#after obviously fighting who is going to take the others surname

[kisasan]

*phone rings*

Bkg:Hello?

Villain:We have your daughters! if you want them back then-

Bkg:Oh no,you got it wrong,they got you!

V:Wha-

Bkg:Good luck!

V:Wha..what do you mean...*high pitched screaming*

[darkmatilda]

╰┈➤ HALLOWEEN TRADITION

in which one you and reid match your outfits every year for halloween

tw: mention of shoo!ing, dea!h of an animal

contents: spencer reid x fem!reader, they're both obviously in love with each other, time skips

words: 7.5k

a year ago

“Oh, I already ordered. Caramel cappuccino, almond milk, double amount of vanilla syrup and cinnamon sprinkled on top, am I right?

“Your photographic memory is sometimes just terrifying”

“Thank you. By the way, are you still afraid to order this coffee in front of Rossi?”

“Yep. I always take regular macchiato. The last thing I need in work is his judgemental, Italian look…”

Meanwhile, as Reid let out a short laugh, you quickly took in your surroundings: the brick walls and oak tables, the decorative pumpkins by the entrance, and the menu hanging above the barista’s counter, adorned with (artificial) leaves. Just like every corner of this trashy coffee shop was trying to remind you about autumn.

 One thing about you — you were an extreme autumn lover, who unfortunately was allergic to pumpkins, so you couldn’t fit the autumn white girl stereotype completely, by ordering a pumpkin spice latte. And you would rather die than wear a sweater. All of them were scratchy. 

“So�� started Reid, hitting a notebook cover with a pen. "I spent all of last evening and more than half of this morning writing down ideas for our Halloween costume this year. I made sure none of them were too similar to our last year's outfits or anything our friends have ever worn to make sure we’ll be the best-dressed people at the party”

“God, Reid, you really took it seriously this year” you raised your eyebrows, shocked and full of admiration at the same time. “And how many ideas did you find?”

“143”

“143?!” you repeated, assuming that he was just joking. Spencer was looking at you with a deadly serious face. “Are fucking crazy? How are we going to choose between 143 ideas? I can’t even choose what socks to wear in the morning…”

“144” he corrected. “When you were saying that I came with another one, Tyler and Marla from Fight Club…”

You had this tendency to forget the names of fictional characters (though, somehow, you could name every American serial killer who ever existed and everyone from your high school class. It was both funny and slightly terrifying that, in two cases, those names overlapped) so it took you a moment to realize who Reid was talking about.

“A guy with a red leather jacket? And this woman who was always smoking?”

“Their names are Tyler Durden and Marla Singer. I don't mean to sound rude, but you made me watch this movie and claimed it was one of your favorites, yet you don’t even remember the main characters' names?"

You shrugged your shoulders. You could say nothing in your defense, that was just the way you were. A subtle smile danced on your lips.

“When I started working with you” you meant the whole BAU “I couldn’t remember all of your names. About two months later I slowly started to recognize them because of how you were addressing each other but because everyone was calling Hotch by his surname I didn’t know his actual name for, like, years…”

Disbelief showed on Spencer’s face but then got replaced with amusement.

“Years?”

“Don’t you dare laugh at me because of my memory problem, mrs. I know the moon signs of everyone around me…”

He raised his hands in a defensive gesture.

“How could I dare, ms. I don’t remember my boss's name even though we’ve been working together for five years…”

“I couldn’t remember it back then! Shame on you, Reid. I shared my secret with you and you immediately started laughing…”

“And what did you want me to do? Make you an appointment with a neurologist?” 

That's what our usual conversation looked like. Like a professional ping pong game. Year after a year, month after a month, day after a day you were just becoming better and better players. 

Waitress came along your table, setting your orders on the table. You always had to smell your coffee first, cinnamon aroma ticked your nose. 

“"Not that it means anything, but my memory problems have worsened since I met you." you said, taking the first sip of a coffee. 

“What do you mean by that?“

“Well, I don’t have the need to remember anything when you remember literally everything that comes your way. You've spoiled me a bit in this regard."

Spencer smiled softly, with a little bit of pride, caused by your words. 

“ Always at your service”  he declared. Suddenly his back went straight, as he probably reminded himself about something. ”Did you call your brother today? It’s his birthday… 

“ No way” you jumped on your seat and immediately started looking for your phone to check what day it was. 14 October. “God, Reid you’re right. I completely forgot…Have I already told you how much I love you? 

You standed up, ready to leave the coffee, declaring that you’ll be back in a moment. People around were having their lunch. The whole place became too noisy for a birthday phone call with your older brother, who lived in a different state. 

“Not today” He replied shortly. 

“So, I’m telling you now, Spence. You’re the best friend I could ever imagine…”

As you were busy with dialing the right phone number and trying to wear your coat at the same time, you couldn’t see how his smile faded after the last sentence. 

a week later

“It cost me like half of my salary” You said, tossing your dark hair back so it wouldn't accidentally catch fire while lighting the candle. A damn expensive candle, as you mentioned. “Another half goes for that little shit”

With a nod, you indicated the ginger cat that had already settled comfortably next to Spencer. He didn’t take his eyes off the laptop screen, checking something with a furrowed brow. With one hand, almost automatically, he gently scratched Mr. Cinnamon Roll behind the ear.

“It’s made only with fully natural ingredients. Vegan friendly. People with migraines friendly. Almost everyone friendly, except of your wallet” You continued your speech, agitated, recalling the guy in the store who refused to sell you a simple, cheap autumn candle, explaining its poor quality, and convinced you to buy the most expensive one he had.

Finally, the wick caught fire.

“So, you’ve got something?“

It was a late evening after work when you both felt exhausted, yet you decided to meet at your apartment to search online for essentials for your Halloween costumes. The idea of going as a couple from Fight Club had won.

You were supposed to be Marla, and he was to be Tyler. You weren’t a couple or anything like that, but for the past five years, it had been your tradition to wear matching outfits for the halloween party organized by your team. Usually, various other friends would join, and having more people allowed for a best costume contest, which you nearly won every year.

“Yeah, but you probably won't like that, considering that you’ve just confessed to spending your entire paycheck”

You set the candle down on the small coffee table in your living room and joined him on the couch, almost crushing Mr. Cinnamon Ball. He didn’t look offended by that — this cat would rather be crushed than leave Spencer’s side. Somehow, he loved him more than the hand that fed him. 

Sitting so close to your friend, your head nearly touched his shoulder, but neither of you minded.You had known each other for four years. You met regularly to watch movies or just to chat, and more than once, you had fallen asleep with your head resting on his arm, that was way more comfortable than any pillow. The rest of your team sometimes joked about your close relationship, but in your opinion, it was only because you were almost the same age! And maybe a bit because you felt the most comfortable in his presence, you understood each other the best, and he made you laugh the most…

For God's sake, why did you start thinking about that at that moment? When you were so close to each other and his gentle scent was slowly enveloping you...

Okay, you’ve thought of him as more than just a friend once or twice. Like that time he stayed over at your place, and you didn’t want him to sleep on the uncomfortable couch, so you shared your bed. You felt so good waking up next to him and regretted that it was just a one-time experience…

You realized he must have said something to you, but you were too lost in thought to hear it.

Instead of repeating himself, Reid pushed the laptop closer to you. On the screen was a website featuring an auction for….the original red leather jacket from Fight Club! You almost screamed. If you had won her over, the victory would have to be yours...

Your enthusiasm faded like a blown-out candle when you saw the final bid amount. 

“What the fuck? That's more than the total of our annual salaries…” 

 "Actually, it’s twenty thousand less than..."

You both fell silent in disappointment. Then, a very silly idea came to your mind.

“Reid” you started slowly. 

“"Oh no, I know this tone. You're either about to say something extremely absurd or something inappropriate, and I don’t know which one scares me more."

 "But listen. We'll wait for the auction to end and for someone to buy that jacket. Then we’ll talk to Garcia and convince her to track down the buyer. We'll go, knock on the door, and when they open it..."

"We’ll politely ask to borrow it?"

"No, sweet boy, we’ll show our badges and say the auction was illegal, and we need to confiscate the jacket."

Spencer burst out laughing.

"Your ideas are brilliant. But how are you going to explain this to Hotch afterward?"

“He won’t find out”

“He find out”

“Okay, you’re right. He’ll probably find out”

A silence full of smiles fell between you.

Spencer closed the auction page and started browsing something else when you let out a laugh at your own thoughts. 

“Okay, I have another idea that won’t cost either of us our jobs,” you said, capturing his attention. He tore his gaze away from the laptop and focused completely on you and your trembling lips, which hinted that you weren’t going to say anything serious “The beginning of the plan sounds the same but instead of showing our badges, you’ll give him a blowjob… “

“Fuck you!” he shouted, unable to stop himself from laughing. At the sight of his expression, a wave of laughter hit you so hard that Mr. Cinnamon Roll jumped off the couch and ran away from his sick owner. “I’m not giving any random guy a blowjob in exchange for a jacket. In exchange for the original diaries of Einstein, well, I wouldn’t say no; I would think about it, but not for a jacket!”

“But it’s the jacket from Fight Club, Spence. Brad Pitt was wearing it” you encouraged him, amused. "Besides, how do you know some guy will buy it? It could be a woman.” 

Spencer rolled his eyes and was ready to continue arguing on the topic, but suddenly it seemed as if he changed his mind. His expression grew more serious.

"Actually, it doesn't change much, but that's not the point. What worries me more is that I've lost my touch. Maybe you'd want to replace me in this? The buyer might not be satisfied."

He said it in a tone as if he were talking about a truly serious, real transaction, which only amused you even more. Also pretending to be serious, you patted him on the shoulder.

“Don't worry, Spence. I'm sure you'll manage just fine.'"

"Really? What makes you think that?"

You considered making a joke, but then you realized what you were talking about while studying him. After a whole day at work, he looked... surprisingly... attractive? With slightly tousled hair and two buttons of his shirt undone…

"‘Nothing,” you replied. For the first time in his presence, you felt slightly embarrassed to continue the topic. Your closeness on the couch didn’t help at all, and you regretted scaring off Mr. Cinnamon.

“No, something makes you think that” 

The tension between you escalated to the point where you weren't sure if he was still joking. You realized that in this silence, every change in your breathing would be audible, so you tried to control it. 

What makes you think that? Spencer just seemed that way. I mean, you often talked about your relationships, and you assumed that his potential partner would lack nothing.

Embarrassed, you wanted to say something when he suddenly burst out laughing.

"Jesus, we were talking about blowing somebody for a jacket. Why did you get so scared? 

You hit him on the arm so hard that he let out a groan.

"I didn't get scared! You just suddenly became so weird that I didn't know if you were joking or what” 

"‘Of course I was joking. Why would I ask you that seriously?” he asked, and you noticed that he also carried a hint of embarrassment.

"I have no idea. Maybe you wanted to know my opinion or something” You desperately tried to return to the atmosphere that had existed between you just a moment ago, one that felt more friendly.

Spencer swallowed hard. It was clear he also preferred to drop the topic. 

“I don’t know why you would have any opinion on that, but let’s get back to what we were talking about before you switched into perverted weirdo mode...’"

After his words, you had to hide your face in the sleeve of his shirt, unable to contain your laughter. He seemed surprised by your reaction.

“ What? What did I say this time?” 

“Perverted weirdo” you blurted it out, almost choking on your words.” You called me a perverted weirdo…”

“Well, considering your recent ambiguous comments…”

“I'm going to tell Emily about this. Hey girl, you know how Spencer called me last time? A perverted weirdo…Oh no, I got your shirt dirty with my makeup… “

Spencer looked at the sleeve of his shirt and shrugged, saying, "It's nothing."

"No," you shook your head, trying to rub the stain off his shirt with your fingers, but of course it didn’t work. "I spilled coffee on your pants last time. Take it off; I'll wash it today."

"It's late; you’re not going to deal with washing my shirt right now. Let's get back to looking for our costumes."

You agreed and once again found comfort leaning on his shoulder. He still held the laptop on his lap, and whenever you wanted to type on the keyboard, you had to rest your elbows on his body, on the lower part of his stomach. Why were you even paying attention to that? You shaked your head and leaned over the laptop when you found the perfect shoes for Marla's costume.

In that position, you couldn't see Spencer, but you felt he was almost completely still. After a moment, however, he slowly reached for your hair, gently brushing it with his fingers as if checking its texture.

"We don't need to buy you a wig, right? Your hair will do just fine."

You murmured in agreement as he continued to play with your hair, probably unaware of how much he was distracting you. You had been staring at the picture of the shoes for five minutes and couldn’t remember what you wanted to check. Ah, the size!

"Reid, we have a problem," you said. "They don't have my size. I checked to see if a larger size would be available, since I could stuff them somehow, but the smallest is a 10!"

"Your shoe size is 7; in such large ones, you'll either look ridiculous or kill yourself before even arriving to the party…Do they have to be those specific ones? Maybe you can find some others..."

"They have to be those! They're identical to the ones Helena Bonham Carter wore."

Spencer sighed thoughtfully. His breath tickled the back of your head, which distracted you slightly once again. Anyway, this one time, you came up with a solution faster than his brilliant mind…

You turned your head toward him — after he stroked your hair you were very, very close to each other. The flame from the candle on the table reflected in his eyes, filling the area with the scent of cinnamon that had lingered for a while. When your face unexpectedly came just in front of him, he looked at you with a surprise and a gaze that he had never given you before. It was as if he were trying to stop himself from doing something, while at the same time, a voice in his ear incessantly urged him to go ahead.

You looked away to avoid doing something foolish. You could feel warmth on your neck and cheeks. Finally, you remembered what you wanted to ask.

"Spence, what’s your shoe size?"

5 years ago

 It all started when the rest of your team found out about Penelope and Morgan's Halloween tradition. Every year, the two of them held a movie marathon of the scariest films they could find, watching them until sunrise.

 "Why didn’t you invite any of us? I love watching horror movies with friends!" Prentiss exclaimed indignantly.

You were on board a private jet. You had been working with this team for only a few days —  in fact, this was your first trip with them to work in the field.

The prospect of solving the case had you feeling stressed, and you were also wondering if you would find common ground with your team. You lagged slightly behind, pretending to read a book while actually listening to all the conversations around you. You wanted to get to know everyone better. Someone sat down beside you, leaning in to read the title of your book.

 "Rebecca. Have you gotten to the part where it turns out Maxim killed his wife?"

You looked shocked at the second youngest member of the team. You had a serious problem with remembering names, so you only knew his last name. Reid was a tall man with longer hair, dressed in a vest with a shirt peeking out from underneath. Until now, you hadn't formed much of an opinion about him, but that was about to change — he had just spoiled the ending of the book for you.

“No, I haven’t gotten to this part! “

An older man in a black suit chuckled quietly to himself.

"Guys, listen up," said the brunette with bangs, wearing a tight red shirt. "It just came out that Morgan and Penelope have their own secret Halloween tradition."

The woman mentioned was present only on the laptop screen. She was working with you remotely and seemed really nice to you. 

"Sweetheart, we weren't trying to hide anything from you; it just happened that we didn’t mention it..."

"That’s exactly what hiding is," Reid added, giving you an apologetic look for spoiling the book.

"What do you say to all of us getting together this Halloween? The whole team?" asked a muscular man dressed in gray, sitting across from Prentiss with his elbow casually resting on the table. "With a special invitation for you, newbie."

Saying this, he winked at you. You were surprised, but still smiled. Are there better circumstances for getting to know your team than a party? Everyone around you approached this idea. 

a week later

You stared at your phone in fear after just ending the call. JJ said something came up and she wouldn’t be able to make it to the party. You knew her best out of the whole team and had hoped that with her there, you would feel more at ease. Most importantly, you were supposed to wear matching outfits. You realized your breath had quickened slightly. You weren't sure if anyone else besides you planned to dress up. After all, they were mostly older than you —  maybe they weren't into that anymore?

