#also. this book is very long and I can imagine if I weren’t listening to the audiobook it would have dragged a bit

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Where Sleeping Girls Lie

YA mystery/thriller

a girl who’s been home-schooled all her life attends prestigious boarding school after her father’s (last family member) death - and her roommate disappears the first night

as she starts to investigate with the help of her roommates best friend, she catches the attention of the most popular girls in school, and some of the popular boys.

she starts to uncover secrets about students at the school while the disappearance is dismissed by the school and authorities. But when a student turns up dead, things start to get more complicated.

sapphic, Muslim MC, twisty but slow-paced

[coral-melon]

Heya!! CM! (Get it your user!)

Its 🍓 again :3

Would you be able to write imagine/hc thingys how they would react to seeing your human form for the first time when you go to the human world with them! Im thinking along the flustered fluff/ possibility suggestive thoughts about mc =^=

Any of the brothers/dateables u want! But if your looking for specific just mammon & levi as personal preference :3

(AFAB preferred but No description of gender js cool too :3 )

Aghhh sorry this is worded so weird I’m not the best leaving suggestions i feel too askyy ;^;

Your writing is lovely and i can’t wait to see more!!

- 🍓

Hello again -🍓! Love the ‘CM’ nickname! And by all means, ask whatever you want and however much you want! I’ll always make the time to write any requests~

Also sorry for taking so long; I really wasn’t too sure how to write this, and I’m sorry but I kinda tweaked it and lil bit.. ^^’ I was going to make everyone but I ended up only doing Mammon cuz I thought it would’ve been a very long post. BUT! I can most definitely make separate posts for each of the brothers if that’s something you and others want!

A and as always, if it sucks just lemme know! Constructive criticism is always welcome >;)

Cotton Surprise

Obey me! Mammon x Sheep!MC

Genre: Fluff, crack/shenanigans, slightly suggestive

What’s it about?: Seeing your human form for the first time!

Not that many but They/them pronounce; mainly AFAB

A throwback to Lesson 19 from the original game but tweaked it as well

Edit: ((There were minor changes cuz someone made a comment that pointed out to me how maybe some people didn’t understand what I was telling. Totally my fault ^^’🙏))

None of them ever understood why you turned into a sheep. It happened as soon as you first arrived to Devildom. But the more time they spent with you, they got used to it — some even forgetting you’re a human all together.

One day, most of the Brothers were sitting together in the living room. It was mostly quiet until Asmo brought the question: “Hey, What do you guys think MC looks like if they weren’t a sheep?”

It left them a bit dumbfounded that they hadn’t even thought about it. They got so used to you being a sheep so it kinda just slipped their mind. It also got them to start bickering a ton of what they thought you’d look like.

— “What’s with all the commotion?” A voice interrupts their conversation. Lucifer walks in with you in his hand, talk about perfect timing!

— “We were just talking about what MC looks like if they were in their human form.” Beel explains.

— “Oh right.. none of you have seen them.” Lucifer remarked, chuckling softly under his breath.

— “What does that mean?” Satan says with already irritation in his voice.

— “Well, it’s only right that I know what MC looks like. I was the one who picked them, after all.”

This got many of them heated! Jealous that Lucifer was pretty much the only one that knows. Mammon, Levi and Asmo were whining about how that’s not fair, Satan was gritting his teeth, and Beel along with Belphie just sat quietly watching the scene. They quieted down once you said, “I could just describe what I look like, y’know.”

All of them gathered around like a bunch of kindergartners getting ready to listen to a story book. They payed such close attention to every detail you said and tried to visualize it in their head to the best of their ability. It only made them even more eager to see you for themselves.

And it didn’t happen until the very last moments before you had to go back to the human realm..

… With a true loves kiss! >;D

Cliché, I know. - -’

Mammon

After dipping the House of Lamentation, he ends up in who knows where but more importantly, away from Levi. After he was done huffing for air, both of you start laughing from the absolute fun of stupidity you guys had. You couldn’t help but think about how odd it must’ve look from someone else’s perspective.

You two eventually eased off and took the time to catch your breaths. And then realize the beautiful view you guys have of Devildom. He sits you down gently on the thick stone fences while he rests his body on it. There was a short, soothing silence between the both of you — a soft, cool breeze blowing while you watching the city lights together. Mammon eventually brakes the silence and says,

“Y’know what? It’s always fun whenever you’re around.. I’m always smilin’ and laughin’ when we’re together. There’s never a dull moment..” he says softly; when you look up at him, he’s not looking at you but can tell he has a blush decorating his cheeks.

You smile at him warmly, before looking down at your tiny trotters. You were a sheep till the very end.. you had fun, but you can’t help but get a little sad thinking about it. Like just now, you would’ve been able to run away with him instead of being carried like a pillow.

“W-Who needs the human world, eh? You don’t gotta go back! I want you right here in Devildom, I want you here with me, all the time..!” Mammon looked straight at you, you perked up at him once he said that. He looked at you as if you were the greatest treasure he’s ever had. He wasn’t kidding around, such an unusually serious and determined face…, you felt butterflies in your stomach.

There was a silence again, you looked at him with in awe eyes. He slowly leans in, you leaning slightly forward.. letting whatever was going to happen, happen. Until finally, his lips reached you.

☁︎ —Poof— ☁︎

Light clouds suddenly surrounds you, Mammon was completely taken aback; and then he just freezes. When the clouds disperse, it revealed you.

You felt.. different. Blinked a couple of times before you looked down again. And to you completely surprise, the troopers you looked at but merely a few seconds ago were replaced with hands! You touched your face, your hair, your legs.. they were all back! You give a yell for joy, your curse has been broken! But then you also realize how you didn’t have any clothes on… you looked at mammon — who had his face completely red and eyes glued on you, completely frozen in place. Which made you freeze for a moment.

(Him)→ ��( ⸝⸝๐_๐)╮ (○□○) ←(you)

— “AAAAAAAHHH!!!”

— “AAAAAAAHHH!!!”

You tried to cover yourself to the best of your ability; but first of all, you can’t really cover much. Second, he already saw everything! Both of you were very flustered, embarrassed, and still shocked by what just happened. You weren’t a sheep anymore! What’s up with that?!

Thankfully, Mammon at some point finally snaps out of it and covers you with his uniform’s blazer. You grip onto it tightly and covering yourself to the best of you ability. You mutter him a ‘Thank you’ under your breath. But both of you were still quite frantic, looking at each other with wide eyes while huffing to calm you nerves.

“Aha! …Found you!” A voice suddenly says from a short distance. It was Levi!

“Oh shit..”

“Mammon, Give me back my moneeey!!”

“Yikes! Time to go!” He says, lifting you up into his arms and making a run for it. And man did he run! He probably ran faster than when he was being chased by Lucifer. Levi didn’t see it coming’.

You were in a daze, you’ve been carried by him countless times.. but today you felt like a princess that’s been swooped by Prince Charming — a very peculiar one, but still charming.

He — at some point — stops running and hid in whatever corner he thought was good enough so that Levi wouldn’t find you two. With his back to the wall, he collapses to the ground. With you still in his arms but making sure you didn’t fall. You can’t help but laugh and pull him into a tight hug.

