#also i found a really tasty wine

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

UPDATE What's up, it's the proposal guy. You said you wanted to know how this turned out, so I figured I'd tell you. First some context though, because I'm mean and I wanna keep you in suspense longer.

1- I don't wanna doxx us so I'm not telling you where we live, but suffice to say, neither of us are American, and gay marriage has been legal here for less than five years. For both of us, this is the first relationship we've had where marriage was even an OPTION, and I think that's where we've been getting some of that whole 'this has to be a REAL proposal with EVERYTHING' idea.

2- I gotta figure out how to explain this properly. So, I'm pretty used to being the GUY guy in relationships? I was always the one who did the nice gestures, not the one they got done for. Before I met my dream guy, I didn't really notice or care that it was such a thing, I just assumed that's how shit worked. Also, I promised I wouldn't talk a lot about his stuff here, but his last boyfriend before me SUCKED. Anyway point here is, it turns out we both REALLY like feeling swept off our feet sometimes, and a big part of finding each other has been getting to feel special for once? That's a stupid sappy way of putting it the point here is I think all that's what morphed into "I need to be the one getting proposed to, also it has to be completely perfect", and then our Petty & Extra genes got involved.

So I'm sitting in bed thinking about all that up there, and watching all the comments coming in basically being like "Dude, you are BLOWING this" on repeat, and telling me to compromise, and I look up and see him flossing in the bathroom and making all these doofy faces at the mirror, and it's like a switch just flips in my brain, and I'm like "Oh, I'd rather he gets to have his perfect proposal than we both have an okay one". I'm gonna do it.

Morning rolls around, and while I'm 'out for my jog like normal' I hit up a pawn shop for a temp ring (the ring pop thing is cute but NOT HIM). I found one I was at least confident wouldn't get ruined the first time he got his hands greasy (he fixes old machines as a hobby it's hot as hell), got back home, and hid the box in the toe of my nasty ass workout shoes in the bedroom closet, since I figured he'd check there last.

He was still asleep, because he stays up late no matter what and then is SHOCKED he's tired the next day, so I called and booked a table at our usual anniversary spot. (Side note about the 'he picks bad restaurants' thing. This isn't an 'I like Greek, you like Chinese' situation, dude's just BAD at finding places. He either assumes pricey is tasty and I get to eat some overrated gourmet bullshit, or he'll try and find something hip and underground and risk giving us food poisoning again, and he REFUSES to give up and pick somewhere we've been before when it's his turn to plan date night. I'm obsessed with him <3.) Date was set, I'd propose on the 21st.

Some of you might have noticed this, but fun fact! It's currently the 16th.

Last night I'm doing dishes and he's been sent to our room for mug collection duty, and he's taking FOREVER, so I go check just in case he found the ring, because the man's a gift tracking BLOODHOUND. Turns out he hasn't, he's found my Angry Box.

I assume other people have an Angry Box? Basically, we had this huge messy fight right when we first moved in together, and I never wanna let it get that bad again, so I have this shoebox where I keep a bunch of our stuff I can look at if we're fighting and hopefully cool off. There's one of those photo booth roll things, letters we wrote when he moved back with his parents for COVID, the wine cork from our first date, shit like that. Anyway, he's just sitting on the floor staring at it, and I explain about the Angry Box, and then he! Proposes!!! Kind of.

He definitely didn't have anything prepared, because by 'propose' I mean 'ugly cried & rambled at me for several minutes before I figured out it WAS a proposal', but once I got on the same page it was amazing. I said yes, and he had to admit he didn't have a ring for me because he was CONVINCED he'd win and I'd do it, so I grabbed mine because, yeah, he was right. He was like "this is the ugliest ring I've ever seen" and I was like yeah well the plan is to replace it later and he went "No. You can pry this off my cold dead fingers. After I'm buried with it." So I guess it's not a temporary ring anymore.

I'm just gonna go ahead and skip to this morning. I pointed out we still have the reservation, and he said I should propose there anyway because "We can get a free dessert. They have those creme brulee shot glasses you like. And for love, or something" and I said ok deal, but that means you gotta get me a ring to keep it fair, and his eyes LIT UP. When I swung by his work for lunch he was still on the phone with a jeweler and he had a whole page of notes on three other ones. Pray for me.

OH PS: I was RIGHT that he'd been the one behind the cat biting me, but it wasn't about the proposal stuff, it's because I paid my baby sister three dollars to shout 'fuck you' every single time he enters a room she's in for (if you ask me, he should be madder at my sister for charging so little), and he did it by giving her a bunch of treats for biting his hands too, so now neither of us can pet our baby girl without oven mitts on. HOLY SHIT I love this man.

Oh my goddddddd I love everything about this <333 I awwww'd out loud on a voice call, like, six times while reading. You two are friggin perfect for each other and so obviously smitten with each other and I wish y'all all the happiness in the world

PS Are y'all planning to have a big wedding? If so oh boy I can't WAIT to get that one in the inbox

Original post

[dollycxre]

yandere PJO! athena x demigod! darling 🗡🦉 - general hcs

!!WARNINGS!!: yandere, obsessive and stalkerish behavior, manipulation, really harsh and cruel punishments, Athena loves watching you suffer, clinginess, possessiveness, isolation, deceiving, jealousy, threats, mentions of violence, she's slightly toxic but her immortal heart is in the right place, I lied she's really toxic please don't ever get in a relationship with someone like her

pairing/s: yandere pjo!athena x demigod!darling

A/N: there wasn't enough athena content so I decided to do it myself :) also, this is my first fic and English is not my first language so I apologise for any spelling errors and such!

• you were a demigod who had somehow survived and become an adult, which now meant you had to find something to do. After the roman camp, camp Jupiter and your own camp; camp half-blood had made peace, the older campers from your camp had started going to the college in camp Jupiter. You were bored and decided that it wouldn't hurt to go to college and find something to do after the war against Gaia

• so you started studying harder in the mortal school you went to, preparing to apply to the college. it was a little hard to concentrate, with all the monsters attracted to your scent who had decided that you would make quite the tasty demigod snack and all the jobless mortals who somehow didn't find the time to grow up and instead decided to make your life as hard as possible

• you decided to drop out and study on your own instead, knowing that there was an option to take an entrance exam instead, something you found out from Chiron during an orientation Mr. D reluctantly conducted after mixing several ounces of wine into his diet coke

• to make your task easier, you went to the smartest people you knew; the athena campers, to help you study and of course they were more than happy to. And so, the daily visits to their cabin began

• and that, is when you caught the eye of the very goddess of wisdom and war who the cabin was dedicated to; Athena herself

• at first, she didn't think much of you, just another demigod in her cabin, probably to consult with one of her children, quite a common occurrence, considering how smart her children were, a trait they got from their mother

• but as you started to visit her cabin more and more frequently, she couldn't help but pay attention to you. to her surprise, you wouldn't leave her mind. you always occupied her thoughts and she found herself unable to concentrate

• at first she dismissed it, she always had mortals and demigods alike peak her interest but they faded eventually

• however, no matter how hard she tried, she found herself watching you for hours, learning everything about you and observing your smallest habits

• once she learned about your ambition to go to college and the reason why you visited her cabin, she used her powers to encourage you to focus, allowing your brain to learn easier and faster

• when she couldn't take the unhealthy way you invaded her thoughts anymore, she decided to act on it. she visited her demigod children in their dreams and told them to act as if she was a regular demigod when she showed up at camp. her children, confused but unable to derive their mother's true intentions and wanting to please her, agreed

• the next day, a well dressed yet stand offish girl, about your age, with stunningly intelligent gray eyes approached you outside your cabin and asked you to accompany her and show her around. you were a little stunned since you weren't popular or well known enough in camp to be actively sought out but agreed and started showing the mysterious girl around

• once you finished, she was claimed by athena and you lead her to Cabin 6. you found it odd how everyone in the cabin seemed to stress about her and flinch as if she was liable to burst into flames at any moment but you dismissed it.

• after all, even you felt the very clear aura radiating about the strange girl, the way she talked as if she was much much older and mature than she let on and the pure air of intelligence that seemed to hang about her, the way her piercing gray eyes seemed to calculate every move you made and how her thoughts seemed universes ahead, beyond human comprehension

• she made you lightly uneasy but you soon found out she was the only one who truly understood how your brain worked. with her, your studies went better than you could have ever imagined and you finished your work effortlessly with her. the athena campers however, still seemed jumpy around her, particularly Annabeth, the head counsellor and one of the seven to save the world against Gaia

• you dismissed it again, choosing to turn a blind eye to the girl who had caught your heart. it was almost impossible not to fall for her, the way she made you laugh just with her brutally honest yet knowledgeable words, the way her beautiful gray eyes picked up on every thought that passed in your head and the way she noticed and admired all your little mannerisms

• this girl was, of course, Athena in disguise, choosing to make you fall in love as an ordinary demigod as she knew that claiming you as hers would be a much easier task if your heart was already hers

• once she was positive that she had you wrapped around her finger, she immediately revealed her true form and confessed boldly to you and of course you accepted, mostly out of fear of what would happen to you if you rejected a goddess, not to mention one of the most powerful ones

• Athena, being the goddess of wisdom, is the smartest of the yandere gods. Once she has you, she won't make you immortal like other gods would, instead, she binds your life force to hers, which allows you to function as an immortal but feel pain like a mortal

• she loves using this against you for punishment and her most common punishments are letting you teeter on the brink of death while you suffer in pain and misery

• she's a paranoid goddess and keeps you far far away from the other Olympians. She knows that the minor gods are too terrified to try to cross her or even look in your direction so she doesn't worry about them. She's mostly worried that someone (*cough cough* aphrodite *cough cough*) will take your heart and the casualties of the wars that would follow would have a devasting effect on your mental health

• she only trusts Hestia and occasionally, Artemis with you

• Hestia because she would probably love and take care of you like a daughter in her hearth and Artemis because she would be too busy to pay enough attention to you for you to fall for her, only giving her attention to make sure you were alive and in one piece

• she will also sometimes drop you off at her cabin in camp half-blood, partially so you can reunite with your friends and visit the camp which had been your home for so long and partially so that her children can keep an eye on you

• she warns her children not to let you out of their sight and as a result, you are constantly tailed by atleast 2 of the cabin 6 campers, eager to please their difficult mother and earn her favor

• anyone who hurts you or dares to fall for you is in for a nasty fate

• Athena may not have as much power as Zeus or as much time to craft her punishments like Hera but being the goddess of wisdom and war comes with the additional perks of being able to think up one of the most horrible punishments ever known in a matter of rage filled seconds so most of the campers tend to stay out of your way, which is both depressing and a relief