 Back in high school, you were the only one who showed up in costume, and you felt embarrassed the whole evening walking around in a zombie farmer outfit while all the other girls wore mini skirts and beautiful, subtle makeup. You didn’t want to go through that again, but making this costume had taken you a lot of time. Recently, you and JJ had been enchanted by the animated movie Corpse Bride, and you planned to dress up as the title character and her rival, Victoria. Since you loved dressing up for Halloween, you chose the more challenging costume. You bought a cheap white dress that you styled to look more tattered. You applied pale blue makeup and heavily contoured your cheekbones. You even managed to get a veil.

In fifteen minutes, you were supposed to be at Morgan's house. If you removed the makeup, you wouldn’t have time to do anything else. You contemplated what to do. Ultimately, you decided it would be a shame to waste your hard work, and soon you found yourself in the car, heading to the address you were given. As you parked, you felt stress start to take control of you.

You needed to sit in silence for a moment, so you turned off the engine and stared at the empty sidewalk in front of you. Morgan lived in a large house in a quiet neighborhood, where all the homes were spaced far enough apart to host small gatherings without bothering anyone.

Suddenly, someone appeared by the driver's window. You screamed in surprise, your thoughts racing back to all the cases when women were killed in their own cars. 

You quickly realized that it wasn't another UNSUB. That one wouldn’t have screamed alongside you.

“Damn it, Reid, you scared me!”

“You scared me too” he managed to say, placing a hand on his chest. He glanced toward the house. "Weird that Morgan hasn't come out to help yet."

“Maybe the music is too loud and he didn’t hear. There are quite a few cars. Did they invite that many people?” you wondered as you got out of the car. 

Reid glanced at your costume. He wasn’t dressed up at all, just wearing a plain dark gray blazer and a shirt.

"Is that some fashion trend, or are you dressed as a zombie bride?"

“Neither, actually,” you replied, feeling stressed about being the only one in costume. “It’s from the cartoon Corpse Bride.”

“I haven’t seen it,” he admitted as you both headed toward the entrance of the house.

“It’s a great animation,” you recommended. “You should check it out. Although, from what I’ve noticed, you prefer reading more.”

“Not entirely. I like movies too, but I rarely choose cartoons,” he said, ringing the doorbell.

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” you replied.

A very short girl you'd never seen before opened the door. She seemed slightly tipsy, confirming your suspicions that people from outside the team had also been invited.

"Oh, you dressed up! How cute!" she said, delighted to see you both, even though she didn’t know you. "Wait, I think I even know who you are. Emily and Victor from Corpse Bride?"

She pointed at the two of you, at your dress and his gray blazer. You exchanged glances, realizing she must have mistaken his usual clothes for a costume.

"No, we’re not…" Reid began to explain.

"Actually, I was supposed to match costumes with JJ…"

But she wasn’t listening. She let you in and shouted through the whole house,

"Look at their matching outfits!"

Everyone gathered around to see you, and you endured the whistles and applause with growing embarrassment.

Penelope appeared right beside you, placing her hands on your shoulders and inspecting your makeup closely. "Oh, sweetheart, you really went all out. This must have taken you ages."

"Which is more than I can say for you," joked Prentiss, holding a beer bottle and pointing it at Reid. "You decided to keep it a secret for a better effect, I assume?"

Reid tried once more to explain that it wasn’t intentional, but you stopped him with a nudge. He looked at you, puzzled.

"Let’s go get a drink," you suggested.

Not waiting for a response, you grabbed his wrist and pulled him along.

"I’m not going to be the only one in costume, so you’re going to stick with me and pretend we planned this all along."

He let out a surprised laugh, thinking you were joking at first.

"Wait, seriously? So… I’m Victor now?"

"Yes, you’re Victor, and you accidentally proposed to me. By the way, I’m dead."

"Okay," he blinked, processing the information. "I definitely need to watch that movie."

You spent almost the entire evening sticking close to each other. Without you by his side, Spencer looked like he wasn’t wearing a costume at all. And without Spencer next to you, you felt a bit awkward.

A few hours later, the two of you were sitting alone in the kitchen, drinking non-alcoholic cocktails and talking about… psychology. Not exactly a party topic, but somehow that’s where your conversation about favorite sodas had ended up.

“Next year, we have to do this again. I mean, plan a costume together. On purpose this time."

Spencer nodded.

"I think I even have an idea."

And that was how your tradition began.

now

He said Halloween is for kids. 

Starting from the beginning, everyone always asks how you met Travis. Well, your story has some potential for a romantic comedy — if only you were a bit more attractive and funnier to make it more watchable on screen. And maybe if there were some breathtaking plot twist. But real life has little in common with a romantic comedy, and you didn’t meet under any crazy circumstances. You only had potential. It happened during your rehabilitation.

Perhaps we need to go back a bit further. Six months ago, Emily passed away, and you weren’t even there for the funeral because, in the rescue attempt to free her from Doyle’s hands, you were shot. Seriously wounded. You spent two weeks in a coma. That might not seem like a long time, but when you woke up, it felt like years had passed. Everyone around you seemed so distant, changed, almost as if you’d suddenly appeared in an entirely different reality.

The following weeks were even more blurred, like rain hitting fiercely against the window with such frequency that the droplets slowly merged into a single cohesive stream. You weren't accepting visitors while in the hospital; something was wrong with you. Perhaps it was due to the grief and shock from Emily's passing, along with the trauma. You didn't want to return to that job; you were too afraid of the risks. Of dying yourself or losing someone from your team and having to relive it all over again. Fortunately, you quickly received an offer for a transfer. An office job, terribly boring, but there was something in that monotony that filled you with a sense of safety. You hated it, but you were afraid to engage in anything else.

Before you took the job, you had to go through rehabilitation. It was led by Travis, eleven years older than you, which stunned your older brother when you introduced them. “You’re dating a guy older than me?” he asked, shocked. They didn’t hit it off, but you didn’t worry too much about that. Everything in your life had changed, and being in a relationship with an older, more mature guy made you feel more stable. And since so many things had changed, why not go all in? You moved in with him. Just as you were starting to climb out of the pit, another tragedy struck. Mr. Cinnamon Roll was diagnosed with stomach cancer and passed away despite treatment.

Since that moment, you almost stopped talking to your old team. You still loved them — they were like family to you, but whenever faced with life's struggles, you felt that burning need for isolation. On the day Mr. Cinnamon Roll died, you received a message from Spencer, asking how you were doing and suggesting a meeting. You stared at your phone for hours, and ultimately replied to him only the next morning with a brief, "Sorry, I didn't notice you wrote." He responded just as briefly. He was also suffering due to the circumstances and probably didn't have the energy to chase after his friend who openly refused to give him any attention.

You pushed him away because you weren’t ready to confront what you were feeling. Something had happened between you during that Halloween party, shortly before Emily's death. After that, you acted as if nothing had occurred, but both of you knew that you needed to talk about what to do with your relationship. But before you had the chance, there was Doyle, your accident, then Travis, and it seemed that everything that had ever been between you was lost. A new agent, Ashley, joined the BAU. You knew her —  you were around the same age, and sometimes you caught yourself wondering if something might blossom between her and Reid.

You thought that if you accepted the loss of your previous life, it would be easier to move on. It was the opposite. Day by day, you felt more and more depressed, empty inside. This morning, you went into a café to buy coffee. While waiting for your order, you looked at the tiny pumpkins on the counter and realized it was Halloween—the holiday you used to love so much. This moved you, and for the first time in a long time, you felt a spark of life within you. You felt like you wanted to do something. Dress up as a character from a cheap horror movie, have a few drinks. Maybe even go trick-or-treating, hiding behind a mask like kids do. You did that with Spencer two years ago, but no one wanted to give that tall guy any candy.

You shared this idea with Travis.

And he said that Halloween is for kids. 

a year ago

“How the fuck I’m suppose to walk in these….”

As soon as you saw him in a black dress that reached mid-thigh (it should have been longer, but you bought it when you still assumed you would be the one wearing it), a short fur coat of the same color, and sunglasses, you nearly choked on your laughter. And when he added black heeled ankle boots and started cursing their practicality, you fell onto the couch, unable to stand on your legs any longer.

Mr. Cinnamon Roll watched his antics with curiosity.

“Run away, little one,” Spencer advised him. “Those heels are so sharp I might accidentally kill you.”

“Don’t exaggerate. I wear shoes with higher heels every day.”

“Your spine will thank you for it in ten years.”

“Alright, mom.”

The deadly shoes landed on the floor. You were planning to leave in an hour and a half, once you finished perfecting your costumes. Until then, Spencer had no intention of risking his life by parading around in them. He lay down on the couch next to you, the dress ungracefully riding up.

“Now it’s your turn to change,” he said, pointing to the Tyler Durden costume lying on the table. “And mine to laugh.”

“First, I wanted to do makeup.”

“Is that necessary?”

“Are you kidding? What kind of Marla Singer would it be without a bold smokey eye?”

“Fine by you,” he muttered, looking at the watch on his wrist. “One hour and thirty-three minutes. Will we make it?”

“Relax. Remember, for a better impression, we need to be a little late.”

You disappeared for a moment into your bathroom, only to return with a makeup bag in hand. You had bought a new eyeshadow palette specifically for this occasion. Tilting your head to the side, you looked at your friend, wondering in which position you would be most comfortable working on him.

“Okay, lean against the couch,” you instructed, feeling like a professional makeup artist. “And don’t look at me like I’m a mad scientist trying to perform some dangerous operation on you.”

“From my perspective, that’s exactly what it looks like. A mad scientist and a dangerous operation. Just don’t accidentally poke me in the eye.”

“God, Reid, I’m not going to do this with a knife…”

You stood in front of the couch, facing him. Following your instruction, he rested his head, but as soon as you tried to apply the first product on his eyelid, you felt that you weren’t doing it precisely. You sighed.

“It’s uncomfortable for me to work this way. I have a better idea. Lie down.”

Reid looked at you with raised eyebrows but obediently lay down on the couch. You sat on a free spot next to him, leaning over his face. You were glad he closed his eyes. It would be awkward to be this close and still have to endure his sharp gaze. Your hair brushed against his neck. A gentle smile appeared on his face as soon as the brush touched his skin.

“This is quite nice,” he said.

You didn’t respond, focused on turning him into a doppelgänger for Marla Singer. You would sooner die of embarrassment than admit it out loud, but you deliberately prolonged the entire process. You felt as if you were working on a painting. Additionally, you enjoyed the awareness of having him beneath you, so defenseless and completely unaware, that you wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

You would simply press your lips together to see what would happen. There was a possibility he would push you away, but even considering that, you were ready to do it. You didn’t even try to push those thoughts away. They had completely dominated your mind, and you were just observing them from the sidelines, wondering where they came from. Throughout your years of friendship, you had never experienced them. Or rather, you had experienced them so rarely that you didn’t consider them significant. After all, everyone sometimes feels like kissing their friend. The problem was that for quite some time, the only thing you had been thinking about was his lips on yours.

Spencer opened one eye. You felt as if he had caught you doing something wrong.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, his voice slightly husky.

You brushed aside the one strand of his hair that had strayed onto his forehead.

“About one of my friends.”

“You look worried. Can I ask why thinking about this person makes you feel that way?”

You let out a quiet laugh. You wondered if he knew you were talking about him. He should have.

“I doubt you want to hear about it,” you replied evasively. However, after a moment, you broke down and added something more. “Do you ever feel like you want to do something stupid so badly that you feel like you're physically shaking, even though you know it’s wrong?”

He frowned slightly. You accidentally applied too much eyeshadow, licking the tip of your finger to wipe away the excess product from his skin.

“Can you give a specific example of such behavior?”

You shrugged.

“I don’t know. Kissing a friend, for example.”

He smiled gently.

“Well, in that case, yes. All the time.”

You exhaled through your nose, feeling a painful tightness in your chest. You didn’t know what was happening to you.

“Done,” you said, abruptly rising from the couch. “I need to change. We don’t have much time.”

“There’s still an hour and eighteen…”

You grabbed your costume from the table and hid in the bathroom, not hearing the end of his sentence.

one hour and eighteen minutes later

Usually, nighttime drives had a calming effect on you, but this time it was completely the opposite. You were in a small space with Spencer, with whom you had just had… let’s call it a complicated conversation. You felt every part of your body tense.

You hated yourself. You hated that you didn’t understand what you were feeling. You hated that you didn’t know what you wanted. You felt like banging your head against the steering wheel. Maybe the sound of the horn would bring you back to your senses.

Reid just stayed silent, inscrutable.

“I’m afraid we’ll be right on time,” he said after clearing his throat. “And you wanted to be a little late.”

“So what should I do now, drive around the city for the next ten minutes?” you asked, slightly irritably.

He shrugged stiffly.

“Or stop and wait. It’s a much more environmentally friendly option.”

In the end, you pulled up outside Morgan’s house, where the annual Halloween party was set to take place for the fifth year in a row. You sighed with nostalgia and turned off the engine. You might have been in the middle of an emotional crisis, but you still intended to win that contest. And that meant waiting out those ten minutes.

You adjusted the sleeves of your red leather jacket.

“Remember when we dressed up as Harry and Voldemort?” you asked suddenly. That had been your first intentional costume pairing.

Spencer let out a short laugh.

“For the next two days, I couldn’t wash off all that white paint,” he muttered, reaching into the black purse you had lent him. Spencer had been outraged that mini dresses had no pockets, leaving him with nowhere to keep his things. You frowned when you noticed he had taken out his wallet. From it, he pulled out a photo taken on that memorable day, showing the two of you standing in front of the fireplace at Morgan’s cabin. You had your arms around each other, Voldemort and Harry Potter.

“You carry our photo in your wallet?” you asked, touched, admiring the picture with delight.

Slightly embarrassed, he nodded.

“And not just ours,” he reached into his wallet again, this time pulling out a photo of Mr. Cinnamon Roll curled up on your lap. You leaned closer to Spencer to get a better look, almost forgetting about your earlier conversation.

You extended your hand, but instead of taking the photo, you just grabbed his hand. He squeezed it tightly and briefly kissed the back of it.

“It’s been ten minutes,” he announced, letting go of your hand. “We can go inside now…”

He trailed off as you suddenly grabbed a piece of his fur and pulled him as close as possible. You felt as if someone stronger had taken control of your body and finally did what you had wanted to do for a long time. You were kissing him.

At first, he froze as if spellbound, completely surrendering to the pressure of your lips. You pulled back a little, unsure if you should continue.

“Why did you stop?” he asked softly.

“I wasn’t sure if you liked it.”

He laughed right into your mouth and resumed the kiss in a hungry way.

“I wanted to do it earlier,” you admitted after a moment. His eyes were shining, and yours probably were too. “When I was putting on your makeup. You had your eyes closed, and it was all I could think about.”

His hand rested on your neck, his thumb gently drawing circles on your sensitive skin. You had your arms around his neck, entwined like strands of hair in a braid.

“Good thing you didn’t,” he said. You raised your eyebrows in surprise. “I’d venture to guess we wouldn’t have even made it to this party.”

“Don’t get too bold with your assumptions. I wouldn’t let such good costumes go to waste…”

He kissed you one more time, pulling you close by the chin. Okay, he was right. If you’d done this earlier, you’d probably still be at your apartment, entirely wrapped up in each other. In fact, you’d lost all interest in going to that part

You spent a good few minutes smiling at each other, foreheads touching. You felt the need to talk to him — to make sure this wasn’t just a release of the tension that had been building between you recently, but something more. Before you knew it, though, you were walking arm-in-arm toward Morgan’s house.

“This year, you’ve outdone yourselves,” he commented as he finally came out of his shock at seeing Spencer in heels. He, too, was in costume. For the past four years, it was almost impossible to find anyone there without one. You could say you were the ones who started the trend.

Without letting go of his hand, you encouraged him to spin around in a circle. All evening, you wondered if people noticed that something had changed between you or if they just assumed it was all part of the act. His hand almost never leaving your waist, your conversations with faces close together, the prolonged disappearance in the bathroom under the pretense of fixing his makeup.