Mammon felt like his face was going to explode any second now, he just couldn’t believe that he was holding the actual you — and naked at that! But whatever was going through his head completely perished once he heard your lovely laugh. You were so happy.. embracing him with all your new found excitement. It felt like it was only the two of you in the whole word, so nothing else mattered.

“You broke my curse, Mammon!” You say. When I say this guy’s ego got inflated, I mean it. He felt like nothing could stop him now. That’s right! The great Mammon just did that! No one else!

He takes a closer look at you face; he always kept in mind all of the details you said that day, but you looked way better than what he had imagined. He couldn’t believe his eyes…

You suddenly pull him in and give him a passionate kiss; and oof, was he over the moon! After that one, he starts feeling greedy. Just one kiss isn’t enough..!

—☁︎

Later on, he bought you a few clothes since, of course, you didn’t have any. And decide to go back home.

When he went back to the House of Lamentation, he wanted nothing more than to just sneak in without his brothers knowing. But much to his dismay, Levi was already waiting for him at the gates. And when he realizes that the person he’s holding is you, he goes hysterical and now the rest of his brothers know..

“Oi, that’s enough! Step aside! Can’t ya see MC needs to get to their room??”

He’s always looked out for you.. from beginning to end. You felt like you were falling in love with him all over again. It was hard to believe that life here was coming to an end.. You want to make the most of it before having to go back home. But at the moment, you just wanted time to stay still, just for a moment..

End

I had a lot of fun writing this! So tysm for requesting it -🍓. Tho again, I’m sorry for not really completing what you asked for.. I still hope I was able to put a smile on your face! Take care~

[actual-gremlin]

If you've read tsats what did you think about it :))

I am so sorry it took me this long to reply!!

I personally loved it! I know there’s been a lot of discourse over it, but I personally thought it was very well written. I also went into reading it knowing that I was not the age group it was targeted for. (Like all of Ricks books, it was targeted for preteens and young teens). I think that’s a key difference between me and some of the other readers.

:readmore:

I had a few favourites moments, so here they are!

Persephone and Will in her garden. That was a HUGE turning moment in Will and Nicos relationship, even though Nico wasn’t involved in the conversation. It was so meaningful! This was the start of Will actually getting character development!! I could honestly make a separate post about this interaction.

I also LOVED hiss-majesty looking up to Will. Like that was so sweet! Imagine you’re Will. You’ve met the trogs before and you weren’t treated with any respect. But you’re used to that. You’re used to being pushed aside and only being pulled back when you’re needed for something. It’s happening again. And not just to you. It’s happening to someone else, and they turn to you of all people to help. To look up too. Like I would just melt into a little puddle and never recover! And the ending where Will sees Hiss-majesty wearing the same Cheese Hat that he was wearing?? Literally SOBBED. (Can you tell I love their dynamic and I want more of it??)

Nico and Will escaping on the boat and kissing while Bob cried?? Please I was dying😂✋🏻 they’re having a moment, and then there’s Bob just wailing in the background!

Will and Nico calling Percy and Annabeth and telling them their plan to head to Tartarus and Percy and Annabeth looking at each other like 😳🙊 ‘maybe they mean Tartar sauce? For fish? Yup that’s what they mean!’ They were in so much denial and it was so funny for no reason? Anyways.

I (obviously) love the Cocopuffs! Their introduction was definitely weird and off putting, but- and listen closely folks- THAT WAS THE POINT!! IT WASNT MEANT TO BE PRETTY! OR NICE!! BECAUSE TRAMA IS NONE OF THOSE THINGS!! The whole point was that it made you feel icky and uncomfortable! I could make a whole separate post about this (please ask me too) but the design of the scene was to be uncomfortable, and it hit its mark. anyways the Cocopuffs are lovely 🫶🏻

I also adored the ending where Nico talks to Bianca and his mother Maria and gets closure. Was it canon compliant? No. But it was still a sweet sentiment and I enjoyed it.

I think Rick and Mark Oshiro did a fantastic job with this book. also thank you for this ask, because now I need to go reread TSATS! If I find anything else, I’ll be sure to reblog this post with the additions!

Thanks for the ask!! (Please send me more! I swear I won’t forget them in my drafts like I did with this one!)

[writingforatwistedworld]

Feedback would be great as I am still very insecure in my skills writing longer fics.

You can find the first part here on AO3.

Otome au

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from!

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, stalking, obsession, possessiveness

Sweet poison-Pt. 2 (preview)

If Vil could turn back time he would.

Hearing something tear the young King looked down at the paper laying in front of him, his writing feather piercing through, leaving a giant tear in the document. If he had known how hard it would have been making sure that he would survive and come out as the winner, the survivor, on top was something he had imagined a bit easier. And it was easy, at the beginning at least.

When Rook told him that smaller Nobles were starting to get dissatisfied with their as good as non-existing influence over the political happenings he had laughed. This had been the moment when he had thought that thing would come and go. Fast and without any trace once this was over. But no. A new player had entered the stage, involuntarily involving themselves with the plot, his plan.

He had started watching you out of pure curiosity. You had become something unpredictable in all of this. A green contrast to his own purple. But ok. Good. He was flexible. Vil thought that you would be just like any other servant, minding your own business but then you got close to Neige. And you didn’t even mean to.

To show his brother that the world was much darker than he thought it was, always seeing everything in a good light, Vil had ordered him to work. Being the shunned one out of the half-siblings Vil had always known that the servants would use you whenever they saw it fit and you would let them. Sooner than later he was instead of just polishing silverware cleaning the entirety of the courtyard. Foolish brother of his.

And then you came and helped him. In the beginning it was just a nice gesture. Helping him collecting all the small branches that had broken off of the trees but soon there was something akin to a friendship between the two of you. Neige, in his usual ignorant ways, brought books to read with you after the two of you were done.

Usually, commoners weren’t able to read so Vil thought that Neige ended back then his only friendship, you seeing this as something offensive. As if the young man was trying to put himself over you in social standing. But there you were, reading it to him without any struggle. That was when Vil saw that you weren’t like the other servants.

And this was also how he started to watch you more and more, through his mirror of course. You could only stare at a person so long until they noticed. Soon this became one of his daily activities. Laughing at the jokes you made, listening to your worries and making sure that you were at least treated politely by the others. Not like anyone was rude to you in the first place but one does never know.

Then the day came. The day on which Neige gave you his name. Only his first one, even his brother had enough sense to stop himself from giving you his family name since those were only reserved for people with titles. But Vil saw that you knew. That small slip-up was enough for you to realize that the person in front of you was at least of somewhat importance. He also knew that you would be even more of an enigma for him if you didn’t share things about yourself with Neige, and also with him, Vil.

The small distance the dark-haired male had to you was something that ignited the fire in his stomach even more. He as an onlooker could only dream of getting this close to you but it wasn’t like he could change anything about that. “Rook, I know that you are there. Come out.”

Appearing seemingly out of thin air the famed hunter made himself present. Vil never showed it but as always he was impressed with the skills of the blonde. If he didn’t know any better he might have confused him with an assassin sent after his head. “Oui? Is there something I can do for you?”

