#also clarifying it went from 5 parts to 6

[count-von-kit]

Also adding to this a meme I once made and sent to my DM in regards to Abel.

OC Origins Tag

Tagged by @ddgraywrites Thanks for tapping me in on this fun game. 👀

Disclaimer: All artwork shown below are from a commissioned piece done by my partner @pookieesukiro. They're not very active on Tumblr, but you can find them on Twitter, IG, and TikTok if you want to check out their work. Same handlename. My partner will be doing all the artwork for this story.

Alright, so. I'm not very good at these, but the more you do the better you get at them, yea? It's easier for me to dissect my OCs' origins into personality and visually, as sometimes they're develop as one or the other first. That said, let's dive in. For the sake of keeping this shorter, I'll only talk about the boys, and not about Abel's family.

WIP: Abel's Youth Tale Project [Sometimes mentioned as Abel's YTP for short.]

Abel Rose

Abel is a very complicated and resilient child of mine who, as a adult of 26, was a very dear character from a TTRPG game I played with some friends back in 2021. [You can find more on it over at @haphazardrolls with links to the campaign VODs as well as some pieces I wrote centered around Abel.] The longer the campaign went on, the more complicated and evolved he became, helping me reestablish my love for writing while realizing he was a bit more than just "some college guy who got killed in a dark alley on his way to get some booze". With a TTRPG, you come to realize that sometimes there's only so much you can fit in with character development, and for little Abel I wanted to further expand on the past for him - why he is who he is when Camp Boolieve came about. I wanted to expand on his quirks, and insecurities. And for that, his story just came naturally over the course of a weekend. Growing up in the 90s and early 00s, I pulled some personal bits from my early childhood and teenage years despite Abel pretty much making himself. He is a child of abuse, depression, and suicidal ideology who deals with a little more than just being an openly bisexual teenage boy in a small town band. So it wasn't inherently trauma dumping, per say. Anyway, Abel in present day is still healing, but Abel in the past [this WIP of his origin and for the sake of this writeblr game] shares a lot of struggles teens in LGBTQIA+ spaces today may be going through. And with him I wanted to share how he pushes himself to constantly evolve into a better person while also showing he's still healing and unlearning things. He's still human. A piece of Abel's origin, which I've pulled from myself, is showing the struggles one can face with mental illness - how tough it is to find the strength to continue existing - how exhausting it can be. Even in our darkest days when we want to give up we can still find that strength to get back up on our feet and push forward into tomorrow. Abel's creation for me is a bit personal, but he is my resilience personified in writing, and because of that I want to make sure his story will see the light of day.

Erik

Oh Erik... He's a bit of a silly bastard, but he serves such an important purpose other than just further proving a long running joke that Abel has it down bad for dumb blonde guys. I don't really think there's much of an origin for Erik other than Abel needed someone to ground him, someone who was always going to be there for him, and someone who was his best friend - maybe just a little bit more. :) Erik comes off as a bit of a hardass who only follows his dick at first, but he shows loyalty and patience when its needed most. He's Abel's most trusted person, and a very critical character. Personality wise, his origin was to be that safe person who helps Abel discover who he is and guide him onto the path of who he will become. For the sake of mental health you can attribute him as being Abel's "go to person", and I think that's probably a better way of putting Erik's origin into light. I might not be doing much service in describing his origin for this game, but I'll just leave a note that his development [at least visually] was loosely inspired by popular blondies like Akihiko from Given, Ryuuji from Persona 5, and Asaichi from The Song of Yoru & Asa.

Dominik

Dominik is by far one of my favorite OCs. Not to push my baby boy Abel aside, but every time I write something for Dom [specifically his banter with Abel] I tell myself, "Folks are going to end up loving this morally grey bastard so much. I can feel it in my bones." Hell, even my partner think he's silly. Inspirationally, there's not much of an origin to Dominik's personality other than I needed someone who was a bit of bastard, morally grey, and someone who, as Abel puts it, "is shady as fuck". Dominik is one of those delightful lads who just sometimes break a fourth wall here and there and you just... don't question it. He's the leader to their little group, and is the little shit who always gets them into trouble. Usually. Visually he was inspired by Davey Havok from AFI. Specifically the era between Black Sails in the Sunset and Sing the Sorrow.

Sergio

There is not a whole lot to my beautiful tall boy other than I needed someone who was the residential band dad, and someone with the patience capable of keeping three idiots in line. Writing a group that's chaotic you need someone who is mature [ok that's subjective, but in the case of my WIP it's true], but also Sergio is someone Abel looks up to a lot. In fact, Abel often goes to him for advice. Sergio is the only one who can drive, and he is the voice of reason. His origin was that I needed someone to balance out Dominik's extreme while also having someone to serve as a role model. He's not Abel's "go to person" when mental health issues arise, but in time he will become that person for him. Inspiration for Sergio visually came mostly from Masaru Ōfuna from HaNaYaMaTa and probably to a lesser extent Neil Peart from RUSH.

To wrap this up, my OCs mostly wrote themselves out in banter that developed in my head. I was lucky with this, because normally I struggle to create characters, but everything in regards to Abel's YTP came very organically. And I think part of that was because this developed during a period where I was constantly thinking about nothing but Abel and fleshing him out.

Anyway, if any folks want to take a stab at the Origin Game themselves, have at it. <3 Thanks for reading.

[apomaro-mellow]

Every Baby Needs a Daddy 6

Part 5

Come for the sugar daddy fantasy stay for my everybody-loves-steve agenda

Eddie insisted on helping Steve with his suit the night of the soiree. Steve allowed him into his apartment for the first time, after some extensive cleaning. Eddie was already dressed in his suit, red, no shirt underneath. He took the garment bag from Eddie, kissed his lips, and then went to his bedroom. Eddie got a glimpse of his nest before the door was shut.

"Uhh? Baby?"

"No peeking", Steve said from behind the door.

"Babyyyy", Eddie whined, pressing his face to the wood.

Steve grinned to himself as he listened, getting dressed on his own anyway. "I don't want to be late. And if I let you 'help' that's exactly what will happen."

It wasn't just what Eddie would do. It was what Steve would let him get away with. It would be very easy to let Eddie in and then tumble in his nest. The thought of letting Eddie's scent mix in... Steve wondered if he could get away with sneaking a piece of his clothing away. But Eddie had promised him a fun night out and said he'd be meeting his bandmates as well.

He finished getting dressed and came out. Eddie stumbled, being nearly glued to the door. Steve almost made a joke about falling for him.

"You gonna be this attached to me all night?", he asked instead.

Eddie righted himself and stood up straight. "If I let you out of my sight, the wolves will descend on you Lil Red."

Steve put his hands on Eddie's chest and leaned in. "Good thing I've got a big, strong woodsman to keep me safe~"

Since it was a band event, Eddie had a personal driver this time. That meant he could sit in the backseat and play with Steve the whole way. Eddie's hand was firm on Steve's thigh while the other held his hip. He'd wanted to bury them in Steve's tresses but one firm tap and reprimand 'don't touch the hair' and here they were.

Eddie was nibbling on Steve's neck, wishing he could put something more permanent on him. Let others know who he belonged to. When they arrived, Steve took a moment to get himself together. Eddie thought he looked just as radiant now as he did with sex-tousled hair but he liked seeing his baby primp too.

Eddie led him, arm in arm, into a nightclub. The music was energetic but didn't really seem to fit with Eddie's usual metal scene. Steve had done some research on the band, listened to a few songs, learned the other members names too. So even through the blaring music, he was able to understand when Eddie brought them over to a reserved table where the rest of them awaited.

"So this is the guy?", Jeff asked.

"This must be the guy", Gareth nodded.

"Can't be anyone else but the guy", Grant raised his glass to Steve.

Steve smiled at Eddie. "You've been telling them about me?"

"You're a secret I don't wanna keep, babydoll", Eddie smiled back.

"DJ here is mixing a set around one of our albums", Jeff said. "Kind of a little promotion for us. And when we share the video, he'll get a bump too."

"I thought this was a little out of the box for your sound", Steve said.

"You listen to our music?", Eddie asked.

Steve shrugged, playing it off. "I've dabbled." He leaned into Eddie's space to take a sip from the drink in his hand. "What about you? Do you dabble in this?"

"Not quite my scene, no. I'm an appreciator of most genres though."

"Can we finally break the silence on Eddie's jazz phase?", Gareth said.

"What's wrong with jazz?", Steve asked.

"Music was fine", Grant clarified, "He just got super pretentious about the different subgenres."

"He was insufferable", Gareth added.

"What about you guys, then?", Steve pointed the question to them. "Are you into this kind of music?"

"It's something to dance to", Jeff replied.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Care to dance?", Steve asked.

Jeff gave a look to Eddie, asking permission. Amused, Steve also looked to Eddie for his response. Eddie's arm had been wrapped rather possessively around him for most of the night, so he could feel how antsy Steve was getting. Eddie gave his hip a pat.

"Go have fun."

Steve kissed his cheek and then went down to the dance floor with Jeff. He loved to move and he'd been itching to dance all night, but Eddie didn't seem like a dancer, at least not to this kind of music. And he wasn't about to just go out and dance with someone random in the club. Jeff was the perfect partner, knowing when to be close and when to give him space.

He felt a finger tap his shoulder and when he turned, Grant was there. Following the beat of the music, Steve gave him his attention. He was able to catch Eddie's eyes just once and saw the hunger in his eyes. When Gareth came to dance, he was a little more hesitant to touch Steve until Steve himself pulled Gareth's hands to him.

The way they all touched him was polite but there was an underlying desire. They were showing appreciation, but they weren't going to challenge the pseudo-claim Eddie had on him. He caught Eddie's gaze again and it was darker this time. He began to walk off the dance floor, ignoring a few calls from voices he didn't recognize.

Steve returned to Eddie and straddled his lap. "Sure I can't tempt you to dance?"

"There's not a thing you can't tempt me into, sweetheart. But you'll have to give me something dance-able. Liked seein' you have fun though. My boys take care of you?"

"Mhm, they were very gentlemanly." Steve's hand dipped under Eddie's suit jacket, needing skin to skin contact.

"Music to my ears", Eddie said against Steve's lips before meeting them. He growled against his mouth as he was able to detect the scents of his friends on him. Steve was pack. Steve was his.

Eddie practically dragged him out of the club and back into the car. The door was barely closed before Steve was in his lap again. He was writhing, probably very close to ruining the nice suit pants.

"Come with me", Eddie breathed.

"Yes, Daddy", Steve moaned into his ear.

"No I mean, on tour. Come with me on tour baby."

Steve paused in his humping to look in Eddie's eyes. "You want me along for the ride?"

Eddie nodded, eyes wide and big as if there was ever a chance that Steve would say no. But he also couldn't just say yes.

"For how long?"

Eddie licked his lips. "Two months."

"My job..."

"I'll take care of anything you need", Eddie said quickly.

"My apartment-"

"I'll handle it, baby. Just please say you'll come."

Steve's head tilted to the side. Robin's words echoed in his head. Wasn't this the scenario he'd been running from? An alpha having control over his life? If for even a moment, Eddie changed his mind about him, he'd be out a job and a home. Steve looked back down at him and that was his undoing.

"I'll need a new suitcase, and wardrobe, and-"

"Done, done, and whatever else you can think of, it's done." Eddie kissed him in elation, much sweeter than anything else they'd done all night.

-------------------------

Steve at least tried to sell the whole 'can I bounce for two months and come back later' at his job but obviously that didn't fly. It was fine. It wasn't really the work or even the miniscule paycheck he was attached to. It was simply the comfort of doing the same thing in the same place every day. He could fill out applications on the road and get the same job anywhere.

True to his word, Eddie took him out shopping just a couple of days later.

"I meant to tell you", Eddie said as they walked through the mall. He was dressed very casually in jeans and a t-shirt under a vest with the band's logo on the back. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail and he kept his shades on inside. "That lunch meeting with sushi? Went pretty good. Your advice worked."

"You sound surprised", Steve teased. He was wearing a green sweater and light jeans.

"Not surprised, beautiful. Just in awe." Eddie put an arm around him as he led him into the first store.

Just like at the tailor's Eddie let Steve loose, letting him pick and choose what he wanted. After the third store, Steve was looking at him hesitantly.

"You're really going to spoil me. Going to turn me into a brat and anything."

"What? You? My sweet angel babydoll? Never", Eddie smirked. "You're acting like no one's ever lavished you like this."

Steve shrugged. "Well, not like this but-", then he thought better of it. "Never mind."

"I don't think so, baby. I think I deserve at least one story of past-Steve. You got to google search my life story."

"How do you know I didn't ask Jeeves?"

Eddie put a hand to his heart, then took his hat off like a sign of respect. "RIP to a real one. But you're not gonna distract me, Stevie. I feel like you've been keeping something from me. Not something big, just something you don't think I should know."

Breaking his gaze from Eddie's, Steve spied a restaurant inside the mall. "Let's eat."

Eddie had them get a booth in the back, figuring Steve would want some modicum of privacy for this. He wasn't expecting a bombshell, but he figured it must mean something to Steve.

"So, when you met me, you probably thought I was this... downtrodden, poor omega with nowhere to go." That rainy night seemed so long ago.

"That's not what I thought at all", Eddie said with a shake of his head. "Honestly thought you were waiting for someone. Made no sense to me that you were all alone."

Steve smiled. "Well, I wasn't always alone. Not physically, at least. My parents are Layton and Margaret Harrington. They've got a hand in a lot of things but most of our money comes from apple orchards of all things."

"So you're the heir to a vast apple fortune", Eddie surmised.

"Was the heir to a vast fortune."

"Is there a story behind that?", Eddie asked, watching Steve pick at his food.

"Not an original one", Steve said with a chuckle. "They paraded the alpha sons of their associates. I was also paraded. I was offered a life where all I had to do was look nice and speak little and eventually bring up the next generation of whatever old money family my parents chose for me... It was suffocating."

Eddie's leg stuck out from under the table and rubbed against his. "You got your own place. And your own job. You got out. Why would you keep this from me though? Doesn't sound particularly scandalous."

"I don't know", Steve shook his head. "Maybe I didn't want you to think I was a gold digger, or maybe I didn't want you to think I had super high expectations, or-it just felt like I shouldn't tell you. I'm tired of carrying my parents around."

"They're really that loaded?"

"Didn't you hear me say 'old money'?"

"Is there some scorned ex-fiance I should be worried about?"

"Hmmmnope."

"You sure about that, sweetness?"

"I'm sure. None of them are looking for me. And none of them hold a candle to you."

Eddie could understand wanting to leave the past in the past. After eating, they continued their shopping spree. Eddie paused at a costume shop that showed a few of the outfits on mannequins in the window. Steve followed his line of sight and grinned.

"Gimme your card."

"Sure, what for?", Eddie asked as he handed it over to Steve.

"For a surprise. Go get a pretzel. I'll text you when I'm ready." He kissed Eddie's cheek and then went into the costume shop.

Whipped like cream, Eddie did in fact go get a pretzel, fantasizing about all the little outfits Steve could be buying right now. When they met up, he wasn't allowed to peek. So while he knew there must be a costume of some kind in Steve's wardrobe now, he was oblivious to the lingerie he'd bought as well.