“Have you thought about what we’ll dress up as next year?” he asked, pinning you against the upstairs wall, his hand slipped under the fabric of your loose shirt.

You looked into his eyes thoughtfully.

“I liked the idea of Mia and Vincent from Pulp Fiction.”

“Mia and Vincent. White shirts and fake blood. Don’t you think it’s a bit too simple? We should raise the bar each year.”

You rolled your eyes.

“So, what is your suggestion?”

now

 You lay in bed next to the sleeping Travis, staring at his bare back.

Every day, he started with a run around six in the morning, so he didn’t let you drag him anywhere in the evening, despite it being Friday. You tried to fall asleep, but you knew it was useless. You’d always been a night owl. Besides, it was Halloween—your favorite holiday, and for the first time in years, you were spending it with your head on the pillow at 10 p.m.

You sighed and quietly, so as not to wake him, went to the living room to watch some show on TV and maybe have some ice cream. Sitting on the couch, you constantly felt the urge to reach out and pet Mr. Cinnamon Roll, who used to keep watch by your side. Each time, it ended with you touching the cold leather of the couch instead. You buried your face in your hands, stretching the skin on your cheeks.

You couldn’t live in this emptiness any longer.

It happened so suddenly. One moment, you were curled up on the couch, and the next, you were slipping back into the bedroom to grab one of Travis’s plain white shirts from the closet. Just regular black jeans. The only thing missing was fake blood, but you decided you’d just be a more polite version of Mia.

Your heart felt like it was about to burst from your chest as you drove. Doubts crept in, and the absurdity of your behavior caught up with you. It was highly likely that your previous team had stopped organizing those events due to circumstances. And even if they were still happening, why would you feel invited? You had limited your contact with them, almost cutting it off in recent months.

Your breath was painful as you pressed your hand against your side, where a scar from a gunshot wound marked your skin. The red light of the traffic signal turned into the flashing lights of an ambulance. You were inside, bleeding, the whole world blurring around you.

You tried to calm yourself so as not to accidentally cause an accident. However, that tragic feeling didn’t leave you even when you found yourself there again. For the fifth year in a row, on Halloween night, at Morgan’s doorstep.

Derek opened the door for you, wearing a plain t-shirt. No music was coming from inside, and no cars were gathering around. He blinked in surprise at the sight of you.

You greeted him sadly, ready to throw out some excuse, though none came to mind. You had shown up unannounced, unwelcome, when he was probably spending the evening at home working or resting. A flush of embarrassment covered your cheeks.

Before either of you could say anything more, Penelope appeared behind him. She wore a headband adorned with little pumpkin decorations.

“Morgan, we have a serious problem with picking a movie because Hotch…”

She stopped, stunned by your presence. But a moment later, she shouted your name and swept you into her embrace.

“Oh, why didn’t anyone tell me you were coming!”

Over her shoulder, you could see Derek’s gentle smile.

“We went back to basics, and instead of throwing a party, we’re just watching movies,” he explained, eyeing you closely. “But costumes are always welcome. You’re not even the only one who thought to dress up.”

Both of them pulled you into the living room, where the rest of the team was arguing about which movie to watch. As all eyes turned to you, you felt like someone had forcefully shoved you onto a stage and blinded you with a spotlight aimed directly at you. Lost, you didn’t know what to say.

Then your gaze landed on that one person sitting alone in an armchair. Dressed in an identical white shirt and a black blazer draped over the arm of the chair.

You managed to smile at your Vincent.

[ranger-ribbons]

Ranger Series Operators Headcanons

Ziggy isn't an orphan, he has a father. His father runs another cartel and has been quietly running it underground so far that not even the other cartels have heard more than whispers of.

Dillon and Tenaya's birth names are Daniel and Genevieve

Tenaya's implants are more complete than Dillon’s so once Venjix is defeated, she remembers everything. Dillon's memories come back slowly

Summer, Scott, and Flynn are ride-or-die friends. They'd hide bodies for each other if necessary and can communicate without speaking if necessary

Dillon thinks he stayed in Corinth for Summer, under the impression that she was the one who hooked that first fight into the satellite for Dillon’s borrowed car. Ziggy, forever the king of playing himself down, doesn't correct Dillon, he's just happy Dillon stayed.

None of the Series Operator Rangers are straight. Scott, Flynn, and Summer are all bisexual, Dillon is unlabeled and likes anyone (demisexual if he vibed with labels), Ziggy is gay (or bisexual leaning towards men), and Gem and Gemma are queer. Doctor K is the only one who's straight

If he knew to go looking, Dillon would find his parents' graves in the Wastes. They died protecting their children from Grinders, they were traveling to Corinth. Dillon's car belonged to his father

Gem and Gemma have a form of telepathy left over from the experiments done on them at Alphabet Soup, it's why they can finish each other's sentences

Ziggy has had a crush on Scott, Flynn, Dillon, and Gem, and a platonic one on Summer. He can't help it! They're badasses and Ziggy’s got a thing for people who could obviously kick his ass

Flynn is the oldest of the core Rangers at 25, Scott is 24, Dillon and Summer are both 21, Summer being a few months younger, and Ziggy is 18. Gem and Gemma are in their late 20s, Doctor K is 19

Dillon didn't just click with Ziggy, he actually only tolerated his Wastes partner for the few weeks they were in the Wastes together. But, somehow Ziggy grew on him

Ziggy is Dillon’s best friend, baby brother, and maybe more rolled up into one. Dillon adores Ziggy, but won't let it show. Ziggy, of course, knows this and adores Dillon right back

Scott, Summer, Flynn, Dillon, and Ziggy are all in what amounts to a Queer Platonic Relationship. They seek each other out automatically at this point. If so inclined, that relationship could turn romantic real quick

Scott gives doberman vibes, Summer gives white cat vibes, Flynn gives husky vibes, Dillon gives black cat vibes, Ziggy gives orange cat vibes

Ziggy was once a gymnast, which is the only reason he was able to fight as well as he did at first

The Rangers spar together even after Venjix is defeated

Dillon doesn't like Scott, but he does respect and love him

They're all fucking idiots at best, but Scott can and will chain himself to any of the Rangers if they try to run away.

All the Rangers have some form of abandonment issues. The least of which is Flynn, who has issues regarding his mother's death, the most of which is Ziggy, who was abandoned at the orphanage at age five

The Rangers are always in a rainbow of shipping, but none is more obvious than the RPM Rangers. You can ship anyone with anyone (except Gem/Gemma of course)

The hit on Ziggy’s head never went away, and he never expected it to. He was in the mob from age 10 to age 17, he knows better than to expect kindness from people who would kill him in a heartbeat

On that subject, Ziggy doesn't leave the garage unless he has another person (Dillon) with him

Dillon and Tenaya don't go back to their original names, but they do take their original surname of Sevenson (which is where Venjix got the Seven from)

All the Rangers have PTSD and nightmares. They sneak into each other's beds or have puppy piles on the floor. Usually, you'll see specific patterns with sleeping arrangements. For example, Ziggy hasn't slept in his own bed since the Venjix virus started taking over Dillon, but he rarely ended the night in his own bed even before that

Flynn is the fan-favorite Ranger, but it's a close tie with Dillon and Scott

[enjomo-arch]

a  bunch  of  ace  study  covering  the  traditions  and  habits  inherited  from  his  mother  as  a  texan.

disclaimer  ;  all  of  these  headcanons  are  made  with  the  help  of  @godthread  and  his  educational  shared  experience  as  a  native  texan.  thank  you  thunder  for  sharing  this  with  me  < 3

001. ace  obviously  wanted  to  teach  himself  manners  to  properly  thank  shanks  for  taking  care  of  luffy  but  this  wasn't  the  only  case.  he  was  very  rude  as  a  child  and  at  some  point  the  responsibility  to  take  his  culture  and  manners  on  a  higher  level  was  tied  to  the  fact  of  rouge  raising  him  before  entrusting  ace  to  garp  and  then  later  on  him  being  under  the  care  of  dadan.  rouge  always  wanted  ace  to  be  properly  mannered  as  this  was  a  standard  for  her  child  to  properly  speak  to  strangers  and  introduce  himself.  she  cared  about  his  speaking  etiquette  as  it  was  important.  ace  however  was  too  young  to  really  understand  this  and  how  much  it  meant  until  he  grew  old  enough  to  understand  the  responsibility.  talking  to  shanks  was  the  cold  shower  he  needed  to  see  the  value  how  manners  are  important.  his  memory  of  his  mother  is  a  little  foggy  but  deep  within  his  heart  ace  understood  that  his  decision  of  asking  makino  to  teach  him  proper  manners  was  indeed  what  his  mother  tried  to  achieve.

002. family  for  ace  is  above  all.  which  shows  how  ace  took  his  mother's  surname  after  growing  up.  his  birth  name  was  gol  d.  ace  but  since  ace  grew  with  bitter  grief  in  his  mouth  towards  roger,  caused  by  the  uneasy  environment  he  was  growing  with  he  ultimately  wished  to  disown  his  own  father.  which  is,  a  big  thing  when  family  matters  was  this  important  for  him.  it  wasn't  roger's  fault  as  he  couldn't  be  present  to  raise  his  son  but  the  more  ace  had  to  suffer  because  of  other  people  who  planted  in  his  head  the  anger  he  felt  when  growing  up  it  boiled  down  to  ace  reaching  his  breaking  point.  however,  it  wasn't  always  the  case.  ace  was  getting  furious  about  other  people  disrespecting  roger's  name  in  front  of  him.  even  now  ace  wouldn't  dare  to  disrespect  the  dead  (  as  he  believes  roger  is  dead  from  the  rumours  he  had  heard  ).  no  matter  how  much  he  started  to  feel  grief  and  bitterness  and  anger  towards  his  father  he  wouldn't  dare  to  disrespect  him  especially  after  passing  away  and  strangers  doing  exactly  that  made  his  blood  boil  to  the  point  of  causing  massive  fights  with  adults.  but  as  he  grew  up  more  and  more  in  this  endless  hole  of  having  poison  in  his  mouth  this  is  something  as  he  said  to  garp  while  inprisoned  that  :

'  but  i  never  wanted  to  have  my  father's  blood.  because  i  don't  have  any  memory  of  him.  i  don't  own  him  anything  '

ace  felt  abandoned  and  because  he  couldn't  have  any  actual  fond  memory  of  his  father  he  felt  like  it's  the  right  thing  to  cut  that  tie  loose.  he  never  believed  or  beliefs  that  he  owed  roger  anything  especially  after  how  much  mental  suffering  ace  had  to  go  through  as  a  child  solely  because  of  carrying  his  name  and  blood.  everyone  labeled  the  child  of  the  ex  -  pirate  king  as  a  devil  and  monster  to  the  point  ace  started  to  believe  that  he  really  is  a  good  -  for  -  nothing  monster.  there's  a  saying  that  goes  '  if  the  lie  is  repeated  100  times  it'll  become  the  truth  '  and  for  ace,  it  seemed  just  like  it.

003. however  his  family  value  is  still  above  everything.  he  valued  and  continues  to  value  his  mother,  his  adopted  father,  his  caretaker,  his  brothers  above  all.  taking  the  portgas  name  was  important  to  him  as  he  wished  to  keep  his  mother  with  him  all  the  times  even  if  he  wasn't  physically  able  to  meet  her.  ace  will  do  everything  for  sabo  and  luffy.  no  matter  where  they're  he'd  go  to  hell  and  back  to  make  sure  his  family  is  protected  by  him.  even  if  it  costs  him  the  highest  price.  edward  is  another  case  where  ace  simply  will  do  all  in  his  power  to  make  him  the  pirate  king  and  believes  that  edward  is  his  only  father  because  he  has  any  memory  he  can  tie  to  him.  no  matter  is  bad  blood  or  not,  edward  accepted  ace  and  this  is  what  he  needed.  the  acceptance  he  seeked  for  so  long  and  found  it  with  sabo  and  then  luffy  and  then  with  edward.  this  is  why  ace  decided  to  sun  the  seas  under  the  whitebeard  flag  which  is  the  biggest  pride  for  him  in  his  life  and  forever  a  part  of  him  tattooed  on  his  back.

004. while  ace  could  spend  his  time  with  rouge  before  she  entrusted  him  to  garp  he  was  always  around  his  mom  when  she  was  cooking.  rouge  did  that  on  purpose  to  let  ace  see  and  memorize  the  recipes  she  used  to  gather  in  her  own  cookbook.  cooking  tradition  was  important  as  well  and  while  ace  isn't  the  most  skilled  cook  he  can  still  roughly  use  the  recipes  he  managed  to  learn  from  rouge.  of  course  ace  is  a  visual  learner  more  than  theoretical  because  of  him  struggling  to  understand  and  read  books  .  the  recipes  are  mostly  for  chilli,  stews.  all  his  mother  was  cooking  for  him  as  ace  was  leaning  on  the  counter  and  watching  he  can  do  as  an  adult.  the  recipes  she  wished  to  pass  to  him  mean  a  lot  and  ace  is  very,  very  much  firm  on  how  each  of  them  has  to  be  prepared.  even  if  others  are  willing  to  cook  this  for  him.  that's  why  he  always  kept  hanging  around  thatch  when  he  was  cooking  chilli  for  ace  on  the  moby  dick.  ace  was  silently  watching  if  thatch  follows  the  recipe  that  ace  shared  to  him.  whatever  rouge  taught  him  he  treats  very  very  seriously.

005. ace  treats  animals  like  friends.  he  is  a  hunter  but  he  would  never  disrespect  an  animal  or  be  cruel  to  them  as  a  person.  any  little  living  he  meets  he  wants  it  to  feel  like  a  friend  and  maybe  this  is  just  his  aura  but  animals  seem  to  have  a  very  special  connection  to  ace.  he  can  tame  them  very  quickly,  make  animals  comfortable  in  his  presence.  ace  loves  all  of  them,  and  treats  the  furry  friends  like  he  treats  his  family  or  important  people.  he  used  to  stop  by  islands  and  take  care  of  farm  animals  in  the  villages  he  went  through,  care  for  horses  or  ride  them  around.  you  want  to  piss  him  the  fuck  off  ?  try  to  hurt  or  disrespect  any  animal  in  front  of  him.  that'll  earn  you  a  burn  to  a  crisp.

006. ace  since  he  was  little  was  very  into  scrapbooking.  he  felt  like  this  is  a  great  way  to  keep  memories  stored  not  only  in  his  heart  but  a  book  he  wished  to  entrust  later  in  his  life  as  the  time  goes  on.  it  was  a  great  way  for  him  to  remember  some  minor  events  as  well,  since  ace  is  adhd  and  he  often  jumped  from  task  to  task  without  finishing  any  of  them.  he  felt  trapped  by  any  task  that  takes  longer  than  the  time  he's  able  to  maintain  focus  and  it  also  comes  with  very  short  memory.  ace  knew  he  can't  remember  everything  he  wished  to  remember  so  rouge  taught  him  scrapbooking  where  ace  started  to  slowly  store  memories.  he  got  the  little  book  from  his  mother  herself  with  already  small  details  decorating  the  first  few  pages  like  a  little  strand  of  ace's  first  grown  hair,  his  first  milky  tooth.  fond  memories  of  her  child  slowly  growing  up  and  ace  continued  it  since  he  got  brought  by  garp  to  the  goa  kingdom.  he  started  gathering  small  memories  not  only  about  his  first  hunts,  his  first  meeting  with  sabo  and  luffy  but  about  dadan  and  the  bandits  too.  everything  ace  managed  to  gather  as  a  memory  until  his  time  to  start  his  first  journey  came  around  the  corner,  before  leaving  he  left  the  book  with  makino  and  dadan.  he  didn't  need  it  because  he  felt  like  everything  he  wants  to  remember  is  already  sealed  in  his  heart.