Placing his hand against the glass the king looked down at his brother and the individual he was so interested in. “Separate them and whilst you are already on your way, bring Epel here. There is something I need him to do.”

And oh, was it a glorious moment when your gazes crossed for the first time. To be fair, it couldn’t be a good thing for you, panic evident on your face, stumbling back into the castle all whilst thinking that you would be safe from his gaze in there. But you weren’t. You never were. All those times he watched you, you being oblivious to the eyes gazing through the mirror upon you whilst you traveled through dreamland.

And even Vil could see that his behavior wasn’t exactly “elegant” or “gentleman-like”. In fact, he sometimes was disgusted by himself but a desperate situation calls for desperate measurements. Apparently watching you like a hawk was one of those. But this couldn’t go on for all eternity (or rather as long as the two of you lived. Not everyone was like the king beyond the roses).

Turning his gaze towards the servant in the corner he took note of his position. But of course, he was close to him, always ready to do what he wanted, and easy to monitor. Perhaps this was the solution. Perhaps he just needed you as one of his closest servants. Perhaps this waste of space behind him was not as loyal as he claimed? Well, not that Vil card anyways. Soon that position would be free and you were ready to fill in.

Motioning with his fingers forward the poor soon-to-be framed commoner stepped closer. “I think it is time for us to allow others to rise in their qualifications. Did you see them? Train them. Do not waste time. I do not want to hear an excuse why you can’t.”

As he heard the door shut behind the man another standing right beside Vil took his attention. Smiling he focused on the violet-haired individual. “Epel, I think there is something I need you to do and prepare for…”

[lumiambrose]

Honkai star rail matchup for @teardrop-scales

I ship you with...

Dan Heng

YOU ARE MADE TO BOARD THE EXPRESS.

YOU ARE MADE FOR DAN HENG.

Sadly, I can’t really say this man is very goofy but I think he compliments you very well.

You two are basically like the one couple I tell my parents I’m going to go hang out with if I’m trying to do something stupid.

Assuming you two would actually hang out with me whilst I do stupid things, if you don’t stop me, Dan Heng will.

Basically, second parents.

insert that one mama i papa tiktok audio

Let’s say you weren’t initially a member of the Express before meeting Dan Heng; he would definitely find a way to convince the crew to stay at their current location longer so he can talk to you.

He definitely wouldn’t admit you’re the reason for his prolonged stay, to you or the express. But he refuses to leave without you boarding with him.

Despite making him sound clingy, you would have to initiate whatever happens between the two of you. I find it hard to believe Dan Hend will necessarily be social outside of whatever mission he is on, so you most likely approached him. His first impression of you was really good; considering Dan Heng’s relationships, I can see that being quite the accomplishment. Maybe it’s because he’s spent too much time with March and the Trailblazer, or maybe you’re just really easy to talk to.

(the second option)

If I were to ever meet you in real life, I totally imagine you being easy to talk to. Maybe it’s because you’re an ambivert, or perhaps the mix of being well mannered with just enough sass to keep things interesting, but I feel like you’re extremely good with people.

You must be to some degree considering you pulled Dan Heng.

He wasn’t very talkative at first, that’s for sure. And it probably did take a while for the both of you to open up to each other, but Den Heng is just as loyal as you are. I imagine him too having worries about being abandoned, especially if it’s you.

Definitely shows his love with actions over words, especially when he would much rather hear your voice instead.

This man could listen to you for DAYS. There’s something in your voice that instantly relieves his stress. Kind of like that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when it’s chucking down with rain and you’re all cozy at home with a warm drink and blanket.

Your voice is like his oxygen. Even if he isn’t listening to you, it’s the perfect background noise. I can totally imagine him reading in his room with you snuggled under his arm while you’re doing your own thing. Every now and then thinking out loud.

He couldn’t ask for a more perfect day.

Now I’m pretty confident Den Heng is more the kind of guy who would rather stay at home with you than go out on some fancy ass date (domestically, of course). we’re ignoring his choice of career, ok? But he totally finds it more romantic staying on the express when it’s just the two of you over some fancy date.

That doesn’t mean he won’t take you out >:)

I mean, the express has money, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had his own income. So he can and will take you out every now and then. But I believe he’d prefer to spend his money more on little gifts for you instead.

The type of guy to buy you an entire book series because you looked at the first volume for a little too long.

(He bought a set for himself too so he can understand what you’re fangirling about.)

Although when the two of you do go out… he definitely holds himself to a level of professionalism. Not only is he representing the express whenever he steps foot somewhere, now he’s also with his beautiful partner; he makes sure the outing is nothing short of perfection.

If you wish for it, he’s certainly willing to spoil you. Although he finds independance just as hot.

Petname wise, Dan Heng loves anything you call him. Even if it’s childish or sarcastic, the most you’ll get is a look of skeptism before he melts to your voice. On the other end, Dan Heng loves your name over anything, when he does use petnames he typically opts for something more 'mature’ or ‘intimate’. Such as ‘my love’, ‘darling’, ‘dear’, you get the gist.

NOW THIS GUY DEFINITELY HAS SOME SARCASM IN HIM. The closer you are to him, the goofier it gets.

He never means it, of course, but expect witty remarks and all-out debates that totally sound like the two of you are lawyers.

He is smart though; he knows when to bite the bullet and let you have your way and I imagine you’re just as mature too. So on the rare occasion he chooses not to endulge your witty remarks, expect a joking flick on the head before he embraces you, or really just anything that allows physical contact with you.

Dan Heng will open up to you about his past once you’re close enough.

He’ll do his best to not make a big deal out of it, and will definitely try to play it down.

“Oh yeah by the way I'm the reincarnation of a dragon” type shit.

He won’t just randomly drop it out of nowhere, of course. But the last thing he wants is for you to worry yourself over him.

That doesn’t stop his heart from absolutely melting when you do.

I can imagine you’d be very mature about it. For the most of it, you’re just staring into his eyes, nodding, and showing your attention to him. Once he’s finally done talking, you don’t really have to give him a verbal reply, but he’ll appreciate anything you have to say nonetheless. Or… just hold him. Hold him gently in your arms and just show him that everything is fine. That you love him nonetheless and won’t leave him over such a trivial matter.

Talking about you holding him… physical touch. That’s it. That’s all I have to say. He melts into your touch and loves the way you melt into his. It’s extremly intimate to him, so only expect him to behave like this behind closed doors. But the gesture of having you so close to him, is extremly comforting. Being able to hold you in his arms, or vice versa, keeping the other stuck with you just makes him melt. He’s definitely worried about losing those close to him, so this is a surefire way to reassure him.

On the topic of love languages, he definitely gives acts of service. He knows your favorite foods, what kind of books you read, how you like your coffee brewed and what kind of notes you like in your perfume, and makes sure to act on it. It’s routine for him to stop by your room a minimum of three times a day to bring you tea or coffe. And somehow this man always knows what you’re craving. Boyfriend insticts I guess.

Back to the whole Vhidyadra situation. I can imagine you being so enamoured the first time you see his dragon form. IN A GOOD WAY OF COURSE. You’d definitely be taken aback. I mean, it’s not everyday you see your boyfriend grow horns and a tail.