Part 7

@awkotaco24 @lingeringmirth @littlewildflowerkitten @estrellami-1 @tartarusknight @velocitytimes2 @mrsjellymunson @trashcanniballecter @paintsplatteredandimperfect @a-little-unsteddie  @sllooney  @starman-jpg  @oxidantdreamboat  @xxbottlecapx  @chaosgremlinmunson @newtstabber @tiny-enthusiast  @desidrarry-wolfstarshipper @y4r3luv @hello-fellow-nerds  @anonymousbandgirl @alyelf @potato-of-the-lord  @beckkthewreck @greatwerewolfbeliever @croatoan-like-its-hot @pluto-pepsi @abstractnaturaldisaster @ellietheasexylibrarian @eyesofshinigami @dragonmama76 @marklee-blackmore

[velarisnightsky444]

Scorched Shadows Part 6

Eris x AzrielsSister!Reader

Summary: Y/N is the younger sister of Azriel. She has shadows just like him, and is also a spymaster for Rhys. When she meets Eris, she initially hates him, but after a bargain is made between them, things begin heating up.

CW: Amarantha

Series Masterlist

Part 5 || Part 7

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Year 4

"That mask makes you look so mysterious," Mor teased you as you got ready.

Amarantha was throwing a masquerade ball Under the Mountain. Rhys had no choice but to make an appearance, and you had insisted that you go with him. You didn't want him to be alone. Besides, he rarely let you go on dangerous missions. He usually left those to Azriel.

The only thing you were dreading was facing Eris Vanserra. While you knew he was invited, you weren't sure if he would attend. It had been two months since you saw him in the Summer Court. You hadn't felt that thread in your chest since.

This time, you wore a more classy gown than the one you had dressed in for the Autumn ball. It was still black, and it dipped low enough to reveal your cleavage. The skirt flowed out, reaching you ankles. You also wore sparkly, black heels.

Mor had curled your hair and left it loose over your shoulders. She'd done your makeup as well, smearing red lipstick on your lips. Plus, a black masquerade mask.

"The males will be all over you," Mor continued, grinning at you.

"I don't want any of them," you told her, rolling your eyes.

"A female, perhaps?" she grinned.

"Oh, hush," you pouted, glaring at her. She just laughed.

"Well, come on, Y/N," she insisted, hauling herself to her feet. "Rhys is waiting."

You had kept Rhys waiting for twenty minutes, now. But he was well aware you always took your time getting ready.

"Look who's finally ready," Cassian taunted as you and Mor finally emerged from your bedroom.

"You would understand if you put effort into your own appearance," Mor shot at him.

"It was good enough for you when we were seventeen," he reminded her. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Rhys was standing in the foyer, his hands in his pockets. He donned a black suit with a black undershirt. The jacket and pants were embroidered with stars.

"Are you ready, milady?" Rhys joked with a smile.

"I am," you confirmed with a nod.

"You look beautiful," he complimented.

"Thank you," you curtsied.

He bowed, kissing your hand, before rising again. You couldn't help but grin. Your brothers had always treated you like a princess, despite the fact that you were a bastard-born nobody. They made you feel like you were special.

Within a second, he winnowed the two of you away. You clutched onto him, your shadows surrounding you.

When the both of you had materialized, you were in a place so similar to the Hewn City.

You had heard the rumors that Amarantha had modeled this place after the Court of Nightmares. It seemed you were in a throne room, one almost identical to the one Rhys ruled in.

The room was crowded with High Fae and Lesser Fae alike, all in their finest clothes, wearing masks.

Your shadows whispered to you, warning you to be careful. You brushed them off.

You spotted Amarantha on her large throne, wearing a crimson dress that matched her long hair. Her lips were twisted in a smirk as she watched the crowd.

"I have business to attend to," Rhys said smoothly. "Stay safe. Don't wander off. Reach out to me if you need anything."

With that, he disappeared into the shadows. You went off by yourself, glancing around as you did so.

You strolled over to the refreshments, pouring yourself a glass of red wine. Most of the Fae around you were already drunk and stumbling around.

As you took a sip, you felt that abandoned string in your chest go taut. You were well aware that Eris had approached before your shadows told you.

"Mate," they whispered to you.

"I didn't take you for a red girl," you heard him muse.

"What?" you demanded, whirling on him with narrowed eyes.

"Your wine," he clarified with a raised brow. You glanced at the red wine in your hand, then at him.

He wore a golden undershirt, embroidered with autumn leaves. Over that, he had an emerald jacket and brown trousers. His short hair was combed neatly. And his face was adorned with a golden mask.

"You don't know anything about me," you mumbled, swirling your wine in the glass.

"It was just an assumption."

"Listen, if you want nothing to do with me, why don't you leave me alone?" you questioned, glaring up at him.

"Maybe I quite enjoy pissing you off," he grinned. You scoffed, rolling your eyes.

"Maybe you're just a prick," you corrected.

"Both can be true," he mused.

You wanted to snap--wanted to piss him off right back. But the sound fingers snapping distracted you.

Amarantha was situated on the platform, accompanied by all seven High Lords, each of them holding glasses of wine. Rhys had his gaze fixed on her, nothing but pure hatred in his eyes.

"I'd like to offer an apology to the youngest Vanserra," Amarantha crooned.

It had been said that this ball was her apology for carving Lucien Vanserra's eye out.

"We shall toast to him!" she commanded, raising her glass. The High Lords raised theirs as well before drinking deeply.

But you could tell that something had gone wrong the moment you saw Rhys's face.

The fierce power that normally radiated from the High Lords had diminished significantly. The night that glowed around Rhys was almost entirely gone.

Amarantha's red lips formed a grin as she gleamed with power that had not been there before.

Commotion broke out all through the room. Every single one of the High Lords seemed to realize that they had been robbed of their magic.

You met Rhys's eyes, but he shot you a warning look. One that told you to stay where you were.

Eris was already shoving through the crowd, likely to get to his father, but you didn't budge. You trusted Rhys.

"Welcome to my court," Amarantha smirked. "I am your Queen. Don't bother trying to leave."

Your eyes went wide, your mind going to your family. Azriel, Cassian, Mor, and Amren. What would you do without them?

Chaos broke loose, Fae shoving through the crowd. You grunted as you were shoved to the side. You clutched onto the table, holding yourself steady as everyone went wild.

"And, you, dear Tamlin--" Amarantha practically purred, dragging a finger down his chest. "Shall be my King."

Tamlin snarled, shoving her away from him. She stumbled just slightly, but quickly got her bearings.

"I would sooner take a human to my bed--I would sooner marry a human than touch you," Tamlin shot at her. "Even your sister preferred a human's company to yours. She chose Jurian over you."

Everyone in the room seemed to halt at that. You let go of the table, standing up straight. That was too far, and Tamlin was well aware of it.

"You're quite lucky I'm in a generous mood," she crooned. "So I'll give you chance to break the spell you're all under."

Tamlin spat in her face, but she only laughed, wiping it away with her sleeve.

"You have seven times seven years before I claim you," she stated. "If you want to break the curse, you only need to find a human girl willing to marry you. But not just any girl--a human with ice in her heart. A human willing to kill a faerie. And the faerie must be one of your men. And only if she kills him in an unprovoked attack. He must be killed for hatred alone--just as Jurian did to Clythia. So you may understand my sister's pain."

Tamlin could only glare at her. Without his power, he was defenseless.

"The Spring Court is free to leave," she announced. "The rest of you shall remain here."

You tried to meet Rhys's gaze again, but his was so focused on Amarantha.

She met his eyes, a smirk on her red lips. She kept eye contact with Rhys as she flung The Autumn Court power out--towards where the Court of Nightmares was gathered.

You could feel the heat on your face as the flames flew at the Court, hitting half of them. Half of Rhys's court. And she kept her eyes on him the entire time.

Shrieks echoed from the entire room, and you realized that you, too, were screaming as you watched hundreds of Fae burning to death. The scars on your hands seemed to ache, just as they always did when you were around flames.

They began to drop in fiery masses, their skin burning up until they were nothing but smoldered corpses.

Your shadows had gone quiet, and when you looked down, you realized that they were gone.

Rhys finally met your eyes, and you sent him a desperate expression. He shook his head at you just slightly.

You noticed Eris standing with his mother, his arm around her protectively. You were always surprised by how fiercely he protected her. Whenever you mentioned her, he got defensive.

"I still have a small portion of my power left," Rhys said into your mind. "I've secured Velaris. I've informed our family what happened. You need to lie low, Y/N. I will find you when I can."

"I'm scared," you admitted to him, eyes wide.

"I know," he said. "Just stay away from her until I can get to you, and you'll be fine."

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Scorched Shadows Taglist: @the-sweet-psycho @hnyclover @lilyevansstudygroup @esposadomd@fxckmiup@lilah-asteria@a-court-of-mischief-and-madness@sourapplex

Eris Taglist:

Comment to be added to the Scorched Shadows or Eris taglists!

»»————-　♔　————-««

[viscountess-nila]

Six Months - Bridgerton oneshot

This occurs in the two years Benedict spends pining for his "lady in silver" benedict is pathetically in love with her, but he doesn't know who she is yet. Basically, some Benedict pining and Bridgerton family bonding - no plot only toothache causing fluff

Six months.

Six months of losing his mind, tearing his heart, going to every ball, soiree and promenade in the off season (to his mother's astonishment and Eloise's disappointment), for the slightest sign of her.

Six months of drawing her eyes in every corner of paper he had, seeing those dark chocolate eyes every time he shut his own, but never once when they were open.

Six months of merciless dreams, of feeling that kiss with crystal clarify, her laugh ringing faintly in his memory, the slight accent in her words making his heart skip a beat even in his imagination - and yet not a sight of her in real life.

He didn't realise falling for someone would be so easy.

Was this how it had been for his siblings? Had Daphne felt like no one else understood her better than Simon when they met? Had Anthony felt an invisible string pulling him and Kate closer and closer, as though it was impossible to look away from her? Did Colin lose his mind thinking of Penelope, his dreams and thoughts filled of one person?

Benedict wanted them here (not that he'd ever admit that to them) they would understand, help him find her or help him deal with the madness his Lady in Silver had left in her wake.

He just wanted someone who had felt the same madness - who better than his lovesick siblings?

Sure he had Eloise, and she had been steadfast comfort without even trying, but he- he wanted his older siblings (they became each other's older siblings over the years, age was not the determinant)

Alas, they were all in different parts of the globe, Daphne with her third pregnancy, Colin and Penelope having left to Italy with little Thomas in tow and Kate and Anthony yet to return from India, leaving Benedict in London.

Both his sisters-in-law had written to him, making even him consider leaving the country, but the prospect of her presence made him stay.

There was Penelope's letter, just last week describing Italy and Thomas's exploits, stealing chocolates and charming shopkeepers in such vivid detail Benedict had been tempted to paint (he'd ended painting her, silver mask, dark eyes, rose pink smile and silky black hair)

Kate also wrote, stating their little boy was fine, jumping into streams, climbing trees, constantly babbling in Tamil, Hindi and English and begging his parents for stories his many uncles and aunts - though his nephew's name remained unrevealed (Kate claimed it was a surprise).

But who else would they name him after, except both their fathers? (he had stopped asking after one point, where he became preoccupied with finding another name, the name he wished he had asked her that day, the day he fell in love)

To say he was excited about his nephews would be an understatement, so he had replied, eagerly asking when they would return. While Penelope had said they would be staying in Italy for another month, Kate's latest letter (5 months ago) expressed both her and Anthony's want to return to their mantle of Viscountess and Viscount, and that even their son wanted to meet the faces of the many stories he had heard.

Benedict was not sure the young boy had a good image of his uncle, given that Anthony was the one telling the stories.

Seeing as the journey took 4 to 6 months, they should have been back by now (Violet and Benedict took turns looking out the window for an arriving carriage, even Eloise had eventually joined).

But they weren't here, so life went on as it was, dreaming and wishing.

Benedict sighed, trying to focus on the ledgers on the desk in front of him, knowing well enough he would end up sketching her eyes again.

----------------

Two weeks later, the preparations for the next social season were in full swing, and as Benedict and Eloise were about to enter their house, returning from a promenade (he needed an excuse - Eloise had been bribed with writing equipment and some good articles on feminism), the long-awaited carriage finally rolled up to their gates.

As the doors opened, Benedict heard a bright, young voice with a similar lilt as Kate's "Amma, Amma WE HE-YA!"

The familiar voice that replied had Benedict grinning and Eloise rushing to the carriage, "Yes, Chellam, we're here. This is Bridgerton-", Kate's eyes lit up as she noticed Eloise approaching and hugged her, beaming at Benedict as they broke apart from the embrace.

"Nice to see you all again"

Eloise was practically vibrating, "Kate, I've missed you so much. There isn't another intellectual person in this house-"

"And you've missed genius presence, I know", Anthony cut in, a huge smile gracing his face, holding his toddler son in his arms.

Benedict did not realise how perfectly Kate and Anthony's features could mesh, but here was he was, his long-awaited nephew tugging at his father's collar, insisting he can walk on his own.

Anthony met his eyes, noticing Benedict's attention, smile getting softer, his eyes a little brighter than usual, "He'll tell you his name, if that's what you're wondering", as he let his son stand, his hands not leaving the toddler until he found his balance.

His nephew looked up at Anthony, and at the responding smile and nod, he turned to Benedict, beaming, "I readh aa' you lethers"

Kate laughed and Benedict crouched down, his grin widening, "Did Amma tell you who sent the letters?"

He shook his head, "Noo, Papa and Amma tell me sthowies", his baby smile grew, "You closer to cloudhs that Papa, so you Unc-uh Bene- Ben- Benny!"

At that, Benedict laughed as well, though he could also feel something pricking his eyes as he lifted his nephew up, admiring the adorable mix of Anthony's face, Kate's eyes and all their spirit, "And you're Edmund Milan Bridgerton, aren't you"

He smirked at Kate 'I figured it out'

But, to his surprise, Kate smirked back, as the boy in his arms giggled, glancing at his Papa who grinned back, "Go on, darling, tell Uncle Benny your name"

Had he got the order wrong? Was it Milan Edmund Bridgerton, then?

"Papa saidh you say wong", there was pure glee in the young boy's face, "Me Edhmundh Bene- Ben- Benny Bidg-ton"

Oh. Oh.

Edmund Benedict Bridgerton

He didn't expect that.

Or that it would affect him this much.

But after a lifetime of feeling like he would never be valued by his brother, to realise he named his first son after him-

The pricking feeling in his eyes seemed to aggravate.

"Alright, alright, no need to start bawling, brother dear", Eloise taunted, though even her eyes seemed to sparkle a little, "You're not the only one who needs to meet our tiny nephew"

She she turned to Edmund, who was still in Benedict's arms, and raised her eyebrows with mock seriousness, causing Eddie to laugh.

Her lips curved upwards, unable to resist his contagious happiness, "You know Uncle Benny, who else have Amma and Papa told you stories about?"

Edmund's eyes lit up at the question, "Granny Violet, Unc-uh Colin, 'ntie Daphie, 'ntie 'Loise, 'ntie Frannie, Unc-uh Gregry andh 'ntie Icinth"

Eloise turned to gape at her oldest brother, "How...Half the ton can't do that!"