007. it  also  comes  down  to  ace  being  a  person  tied  to  memoral  items.  like  his  red  bead  necklace  in  honor  of  dadan.  his  hunting  knife,  and  even  the  smileys  on  his  hat.  the  grin  and  frown  representing  two  different  emotions  that  ace  wants  to  remember.  because  feeling  sadness  just  like  happiness  makes  him  feel  like  he's  alive.

[acepedia]

a  bunch  of  ace  study  covering  the  traditions  and  habits  inherited  from  his  mother  as  a  texan.

disclaimer  ;  all  of  these  headcanons  are  made  with  the  help  of @.godthread and  his  educational  shared  experience  as  a  native  texan.

001. ace  obviously  wanted  to  teach  himself  manners  to  properly  thank  shanks  for  taking  care  of  luffy  but  this  wasn't  the  only  case.  he  was  very  rude  as  a  child  and  at  some  point  the  responsibility  to  take  his  culture  and  manners  on  a  higher  level  was  tied  to  the  fact  of  rouge  raising  him  before  entrusting  ace  to  garp  and  then  later  on  him  being  under  the  care  of  dadan.  rouge  always  wanted  ace  to  be  properly  mannered  as  this  was  a  standard  for  her  child  to  properly  speak  to  strangers  and  introduce  himself.  she  cared  about  his  speaking  etiquette  as  it  was  important.  ace  however  was  too  young  to  really  understand  this  and  how  much  it  meant  until  he  grew  old  enough  to  understand  the  responsibility.  talking  to  shanks  was  the  cold  shower  he  needed  to  see  the  value  how  manners  are  important.  his  memory  of  his  mother  is  a  little  foggy  but  deep  within  his  heart  ace  understood  that  his  decision  of  asking  makino  to  teach  him  proper  manners  was  indeed  what  his  mother  tried  to  achieve.

002. family  for  ace  is  above  all.  which  shows  how  ace  took  his  mother's  surname  after  growing  up.  his  birth  name  was  gol  d.  ace  but  since  ace  grew  with  bitter  grief  in  his  mouth  towards  roger,  caused  by  the  uneasy  environment  he  was  growing  with  he  ultimately  wished  to  disown  his  own  father.  which  is,  a  big  thing  when  family  matters  was  this  important  for  him.  it  wasn't  roger's  fault  as  he  couldn't  be  present  to  raise  his  son  but  the  more  ace  had  to  suffer  because  of  other  people  who  planted  in  his  head  the  anger  he  felt  when  growing  up  it  boiled  down  to  ace  reaching  his  breaking  point.  however,  it  wasn't  always  the  case.  ace  was  getting  furious  about  other  people  disrespecting  roger's  name  in  front  of  him.  even  now  ace  wouldn't  dare  to  disrespect  the  dead  (  as  he  believes  roger  is  dead  from  the  rumours  he  had  heard  ).  no  matter  how  much  he  started  to  feel  grief  and  bitterness  and  anger  towards  his  father  he  wouldn't  dare  to  disrespect  him  especially  after  passing  away  and  strangers  doing  exactly  that  made  his  blood  boil  to  the  point  of  causing  massive  fights  with  adults.  but  as  he  grew  up  more  and  more  in  this  endless  hole  of  having  poison  in  his  mouth  this  is  something  as  he  said  to  garp  while  inprisoned  that  :

'  but  i  never  wanted  to  have  my  father's  blood.  because  i  don't  have  any  memory  of  him.  i  don't  own  him  anything  '

ace  felt  abandoned  and  because  he  couldn't  have  any  actual  fond  memory  of  his  father  he  felt  like  it's  the  right  thing  to  cut  that  tie  loose.  he  never  believed  or  beliefs  that  he  owed  roger  anything  especially  after  how  much  mental  suffering  ace  had  to  go  through  as  a  child  solely  because  of  carrying  his  name  and  blood.  everyone  labeled  the  child  of  the  ex  -  pirate  king  as  a  devil  and  monster  to  the  point  ace  started  to  believe  that  he  really  is  a  good  -  for  -  nothing  monster.  there's  a  saying  that  goes  '  if  the  lie  is  repeated  100  times  it'll  become  the  truth  '  and  for  ace,  it  seemed  just  like  it.

003. however  his  family  value  is  still  above  everything.  he  valued  and  continues  to  value  his  mother,  his  adopted  father,  his  caretaker,  his  brothers  above  all.  taking  the  portgas  name  was  important  to  him  as  he  wished  to  keep  his  mother  with  him  all  the  times  even  if  he  wasn't  physically  able  to  meet  her.  ace  will  do  everything  for  sabo  and  luffy.  no  matter  where  they're  he'd  go  to  hell  and  back  to  make  sure  his  family  is  protected  by  him.  even  if  it  costs  him  the  highest  price.  edward  is  another  case  where  ace  simply  will  do  all  in  his  power  to  make  him  the  pirate  king  and  believes  that  edward  is  his  only  father  because  he  has  any  memory  he  can  tie  to  him.  no  matter  is  bad  blood  or  not,  edward  accepted  ace  and  this  is  what  he  needed.  the  acceptance  he  seeked  for  so  long  and  found  it  with  sabo  and  then  luffy  and  then  with  edward.  this  is  why  ace  decided  to  sun  the  seas  under  the  whitebeard  flag  which  is  the  biggest  pride  for  him  in  his  life  and  forever  a  part  of  him  tattooed  on  his  back.

004. while  ace  could  spend  his  time  with  rouge  before  she  entrusted  him  to  garp  he  was  always  around  his  mom  when  she  was  cooking.  rouge  did  that  on  purpose  to  let  ace  see  and  memorize  the  recipes  she  used  to  gather  in  her  own  cookbook.  cooking  tradition  was  important  as  well  and  while  ace  isn't  the  most  skilled  cook  he  can  still  roughly  use  the  recipes  he  managed  to  learn  from  rouge.  of  course  ace  is  a  visual  learner  more  than  theoretical  because  of  him  struggling  to  understand  and  read  books  .  the  recipes  are  mostly  for  chilli,  stews.  all  his  mother  was  cooking  for  him  as  ace  was  leaning  on  the  counter  and  watching  he  can  do  as  an  adult.  the  recipes  she  wished  to  pass  to  him  mean  a  lot  and  ace  is  very,  very  much  firm  on  how  each  of  them  has  to  be  prepared.  even  if  others  are  willing  to  cook  this  for  him.  that's  why  he  always  kept  hanging  around  thatch  when  he  was  cooking  chilli  for  ace  on  the  moby  dick.  ace  was  silently  watching  if  thatch  follows  the  recipe  that  ace  shared  to  him.  whatever  rouge  taught  him  he  treats  very  very  seriously.

005. ace  treats  animals  like  friends.  he  is  a  hunter  but  he  would  never  disrespect  an  animal  or  be  cruel  to  them  as  a  person.  any  little  living  he  meets  he  wants  it  to  feel  like  a  friend  and  maybe  this  is  just  his  aura  but  animals  seem  to  have  a  very  special  connection  to  ace.  he  can  tame  them  very  quickly,  make  animals  comfortable  in  his  presence.  ace  loves  all  of  them,  and  treats  the  furry  friends  like  he  treats  his  family  or  important  people.  he  used  to  stop  by  islands  and  take  care  of  farm  animals  in  the  villages  he  went  through,  care  for  horses  or  ride  them  around.  you  want  to  piss  him  the  fuck  off  ?  try  to  hurt  or  disrespect  any  animal  in  front  of  him.  that'll  earn  you  a  burn  to  a  crisp.

006. ace  since  he  was  little  was  very  into  scrapbooking.  he  felt  like  this  is  a  great  way  to  keep  memories  stored  not  only  in  his  heart  but  a  book  he  wished  to  entrust  later  in  his  life  as  the  time  goes  on.  it  was  a  great  way  for  him  to  remember  some  minor  events  as  well,  since  ace  is  adhd  and  he  often  jumped  from  task  to  task  without  finishing  any  of  them.  he  felt  trapped  by  any  task  that  takes  longer  than  the  time  he's  able  to  maintain  focus  and  it  also  comes  with  very  short  memory.  ace  knew  he  can't  remember  everything  he  wished  to  remember  so  rouge  taught  him  scrapbooking  where  ace  started  to  slowly  store  memories.  he  got  the  little  book  from  his  mother  herself  with  already  small  details  decorating  the  first  few  pages  like  a  little  strand  of  ace's  first  grown  hair,  his  first  milky  tooth.  fond  memories  of  her  child  slowly  growing  up  and  ace  continued  it  since  he  got  brought  by  garp  to  the  goa  kingdom.  he  started  gathering  small  memories  not  only  about  his  first  hunts,  his  first  meeting  with  sabo  and  luffy  but  about  dadan  and  the  bandits  too.  everything  ace  managed  to  gather  as  a  memory  until  his  time  to  start  his  first  journey  came  around  the  corner,  before  leaving  he  left  the  book  with  makino  and  dadan.  he  didn't  need  it  because  he  felt  like  everything  he  wants  to  remember  is  already  sealed  in  his  heart.

007. it  also  comes  down  to  ace  being  a  person  tied  to  memoral  items.  like  his  red  bead  necklace  in  honor  of  dadan.  his  hunting  knife,  and  even  the  smileys  on  his  hat.  the  grin  and  frown  representing  two  different  emotions  that  ace  wants  to  remember.  because  feeling  sadness  just  like  happiness  makes  him  feel  like  he's  alive.

[currently-evil]

Rowan No surname found - Formerly Vigilante Sidestep - Curently Villain Déjà vu

Name: Rowan

Surname: None (Never decided on one, in official things he uses a variety of fake names, to the Rangers he introduced himself (in a bit of panic) as Rowan Rowan. He does get a lot of crap from Ortega for using such an obviously fake name, but it stuck.

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Demisexual

Villain name: DÉJÀ VU (Name is a bit of precaution, It's a safe fail in case somebody found the way he fights or moves familiar. If they confronted him he would heavily suggest the feeling of DÉJÀ VU is one of his powers.)

Vice: Cigarettes

Armour: Telepathy and speed

Armour look: Mysterious

Occupation: Mob boss

Romance: Steel/Ortega/Sidestep - Secret crush Ortega

Stats:

These are his stats from Book 1, when i find the ones from book 2 I will change this

Appearance:

Asian

Middle height

Black eyes

Some make up, mostly foundation and some "natural look" cosmetics, but he also like to use eyeliner and eyeshadow sometimes (he always forgets to remove them and then looks like panda)

Black hair, length about little something under his ears, with fringe, always style in same dramatic K-POP idol style

Many piercings : eyebrow piercing, on his lips snake bites and medusa, two studs in his tongue , industrial in right ear, belly button piercing and some below waist that i didnt figured out yet. Almost all done by himself

Always immaculately clothed usually in some mix of formal clothes and latest fashion

Personality: Ironic and sassy asshole with face almost permanently twisted in irritation and constant sigh: “I hate this so much”

Trivia:

He knows how to make vape tricks, back in Sidestep days he would do them to amuse Anathema

He used to have a really strong distaste towards his own body, feeling like its parasite, something to fight against. He used to thought "This body is all they want, if I could get rid of it, If i could be free of it…" Sometimes he would even self harm as a way to cope. Mostly making piercings, but on bad days he would try to carve tattoos off his body. But he would mostly just neglect himself, not eat enough, not sleep enough, not care about wounds on him.

(Ironically, jumping into Puppet only made this feeling worse.)

After the series of realizations, self discoveries and a few events that forced him to look at himself from another point of view He realized his body is not an enemy but maybe the only ally he can truly trust. He mostly got this feeling under control. It still there of course, under the surface of his mind, coming back sometimes, but Rowan worked out a routine that helps when needed.

In current time He takes great care of himself, have enormous collection of cosmetics worth small fortune. But while he almost obsessively takes care of his body, he greatly neglects mental health. At least until Ortega persuade him to go to therapy. Now he is working hard to get better.

Demisexual but he never really thought about it enough to give himself a label. He always considered thanks to his secrets he would always be alone, so no need to think about. There was even a part of him that considered that because he isn't a true human its logic that he have no interest in sex or reproduction. And then Ortega showed all suave, sexy and so warm. But of course Ortega wasn't into men. Then Heartbreak happened and again he figured love wasn't for him. He didn't even realize when Steel wormed into his heart.

He loves fashion and dressing up. Showing anywhere like its a runway or award ceremony. Absolute Diva.

Hates getting compliments. He accepts only the one regarding his clothes or his fashion sense; all others make him crumble and whiter and cringe. Run away or threaten people to stop.

People think his natural state (sassy eye rolling bitch) is a sign of dislike but it's actually the opposite. When he doesnt like somebody/dont trust them he becomes perfectly emotionless and motionless. Old habit from around his handlers who would severely punish him for any show of emotion or opposition.I don't think he is ready or even mentally stable enough to have pets but if he were, he would have two rats. Firstly bought so RatKing would have friends but then he would get genuinely attached. I think he would be a cat person, but he would never get a cat, too worried it might scare RatKing.

I dont have talent for art but this is the closes i managed to create what i imagine he looks like in picrew (minus the piercings)

Also this one :3

[avatarskywalker78]

2, 4, and 7!

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

I've always wanted to write Enemies to Friends to Lovers. Also some kind of injury trope - like I really want to get into the angst of a character being injured in the field, but I always shy away from actually doing so (partly because I'm not confident in actually writing injuries or injury recovery).

4. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?

Six! One of them is my Firefly fic featuring my OC, Astra Reynolds Shen (the Chinese surname is currently a placeholder until I do more research into Chinese surnames names, btw), Mal’s adoptive daughter (though officially she’s thought to be his bio kid for a number of reasons) and someone who’s become very good at hiding the true extent of her hatred for the Alliance after they firebombed her planet. She’s still sassy and outspoken and takes no shit, though, and has picked up a number of less than legal skills along the way.

Things become complicated when her dad shows up again because no one of Mal’s crew other than Zoe knew he even had a kid, and this turns out to be because for the last six years he thought she was dead - Shadow’s destruction obviously meant all the records were lost, and survivors weren’t easy to find mainly because they were trying not to be found, and Astra has been going by her mother’s surname for eleven years now, so when Mal couldn’t find any trace of her he natrually assumed the worst, that it was just another thing the war took from him. So it’s a huge adjustment to make when Astra (and her mother ) turn out to be alive - but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Robby was a child – his child – and all he’d wanted was a father who was there for him, who cared about him. Even his recent behaviour was just him showing that he was hurting, acting out because that was the only way he got attention from either of his parents these days and that wasn’t right.

This is from fight (for your family), and obviously a common theme throughout the Mini Rewrites was me metaphorically shaking Johnny Lawrence by the shoulders and yelling ‘step the fuck up for your kid!!!!!’ but this was honestly one of my favourite versions of that realisation because it happens fairly early on in S1 (as it should’ve), and because it leads to him making the speech to Shannon, so this small part is actually very important.

40 Questions for Fic Writers

[bougiebutchbitch]

I love platonic kakashi and yamato! Do you have any headcanons?

TOO MANY TO CONTAIN IN MY LITTLE HEAD

I love the idea that Kakashi introduced Yamato to so much! He really helped him grow as a person, and showed him that there was more to life - and to being a shinobi - than becoming a mindless tool for your superiors.

But having Yamato on his team really helped Kakashi, too.

[discussion of dark stuff under cut. TW: self harm, mentions of suicide]

Like, obviously, Kakashi met Tenzou in the midst of his bad PTSD/depression phase, and that didn't magically go away because he had a kohai to care for. He was in a pretty messed up place when they booted him from ANBU.

He might not have been willing to take his own life, after what happened to his father, but he is deeeefinitely willing to die unnecessarily on a mission. He takes the hardest, most suicidal solos; he dives in front of every blade that flies at any member of his team... He's big on self-sacrifice to the point where it becomes suicidal ideation and self harm.

And Yamato sees that. Up close and personal.