• she wants you to be the perfect partner for her, someone gullible and dependant so she'll break you with no remorse or hesitation, knowing that you'll imerge from the trauma as her perfect lover

• if your godly parent dares to try to help you escape, she will find out and she will make sure you regret ever getting the ridiculous thought of leaving her

• if your godly parent is a minor god, they wouldn't dare help you, even if they feel pity for you or anger at Athena. She is not a force to be reckoned with and with love influencing her moves, she will make sure they wish they never even tried

• if your godly parent is one of the olympians, they would probably be more defiant and against your relationship but they would still be too scared to try to act too much on it. Athena is a ruthless goddess and though the most rational, for you, she would willingly start a war without caring for the casualties. They may try to help you escape but Athena is always several thoughts ahead. No matter which scenario, which plan, she's already thought about it and prepared for it accordingly, even preparing the horrifying punishment she will inflict upon you for going along with it

• she loves to use the powers you got from your godly parents against you, just to show you how helpless you are even in your own parent's domain

• her child of Hephaestus s/o was sent a bunch of material and celestial bronze by their father so that they can build something to help them escape? she will personally use those very materials to craft the most terrifying monster she can think of at that moment and let you fight it till you almost die from exhaustion, your only weapon a sword made of celestial bronze while she watches with cruel amusement as you scurry about like a rat in a maze

• oh you're a child of Poseidon who was visited by Poseidon in their dreams and advised on how to best use their powers to escape into their father's territory and claim his protection? she will drag you by your hair to the Underworld and throw you into river Styx and let you dissolve and drown in as you pointlessly fight for breath in what should be your area of expertise, your brain in too much pain and too panicked to think straight, until she's thinks you've learnt your lesson

• Athena has already memorized all your habits and routines. she knows everything about you and will instantly notice if even the slightest thing changes. Thats when she goes on panic mode and isolates you completely, not letting you see anyone but herself and spending time with you until she's convinced you've gotten all other thoughts but her out of your mind

• in short, if you want life to be as easy as you can possibly have it when your fate is entangled with an immortal, you should give in to her completely and as soon as possible which would make life a lot less painful for both you and her

• on a softer note, Athena is very proud of you and shows you off to everyone she possibly can once she decides you're too deeply in love with her to ever fall for anyone else

• she's your number 1 supporter and loves watching you work on your hobbies, praising everything and giving as much helpful criticism as she can

• she'd be delighted if one of your hobbies was also one of hers, such as reading or weaving and loves quietly reading to you in her calm, deep yet soothing voice while you play with her hair or weaving you the most gorgeous tapestries of you to make you feel as confident about your self as she can

• she knows exactly what to do to cheer you up and knows enough about you to know what you need through all your emotions which means that she's always comforting to talk to when you're going through difficulties. she's an amazing listener and will quietly listen to your problems and advise you on the best ways to deal with them

• she can easily make you laugh or cry with her words, her knowledge of you letting her know what evokes emotions in you and what doesn't which allows her to manipulate your emotions with ease, letting her twist you into whatever she wants

• Athena has never been a touchy-feely kind of goddess, nor has she ever wanted it. that is, until she met you, of course.

• she is surprisingly clingy and attached to you and definitely has separation anxiety. she loves having you touch her, the contact alone is enough to make her shudder in happiness and relief

• she feels like your affection is a drug she's addicted to and as a result, she's very needy, demanding that you go everywhere with her and will always have her hand around some part of you, making sure everyone knows who's you are while satisfying her need for your touch

• she may decide to immortalize your closest friends and family if you really desperately ask beg for her to and if you behave well for her

• however, from then on, her neediness increases tenfold. she believes that since she's done you such a huge favor by allowing you to have your loved ones coexist and keep you company for eternity, you should always be ready to drop everything and come running to her when she feels like she wants or needs it

• doesn't really care about the possibility of one of your friends falling for you, she knows both of you will be too scared to ever act on it and if it goes too far, she always has the cruelest punishments prepared for both of you, a message that comes across plain and simple: don't take what's hers.

• she could quietly stare at you and study you for HOURS because no matter what you're doing, she finds you to be the most gorgeous and fascinating person on the earth, a creature so perfect, they managed to catch the attention of the goddess who always believed that she was completely immune to the magic of love, someone who relied on rational thought rather than feelings

• every time she looks at aphrodite, all she sees is you <3

• well you if you were a self absorbed, cunning, well dressed, 7 foot tall goddess

• the point is, she loves you, she has never and will never love anyone like she loves you and you will be her pride and joy, always by her side, till the end of time, living with her and loving her till existence itself crumbles to dust.

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

A/N: heyyy, so this turned out longer than I thought it would but the amount of ideas I kept getting made it kinda impossible not to add but yea :) I hope you enjoyed!

[mya-jaa5]

my affection

part tew 

As you walk out the bathroom smelling good and freshly washed up, you take a good look around your surroundings, and realize you’ve never been here before… you’ve been to scaramouche house before, he told you his mother wanted to meet you and invited you to dinner with them… but last minute she called and said she couldn’t make it. you wondered if scaramouche cared she couldn’t make it, he didn’t seem phased but you still enjoyed dinner with him…

but this wasn’t his mother home… what is this place? as you walk down stairs in your socks, trying to quietly get down stairs, not wanting to alert him. 

his place was pretty beautiful, Scaramouche was rich, you knew it too. but this was almost like- bigger than a normal house…. and you don’t remember Scara telling you he had another place… maybe this is someone else’s? No then he wouldn’t have told you that you have to stay… 

you make it to the hall way and see there’s a cracked door shining light, so you go into a that room, and you found the dinner table, the two plates of food was already placed, he made lasagna with garlic bread and a mini spinach salad. it was a small square table, meaning you’d be super close to him… and currently you don’t want to be next to him.

you stare at the food and suddenly someone comes in startling you, you look up and see it’s a… butler? He was holding two wine cups filled a little above halfway… 

He looked surprised seeing you, but didn’t say anything. If anything he immediately turned his gaze down, he quickly set down the cups at their designated place, and left back to the kitchen you assume, you can also hear clinking in that room he disappeared to, you wanted to check what’s in there, slowly walking up to that door… But..

“How was your bath? I hope you feel relaxed after it, i definitely do” Scaramouche saids, stretching one of his arms. 

You stop walking towards the kitchen and turn around to face him looking irritated, you guys are kinda far from each other currently. 

“What is all this.”

You say straightforwardly.

He looks at the table, then the food, then back at you.

“It’s for you, it’s clearly a dinner? Did you forget i told you about this before i left the bathroom?”

You started getting annoyed.

“I know what you said, i meant is this to try and win me over? To get me to forgive you? It wont happen.”

Scara chuckles and walks up to you.

“You know you gotta calm down, think of this as a kind act… I did this all the time anyways, what’s so different from now?”

He places his hands on both your shoulder and squeezes it a little. 

“Loosen up y/n… Your hungry aren’t you? You’ve been asleep for a while since you passed out.” 

You were gonna say something before scaramouche suddenly grabbed your hand and pulled you to the table, sitting you down to the chair next to his. You sat up a little to try and change your seat to across the table, but he grabs your arm, harshly.

“Where are you going?”

Scara said sharply, he didn’t need you trying to get away from him.

“I’m gonna… Sit across from you.”

He looks you up and down like he was judging you.

“No just sit here, your already sitting anyways. Don’t make this difficult” 

He finished his statement and let go of your arm…

What? Almost like he threatened you… 

But you decided to stay silent, he’s crazy enough to kill you parents over a guy you were only texting…. 

You picked up your fork and look at your dinner, you can’t lie it looks really good… So you dip your fork into the lasagna first. Bringing it to your mouth and biting it to the food… Very tasty… The flavors were amazing, everything was perfect, you ate the garlic bread and the salad too, you didn’t realize how hungry you were. 

“You look like your enjoying your food… I know you don’t want to speak to me but… Since your living here you have to abide to my rules”

He watches you eat your food peacefully.

ofc he has rules…

You continue to eat your food not really giving him a glance. Sorts giving him attitude.

“Look at me while i’m talking to you”

He suddenly snapped.

You wanted to sigh but, you only looked up at him so he can finish what he has to say, so you can continue eating, but his face slightly softens once you looked at him.

He clears his throat.

“y/n… let’s make a toast.”

Slightly confused you look at your wine cup, and take it into your hand bringing close to you.

“What are you toasting”

“We… are toasting to… New beginnings, to a fresh start, a new lifestyle, us, and forever…”

He raises his glass towards yours to toast with you, you wondered what would happen if you didn’t click your cup with his but, let’s not find out. 

You clink your glass cup with scaramouche, and he smiles before drinking his wine. You drink yours as well tasting nothing but bitterness, which your still not used too. Now you feel like your fully in this, like there’s no turning back, it’s almost like he made you promise to him… Without you saying anything at all, you wondered if life was better like this, not like you would ever have to worry financially… But that’s just the bright side… 

You shared few words to each other and you finished your food, you look over at scaramouche who barely ate his food.

“you barely ate”

“oh? Don’t worry about it i ate before you woke up… why you worried about me?” 

He smirks, teasing you.

“No- It was just a question nothing further than that” 

scaramouche glares at you but it goes away.

“I’m glad you ate, are you tired?”

You pounder your answers

“um no not yet… What time is it?”

Scaramouche looks at the clock

“it’s 1:23am”

It was pretty late… But you weren’t that tired, you caught up on all your sleep while passed out so..

“Wheres my phone?”

He looks at you then nonchalantly says

“i threw it away. you don’t need it, i don’t need you calling people for help, or reminiscing the past, the past is over with get over it.”

he saids sharply…

Your world shatters once you hear that, he threw your phone away? Your phone that had all your memories of your friends… Your parents… And everything to not be bored on your phone… All taken away in one night. It’s not like you can’t live without your phone, sometimes you restrict yourself from using it to spend your time doing something useful, but this just feels like being grounded or something.

“Its… Gone for good?”

Scaramouche sighs

“Yes it’s gone, don’t worry about it, we have tv, cable, streaming services, anything you want.”

You deeply sigh, you won’t let him see your tears again for that night… You wipe your mouth with a napkin and look at your empty plate.

Scara then suddenly gets up from his seat.

“Lets go now, we’ll watch a movie, then go to sleep, come.”

_____

He grabs your hand gently and pulls your from your seat, then leading you to the living room. While you followed behind, as expected the walk there was beautiful, looking at everything 

once in the living room he sat down and pulled you down on the couch as well, the lights were all off and only the that shined light was the tv. 

“Any recommendations?” 

As you were about to recommend a movie he looked away from you and started looking for a movie.

“Never mind, you don’t get to choose”

He always did that, it was a habit of his to see you get your hopes up, just for them to go down because of him… You never took it wholeheartedly tho, it was a clear joke.