"He kept asking for stories", Anthony's voice was laced with laughter and pure joy, "I had no choice but to reveal all our exploits to him"

"Which are not a good influence, might I add", Kate continued, eyes filled with mirth, "Eddie was trying to scale buildings and climb coconut trees when he could barely walk"

Benedict laughed again, happiness lighting up in his chest, growing and growing, "And who came up with the idea of naming him after me?"

Anthony pulled him into a side hug, and Benedict realised how wonderful it was to have his older brother back, "We wanted to name him after someone important to both me and Kate, and while Edmund was decided, Benedict fits that category best"

"I would be offended", Eloise butted in, "But I haven't seen Benedict this happy in a long time, so I'll let it pass", she turned to face Kate, who smiled sheepishly, "Your daughter better be named Eloise"

"Mary Eloise Bridgerton sounds fine", Kate replied, taking her son from Benedict's arms, "Plus we had to name him Benedict, or gods forbid my wonderful son ends up like his strict and serious Papa, hmm chellam?"

Eddie giggled at Anthony's pout, "Andh- andh Amma say nex' Mi-an"

Benedict raised a questioning eyebrow, "Next?"

Now even Anthony's face turned sheepish, "We may be expecting again. Surprise number two!"

Laughter bubbled out of Benedict once more, "Mother will be ecstatic, though we should've seen it coming. It's not like you two can keep your hands off each othe-"

"Benedict", Anthony hissed, the inner Viscount showing, "Not in front of Edmund"

Kate rolled her eyes, responding before Benedict could open his mouth, "He's been like this since Eddie was born. Can't even seduce him in peace"

"Kate, not in front of Edmund", Anthony stressed again, though his frown had been replaced with his characteristic, rakish smirk.

Benedict opened his mouth to cut through the rising sexual tension (he could deal with it, but it was still sickeningly sweet), but once again was interrupted as Eddie tugged on his mother's collar, "Amma, Amma, sthowy, sthowy, sthowy"

Kate sighed, "This is what Anthony was referring to", but then caught sight of an unsuspecting Eloise and grinned.

"Eddie, chellam, which of your aunts likes reading?"

"'ntie 'Loise, 'ntie 'Loise!!", he grinned at getting the answer right, as his Auntie Eloise whipped around to glare at Kate.

"Well, that's Auntie Eloise", Kate pointed to Eloise, setting Edmund down and smirking wider.

Unaware of his mother's plotting, the young boy stumbled towards his intellectual aunt, his eyes glowing at the prospect of more stories, "Read me sthowy, 'ntie 'Loise!"

And, just like that, Eloise's glare melted away into a bright smile, as she shot back to Kate, "If he's a radical by the end of this, not my fault, Amma"

Because kids might not always be her forte, but a nephew with Kate's genes and a love for stories? Eloise could work with that.

And so she took the little boys hand, making sure to take slow steps and led him into the house, telling him how they'd steal some chocolate pudding for themselves then go to the library to read all the stories he wanted.

It was not a surprise that she ended up one of the young boy's favourite aunts.

This left Anthony, Benedict and Kate, standing outside, still basking in the glow of the adorable reunion.

"Thank you", Benedict's voice cracked, the extent of his emotion finally showing, "for-"

"No need, you idiot", Anthony cut in, ruffling Benedict's hair and beaming just like his son (or his son smiled like him), "We named him after who mattered a lot to both of us", he grinned a little wider, "Just name your son after me, and we'll call it even"

Benedict shook his head, "I knew you'd have ulterior motives, I never should've trusted you"

"It's better than putting glue in your shoes"

A beat passed and both brothers broke down laughing, Kate shaking her head with a wistful smile.

"Ok, now that your sappy reunion is over", the Viscountess interrupted their raucous laughter, "Why were you promenading?"

Anthony's brows furrowed, "Right, why were you? It's not a very 'Benedict' thing to do. You should be doodling away in your sketchbook"

That's when it hit Benedict, that for the first time in six months, his thoughts weren't being haunted by his Lady in Silver. It wasn't some grand award, but he had gone ten minutes not thinking about the angel of his dreams, ten minutes simply enjoying his wonderful, sweet, chaotic, annoying family.

So he replied with, "People change"

But Kate, heir to matchmaker Violet Bridgerton's position of Viscountess, smirked with maliciousness he didn't realise she was capable of, "More like certain people change you"

Benedict sighed, his mind once again whisked away to that fateful masquerade ball, "You've caught me, Lady Bridgerton"

And so, Benedict led a gaping Anthony and smug Kate into the house, so he could explain the mysterious masked owner of his heart to them.

But as he did, he realised that even if he never found her, he could survive. Sure he would feel as though part of him was always missing, but with moments this sweet and a family this chaotic and bright, he'd survive.

He had his family. What else did he need?

----------------

It was no surprise when, two years later, Benedict, husband of the magnificent Sophie Bridgerton nee Baek (who was now the family he needed most) walked into the Bridgerton household announcing the birth of his son, Charles Anthony Bridgerton.

I realise this is very Kate and Anthony centric. It was intentional. I love them. I just love the Bridgerton family being adorable together. and now that the possibility of Kate not returning came up, I HAD to write this scene. Please, please bring back Kate - I need scenes like this in season 4

[zetsubo-bani]

Scenes/characters I expect to see after blue revenge arc

Just to clarify, with blue revenge arc I'm referring to this mission arc we currently have. I doubt r!ciel will be defeated after the missions are over so I will probably give it a different name whatever follows after we've seen o!ciel and sebastian at the hotel.

For obvious reasons I will exclude o!ciel and sebastian, they are literally the protagonists, ofc we will see them again. Undertaker and r!ciel will also be excluded since they are the major antagonists right now and will also definitely appear again.

So let's begin:

1. An interrogation scene between layla and the reapers

Remember that layla got captured by ronald and william? I definitely expect layla to make a return once she arrived in the shinigami corp. I'm not sure if I expect ronald to be there but william definitely will be and I can also see grell and othello watching since we haven't seen the two in quite a while

2. Another interrogation scene in scotland yard headquarters

Blavat got arrested and was supposed to be put into prison and later appear in court alongsides o!ciel but since he and sebastian already escaped, blavat is the only one in prison. Considering scotland yard just freshly captured blavat, an interrogation about his motives is to be expected

3. Some focus on the midfords

Lizzy is included as well (but that was the best picture I found). They obviously need to deal with the whole drama themselves and I definitely expect them to reappear and talk to each other about what they think about the twins drama and lizzys depression

4. Sieglinde and wolfram with their research and planning

Sieglinde still has the blood samples from the sphere music hall and surely must have read what happened in the newspaper. I don't think she will just sit by and do nothing for the rest of the manga, I'm certain they will appear again somehow

5. A reunion between the servants, lau and ran mao

Sebastian and o!ciel will probably be there too (or not depending on their mission) but I do expect those 5 to see each other again and exchange how their missions went. I think that's where they will find out that snake died

6. The queen and her servants

Girlie has been awfully quiet since the twin reveal and I wonder when she will appear again. R!ciel mentioned needing to hold a audience with her but being too weak right now so who knows when she will appear again. I do think it will happen somehow

7. The p4 reuniting

I don't think we will get something too big but I definitely think they will appear again. They were part of the sphere music hall so the police was on the lookout for them anyways. I do expect them to appear again and talk to violet since we haven't seen them reunite after blavat nearly killed violet

8. Soma focus (?)

Now I wasn't sure if I should include him since I'm pretty certain he will be in the hotel that o!ciel and sebastian will visit next. But if he isn't in the hotel then he will definitely still appear afterwards. That man can not completely dip after agni died and he still falsely believes it was o!ciel

9. Tanaka (maybe with the servants?)

Tanaka is still with r!ciel and undertaker but we haven't seen him in a good while. I do think we will see him again once yana finally shows r!ciel again. I theorize that maybe we will see some reunion between the servants and tanaka but that's probably something I just really want to see. I doubt tanaka will leave r!ciels side since he did say that he's forever serving the head/heir of phantomhive and o!ciel wasn't supposed to be

10. Some flashback with vincent

That smug bastard will appear, I know it. I'm pretty sure he must have done something to end up dead so I think we will get a focus on him in a potential flashback from r!ciel. Afterall since r! ciel was raised to be the heir, I'm certain he spent more time with vincent than o!ciel did and probably did catch a few things here and there. Maybe that would explain why r!ciel caught onto the fact that something was off much quicker than o!ciel did

That was my little theory on who/what I think will appear/happen in the next arc after the missions. Hope you liked it!

If you have any corrections, additional thoughts or agree with anything, please let me know!

[companionjones]

Days, Weeks, Months, Years (5/10)

Pairing: fwb!Bucky Barnes x fem!Reader

Warnings: More angst, Reader wears a dress

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10

*******

Two weeks, and Bucky didn't come anywhere near you as he tried to bed Valentina. You didn't leave your room unless it had to do with work, and you prayed that Bucky didn't realize that Natasha's increasingly nasty looks aimed at him and Tina had anything to do with you.

Tony wouldn't admit it, but you were sure the party he threw was to cheer you up. You loved his parties. Scratch that. You loved going to Tony's parties with Bucky. That was the part that you didn't think anyone realized.

Still, you went. You almost threw up watching Bucky flirt with Tina the whole night. That was, until Pietro walked up to you.

"Did you know blue is my favorite color?"

Glancing down at the dark blue dress you were wearing, you laughed for the first time in weeks. "I coulda guessed that."

Pietro smiled. "And I could have guessed--right, I might add-- that you would look beautiful in such a color."

"Thanks, Maximoff. Only here for the party, huh? Then it's back to Jersey?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Eh, I could be convinced to stay longer. Perhaps by you?"

Was this conversation really going where you thought it was going?

"Pietro." A cold voice greeted.

You turned in surprise to see Bucky there. Tina was clinging to his arm. Hurt panged through your chest.

Quicksilver remained cool. "James. I didn't see you coming. How are you and your new girlfriend enjoying the party?"

"We're not together," clarified Bucky.

That started a slew of emotions inside you. At first, your heart soared, then it crashed to the ground as it remembered how many times you and Bucky had clarified that for others about yourselves.

It was then that you realized what you had to do.

"Hey, Buck? Can I speak to with you outside? Alone please?"

Bucky obeyed. You brought him out to a nearby balcony. As soon as the two of you were alone, Bucky backed you against a wall and kissed you.

You took advantage of him misreading the situation so badly and kissed him back because you knew it would be your last time.

You were the one to break the kiss. "Two years," you told him, then caught your breath. "It took me two years to get you to look at me like that."

Bucky's brow furrowed.

"She had you the first day." You smiled, despite the tears that were forming. "...I've lied, Buck. I've lied to you for four months and sixteen days...I can't do this anymore."

He must've known then because he started backing away from you.

Tears fell from your eyes at the loss of contact. But you kept going. You kept that bitter smile on your face, too. "I think I'm gonna transfer."

"Where?"

You couldn't read his face. "I don't know," you laughed. "Jersey...Boston. Tony needs someone to look after the kid, right?"

You hadn't realized how bad things were with Bucky because he apparently thought that all problems between you and him could be solved with a kiss. He rushed forward to connect your lips again.

"Buck...Bucky...," you breathlessly warned, "James."

That did it.

Slowly, you looked up at him. Your expression must've been unreadable because you didn't even know what you were thinking. "...You have to let me go."

******* Author's Note: *enters awkwardly* Hey, I'm back. After over a month of not posting a story. I figured I'd skip over a Tyler Owens x fem!Reader smut I have in my roster and post this instead next because it's been so long. You guys will get that one next. As things stand right now, I should be posting every other day, and DWMY will be every other story post. Thank you so much for reading! Fill up that heart and reblog if you liked it. I would also really appreciate a comment, if you have the time. If you would like to read more, check out my masterlists. Have a nice day, night, or whatever time it is for you! <3 <3 <3

*******

Tag List: @sidraaaaaaaaa // @dontworryboutitsweetheartxx-blog // @mayusenpai666 // @onceithough // @greatenthusiasttidalwave // @shadowzena43 // @ampersam // @sebastians-love // @cjand10 // @silentwhisper666 // @supraveng

[biisexualemma]

guts pt.7. bucky barnes

word count: 4.5k

warnings: triggers, trauma, ptsd, mentions of blood and injuries

requested: i guess so

plot: bucky is awol and you have to navigate without him

a/n: this series is pretty intense sorry for all the angst but also i live for it lol also this is preeeettyy long but i promise it's worth it... just stick it out to the very end...

part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 5 / part 6 / masterlist

you walked into the kitchen, expecting the room to be empty, instead you caught steve with a mouthful of cereal sitting at the kitchen island alone. you hesitated, about to walk back out and return when you didn't have to face any of them.

you were exhausted, physically and mentally, you'd had nightmares every night for nearly a week. you were getting next to no sleep, you felt like a zombie in the day time, bags under your eyes, brain fog, your body felt physically weighed down. you tried not to let it show when you were around the rest of the team, but you were struggling the longer it went on.

just as you took a step back to head back to your room, steve spoke up. "i'm nearly finished," he glanced at you for a second out the corner of his eye, before scooping another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. "so don't run away on my account."

"i wasn't running away," you clarified, trying to snap back but honestly you were too tired so it came across a little more pathetic than you'd intended. "i... thought i forgot something but then i realised i... didn't."

"sure," he mumbled in between scoops, rolling his eyes. "just eat your breakfast, training starts in 10. don't be late again."

"you don't have to instruct me, i'm capable of keeping my own schedule," you were just arguing for the sake of it at this point. you didn't really care about any of it. you had to numb yourself to your surroundings and that included the people constantly in your vicinity that hated your guts. the avengers hating you had become the least of your concerns in the last week. you were too busy trying to function as normal when you felt so far from it.

"10 minutes, y/l/n," he repeated, placing his empty bowl into the sink and walking out of the kitchen.

you shook your head, trudging into the kitchen to make yourself something quick to eat when you were startled by the sound of another voice. "you should get some coffee in your system, you look tired," you'd recognise that voice anywhere, anyone would.

"be careful, you almost sound concerned for my welfare, tony," you regained your composure, ignoring his suggestion and making yourself a round of toast. "did pepper tell you to speak to me or something?"

"don't speak to me about pepper," he was short with you. nothing new. "it was an observation, we need you on top form if you're to be beneficial to us at all. so, take some sleeping tablets, go to your mandated therapy sessions and drink your coffee like the rest of us."

"so fucking dramatic," you rolled your eyes, taking a bite of your toast, speaking without swallowing first. "i'm fine. not that it's any of your business."

he gave you a look, like he knew something, and for a second you thought that maybe he did know something. had bucky told him about the other night? about the mission? you hadn't said much, but you thought that was between the two of you. bucky was supposed to be keeping an eye on you, did that mean he also had to report back to tony about you?

no, he wouldn't, would he? you didn't completely trust him, but you thought there was some kind of mutual understanding. a complicated mutual understanding.

"just show up and don't fuck up, ok?" he raised an eyebrow at you before turning to leave the room. what was up with everyone today?

"you know, coffee doesn't solve all your problems, you fuckin' boomer," you mumbled that last part, scoffing as he walked away.

you ate the rest of your breakfast in relative peace before heading to the training rooms, on time.

there were a few people missing, leaving only you, tony, steve, wanda, and natasha. bucky was nowhere to be seen, you couldn't figure out if that was a good or bad thing. he was usually your sparring partner, you hadn't trained with anyone else since you'd been here.

you wandered around, getting yourself situated and stretched out when steve walked over to. you glanced over your shoulder at him while stretching out your arms.