He's fucked up in the head, too. He still struggles to make his own choices. He's uncomfortable with selecting his own food at restaurants for years, and has to slooooowly build up his own opinions on simple things like clothing or favourite colours.

Sidenote: I like to think Kakashi randomly springs questions on him that he's never had cause to think about before, like 'what's your favourite animal?', just to help him gain more ownership over his own personality🥺 Maybe Yamato copies the copy ninja a lot at first?? But then he tries to read Icha Icha one time and goes 'LOLNOPE THIS IS A BAD IDEA' and starts defining himself instead sdlkfgjhsdfkg

Point is, he's no therapist. And Kakashi's the team leader - he looks after them. Yamato doesn’t know how to stage an intervation without breaking the chain of command.

But after months of dancing around the issue, pretending not to see how Kakashi flings himself into every fight like he doesn't care if he comes out the other side, how he's twisted his philosophy of protect your friends (a philosophy Yamato still struggles to understand) into this strange delusion that his life is worth inherently less...

Well. Fate conspires to ensure that Yamato can't ignore Kakashi’s self-destruction any longer.

He sits by Kakashi's hospital bed. Watching him breathe.

In, out. In, out. Each rise of his chest a tiny miracle.

Yamato slows his own breaths to match. They're considerably less obstructed, given the lack of a plastic tube shoved down his throat.

Bandages bulk sempai's chest, filling out his shape under the sheets like he's still strapped into his ANBU armour. He took a kunai to the lung for Yamato. A kunai that could've easily been deflected with Mokuton - at least, so Yamato thinks. Still, he had a solid chance, and sempai knows him well enough - has fought him enough - to know that.

Point is, there was no need for Kakashi to get hurt. But he got hurt anyway.

And here they are again, in a familiar room that Yamato suspects has Kakashi's name on the door, treated by a doctor who refers to sempai by his surname, not his ANBU code. In familiar positions too: Kakashi on the bed, nursed back from the brink and undoubtedly mad about it. Yamato on the chair, mad at him.

It takes him embarrassingly long to realise sempai isn't asleep - just feigning it, waiting for him to go away. Like he doesn't want to face him. Like he's ashamed.

Good, thinks Yamato. Sempai should be.

He sinks lower on his chair and glowers through the eyeholes of his porcelain mask.

The medics care little for ANBU eccentricities; they've removed both of Kakashi's own masks in order to intubate. The longer Yamato stares, the more Kakashi shifts, until he's not even pretending to sleep anymore. He makes a feeble attempt to pull the covers up over his nose.

Right. Sempai hates it when people stare at his face.

Yamato crosses his arms and refuses to blink.

"You," he says, "are very cruel, you know."

Kakashi's dark eye flicks to him. The other twitches behind its scarred lid, but stays shut. Pale lashes cast shadows on his cheeks. He makes a gurgly noise around the tube that might be a denial or an apology. Either way, Yamato doesn't want to hear it.

"How many people have died for you?" he demands.

Kakashi looks away. Too many.

Yamato squeezes his thumbs at the centre of his fists until they ache. It's the wrong way to throw a punch, but right now, they're only sparring with words - and it's a one-sided match.

That's for the best. Sempai can sweet-talk his way out of anything. Right now, Yamato needs him to shut up and listen.

"So, you know what it feels like. And you would inflict that on me? You'd make me watch you die for me?"

Kakashi's shoulders stiffen. Then, slowly, slump. He slackens against his bed like he's finally given up the ghost, staring dully at the ceiling. No more gurgles. It seems that, for once in his life, he has nothing clever to say.

Yamato leans over him. His expression is wooden as ever, under his mask, but all the churning emotions inside him - anger sempai would put himself in this position, relief that he made it, absolute terror that he'll do this again - manifest in the tremble in his hand, as he grips Kakashi's wrist.

"Don't," he says. Though it's not the subordinate's place to question a taichou, he pushes as much authority into the word as he can muster. "Don't you fucking dare, sempai. Don't leave me like that."

ANBU die. It's practically in the job description. Yamato has made his peace with it: his own death, and that of his comrades. What he cannot accept - what he cannot abide - is that Kakashi, who helped him to give his life meaning, might throw his own away. Like it means nothing. Like he means nothing.

"Don't," Yamato repeats.

Kakashi still doesn't look at him. But he nods once, order accepted.

Yamato trusts him implicitly in the field. They've trained together for years, and fought together too, taking down foes back-to-back and side-to-side. He knows Kakashi as well as the balance on his own knives.

He wishes he could trust him right now.

[russellius]

GQ: George Russell: F1's Mr Consistent is focusing on all the positives

With four races left in the season, the British F1 driver is on course to finish fourth in his first year driving for Mercedes – but make no mistake, his goal is to win multiple world championships

By Mike Christensen 23 October 2022

It’s early September and George Russell is in peak chill out mode. He’s taking full advantage of an unexpected break in the F1 calendar to hang out with his family and loved ones at home in north Norfolk, where he was born and bred. Today, though, he’s down in London for a photo shoot with Belstaff. When I mention my grandparents used to live in Kings Lynn, he rises slightly from his chair and his eyes light up.

“My grandparents had a shop in Wisbech called Else Discounts,” he says proudly, hoping I might know it. “Their surname was Else, so their slogan was ‘Who else, but Else?’ It was a bit cheesy, but I liked it.”

It’s clear that family is, and always will be, extremely important to Russell. He recently posted a photo of his parents, who were visiting the Mercedes AMG HQ for the first time. “They have been a huge part of my journey from the very beginning,” he wrote, adding that his career to date has been “a proper family effort along the way”. When Russell first started go-karting at a young age his father, Steve, would act as his mechanic while his mother, Alison, used to record all of Russell’s setups and lap times in a green notepad.

“I always try to represent myself in the best light possible,” he says, “and the people who I represent as well – Mercedes and all the team partners but also my family, my girlfriend, and my friends.”

With four races of the 2022 season left, there’s no doubt the season hasn’t panned out as many people expected for Mercedes but Russell’s feeling good about his debut after three years at the back of the grid with Williams. “I’m really enjoying being part of Mercedes, seeing how they operate as a team. They're the best in the business so it's been a learning process for me,” he says confidently.

(...) Here’s how life in the fast lane has been for the man himself.

How would you sum up this season so far for you? For a team of Mercedes' calibre, we have underperformed substantially this season but I can see there's light at the end of the tunnel. Moments like this either make or break a team. Either you fall apart because there's so much pressure, emotions are high, and maybe you’re thinking irrationally about a number of the issues. Or you grow stronger together. I'm really feeling that, seeing how the team is coming together, going about the issues we've had almost scientifically, as you would and should in a Formula 1 team, and being rational about every single issue rather than making decisions in the heat of the moment.

Being your first in a Mercedes seat, what was your aim for 2022? I went into the season with a very open mind, because I appreciated and recognised it as a totally new era and there were no guarantees that we would get it right. Obviously I've come here to win races, and I'm not satisfied with just finishing in the top five every single race. But again, I've got to be rational about this. And I can't be disappointed with my results this year, because the results on almost every single occasion have been optimised. This is my fourth season in F1, I worked so hard to get here and I feel ready to fight for victories and World Championships. I'm here for the long haul with this team, and I believe that this is the best place to be to give myself the best chance of World Championships if I look at it over the next five-year period.

Are you satisfied with your performances? It's always that half-glass full, half-glass empty analogy. I saw this really nice artwork of two people sitting on a bus on an ocean drive. One guy was looking out onto the sea, and the sun was shining, and he had a big smile on his face. And the other guy on the same bus, on same journey, was looking the other way out into a cliff wall. And he had no view and it was dark and shaded. That really struck me and it's so true, so many people can be on the same journey, but you've got to take all of the positives from that journey and look at the sunshine rather than looking in the shade. That's what I'm trying to do this year, I'm looking at the sunshine. I'm looking at how we've always improved on a Sunday, how the results have, generally speaking, been the best possible result we could have achieved with the car we've got. Rather than thinking, "Oh, we should be winning because we're in Mercedes."

What’s the aim for the last remaining races? If we won a race this season, we can walk away feeling that we've been on a difficult journey, but one that we've recovered really well. As a team, we want to finish ahead of Ferrari in the team championship. That would be a good boost for us over the off season and it would be a difficult pill for Ferrari to swallow, considering that they had the fastest car on the grid at the start of the season. And for us to take that momentum into 2023, psychologically that would be quite an important result for us.

What lessons has Formula 1 taught you? When I look at my career path compared to other people's I feel like sometimes if you have too much success when you're younger and don't experience those really challenging moments where you need to look in the mirror and question yourself ‘How am I going to improve?’ it hurts you later down the line. I had two standout years in my junior formulas where they were really, really challenging for me. I didn't perform and I wasn't fighting for the championship and that was difficult for me, but it was a moment that probably really helped me progress as a person.

How so? When I was 16, I was a little bit naive and arrogant. If I wasn’t winning, I’d be like ‘Well, it can't be me why I'm not performing, it must be something else.’ There were other reasons why I wasn't performing, but I was also a big factor of why we weren't getting those results. Realising that really helped me to improve as a person and improve as a driver. Equally now in F1, three years on the back of a grid with Williams. These difficult moments, a couple of mistakes along the way, they make me stronger.

Do you have any pre-race rituals? Before the race, a big part for me is taking 10 minutes alone in my room to get away from all the craziness that's outside with 150,000 fans in the grandstand, loads of people in the paddock, all of our sponsors and guests within our team. It's my quiet space but it's less to try and get in the zone, and more to let my mind and body relax, because it's sometimes a bit overwhelming with everything that’s going on. Often on a Sunday we do the driver's parade in front of the fans. Your heart is pumping because you feel the energy from the crowds, and you're psyched up before you get in the car. Sometimes that plays against you because driving a car, when you do these incredible laps you need to be relaxed and you've got to flow between the corners so the harder you try the worse it is. For me, jumping into a car when I'm all hyped up and my heart is racing, is not what I need to perform. I almost need the opposite. I need to be calm, I need to be relaxed. And so, just taking 10 minutes is good.

What’s the toughest thing about being a Formula 1 driver? I'm so passionate and motivated to perform, win, and be a World Champion. But the sport is tolling. You've got the physical aspect and the psychological aspect is tolling. You have all those emotions of the race weekend, the success, the highs, the lows. The travel is tolling on the body. It's not a healthy lifestyle. And I'm not talking just for drivers but for everybody in the sport. We're going to 22 different countries in a year, staying in 22 different hotels, eating 22 different types of food, and 10 different time zones. That lack of routine is not good for anyone. So I sit here today and say, ‘I think I can go until I'm 40’ but maybe in five years time I'll say something else.

How do you deal with everything else that comes with the job? So many things are expected of athletes these days that I think people forget we are just human. I'm a racing driver, not an activist, not a politician – I'm not this and I'm not that. You're expected to have the right view and opinion on everything and for me, I'm 24 years old, and that's probably one of the hardest parts of the job. The driving part is easy because I'm a racing driver so once I've got that helmet on, I'm in my happy place.

Some big names will be leaving the sport at the end of the year. How do you feel about that? [Sebastian] Vettel retiring, he’s one of the biggest names in sport, and Daniel Ricciardo probably being out of a drive next year, are not things we really contemplate. I've got a huge amount of respect for those two and obviously the sport will miss them dearly, but it's like that in any sport industry, people come, people go, and the sport will live on. That's just reality.

Another thing attached to the sport is looking the part. Is style important to you? I want to dress well. And I want to look classy and elegant. Kind of like David Beckham in that regard. Or Federer, someone who has always dressed well. He's smart.

Seems like you’ve found yourself a good match then, in Belstaff? Being British and patriotic, Belstaff is the perfect brand for me to be associated with. It’s very classy, elegant, and casual as well. It's got a huge heritage and history with motor sport and motoring, so it ticks all the boxes.

Would you say style transcends trends? I was talking about first impressions with somebody, and they say that if you're going to get a job, they know within the first five seconds if they're going to hire you or not. Within the first five seconds walking through a door, probably half of that is you haven't even opened your mouth yet. People, rightly or wrongly, judge characters based on how they dress. So for me, I always want to have the right impression, good impression.

Were you wearing racing overalls when you had your interview with Toto Wolff? Toto always says I was wearing a suit, which is pushing it a little bit. I had you a shirt on and nice trousers, nice shoes. That was the biggest interview of my career and I went in thinking, ‘This can totally change my destiny’ so I wasn’t going to walk in with my trackies and a hoodie on.

You drive fast cars for a living but what about stylish old cars? I would love to own a vintage car, for sure. I'm not quite at that stage of my career yet, to be looking at having multiple cars as such. But I actually had an event in Monaco earlier this year. And there were three Mercedes SL300s from the ’50s and ’60s. Incredibly elegant cars, and I thought ‘definitely one day’. That’s the dream to own one of those classic convertibles, roof down, driving along the coast.

[clarste]

I’m not going to fully translate the profiles, but here are some summaries of the new Touhou characters:

Misumaru Tamatsukuri. Stage 4 boss. She's a god who makes magatama. Magatama have the power to read and copy information from people, and are related to how the cards are made. She's not the one making them though: she just noticed that someone else was mining Dragon Gems (which you need to make magatama) and got really worried because she knows how dangerous that is. She fights the players to stop them from going deeper into the mines, which are filled with poisonous gas and also have no oxygen. They actually do leave after stage 4, which is kind of funny.

Megumu Iizunamaru. Stage 5 boss. She goes by her surname Iizunamaru, like Murasa. She's a daitengu and leader of the crow tengu (implied that she is also a crow, she's just also in the position of daitengu). IE: she is Aya's boss. She's the one behind this whole plan, and has no motives other than making profit for the good of tengu society. She gives up easily and throws her partner (the last boss) under the bus since she's no longer necessary and she already got everything she wanted. In Sanae's ending she and Kanako have a conversation that is entirely business buzzwords with no content.

Tsukasa Kudamaki. Stage 5 midboss (and stage 6 midboss, and extra midboss). She's Iizunamaru's trusted right-hand woman, although she probably shouldn't be trusted since she has zero loyalty to anyone and is actively playing everyone against each other. She's secretly a tube fox, which as we saw in WaHH bring profits but at a great price. This whole plan was her suggestion in the first place.

Chimata Tenkyu. The final boss. God of the marketplace. Specifically, she has power over (and derives power from) people "losing possession of things." Apparently this is harder than it sounds, because even if you throw something in the trash or bury it in the woods, it's still "yours" in some spiritual and mental sense. The only way to lose possession of something is to voluntarily sell it to someone else, in the market. So her goal is just to open up the closed market and draw power from that as a god. Obviously she's the one who made all the rules about how cards can be traded. Apparently she expected to be betrayed by Iizunamaru and viewed their relationship as both parties using the other. Some people are saying maybe she's a metaphor for Comiket. The God of Comiket. I cannot or confirm or deny this theory.

Momoyo Himemushi. Extra boss. She's a giant centipede youkai, the most fearsome and powerful of all youkai, dwarfing even dragons. A dragon eater. Her form is hideous and poisonous and, well, no one likes her. She's the one digging up the mountain and created the mine. And also why it's full of poisonous gas. The players can't go back into the mine until they get a magic item that lets them breathe. She's an old friend of Iizunamaru, who gave her a job mining Dragon Gems. In return, she gets to take some of the gems herself and eat them (Dragon Gems being close enough to dragons, apparently). So she's super powerful, incredibly toxic, and eats rocks. Her profile jokes about her eating dragon stones instead of eating Iizunamaru (whose given name Megumu is written as "Dragon").

In summary, no dragons, but there’s a tengu named Dragon.

[jackdaw-kraai]

What are the meanings behind the names from your Tatooine Slave Culture? Names like Luke, Anakin, Leia, Owen, Beru, Biggs, and even surnames like Skywalker, Whitesun, Darklighter, etc.?