You go to get a cover that’s on the side of the couch to put over your legs. while it seems like scara had a movie already planned out. You slightly sit away from him so your not directly touching him. He doesn’t seem to notice as he stares at the tv.

This was normal for you guys, you’ve watched a few movies or shows with just him, but it’s does feel a little different now… But you still had your old tendencies, you were used to this.

(He played “Under Paris”)

The movie starts playing after the intros, as it plays your just focused on it, he picked a good movie. The actors are good looking, and you were invested. You give out slight reactions during the movie which oblivious to you scara was watching, mainly you, how could he choose a great movie and not watch it? 

He took the other end of the blanket that was covering your legs and also covered his legs, moving slightly closer to you.

“This movie pretty good huh?”

You mumbled a slight “Yeah..”

Since your still mad at him.

Scara smiled a little and hugged you, really out of no where it even surprised you

You tried to pull away.

“Scara stop you already touched me in the bathroom.”

you said.

“Its simple affection y/n.”

You don’t tend to get overwhelmed easily, but you do when things don’t go your way, your a bit selfish, but wasn’t he too after kidnapping you?

“Stop scara- Your being annoying”

You were able to say this, because you’ve told him this many times while together, you didn’t think much of it, you easily brushed it off but…

Suddenly his voice got really deep and sounded angry, he pulls away and looks straight at you.

“Excuse me? What the fuck is your issue y/n? Do you have a problem with me?”

He said angrily.

“Y/n your acting as if all this between us just disappeared, you left me for like 3 weeks?? You basically disrespected me.”

“…What? i disrespected you?? I literally stayed by your side even when you made me not go out with my friends-“

Scaramouche cuts you off.

“And? What your saying you didn’t enjoy it? It’s not like i told you to drop them, I took you out on dates, i spoiled you with gifts, stop acting like you never liked it.”

You can’t lie that month where he suddenly got super possessive was a little fun, sure he always stole you from your friends, but you got to talk to him, and spend time with him. I guess him taking more time to focus on both of yours relationship did build the bond a bit stronger…

“i was just taking our relationship to the next step, but nooo i’m sooo possessive and soo controlling, you had to break up with me. I put all my focus on us…” 

he saids the last part darkly…

he stands up and walks away from you but still in the room.

“If you don’t understand, i’ll make you understand y/n, your not just gonna switch up and stop loving me.

He turns and faces you, with a scowl on his face.

“You still love me, and even you know that, so why pretend?” 

he gives you one last glare, then he walked away, not even letting you have a say in the argument… leaving you in the living room to just stare at the tv, the movie wasn’t even over… whatever…

it was almost 3 am now… Really late. So you decide to go to sleep on the couch, not really wanting to seek Scara. You grab the blanket and pull it over you, getting a couch pillow was enough comfort for you, you lay down and turn the tv off leaving you in the dark.

You always enjoyed the dark, it was soothing, the only time you’d get to yourself, since everyone would be asleep at night, you wondered if he really was gonna make you stay at his mansion forever, then if breaking up with him was the best choice… was he really just putting his focus on the relationship? he makes you sound selfish… like you used him. anyways… you reminisce your other friends, but decide not to think and go to sleep… you slowly fall asleep for the night.

____

After scaramouche left the living room, he went to his room, his room was quite big. He had everything he wanted, a huge home, butlers to do everything for him, unlimited streaming services, and he was rich, what more could he want? but even that gets draining…

He was missing something in his life currently, that spark of… Not even excitement… He couldn’t understand, he was mad at you for treating him like that, it’s like you hated him, maybe killing your parents was over the top… But were you really gonna hand yourself over to him if he asked before? That’s why he spent all his time preparing to ask you that big question, sure it was quick but you only had one more year left of school, you can start early… But you don’t understand, it’s okay.

It’s fine it doesn’t matter now, it’s only the first day, ofc anyone would be mad at the change of their situation, especially if they were forced… But his head didn’t tell him that. You’ll learn to love the spaciousnesses of the mansion, you’ll see that the only person who was waiting for you was him, and not anyone else, if he has to prove it then so be it, he’ll just have to plan ahead, be a step ahead…. you’ll learn to love him deeply, even more than before. He sat on his bed, in his thoughts already setting up a plan… Soon he looked at the time and he laid down on his bed.

“It’s only the first day… Ill make progress..”

He says silently to himself, almost like it’s a promise to himself, he falls asleep shortly afterwards….

——

this took me a lil, idk if i even like it i might let it stale a lil then edit it again lol 🤧 idk if i like this y’all omg pls lmk 😭 idk where this finna go 👻

did y’all see the bet awards omg childish gambino 😭 and he’s releasing a movie or show im so excited for it he’s like my dream, fan girling rn but i love him and everything he does 😭😭

also should i like do smut next chapter idk i feel like this going slow

[theoddcatlady]

The Mom Group

Joining a mom group changed my life. Honestly I thought I’d be all alone when my husband and I left our hometown for his new job. That was bad enough, but the fact I’d just had little Charlotte three months prior to said move made it actual hell.

I was out on the front yard cradling my fussy child when an angel came down from heaven, and that angel was my neighbor, Karen. She had truly mastered being a mother, all she had to do was hold Charlotte and my baby girl was cooing and quieting right down for her nap. Granted she had done this three times with her kids Staci, Cydney, and Kurtis, but she was exactly what I needed.

Several of the moms on the street were part of the group and I got to meet them all that Saturday for some much needed wine and chill time. Norma, April, Melody and Camilla. Each of them had kids under the age of ten and April was also a first time new mom, although she sadly joined the group before her first miscarriage.

“It was a hard time,” She said as she took a sip from her glass, “But everyone helped me through it. And now I have Zoe, and I wouldn’t trade anything for her.”

It made life a lot easier, having all these other moms around. But of course, it took me a while to settle in, be really accepted, you know? The one thing I was never invited to for those first few months was Friday night. Girl’s Night. The kids would be stashed with the husbands, I’d see everyone else’s cars parked over at Karen’s house. I didn’t know what went on at these girl’s nights, only that they never asked me to come along.

I decided one day that it was time I invited myself. I mean, maybe they didn’t ask me to come over because they assumed I knew I was welcome. I got a bottle of this really tasty mango wine, made sure Charlotte was in bed, and after telling my husband not to wait up, I marched on over to Karen’s house.

The party had just gotten started when I knocked on the door. Norma answered it, wineglass in hand. Her eyebrows raised as she saw me waiting outside. “Hi!” I raised up my bottle. “I saw you all coming over, mind if I join in?”

For a second, I saw Norma doubt, but before she could open her mouth to make an excuse Karen appeared from out of the hall. “Oh! Tammy, it’s so great to see you! Come on in,” She grinned widely and beckoned me in.

Proud of myself for taking the initiative, I glanced at Norma, who pursed her lips for a moment before shrugging and stepping aside to make way for me. Karen took the bottle from my hands and grinned. “Oooh, thank you, but I already provided the drinks for tonight. You can do it next time, or who knows, maybe we’ll go a little crazy and we’ll need it. You’re just in time, we were about to start reading!”

And now I finally had an answer for what went on during girl’s night- book club! Enjoy a few glasses of wine, discuss whatever we were reading for the week. I loved to read, well, at least before Charlotte. I barely had the time now.

The living room was lit by soft candle light. April and Melody were lounging on the couch while Camilla reclined on the armchair and flipped through a book on her lap. It was a large thing, bigger than some Bibles I’ve seen, and my father was a minister- I’ve seen some big Bibles.

“Cam, how dare you get started without us!” Karen said with a laugh, taking a seat in the other armchair. Norma seemed to relax now and she had scuttled off to the kitchen to grab an extra chair.

April noticed me and her eyes widened. “Oh, Tammy! Ummm, Karen-”

“Don’t worry about it, April, we can still continue with tonight’s activities,” Karen said, brushing her concerns off.

April and Melody scooched over to give me some room and I took my seat. “Soooo, what are we reading this week?” I asked.

Norma chuckled as she plopped down a dining room chair next to me and sat on it. “What we read every week, unless Camilla’s husband found another volume?”

“I’m afraid not, but we’re still going through my great grandmother’s library.” Camilla nudged up her glasses before handing the book to Karen. “I imagine she had more of this collection.”

Karen slipped off the dust cover, said dust cover was originally for the Great Gatsby but it clearly didn’t fit this monster of a book. The actual cover was made of black leather, and I saw the pages were lined with gold. “Is it a Bible?” I asked, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.

I saw April’s lips twitch into a barely concealed smirk and Norma chuckled again, but Melody was the one that answered me. “Oh, not even close. Camilla, do you care to explain?” Melody asked.

Camilla nodded and had to push her glasses up again. “My great grandmother was a wealthy and incredibly intelligent woman, if not slightly eccentric. One thing she had a passion for was collecting books, she quite literally owned a library in her home. Two years ago, she unfortunately passed away, holding the book that Karen is now.”

I felt an uncontrollable shiver going up my spine as Karen began flipping through the pages. “What’s it called?” I asked.

“There’s no name on the cover and no author listed, but I imagine there may have been dozens or even hundreds of authors.” Karen tapped her fingers against the pages. “Since it is your first night here… how about you pick a page?”

The mood of the room rapidly shifted from casual to tense. Even the happy go lucky Melody seemed a bit off put. “Karen, are you sure that’s a good idea?” She asked.

“Why not? It’s not like she can do anything with it without our help.” Karen stood and crossed the room, setting the book on my lap. The weight of it was immense, easily making the textbooks I carried in college seem light as feathers. “Just… go with your heart, Tammy. Pick a page that just makes you feel right.”

I almost declined and passed it off to April, but that sudden burst of curiosity had me opening it up and turning the pages.

The book was all written by hand. Each page felt so fragile that if I breathed on them wrong they would crumble. It was the illustrations that got me, accurate depictions of human anatomy, plants that I couldn’t name even if my life depended on it, pictures of women throwing their heads back with a wail, holding knives above their bleeding arms, and… well, demons. I suppose they might have been actually demons.

“This is…” I swallowed and shook my head. “This is a little creepy.”

Karen nodded in sympathy. “We all thought it was at first too. But it’s actually not too bad, I imagine there’s some Stephen King that’s a lot worse. You feel anything?”

I was about to respond with a ‘not yet’ when I turned another page and I felt my heart catch in my throat.

The image was horrifying, of a man upside down with his throat slit open, and underneath was another demon with its forked tongue out, lapping up droplets of blood. But it was the title on the page that really had me pause.

‘Converse with The Satisfied One’

I knew this was the page I wanted to read. I tapped the picture with my finger. “I think I like this one,” I said.

April peered at it before grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Oh, you got good taste! Karen, do you think tonight’s a good night for a summoning?” She asked.

