching your hand, feeling your arm around me, having you look at me--you are all I could have ever asked for or wanted in life!  Ebenezer, I love you and I want you--all of you, now and forever--as my friend, as my lover, as my husband, fully and truly in every possible sense of the word.  There could never be another for me.  And I know I can hardly hope to dream that you would feel the same way for me and that we could have something more than what we do, and I know that I will probably ruin what we do have by saying these things now--but it simply hurts too much to keep silent any longer!  So if I’ve ruined our friendship now, I’m sorry but-” 

You were suddenly wrenched up off the cobbles and cut off by a pair of lips smashing into yours.  Ebenezer clutched you flush to him, his arm around your waist, holding you with a grip so tight it was like he was afraid you might try to run or fly away from him.  He had one hand tangled into your hair at the back of your head, holding you in place as he angled his face to kiss you as deeply as he could, his nose digging into your cheek.  The kiss was full of tears--both his and yours--searing, and desperate, his hold crushing and painful; and it all felt completely amazing!  It was all you could do to hold onto the man to stay upright and not melt away into a puddle of ecstatic mush.  In that moment you became completely his; his name branded on you very soul.

When he finally broke the kiss, your nose hurt from being smushed into his cheek, your ribs hurt from being crushed to his chest, and you were sure your lips were going to be swollen from the force he’d used, but you didn’t care.  All you cared about was what you had just felt in that kiss, and what you had felt was everything you’d just emptied out of the very depths of your soul being reciprocated back to you.  “Ebenezer…” you breathed against his lips.

“I love you,” the man whispered back, voice cracking with emotion.  Tears trickled from eyes full of sheer passion, devotion, and joy as he gazed almost worshipfully at you from beneath incredibly long, dark lashes.  “God be praised--I love you, Y/N.  More than any words could ever describe.”

“I love-”  You were cut off again by another passionate kiss and you just as eagerly gave into it as the first time, wrapping your arms around Ebenezer’s neck to pull him down closer.  This kiss didn’t hurt quite as much, but it burned just as hotly.  Lights were dancing behind your eyes  as your heart raced, you stomach filled to the brim with thousand of butterflies  His lips felt so perfect, so soft and smooth, burning and soothing at the same time as they caressed yours.  Every once in a while his teeth would nip at your lips, or his tongue would graze ever so slightly against you until at last you pulled him in deeper, opening your mouth for him to explore.  You explored his in turn, groaning at the taste of him as he did with you.   You’d been kissed before, but you’d never experienced anything like this.  It was like Ebenezer’s kisses were made only for you--like his lips and mouth and tongue were made only for you--like he was made only for you.

Several long, blissful seconds ticked by as the two of you stood in each other’s embrace, lips and tongues tangled together, dancing, caressing, molding your mouths into a most perfect union accompanied by a chorus of quiet gasps, moans, and growls.  Had anyone walked by, they would have thought the two of you positively indecent, but neither you nor Ebenezer would have cared.  You wouldn’t have even noticed anybody else.  As far as the two of you were concerned, there weren’t any other people in the entire world; even sweet old Prudence was left quite forgotten bounding and bouncing for joy around you.  There were just the two of you, your love, and the snow falling gently around you.  It was absolutely magical!

When the two of you finally parted again, you were both left panting and flushed.  Slipping your arms down from his neck and around his back, you nuzzled into the steel-haired man’s chest, the softest and happiest of smiles pulling up your swollen lips.  You sighed dreamily: “Oh, Ebenezer….”   His scent filled your nostrils, making your head swim even more than it already was.  You were weightless, floating--absolutely floating.  And you never wanted to stop.

“Y/N,” Ebenezer murmured.  He pressed gentle kisses to your head, his arms wrapped securely around you with hands gently caressing your back, shoulders, and arms.  Adoration for you and only you seeped out of every pore in the man’s body, making you feel as warm and toasty as though were you snuggled up under a thick blanket before the hearth rather than out in the middle of a snowy winter night.  “I never thought I would be able to feel this way about anyone ever again,” he whispered almost to himself.  He closed his eyes and nuzzled into your hair with a gentle smile, inhaling deep and long as though he wished to fill his lungs with your scent just as yours were filled with his.  He chuckled softly, chest rumbling beneath your head.  “Yet here I am, so utterly, impossibly, hopelessly in love with you, I fear I may either die on the spot or soar up and through the heavens forever after hearing that you feel the same way.”