"you're with natasha today," your arms dropped to your side when he spoke. you opened your mouth to protest but he had anticipated your reaction and held up his hand to stop you. "bucky's out of action— natasha is subbing in for him. they have a similar technique, and i want you to continue the repetition of your usual training sessions."

"out of action?" you couldn't catch yourself before you said it aloud, your eyebrows furrowing for a split second. bucky always showed up. he was always here. you thought it must be something serious to keep him, bucky was a stickler for routine and repetition, he hadn't not shown up before. something you'd picked up on unconsciously by being around him. "what does that mean?"

"it means out of action," he repeated, he looked you up and down, noticing the expression that flashed across your face for a split second before you hid it. steve liked to think he was good at reading people, but he struggled with you. he thought he'd known you better than anyone way back when, but you proved him to be wrong. and now, now he didn't even recognise you, never mind knowing you. your expression could've meant everything or nothing. "he'll be back in tomorrow."

you avoided steve's eyes that were piercing into you, he was trying to get a read on you. you immediately put your guard back up, not even realising till now that you'd let it slip. "a break from mr routine, what a treat," your lip curled into a weak smirk but it quickly disappeared when natasha joined the two of you on the mat. "never mind, this is worse."

nat didn't say anything, she hardly looked at you, her eyes on steve. her eyes were always on steve though so that was nothing new.

"work on your hand to hand combat, both of you," steve said, eyes lingering on you before a second before turning to natasha. "stick to the training sets that bucky's been running with you, y/l/n."

"don't you think we should switch it up a bit? bucky's not even here to—"

"stick to the set, romanof."

you'd never really heard steve be stern with anyone other than you before, his eyes lingered on natasha who was glaring at him unmercifully. "sure thing, cap'n," she rolled her eyes before briefly looking over at you, unable to hold your eyes for long. "c'mon then, y/l/n. sooner we start, sooner we finish."

"you sweet talk all your partners like that, nat?" you cocked an eyebrow, watching how hard she was trying to avoid meeting your eyes. you let out a scoff.

"shut up and start," she mumbled quickly before taking a swing at you.

you pulled back just in time, her fist ghosting past your jaw. "jeez, alright, lets go then."

you sparred back and forth for what felt like forever, neither of you getting anywhere. your fighting patterns were too alike, you had been trained the same way after all. so you knew every punch and swing she was going to throw and she knew yours. it was exhausting.

you were a little slower to react than usual purely based on your lack of sleep, but you still managed to keep up with natasha, practising like you would normally with bucky. you thought about what was keeping bucky out of action, he never mentioned anything and as far as you knew he didn't have any missions lined up just yet.

you'd have to remember to bug him about it next time you see him in order to curb your curiosity.

you felt steves eyes on you as you continued to fight, mindlessly you swung in all the right places, ducked when it was natasha's turn to fight back. it was nothing you hadn't practiced a hundred times.

"keep your mind sharp, y/n," steve hollered at you from across the room where he'd been watching your every move. "you're lagging."

"i'm keeping up just fine," you snapped back, not appreciating him calling you out in front of everyone when you were doing the exercises he'd instructed you to do exactly like he'd asked. "keep an eye on romanoff why don't you— we all know you prefer to keep your eyes on her—"

"y/l/n," he raised his voice sternly. "shut up and concentrate."

you rolled your eyes as you swung at natasha's head and she caught your wrist like she was supposed to. "maybe if i didn't have you nagging me i could concentrate better—"

natasha caught your fist in her hand, pushing you backwards, throwing your fist back at you. you huffed, jabbing at her as she slapped your hands away every time. "i don't want to hear your excuses, y/l/n."

you were caught off guard for a second, your attention turning to steve who was oblivious to the words that held so much weight to you. in a second you were transported back to that night, you felt it all.

that was until natasha's foot smacked into your face, silencing all the noise and knocking you with a spin straight onto your ass. 

"nat," you just about heard steve scold her over the ringing in your ears. "i said hands."

"she was getting too comfortable," she defended, not even concerned. "you said it yourself, i just did something about it."

you held your hand to the side of your face where it was beginning to throb. "you're such a bitch, romanoff," you gritted through your teeth.

she looked down at you for a second before rolling her eyes and looking back over at steve. "you're too soft."

"take five, romanoff."

you pushed steves hand away when he tried to help you up, instead pushing yourself up onto your feet yourself.

"i suggest you take a break too, get some ice on that," steve was trying to be civil, he could see your cheek burning up already.

"i'm done for today," you said in hurry, permanent frown now stuck on your face. "fuck this and fuck you both."

-

it was later that day, you hadn't seen or heard from anyone, not even bucky. you had showered and proceeded to sit in your towel on your bed and stare at the wall for what felt like hours until you finally were able to pull yourself out of your trance and change. truthfully, you had no idea how much time had passed, you were in and out of your head since your training session with nat earlier, you were finding it harder and harder to distinguish between what was real and what was a memory. being in this place, being around these people dredged up memories you'd suffocated and buried for years. you weren't sure how much longer you could keep up the act and go along with all of this.

there was a knock at your door, your eyes refocusing as the noise pulled you back to your room, your hands laying on your thighs, nails dug into your bare skin. your head turned to the door but it didn't open, it wasn't bucky, he would've let himself in. nobody else ever knocked at your door. 

you dragged yourself over and snapped at the handle, pulling the door open to reveal steve on the other side.

you eyed him up and down, "i told you i was done for today."

he was fixated on something, you didn't know what it was, but having spoken you seemed to snap him out of it. he cleared his throat. "that's not your call to make. i need you on a mission tonight, no fuss or mess," he stiffened, his shoulders straightening and his eyes glued to your forehead, he wouldn't look you in the eyes. you were a machine to him at this point, to all of them, not human, not capable or useful unless you were in the field. "it's you, nat and me, and we gotta go now."

"i don't think that's a good id--"

"i don't care how you feel about either of us, leave your shit at the door and do what you're here to do. i need you suited up in ten," your hollow eyes stared up at his but he didn't meet them, he turned and walked away, calling over his shoulder, "don't be late."

you were suited and down in the hanger in ten minutes, head pounding when the mission brief was read aloud to the three of you.

-

you were supposed to be in and out. 

your eyes were empty, you stared ahead, the thudding noise of the helicopter muffled in your ears as you sat across from nat and steve. you stared at their feet, eyelids heavy, you needed to land and get out of this metal box and away from them as quickly as possible. you couldn't take another lecture, you couldn't hear how you'd fucked up again. 

neither of them had looked at you since you narrowly escaped the mission you'd been sent on hours ago. nat was being tended to by the medics on the aircraft, you had slapped anyone away that had dared to come near you to clean you up. you needed to get out, you needed to get away from them now and yet you dreaded what was to come when you landed. there had already been a debrief on the failed mission passed along to the team back at the compound, so they could do damage control and prepare for the return of you three.

your body rocked as the aircraft came to land, the hanger doors began to open and you unbuckled and got to your feet. you were so dissociated at this point you could hardly feel any of the pain, just a throbbing all throughout, but that didn't mean you didn't know that it was bad. you felt your leg lose out under you, a medic came to assist you but you swatted them away and dragged yourself out of the helicopter with a slight limp.

your ears rang, you could hear their muffled voices talking to each other, nat and steve had marched on ahead of you not even looking back. you just walked straight, eyes unfocused and unclear, you were in a daze, unable to come back around. you just needed to get away from everyone, that was all you could think when two hands grabbed either side of you and physically halted you in your stride. the cool metal touching your burning skin pulled you out of your head, you eyes refocusing on him now standing in front of you.

you studied his face, eyebrows knitted together tight, his stoic blue eyes darted around your face and further down your body where your clothes were torn, and blood soaking the fabric in places. you were relieved to see a familiar face and soft eyes after being glared at and scalded for the past twenty-four hours.

"woah-- woah-- what happened to you?" you had a gash above your eye, bleeding still because you hadn't let anyone touch you or clean you up on the flight. your eyes still glossed over and slightly unfocused, but you felt yourself soften and ease up at the sound of his voice. behind him out the corner of your eye you watched the rest of the group angrily marching off in front of you.

"don't," you mumbled, barely audible. you were beginning to come out of your daze, he was pulling you out. you were starting to feel the full extent of your injuries. everything hurt, sharp shooting pains in your shoulder, your ankle weakening on you as you continued to walk.

bucky was looking you up and down, more concern as he watched you in real time start to feel your injuries and come back to your surroundings. he glanced ahead at the team who didn't even look back at you, his eyebrows furrowed tighter, confused. 

"c'mon," he held his arm open to you, offering himself up as a crutch for you to use until he could get you to a medic room. you glanced at him for a second, your head pounding, looking on at the team again who'd carried on without so much of a glance, and then back at bucky who had stopped with you, his arm still hanging open. "c'mon, i can help clean you up."

"you don't have to do that," your voice was low, embarrassed even that he was once again seeing you at your lowest point.

"i know," he gestured with his hand for you to come over and, though reluctant, you let him hold you up as he took you to the nearest medic room.

"bucky," you mumbled quietly, unsure what you wanted to follow with.

you didn't often use his name, it caught him off guard a little but he covered it quickly, clearing his throat.

"i know, it's ok."

-

"careful," you hissed, tilting your head away from him when he applied too much pressure to the cut above your eye. "that hurts."

he took a deep breath, holding his hand away from your face, waiting until you gave him the ok to continue. you moved back towards him, a small frown on your face as he moved to carry on cleaning out the wound.

"do you want to tell me what happened yet?" his eyes flickered down to your eyes for a split second. he wore a soft frown of his own, trying his best to keep his emotions in check.

"there's not much to tell," you mumbled, eyes now focused down on your lap, where your hands sat fidgeting.

"tell me anyway," he was trying to keep you occupied while he cleaned you up to keep you from pulling away again. he didn't want to keep you longer than he had to, he could tell you were tired. 

"i just lost my focus for a second, that's all," you shrugged, playing it down. bucky could tell there was more. "i'm human, it happens."

"like when you lost your focus in training?" he watched as you shifted with his eyes on you, redirecting his gaze when he realised you were becoming uncomfortable.

"you weren't even there," you mumbled. "you don't know what happened."

"you could tell me," he paused, letting his hands drop, falling opposite to where yours still sat in your lap. 

your eyes were cold, uncertain when you lifted them to meet with his, your eyebrows knitted softly together. "how am i supposed to trust you?"

bucky sighed, putting down the supplies he'd been using to clean out your wound.

you didn't know where you stood with him. he acted as if he cared about what happened to you but you couldn't figure out if that was genuine concern, or if it was a tactic to get you to open up because he had people to report back to about you.

repeating it to yourself in your head, it sounded ridiculous, you sounded paranoid, but you had every reason to be with this particular group of people. you knew this team well, inside and out, all the good and bad. except for bucky. you'd heard of him, you'd encountered him in your past lives but you didn't know him like you did the others. 

"not everyone has it out for you, you know," was his response. "i definitely don't."

"your job is to get me to trust you though—"

"my job is to make sure you don't go rogue," he cut you short, he shook his head. "you don't have to trust me— i get why you wouldn't want to. but i'm here and not just because i have to be."

your eyes flickered back and forth between his while he spoke, trying to absorb everything he was telling you and his meaning. you looked over at him a little bit softer than before, reminded that his history was just as grey as your own.

he let out a sigh when you didn't budge, straightening his back out and pulling his gaze away from you for a second. "alright, if i tell you a secret, will you tell me what happened?"

you rolled your eyes, out of habit you said, "a secret? how old are we—"

"y/n," he warned you to stop teasing and you did. you huffed, looking over at him sternly and nodding.

"fine," you spoke. "tell me."

he took a deep breath, exhaling through his nostrils. your eyes squinting ever so slightly, watching as he rubbed his palms against his thighs. "everyone walks on egg shells around me," he started. "they send me to therapy, give me a routine to stick to, only put me out on the safer, straightforward missions— they want me to be better," he spoke with a slight shake in his voice. "but they watch me, hover, waiting for me to slip up — it's a constant remind that everything's not normal— that i could lose it at any given moment."

you were hanging onto his every word, your eyes locked onto his which moved around the room as he spoke, your lips parted slightly. you wanted to say something, anything, but nothing seemed right.

"you don't don't do that," his eyes met yours when he said this and your breath caught in your throat slightly, catching you off guard. "you hold me accountable, you don't make excuses for any of the shit i've done."

"bucky—"

"you make me feel more human than i have in years," he cut you off, shaking his head when you tried to speak. "you don't treat me like a ticking time bomb— you don't hold back—" he exhaled, like he'd let a weight off his shoulders. "and even though you're a pain in my ass— i feel more myself around you than anyone else."

"interesting," you stretched the word out, your eyes glossed over as they wandered away from him in thought.

it'd been a while since someone had enjoyed you being around them. you'd spent the past decade or so on your own, you had gotten used to it, but the past couple months you'd spent with bucky had been different. whenever he didn't show up, though it wasn't often or without good reason, you found yourself lost. you had been navigating everything here with him there every step of the way, whether you appreciated that he was there or not. subconsciously, you had grown used to having him two steps ahead or behind you. 

"don't let that go to your head, i also said you're annoying— and i meant it," he quickly cleared up, clearing his throat. "i also meant it when i said that it was a secret."

"ok, i promise i won't tell anyone you think i'm super annoying," you joked, the corner of your lip twitching upwards only for a second as you teased him. you swore you saw bucky's eyes flicker down to your lips. you narrowed your eyes at him but before you could say anything he'd beaten you to it.

"you're really funny," he rolled his eyes, before nudging his knee against yours. "it's your turn anyway. 'fess up."

you huffed, rolling your eyes. "it's really not as interesting as your little confession," he didn't respond, only waited patiently for you to carry on. his eyes didn't move from yours. he wasn't going to let you off. "ok i'll tell you but quit the staring competition, sarge."

he straightened his back, creating a bit of space between you two, his eyes wandering down to your fidgeting hands.

"i was paired with natasha, because you weren't available and someone had to watch me," you began to explain, he watched as you pulled at your fingers while you did. "you should probably keep in mind that since the nightmares got particularly bad i've been skipping my therapy sessions," he looked up at you disapprovingly, opening his mouth to protest but you cut him off. "i know, i don't need to hear it," you pleaded with him, he sighed. "anyway, i haven't been sleeping, at all, which you kinda know, i guess," you struggled to hold eye contact with him. "and i don't know-- i jumped the gun, ignored natasha's direct order to hold my position and as a direct result, tipped off the guards that we were supposed to take out discreetly, who then set off the alarms and disrupted the entire mission."

your head was hanging low at this point, unable to meet his eyes again. you ran your hand over your face, letting out a tired huff. "i got my ass handed to me, because i'm not on top form right now. tony tried to tell me and i didn't listen, steve told me to get my shit together and i didn't listen, nat tried to keep me in check and i didn't listen."

"if natasha hadn't been so quick to act, i'd probably look a lot worse than i do," you sighed, your forefinger and thumb trying to unknit the crease between your brows. "they're all super pissed at me. pretty sure tony is ready to give up on this whole thing, and maybe that's not the worst idea."