Karen shrugged. “Well, why not? It’s what Tammy wants to try.”

The women all gathered around, kneeling in front of me. Camilla gestured for me to read the page and I cleared my throat before doing so. Or well, trying to do so. The words coming out of my mouth sure as hell weren’t English, but I got a distinct impression about what to do. And so did the others, as they all got up and began to commence with the instructions.

“Please tell me you didn’t forget to grab a sacrifice this week,” Norma said, giving Melody a long stare as she pulled several black and red candles out from a basket under the coffee table.

Melody froze while she sharpened a silver knife. “Shit! It was my turn?” She asked.

Norma groaned and looked ready to slap her when Karen cleared her throat. “Don’t worry, I remembered that Melody always forgets when it’s her turn to bring the sacrifice. He’s in the basement.”

Melody sighed with relief while Camilla and April ran for the stairs. Karen dragged a positively enormous cauldron out from the coat closet, behind all the stuff stored away for winter. “Don’t worry about anything, Tammy, you can help us prep next time,” She said with a grunt.

So I just watched as preparations continued.

Norma grabbed what I initially thought was one of the kid’s toy chests in the corner of the room and dragged it to the center, popping it open and it transforming into a miniature table. A miniature table with chains.

As Melody lit the candles, I heard April and Camilla drag something behind them. I turned to watch them bring in a man, stripped down to the waist and clearly out of it. The women all teamed up to tie him down to the table, his neck hanging over the edge and above the cauldron.

Karen handed me the knife and all the other women joined hands. “Before the sacrifice, we need you to take a piece of yourself,” She said.

“I have to… what?”

It took me until this moment to realize that each of the women in this room were in fact missing a part of themselves. April’s hair was carefully arranged to hide the fact her right ear was gone, Camilla’s left ear was missing too. The tips of Norma’s left fingers were missing, along with the entirety of her ring finger. Melody was missing the big toe on her right foot, only visible when she wasn’t wearing shoes like she was now. And Karen… Karen pulled down her blouse to reveal her chest. Her breasts had been removed, the nasty scarring making abundantly clear that it wasn’t done in some sort of hospital room.

“It doesn’t have to be a lot of you, but you have to remove something. Something permanent, not just your hair or fingernails.” Karen pulled her shirt back up as she stared at me. “If you can’t do this, then you’re free to go. You won’t remember anything of this night, but you will remember that Friday nights just… aren’t for you. We won’t think anything less of you either. You’re still our friend, Tammy.”

I thought for a few minutes. I looked at the front door. I looked at the knife.

I took a deep breath before I gripped the knife ever tighter and brought it up to my face. I didn’t let myself hesitate before jabbing it into my eyesocket. I heard Melody gag as I worked the knife around, managing to pop the eye out and slicing it free. It landed on the ground before I let the pain hit me.

I wailed as I clung onto the side of my face, Karen gingerly picked up the eyeball before dropping it into the cauldron. “That’s good, that’s a great choice, the beings in the book will appreciate it. Do you think you can make the final cut?” She asked, nodding at the barely conscious man at the table.

I shook my head, I couldn’t think, I just hurt so much. Karen planted a rather maternal kiss on my forehead before taking the knife from me and slicing open the man’s throat.

The cauldron filled with blood as the women around me began to chant, and I don’t know how I managed to join them between my sobs but I did. The candles all glowed impossibly bright before snuffing out one by one until the chanting was done and there was only one left.

For a moment, all was quiet. I was getting close to passing out when I saw something crawl out of the fireplace. At first I thought I was seeing things, the slinking black shape crawling on the ground. I saw its face, its twisted features grinning before it blew out the final candle.

Now I couldn’t see, but I could hear. I could hear it slurping and lapping up the blood in the cauldron, draining it dry of its contents. I heard it walk around the room, whispering things I could not make out. It got closer and closer until it finally stopped in front of me. I did my best not to throw up at the smell of its breath, like rotting meat and spoiled milk.

“… You come for satisfaction?” The quiet voice whispered, its acrid breath tickling my ear.

Unable to speak, I just nodded.

I felt its lips brush the spot where Karen had kissed me before its twisting tongue licked at my gouged out eye. The pain slowly ebbed away until it was a dull ache.

“Feel satisfied, new daughter of the coven.”

I think I fainted after that, only waking up the next morning to birds singing and the smell of coffee. The cauldron was gone, the candles put away, the table was back to being a toy chest, it was like none of it had ever happened.

The other women had long gone home, but Karen made sure to text my husband to let him know I just konked out on the couch after I had a little too much to drink, and I looked so peaceful that she just couldn’t wake me. She also let him know that I’d accidentally cut my eye, so that’s why I’d be wearing that patch for the next few days.

It’s funny though, the eye might be gone but I can see just as normal. Even with the patch on, my sight is strangely unhindered. And the creature was right, I feel satisfied. Even when I don’t live up to my own expectations, I’m strangely okay with it. I’m not anxious, I’m not constantly putting myself down when things go wrong. I feel good.

And according to Karen, the sacrificing the body part deal was just a one time thing! I passed my initiation into the coven and it’ll all be smooth sailing from here. I hope this Friday goes even better than the last.

[greypetrel]

Pan dei Morti

Aka Deads' Bread. (Image source) (recipe I translated - My family moved to Milan but we're originally from Parma, I don't have a family recipe)

They're little soft biscuits that are typical of Milan and the area of Lombardy north of the city (Brianza). You ONLY find them in bakeries there and around All Saints' Day (Ognissanti), when the tradition in Catholic Italy wants that you should go and visit your dead ones in the cemetery, change the flowers, pay your respects. (It's mostly a thing that grannies do, nowadays, but it's a bank holiday and what's not to enjoy about a day home with a seasonal treat) The name comes not because the cakes are meant to be offered to the deads, but because All Saints' Day is from this tradition also called "Giorno dei Morti", Day of the Deads (not to be confounded with Dia de los Muertos in Mexico, they're different celebrations and shouldn't be mixed up!), and it's litterally "the bread you eat around that day".

They're delicious and tasty, and @brother-genitivi expressed interest for the recipe... (and listen, exchanging recipes with people all over the world is something really great about the internet)

Recipe under the cut! Note: I am European and don't do imperial measurements. Forgive me if I keep the metric, I don't trust my conversions since when I found out that British and American cups are different.

INGREDIENTS:

All purpose flour, 250g

Almond cookies (Amaretti), 100g

Caster sugar, 300g

Almonds, 120g (or the same quantity of almond flour)

Raisins, 120g

Dessert wine (sweet wine), 100ml. You can substitute it with apple juice or grape juice, same quantity.

Unflavoured, plain biscuits, 100g

Ladyfingers, 300g

Cocoa powder, 50g

Dried figs, 120g

6 egg whites

Cinnamon, 1 teaspoon

Nutmeg, a pinch (optional)

Baking powder, 10g

I have unfortunately no idea on how to substitute the egg whites in baking if you want to make it vegan, and I've never tried anything to have an educated guess over tutorials online, if anyone have an intel I'll edit the recipe with pleasure! (And I'd be glad to know myself) All the spices can be skipped if you don't like them, and if you like me don't like figs, use your favourite dried fruit, it goes without saying.

PROCEDURE:

Wash and soak your raisins, either in water or in the wine/juice of the recipe.

Grind together the biscuits, ladyfingers and almond cookies until you obtain a fine grind. Move it in a bowl.

Grind the almonds to a fine flour, then add it to the biscuits in the bowl. Do the same with the dried figs.

Add to the bowl the flour, cocoa, cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg (optional).

Drain the raisins if you soaked them in water, and add them to the bowl. If you soaked them in the wine/juice, add that too.

Add the egg whites, and start mixing everything together by hand or with a wooden spoon until you obtain a compact batter. Move it to a flat surface, floured, and keep working it with your hand until the batter is firm and solid. Form a sausage of it and cut it in thick slices.

The slices should then be modelled and flattened so they're fairly thick (1cm of depth, the recipe says, but you do you) and shaped like longue tongues. They're not really small!

Put them on a baking tray, minding not to place them too close together: they'll rise a little in the baking.

Cook them in a pre-heated oven at 180°C/350°F for around 25 minutes (use a toothpick to check if they're cooked inside). When they're ready, powder them with powdered sugar and let them cool.

The recipe wants you to leave them alone for at least two days, so they'll get soft, but listen. No judgement here, eat them whenever you'd like, life is bitter as it is without restraining yourself not to eat cake for two days.

[auckie]

Ok no actually I wanna hear your Trader Joe’s opinions I’m really into the orange strawberry banana juice, the bruschetta sauce, the cranberry lime juice sparkling water and cinnamon schoolbook cookies

You and I agree on the CLSW (cranlime sparkling), haven’t tried the others but I’ll look into them. The normal lime one is also amazing on its own, as well as a mixer for both alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. Summer must!

There’s so much shit I’m obsessed with, I’ll try and list the most important ones

English crumpets

Mango kefir

Brown sugar oat creamer

Chocolate oat milk

Simpler wines brand sparkling white canned wine

Pfeffernüsse

Chocolate babka

Brioche sliced bread

Danish Kringle

Pinks and whites shortbread cookies

Joe Joe’s gluten free classic Oreo knock off cookie

Madras lentils (boxed kind is good too)

Canned giant baked beans in tomato sauce

The non joes brand oat milk coffee and kombucha but you can get those anywhere

Their candles, two in one grapefruit mint hair wash (I despise two in one products but this one doesn’t foam and is more of a cleansing conditioner I use in between shampoo and regular conditionings), and many other non food items. I’ve bought their towels, seasonal decor (usually those felt garlands), face lotions and oils. Loved all of them. Usually I only restock on the lotion, hand soap, and lavender laundry bags. Their detergent is nice tho, and I’ve also gotten their wool laundry balls but you really only ever gotta buy them like once. They also usually have pretty cute cards at the checkout! I like their cheaper flowers too, but there’s also a lot of very cute seasonal items they carry that I just can’t justify buying bc of price (have you seen their felt sunflowers? So adorable)

Simpler times potato chips

Crispy Crunchy Champignon Mushroom Snack

Fruit leather bars

Dried orange rings

Lox (labeled as smoked salmon iirc)

Both their Tunisian and kalamata olive oil

Vodka sauce

Roasted red pepper and tomato canned soup

Canned vegetable soup

Gone bananas chocolate covered frozen bananas (gone berry crazy strawberries are good too but like a dollar or two more expensive)

Jasmine rice in the frozen isle

Lime popsicles

Steak and stout meat pie

Pastry Bites Feta Cheese & Caramelized Onions

Canned tuna*

*especially with the gluten free microwaveable mac n cheese (I’m not gluten free if you’ve noticed, I literally just prefer some of their gluten free products. Same with the oat milk. I’m not lactose free but I just really like it)