Well, first off, the surnames are all the Basic translations out of Karilaa, so there isn't really any meaning in those beyond the obvious. But if you go back to their original root...

"Skywalker" is derived from the Karilaa Clan Name "Aitrushmal", meaning "The One Who Runs With The Stars." Another Basic translation of the Name could be "Starrunner," but Skywalker is what we've got.

At it's core, that Name references the First Runner, who gained the Name "Aitrushmal" after becoming one with the stars, still leading their charges through the Star Paths to this day. It's a defiant Name, proclaiming a desire for Freedom and an allegiance to the Desert and Her Children to anyone who can understand the language. Whether or not the Skywalkers are descendants of the first Aitrushmal is really impossible to tell, as the tale is older than the family genealogy records. Or at least those still remembered and passed on to the current day.

Luke is the thirteenth generation of Clan Aitrushmal as far as anyone knows, the records of those who came before lost to time. So it could be, or it couldn't be. Really, it's up to you to decide what you want to believe.

And for the rest... "Luke" is again the Basic transcription of his Karilaa Name, which would be notated as "Luk." "Luk" means "Blessing" in Karilaa, and before Luke ever became Lukkesh, he was Luk, as Named by his Mother.

Anakin, in turn, is Karilaa, but Vader has gotten kind of down in the dumps about what it means for reasons I'll explain in a second.

The Name is made up out of three parts. "A," "na," and "kin." The last part is the first half of the Names of the Suns, indicating that Anakin is of the Suns. "Kin" derived from "Kinri" which in itself is the Name of the Suns Kin and Ri, spoken as one due to their status as being each other's Home. (Hence the traditional blessing for newly Named Homes, being "May your Names be spoken as One.")

"Na" means "my." Literally just that, it literally just means "my" or "mine."

"A" is a bit trickier, seeing as there isn't really an equivalent for it in English. It's basically a positive prefix, as I like to call it. It's use is to attach positive connotations to a word or sentence that's otherwise neutral in value.

Now, broken down into it's most basic, stripped-down, no-context-allowed-whatsoever translation, "Anakin" basically means "[positive prefix] my Suns."

Now, obviously that's something only a victorian british anthropologist would be happy with, so let's put it back in context, shall we?

In essence, to Name yourself something like this, is to transfer the properties most strongly associated with the deities invoked onto yourself. You're invoking that part of you within yourself that most closely resembles the deities you now share your name with. So a closer translation already would be to say that "Anakin" translates into "[postive prefix] my [inner] Suns."

Better, but we're not there yet.

Now, if you've been following the #Lore tag on my tumblr, you'll know that the Suns are intense in what they claim as their domain. They are the desperation and drive and miracles of survival. They're the fight within you that will not die. The part within you that refuses to lie down and let it be the end. They are your passion, your aggression, your furious will to live and overcome.

Taking that into account, "Anakin" suddenly gains a new perspective. Instead of merely being "[postive prefix] my [inner] Suns" we now get "Passion/Aggression/Fury of the Suns."

Which is, again, closer but not there yet.

Because we still forget the "A" in "Anakin."

You see, Vader is technically right in saying that his Name means "Wrath of the Suns" but also... not. It can be read that way, don't get me wrong, but he's missing quite a lot of intent and context in that interpretation that is, to be perfectly honest with you, mostly fueled by self-hatred and diaspora.

Because don't forget, "A" is a postive prefix. And that one letter transforms the entire meaning of the Name. Because with that "A" unloading a positive association onto a value-neutral Name, a completely accurate translation of "Anakin" wouldn't be "Wrath of the Suns."

It would be "Righteous Fury of the Suns."

You can probably see from the terms above that there is more than one translation into basic that you can make out of "Passion/Aggression/Fury of the Suns," but if we hold true to the spirit in which Vader interprets his Name?

His Mother didn't Name him for the Suns' wrath.

She Named him for their furious justice.

[isolatedbubble]

Romance in MXTX, Priest, and SHL

MXTX: Flower, Wine and Dreamworld

The romance in MXTX's works is like flower that grows in ice and snow; colorful, bright and hopelessly romantic, blossoms in misery and hardships.

It features a distinct "us against the world" mindset, depicting love as the only constant in the world. It's an eternal "dreamworld" detached from worldly matters, the perfect escapism as well as a source of strengths in the face of cruel reality.

Both MDZS and TGCF are a critique of mob mentality.

The contrast between CQL and MDZS is very interesting. While the former ends with LWJ taking charge, and therefore changing the world for the better, the novel ends with wangxian isolating themselves from grand politics and focusing more on helping individuals as recluse. It has an essentially pessimistic attitude towards the morality & intelligence of the collective. 

TGCF takes a slightly more optimistic approach, featuring the crowd being courageous under the right circumstances. However, both works share a similar undertone: putting one’s absolute faith in the collective is dangerous, whereas unconditional trust and devotion can be only found in one-to-one connection

MXTX herself compares MDZS and TGCF to 花间一壶酒 (A cup of wine among flowers), MDZS being the wine and TGCF being flower. She also compares MDZS to 风雪夜归人, the person returning home from snow and wind, and TGCF to 红泥小火炉, a small red furnace.

Priest: Breezing Wind and Burning Iron

The romance in priest's works is more complicated. It's the most gentle in its normal state, when it is rational and collected, in which case it's like the breezing wind, soothing, sweet and light-hearted. It gives the individuals more incentive to achieve their individual and/or societal vision, as well as more reason to value their own lives & well-being.

In Faraway Wanderers, the most distinct feature of WenZhou relationship is how in naturally sync they are, and how comfortable & smooth their dynamic is. They both have past burden, but it doesn’t matter, because they bring simple joy, understanding and happiness in each other’s lives.

In Sha Po Lang and The Guardian, the ML’s lingering love for the MC motivates them to become better version of themselves, to care about others, and to form a holistic vision about bettering society. 

In The Defective, Lin Jingheng(MC) explicitly said that Lu Bixing(ML) is the only meaning in his life. He had little incentive to care about his own life after his revenge plan fell apart. LBX helped him reconnect with his inner idealism, and gave him a reason value his life.

When the passion and fiery energy manifests itself, however, the romance is like burning iron, blood and fire. It isn’t actually toxic or unhealthy, but it's not pure and innocent either; in this case, it strives for something deeper and more intense, never content with the past or the present. The sheer intensity of relationship is like a double-edged sword, walking the fine line between unconditional devotion and dangerous obsession. 

SHL: Spring Water and Healing Open Wounds

The romance in SHL is like "spring water"; it's warm, gentle, nurturing. It breaks through the boundary between individuals to bring the couple closer to each other, taking them back to a utopia of their childhood dream, away from social pressure and responsibility. The theme central to their relationship is “salvation”: how love is able to bring people back to integrity.

Both drama wkx and drama zzs have lots of regret about their past sins and wrongdoings. Four Seasons Manor is essentially a metaphor for purity, acceptance and the safety of childhood home. How to make drama wkx open up and accept this safe harbor as his home is one of the most significant plot-lines of the show.

SHL couple is way more emotionally vulnerable and expressive. A significant part of SHL arc is healing the wounds in an open and honest way. They cuddle and confide in each other way more often, talk about their shameful past and even cry about their regrets in front of one another, which is very rare among MXTX/Priest works.

The heat of the relationship sometimes gets too hot and even burns; in other words, there are constant miscommunications, conflicts and misunderstandings in the relationship. However, they can never let each other go, because it's the only source of warmth left for them in their hopeless lives filled with regrets and guilt.

Similarities and Differences

*Note that this is not a SHL/TYK comparison. TYK is kind of an “unorthodox” priest novel; you will know what I mean if you have read 3+ of her works. 

Relationship Dynamic & Narrative:  

In MXTX’s works, the concept of “romance” itself is divined; and the characters are illustration of the ideal of “undying love”. People are made for one another, to complete one another. Her works use colorful symbolism (silver butterflies, the emperor’s smile, the 3 thousand lanterns, etc.) to depict this romanticized ideal of love. 

For MXTX, the romanticization of “destined love” is one of the most recurring themes of her novels. Therefore, the readers look at their relationship through rose-color glasses. Obsession is usually framed in a jolly & romantic light, and doesn’t feature much tension or stress, and has less negative or unhealthy undertone. 

In most of priest’s works and SHL, soulmates are not born but made, so they have to figure out how their relationship works step by step. Therefore the narrative is less of a “rosy picture”. 

Priest has a habit of using derogatory terms to describe relationships that are mostly healthy, but somewhat “bloody” and edgy, full of excessive passion and obsession. The most common phrase is “爱生忧怖”, a Buddhist term meaning “love results in worry and fear”. 

SHL obviously has to be more subtle in expressing love. That said, drama WenZhou are way more emotionally vulnerable and expressive than their novel counterparts, as well as most Priest & MXTX characters. They have a dramatic falling out once in a while, even towards the end. They barely fit the Chinese definition of Zhiji (to know me/to understand one another), but are “lovers” who are buried deep in their passion instead. 

Past, Future and Evolvement: 

In SHL, characters are encouraged to treasure past impressions that are thrown in figurative “wrappings”, whose luster is derived from age-old experiences (Psychological Types, Carl Jung). In other words, they are encouraged to root their love in a shared past, a Utopia of innocence. 

The contrast between The Defective and Word of Honor is very interesting to observe. Both involve long separation, and the suffering and personality changes hat comes from it.   SHL narrative frames their innocent childhood as something to cling to and return to. Drama WKX is encouraged to accept his identity as Four Seasons Manor disciple because it was part of his childhood past. This is a significant part of drama WenZhou relationship.

In The Defective, the narrative doesn't encourage the couple to dwell on the past that much. On the contrary, the all-knowing AI explicitly discouraged the MC from “comparing past to present”. They are advised to accept changes, however painful it might be, and build a better, more equal dynamic out of it, evolving from one-sided pandering to fighting side-by-side.  

In Priest’s novels, the characters rarely return to something in the past, but look into the future. Change is usually framed as inherently beneficial, albeit usually painful and rocky, the implication being that you need to constantly strive for something better.  

Sha Po Lang is a good example of this, with Gu Yun’s changing attitude towards Chang Geng after he as he matures, gradually showing his intelligence in politics. CG starts referring to GY as Zixi instead of YiFu is also a sign of this change---to see him as equal rather than a parental figure & protector.

The Defective is even more obvious in this regard, with both parties uncomfortable with the change initially, but gradually adjusting to the changes during their 16-year separation. The ML also stops calling MC by his surname “Lin”, as a sign of viewing him as equal. 

In MXTX’s works, change in personality or relationship dynamic is neither framed as painful or good. It just happens. It’s a natural flow that take place when it does. Their relationships are rarely challenged by change. They are objectively at a better place compared to their past, but it’s merely the result of a series of events rather than a deliberate choice or struggle.  

WangXian’s relationship naturally changes over time after WWX’s rebirth, but neither of them really struggles with the change. 

Xie Lian doesn’t even recognize Hua Cheng as the someone from his past, so they start out as friends getting to know each other. 

Salvation and Changing one another: 

Priest herself stated in an interview that she doesn’t believe in the concept of salvation, since people have the inner capacity to be their own savior. Therefore, priest characters usually don’t actively try to change their partner’s morals or personality. Some might be willingly influenced by their partner, but there’s rarely an element of moral condemnation. Even when there is a conflict between different values, the options are 1) to reconcile them by choosing the middle ground 2) to maintain their independence and tackle it with nuance 3) to break up.

On surface level, Mo Du/Silent Reading is about Luo Wenzhou being Fei Du’s salvation. However, as LWZ pointed out himself, Fei Du would’ve been a good person at heart with or without his influence. 

In The Defective, when Lu Bixing mistakenly thought Lin Jingheng stayed in the Eighth Galaxy against his own wishes because of their relationship, and that their priorities are irreconcilable, he even thought about breaking up. Of course he was not serious about it, but this showcased that he would never try to change LJH’s convictions. 

In SHL, however, the concept of salvation is central to the theme. Some find it strange that SHL make drama zzs the more “moral” one of the two, despite his action being more objectively questionable. In fact, the only reason he get framed as more “moral” is that he admitted his fault sooner, and therefore could guide drama wkx’s path back to salvation: to recognize the goodness in people, make peace with external world, to clear his name in Jianghu, and to follow due process with his revenge plan to avoid collateral damages. 

“I tried to change you, but you end up changing me”, said drama ZZS. This relationship dynamic is never present in any of priest’s works I’ve read. Priest characters don’t *try* to change one another. 

Does MXTX believe in salvation? Hard to tell. One could argue that Hua Cheng would have be way more amoral and even immoral if it hadn’t been for XL. This is complicated and is a topic for another time.

However, it is certain that MXTX MCs don’t condemn each other morally. “The orthodox one defending their unorthodox partner in front of the world” is a common wuxia trope, but the way MXTX novels approach it is very different from SHL. 

HuaLian never had a serious falling out about being on different sides. Even when they disagree, they respect each other and love each other exactly the way they are. Hua Cheng didn’t approve of Xie Lian saving Mu Qing, but he didn’t interfere with Xie Lian’s decision. Xie Lian feels responsible for helping Shi Qingxuan in Blackwater arc, but he is perfectly fine with HC helping He Xuan keep secrets. In several cases where they have different values, they are able to make it work with ease.

LWJ never *morally* condemned WWX for his action, and never once objected to WWX practicing demonic cultivation after his rebirth. In fact, LWJ never objected to WWX’s morals; in their previous life he was worried about his safety, and struggled with what to do about certain situations due to his family background, but difference in morality is not an issue for them. 

The “righteous” one does not feel the need to guide their unorthodox partner or to be their salvation with regards to integrity. 

*The similarity & differences part is a bit messy and some points are not fleshed-out. Sorry about that. 

**I don’t claim to have the right interpretation. The lens by which we see different styles of romance is ultimately subjective. 

[daiseukiis]

: ̗̀➛ 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊 𝐈𝐓 𝐔𝐏 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐒

𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 ; 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙨

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─꒱ in which we peak into how life is as the in-law of the fushiguro family after marrying megumi。

─꒱ feat. fushiguro megumi, fushiguro toji & fushiguro tsumiki

─꒱ warnings ; profanity and slightly suggestive

─꒱ notes ; plz this is too much, for crack rzns toji is alive and well. this is basically the shit that would happen if i was an in law of the fushiguro family but i decided to make it into an x fem!reader instead. ALSO THANKS TO THE ANON FOR GIVING SUCH A TITLE ! should i make this a series ?? 👀

─꒱ 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊 𝐈𝐓 𝐔𝐏 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐒 | episode two

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꒰꒰ before getting married to megumi, you had to go through two people in his life; the real father and the fake excuse of a father.

꒰꒰ of course the latter was easier to handle with compared to the real father, who in fact dotes on you lots after he had witnessed you shoulder throw the nearest bitch who tried to touch you when you were out shopping.

꒰꒰ you and tsumiki are obviously very close after taking the surname fushiguro, taking turns cooking or even cooking together meals for the family. though, toji shortly enters the kitchen and starts eating the food midway.

꒰꒰ there are times when you and tsumiki are out, the men of the family would buy take out because they're too lazy to cook for themselves. you and tsumiki scold them when you get home and tell them they don't get food.

꒰꒰ then there are other times when toji and megumi would just be fighting for,,, whatever reason.

꒰꒰ that usually ends up with tsumiki throwing spatulas and a bunch of other kitchen utensils.

꒰꒰ though there was a time that she had somehow took the knife you were using to cut pork and threw it at them when megumi and toji were arguing in the kitchen.

the sound of a knife is flung in between the father-son duo, it's sharp end digging deep within the wall as the blood from the pork you were cutting it with drips down the grey paint. toji and megumi halt their aggressive words, eyes wide open as they stare at each other before looking at the knife just half a foot between their faces.

"sorry! i didn't mean to throw the knife!" tsumiki quickly moves her feet towards her father and brother to check if they were alright. the two males took a closer look at the night, she even killed a fly in the process.

you stood in your spot to stare at the sight before you. "gumi," you call out to your husband who turns to look back at you. "yeah?"