"tony's not going to give up on you," was the first thing bucky said. 

you shook your head. "he's done it before, he'll do it again."

"trust me," bucky shook his head, his hand moving to sit on your knee, giving it a squeeze. "it happens, for one reason or another, missions never go exactly the way we plan them to. tony knows that better than anyone."

"we're supposed to be better than this."

"you know better than anyone that we're not."

you chewed on the inside of your cheek, trying to keep yourself in check. "i'm just tired," you mumbled. "really fucking tired of all of this."

you felt your throat tighten, immediately dropping your head when you felt your eyes grow wet. bucky's hand moved from it's place on your knee, grabbing onto your fidgeting hands and giving them a squeeze. your eyebrows knitted upwards at the contact and before you could restrain yourself, you had closed the gap between you, desperately wrapping both your arms around him. you tucked your head into his shoulder, letting out a sigh of relief when you felt him wrap his arms around your torso and squeeze just enough so that he didn't hurt you.

"i know," he breathed out, a little bit taken aback from you initiating the physical contact. "it's ok, we'll figure it out," you nodded slightly, sniffling, tucking your face further into his neck, your breath ghosting his skin. his breath hitched in his throat, goosebumps running up his arms. he gave you a squeeze before encouraging you to pull back. he was more confused than ever.

your eyes stung red, wet with tears but none had spilled, you used the back of your sleeve to wipe under your nose. your cheeks were flushed, blood beginning to trickle down again from the cut that bucky hadn't finished cleaning. his lips parted, unable to move his eyes away from your face and the state that you were in. he just wanted to make it stop. his eyes lost on you, he couldn't form a coherent thought, he just found his body involuntarily leaning closer to yours.

your eyes darted back and forth between his blue orbs, they were soft, full of concern and warmth. your eyebrows twitched together in a small, fleeting frown, you felt yourself pull back from his lean in. almost brought back to reality from the small movement you'd made, bucky faltered, his eyes refocused from where they had been glossy and locked in, he paused. he opened his mouth to apologise but before he could say anything your hands were either side of his face. you hesitated, the scuff of his stubble under your fingertips was new, it was rough but somehow a comforting reminder that he was real, he was in front of you and he wanted to kiss you.

you moved closer to his face, eyes now meeting directly in front of each other, noses inches apart, your chin tilting upwards to ghost your lips in front of his. "are you--?"

"it's ok," you barely got the words out before he closed the gap, his lips against yours. your hands travelled to the back of his neck, his moved to your waist. he was kissing you.

tag list: @caillouthebabywitch @alanis-altair @the-obelisk @seabass17 @bqnners @jihyunncho @inpraizeof @angelpirabbit @the-chocoholic-writer @cjand10 @paintlavillered @leviathanspain @luckyzipperscissorsbat @g1g1l

[endiness]

Debunking misinformation about Netflix's The Witcher (Part 5)

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7]

"The show was supposed to have 7 seasons."

So. This isn't quite true and this rumor has largely been based off of what was basically a misunderstanding of what Lauren said and the subsequent misreporting of that along with the media never really following up on any of her clarifying comments, either — all of which is the thing that I really want to get into.

First off, I will preface this by saying that at one point, Lauren did say something along the lines of how she pitched "season 1, then season 2, season 3, 4, 5, 6, 7" to Netflix. Unfortunately, I cannot find this quote at the moment, but I do think that should be noted. However, as far as I can tell, the main source of the rumor that the show was originally planned for 7 seasons is not based off of Lauren having said that but rather this SFX/gamesradar interview instead:

Which Lauren later went on to clarify what she meant in another season 1 interview:

And in an interview for season 2:

The basic gist of what she was saying was that she initially mapped out 7 seasons with the idea of 1 season = 1 book, essentially, which she mainly did in order to have an overall sense of where the characters were going. So, was there a rough draft, outline for 7 seasons? Sure. Were there definitive, concrete plans that the show was always supposed to have 7 seasons? imo, no.

Just to address this, too, and how the subsequent misreporting of inaccurate information spreads: People — and not just the fanbase but other media outlets, too — usually cite this Hollywood Reporter interview with Henry Cavill as proof that the show was always supposed to have 7 seasons because he said he'd be up for doing that many:

But Henry Cavill was never directly quoted as saying that, and given that he was never directly quoted, it's likely that the interviewer asked him something along the lines of "Would you be part of the show for 7 seasons?" which prompted the answer he gave — and there is a difference between Henry Cavill himself saying that there's going to be 7 seasons and he's down for being part of the show for that long vs an interviewer asking him if he'd be up for doing 7 seasons of the show (which has been based off of the subsequent misreporting of what Lauren said in the first place) and him answering yes.

On top of that, here's an earlier season 1 interview Henry Cavill did with Elle where he talks about how many seasons he hopes the show goes to:

Which imo also only goes to show that the idea that there were ever any definitive plans for 7 seasons is not an accurate depiction of the situation.

"The viewership for season 3 was bad."

Season 3 debuted at #1 on the Top 10, it stayed at the #1 spot in the Top 10 for a total of 3 weeks, and it stayed in the Top 10 altogether for 8 weeks.

It had approximately 54.8 million views over the course of 186 days — 6.9 million views in 2 days (from Netflix's Jan-Jun 2023 data) + 49.7 million views in 184 days (from Netflix's Jul-Dec 2023 data.)

It was also the 5th most watched show in Netflix's Jul-Dec 2023 data, which I think is the most important factor because regardless of how the season-by-season numbers look and any potential drop in viewership, it was still one of the most watched shows on the platform during that time period.

"The show was cancelled and it was cancelled because of season 3."

The show was already rumored to have been renewed for season 4 and season 5 back in September of 2022.

So, long before season 3 even aired or it was announced that Henry Cavill was leaving the show or any other season 3 related issue. Given that Netflix already has a track record of shows rarely going beyond 5 seasons, if that, I think it is entirely probable that it was renewed for season 4 and season 5 back in 2022 with the intention for the show to end after that point anyway — although, granted, this hasn't been confirmed.

Also, like, despite claims otherwise, the show is following the books and the books do have a set endpoint. The show ending where the books do is not the show being cancelled, it's just the show coming to its natural conclusion like the books do. Also just to say, but it is entirely possible for the show to adapt the last 3 books into two seasons anyway. Baptism of Fire largely focuses on Geralt's story, not Ciri's as she's hardly in that book, whereas The Tower of the Swallow largely focuses on Ciri's story, and both books roughly take place over the course of summer/fall. It is extremely probable that S4 will cover Geralt's story in BoF and Ciri's story in TTotS (especially as we already know that Bonhart will appear in S4 and he's really not that prominent of a character until TTotS), leaving the remainder of TTotS and The Lady of the Lake for S5 (which roughly covers winter/spring, just to give a sense of the timeline in the books.)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

diasomnia, 1 — 19

***Spoilers ahead!!!***

Note: this is just a general summary of what has happened so far and my initial reactions to those major events. I focused my comments on whatever interests me the most (ie lore and funny character interactions), so there are definitely details that were overlooked and lines that were simplified to make a joke; please do not rely on this as a translation.

Big thanks to @shuuenmei and @curekibouka-writing for clarifying the more confusing tracks of the story (some parts were difficult to follow the sequence of events for) and the details of the✨ deep lore ✨ It was fun screaming with the both of you—

Ah yes, Yuu’s Sleeping Beauty dream right on cue. Finally starting to put together the puzzle pieces, huh (Yuu goes to check on the Great Seven statues to confirm they saw the Fairy of Thorns in their dreams)? About time—

As expected, Sebek loses his mind and tells Yuu to not abuse Malleus’s kindness. He’s also super pissed that Malleus and Yuu act familiar with each other (and over the nickname). Yup, that interaction went about as well as we all predicted…

Not Lilia being the “I’m an anime boy late for anime school (the internship meeting)!” trope 😂 All he needs is some toast in his mouth!

Crowley talks about boring things how the internships will work and we hear more about the areas of interest for the third years.

Lore ✨ Each internship “semester” is 3 months and you can only take certain internships if you qualify for them via your grades, credits, and electives. You can choose to do 3 separate internships (again, 3 months each) or do 1 internship (for all 9 months). A B or higher is needed on two of the “semesters” to graduate. Students must also submit reports each semester. Some places additionally require interviews and/or special tests to be passed before a student is accepted as an intern. Placements are not first-come, first-serve; you need to earn that spot.

Trey says he wants to do something related to pastries or agriculture; basically, things close to food production 🌾 He wants to take advantage of his opportunities as an NRC student while he still can!! Trey said he wants to work right after school rather than go to university.

Cater is interested in the entertainment industry; he mentions magazines and videos?? It seems he isn’t interested in higher education.

HELP they randomly mention that Ace’s older brother interned in the entertainment industry too (it gets brought up when Cater was considering a theme park for his own internship)??? TRAPPOLA NII ALSO CURRENTLY WORKS IN ENTERTAINMENT????? When do we get to meet him, Ace—

Vil is continuing to advance his own career in film. He already picked out a studio to apply for, and expresses an interest in magical pharmaceuticals (though he doesn’t intend on going to college). Very fitting specialties for everyone, I must say!

Rook is interested in archeology so he can learn more about the world! After learning about S.T.Y.X., he realizes there’s so much more he doesn’t yet know. According to Trey, Rook does appear to intend to pursue college/higher level studies.

LMAO at Trey constantly having to translate Rook-isms for everyone 😂 Classic Science Club…

Unca Weona is cwanky cuz the talking is disturbing his nappy—

Leona’s going to a mining and energy facility in his home country. It’s an option offered only to those with high grades. Leona wants to be a lazy ass 🦁 “They won’t fail their prince, lmao”

Idia is doing an software engineering internship at Olympus Corp (ie TWST Google) 👀 This is huge because back at the end of episode 5 (ie the episode 6 preview), Idia was actively rejecting offers from Olympus Corp, claiming that he wasn’t welcome anywhere. Character growth… Idia isn’t welcome back at S.T.Y.X. because of the Overblotting and how it nearly exposed the organization to the public eye LOL 😂 Absentee Shroud parents upset with him cksbskwbkcnfke

Malleus doesn’t seem to be interested in picking an internship; he says that, to him, 3 months is too short a time to really learn anything (temporal dissonance strikes again). In the end, he is going to research historical ruins?? He can hang out with the Gargoyles 😎 and Rollo/j

BRO WHAT ???? Lilia is dropping out of NRC??? THE FUQ,,,,!.’sveksbskebkzvczbvvv?$$$&85inmw I had to hard stop at this scene because it caught me by surprise.

The first years are talking about Mickey (like if there are certain conditions to get him to appear??). Oh god, they're planning a Mickey Mouse stakeout????? AND ORTHO IS INCLUDED IN THE GROUP AWWWW 🥺 He searches his databases and uses his cool robot tech to look for more information about Mickey but finds nothing.

GRIM MAKES A SUS COMMENT ABOUT HOW ORTHO IS MORE HELPFUL WITH THIS (Mickey and Yuu's worlds perhaps being tied or related to one another) THAN CROWLEY IS.

They overhear Sebek shouting in the cafeteria; he’s in disbelief that Lilia is dropping out of school.

So anyway, Lilia’s magic has, in fact, weakened significantly (he was almost late for the internship meeting because he woke up and found that he couldn't teleport). He plans on retiring in the Land of the Crimson Dragon (Mushu???? IS THAT YOU).

Interesting??? It seems that Lilia has been progressively losing his powers since even before Sebek and Silver were born… It’s not a super recent occurrence.

Sebek and Silver are understandably upset and mention that while it would be easy for either of them to visit Lilia, it would be almost impossible for Malleus because he will be so inundated with his royal duties after graduation. Malleus is distraught as well, but he insists that they respect Lilia's decision. AND HE’S LEAVING IN LIKE A WEEK? That’s barely enough time to mourn or to emotionally prepare for the fallout…

Malleus pitches an idea to talk to his grandma to not overwork Lilia (vice dorm leaders being overworked? What? In this game? Nooooooo/s).

Malleus's grandma is name-dropped (Maleficia)??? Is everyone in the Draconia family just Mal-something????

LOTS OF OMINOUS DIALOGUE ("Time is running out", "Fate cannot be defied", etc.)

After that whole conversation it’s clear that something isn’t right (despite Malleus maintaining his calm in front of Diasomnia). As soon as he’s away from them, the weather instantly turns stormy AND we see Malleus's blot accumulating as early as 7-13 in what I assume will be a very meaty episode.

Sebek and Silver help Lilia pack; Silver finds this tin in Lilia’s room. There is an old bracelet of acorns and thread inside.

Lilia shows up and says that it’s the most precious item he’s ever been gifted??? But it’s not clear who it’s from.

There's another item in the tin (the ring on a chain)! It has a weird effect on Silver?? I think it makes him sleepy???

The gem in the ring is the same color as Silver’s eyes; Lilia thinks its because his parents wanted his eyes to be forever unclouded and pure 🤨 That’s cute and all, but it makes me really suspicious that something super bad will happen later and I’m living for that—

This ring was tied to baby Silver when Lilia found him. He planned on gifting it to Silver when he's finally an adult... and now is that time 😭 Ain’t no way they’re giving us these heartfelt moments only to not tear it down later with something devastating… And?? With the ring being so fancy, there’s no way Silver isn’t descended from some rich family (or even royalty/nobility) himself??? Prince Silver real????/j cuz that ring sure does look like Princess Aurora’s crown…

Sebek pulls up with THIS fucking monstrosity?? It’s a weapon (axe???) Lilia used from back in the day (like, in war). However, nowadays he uses it to chop regular shit like wood. The weapon looks very similar to one that Maleficent’s minions use.

It's made out of a special magical ore! It’s called Mystium, and it changes shape according to the wielder’s magic.

Back to Yuu and co. staking out Mickey! Grim is finally realizing that if Yuu goes home, he’ll be alone 😔 Noooo, fur baby… Don’t be sad..

They wait for a while but get sleepy because Mickey is taking forever to appear. When Yuu wakes up, they see Malleus’s green lights and they go outside to find it’s snowing (again, because of his weird mood). He apologizes and makes the snow vanish, then confides in Yuu about his insecurities.

Malleus tells a story about how he froze the castle and some people when he was a little kid (omg Elsa core???) because because his grandma had promised to eat with him and was late or didn’t show up due to her royal duties keeping her busy. It sounds like even the palace servants were afraid of his power because of incidents like this. Like. It’s kind of implied Malleus almost killed them (Lilia says Malleus almost “lost” those people) with his magic.

Lilia was the only one who came for Malleus to check on him when he was upset, dried his tears, and tried to understand him. He comes over and frees the people that Malleus froze, then everyone starts preparing and eating shaved ice made from the ice encasing the castle (not randomly, I think it was Lilia’s suggestion).

Malleus gets jealous because he saw everyone enjoying food without him and/or he thought Lilia was angry at him. (This is the point when Lilia tells him he has great power so he has to be careful how he uses it, ie the “you almost lost the people that you’re now happily eating with at the hands of your own magic” talk.)

Lilia uses his weapon to make some shaved ice for Malleus and invited him to join in (I think this may be the same weapon Sebek finds in his room in the present???); this helped Malleus “connect” with other people, or at least invited him to join and do the same thing the others were) It’s because of Lilia that Malleus is okay with eating cold things. UM???? HELLO???? Is that why Malleus’s favorite food is ice-cream??? Or at least a part of it?