Most of the frozen wontons I’ve tried

Chimichurri rice (goes great with the aforementioned roasted red pepper box soup, and chopped onions, green peppers, and spinach cooked in a wok)

Chicken sausage

Butternut squash gnocchi, iirc the potato gnocchi is good too

Most of their dried pastas

Almond and chocolate filled frozen croissants

The bars of chocolate you find at the check out that come in packs of threes

The weird meat sticks at the checkout too

Frozen hashbrowns

For whatever reason, their frozen green beans and asparagus is so much better than other generic brands I’ve tried

Any of the canned olives but esp the kalamata

Sun dried tomatoes

The produce is okay, a little pricey but they had brown Mexican tomatoes once that fucked hard. The herbs trustworthy too but really where is it not

Any of their chocolate covered nuts

Their fucked up chocolate covered chips, sometimes found in their snack mixes

Peanut butter pretzel snacks

Their dried seaweed isn’t my fav, but it’s not bad. I think it’s overpriced tho but tbf I usually get huuuge, less flavored packs from Costco

Pine nuts but good Gd are they expensive

They have cute, weird heirloom hybrid squashes during the fall a lot too that are pretty tasty

Things I’ve gotten from there that I hated? I didn’t like their orange chicken, ANY of the cereals I’ve gotten from there oddly enough, their pecorino Romano only comes grated and mixed iirc and I didn’t care for it. Some of their beers have made me scowl but also those are all random brands. But their wine (yes, even SHAW. But shoutout to coco bon red blend and blue fin moscato RIP!) has never does me wrong…except for any other flavor of the simpler wines canned ones. I can only do the sparkling white and literally no else I've forced to drink it has liked it! some of their salads have done me wrong. the canned chickpeas and dolmas were off. and some of their pricy juice mixes left me a bit disappointed.

[so-much-for-subtlety]

Salad wrapped 2023

I don’t have Spotify so I’m just going to post some ratings of new salads I’ve made this year from worst to best.

Beet/radish/greek yoghurt type thing

🥬 it was fine but not in a rush to make again. Only made it because I had so many beets and radishes to use from the CSA (and this salad barely made a dent in my surplus).

Roast batata & pumpkin with avo and greens

🥬🥬 this is nice in winter months, and I also made it with some nice garlic bread and smooshed the soft roast veges onto the bread which was even better. Will make again.

Greekish salad with feta and lemon dressing

🥬🥬 Don't have much to say. Tasty! will make again for sure.

🥬🥬🥬 Couscous with cauliflower roasted in harissa sauce

I tried making this with both maftoul and also pearl couscous (both I think are technically not 'couscous' but I'm not sure why not) and both were delicious. I don't tend to like cauliflower, but roasted in the harissa was soooo good. I was using a harissa sauce from Haven's Kitchen and they stopped making it, I've tried a couple times with other brands harissa paste but haven't found a replacement I love as much.

Endive radicchio salad with cranberry dressing

🥬🥬🥬 Only made this twice (thanksgiving week) and it's just so beautiful! this was a really fun salad to make, but I think need to get best quality radicchio so it's not too super bitter.

Grilled chicken summer salad with cold noodles

🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬 I made this after seeing an instagay post it from their fire island summer share so I recreated. I marinated the chicken in a ginger/soy type mix and everything was DELICIOUS. only trouble is that at least uptown nyc I've found it hard to reliably find mung beans which I think are essential ingredient here for the crunch factor.

French-ish (?) strawberry fennel salad

🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬 I recreated this after ordering it at a wine bar I was at for some standup comedy and made multiple times, but don't have any great pics of it. It's strawberry compressed in liquor (I used a rhubarb liquor), goat cheese, shaved fennel, and roasted hazelnuts in a white onion vinaigrette. THIS IS GOOD. It was also my first time using shaved fennel and surprised me how good that occasional bite of fresh licorice taste is in a salad.

[ao3cassandraic]

Firstly, can I say thank you for all your GO meta. I've spent much of my insomnia soaked night reading through your musings and the replies, and almost all of what I've read makes so much sense to me.

There is a question, honestly, but first..

I read GO when it first came out, and have probably been an avid Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman fan for longer than many fans have been alive. Loved the book, adored the first series, found myself completely floored by S2. The last 15 is probably. - no that's wrong, Definitely - the most beautiful, tragic, heart wrenching scene I've ever encountered. Realising what just broke you was played out by two middle aged, straight actors but all you've seen are two beings whose universe is each other and who are being ripped apart by what they are feeling. I don't have the words, I really don't. Sublime acting & writing.

My response surprised me, I couldn't let it go and I worried at it like a (small, red eyed) dog with a bone. Then I found Tumblr and realised I was far from alone. I've read all the theories and a fair bit of fan fiction (re Michael Sheen, "I love that the fans write their own stories, even if most of them involve David & I having sex"). Some of the POV resonate some don't. Yours do much more than most.

After all that, mine isn't a huge question, it's just a niggle I have. Maggie. Something doesn't feel right there and I wondered if she had set anything off on your radar? Given that NOTHING is accidental in a Gaiman story..

Maggie can't spell and it was highlighted. UGRENCY. (T.O.S.T.E, and Angle anyone) Maggie doesn't eat, though she loves a skinny latte, and doesn't drink alcohol. Claims the record shop is failing, but sends a pub in Edinburgh music for their jukebox? She was never a teenager, and whilst claiming to be tired of being scared is completely fearless. Won't leave Az on his own, is unfazed by demons and doesn't question what Cr & Az are, unlike Nina.

I'm not sure where I'm going with it, but something is off and I wondered if you had any thoughts?

Ok, enough, I'll stop rambling and step out of your questions now. Thank you for bearing with me if you made it this far.

First I just want to acknowledge and validate your adoration for Good Omens! This fandom exists For Reasons! Cheers, and thank you for your ask.

I've seen other folks wondering what you're wondering about Maggie; you're definitely not alone. For the little it's worth, I don't actually think she's ethereal or occult. I think she's a human being with some quirks. (I also can't agree with "doesn't eat" -- we don't see her eat, and she doesn't accept Aziraphale's offer of an Eccles cake, but the former is likely happenstance and the latter, well, I wouldn't accept an Eccles cake either if I had just taken such a giant monetary gift from someone. It's just too much; I'd feel that I was taking advantage and not being properly grateful.)

I actually don't drink alcohol, and I assure you I'm fully 100% no-question-about-it human. (Though there are those who would say I'm more than slightly demonic.) I had an alcoholic parent, which shaped my young life in some not-amazing ways, and I never understood how they got to be that way, so I decided to stay safe and just... not try drinking.

When I got older and more confident in my ability to steer clear of alcoholism, I tried a bit of wine and a bit of brandy and a bit of other thises and thats and discovered that I plain old didn't like them! So I drink non-alcoholic cocktails (I love this fashion! N/A cocktails can be creative and tasty!) and locally-made sodas and if that makes me weird, okay, I'm weird. It doesn't make me an angel. Doesn't even make me a "better" (whatever that is) person -- it's morally neutral. It just is.

(I'm not a skinny-latte person, though, in case you were wondering whether I'm Maggie. Chai is my coffeeshop preference.)

A thematic reason I think Maggie is human has to do with an extension of the Good Omens axiom that Heaven and Hell are just names for sides. Demons, angels, a vulnerability or a trick more or less and other than that they're basically the same. I want to believe that in the GOverse, that's true of humans too -- we have more in common with angels and demons than anyone cares to admit, despite the difference in lifespan and our superior inventiveness. Possibly including quirkiness!

I want this to be true because it means Crowley and Aziraphale needn't be lonely together on Earth even if Heaven and Hell do finally chuck them out for good. I want this to be true because it adds some intriguing resonance to a Second Coming of Jesus story. I want it to be true because I want Good Omens to keep saying go-be-properly-good to humanity.

I could be wrong, of course. I've had several of my headcanons contradicted by Word of Gaiman already, barely a month after s2 came out. I'm sure more will go the way of the dodo, and there are a few things I've said that I don't actually believe any more myself.

But I want Maggie to be human because I like her. I like her shy awkward approach to Nina. I like her willingness to explain How To Human When You're Crying to Aziraphale without shaming him for not knowing. I like her loyalty to her benefactor, which she doesn't trumpet but which is brave as all get-out when the demons show up. I like her flipping the bird at the demons, creatively defending the bookshop, standing up to Shax, giving Nina space to work things out.

Sometimes we humans are okay, you know?

[sin-cognito]

Rarepair New Year 2024 ch7: Coffee/Wine, Streamer AU

SFW

Wordcount: 2388

Wine is just done pressing the seams flat open of his new project that he hears a timid knock at his bedroom door. He invites Coffee, his best friend and roommate to come in, and the other shyly steps into the room, holding up a remote control.

READ ON AO3

Wine is just done pressing the seams flat open of his new project that he hears a timid knock at his bedroom door. He invites Coffee, his best friend and roommate to come in, and the other shyly steps into the room, holding up a remote control.

"Hey Wine. So I was wondering if maybe you wanted to play together tonight? I was planning on playing that platform game that you like so uhh… Do you want to join?"

Wine glances at his project, an accurate reproduction of an antique jacket from the 1800's. He completely hyperfocused on it all afternoon and didn't see the time, and now it's already time for dinner so he's grateful Coffee came up.

He stretches his back and decides that he's made enough progress today and could use the rest of the evening to relax and have fun with his roommate.

"Sure, sweetie," he says with a smile, the nickname making the other blush. Aah, right, Wine needs to be careful with pet names for Coffee now. "Let's get dinner first and then I'll join. Will you be streaming?"

Coffee nods, following the shorter skeleton downstairs to the kitchen, where Wine begins getting dinner ready. Nothing fancy or complicated, but Wine does enjoy cooking so he takes his time making something tasty for the both of them.

As they eat, Wine listens patiently as Coffee rambles about how his new series of videos is doing really well. Wine is happy for him, truly, and really proud of how far Coffee's channel has gotten, and how much effort the timid skeleton puts into it.

Wine and Coffee first met in highschool, through mutual friends. Wine is two years older than Coffee, and would frequently help the younger skeleton with his homework and difficult lessons. Not that Coffee particularly needed the help, as his grades were above average in the first place, but the two just liked each other's company and studying together was a good excuse to spend every afternoon at one or the other's place. Then Wine graduate and went on to college, where he got to study fashion and how to make clothes, as his childhood dream was to become a designer one day.