With a giggle, you lifted your face to his again.  “Well, please don’t die,” you gently teased, lifting a hand up to brush a stray hair from his face.  “But you can only go soaring so long as you take me with you.”  You trailed delicate fingers around his left ear, down his cheek, and over his lips

The man leaned into your touch, kissing your fingertips.  “You’ll have to steady me,” he told you.  “I’m afraid I’m not much good at soaring.”  He said it like he actually knew that to be a fact.

“Of course, I’ll steady you,” you assured him, reaching your other hand up now as well to hold his face between them.  You gave him a smile filled with all the love and devotion you had for him.  “I will always steady you, Ebenezer--so long as you guide me.”

“Of course, I’ll guide you,” Ebenezer declared.  He reached up to stroke a callused thumb along your right cheekbone, wiping away what remained of your tears.  “Wherever I go, I will be sure that you are there by my side, step for step--my life partner, my steadying hand…” if it were possible, the look in the man’s slate-blue eyes became softer, “... my wife.”

Your stomach did somersaults; your heart swelled to the point you felt it would burst from your chest and rise into the night sky like a hot air balloon.  ‘Wife’: Ebenezer had called you his wife!  The word brought a fresh wave of tears to your eyes and a lump formed in your throat.  “Truly?” you whispered, almost afraid this was all too good to be true.

As if sensing your fear, Ebenezer cupped your cheek in his large palm and bowed his face to yours, his nose touching yours as he gazed into your eyes with sincerity.  “Truly,” he answered.  “I promise you--with all my heart and soul, Mrs. Scrooge.”

‘Mrs. Scrooge’....  A squeaky cry, escaped you as the tears began to fall again.  You pressed a trembling hand over your quivering lips.

Looking concerned, Ebenezer hugged you closer to him.  “Darling?”

You shook your head, dismissing his worry.  “I’m fine,” you stated, voice muffled in your palm.  “I’m fine, Ebenezer, truly, it’s just… that’s the first time I’ve been called ‘Mrs. Scrooge’ since we married and… and to hear it coming from you is… I…” you dropped off into a fit of unintelligible sobs, unable to find the right words or the ability to say them even if you had.  This….  This was everything you could have ever hoped for and never thought you would have!

With a warm, rumbling chuckle, Ebenezer cradled the back of your head in his palm and kissed your furrowed brow.  “I know, Sweetness,” he soothed.  “I know.  Believe me--it feels the same to say it.”  Smiling, he bowed his head until his lips were right by your ear and whispered rather huskily and with emphasis, “Mrs. Scrooge.”

Whatever last hold you had on yourself, with that it dissipated.  Completely overcome with emotion, you threw your arms around your husband’s neck, tangled your hands in his hair, and all but yanked him down to your lips for another kiss, a wet and sobbing mess as you were.  He didn’t seem to mind the mess you were and kissed you very eagerly back, hands groping at your shoulders and the small of your back

When you parted, you pressed your face into the crook of your husband’s neck, sobbing away the last of your happy tears in privacy.  You were so happy--so terribly, terribly overjoyed!  You hadn’t known happiness such as this existed.  Surely this is what it must have felt like to enter into Heaven. Maybe you were in Heaven.  Maybe both you and Ebenezer had perished from the cold and were now in Heaven together.  For all eternity.  You swore you could hear a heavenly orchestra playing right now, hauntingly beautiful, tender music ringing through the Christmas Eve night, riding on the gentle breeze with the snowflakes.  You were so overcome with joy, you swore you could sing to it, mad as it sounded.

Apparently, you weren't the only one:

“Never knew I could feel like this…” Ebenezer’s voice lifted in song softly beside your ear, “... like I’ve never seen the sky before.”  He pulled out of your embrace and took a step back, eyes cast heavenward and reaching a hand up as though to touch the velvet blackness above. After a second he looked back at you with an adoring smile and reached out to stroke and hold your left cheek.  You nuzzled into his palm, bringing a hand up to hold his hand closer.  The man crooned on: “Want to vanish inside your kiss.  Every day I love you more and more.”  Slipping your hand into his hand, he pulled you into him again and pressed your palm to his chest.  “Listen to my heart--can you hear it sing?  Telling me to give you-” he spun away from you, eyes wide and shining, arms stretched out as he turned in a circle encompassing your surroundings,”-everything!  Seasons may change--winter to spring.”  His arms slowly fell and he turned back to you, stepping up to bring you close in his arms again, gaze gentle once more.  “But I love you…” he gazed deeply into your eyes, “... until the end of time.” 