"your sister scares me."

꒰꒰ the other times to when they argued, toji would bring out his worm and megumi would summon his shikigami

you return home with tsumiki after buying groceries to hear a loud 'demon dog; totality!' from inside the house, and then in less than five seconds the white door which was installed two weeks ago is broken to bits when you witness your father get thrown out by your husband's shikigamis. you and tsumiki stop to watch as toji brings out the worm from his mouth, a pissed megumi walking out from the broken door and yelling curses at your father.

"who's turn is it to pay for the door?" you ask, blinking your lashes as you hear tsumiki sigh. "i'm pretty sure it's tou-chan's turn to pay."

꒰꒰ a lot of things break in the house often.

꒰꒰ in return, they pay for it and do the chores. though tsumiki threatened them.

꒰꒰ somehow you question why toji and megumi would be afraid if tsumiki were ever to get mad, then you're reminded about the time she threw a knife with accuracy to stop them from fighting.

꒰꒰ sometimes it's just hard to spend quality time with your husband at home when toji is around because he will purposely find ways to annoy megumi.

꒰꒰ you have gotten used to waking up two in the morning to get a midnight snack in the kitchen and witness toji come home in blood.

꒰꒰ that saying, you have also gotten used waking up two in the morning for a cup of water to witness both toji and megumi cooperating to tie up some person who tried to assassinate either or.

"burglar or assassin?" you nonchalantly ask after walking downstairs and pouring a cup of water for yourself. you hear megumi say, "came for the old man."

"i see," after finishing your drink you place the cup in the sink to wash tomorrow morning, glancing once more back to the two fushiguros that stood in front of a cursed user tied up on the floor as one or tojj's weapons were at their neck. you nod, waving your hand. "goodnight."

"i'll be in bed soon, bunny." megumi announces as he tightens the rope around the hands of the intruder, you flash a smile their way, waving your hand and making your way up the stairs. "alright, night tou-chan."

"yeah, sleep well, y/n." you grin at yourself when toji bid you night, though at the same time the said man had to stuff a cloth in the intruders mouth when megumi was instructed to stab the hand when he screamed, continuing on with their interrogation before disposal.

꒰꒰ you and tsumiki one way or another can always drag both toji and megumi out to go shopping, using them as your personal bag carriers.

꒰꒰ when you're lucky toji pays for it all. he actually loves spoiling his daughters but he would never say that.

꒰꒰ toji is constantly asking you and megumi when you'll have kids, saying that it would be good money if they got the cursed technique. it always angers megumi when he says it that, but you know that's just toji's way of showing that he wants grandchildren.

꒰꒰ on that topic when you're left in the house with toji, he'd casually ask you if megumi is fucking you hard enough and why you're not pregnant yet.

꒰꒰ you spit your water at his face that time.

꒰꒰ other times toji would invite you to a horse stadium and watch horse racing with him. but this one time you saw a t-rex costume race on the tv and quickly called toji over

"i bet five thousand yen on t-rex twelve." you point to the tv where they were broadcasting about fifteen people having a race in a t-rex costume in a horse racing stadium. toji looks plainfully at you, "you're disowned as daughter in law."

but you'd still see the small smile on his face as you hear laughing and snickering from tsumiki and megumi in the back.

tagging ; @inumakiful @to-move-on-means-to-grow @hq128​ @erensslut @churochuu @haru-senji​

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[robininthelabyrinth]

Wen Ruohan/Wei Wuxian?🍉

Forked Path - ao3

“You did me a favor, and I intend to repay that,” Wen Ruohan said, adjusting one of his gauntlets in irritation – more at the fact that he was sinking back into that old nervous tic, a tell that he’d thought he’d eliminated years ago than at the actual request, ridiculous as it was. “But to confirm, you’re certain that this is what you want? It’s not in my nature to stop midway, so if you have any hesitations, exercise them now or not at all.”

The two rogue cultivators looked at each other and after a few moments of clear silent communication and struggle, they looked back at him and nodded. The man did so reluctantly - Wen Ruohan looked at his wife, the immortal mountain’s disciple, and her nod was far more firm.

“Very well,” he said, lips twisting in distaste. He hated owing people favors, especially when they rejected his preferred counter-offer to graciously allow them to work for his sect, but he wasn’t yet so ungracious that he wouldn’t live up to something he had to do. “We are therefore agreed: in the event both of you die prematurely, I will take your son into my sect to be raised therein, rather than allow him to be raised alone outside or in the Jiang sect."

He paused, frowning. "To be clear, however, I am not going to raise him myself! He’ll be brought up among one of the branch families.”

Dafan Wen had some kids around the same age, didn’t they? That was pretty out of the way. With luck, he could avoid having to see the brat at all…and that was all assuming that these two died, of course. Still, based on their level of certainty and the association of the immortal mountain with divination, Wen Ruohan was going to assume a worst-case scenario was likely to occur.

“That’s fine,” the man said, his voice oddly sarcastic. “We don’t expect you to do more for us than you do for your own children.”

That pricked at Wen Ruohan’s pride, since he didn’t have a conscience to be affected.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked with a frown. He had two sons of his own, and they were being raised perfectly well by his wives, as far as he knew. It wasn’t really his concern until they were old enough to actually start getting started in cultivation, swordsmanship, or even the scholarly arts, at which point he would naturally take over their education with the assistance of many able tutors – he was far too busy to waste time with them, squalling brats that they undoubtedly were, until then.

“Nothing,” the woman said, and she looked amused – he almost suspected she was amused at his expense. “After all, with hard work, even the sharpest sword can be ground down into a needle.”

That wasn’t how that idiom went at all, but Wen Ruohan was too lazy to correct her.

Later, though, after they’d left, her words kept pricking at him in the same matter as idiomatic needle – it occurred to him that he didn’t much like his wives, even though the connections they’d brought to his sect were exceedingly beneficial. It was said that where there was a father, there was a son, the two invariably resembling each other, and he’d assumed that that would be the case here…but on the other hand, if he left all the initial raising of his sons to those wives he didn’t like, wasn’t he risking them raising the children to be just like theminstead of him? Grinding down his sons’ edges, so to speak?

That would be utterly unacceptable.

He was so busy, though. Beyond his own cultivation, his sect now controlled over a third of the cultivation world, and he was ambitious to raise that to half, and then perhaps even further. How could he waste time on something as pointless as taking care of small children?

On the other hand, he supposed that in the long run he’d actually be saving time if he at least made sure they were raised up right. After all, he’d always assumed that his two sons would be his right and left hands, his able aides capable of enacting his will, and obviously it would be a disaster to find out later on that they’d been spoiled rotten or rendered stupid....

No, he was sure his arrangement was fine. How much damage could his wives do in just a few years?

…perhaps it wouldn’t be that bad an idea to check in on them.

Just to make sure.

He definitely wasn’t going to raise that stupid Wei boy, though. Favors had limits!

-

“Your accomplishments do you credit,” Wen Ruohan said to Wen Qing, and even meant it the way he didn’t mean most of the things he was forced to say at these stupid discussion conferences.

After all, Wen Qing was of his bloodline, if distantly – Dafan Wen was a branch family – but at any rate, they shared a surname, and it was sheer pleasure watching her put all those other ‘promising’ young masters in their place. Anything that added a sheen of glory to his sect was a good thing.

She saluted deeply, trying to hide the way she was beaming, and Wen Ruohan wondered once again if it was time to bring her back to the Nightless City as his ward instead of leaving her out in the wilderness with the rest of Dafan Wen. To get the sort of medical skills she had at her age showed promise and talent, and he needed people of promise and talent, especially ones with his surname, if he were going to make good on his intention to conquer the cultivation world.

He would’ve brought her back years ago, in fact, except that Sect Leader Nie said that children were fidgety, flighty creatures that were bad at dealing with change and that he’d be better off sending medical texts and tutors to Dafan Wen rather than bring Wen Qing back to the Nightless City over her father’s protests. Normally, Wen Ruohan would have disregarded advice he didn’t like and proceed with his own intentions regardless, but Sect Leader Nie had been helping him deal with his own sons ever since he’d reclaimed them from his wives, who he’d discovered had been ruining them, and it seemed unwise to dispute with him regarding matters of child-rearing at that point. After all, if he wanted Wen Xu to end up as even half the son that it looked like that Nie Mingjue was going to be, he needed the man’s expertise, and that meant making compromises, irritating as it was.

Compromises like not just killing Wen Qing’s father for refusing to hand over his children, despite it being easier to accomplish. Or not killing Sect Leader Nie himself, no matter how irritating the man was, because now his sons loved that old bastard.

(Wen Ruohan had spitefully decided to get back at Sect Leader Nie by spoiling his youngest son, who seemed at first glance to be more like the lazy scholarly type, beyond belief. It seemed to be working very well so far, including in causing Sect Leader Nie no end of frustration at his extremely clever-when-it-came-to-evading-work second son; Wen Ruohan, satisfied, viewed this result as being wholly due to his own efforts.)

“How did you find that talisman you mentioned in your last paper?” he asked Wen Qing lazily. “I hadn’t seen it before. Was it in one of the books I sent, or somewhere else?”

In truth, that had been the most interesting aspect of the presentation from his perspective – he didn’t have either talent or interest in medical cultivation, but he could recognize firepower when he saw it. Just because the talisman worked on disrupting things at a very small level for medical reasons didn’t mean it couldn’t be repurposed for larger things…

“Oh, no, Wei Wuxian invented it,” Wen Qing said. “He used it to blow stuff up until I convinced him to make a smaller version for me.”

“Wei Wuxian?” Wen Ruohan asked, frowning, and then recalled – ah, yes, the Wei boy. His parents had died some five or eight years back, if he recalled correctly, and he’d had to go fetch him pursuant to that old agreement; it had been extremely annoying at the time. He’d been in the middle of a very nasty argument with Sect Leader Nie at the time, the one that had led him to think his most serious thoughts to date of eliminating the man entirely, and then, just as he’d been on the cusp of making a decision, he’d received word of the deaths of Cangse Sanren and her husband Wei Changze.

Naturally, he needed to find and recover their son as he’d promised long ago, which given how unreliable reports of the location of rogue cultivators was naturally became a colossal waste of time, but on the bright side it had at least given him a chance to vent his spleen and get out some of his rage on something other than wringing Sect Leader Nie’s neck. It turned out that Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze had died in some obscure night hunt in Yiling, but figuring that out had all but taken a full-scale canvass of six different territories – and then Sect Leader Jiang, who hadn’t bothered to do anything near the same level of search and had opted to search the various towns individually on his own, as if that would ever work, had tried to leapfrog off the back of his hard work, thinking he could just thank him and take the boy away just like that.

Wen Ruohan had refused, of course – he had the parents’ personal request, and that outweighed Wei Changze having been a former servant of the Jiang sect or Cangse Sanren being possibly a former lover of their sect leader – and it had turned into something of a political mess for a while.

That had been where he’d gotten most of the venting out, actually.

Sect Leader Nie had sided with him in that fight, though, rather viciously, and by the end of it all Wen Ruohan was reminded of why exactly it was that the man was a useful ally to have around. He’d also forgotten what exactly they’d been fighting about, but he wasn’t going to admit that, so he just magnanimously forgave him. It had all turned out rather all right, and Wen Ruohan had put the boy out of his mind shortly thereafter.

Why would he come up now, all of a sudden?

No, wait, he’d sent him to Dafan Wen, just as he’d planned. And of course Wen Qing was from the main branch of Dafan Wen as well – she would’ve been raised with Wei Wuxian as a little brother.

“How is he doing?” he asked, more out of etiquette than actual interest, but Wen Qing lit up and started talking about how her little shidi was a verifiable genius, and so good with her actual younger brother, and whatnot. Wen Ruohan nodded, pretending he was listening, and cast his eyes around the rest of the discussion conference, looking for a distraction – there was Sect Leader Nie, who was generally good for a laugh, but he was scolding that second son of his for failing one of Lan Qiren’s classes and having to be sent a second time over. Jiang Fengmian was comforting him, telling him that he was sending his son as well this year, and of course Jin Guangshan’s heir was of age as well, and would undoubtedly be going, too…

Hmm.

“If he’s such a genius, he should interact more with his peers,” Wen Ruohan announced. “I’ll recommend him – and that brother of yours, I suppose – for the lecture series at the Cloud Recesses this summer.”

It wouldn’t do to be left, after all.

“You…you will? Really? That’s wonderful! Thank you for the opportunity, Sect Leader Wen! They’ll treasure it! How can we ever repay your kindness –”

“As long as they impress me with their talents,” Wen Ruohan said, already imagining Jiang Fengmian’s constipated expression at seeing his lover’s son that was stolen from his grasp wearing Wen sect colors and, in an ideal world, smearing his own son into the ground with his superlative skill. “That will be repayment enough.”

-

“You need to get laid,” Sect Leader Nie said, and Wen Ruohan was reminded again of why he despised the man and should have killed him years ago. Why hadn’t he done that again? “As a matter of cultivation.”

“You’re joking,” Wen Ruohan said, putting down his bowl of wine and staring at him in disbelief. He hadn’t expected the man to actually be serious. It was rare enough an event, but in fairness to him, he never joked about matters of cultivation. “How does one help the other?”

“It’ll help balance you out.” Sect Leader Nie thought about it. “Or at least let you get out some of that nervous energy that makes you a paranoid megalomaniacal little bitch about eighty percent of the time.”

That sounded a bit more in character.

“If dual cultivation could fix personality problems, Lao Nie, you’d be immortal.”

“Who says I’m not?” Sect Leader Nie asked, teeth bared in a smile. “Only time will tell. Haven’t I already outlived my father?”

Wen Ruohan rolled his eyes. Sect Leader Nie had outlived his father because when he’d started in on a qi deviation like every other member of his blasted family, he, Wen Ruohan, had personally dived into the irritating bastard’s spiritual consciousness and dragged him back out again. It was very much not something that people were supposed to do, being more likely to cause qi deviations in the person doing the rescuing than resulting in an actual rescue, but he’d never cared what people were supposed to do and, really, it would be extremely annoying to have to do without him now that he’d invested all that time and effort and figured out how to get some real use out of him. Anyway, they both seemed to be fine and possibly they were also soul-bonded now - he wasn’t actually sure, Wen Qing always got a weird expression on her face whenever she talked about it, and he usually stopped listening at that point.

He didn’t really care. As long as it didn’t interfere with his plans, what did it mtter?

“Who exactly am I supposed to be dual cultivating with, exactly?” he asked dryly, deciding to address the matter head-on because that was the only way Sect Leader Nie understood things. “Don’t volunteer yourself again. I already told you that I refuse to indulge your ridiculous kink for dangerous people.”

Anymore, anyway.

Sect Leader Nie made a face at him, but Wen Ruohan ignored him. He might’ve fallen for that before the whole spiritual consciousness-soulbond business, but now he knew for sure that it was a kink, so – no.

Nothappening.

“You have a kink for things that increase your power, I don’t know why you’re being so judgy about my kink,” the other man grumbled. “And I don’t know, find someone – not another wife, you hate your wives, and anyway they’re much happier with their other lovers.”

“I didn’t pick them because I liked them,” Wen Ruohan pointed out. “I picked them because I wanted to absorb their sects and all the aligned sects associated with them. Which I did.”

“See, this is your problem! You married for power, rather than power, if you get my meaning –”

This was true. If any of his wives could cultivate worth a damn, maybe he’d care more about them. As it was, getting a son on each of them had been an exercise in willpower.

“ – and now you’re too busy pursuing power to fuck anyone else. You really need to get it out of your system. Find someone who can kill you.”

“No one can kill me,” Wen Ruohan said. “I’m the closest thing the cultivation world has to a god. Everyone should bow down and worship me.”

Sect Leader Nie started muttering something about megalomania again, but Wen Ruohan ignored him. It wasn’t a qi deviation talking if it was true.