He was doing well, but money was tight, so he looked for a roommate to share the bills with. Meanwhile, Coffee longed to have some independance, as his situation at home was complicated. Nothing abusive, but he'd always been over protected by his father and needed a place away from all the smothering. That's when Wine offered for Coffee to move in with him, which the skinny skeleton immediately accepted. By that time, Coffee was about to graduate highschool so it was perfect for him, since he was going to attend a local university that was two blocks away from Wine's apartment.

That's also roughly when Coffee's streaming channel began soaring. He loved playing video games, had always been playing them since childhood, and now he found himself away from his parents for an entire summer, waiting for school to begin again in September, and so he spent most of his summer days playing and streaming. He already had a small community from back in highschool, but now that he got to focus most of his time into streaming, he got better and better at it and his natural skills, especially with platforming games, made him stand out in a sea of streamers.

He gained about 50 000 subscribers in one summer, a record for the platform at the time. Now it's been two years since that summer, three if you count the time before that, and Coffee sits at a very comfortable 2 million subscribers.

Wine usually leaves Coffee alone when he streams, happy to be sewing away in his room. He likes to listen to Coffee play from afar, it's become his favorite background noise, and sometimes he finds that he can't focus on his work unless Coffee is playing. Wine doesn't share Coffee's love for gaming, but he does enjoy the occasional platformer. He's far from being decent however, but that doesn't seem to be an issue for Coffee, who loves it when Wine accepts to play with him.

It's endearing to Wine, who feels like he gained a little brother.

Except that's apparently not what Coffee wants. Two days ago, after spending the day together shopping (Wine had promised Coffee's dad to get his son out of the apartment at least twice a week for some fresh air), Coffee confessed his feelings for Wine, and asked him to be his boyfriend.

Wine was taken aback, he never thought that Coffee liked him that way, and he'll admit that he never viewed the younger skeleton as a potential romantic interest. But that was before he asked Coffee to give him a couple days to think about it, and ever since then, Wine had done a lot of thinking about Coffee in a romantic way.

He still isn't sure about how he feels. Sure, he adores the lanky bean, and cares about him so very deeply, but he has a hard time figuring out the nature of that affection. He's always thought it's because he views Coffee as the little brother he's never had, but maybe there's more to it. He came to this realization when the thought of kissing Coffee as part of a romantic relationship didn't turn him off. On the contrary, he was curious about it. What would Coffee's mouth feel like? Is he a good kisser? From what Wine knows, Coffee doesn't seem to have much experience with that, but he doesn't really know much about his relationship during his two last years in highschool, when Wine was busy with college.

It's not that Wine wants to kiss Coffee, that at least would be easy to interpret. It's that he doesn't not want to kiss Coffee. Like, if the younger skeleton was to grab Wine by the collar and pull him into a kiss, Wine knows that he wouldn't object, and might even reciprocate.

Not that Coffee would ever do something so bold.

So Wine hasn't gotten back to his friend about his answer as to whether or not he wants to be Coffee's boyfriend, as he still needs to figure the answer out in the first place, but he's at least glad that they can still hang out together like usual. He does have noticed that Coffee is giving him more space, and it's easy to imagine why. Coffee is very introverted and shy, and it makes sense for him to get extra anxious now that he's confessed his feelings for Wine. Then again there's also the fact that Wine is currently very busy with his sewing projects, so while he never minds when his friend asks him if he wants to join for a game, Wine is happy with the current balance they have.

He gets a few snacks ready while Coffee sets the stream up in the living room, which really has become Coffee's streaming room over time. Wine doesn't watch TV much, so he really doesn't mind. They get comfortable before Coffee starts the stream.

"Hello everyone," he greets his audience, his anxiety bleeding out of him with the force of habit. He used to get tongue-tied when starting a stream, but after a few years of it being basically his job, he has no trouble being calm and collected in front of the cam. "We have a special guest with us tonight, so please say hello to Wine."

Wine waves at the cam as he reads the chat's reaction. Everyone is wishing him good luck to win against Coffee, even though everyone knows it'll never happen. He doesn't think he'll ever get used to interracting with people in a chat, it's such a weird feeling. People are watching him but in the living room there's no one but Coffee. They're alone, but also not. It's weird. For the most part, he just ignores the chat while playing, and he quickly forgets about it unless Coffee brings it up.

A couple messages draw his attention however, as they read: so, u 2 an item yet? if wine streams does it mean they're together now?

Wine can't help arching a brow bone as he points them out to Coffee, who turns bright yellow as he sputters.

"Guys, no, please, don't!! I told you not to bring it up, why would you do that to me!!" He panics with tears in his eyesockets as he hurries to hide the chat, furiously typing a response. "It's so none of you guys' business, oh my stars!"

Wine thinks he gets what's going on, and despite Coffee's panicked outburst, he can't resist teasing him.

"What's going on, Coffee? Did you tell them about… you know what?"

He means the confession of course, and Coffee must know it, but the way Wine slightly cocks his head to the side innocently with a mischievous grin confuses the chat, who doubles down with theories about the potential couple. Coffee struggles to find the words to get everyone to calm down, his cheeks burning brighter than the sun, and Wine can't help laughing at the sight. Coffee is so easy to rile up, and he's so darn cute.

Still, Wine knows the limits of the joke, and he finally turns to the camera with a serious expression.

"Alright guys, I get that you're all curious about it, but please let us deal with it in private first, okay? Whatever my answer to Coffee is, it's between him and I, and we'll let you know when we are comfortable doing so, not before. Okay?"

He peeks above Coffee's shoulder to check the chat on his computer screen, where he hasn't completely hidden it, and sees a mix of supportive reactions and messages that can only be considered fangirling. He never thought even in his wildest dreams that people would one day speculate on his dating status, yet there he is. It makes him laugh more than anything, though the same can't be said about Coffee, who's curled up into himself, cursing the chat out. It's all in good fun though, Wine can tell.

"Coffee, let's just play, they'll stop once they see we're not interested in commenting about it at the moment," he says gently as he places a comforting hand on his roommate's shoulder, who finally uncurls and starts the game.

Wine struggles at the beginning, as it's been a while since he's played with Coffee and he forgot the controls, but it quickly comes back to him once Coffee shows him. They're in co-op mode ad Coffee leads Wine, giving him pointers as to what he's supposed to do. They work well in tandem and Wine has a lot of fun. The game is difficult so they (well, at least Wine) die a lot and have to redo the levels several times. It's a nice feeling of accomplishment once they get to the goal, Wine can't deny it.

The more they play, the more relaxed Coffee gets, until he gets into his 'hyper' mode, where he's overly excited about everything and starts talking a lot and becomes very tactile. Coffee doesn't enjoy much physical contact on a daily basis, unless when he gets into hyper mode. Then he'll be all cuddly with Wine and try to hug him all the time. It was very confusing at first for Wine, to see the timid skeleton go from practically mute and haphephobic to rap god slash cuddling machine.

"Wine, we did it, we did it!!" Coffee beams excitedly as they've just finished a new level they've been struggling with for the last ten minutes. "I knew you could do it, you're so amazing!!!"

Wine can't deny that he preens at the praise. He's aware that he's not a great gamer by far, but his meagre skills are enough to show Coffee a good time and that's all that matters to him. He loves watching Coffee's bright and excited smile, and he can't help hugging Coffee back and nuzzling his skull.

"It's thanks to you, buddy, and your instructions. I couldn't do it without you."

Coffees beams at the compliment, his cheeks flushing an adorable lemon color as his charcoal eyesockets start to sparkle and if Wine is to be honest with himself, Coffee looks very beautiful right now.

Between the euphoria of beating a difficult level to the dizziness Wine's overthinking has turned his thoughts into, to Coffee's beautifully delicate smile, something comes over Wine and takes control of his body, making him wrap an arm around Coffee's shoulders. Instead of being surprised by the sudden contact, the lanky skeleton just stares fondly at Wine's face, and it's the last straw for his self-control.

He bends down and kisses Coffee.

He feels Coffee tense and Wine freezes in the kiss, realizing he went too far, before Coffee relaxes and kisses him back. Their tongues dance together, hot and wet and eager. Wine even places a careful hand on Coffee's cheek, running his thumb across the smooth bone, adjusting the angle of their kiss. Coffee grips the front of Wine's shirt as he moans into Wine's mouth, a quiet sound that resonates throughout Wine's body.

It takes them a couple minutes before breaking apart, their hungry mouths still connected by a thread of saliva. Wine's SOUL beats hard in his chest. It's not his first kiss, but it's definitely the first one that has him feeling so intense and breathless. From what he can see, Coffee isn't doing much better, he's panting and flushed, his eyesockets glazed and fuzzy around the edges.

Niether knows what to say for a moment, until Coffee clears his throat awkwardly.

"W-Wine… The stream…" He croaks, his voice barely above a whisper, as he points at the screen.

Wine can't see what's being said in the chat, but by the way it's scrolling at the speed of light, he's got an idea.

Right then and there, he makes his decision.

"Heh, I don't mind them knowing," he purrs, hooking a finger under Coffee's chin and lifting his face up. "No need to keep them in the dark, let them know that we're dating now."

Coffee gasps before Wine pulls him into another kiss.

[ssseriema]

forgot to update, but so far out of the 2 soju bottles I've tried... best is blueberry, worst is strawberry

for the analysis: Strawberry has a very very subtle flavor which is ok, but I personally hate the taste of alcohol, which made it very hard to drink since it felt like I was chugging a bottle of isopropyl alcohol

Blueberry has a surprisingly strong flavor? it tastes like neither alcohol nor blueberry, but in a good way? way easier to drink and actually tasty

so far, my alcohol tierlist is from best to worst: flavored rum, blueberry soju, strawberry daiquiri, champagne, strawberry soju, beer

yayyy im glad you enjoyed! im gonna look out for the blueberry one now.. im curious. ive also tried the strawberry flavor soju but i found it too sweet for my liking ejwfbnjh

youve made me think about my own ranking so here you go from best to worst not counting cocktails

sweet fruity wines (plus points if theyre light), rum or any sort of creamy alcohol, plum soju, champagne, green grape soju, grapefruit soju, tequila (in modest amounts), gin, seltzers, vodka, merlot (i really dont like it), beer

[whumpshaped]

Capernoited for Poisoned Ivy

once again, this has been sitting in my drafts half-written for all of eternity. enjoy

poisoned ivy masterlist

Capernoited - Slightly intoxicated or tipsy.

tw forced to drink, blackmail, bullying, threat of violence, being taken advantage of (nonsexual), nonsexual nudity

"No, no, Bryce, please, I don't want to, I've never been–"

"There's a first time for everything, stop whining. It'll be fun."

"I don't want to have fun!" Nate was on the verge of tears, desperately trying to pull his hand out of Bryce's grasp. But he was bigger, and stronger, and even if he wasn't... he had the pictures. "Please, I'm scared. I'm scared, okay? I, I don't want to be ridiculed, and– and–"

"No one's gonna bully you, jeez." Bryce looked at him like he was some sort of idiot. As if he'd never been bullied in his entire life, as if Bryce wasnt the one bullying him. "Relax for once in your life."