BTW LONG HAir PONYtAIL LILiA CANON yes I’m way more excited about this than I was about that entire ice story

Yuu calls Malleus lonely 💀 and Malleus is shocked because he’s so used to being alone that the thought never occurred to him…

Oh no, Malleus learned that Yuu has “found a way home” (ie Rickey Rat hunting) 🙃 he’s like. “You are leaving me as well?” AND RIGHT AFTER HE JUST LEARNED ABOUT LILIA GOING… Lilia, who has been with Malleus ever since he hatched from his egg…

Friends, family… everything and everyone he cherishes is leaving Malleus. “Even if I have great power, I have nothing. I gain nothing, I always lose. No one will invite me, not anymore.” No Lilia, No Yuu 😞 Malleus, your abandonment issues are showing—

NAUUUR not more ominous shit 😭 Not the “man, I sure do wish everyone wouldn’t go :(((( if only there was a way for me to have everything I want…” coming from the mouth of a super insanely powerful magician…

NOOOOO not Yuu unintentionally enabling Malleus… He asks if there was a way to be with your loved ones forever, would Yuu take it?????? YUU DOnT SAy YES YOU FUQQinG IDIOT… ENABLER Yuu didn’t learn from Trey/j

MaLLEUS MY duDE 😔 DOn’T PULL ANY STUPID ShIT PLEASE (ie we all know he probably will)

Aaaand that’s all for now, folks!! Lots of sketchy lines and lore centering around grandpappy Lilia 🤡

Overall, I like the direction episode 7 is going so far! I was really worried that it would focus too much on Yuu and Malleus’s relationship rather than elaborating on Malleus’s relationships with the rest of Diasomnia, but I’m glad that the main story actually touches upon how integral Lilia is to his found family—and to Malleus, of course. A lot of interesting plot points have been set up (especially surrounding Mickey and Lilia), and I’m really looking forward to seeing how those conclude 👀 I feel like we also got spoiled with character lore; I love that time is a Real Thing in TWST and the the boys are aging and thinking hard about their futures. Can’t wait for the angst to hit me full force like a truck 💕

[starry-blue-echoes]

Okay, I just got here. Sorry for intruding and I'm kind of freaking out about part 4 of Star Swap.

Because there are two Jotaros. Why is nobody talking about the fact that there are two Jotaros? Am I missing something??? 

Unless I am completely failing in Star Swap lore, in order to not become super convoluted and insane, a universe is localized to a Swap… probably? Anyway from what I understand three universes have an event happening in them and Star Swap is a series… except there's also an OLDER Jotaro here in Part 4! which would be the same Jotaro that experienced part 4 as Josuke! Which is causing problems in my brain.

… I was thinking it's either Joseph and Giono is the exception -Thanks to Hermit Purple Rrequiem- and swaps actually jumps across universes making Older Part 4 Jotaro have that Canon backstory.

…Or… hear me out..

 JoJo

 Specifically, Jotaro gets some of that Time Jumpy Amnesia and has not a single fucking clue what happened to himself.

JUST HIM 

No one else

He is the sole one that gets bonk with a forgot stick

For all Jotaro knows: he blacked out, got possessed, and went to Egypt. Everything went well. His mom got cured and people survived, but STILL. said person that possessed him made a bunch of friends and now Jotaro has to deal with them. HE has to rely on other people's information to figure out what the hell HAPPENED.

Jotaro still gets that Battle Experience in and gets those cryptic forgotten fog of memories from the trip But Yeah

Jotaro has no idea what happened to him when that guy was possessing him. Jotaro doesn't know! he doesn't remember shit!!! All people got is theories.

I have a lot of thoughts and this is probably not even an issue.ARGGGG

.. I'm here thinking that for The Star Swap parts 3 and 4 to connect in an interesting way is Memory Blockage or else Part 4 Older Jotaro would have to walk on fucking eggshells if something wasn't blocking his memories because if he talks or says anything that doesn't link up then he breaks time. Jotaro's fault for actively getting involved!

Probably. I don't know!!! I'm just thinking!!! 

you're correct, Parts 3 and 4 have been criminally neglected amongst all this chaos, so this is p e r f e c t

to clarify the universe shenanigans of everything: I've always been thinking that each "set" exists in its own universe. 1 and 6, 2 and 5, and then 3 and 4 all exist in their own sort of "pocket universe" just so we don't need to keep track of of all the inevitable changes and how they influence each other

that being said, funnily enough what you've brought up with Jotaro is REALLY close to what I've been imagining too!

Jotaro is So Fucking Lost when he wakes up back home. He feels like complete and utter shit and is covered in more bandages than he's ever had before. The last thing he remembers is his mom leaving after visiting him in the prison cell after he tried to shoot himself with Star Platinum

only...... when did Star Platinum have a name? When had it stopped being an evil spirit?

when had he stopped being scared of it?

Kakyoin and Joseph are of course INCREDIBLY worried by Jotaro's apparent and very sudden shift in personality. And of course, this panic only multiplies when they find they think Jotaro's stand has been changed as well. They immediately think it's a Stand attack......

but then Holly steps forward and denies this. That this is how Jotaro normally acts and more importantly, that she remembers seeing Star in the jail

now, technically this might be bending the rules a little bit, but I think it would be interesting to give Holly some..... memory weirdness. Maybe we can tie it into her Stand somehow, or maybe it's just For The Plot, but Holly has two distinct sets of memories before she collapsed from her illness

One where Jotaro comes home with her, quiet and awkward and open in a way he hadn't been since he was a child. And another where he refused to leave and shot himself in an attempt to goad a spirit hovering over his shoulder

this then raises the incredibly uncomfortable idea that the Jotaro they'd gone to Egypt with was the imposter. That there had been a fake in their midst the entire time and they never knew. Was he working with Dio? Another group? What was his goal? Why had he done it? And of course, the biggest question of all, where was Jotaro the entire time and why doesn't he remember?

because it's obvious Jotaro was somewhere. He has skills and knowledge he hadn't before. He's different, he's grown in some ways, but has receded in others

Electricity and loud sounds terrify him in a way that can't be described as simple fear

they do what they can to help and figure things out, but they can never find any leads. It actually during these investigations that Jotaro decides to start working with the Speedwagon Foundation on the side and "rekindles" his friendships with the Crusaders

(he finds himself drawn to Kakyoin at times. Or to be more specific, he's drawn to his Stand. The colors and shapes and eyes all feel so tantalizingly familiar, and sometimes he finds himself talking to the being as if expecting a response)

years go by, and the fog around his memories stays. It bothers him less as more time passes and he makes new memories with people who had a headstart on their relationship, but there's always a quiet niggling in the back of his mind about what could've happened

and then a decade later he finds a boy with a different face but identical Stand and temperament to match

[secularprolifeconspectus]

Hi!

I hope you take the time to read this, if not that's fine, but I have a genuine question regarding pro life rhetoric. I've been pro choice practically my whole life but recently I've started really looking into the pro-life sphere more and doing more research on abortion, and I've concluded that I might identify with pro life much more than with pro choice. There's just one 'threshold' that I can't seem to cross yet and I'd be interested to know if you have a response to that.

Whilst I know that pregnancy is pretty ordinary and all of our moms went through it, I don't think it's nothing. Especially unplanned/unwanted pregnancies. Maybe the most important reason I am/was pro choice is that I don't think it's better to force someone to remain pregnant than it is to have an abortion, because pregnancy can seriously and possibly permanently change/influence your physical and mental health.

I guess my question is, if we take away all social-economic reasons why somebody wouldn't want to be pregnant and we're faced with someone who just doesn't want to be pregnant because of the physical and mental aspect of it, how do we address those cases? How do we help the pregnant person best as we can if we refuse to make abortion the solution?

Just to clarify this is a genuine question I have, not an attempt to start a debate.

I agree that pregnancy isn’t a regular sacrifice, and it’s a big deal. The biggest difference between the pro-choice and pro-life worldview is (usually) fetal personhood (which I've defended over ten times: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10). Without the shared foundation of understanding that all humans are people, we'll always reach different conclusions about how to respond to difficult pregnancy situations. In fact, I find the idea of forcing a pregnant person to continue to carry a *potential* person quite abhorrent; but, I don't understand any human to be merely a "potential" person. That being said, I'll try to answer your question both from a pro-personhood and a neutral perspective.

If you understand all human organisms to be people, then you likely also recognize that any situation in which we wouldn't allow a parent to kill their premature infant, we also ought not permit them to kill their fetus or embryo. Would I allow a parent to kill their premie because their mental or physical health is influenced by their dependency upon them? No, with exception for permanent impairment or death.

To be consistent, I hold the same standard for preborn children. The ordinary risks of a healthy pregnancy alone are not enough to justify killing someone. And all abortion bans already have exceptions for maternal mortality, if not also severe morbidity. I trust the ability of doctors to decide when a possible risk becomes an actual threat, and to take triage action when required while treating both patients. I think it's important to recognize that while pregnant people must hold medical primacy, the preborn hold equal priority.

Beyond exceptions, how do we care for the physical and mental health of pregnant people without resorting to violence against the most powerless and vulnerable people? Access to sufficient and timely maternal and prenatal care is essential to prevent most physical pregnancy morbidities, and especially in the US we must improve accessibility and quality. When complications do arise, we must be sympathetic to the parent's suffering without dehumanizing their child or devaluing either life.

Abortion-minded parents are in a mental health crisis akin to suicide; not in a literal biological sense, but on an existential level, your offspring is a part of you, and so abortion is a denial that a part of you has the right to exist and to be perpetuated into the future. If a suicidal person were to have those thoughts, we would prevent them from acting upon them. Analogously, the compassionate response to mental distress from pregnancy is not abortion, but intervention. Abortion is not evidence-based treatment for any mental condition.

From a personhood-neutral perspective, abortion is at best a band-aid solution to health concerns that may arise during pregnancy. Pregnancy is not disease, though disease may happen within pregnancy and is treatable. Framing a healthy, ordinary function of the fertile female body as a medical ailment is, frankly, misogynistic. As long as abortion is available as the "easy solution", the patriarchy will continue to use it as a cop-out for learning how to actually prevent and treat maternal morbidities. So if we want to see progress in maternal medicine, we have to stop relying on abortion as a crutch. We must demand that pregnancy be normalized, not pathologized.

Good for you for exploring your beliefs and doing research! I applaud your open mind. If you lean left or secular, I encourage you to check out PAAU's stances and SPL's blog, both of which I find educational. Keep asking questions, and keep seeking answers.

[evaglass]

Speculation about Mizu's parents pt. 3

Now, to expand even more on the connections between Kill Bill and Blue Eye Samurai, specifically with the Ronin and the Bride play, the last thing I mentioned was how both Brides woke up and quickly went to seek vengance.

Beatrix woke up from a coma while the Bride from the play came back as onryo, a vengeful spirit with blue eyes.

The Bride cuts off the Ronin's head for what he did

And then the play ends with this shot. Notice how there are four bodies, and none of them are the Ronin because they all have their heads. I don't think any of the four white men are Mizu's father, but I do think they knew her mother and betrayed her, like the Bride from Kill Bill expect that she didn't survive.

I also want to clarify really quickly that it is revealed by the end of Vol. 1 to the audience that Beatrix's daughter is alive, and she finds out in Vol. 2 in the final act of the film when she sees her daughter, BB, for the first time.

Now, I don't think Mizu's mother is alive at all, but I do think the love Mizu's mother had for her could have been similar to Beatrix's love for her daughter. I do think, unfortunately, Mizu's mother was killed before she could be with Mizu again.

Now, Kill Bill and Yentl aren't the only two films to influence Blue Eye Samurai

There is also the influence from a few other films, one of them being Lady Snowblood.

Funny enough, Lady Snowblood actually influenced the making of Kill Bill as well.

I will admit I have never seen Lady Snowblood, but I have seen and read reviews, recaps, synopsises, video essays, etc.

Lady Snowblood is about a woman named Yuki who is on a quest for revenge against the people who assaulted her mother Sayo (the woman in the picture below), killed her older brother Shiro, and her mother's husband (I will get into why I refer to him as her mother's husband).

Before she could get revenge against the people who wronged her, Sayo was sent to prison. Realizing she does not have a lot of time to spare before Sayo dies, she gets impregnated and gives birth to Yuki so she can fulfill her quest for revenge after she dies

Yuki is essentially a representation of her mother's rage beyond the grave.

Another interesting thing is that I believe there are some moments in the film Lady Snowblood is compared to a demon, kind of like Mizu. There's also the fact that Lady Snowblood's actually name, Yuki, means snow, like how Mizu means water. Snow is just frozen water, after all. Although I don't Mizu's mother had her out of the purpose of revenge, I think her conception was an accident.

Part 1/Part 2/Part 3/Part 4/Part 5/Part 6

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ilana Berger at MMFA:

The Biden administration is cutting car pollution and incentivizing automakers to produce electric vehicles. Right-wing media repeatedly misconstrued these efforts, falsely claiming they were attempting to take away voters’ gas-powered cars or forcing them to buy electric vehicles. No such federal mandate exists. Yet now the Trump-Vance campaign has adopted this false claim.

Harris has supported efforts to expand access to electric vehicles during her time as vice president, but that did not include a federal mandate

The EPA finalized a tailpipe emissions rule in March, but it was not a mandate. In March, the EPA established tailpipe emissions standards for the auto industry in a bid to slash greenhouse gas emissions. According to NPR, “The EPA rules are not written as an EV mandate or a ban on the sale of gas cars. … Instead, the EPA sets standards that apply across an entire fleet – meaning an automaker still can make vehicles with higher emissions, as long as they also make enough very low or zero-emission vehicles that it averages out.” [NPR, 3/20/24]

E&E News clarified that “there is no EV ‘mandate’ from the administration, although President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris have backed a series of climate policies that seek to incentivize the production and purchasing of EVs.” [ E&E News, 9/3/24]  

The New York Times also wrote of the EPA rule that it “does not mandate sales of electric vehicles, and consumers can still buy and drive gas-powered cars.” [The New York Times, 3/20/24]

The Inflation Reduction Act allocated billions toward supporting the adoption of EVs through tax credits, loans, and funding for charging networks, critical minerals, and battery manufacturing. Harris cast the tie-breaking vote that passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which created $47 billion in EV investment on top of tax credits and loans. [Atlas EV Hub, 9/2/22; accessed 9/6/22; Twitter/X, 8/7/24]  

Harris also oversaw parts of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that distributed funding to school districts for electric buses and to states for EV charging stations.The act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provided $7.5 billion to build a network of charging stations, and $900 million of that went to the electric school bus initiative. [AP News, 12/13/21; Spectrum News, 5/29/24]

Donald Trump’s campaign has echoed right-wing media lies about electric vehicles, such as falsely insinuating that Kamala Harris and the Democrats want to eliminate gas-powered cars and that they have issued an EV mandate (when no such thing exists).

[bygiornogiovanna]

Idea. Yandere Jolyne x male reader who's Kakyoin's son and are childhood friends and they also have a daughter together who is still a newborn. But he leaves Jolyne as he doesn't trust her with there daughter. But Jolyne finds them and says "Yare Yare Dawa. I don't want to leave her family like my old man did to me and my mom." And takes reader away. Also this is in 2017 5 years after part 6 ended and Kakyoin dies to Pucci so Pucci would die to Jotaro so Kakyoin's son is also still depressed about his dad's death which is why him and Jolyne hook up to try and make him happy but it doesn't work. Just wanted to clarify that. So seems like a lot to work with but I think you can something good out of this.