I can imagine you instantly going to pet either of them. He instantly shy’s away considering he never told you how sensitive they are.

Imagine reaching out to stroke his horns but he gets nervous and suddenly pulls back, leaving you to lose your balance and topple over him. Your hands grip his biceps as your faces are inches apart from each other. His face, now a dark shade of crimson. Taking advantage of the situation, you reach out to touch his horns with one of your hands and my god, you were not expecting that reaction.

If his face wasn’t already as red as a tomato, now it definitely is. He lets out the sweetest noise at the slightest touch of your fingertips grazing his horns, which is quickly followed by him pulling you close. He closes the little distance between the two of you as he pulls you down onto his chest in an attempt to hide how flustered he is.

“What was that?” ”… It’s irrelevant, don’t do that so unexpectedly next time.”

Will absolutely not admit how sensitive he is. That doesn’t stop you, of course; just because he doesn’t admit it doesn’t mean you’re not smart enough to catch on. It’s such a fun way to tease him too. He pretends to hate it but despite how sensitive his horns and tail are, your touch on them feels divine.

The longer the two of you are together, the more often you’ll see him lounge around you in his Vhidyadra form. Sometimes after a long and tiring day, he’ll enter your room just to instantly collapse in your arms and wrap his tail around you, letting it grasp your thigh or waist. Sometimes, if he’s too sleepy to care, he’ll let you play with his tail. Just make sure you take responsibility for your actions ;)

[maverick-werewolf]

Werewolf Fact #69 (dude!) - Ancient Egypt

Well, I thought this month would be about something else, but my patrons spoke differently! And I always listen to my patrons when it comes to folklore facts.

So, without further ado, let’s finally get back to werewolf facts! This is a big one, as it’s a lifelong favorite topic of mine!

An ancient Egyptian mask worn by a priest during rites performed for the dead, who would have “taken on the aspect” of the wolf-headed god Anubis

Let me just open by saying that I absolutely love ancient Egypt. It’s fascinated me since I was a small child and I was reading a tiny children’s book about cats, and ancient Egypt was discussed. Naturally, when I found out about Anubis, I was even more interested. Then came games like Age of Mythology and many movies... especially The Mummy (1999), of course. Anyway!

Ancient Egypt didn’t have a negative opinion of wolves. In fact, several important deities had wolf heads and were associated with wolves. Let’s begin with something that’s always interested me, which is the city of Lykopolis (as it was called in Greek)...

More under the cut, since this post got so lengthy!

Lykopolis (ancient Egyptian transliteration is something like “Zawty”) was an important city located on the western bank of the Nile, capital of the Thirteenth Nome of Upper Egypt during about 3100 BC. The primary deities of the city were - as you might imagine - Anubis and Wepwawet, both wolf-headed gods. Mummified wolves (golden wolves, not jackals; more on this momentarily) have been found in various excavated chambers throughout the city ruins, of which very little still survives.

The city has a very fun story behind it, as told by Greek historian Diodorus Siculus. In the first century BC, an army of Nubians invaded from the south - but they were repelled by packs of wolves. These wolves drove the army from the southern borders of Lykopolis and then back beyond the borders of Egypt. According to Diodorus, this is why Lykopolis was called “the city of the wolf” and revered wolves and wolf-deities so greatly.

Some sources claim that these wolves were summoned by the god Osiris, who was also worshiped as a wolf in Lykopolis, and had also, at one point, taken the form of a wolf. I will admit I personally haven’t read this source, as it’s in French, so I can’t fully attest to that element of the story - I haven’t seen that one cited very often in various specifically ancient Egypt history sources. Regardless, it’s fun if true. Either way, the tale of the wolves driving back Egypt’s enemies was definitely recounted in detail in a primary historical source!

By the way, you’ll hear a lot of people refer to these deities as “jackal-headed.” It’s very popular still to call Anubis the “jackal god.” We now know, though, that the animals in question were in fact not jackals - they were indeed wolves. Scientists for a long time asserted that they for some reason knew things better than the ancient Egyptians and Greeks who actually lived during the time period and retroactively dictated that they weren’t wolf gods, they were jackal gods.

However, the Egyptian jackal was discovered to be a species of gray wolf. You can read a lot about that here in this article, regarding how people didn’t believe wolves lived in the area during those time periods, but we found out they did, and we also found out that the mummified wolves in Lykopolis were - yes - wolves, like their contemporary cultures said.

A quote from the article: “the Egyptian jackal is in fact a gray wolf. ‘We now know that wolves were indeed in Africa in the days of the ancient Egyptians—and long, long before,’ says Stenseth.”

I honestly don’t know why everyone thought wolves couldn’t have lived in the area during these time periods (when we know perfectly well a wide variety of animals inhabited regions they no longer inhabit, and that we discover new species in the deserts even to this day) or decided the ancients didn’t know what they were talking about, but anyway...

Another fun fact, by the way, is that the word “jackal” didn’t even enter the English language until the 1600s, borrowed from French, which in turn was most likely borrowed from Persian - not Egyptian. The animals in Egypt were wolves, and we now know that they were also wolves scientifically. In fact, some scientists even believe it’s possible that jackals (as in actual scientific jackals, not golden wolves) didn’t find their way into the Egyptian region until much later, when these wolf gods would have been well-established. They may have followed travelers out of Arabia. This is speculation, though, but regardless, the long-believed-to-be “jackals” of ancient Egypt were all wolves. So it sounds like we should’ve believed the ancient Egyptians and Greeks in the first place, huh?

Long story short - Lykopolis was indeed a wolf city, wolves drove invaders out of Egypt, and Anubis, Wepwawet, and Duamutef were wolf gods. Not jackals.

Please note that there are those who would argue with me that some of them are jackals and some are wolves, or that they were all jackals, or whatever else, but in my personal opinion (and the opinion of many historians and scientists), it’s very clear across depictions, mummified wolves, historical accounts from both Egyptians and Greeks, etc., that these many Egyptian wolf-related beings were what we now call “golden wolves” or “Egyptian wolves” (and sometimes referred to as “jackals” still despite their genetics), which are indeed gray wolves, and not a species of true (genetic) jackals. There also exist theories that these wolves are something that no longer exists, and also that the modern animals we have are interbred wolves and jackals. Theories abound, whatever the case.

Then of course there are those who say that Anubis was the jackal-headed god and Wepwawet was the wolf-headed god, due in no small part to inherent biases that wolves only come in “gray.” I think those are all very silly, especially as we already know that colors in ancient Egypt were highly associated with ritual and meaning, rather than directly stating that Anubis’s head was black because he’s some kind of black-backed jackal - which don’t even have black heads, anyway. We have multiple associations between Anubis and wolves, and just because Wepwawet was often depicted with a grey or white head doesn’t make him a wolf and Anubis something different. Therefore, I personally will continue to refer to all of these as wolf-headed gods, and I apologize if that bothers anyone.

Sorry. Brief Mav-rant there. More important things to follow, because we haven’t even talked about those deities yet!

So now let’s talk about these gods themselves...