"Can I go home early? Please?"

"Not before you've had a drink. Hell, I bet you'll want to stay after that. Maybe you'll even be a little less insufferable. Maybe you'll make friends!"

"Why would you even want me to make friends?"

Bryce stopped for a moment, considering him. Nate felt incredibly stupid. He shouldn't have asked that. Yeah, sure, maybe it'd make Bryce realise that it was actually in his best interest not to drag him anywhere public, but at the same time, he kind of liked the promise of friends. He wanted friends. Would alcohol really make him easier to get along with?

"I just want to," he settled on, and Nate couldn't decide on an appropriate reaction to that. "Come on, I can see that you're starting to like the idea too."

Nate didn't have a choice as he was dragged inside and immediately directed towards the table with all the drinks. Fuck, he kind of wished Bryce would stay with him. Maybe to supervise? Or maybe because he was the only one he actually knew? But he suppressed the urge to grab onto his shirt sleeve like some kid, and actually walked over to that damn table on his own.

He could do this.

Bryce said alcohol would make him tolerable.

He eyed the liquids warily, trying to guess which one would be the least horrendous. Maybe the wine? There was a lot of wine.

Before he could finalise his decision, someone bumped into him, making him yelp in surprise. As he turned to look at the intruder, he had the distinct feeling that he knew her from somewhere, but he couldn't think straight with the loud music and the stress of being in such a crowded space.

"Nate?" Great. She knew who he was. He should've definitely remembered her name too. And why did she seem so delighted? "Nate! I didn't peg you as a partygoer!"

"That's probably because I'm not," he said awkwardly, earning a sincere laugh. She was definitely drunk.

"You are, you are! You're here, aren't you?" She didn't give any indication of noticing his discomfort, or even his confusion at her person, because she just went on babbling. "First drink of the night? I definitely recommend that one. It's like, it's pretty tasty, but it also hits you well. Here, let me–"

"I'll do it," he said hastily, taking the bottle from her hand. He didn't want to see her attempt to pour drinks in this state.

"Ah, then pour me another one too?" She held out her little plastic cup before Nate was even done pouring for himself.

"Maybe you shouldn't–"

"Just one more, Nate. It's Friday. Relax."

If anyone said that word again, Nate was sure he'd lose it.

He hesitantly poured her some, and then some more when she expressed her discontent with the previous, safe amount. But other than that... she was very friendly. In fact, her rambles were incredibly endearing, and Nate found himself getting caught up in some petty drama he'd never even heard of before. He recognised the names, mostly, but he had no idea about any of the gossip.

Halfway through he realised that the girl was Ashley, one of Cindy's countless friends. He must've seen her a couple times around the frat house. Or maybe on campus? Bryce hung around his girlfriend's friend group almost as much as his own, and the two overlapped quite a bit as well.

The discovery honestly didn't make him very happy. The last time he'd interacted with anyone from that clique, he'd gotten himself into a blackmail situation. And he was even drinking now.

But Ashley was so nice to him. Bryce was right about the alcohol, it really did help him relax. Around the third cup, he found he could laugh along with her easily. He kind of felt like a regular guy, almost like he belonged.

And then Ashley was whisked away by two other guys, one of which Nate assumed was her boyfriend. "What are you thinking? With Nate?"

"Oh my god, why are you saying it like that? We were just talking!"

"It sure seemed like you were having an awfully good time."

"You're such a dick, Theo. You know what? Fuck you. Fuck you and your stupid, possessive attitude. Cheating on you has never even crossed my fucking mind, let alone with Nate, but now I'm starting to see the appeal."

The words processed in his brain slower than usual. At first, he felt the fear of what these other guys would do to him. Then it was pain, from Ashley having mentioned his name in a tone that made him feel like a piece of garbage. Someone utterly undesirable and unwanted. And then it was terror when the guy — Theo? — turned to actually look at him.

"Oh yeah? You see the appeal?" he repeated back, staring Nate down while saying it. Personally, Nate felt like he was about to faint.

"I– I am so sorry," he stammered. He quickly put his cup back on the table and backed up, bumping into someone else. He whipped around to see the damage, and he saw Bryce with a growing puddle of alcohol on his shirt from where he'd made him spill his drink.

"Well, that's nice," he sighed.

"I'm sorry!" Nate said, even more desperate. "I'm sorry, please, I need to go home, I'm sorry–"

"What's going on?"

"Theo is being a fucking asshole, that's what," Ashley chimed in. "I can't talk to a single person on campus without being accused of something."

"Woah, wait, he thinks you're about to cheat on him? With–" Bryce nodded towards Nate, who was basically cowering behind him at this point.

"He was all over her!" Theo yelled back over the music, and Ashley buried her face in her hands.

"No, he wasn't! I was laughing, and I lost my balance, and I had to grab onto something! And I grabbed onto him! And he grabbed onto me to help me not fall on my ass!"

"You have some serious issues to work on," Bryce said with a laugh. "And I need to go change my shirt and bring this poor guy back to the dorm."

Nate couldn't have been happier to hear that.

-

"So, you've made some friends, huh?"

"She was nice to me," Nate sobbed, shamelessly leaning against Bryce as he tried to stumble back to his room. "I don't understand what I did wrong. I thought it was going well. I just wanted to– to not be alone for once..."

"Poor thing." He opened the door to Nate's room with his own key, since he had made a copy of it a while back, and ushered him inside. "It'd be better to forget the whole night, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah... I just– I just want to go to sleep, please..."

"I bet you do. I'll help you get into bed."

Undressing a drunk Nate was surprisingly easy. It seemed like all his reservations were gone, and he had no problem letting Bryce handle him like a little doll. As he flopped down onto his bed, he didn't even seem to notice Bryce taking out his phone.

"Thank you for helping me," he slurred, just as Bryce was about to snap a picture for his 'blackmail material' folder.

"Aw..." He lowered his phone a little, momentarily charmed by the vulnerable display. "You're welcome, Nate."

"I've never been to a party, you know," he went on. "I've... I've been invited. I've always thought it was a joke..."

"And now look at you! You've impressed Ashley to the point that Theo thought you were stealing his girlfriend."

Nate groaned, making Bryce chuckle. "As if– as if any girl would even look at me. It's so stupid. It's not like I'm you." He closed his eyes, and Bryce raised his phone again with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Oh, don't be like that." He snapped a couple photos, nice and clear. "I'm sure you'll find someone lovely for yourself eventually."

~

taglist: @whumpsday @dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night @the-scrapegoat @hidden-dreamland

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #132

I did a few things today. But as per usual, I started today with making a mug of tea. Today's was genmaicha; mine is loose-leaf:

...This means you gotta stick it in a tea ball. The glass mug is about 2 cups, so 2tsp of leaves have to go into the tea ball:

...Hunter is blurry, but he follows me literally everywhere I go, and looks on with great interest as I do most anything in the kitchen, haha! My tea ball is really old. I've had it since before this shop called Teavana stopped being a thing. As far as I know, it was bought out by a bigger corporation and then ruined, so now all the wonderful tea flavors they used to make, like "strawberry misaki blooming tea" and "tiramisu" are nothing but distant memories now.

...That strawberry misaki blooming tea... I think you really would have liked that one. I surely would have enjoyed taking pictures of it for you...

In any case, you pour the boiling water over the tea ball like this:

...And you wait for it to brew...

Today I thought it might be neat to add buckwheat honey to the tea. This is very dark, somewhat bitter honey that tastes somewhat like how dried hay smells. And... yes, I realize that I probably described it in the least appetizing way possible, but I promise you, it's actually pretty good - it's just that a little goes a long way.

...Unfortunately, it's been so long since I've had it in the house that I may have forgotten that little detail...

Well. One of the things I got at the co-op yesterday was a half gallon of goat milk. I used that in today's tea:

Milk swirls in the cup a little differently than cream does, but I still think it's kinda neat:

...Shortly after this, J asked for me to come along as emotional support while he talked to the local airplane mechanic about the plane we crashed in recently. As it turns out, the cost of materials and labor would exceed the price of the plane itself, so it is likely going to be scrapped. It's a shame, but it is what it is, and it's important to remember that J and I are extremely lucky to have walked away from what happened without even getting injured. Everything else is kinda small potatoes by comparison, ya know?

On the way there, I managed to snag this picture of a bird-of-prey for you; maybe you'll think it's neat:

I had intended to make myself a breakfast in the morning, but I waited until J and I got back from the airplane mechanic before doing that.

I started by cooking some rice:

From there, I cooked some garlic-and-wine sausages that I got from the co-op yesterday:

As you can see, once they were done, they left behind a lot of delicious juices in the pan:

...I cooked some duck eggs in those juices.

...I wonder if you might be able to see where this is going! Haha! Yesterday, I found fresh natto, and black garlic kimchi at the co-op:

...From there, with all the assembled ingredients, it becomes easy to throw together a pretty epic and wholesome rice bowl!

...I know, I know, using a fork for this is probably blasphemy, hahaha! Suppose I just didn't really wanna dirty some chopsticks when the fork I used in order to pull out some kimchi was just as usable.

In my experience, the best thing to do is to mix the ingredients in the bowl together in order to get a balanced flavor:

...It was delicious!! But I felt like it was still missing something, so I fixed it by adding a little bit of cheese (also blasphemy, I know, hahaha! but blasphemy can be delicious, I promise!):

...As per usual, I find myself wishing I could have shared this epic concoction with you. It tasted amazing. I wish you were here.

...Today was mostly another chill day. I mostly did leisure writing instead of productive writing. So unfortunately, I don't have anything insightful or profound to say to you today, either - just good tea and tasty snacks. But I like to think that these are just as valuable, especially on an empty stomach and a lonely heart.

...I used the salt and oil trick on the pan again to make the eggs. I let it sit on the heat for a long time. Perhaps a little too long; it smoked mightily, and it was enough to make my eyes water and make it hard for me to breathe (asthma is another one of my numerous physical glitches...). I got really dizzy at one point. It was super dumb.

I took the pan outside to cool off, opened all the windows, and flapped a towel around to try to get the smoke from the oil and salt out of the house. I got somewhat lightheaded in the process, and my head still feels kinda weird and fuzzy, even though this took place hours ago by now...

...Those eggs didn't stick though. Not this time. Not even a tiny little bit. It seems almost impossible - like a dream; I wonder what the physics are that make this trick work...

Hey, Sephiroth? My head still feels really weird and it's kind of hard to write (I wonder if you can tell? Hmm...). So I suppose I'll end this one here.