This is an interesting idea. I like it. Let's see how well I can do. First time writing a x male fic, i think.

Tell me if i missed any detail! (I hope I didn't lol)

happy (almost) 500 followers!

apologize it took so long.

Won't get away

(Yandere! Jolyne x Male reader)

It all started 5 years ago.

Jotaro and Kakyoin, as well as their children, were fighting against the priest that tried to finish what Dio started.

It was a tough fight, the time speeding so fast was confusing. Weeks passed with every minute and they had no time to waste. If they didn't stop Pucci, Dio's dream would come true.

"Emerald Splash!" Kakyoin screamed, directing his Hierophant Green in attempt to distract Pucci, who was getting awfully close to Jolyne. It worked, the priest's attention now on him, creating the perfect bait for the start of their plan.

"Star Platinum! The World!" Jotaro yelled and time stopped. Nothing was moving anymore, but Jotaro knew he had only a few seconds to do something or the battle would be over. He had to move and do something, anything now.

7 seconds left.

Before he could reach Pucci and snap his neck, Jotaro noticed something horrifying.

Both Kakyoin and Jolyne were in danger.

Kakyoin was surrounded by hundreds of knives that would stab his insides the very second time would start again. Exactly the same position he was in 23 years ago, when he battled Dio.

5 seconds left.

And his daughter had Pucci right beside her, his fist an inch away from piercing her stomach.

For the first time in his life, Jotaro was terrified.

Life put him in the position of choosing whether to save his life-long bestfriend, taking the risk of ending the world or save his daughter and bring this hell to an end.

His heart was racing in his chest, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.

4 seconds left.

His eyes darted to Kakyoin, all the memories of what they went through flashing in his mind.

They moved to his son, who was standing there frozen as everyone else. He would hate him forever.

3 seconds left.

You can't do good without sacrifices.

He learned that long ago, after losing two of his other friends.

With pain in his heart, Jotaro made his decision. He dashed to Pucci and pushed him away from Jolyne, his punches letting all his fury out.

"Time starts moving again." He whispered and everything resumed. The injured priest was thrown away at an insane speed, landing straight into a building with a fatal injury.

At the same time, Kakyoin was pierced by the knifes, falling helplessly onto the ground. As soon as Jolyne realised what happened, she called out her stand into an useless attempt of saving the red haired man.

However, it was too late.

Both Kakyoin and Pucci died, proof being the disappearance of their stands. Time moved at a normal speed again, minutes passing correctly, while the emeralds left by Noriaki vanished.

"Dad!" An awful scream made its way out of your lungs, tears flooding your eyes at the realization. You ran to your father's lifeless body, shaking him. "Please, dad, no! Don't leave me too!"

Jotaro felt his usually stoic heart crumble into pieces at the sound so he looked in other direction, far away to the ocean. His breathing was heavy, both because of the injuries and the guilt he felt.

There was nothing he could do anymore.

Ever since that day, you fell into a sever depression. You were constantly thinking about your father and why did the universe decide it should take him from you.

You couldn't blame Jotaro for choosing to save the world over saving your father. It was the right decision. But you also couldn't get over the fact that the only person you had left disappeared.

You looked like a mess every day and even if you had a job, you couldn't say your life was good. Your only social contact outside your work zone was Jolyne and you honestly couldn't say it was good.

Her emerald eyes were a constant reminder of your dad's stand, which made your heart break every time.

Jolyne was desperate. She had no clue what to do with you. Most considered you were a lost cause, but she didn't want to give up on you. She refused to. You two grew up togheter, she could not give you up.

It broke her heart. Seeing you like this made her want to cry out.

She tried talking you into therapy, but you refused to cooperate.

"Come on, it's been years, Y/N. You have to stop drinking your pain away, you are ruining yourself! Your dad would hate seeing you like this!" she said, shaking you. When you were not at work, you would drown yourself in alcohol, being your only escape.

"Stop."

"It's true! Mr. Noriaki would hate seeing how you destroy yourself every day, he-" she wanted to scold you again, but you suddenly yelled–

"Stop talking about him as if you know anything! It's only your fault anyway!"

Jolyne took a step back at your outburst. She knew you didn't mean it, but with the way your eyes held a deep hatred...Her heart ache.

"Yare yare dawa..." she shook her head, biting the inner part of her lip anxiously. You took drunk steps towards her, your much taller frame covering hers. "You have no idea what you're saying, let's get you to bed." the girl murmured, going to take your hand but you jerked away from her, almost falling before you were able to brace yourself.

"I'm t-tired of everyone acting like the-y kn...knew my father! I'm the only one th-at " you stumbled upon your words. "I'm just f-fine with how I live."

"Whatever you say." she took your arm successfully this time and dragged you to your room. You were trying to get away from her grip, but she refused to let go, throwing you onto the bed easily because of your drunk self.

The next day, you couldn't remember anything from that night. The only thing you remembered was that her lips met yours to shut you up and, from then...Blank. Everything was blank.

When you opened your eyes, you certainly didn't expect to see Jolyne laying next to you....naked. You looked around the room, the bright light burning your eyes. This was your room, there was no doubt. So why was Jolyne naked?

You knew she had a habit to sleep in her lingerie, but that didn't explain why you were also naked. It couldn't be that, could it?

However, the ache on your broad shoulders going all the way to your lower back, the way her neck was covered in small bite marks and hickeys, along with the ripped sheets beneath her, proved you wrong. That it could be.

You and your childhood best friend, Jolyne Cujoh, just had sex. And from the unseenable condom, it was unprotected.

No words were spoken between the two of you as Jolyne muttered a small 'Yare yare dawa' when she first got up. And she just left in silence, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

Even if it wasn't the right thing to do, you completely cut off every single way she could contact you. Blocking her number and all of her social medias, even her father's and her friends', you even went as far as changing the locks in your home, you ignored her existence as if she never existed in the first place. Not even knowing about the growing baby in her belly.

And, that didn't go unnoticed by the young female.

The woman wasn't patient as this trait didn't run in her family. She tried everything, even broke into your home, which almost made you get you a restraining order.

That, until you saw the loose skin on her belly, decorated with stretch marks. Which could indicate only one thing. A previous pregnancy.

"Where is the child, Jolyne?" you asked coldly as the woman glared at you with bright green eyes.

"She is in the car with Ermes. Now, you will come with me, get your life back together and raise that damn child!" she hissed at you with a stern and determinated look on her face.

"No. The child comes with me, I don't trust you with her. Not after what ha-" you were about to say but suddenly, a bright blue string wrapped around your mouth multiple times, shutting you up.

"Don't you dare finish that fucking sentence. Don't blame my father for your father's death." Jolyne spoke angrily with a twisted look in her eyes.

You whined in protest, summoning your stand to try and fight back but the string around your mouth only tightened. She was undeniably stronger than you so you retreated your stand immediately.

"Yare yare dawa..." she clicked her tongue annoyed. "I don't want her to have an incomplete family as I did. You won't leave like my old man did to me. Under no circumstances will I allow that." the crazy tone that lingered in her voice made you shiver as you never saw Jolyne so determined.

"You will be with me. End of the discussion. Willingly or not, you are mine."

And after that, everything went blank.

[bijoumikhawal]

The Song of Songs has quite recently (1973) been assigned to the time of Solomon by a distinguished Hebraist, Professor Chaim Rabin of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. For more than forty years now evidence has been accumulating for some kind of relationship between the cities of the Harrapan civilization of the Indus Valley and lower Mesopotamia during the latter part of the third millennium B.C. and into the second (cf. C. J. Gadd, PBA, 1932). Rabin (205) called attention to the few dozen typical Indus culture seals which have been found in various places in Mesopotamia, some of which seem to be local imitations. He suggested that these objects were imported not as knickknacks, but because of their religious symbolism by people who had been impressed by Indus religion. To the examples of Indus type seals in Mesopotamia cited by Rabin (217n2), we may add a dated document from the Yale Babylonian Collection, an unusual seal impression found on an inscribed tablet dated to the tenth year of Gimgunum, king of Larsa, in Southern Babylonia, which according to the commonly accepted "middle" chronology would be 1923 B.C. (B. Buchanan, 1967).

[...]

Rabin cited a story from the Buddhist Jatakas, the Baveru Jataka, which tells of Indian merchants delivering a trained peacock to the kingdom of Baveru, the bird having been conditioned to scream at the snapping of fingers and to dance at the clapping of hands. Since maritime connection between Mesopotamia and India lapsed after the destruction of the Indus civilization, and since the name Baveru (i.e. Babel, Babylon) would hardly have been known in the later period when trade with India went via South Arabia, Rabin concluded that the Jataka story about the peacock must ultimately date before 2000, an example of the tenacity of Indian tradition (p. 206). Ivory statuettes of peacocks found in Mesopotamia suggest that the birds themselves may also have been imported before 2000 B.C. (cf. W. F. Leemans, 1960, 161, 166), and Rabin (206) wondered whether the selection of monkeys and peacocks for export may not have derived from the Indian tendency to honor guests by presenting them with objects of religious significance. Imports of apes and peacocks are mentioned in connection with Solomon's maritime trade in I Kings 10:22 [=II Chron 9:21], the roundtrip taking three years. The word for "peacocks," tukkiyyim, singular tukki, has since the eighteenth century been explained as a borrowing of the Tamil term for "peacock," tokai. Tamil is a Dravidian language which in ancient times was spoken throughout South India, and is now spoken in the East of South India. Scandinavian scholars claim to have deciphered the script of the Indus culture as representing the Tamil language (cf. Rabin, 208, 218n20). Further evidence of contact with Tamils early in the first millennium B.C. is found in the names of Indian products in Hebrew and in other Semitic languages. In particular Rabin cites the word 'ahalot for the spice wood "aloes," Greek agallochon, Sanskrit aghal, English agal-wood, eagle-wood, or aloes, the fragrant Aquilaria agallocha which flourishes in India and Indochina. The Tamil word is akil, now pronounced ahal. Its use for perfuming clothing and bedding is mentioned in Ps 45:9 [8E] and Prov 7:17 and Rabin surmised that the method was one still current in India, the powdered wood being burned on a metal plate and the clothing or bedding held over the plate to absorb the incense. Rabin supposed that it was necessary to have observed this practice in India in order to learn the use of the substance (p.209). Aloes are mentioned in 4:14 among the aromatics which grace the bride's body. The method of perfuming bedding and clothing by burning powdered aloes beneath them may clarify the puzzling references to columns of smoke, incense, and pedlar's powders in connection with the epiphany of "Solomon's" splendiferous wedding couch ascending from the steppes (3:6-10), bearing it seems (cf. 8:5) the (divine?) bride and her royal mate. Myrrh and frankincense only are mentioned, but "all the pedlar's powders" presumably included the precious aloes from India.

Opportunity to observe Indian usages would have been afforded visitors to India in the nature of the case, since the outward journey from the West had to be made during the summer monsoon and the return trip during the winter monsoon, so that the visitor would have an enforced stay in India of some three months. Repeated visits with such layovers would provide merchant seamen with the opportunity to learn a great deal about local customs, beliefs, and arts.

After a brief critique of modern views about the Song of Songs, none of which has so far found general acceptance, Rabin ventured to propound a new theory based on Israel's commercial contacts with India during Solomon's reign.

There are three features which,in Rabin's view (pp. 210f), set the Song of Songs apart from other ancient oriental love poetry. Though occasional traces of these maybe found elsewhere, Rabin alleged that they do not recur in the same measure or in this combination:

1. The woman expresses her feelings of love, and appears as the chief person in the Song. Fifty-six verses are clearly put into the woman's mouth as against thirty-six into the man's (omitting debatable cases).

2. The role of nature in the similes of the Song and the constant reference to the phenomena of growth and renewal as the background against which the emotional life of the lovers moves, Rabin regarded as reflecting an attitude toward nature which was achieved in the West only in the eighteenth century.

3. The lover, whether a person or a dream figure, speaks with appropriate masculine aggressiveness, but the dominant note of the woman's utterances is longing. She reaches out for a lover who is remote and who approaches her only in her dreams. She is aware that her longing is sinful and will bring her into contempt (8:1) and in her dream the "watchmen" put her to shame by taking away her mantle (5:7). Ancient eastern love poetry, according to Rabin, generally expresses desire, not longing, and to find parallels one has to go to seventeenth-century Arab poetry and to the troubadours, but even there it is the man who longs and the woman who is unattainable.

These three exceptional features which Rabin attributed to the Song of Songs he found also in another body of ancient poetry, in the Sangam poetry of the Tamils. In three samples, chosen from the Golden Anthology of Ancient Tamil Literature by Nalladai R. Balakrishna Mudaliar, Rabin stressed the common theme of women in love expressing longing for the object of their affection, for their betrothed or for men with whom they have fallen in love, sometimes without the men even being aware of their love. The cause of the separation is rarely stated in the poem itself, but this is rooted in the Tamil social system and code of honor in which the man must acquire wealth or glory, or fulfill some duty to his feudal lord or to his people, and thus marriage is delayed. There is conflict between the man's world and the woman's and her desire to have her man with her. This conflict is poignantly expressed in one of the poems cited (Rabin, 212) in which a young woman whose beloved has left her in search of wealth complains: I did his manhood wrong by assuming that he would not part from me. Likewise he did my womanhood wrong by thinking that I would not languish at being separated from him. As a result of the tussle between two such great fortitudes of ours, my languishing heart whirls inagony, like suffering caused by the bite of a cobra.

In the Tamil poems the lovelorn maiden speaks to her confidante and discusses her problems with her mother, as the maiden of the Song of Songs appeals to the Jerusalem maids and mentions her mother and her lover's mother; but neither in the Tamil poems nor the Song of Songs is there mention of the maiden's father. In Rabin's view the world of men is represented by "King Solomon," surrounded by his soldiers, afraid of the night (3:7-8), with many wives and concubines (6:8), and engaged in economic enterprises (8:11). Significantly, however, according to Rabin (p. 213), Solomon's values seem to be mentioned only to be refuted or ridiculed: "his military power is worth less than the crown his mother (!) put on him on his wedding day; the queens and concubines have to concede first rank to the heroine of the Song; and she disdainfully tells Solomon (viii 12) to keep his money."