Anubis in the book of the dead (which was not actually a book)

Easily my favorite thing in all of ancient Egyptian mythology, Anubis (known by many other epithets, including but not at all limited to "Lord of the Sacred Land," "He Who is Upon his Sacred Mountain," "Master of Secrets," and "He Who is in the Place of Embalming”) is the god of the dead. He was the protector of graves, guardian of the dead, the shepherd of souls passing into the afterlife, and many more roles, including the ever-important Weighing of the Heart (as seen above), the results of which would dictate whether or not someone was allowed to enter the afterlife - or if their heart was devoured by the monster Ammit and their soul destroyed forever.

Anubis was depicted with the black head of a wolf. His head was colored black because black was the color associated with life, the life-giving soil of the Nile River, regeneration, and embalmed bodies, and he, of course, is also the god of mummification. Anubis is one of the single most important deities in all of ancient Egypt, depicted and mentioned very frequently, even more than most any other deity - however, despite this, there are almost no stories actually involving him.

But no, Anubis was not “evil,” as much of modern pop culture would have you believe! (Sorry The Mummy Returns, I love you to death, I really do - but it was super rude to make Anubis evil.)

Long story short, Anubis was freaking awesome, and there’s way too much to say about him and his awesomeness for just one post. Maybe I’ll do a separate post all about him later, because he’s a personal obsession of mine.

Anubis’s brother (at least, he is considered to be this by some) was the god Wepwawet, another wolf-headed deity. Wepwawet was a man with a white or grey head of a wolf (though some think he may have also had a black head like Anubis, but others claim that is not the cause and the coloring was on purpose as we have seen it in too many different places - still more claim it was just the artist’s preference; it’s hard to know any of these things for sure)...

Wepwawet with Pharaoh Seti I (try not to read that in Ardeth Bay’s voice, I dare you. I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to, though)

Like basically all deities of ancient Egypt, Wepwawet is a complicated god, a deity involved in some funerary rites, but especially associated with war and royalty. Wepwawet means “opener of the ways,” and he was depicted as a man with the head of a grey or white wolf, as well as wolf at the prow of a solar boat, sometimes said to lead armies, to scout, and even to have the honor of going before the pharaoh himself. He is also known by the title “one with sharp arrows more powerful than the gods.”

A very important god, Wepwawet is one of the oldest gods of Egypt ever recorded, and he was always associated directly with royalty and specially the pharaoh. He was said to accompany the pharaoh on his hunts, as well as protecting the pharaoh in life and the afterlife - he is a symbol of divinity of rule and of kings in general. He is, for certain, a very good deity, rather than some kind of evil wolf of Western literature.

And lastly among the prominent wolf-headed deities, we have one of the four sons of Horus, Duamutef...

The four sons of Horus were depicted upon the canopic jars (jars containing certain organs of the mummified dead) starting in the First Intermediate Period of Egyptian history, which was around 2181-2055 BC. Each deity protected a different important organ; Duamutef, the wolf-headed god, always protected the stomach and represented the direction of the east. Please note he was not always depicted with a black head like Anubis; sometimes he also had a white or grey head. It varied. Likewise, in later periods, the forms of these various gods were sometimes mixed up, and a different son of Horus would have the wolf head. These deities were depicted not only on the canopic jars, but also on many other funerary artifacts, including the sarcophagi that would contain the jars.

So we have all these wolf-headed deities... but does any of this tie into werewolves at all?

Well, it doesn’t, really. There seems to be no indication that Anubis, Wepwawet, Duamutef, or anyone else did any particular shapeshifting, and they certainly weren’t cursed. They were gods. Anubis and Wepwawet are both sometimes depicted as simply a wolf as opposed to a wolf-headed man - as many of the Egyptian gods are depicted as their animal counterparts, including Ra, Horus, Hathor, Sobek, and many, many others - but that’s merely his animal aspect counterpart. Depictions and aspects of the gods of ancient Egypt (and also, later, how Rome and Egypt intermingled some of their deities during the Roman occupation, such as Hermanubis) are extremely in-depth topics. I’ve always loved studying them, but they are immensely complicated - certainly far too complicated for this post! So let’s get back to the matter at hand...

I’ll be honest, I have yet to find a credibly-sourced legend that talks about anything like an ancient Egyptian “werewolf.” I’m pretty darn sure they didn’t have anything remotely like what we consider among actual werewolf legends, my friends, and especially none that meet my personal criteria. The ancient Greeks, however, absolutely did, as you probably know if you’ve spent time browsing my werewolf facts masterlist (link at the bottom of this post!).

Wolf-headed gods, however - yes, they definitely had those, and no, they were not “evil gods.” In fact, some of them were very highly revered and associated directly with necessary aspects of life and death, as well as with pharaohs.

Speaking of, if you love ancient Egypt (and also adventure movies), you should absolutely check out my new novella that came out just this past June - Wulfgard: The Tomb of Ankhu!

It is the first of two short novellas that tell an exciting tale about adventure, an ancient curse, mummies, memorable characters, and last but not least lots of Anubis and other legends, all of it set in the vast ancient-medieval dark age fantasy realm of Wulfgard: a world where all myths are true.

Every book release means the world to me, and this one is no different. I’m very proud of this story, and I really think you’ll enjoy it.

Deep in the southernmost deserts of Wulfgard lies the resting place of Pharaoh Ankhu the Endless, one of the greatest evils the land of Kemhet, or the world, has ever known. So terrible was his power that the gods themselves cursed him, sealing him away in an underground labyrinth. Ankhu rises with each darkening of the moon, a walking mummy, wandering this tomb in search of his own still-beating heart, without which he can never reach the afterlife.

Over untold ages, Ankhu’s tomb remained undiscovered, a secret protected always by the loyal Medjai, an order sworn to guard Kemhet from all threats. And now, a new threat has arisen: Lord Tefnahkt the Red, a powerful warlock, drives his cult and his many slaves to uncover Pharaoh Ankhu’s resting place and steal the mummy's power.

While a small group of Medjai desperately work to stop Tefnahkt’s plans, one slave may become the key to putting an end to this evil once and for all: Djedar Rath. In a race against time, Djedar must lead the Medjai to prevent Tefnahkt from opening the tomb of Ankhu before the coming of the new moon, when the undead Pharaoh will awaken once more. For, if Ankhu escapes, the world will never survive his wrath.

Inspired heavily by real-world ancient Egyptian and other mythologies - but with many original additions and elements - as well as the classic character-driven adventure genre that mixes aspects of action, thriller, and horror, with a tasteful sprinkling of levity, The Tomb of Ankhu is a tale of non-stop adventure and excitement that will leave you on the edge of your seat! Now available in ebook and paperback!

Go here to purchase on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C8897R1K

Readers have been really enjoying this one! The second one has been in the works for quite some time already, so expect news about that in the coming months, as well.

Hope you enjoyed the werewolf fact this month, even if it was kind of more a wolf fact. But, myself, I have spent my entire life captivated by ancient Egypt, so I love this kind of stuff.

Thanks for reading, and until next time!

( If you like my werewolf blog, be sure to follow me here and check out my other stuff! Please consider supporting me on Patreon or donating on Ko-fi if you’d like to see me continue my works, including my folklore blog and writing my own novels, werewolf and otherwise. Every little bit helps so much.