There seemed to be a swell in the music on the air, and Ebenezer moved with it, sweeping you up into a graceful, sweeping waltz around the yard and into the street, singing on: “Come what may….  Come what may….  I will love you… until my dying day.”  The music in the air seemed to quieten and Ebenezer paused in the waltz, simply relishing in the experience of holding you--his wife, the woman he loved--close.  He pressed his forehead to yours and you both closed your eyes, enjoying each other’s presence.

That stirring deep inside your soul had grown stronger and more noticeable with each passing moment.  Now it had finally gained enough power to break free, rising up out of your throat in melody: “Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place.”  You shifted closer to your husband, and stretched a leg out behind you and around in a circle, daintily skimming the toe of your shoe over the surface of the snow.  “Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace.”  You reached up and cradled Ebenezer’s sculpted jaw in your hands and gazed lovingly at him.  “Suddenly my life doesn’t seem such a waste--it all revolves around you….”

Smiling, Ebenezer swept you up into dance again, and you both continued on, harmonizing with each other: “And there’s no mountain too high-” your husband hoisted you up with one arm onto his hip as you braced one hand on his shoulder and your knees on his thigh, second hand raised skyward, “-no river too wide!”  You dropped down and spun out from Ebenezer until your arms were stretched to the max and you were held together just by the tips of your fingers.  Then you stepped closer together and looped your arms together as you faced one way and he the other, ever gazing into one another’s eyes, carouseling around.  “Sing out this song and I’ll be there by your side!”  Ebenezer grabbed your hand and you twirled around him in a large arc, he acting as the anchor.  “Storm clouds may gather--stars may collide…” you spun back into him and he caught you in both arms, dipping you low before bringing you back up to hold again and sing, “... but I love you-” 

You lovingly traced your thumb across Ebenezer’s lips, “-I love you…”

“-until the end-” “... until the end of-” “-of time.”

Your husband carried you off into the sweeping waltz again as the music in your souls swelled anew.  “Come what may….  Come what may….  I will love you… until my dying day!”  Ebenezer hoisted you up with one arm again, both of you facing opposite directions again as he spun you, one of your arms braced across his shoulders for support the other trailing through the air, making snowflakes swirl.  “Come what may….  Come what may….  I will love you…” 

You slowly slipped back down into the circle of your man’s arms, wrapping your arms around his neck and nuzzling your nose against his, basking in the lovelight of his gaze.  “Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place….” 

The music swelled to a crescendo and Ebenezer scooped you up into the air one final time.  His arms wrapped around your thighs as he spun and gazed up into your face, your hands braced on his broad shoulders yet again.  “Come what may…!  Oh, come what may…!  Oh!  I will love you… until my dying… day!”

You collapsed into Ebenezer with another kiss, your arms tight around his neck, his tight around your waist and back as he held you up.  

The sound of applause startled you apart: You looked over your husband’s head as he shifted around to look.  A scorching hot blush burned your face red.  You had an audience: the Cratchits, the Huffmans, and all of the staff that hadn’t taken the night off you offered were standing there at the top step of the entrance.  And they were cheering!  Some of the more tenderhearted of the bunch were even dabbing at their eyes with hankies.  (Harry, however, was in an all-out bawl, hunched over Hela’s shoulder as she patted his back while he wept tears of joy.)  Previously forgotten Prudence was bounding around you and Ebenezer, barking and grinning away, her tail fanning the air such as it never had before

“Oh, bloody hell….” Ebenezer muttered his face as crimson as yours (which really was a rather lovely shade on him, honestly).  He squeezed you closer as you hid your face in his neck and scowled at the others for their intrusion.   

The others really didn’t seem to care.  It was impossible to be scared of the old Scrooge Scowl when the man was red as a cooked lobster and had just been caught singing and dancing a love song with his young wife in the snow.

“Well, it’s about bloomin’ time!” Ethel exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air in an emphatic manner.  “What did I tell ya?  “Only because of our friendship” my arse.  Now come back inside, you waltzin’ lovebirds, afore you catch your deaths of cold!”

With that, your audience all began to retreat back inside, leaving the two of you to pull yourselves together.

Ebenezer slowly set you back on your own feet, but his arms remained around you, a warm hand rubbing comforting circles between your shoulder blades.  “Are you all right, my love?”

Your face still hidden in his chest, you began to shake with laughter.  “I’m more than all right,” you answered, pulling your face from its hiding place to meet your husband’s attentive gaze.  “Much, much more than all right.”

The man’s eyes sparkled with happiness at that declaration, his mouth pulling into a beaming smile.  “I take it you’re happy then?”

You nodded.  “So terribly happy, I could burst.”

“Excellent.  I intend on trying my level best to keep you that way.”