Since the Sangam poetry is the only source of information for the period with which it deals, Rabin plausibly surmised that the recurring theme of young men leaving home to seek fortune and fame, leaving their women to languish, corresponded to reality, i.e. the theme of longing and yearning of the frustrated women grew out of conditions of the society which produced these poems. Accordingly, the cause for the lover's absence need not be explicitly mentioned in the Tamil poems and is only intimated in elaborate symbolic language. Similarly, Rabin finds hints of the nonavailability of the lover in the Song of Songs. The references to fleeing shadows in 2:17, 4:6-8, and 8:14 Rabin takes to mean winter time when the shadows grow long. The invitation to the bride to come from Lebanon, from the peaks of Amana, Senir, and Hermon in 4:6-8 means merely that the lover suggests that she think of him when he traverses those places. The dream like quality of these verses need not, inRabin's view, prevent us from extracting the hard information they contain. The crossing of mountains on which or beyond which are myrrh, incense, and perfumes all lead to South Arabia, the land of myrrh and incense. Thus the young man was absent on a caravan trip. Even though he did not have to traverse Amana or Hermon to reach Jerusalem from any direction, he did have to traverse mountains on the trip and in South Arabia he had to pass mountain roads between steep crags ("cleft mountains") and it was on the slopes of such mountains that the aromatic woods grew ("mountains of perfume"). Coming from South Arabia, however, one had to cross Mount Scopus, "the mountain of those who look out," from which it is possible to see a caravan approaching at a considerable distance. In 3:6 "Who is she that is coming up from the desert, like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense, and all the powders of the perfume merchant?" is taken to refer to the caravan, the unexpressed word for "caravan" sayyarah, being feminine (Rabin, 214 and 219n29). "The dust raised by the caravan rises like smoke from a fire,but the sight of the smoke also raises the association of the scent a caravan spreads around it as it halts in the market and unpacks its wares."

The enigmatic passage 1:7-8 Rabin also related to a camel caravan despite the pastoral terminology. Rabin's theory encounters difficulty with the repeated use of the verb r'y, "pasture," and its participle, "pastor, shepherd" in view of which commentators commonly regard the Song as a pastoral idyl. His solution is to suggest that the term may have some technical meaning connected with the management of camels.

The list of rare and expensive spices in 4:12-14 reads so much like the bill of goods of a South Arabian caravan merchant that Rabin is tempted to believe that the author put it in as a clue.

Be it what it may, it provides the atmosphere of a period when Indian goods like spikenard, curcuma, and cinnamon, as well as South Arabian goods like incense and myrrh, passed through Judaea in a steady flow of trade. This can hardly relate to the Hellenistic period, when Indian goods were carried by ship and did not pass through Palestine: it sets the Song of Songs squarely in the First Temple period (Rabin,215).

As for the argument that the Song contains linguistic forms indicating a date in the Hellenistic period, Rabin points out that the alleged Greek origins of 'appiryon in 3:9 and talpiyyot in 4:4, the former word supposedly related to phoreion, "sedan chair," and the latter to telopia, "looking into the distance,"are dubious.

The phonetic similarity between the Greek and Hebrew words is somewhat vague, and this writer considers both attributions to be unlikely, but even acceptance of these words as Greek does not necessitate a late dating for the Song of Songs, since Mycenaean Greek antedates the Exodus. Neither word occurs elsewhere in the Bible, so that we cannot say whether in Hebrew itself these words were late. In contrast to this, pardes "garden, plantation," occurs, apart from 4:13, only in Nehemiah 2:8, where the Persian king's "keeper of the pardes" delivers wood for building, and in Ecclesiastes 2:5 next to "gardens." The word is generally agreed to be Persian, though the ancient Persian original is not quite clear. If the word is really of Persian origin, it would necessitate post-exilic dating. It seems to me, however, that this word, to which also Greek paradeisos belongs, maybe of different origin.

[...]

Rabin's summation of his view of the Song of Songs is of such interest and significance as to warrant citation of his concluding paragraphs (pp.216f):

It is thus possible to suggest that the Song of Songs was written in the heyday of Judaean trade with South Arabia and beyond (and this may include the lifetime of King Solomon) by someone who had himself travelled to South Arabia and to South India and had there become acquainted with Tamil poetry. He took over one of its recurrent themes, as well as certain stylistic features. The literary form of developing a theme by dialogue could have been familiar to this man from Babylonian-Assyrian sources (where it is frequent) and Egyptian literature (where it is rare). He was thus prepared by his experience for making a decisive departure from the Tamil practice by building what in Sangam poetry were short dialogue poems into a long work, though we may possibly discern in the Song of Songs shorter units more resembling the Tamil pieces. Instead of the vague causes for separation underlying the moods expressed in Tamil poetry, he chose an experience familiar to him and presumably common enough to be recognized by his public, the long absences of young men on commercial expeditions. I think that so far our theory is justified by the interpretations we have put forward for various details in the text of the Song of Songs. In asking what were the motives and intentions of our author in writing this poem, we must needs move into the sphere of speculation. He might, ofcourse, have been moved by witnessing the suffering of a young woman pining for her lover or husband, and got the idea of writing up this experience by learning that Tamil poets were currently dealing with the same theme. But I think we are ascribing to our author too modern an out look on literature. In the light of what we know of the intellectual climate of ancient Israel, it is more probable that he had in mind a contribution to religious or wisdom literature, in other words that he planned his work as an allegory for the pining of the people of Israel, or perhaps of the human soul, for God. He saw the erotic longing of the maiden as a simile for the need of man for God. In this he expressed by a different simile a sentiment found, for instance, in Psalm 42:24: "Like a hind that craves for brooks of water, so my soul craves for thee, O God. My soul is a thirst for God, the living god: when shall I come and show myself before the face of God? My tears are to me instead of food by day and by night, when they say to me day by day: Where is your god?" This religious attitude seems to be typical of those psalms that are now generally ascribed to the First Temple period, and, as far as I am aware, has no clear parallel in the later periods to which the Song of Songs is usually ascribed.

Rabin considered the possibility of moving a step further in speculation about Indian influence.

In Indian legend love of human women for gods, particularly Krishna, is found as a theme. Tamil legend, in particular, has amongst its best known items the story of a young village girl who loved Krishna so much that in her erotic moods she adorned herself for him with the flower-chains prepared for offering to the god's statue. When this was noticed, and she was upbraided by her father, she was taken by Krishna into heaven. Expressions of intensive love for the god are a prominent feature of mediaeval Tamil Shaivite poetry. The use of such themes to express the relation of man to god may thus have been familiar to Indians also in more ancient times, and our hypothetical Judaean poet could have been aware of it. Thus the use of the genre of love poetry of this kind for the expression of religious longing may itself have been borrowed from India.

Rabin's provocative article came to the writer's attention after most of the present study had been written. It is of particular interest in the light of other Indian affinities of the Song adduced elsewhere in this commentary.

pg 27-33, Song of Songs (commentary) by Marvin Pope

[minterim]

i just finished filling out @janmisali's how many Super Mario games are there now survey! it was a ton of fun, i recommend giving it a shot to see how you think about murky video game taxonomy!! however my explanations of my methodology got a bit wordy, so much so that i couldn't submit my response LOL. so i'm putting them here instead :>

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my (loose) criteria are: for pre- super mario brothers games in this bracket, all are non-canonical (to the extent that a mario canon exists), and only count as being non-canonical if mario is clearly in the game from the outset, whether that is clarified through the title, or other surrounding material (manual, flavourtext, widely accepted history for donkey kong, etc). the other condition there is that i have to be able to find evidence of mario's presence with very little effort.

if a game doesn't have mario in it at all (dk3 and so on), then it's not a mario game because the other ones barely are in the first place.

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ok this is becoming slightly more complicated now. the game watch and game and watch games are minor spinoffs, they remain canonical in that they are adaptations of super mario bros for different devices. given that they are adaptations, they dont count as distinct entries in the super mario series.

ive decided that sports games and other games that mario appears in as the mascot are also extra-canonical -- i dont think mario, in the story of the mushroom kingdom such as it is, ever went on a big bar in space to play alleyway. ymmv. the principle holds for golf and tennis and whatnot, for the entries so far at the very least.

i think it makes sense for games that predate super mario bros 1 which feature franchise characters/world elements to be non-canonical as opposed to spin-offs; you can't spin off of something that doesn't exist yet, in my assessment. games taking place in the mushroom kingdom or featuring franchise characters doing things in contexts that make sense count as minor spinoffs, e.g. yume kojo doki doki panic and super mario bros special. NOT counting dk classics because they werent spinoffs initially, you cant retcon them into spinoffs. again, ymmv

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ok. the allstars games and other such re-releases ARE mainline mario games, because when you boot them up you play a mainline mario game, but they are NOT distinct entries.

the -land games are spinoffs, wario is a mario character, and remains a part of the mushroom kingdom mythos up until warioware, which ill have to decide upon sooner rather than later.

dk for gameboy IS a mario spinoff, because the narrative has been change to 1. exist and 2. match (closely enough with) other mario games (bros 1 and odyssey, as far as i can tell).

dkc is NOT a mario game (he is not in it in any way afaik). i would classify it as a donkey kong game, in a way that i wouldnt any of the previous dk titles. this is the point at which donkey kong becomes separate ip from mario. they cross over still, but its two equivalent entities bumping into each other, as opposed to a smaller element of one's canon re-emerging.

the dr marios arent canon, that's a different guy. mario is not a doctor in the mushroom kingdom i know. maybe this is an alt-universe mario? who knows

the karts are also not canon. or rather, they are extra-canonical, in that those ARE the characters we're familiar with from the super mario series, but they arent playing their roles, theyre playing golf or go karts or whatever. its like actors hanging out behind the scenes in character

wario blast can be a canonical spinoff i guess. wario seems like the kind of guy who would throw bombs at people like that. bomberman is there somehow too

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games that include mario (or his friends that havent established a specifically non-mario franchise of games, read: not donkey kong) as a mascot or the main player character count as mario games.

if the mario characters in the game are not acting in alignment with their behaviour in the mainline series* then the game is a non-canonical mario game.

this includes karts, picrosses, tetris attacks and so on. if the game is a single title with little-to-no follow-up, it is a minor spinoff, if it spawns a larger series or garners prestige in some other way, its a major one.

*i dont have a good definition for this. for now: a platformer starring mario as a player character with a plot set that typically involves fighting bowser and saving peach while in the mushroom kingdom. thats the distinction for now though it definitely doesnt hold for the later games. sorry 😐

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ok, all of my previous points still carry over wrt sports and party games not being canonical. the sports ones are the "actors" who play the mario characters hanging out and playing tennis or whatever while in character. however the rules with party seem slightly different -- i maintain that theyre non-canonical to the main super mario series; mario getting along with boos and bowser and so on seems contradictory to the series' events. plus, the mario party world seems like a separate instance of the mario world regardless, so im placing them into a separate mode of canonicity: kids playing with action figures, or game pieces, or better yet, amiibos. no hint of continuity beyond the player and the friends they party with ^_^

i've elected to dub the wariowares as non-mario games. theres a simple reason for this: he's not in them as a character. the wario that runs around is pretty well removed from the wario that has menaced mario in the past, unlike the wario in wario land. theyre not necessarily *not* canonical, but i feel this wario is more likely to fit into the "actors playing golf" canon than the "nare-do-well of the mushroom kingdom" canon, if that makes sense.

the REAL rub for this round are the RPGs. i let super mario rpg fall into the spin-off category because i feel like that could feasibly be the "main" mario (the character from super mario bros). this could be equally true of paper mario, and mario + luigi super star saga mario. and these marios aren't necessarily contradictory! the mario games have a very malleable canon! that is, until mario + luigi: paper jam, which brings two of these marios face to face (note: havent played any of these games yet, heavily referencing the super mario wiki). given that luigi finds the paper mario characters in a book, this states pretty directly that paper mario is fictional within the main mario canon: paper mario is not the same man as super mario from super mario 64. now, does this retcon mean that all the prior paper mario games are fictional within mario canon? maybe. it could ALSO be that the paper mario stories really DID happen in the main mario universe, and we (as players) experienced those events through the interpretive lense of paper... but a good amount of gags/mechanics/etc rely on paper mario being made of paper. poetic license..?

i think im going to classify the paper marios as stories ABOUT the main mario WITHIN that continuity, kind of like star wars legends 'dubiously canonical' material. i think this places them as non-canonical within the structure ive built up here, which is unfortunate, because i liked the idea of all the rpgs being different perspective cameras on the same guy... oh well

^^ take the discourse about the rpgs with a grain of salt because, again, i have not played any of them and thus they may directly contradict my notions of canon. whoops!

PS. oh yeah i think i forgot to mention this in the last one: smash games arent mario games. they are games that have mario in them. but mario would not hit his brother luigi or his dear friend peach. and thus this version of mario cannot be the same one as in super mario bros.: the lost levels.

(same theory as the mario party action figures situation. except the kids that are playing with the action figures are now teens)

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[n/a]

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the sports ones (strikers, baseball) have started having narratives that can fit into the mainline canon, kinda. im choosing to include the baseball games - i reckon that baseball kingdom could be in there, thats fine. though ive chosen to exclude the strikers games, everyone's really angry and violent in those ones and that doesnt seem right to me

the clock and the calculator don't count because they aren't uh. games

also ive lost track of the distinction between major and minor spinoff. i had one but i don't remember what it was at this point

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with the sports games i tend to err on the side of non-canonical, even if there is a narrative in which all characters behave more or less in character. because i find it hard to believe that wario or waluigi would follow the rules of tennis

also i dont think that a crossover with final fantasy really tracks, you know?

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super mario maker isnt canon but super mario maker 2 is. because 2 actually has a story mode and 1 doesnt. i think

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i think ive covered it all in my previous responses? my system broke down a little bit but i think ive been mostly consistent!

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i think if they never got made theyre not games, and if they did get made but never came out they cant be considered mario games. because mario never appeared in them. because no one did because they never came out. i think my reasoning is failing here but i stand by excluding them

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to try and sum my methodology up: it's only a mario game if mario, or a character from the mushroom kingdom, is the main character or mascot. a character cannot make a game a mario game by their presence if they are a version of the character that has defined their own game series completely disconnected from mario and the mushroom kingdom (donkey kong games and warioware games are considered disconnected in this manner and are not mario games, however, wario lands and original donkey kongs are). games in which a mario character is a minor character in an ensemble cast also aren't mario games.

if the characters that make the game a mario game are doing things that would contradict the characterisations from super mario platformer series* or are acting in a purely mascot capacity, the game IS still a mario game but is non-canonical (assuming its a game at all. looking at you clock and calculator). additionally, if the games take place in some kind of separate continuity (mario party, strikers, paper mario, etc) they are non-canonical, or if good and evil characters who would normally take the opportunity to try to apprehend each other are in proximity and do not (kart, tennis, golf, etc), i excluded them from canonicity. for the latter category, i liken the mario cast to a group of actors hanging out off the clock while remaining in character, in the same way actors in real life might act for a charity event. crossovers are also more than likely to preclude a given game from canonicity. i do not think mario, as he is in the mushroom kingdom, has met solid snake or sephiroth. also, i maintain that dr mario is a different man from mario. as he is still A mario, they remain mario games, but because he is not THE mario, they are non-canonical.

the distinction between major and minor spin-off is foggy in this taxonomy. mainly its based on popularity, proximity to the mainline, critical and audience reception, and vibes.

mainline super mario games are platformers in which mario progresses through levels in different worlds using powerups to save someone. they also have to be considered mainline to count. not a great definition but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the iteration of a given mainline game that counts as a distinct iteration is the one i consider most Definitive. the factors that go into Definitiveness are these: earliest released version > plot that best fits with established canon (donkey kong gameboy) > version with most included game stuff.

my maxim for what counts as a mainline super mario game was: "if someone wanted to play through the super mario series one at a time, but not non-super mario games, what games would it make sense to include?" no idea if what ive ended up with here tracks with that but here we are

 this was a fun little thought experiment!! thanks for putting this together, i learned a bunch about this weird little series

PS. that mario sweater maker game is incredible btw