Patreon — Personal Website (new and improved! Great starting point!)  — Ko-fi — Wulfgard — Werewolf Fact Masterlist — Twitter — Vampire Fact Masterlist )

[the-mighty-mittens]

Incorrect end roll quotes yippee

Gardenia: I dare you-

Yumi: Russell is not allowed to accept dares anymore.

Gardenia: Why not?

Russell: "I have no regard for my own or others personal safety", as some would say.

Russell: Thanks for pulling the fire alarm, you saved me from giving an oral report about The Scarlet Web.

Gardenia: You were too lazy to read the book?!

Russell: I was too lazy to watch the movie.

Cody: So I can either do something dumb that could very well get me injured or I can listen to Dogma and not do the thing,

Cody: Well there’s a clear right answer here.

Cody: *proceeds to throw five packs of mentos into a barrel full of diet coke*

Tabasa: You're ignoring all your problems.

Russell: I know.

Tabasa: You also know it's an unhealthy coping mechanism?

Russell: I'm ignoring that fact as well.

Tabasa:

Cody: Who the fuck-

Dogma: Language!

Cody: Whom the fuck-

Dogma: No.

Informant: *slams books down in front of Russell*

Informant: Boil up some Mountain Dew. It’s gonna be a long night.

Russell: You could of said literally anything else.

Informant: Cauldron boil and cauldron bubble, Baja Blast to fuel my trouble.

Russell: I’m going to just stop challenging you when you say random shit. I won’t win. I realize this now.

Russell, playing a video game: How do I play?

*Russell has drawn first blood!*

*Russell is on a killing spree!*

*Russell is on a rampage!*

*Russell is unstoppable!*

*Russell is dominating!*

*Russell is godlike!*

Russell: Don’t worry guys, I figured it out.

Chris, holding in their laughter: Hey, how do you ask a glass of water what it’s doing?

Russell: A glass of water is an inanimate object. Therefore, it's incapable of having a thought process or understanding basic human language.

Chris:

Chris: Water you doing?

Chris: Welcome to my very first vlog, in which I try different hair products!

Chris: *sprays hairspray in their mouth*

Chris: Well, right off the bat I can tell you this one is not very good.

Chris: So I got this amazing plan!

Russell: We fail almost every time you say that.

Chris: Well this is the same! But with a hamster involved.

Chris: What do you have?

Russell: A KNIFE!

Chris: NO!

Chris: Life is like Russell. It's short.

Chris: I don’t go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me first.

Russell: Sometimes, I don’t realize an event was traumatic until I tell it as a funny story and notice everyone is staring at me weird.

Russell: I’ve been described as a ‘heartless villain’ and a 'little shit’, but I prefer… 'has alternative ways of having fun’. (Note: Russell... No)

Russell: Of course I have a lot of pent-up rage, you fool! I've been the same height since I was twelve! (Note: I already did this joke but here it is again)

Gardenia: You look mentally ill.

Russell: I am. Let’s go.

Russell: Well, well, well, if it isn’t the consequences of my actions.

Dogma: My life is a little too much panic and not enough disco.

Gardenia: My life is a little too much fall and not enough boy.

Kantera: My life is a little too much chemical and not enough romance.

Russell: My life is a little too much imagination and not nearly enough dragons.

Cody: Did you have to stab them?

Russell: You weren’t there. You didn’t hear what they said to me.

Cody: What did they say?

Russell: "What are you going to do, stab me?"

Cody: That’s fair.

Kantera: What's wrong with you?

Russell: Off the top of my head, I'd say low self-esteem, a lack of paternal affection, and a genetic predisposition for anxiety and depression.

Gardenia: iuegrukfhoeuhfeoruhf

Dogma: What is that?

Gardenia: it’s a keyboard smash

Dogma: How do I do it?

Gardenia: just press anything

Dogma: 7

Gardenia: Seriously, Russell, how many people would you have killed if we’d asked you to?

Russell: That’s not important

Gardenia: I DISAGREE.

Cody: Russell, what do you have?

Russell: A KNIFE!

Cody: Okay, have fu-

Yumi: NO!

Cody: Fruits that do not live up to their names; passionfruit, grapefruit, honeydew and dragonfruit.

Cody: Fruits that do live up to their names?

Cody: Orange.

[acopenhagenarmy]

PART EIGHT

Pairing: Namjoon x Reader

Warnings: bad words and such, a shit ton of fluff as usual, hints of smut? (very very very pg though)

A/N: This is an updated version of chapter 8. I’ve also taken the liberty to change a few details throughout the story, so I would recommend a fresh read before starting on this one. 

Wordcount: 2,4K

/ Moodboard / Teaser / One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six / Seven / Eight / Nine / Ten /

Taglist: @purpletaehyung92 @just-call-me-trash-can @undiscovered1personality

The staff had made sure you’d get a seat where you had a good view of everything, You could see them dance around and have fun but without being distracting. It was fun sitting there, army bomb in hand listening to the exciting conversations of those sitting close to you. 

It was in the VIP section, and despite having a private toilet and a little more comfortable seats, the difference between you and the rest in the arena weren’t that prominent. 

You sat down at one 

“Are you here alone?” The person next to you asked. 

“Yeah kind of, first time” You smiled at her. 

She was beautiful, full lips, long hair, stilettos and a dress. Looked like she had been plucked out of a movie, the kind of woman who anyone would love to be best friends with. 

“Well you’re in for a treat! I can tell you that much! They’re amazing on a stage, every single one of them” She was all smiles as she spoke, the pride of being their fan was very visible. 

You couldn’t help but think about how kind all the people in the stadium seemed, helping each other, giving out freebies, dressing up and singing along to the songs that were played on the screens while they waited for the concert to begin. 

“I can imagine” You answered as you looked over the crowds. 

“So who’s your bias then?” She asked curiously as she took a sip of her wine, offering you a glass in the process, which you happily accepted. 

“Namjoon, no doubt” 

She looked you up and down. “Yeah, I can see that” 

“Really? How?” You asked curiously. 

You wanted to know just what about could make a stranger think you’d be somewhat connected to the man. She shrugged and smiled even wider. 

“I don’t really know… Might just be your energy. It seems like you have passions, good friends that surround you. You’re grounded in a way” 

She wasn’t wrong, but you were also a little scared that she had been that good at reading you, despite only just meeting you. 

“Damn…” you said. 

She laughed: “Yeah I’m pretty good at these kind of things” 

“So who’s your bias?” You asked, trying to read her like a book as well. 

“Oh I’m Jin all the way, always have been, always will be” 

There was a sparkle in her eyes that seemed somehow familiar. The same sparkle Namjoon had in his eyes when he talked to you. It made you curious, and you wanted to pry her for more information, but instead you just made a mental note. 

“Seen them before?” You asked instead. 

“Yeah, I try to watch them whenever they tour in whatever country I’m in. I travel a lot for work, and from time to time they’re doing concerts in London, Osakar or LA when I’m there as well.” 

“Uh! It’s starting!” She said before you had a chance to answer, and clapped her hands. 

The music was loud, and the lights from every army bomb lit up simultaneously. It looked beautiful, and it was definitely a new kind of concert experience. The video’s then started on the screen and not long after he was there, on the stage performing. 