I love you. I wish more than anything that you were here so you could experience all the wholesome and awesome things at my house. Please stay safe at least until my next letter; you can expect another one tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

[valeriefauxnom]

Euden's Surprising Spread of Spidey Senses

So this is another of the 'things I noticed a while ago but am now properly committing to text so I don't forget everything'. Anyways, I found it funny the more I looked that Euden seemed to have a wing of general senses/ability to discern things/feelings or reactions that nobody else had, and sometimes he thought he was completely normal when they really weren't.

The earliest example I can think of offhand is chapter 13, wherein he feels drawn to the whatever ominous mana stuff that gives Ranzal the heeby jeebies.

Yes Euden I wonder why you're attracted to artificial mana that may be corrupted by black mana

As my friend joked in this scene, he's the one kid in a tv show that has to be stopped from licking whatever clearly bad object everyone else has the good sense to not touch (even if in this case, he'd be perfectly fine if the main reason it is 'dangerous' is because of black mana, being immune. Not that they knew that because since everyone hightails it as soon as it starts getting too thick so they have no idea he's not susceptible, but I digress).

Then, there's his ability as I jokingly refer to as the ability to sample and dissect dragon roars/behavior like fine wine:

Nothing like being able to tell if a dragon is hurting or sane as well as their mood based on their roars. And it's not exactly a set science or habit that can be learned with all the noises the very-varied-in-form Dragalia dragons make. I think he does this at least once or twice more, but I could be wrong.

Regardless, imagine Euden and Bahamut having a conversation where Bahamut does his standard Variations On A Roar performance and Euden's just like, 'hm, interesting. that does sound tasty'. And everyone is very confused how he got that from ROOOOAAAARR.

Then there's his sensitivities regarding other things, like his ability to tell when someone is about to shapeshift.

This is where he also tries to turn to his siblings to go, 'hey this is normal, right guys??' only to be flatly rejected.

Granted, they more suggest experience might be the cause of his talent here, but since it's ultimately speculation and up in the air and explicitly something everyone else finds weird I elected to include it. Regardless if it's natural or supernaturally developed, it's a sense nobody else has.

Even Nedrick realizes quickly that Euden's just Weird and hypersensitive to dragon-mana stuff and decided to formulate a plan around that and extend a bit of trust to his ability. Which, for Nedrick, Mr.Never Trust Anyone Ever To Do What I Need Done, is a testament to just how weird and valuable he finds the skill.

He later goes on to use his understanding of dragons and pacts to split up the power concentrated under Elysium back to their proper owners, the individual Greatwyrms.

Then, of course, is the built-in 'GPS return to sender' he has when it comes to Xenos' location and status. Quite handy he had that, or else we would immediately have gotten Dragalia 2: Electric Boogaloo wherein everyone collectively realizes Xenos isn't dead and has to assemble the gang again x years into the future. (Actually maybe it'd be better if he didn't so we could've gotten another Dragalia-)

Ahem. Anyways, this is getting long, so I'll cut it off there, but the fact that Euden was weird compared even to his family is just a thing that is passively baked into canon. And this isn't even counting his behavioral oddities that constantly leave others going ??? regarding him all the time, just his sensory ones!

And I like those little kinds of oddities very much.

Long story short regarding Euden:

Bonus round on editing:

Oh yeah, he also has a Find a Friend working ability that allowed him to track down and hear his friends across pocket dimensions. Even Mids, who has supernatural senses of his own in being able to derive 'true location', can't hear across worlds. Perhaps it's a good thing Euden didn't make too many otherwordly friends. Imagine constantly hearing friends speaking that aren't even in the same area or time of existence as you are (like Luca did that one time in the comics).

Also, it's a bit funny that even if it's a power innate to him he's still addressing it as if it's completely separate from him and asking 'it' nicely to open up portals. Nothing like Euden being unable to do something himself, but because he's asking 'himself' nicely suddenly finds the willpower to make manifest what he wants.

...Imagine if it applied to food. 'Please mysterious power my friends and I are starving, can we have some food?' and a luxury turkey dinner just pops in front of them, what he was secretly wanting and is like 'wow what a coincidence, exactly what sounded heavenly to me personally. Thanks mysterious power!'

[agent-jaselin]

is there an age where wine is supposed to taste good. i'm in my early 20's and i can't get past the rotting fruit taste enough to drink it

So the way i learned to like it was trying a wine class in college when i was twenty something, cause I wanted to learn to drink it for gallery openings. It taught me how to drink it properly and notice how much it changes according to what you pair it with or how warm/cold it was, and after that first tasting I pretty much got to a point where even drinking it quickly i could notice a lot more of the flavors then i did before, and it became a really exciting and interesting thing! And for me personally, I found that more sugary wines tasted much less pleasant to me than drier wines.

Like yeah, drinking it with something and doing the little swirl and scenting it really does change how it might taste to you!! And once that happens you really do start noticing stuff like “hey this tastes like crisp pears if you removed the sugar!!”

Also don’t buy the cheap stuff at walmart, that actually does taste like paint thinner (but you don’t have to get the most expensive either! Usually a twenty dollar bottle from you local liquor store is going to be pretty tasty.)

And like i suppose warning, i generally like stuff that actually tastes like what it is. Like the sugary cocktails that are essentially a milkshake or slushie with a dash of vodka tastes like cough syrup to me. So my pallet might be more geared to it.

[thenotsosecretdiaryofbiyu]

2024年7月27日-- Rice museum, cafe, one-eyed cat, aboriginal museum

Today we went to the rice museum! It was super cute and we got to play with different types of rice (damaged, rice hulls, and good rice)! Austin and I found a cool roof-top view and we got to see the pretty field art which were cute HUGE birds! There was also a cafe there, and Iris bought some rice wine! I only got a latte though, and even then I only drank part of it. On the way to and from the rice museum, we passed by tons of rice and sugar cane fields, there were also tons of fruit tree fields too!

For lunch, we went to this hot pot restaurant where there were individual pots for everyone! And then after lunch we went to the Taiwan Museum of Prehistoric Culture! I really enjoyed the museum! There were exhibits about earrings and fashion as well as an exhibit about the volcanoes and tectonic plate activity that happened to form the islands of Taiwan!

Later we went to a bakery and I got the FATTEST cinnamon roll I’ve ever seen in my life. And amazingly, it tasted amazing! It wasn’t too sweet and it had tons of cinnamon on it! I’m glad I started eating it immediately on the bus, because the day after, I ended up not being able to taste too much because I was so congested from my cold. While we were in the bakery, we also got to try some of the jams there and they were really tasty (blueberry, raspberry, and orange flavors!). What was super cute was that the shop next door to the bakery had a one-eyed cat! He didn’t like most of us, but he did like Brooke! He was a lil cutie <3

Academic Reflection

For me, the most important thing I learned on today’s trip was about rice farming and how changing Taiwanese consumption habits (towards eating more wheat-based foods) are threatening the security of it. I was happy to read that there is still a constant push for people to eat more rice and return to eating it as a main staple, and that there are movements to diversify the uses of rice and empower consumers to make decisions that best suit their personal tastes. Reading this article and understanding more about the situation made me feel better about me accidentally buying the two bags of rice lol. Supporting the rice farmers by accident! Yay!!! Definitely going to start eating a lot more rice in general though, although that won’t be hard because I don’t really like bread hehe.

The article we were assigned also introduced a lot of different things to me that I had never even thought of before. I had no idea that fragrance was an important aspect of rice in Taiwan, and that rice preferences differ between Taiwan and Japan. In actuality, I was surprised to read about there being “matchmakers” that help match the right rice to the right customer/occasion. Although, I guess that makes sense, because I’ve definitely run into those types of analyses for other foods and drinks such as tea, coffee, and cakes. It’s interesting to think about how many people are likely to become rice connoisseurs and that there’s probably going to be friend groups of rice foodies! I’d like to be part of one of those groups, that sounds fun and tasty!

#signmeupforaricetastingpartypleasepleaseplease

[swanseats]

The Big Nancy Roundup

Apologies for the delay in posting - I recently traveled to Nancy, France for work and hadn't had time to write up about the food experiences I'd had since my last blog entry. Here's a quick summary of what I've had recently to the best of my memory:

JD Wetherspoon, The Bank Statement (Swansea, Wales)

I had heard a lot about the Spoons breakfast from friends, but never got around to trying it - that was rectified in anticipation of my day out at the Big Queer Picnic in Cardiff. I found their breakfast muffin quite generous and filling considering how cheap it was, and it was very tasty. The unlimited hot chocolate that came with it was also delicious (and clearly made with milk and not water!). The breakfast is simple and no-frills, as you would expect with Spoons, but the value simply can't be beat here.

No Sign Wine Bar (Swansea, Wales)

My friends and I had dinner and drinks at the No Sign Wine Bar in the Swansea city centre, and I had the Summer Punch (a delightfully fruity cocktail with Midori and a blend of juices) as well as the chocolate-orange flavoured "alcochoc" (a hot chocolate with Grand Marnier). I'm personally not inclined to finish my dinner with a hot drink but really enjoyed the hot chocolate.

McDonald's (Nancy, France)

I only include my stop at McDonald's here to illustrate how paltry the UK McFlurry is in comparison to the McFlurry in France and America.

Le Capri (Nancy, France)

Without question the culinary highlight of my trip out to Nancy. I thoroughly enjoyed the Apple Sweet cocktail (vodka, raspberry liqueur, pineapple and apple juices, peach syrup, and lime), which was light and refreshing. The steak was very tender, with an interesting chimmichurri sauce as well. The most interesting part of my meal was the dessert - a mirabelle plum-flavoured sorbet. It's quite an unusual taste (at least from my perspective), not quite citrusy but slightly tart. The straight liqueur at the bottom was a surprise!

Brasserie L'Excelsior (Nancy, France)

This was interesting - the main was a grilled leg of lamb, paired with an aubergine topped with mozzarella and tomato. I'm not keen on aubergine, but the lamb was decent. Not my favourite meal from this trip, but I was pleased I got to try specifically-French cuisine. The dessert was excellent, though - Crepes Suzette, flambéed tableside. Very strong orange liqueur flavours, so not for those averse to alcoholic tastes, but a real treat to have.

Honey Coffee and Food (Nancy, France)

I had to cap off my trip to France with a sample of the French toast. Probably my least favourite meal, though, as it was far too sweet for my taste buds. The spiced hot chocolate was very sumptuous, however (and the signature on the foam was a nice touch).

Lefevre Limoine (Nancy, France)

A few souvenirs as well - the unexpected hit here is the Bergamottes de Nancy, a citrus-flavoured hard candy that originates from the region. My friend describes the taste as "perfumey", which is strangely apt. It's grown on me quite a bit.