“I bet we could find someone who could kill you if we tried,” Sect Leader Nie finally said. “And if they’re powerful enough to kill you, they’re probably powerful enough for the dual cultivation to improve your own cultivation, which is all you care about…we should start a war, maybe.”

“A war? Against who? And why?”

Sect Leader Nie frowned thoughtfully, stroking his chin. “The Jin sect?” he suggested, probably because he’d never liked Jin Guangshan. “Or the Jiang sect? Or both, I guess, since they’re allied. They’re next on your take-over list, aren’t they?”

“You’re next on my take-over list,” Wen Ruohan said threateningly, except Sect Leader Nie only laughed at him. Which was fair, he supposed, that whole soul-bond thing made the whole conquering business somewhat unnecessary – Qishan Wen and Qinghe Nie were bound together now as thoroughly as if he’d married the man.

Which he hadn’t. And wouldn’t. No matter what stupid snarky comments Sect Leader Nie said about Wen Ruohan treating him as a de facto consort on account of not having devouring his sect whole.

(Which he wasn’t going to do either - his sons still loved the man, and by now they were as thick as thieves with the Nie boys. What was he supposed to do, disappoint them? It’d be the same as disappointing himself, and he wasn’t about to do that.)

“I suppose we could start a war against the Jin and Jiang,” he allowed. His plan had always called for battle eventually, since he knew there was a limit to how many sects he could absorb through political, marital, economic or other means. As long as the other Great Sects stood against him, he’d never be able to achieve total domination – plus, he’d have to continue to suffer through those awful discussion conferences with the boring lectures and the petty politics of it all. Why couldn’t they see that they’d allbe better off under his dominion? “I could send Wen Zhuliu –“

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s not how you fight wars honorably, and also because I hate that man’s guts. I can’t believe you gave him your surname.”

Wen Ruohan rolled his eyes yet again. Such petty concerns were beneath him. “If we launch a surprise attack using him assassinate the Jiang sect leaders, thereby bringing down the Lotus Pier, the war will be over sooner,” he pointed out.

“Makes it harder to assimilate them into the Wen sect afterwards, though,” Sect Leader Nie pointed out, and damnit, he had a point. “Not to mention you’re going to want some experienced people policing your waterways when you finally take over…”

Damnit.

“Fine,” Wen Ruohan said. “We’ll declare war the old-fashioned way. Maybe we’ll find someone on the opposite side that can impress me, and then I’ll marry her – or him – and be done with the whole business. Happy now?”

Sect Leader Nie made a maybe-so gesture with his hand. “Anyone who can match you in power can probably kill me,” he said regretfully. “Would you consider sharing –“

“Paws off my hypothetical future consort, you beast. Anyway, aren’t you already pursuing Lan Qiren because he nearly slit your throat with a guqin string once?”

“A man can look!”

-

“Say,” Sect Leader Nie said, staring at the army of fierce corpses currently shambling along to the tune of Wei Wuxian’s flute, advancing inexorably towards their enemies – an entirely new cultivation style that the boy had recently invented. In an effort to impress his benefactor Wen Ruohan, apparently. “Are you sure about the no sharing rule?”

Wen Ruohan stared at the grown man perched on a tree like a demon, wrapped in shadow and crackling with power, eyes glowing as red as the sun-patterns on his clothing, who seemed to want nothing more from the world than to serve it up to Wen Ruohan on a platter.

“Yes,” he said, voice only a little strangled. Maybe Sect Leader Nie had a point about power being a kink for him. “I’m very sure.”

[authenticmiya]

hi can u like make a fic of 1984 johnny where reader is daniel's twin sister? and she's like even better at karate than him?? thanksss

Can’t Stay Away - Johnny Lawrence x Reader

Summary - Reader is Daniels twin sister. Although she’s younger, she will do anything to protect her brother. With full confidence in going to a new school, she soon discovers what the pretty blonde boy is really all about.

Words - 1.5k

A/N - Thankyou for the request my darlin’, I really enjoyed writing this! Feel free to keep sending more, have a great day😘

Reseda was your new home, a fresh start as your mom would say - but it wasn't exactly a good start for your twin brother Daniel.

"Ma isn't going to let this go, you know that right?" You pointed out to his obvious black eye, that he came home with last night.

"Quit talkin' about it Y/N, it's our first day at a new school." Daniel sighed, cycling beside you as you walked.

"This is why you should've taken Karate with me back home." You groaned.

"I said quit talkin' about it, mom could only afford to send one of us to a professional Dojo." Wanting the last word, you continued.

"You still learnt basic stuff involving moves to use in a scenario where self-defence is needed. Are you still not going to take up my offer on helping to train you?" You asked hopefully.

"I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself." Daniel muttered.

"Tell that to your bruised baby browns." Daniel rolled his eyes but soon enough, the two of you were near the entrance of the high school.

"You going to tell me who it was that hit you before we step foot into the building?" You questioned.

"Are you going to promise not to get into any fights today?" Daniel mocked and if he wasn't your twin, you probably would've hit him.

"Exactly, now let's go." Daniel hopped off his bike and the two of you headed in, that was before he stopped and looked at a group of guys sitting by their motorcycles. They were kind of hot.

"Are you going to introduce yourself to the hot boys?" You joked and Daniel glared at you.

"Promise me you won't go near them." Daniel shrugged his words off like they were nothing, but now you had your suspicions. Were they at the beach last night? Did they hurt your big brother? Thoughts ran through your head but you had to prepare yourself for the first class of the day.

"I've got Math first." You told Daniel, looking around at each of the doors to see if you were in the right place.

"I've got History, so I guess I'll see you in Gym class." Daniel hugged you, before heading off.

"Brace yourself Larusso." You whispered, hoping to at least find someone to talk to.

"Class, we have a new student. You must be Y/N Larusso, class meet Y/N!" The teacher announced and suddenly all eyes were on you as you were greeted with hellos.

“Y/N you can go and sit with Mr Lawrence at the back.” He pointed at the boy who you’d seen earlier this morning.

“Mr Lawrence I hope you make Miss Larusso feel like she’s at home.” The teacher tutted and you sat down beside him. Johnny was unsure on you. Were you related to Daniel? Or was your surname just a coincidence?

“How’d you get the shiner?” You asked Johnny, knocking him out of his questioning thoughts.

“I haven’t even introduced myself pretty lady, I don’t think I will be giving you all of my personal information as of yet.” Johnny smirked.

“As of yet? So tell me Mr Lawrence, am I going to get your first name at least?” He chuckled but was impressed with how confident you were.

“Johnny.” He simply replied, then he noticed the sticker on your notebook. It was an outline of someone performing a side kick.

“I like the sticker.” Johnny admitted, neither of you paying attention to the class, even though you probably should’ve been.

“You like Karate?” You questioned him and he laughed.

“I’m an All Valley Competitor and one of the top students at Cobra Kai.” Oh there he was with his cocky attitude.

“What kind of name is Cobra Kai?” You muttered but he heard you.

“Don’t diss my Dojo like that Y/L/N, you don’t know a thing about Karate.” Johnny snapped.

“Speak to me like that again, and I swear to god I’ll roundhouse kick your ass into next week, got it?” You questioned.

“Oh really? What other moves do you know if you’re so good?” His demeanour had changed completely but deep down, he was fairly impressed you knew anything about his favourite hobby.

“I don’t think I have to explain myself to an All Valley competitor. I’ll have you know I was state champion back home, and I’ve been doing Karate for years.” You sarcastically told him.

“You know what Y/N? I like your attitude. You’re obviously passionate, but I’m not gonna believe it until I see it.” He said, referring to your knowledge of Karate.

“Asshole.” You muttered, only making him smirk more. You couldn’t deny it, he really was a good looking guy, he just came across as a douchebag.

The class seemed to fly by, and it was clear Johnny wasn’t going to leave you alone.

“You following me now pretty boy?” You raised an eyebrow at him as you headed towards gym class.

“We actually have the same class but I’ll take the compliment.” He winked. A few of his friends from earlier that morning had joined his side and it seemed that everyone’s eyes were on you once again.

“Why’s everyone staring?” You asked Johnny but his friend spoke before he could.

“We’re the Cobra Kai’s babe, you should be blessed.” The other blonde guy told you.

“Shut it Dutch, everyone’s just intimidated by us.” Johnny admitted and you had to hold yourself from cringing.

“Yo man last-night was sick, the way you hit Larusso, man it was an honourable night!” Some kid came over. Your eyes nearly fell out of your head. Daniel was now in eye-sight of you and all you could see was red.

“Yeah man, he got what he deserved, flirting with my girl.” Johnny laughed and you stopped in your tracks.

“Class is this way Y/N.” Johnny turned around, noticing you weren’t walking with him anymore. Daniel could see from the distance that he was at, that something was about to go down.

“Why does my sister look so mad?” Daniel asked to Ali.

“She’s around Johnny, he’s probably done something to upset her.” Ali replied.

“Nah she doesn’t get upset, it’s more anger before sadness with her.” Daniel told her.

“Maybe she found out that he was the one who did this to you last night.” Ali suggested and Daniel gulped.

“I need to get her out now.” Daniel handed Ali his bag and was quick to rush over.

“You’re the one who hit my brother last night?” You snapped, clenching your fists.

“Your brother? Wait, what? Daniel is your brother?” Johnny was gobsmacked.

“Are you serious right now? How many people do you know with the surname Larusso?” You threw your arms in the air frustratedly.

“Look Y/N, he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Johnny tried to reason with you. Looking past Johnny, you saw your brother coming over.

“Y/N just leave it.” Daniel tried to remove you from the situation but you weren’t having any of it, and you were all sure to be late for Gym class.

“Oh precious face is here to save his sisters ass.” The guy named Dutch chuckled.

“You motherfucker.” You threw your bag towards the ground and punched him in the face. Dutch’s head flew backwards and he wiped the blood away with the back of his hand.

“Is that all you got princess?” He joked, getting ready to punch you, but you middle blocked it, before grabbing him and striking him with your knee.

“Dude she’s beating his ass and we’re not doing anything.” One of Johnny’s friends whispered.

“She said she was a state champion in Karate, I didn’t believe her.” Johnny was shocked to say the least.

“Dutch is a dick though.” His friend continued, and some fellow students stopped to watch - shocked that a Cobra Kai was getting his ass whooped.

“Does anyone else have anything to say about my family?” You called out. It was your luck that no teachers or other adults had seen what you had done.

“That’s what I thought.” You gave Dutch one last kick to the face as he was laid on the floor, before turning back to your fallen bags.

“Ma is going to kill you.” Daniel sighed, checking your face for any type of injuries - which once again, you were free from.

“Not if she doesn’t find out.” You told him. The Cobra Kai’s were now quick to see if their friend was okay. Johnny turned to you.

“You’re alright Larusso.” Johnny told you.

“Yeah I am, you’re lucky that isn’t you on the floor.” You said seriously.

“You’d never get me on the floor, I’m just surprised you’re better at defending yourself than your brother is.” Johnny looked at you like you were crazy.

“I managed to do it with him. Listen, stay away from my brother and I, you have a girl anyway.” You spoke to him, leaving Daniel to awkwardly wait a few feet behind you.

“Ex girl.” One of his friends piped up and Johnny shot him a glare before looking you dead in the eye.

“I don’t think I can stay away from you princess, you’re a different kind.”

[mysticmjolnir]

Tag Game to Better Know You

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Tagged by @tennessoui, i am kissing you on the forehead not with tongue maybe with a little tongue

What book are you currently reading? Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott. It's about how utopian projects pushed top-down by states never go well, because the kind of knowledge states seek to codify tends to ignore a whole bunch of other, very important but less 'valuable' (usually in terms of direct taxation) factors.

I've been reading it real slow bc it's like, dense and stuff and also i've been real sick recently, but it's really interesting. My favourite part is an example used early on; scientific forestry. So forests are like, old and organic and messy and full of stuff that isn't easy to use timber. Which, if you're looking at a forest and thinking 'how much timber can I get out of this forest on a regular basis', is kind of a nightmare. In the latter 1700s some german dude decided to try clearing areas and planting the same tree over and over in neat rows, making sure the area was clear of brush and general forest detritus.

The first crop, about 80 years on, was great! Lots of good quality timber, easy to harvest. The second crop was awful and the third was worse and so on and so on. Because this scientific forestry didn't consider any other factors but commercial exploitation of the forest. Not the nutrients in the soil, not the biodiversity of the biome, both of which were to blame for everything after the first bunch of trees growing poorly, but every other way that people rely on or interact with forests; religion, culture, food foraging, hunting, sneaking off to fuck, grazing for animals, goddamn medicines! Not to mention, y'know, all the ways that a forest exists and thrives sans any human interaction at all.

This is just a really bare example of what this book talks about - most of the projects it discusses are not about just imposing systems onto the landscape but onto people, who must interact with said systems or sometimes fight back against them. And not all state interference is bad or done for purely explotative reasons. But it usually goes badly because the people designing and implementing the systems don't know or care to know about how local systems already function - it just doesn't seem relevant to them and their big ideas. Also, obviously, there's a lot of colonialism here too, colonial administrators trying to align opressed indigenous populations into something 'manageable' and most importantly, taxable.

Like, in 1849, the Spanish going through the regions of the Philippines and assigning Hispanic surnames literally in alphabetical order, then enforcing those names by forbidding all officials from accepting any documentation that didn't use the (randomly assigned) Hispanic surnames. It didn't work 100% of course, these kind of insane, nightmarish projects never do, but it worked somewhat. There was a lot of forcing people to take surnames for the sake of being easier to track/tax. for instance people immigrating to the USA through Ellis Island

In a sweet little twist, at least one of these kinds of forests, from the late 1600s, so, before they had the bright idea to eliminate diversity from the trees they were planting, is a place of well loved and outstanding beauty, and also still harvested for timber on a 200 year cycle; The Forest of Tronçais. It was planted to provide wood for the ships of the French navy, but then they didn't need it so much. It got cut down a lot over the 1700s and 1800s for charcoal and stuff, but now it's, according to (a source in french on) wikipedia 'deemed by many as the most beautiful oakwood in Europe'. So that's nice.

tl:dr I am reading an interesting book on how states fuck up people and also trees.

What’s your favorite movie you saw in theaters this year? I have not been to see a film in a cinema this year.

What do you usually wear? rn pyjamas, but usually i wear what i like to call hedgewitch chic

How tall are you? 5'3''. i don't want to talk about it

What’s your Star Sign? Do you share a birthday with a celebrity or a historical event? Capricorn. Sometimes my birthday is Martin Luther King day

Do you go by your name or a nickname? I have a really cool name (if we're friends i will tell you it) and I try to go by my shortened name informally and my full name professionally.

Did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child? when i was a child i wanted to be a classicist. i am not a classicist.

Are you in a relationship? If not, who is your crush if you have one? That one tumblr post: "not in a relationship, not aromantic, but a secret third thing. unwanted ;) " <-- kit put this i'm stealing it

What’s something you’re good at vs. something you’re bad at? i'm good at telling people to be kind to themselves. i am bad at remembering to wear a coat when i go outside

Dogs or cats? cats

If you draw/write or create in any way, what’s your favorite picture/line/etc from something you created this year? i have written fic this year, which i have not done for some years. i like almost all of my writing. i tried to find a quote but idk, when i went to look at my writing i liked it less.

What’s something you would like to create content for? i want to write an alex rider fic but the fates are against me in nearly every way despite my very funny idea that makes me chuckle to myself every time i think about it

What’s something you’re currently obsessed with? star wars? i'm currently obsessed with certain bits of star wars very much.

What’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year? uh. i did not enjoy the sandman as much as i hoped to. i can expand at length on this subject to anyone who is interested.

What’s a hidden talent of yours? cat wrangling

Are you religious? nuh

What’s something you wish to have at this moment? a hug

deep breath i can do this i can tag people @dreaminghour @raeality @anakincito