You cheered him on, smiled and screamed more than you would like to admit. You could feel how your heart was bursting with pride. How could you be so lucky that your man was so talented. 

His song was beautiful, and he somehow looked like he was glowing when he was on stage. The lyrics were so beautiful, and you suddenly realized that ‘forever rain’ might not be the first song he had written in your honor. And the “I live so I love” definitely felt like it was for you. 

People around you cried as they said their goodbyes, and Namjoon couldn’t help but drop hints to the fact that he was in love and had found his special person in the city that never sleeps. 

You said your goodbyes to the woman you had met, a little lost on just where to go now that the concert was finished. But as soon as you had left the door there stood a security guard ready to escort you back to your man and his friends. 

He was somewhat sweaty, but it somehow suited him perfectly. He felt right at home in the chaotic mess that was staff running back and forth trying to get a hold on Jungkook who had decided he wanted to see his fans leave the venue. 

He smiled as soon as his eyes found yours, leaving the stylist behind who tried to remove both necklaces and earrings from both him and Jin at the same time. 

He pulled you close instantly, just holding you, resting his cheek on the top of your head, inhaling the scent of you, enjoying having you here with him. 

“How was it?” He mumbled quietly. 

“It was perfect, you were perfect! You all were” You said and looked up at him. His hands were resting on your cheeks, caressing you or as you would say, driving you insane. You wanted so bad to kiss him, especially like this with pride in your heart. 

“I’m glad you liked it, we gave it a little extra since you were watching” He smiled and his eyes almost disappeared as his dimples reappeared. Cute. 

“Did you meet any people?” He asked, searching your eyes and your emotions for the smallest hint of sadness and loneliness. 

He had been a little nervous if you’d feel left alone and maybe needed someone to share the experience with. Normally he would have you bring your friends, have you in your own booth so you could all talk openly, but everything had happened so quickly. Next time. He thought. 

“No it was great, I sat next to an amazing woman. Jin biased.” You said and looked towards the oldest. 

“Ah yes of course she was! Beautiful I suspect as well?” He said and sent a wink your way. 

“Yeah she was, she dropped a shit ton of confetti though, don’t know why anyone would carry that in their bag” You laughed. 

“You never know,” Jin said, smile on his face, but the tone seemed a little sad. 

“We should get going, wanna come back to the hotel with us?” He asked you.

He was nervous, you could feel it. Afraid he was moving too fast, afraid you have had enough new experiences in one day and just needed your own bed, time to yourself. 

You took his hand and gave it a squeeze. 

“I’ve been alone long enough Joonie, I wanna stay by your side for as long as I can” 

You could see the blush that painted his cheeks as he looked down on your hands, afraid his heart would explode if he looked in your eyes. 

“Okay, good, I’m glad…” 

“Let’s go!” 

He never let go of you. Not in the car, not when you had to go to the elevator, not when he ordered you food. It wasn’t before he stood outside hit hotel door, he let go of you hand just to be able to open the door for the two of you. 

His hands were shaking, but you would be lying if yours didn’t do the same. 

The room was somewhat big, clothes spread throughout with a gorgeous view of the city. But it smelled like him, it was pleasant. 

You threw yourself down in the bed and he laughed. 

"What? This is a must in every hotel bed you know” You said, big smile displayed. And not even a second later he came flying towards you, resulting in you quickly rolling to the side, if you didn’t want to be crushed by the weight under him. 

The happiness you both felt in the moments you shared together was nothing you’d ever experienced. It was true happiness, it was love. No doubt about it. 

He pulled you close, the two of you laying on your sides, staring into eachothers souls. You were slowly creeping closer and closer. Both were too afraid of moving too fast, afraid to wake up and realize that it was all a dream. 

Before you knew it your noses were touching, and you could feel his warm breath on your face. Every hair on your body stood up. It was like there was electricity in the air. 

His eyes searched yours for permission, and all you needed to give him was a small nod, before he moved a centimeter, finally connecting his lips with yours. 

The kiss was soft, slow, and perfect. It felt like your souls became on. He didn’t rush, he savored every second. Sliding his tongue on your bottom lip as to ask for permission which you granted him in an instant. 

It earned you a groan from him and he instantly pulled you close to him. Your legs got instantly tangled with his, as his arms pulled you as physically close as your bodies would allow. His hands were rubbing circles on your skin, slowly yanking up your shirt earning him access to the skin on your hip. 

It felt like he lit your skin on fire, and you pulled him on top of you in an instant, resulting in him trailing kisses from your lips to your collarbones, as his hands yanked your shirt higher and higher, leaving goosebumps behind. 

His hands were warm, strong, and you’d never felt more safe than in that exact moment. 

Having the mark had so far only brought you pain, but being able to feel the excitement, desperation, pleasure he was feeling in this moment was worth it all. 

He laid himself on top of you, resting most of his weight on his arms, as to not smother you. Your legs instinctively flew around his hips, pulling him even closer, resulting in him grinding into you. It stole a moan from the both of you.  

But you were too consumed with the pleasure to even think about anything other than chasing the high both of you felt. 

That was until it knocked on the door and Jimin's voice said: “Hey guys, I have your dinner?” with a sweet voice. 

Namjoon pulled away from you and laughed. 

“I feel like a teenager who just got interrupted by my mother” 

You laughed as he got off the bed. You followed close behind him, not wanting to be too far from him. 

He opened the door and revealed to Jimin the two of you with red lips and messy hair. Big smiles on display. He laughed at the two of you. 

“Oh wow that’s a lot of snacks!” You sat as you saw the two ‘Ben&Jerry’s and four bars of chocolate in Jimin's other hand. 

“That time of the month?” Namjoon asked. It seemed like a pretty normal occurrence, but you couldn’t help the puzzled look that painted your features. 

“Pain mark” Jimin just said as an explanation. “She’s on her period so I try making it as comfortable as I possibly can for her” 

“I’m sure she loves that very much Jimin” You said and sent a smile his way. 

He nodded as he handed you the food, once again leaving the two of you alone. 

“Hungry?” Namjoon asked as he brought the bag to the bed. “I ordered you some of my faves, so I hope you like it” He was a little sheepish. 

“So what are the boys' marks?” You asked as you sat down on the bed, helping him unpack the feast that he had splayed out in front of the two of you. 

“Eh, Jins is lost things?” He laughed. 

“Lost things?" You asked as you took a whole dumpling in your mouth. 

“Yeah, whenever his soulmate looses something he wakes up to it on his pillow next to him. I have no idea how you loose a shoe, but, what do I know” 

You laughed. “Wow okay! That’s a new one.” 

“Yoongis is taste, that's why you’ll never see him order coffee from the same place twice. We’re pretty sure they’re a barista of some sorts. So he constantly search for the perfect flat white who tastes like the one she’s always drinking.” 

“Aww that’s cute” 

“Hobi’s is dreams” 

“So he dreams of her?” Namjoon made a face as he had just stuffed it with a giant piece of meat. 