If it had been at all possible for your already overflowing heart to swell more, it would have.  A gentle prick stung the corner of your eyes, but your tear ducts had just about cried themselves out for the night.  Reaching up, you ran your hands through Ebenezer’s soft hair before twining your fingers into the thick, silver locks at the back of his head.  You noted the way he quietly moaned (in fact almost purred) in contentment as you did this.  That would be a handy detail about your husband to keep in mind--very handy indeed….  “I love you, Ebenezer Scrooge.”

His arms tightened around you.  “And I love you, Y/N Scrooge.  Until the end of time.”  Unexpectedly he swooped you up into his arms bridal style, making you squeal before pressing his lips to your smiling mouth once more, growling into your mouth as you gave an experimental tug on his hair.  Then he carried you across the cobblestones, up the steps, and through the doors of the house--your house, together.  A true and very much in love married couple at last.  It was going to be the greatest and happiest of all Christmases.

[sloelimbs]

Babe I'm gonna give you total creative freedom bc I trust you completely, BUT if you want a prompt, let's go with 'pineapple.'

since i'm down to my last two requests (i know it's taking me forever, i'm sorry, i have medical shit going down) i'm just going to pop in here that my askbox is open and i take requests! now, the story:

The line comes to him with the same kind of flash of inspiration as a riff, or a brilliant lyric, several years into his employment at the Hideout. He still plays on Tuesdays, because he and the guys could never give up on the double Cs, but more or less every other night of the week he’s in there serving drinks and cleaning glasses. It’s not without resentment that Eddie acknowledges he’s met more girls with a cocktail shaker in his hand (because Fridays are ladies nights, so cocktails are on the menu) than with his guitar.

Of course, that was before Chrissy Cunningham started working with him. Okay, so she doesn’t exactly work with him but she’s in the goddamn bar, ain’t she? It doesn’t matter that she’s also, you know, on the bar. He wouldn’t let anyone actually touch her (and nor would the other girls, for that matter) but God what do they do to the cheerleaders in this town to make them so consistently hot? It’s clearly not the uniform (he’d been worried about that), so what? The natural rhythm she has, moving so that her skin lights up like she’s covered in scales, hipbones glowing beneath low riding shorts, and how (even covered in sweat with her hair dark and curling from it) beautifully alive she is with the music replacing the blood in her veins? He knows she feels that too. Music is a living thing that takes a person over; this he knows because he makes it. Eddie suspects Chrissy was born with it.

Anyway, the line he comes up with smacks him clear between the eyes - a chord progression, a bridge appearing from nowhere - just as the last stragglers are being shooed out of the door and Chrissy is drying her hair perched on a table. It’s beyond fucking genius, he just knows it. He’s about to pick her up with the smoothest shit that’ll ever leave his mouth and he’s extra fucking cocky about swaggering up to her with a towel over his shoulder and his arms crossed over his chest. He’s always grateful that his work clothes are flattering but tonight he’s seriously considering thanking a God he doesn’t really believe in for his luck. She looks up at him quizzically, then smiles a smile so big that actually he thinks his smoothness might have a little pulp in it after all. Shit. Fuck. It’s too late, he’s already opening his mouth, and what falls out of it is;

“If you were a fruit, you’d be a fine-apple.” What that fuck was that, Munson, you enormous fucking clowncar of a man? Smooth his fucking foot oh God he’s going to run his own head over with his van. The fuck is he talking about? What is this nonsense?

Why can’t Chrissy be as easy to talk to as the bimbos that come in here with their bachelorette parties?

“Wow.” But she’s laughing! That’s a good sign! It’s not even polite laughter - it’s a hideous little giggle that he immediately wants to find again, grin immediate on his mouth, watching the gaps between her teeth. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“Normally I’m much better than this.”

“You realise that makes you sound like a womanising jerk, right?” Chrissy crosses one long bare leg over the other and brushes the rhinestones hanging against her collarbone over her shoulder, raises her eyebrows and puckers her mouth at him. Sweet baby Jesus. That’s not true, not really, not from his perspective but if this is a game and this is how she wants the rules to be then he can do that. He sits at the table and folds his arms on the top.

“Maybe you should make an honest man of me, Cunningham. What time do you get off?”

“Same time as you, obviously.”

“I have some kush back at my trailer, if you felt like joining me.” The smile on her face grows, and her eyes flick from his own to his mouth, and it doesn’t matter that the pick up line ended up being the most embarrassing thing he could ever say because she leans down over him and slots her fingers along the bone of his jaw. Now he knows how all the heroines feel when the hero finally catches up with them. It’s a very strange place to be. Worth it, though. Oh God, so worth it, because she parts her lips against his and her tongue is coated in sugar and cinnamon from shots of cherry sours and Big Red bubblegum. When she pulls back, that tongue lingers for a second between his teeth and with a shiver he starts to laugh. He can’t help it. “It’s pineapple. The kush.”

“Wow. I can’t believe I’m going home with you and you’re this much of an idiot.”

“Chrissy, what can I say? I’m a talented guy.”

[transsexualhamlet]

I’ve never been part of an ask game before and cannot currently remember what any I’ve seen looked like — probably because that information would be useful rn, do I just type the emojis out like this? Can I do multiple? Idk, but uh — thank you for this, I like your questions they’re really nice, and also here

💔👁️🏛️👋

Thank you again, sorry if I’m doing it wrong, or if this was for a specific group of people and I missed that (I’m just gonna stop typing now, bye ^^ thanks again)

No worries at all! Ask games are for anyone who wants to participate. If you want to receive asks about these as well as asking them, all you have to do is reblog the post so people know you're interested.

tma ask game !!

💔- I have already answered this one, but my answer as to which fear would create the most datable avatars I would say either the vast or the buried, depending on if you prefer heights or small spaces. They don't have any traits that would immediately make them immediately unbearable and I sort of see the romance in both. Maybe I am a little bonkers but yk...

👋- What characters that don't meet in canon would you like to see interact?

Obviously Jon and Gerry did technically meet, but not while Gerry was alive. I've seen people say this before of course but it's such a shame, I think they could have been a really good really supportive duo for each other.

In seriousness though, Alice and Tim. This is the answer for me, because the problem is neither Tim nor Alice have anyone in the office that can match their freak to the slightest. My god they would have gotten on so well. They would have been insufferably catty besties, why do they have to live in different universes...

🏛️- How do you think you would fare as the Archivist?

I honestly think I'm more qualified for the position than Jon, at least I have job, volunteer, and college experience with libraries and archival. However the problem is that it has very little bearing on the actual job because your actual job is trying not to die hardcore all the time.

I think I would make... similar decisions to Jon for the most part, other than not being as much of an asshole to Martin. Jon's not much less of a wimp than me, so at least I wouldn't do *worse* physically. However because of the fact that I am largely tiny and powerless, I would... hesitate a lot less to take on avatarhood, because to me the moral quandry just goes out the window when the other option is "people are trying to kill me and everyone else painfully". So what if I get a little nosy. Admittedly I would also think it's cool as fuck.

👁️- Do you have any experiences you'd like to make a statement about?

I've had several low-key encounters that have baffled me over time, and if I had to place them into TMA categories most of them would have been spiral aligned, but the one that comes to mind first is... weird?

This was back last year, either during Thanksgiving or Winter break, I was out on a walk in the woods with my brother on a vacation up north and we kept hearing these extremely faint repeating strings of circus like music. I know, I know, however this occured before I had listened to TMA or had any associations with circus music. Looking back on it, though, if I had to correlate it, it felt almost more in tune with music related to the slaughter than the stranger. But so at first, only I could hear it and my brother was like... you're crazy, and then it sort of trickled away after a little bit and I was like yeah I must have just imagined it because we were in the MIDDLE of the WOODS. But then it came back again and it was the exact same like, four measure sequence but slightly different? That time my brother did hear it, but it disappeared again. We continued to walk quite a ways thru the woods on the path we had already planned on going, and we forgot about it for a while, but eventually it came back, no easier or harder to hear despite the fact that we were quite far away from where we had originally heard it. It came back a couple more times, always just slightly fucking Wrong in a really weird way, never exactly the same but never part of any like, real conceivable song, just a string of notes that most definitely came from instruments and not natural phenomena, and as soon as we left the woods we didn't hear it again. The only thing we could think it might have been was like, the college band practicing, since we were like... kind of closeish to a state school campus, but it was during a holiday when college was most definitely not in session, and the only part of campus we were even remotely close to was the science and medical sector which would obviously not have a band practicing, not to mention outside and loud enough to be heard a mile away. Even if for some reason there was a band practicing there, there were unreasonably long periods of silence in between the repeating music (I know how band practices go, they don't sound like that) and neither does it explain why the music couldn't be tracked to any location and sounded the same nearly a mile apart.

Not terribly *frightening*, really, especially since I was not alone and it was like, 4 PM, so it wouldn't make very good Archivist food, but certainly something that I keep thinking about.

Thank you for asking again!!