He didn’t care, he already felt safe with you, at home. So he just kept talking: “No more like he has no dreams until he touches her, and then he’ll be able to see where she is, and if they’re asleep at the same time, then they can communicate” 

“Damn… That must be a difficult one” 

Namjoon nodded. “It is, so if you ever see him bump into strangers or poke people, just let him do his thing. He’s getting a little desperate” 

“Tae has wings?” 

You almost spit your food out right then and there. 

“Wait like small wings, or?” 

“No they’re huge” He spread his arms out to either side. “It’s completely insane, he prefers to hide them though.” 

“Wait what color?” 

“Black” 

“So like, Angel?” You asked, almost in chock. 

“Exactly like her, they’re in contact but because of her schedule and our tour they haven't been able to meet yet. He’s just waiting patiently. But we’re pretty sure that she’s the one” 

“Oh wow, and what about Jungkook then?” 

He sighed and started to fittle with the food that stood on the bed in front of him. “He got his mark covered” 

“I’m sorry what?” Your eyes were big, mouth open, jaw hitting the floor. 

“He wants to be able to choose his love himself. It’s why he’s over Star. She however wants nothing to do with him” 

“How come?” You took a big bite of the noodles, making Namjoon smile in the process. Seeing you enjoy his favorite foods made him happy. The two of you really were meant to be. 

“Her marks is tattoo’s, and she has already met her soulmate, he just doesn’t want her” He shrugged. “So she’s just doing her thing, working with what she loves, traveling the world with us!” 

“Enough about them! Tell me about you!” He said, as he sat back, ready for you to tell him his entire life’s story.  

[livvyofthelake]

what were the biggest differences btwn the book + the movie and did you feel like there were parts the movie did better than the book + vice versa 😋

girl from the summer i turned pretty tiktok sound voice oh my gosh i love this question!!!!!! ok. obviously the MAJOR difference between the novel and the film are the like. tenses with which the story is presented. and by that i mean the book is very past tense and reflective where the movie is very present tense and focused on the ephemeral moment. which is SO AWESOME btw. literally genius choice for adapting. many are not brave enough to do such a thing but thank god luca guadagnino was of our world would look very different. could you imagine if that movie came out and we had to read all that discourse for a movie that was also BAD? like i’m always saying this but at least no matter what we can always look back on that horrible era for being online and think well at least the movie wasn’t bad. but it could have been Very Very bad. can i drop a horrible piece of trivia on you all. actually i don’t know if we’re ready for that nevermind. anyway we move on. so the initial idea for the film was to have a narrator and i cannot even express how glad i am they didn’t do that. i think it makes the performances so much better that they did it all without the crutch of narration. which is not to say narration is always bad but in a lot of book to movie adaptations it really is a crutch and it sucks a lot of the time and it would have sucked a lot here so i’m glad the movie took the approach it did. like. in a book you can get into the protagonist’s mind a bit easier than with a movie but i think the movie makes it easy by really grounding the story in the moment. it’s summer and the world is beautiful and people are hard to connect with and it’s scorching outside but water is suddenly the best thing you’ve ever tasted in your life!! it’s a good movie guys trust me i wouldn’t lie to you. and i don’t even like armie hammer (me and my 12 year long beef i will never let go of. i don’t even know what’s happened with the man recently i know there was some kind of Cancellation or whatever but i don’t even care. he was cancelled to ME already before his career ever even meant anything). who narrated the audiobook which i listened to btw. so we’re all aware of the direness of the situation and just how forgiving and saintly i am. he unfortunately did kinda slay the audiobook it must be said. as much as it pains me to say.

as for other differences. a huge one to me is that in the book when elio cums in that peach oliver literally eats it. the movie was LAME AS FUCK for only having him joke about eating it. literally make him put that thing in his mouth i’m not kidding. another one is how the movie did part three and four, essentially cutting a lot of it for the sake of keeping the story present which we already talked about. but also there was just a lot of crap that happened in those sections that was boring and i liked that the movie was just like yeah they went to rome <3 like real say less! and the goodbye scene in the movie was also muchhh better for the movie i feel… i understand why the book didn’t get into it, because it was meant to feel like they weren’t actually saying goodbye and felt they would in many ways always be with each other if only in memory or whatever. but i liked the finality of it in the movie being this whole Event and he has to call his mom to pick him up from the train station bringing you back down to the crushing reality that he’s still only 17 and despite getting to like play grown up for the summer with oliver he literally still has to go back to high school in a month and he’s sad and he wants to call his mom to take him home… like that was crazy stuff wowie… i love it when timothee chalamet cries in a car. you guys should watch hot summer nights. it’s a terrible movie <3 i digress.

ANOTHER change i wanna talk about is that frankly the movie never gave misogyny vibes to me with how it treated the women in the story. where the book. well i said this earlier but. i don’t think andré cared about any of those women he wrote. elio’s mother in the book is so nothing and i loved how the film made her more of an active participant in both her son’s life and her own marriage. like she’s not perfect and she was never the weirdly omniscient figure her husband is but she’s presented in the film as very loving and kind and real where the book i swear literally forgets she exists. and then there’s marzia, elio’s sort of girlfriend sort of friend. it’s complicated. it’s not like he ever cheated on her that would imply they had an exclusive relationship understanding that was literally never real. that being said her involvement in the book was like. purely sexual and it was odd. now. this is a book about sex in many ways that must be acknowledged like. elio is like. incredibly horny the entire time and he’s so fucking annoying about it and i love him dearly. but marzia is reduced to a Female Body in a way oliver is never quite reduced to a Male Body and it comes off strange. like oh my god elio we get it you’re bisexual shut UP people like you are why people are biphobic jesus christ. that was a joke but also so real. marzia’s involvement in the movie is a lot more like. she’s a person with her own inner life. which i love naturally because it literally makes a narrative more interesting and juicy when the side characters are also human beings. not all men understand this.

my FAVORITE change from book to movie however. the “is it better to speak or to die” scene…. here’s the rundown. there’s a book elio reads about a princess and a knight who are friends but also in love, and she asks him “is it better to speak or to die?” wondering if he would rather die in peace and honor before getting to experience the love story they could share, or speak the truth and face consequences but finally have it known that he loves her and maybe get to experience even a brief moment of being truly known and loved. you guys all get it. you must submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known to get the rewards of being loved!! anyway so elio reads this book and then talks about it with oliver as a subtle reference to what’s between them as friends with the potential to be more. this is like an act one scene btw i should have clarified that earlier but you understand. anyway in the book it’s just that elio reads this book and tells oliver about it and then they spend the day together inching towards Talking About The Implications before they finally get into it. in the movie the book is read TO elio by his mother, which functionally changes nothing about the plot but EYE like way more because we get elio saying to her “i’d never have the courage to ask such a question” and then we cut to him trying to ask it but skirting around it and using the pretense of just making conversation about a book… also i think the movie’s way of doing that whole deal goes harder because we actually get to see oliver react to it. where the book is very elio focused the movie can have a lingering shot on oliver’s face as he reacts to what elio says from ten feet behind him… it’s my favorite part in the movie genuinely but it was kinda lame in the book… if it had been shot in a way that lent itself to the timeless video it would have been in the timeless video but alas :( like that scene is the whole reason they made it into the timeless video for real…. like IS it better to speak or to die!!??? let’s get into it!!!

something i liked about the book though that’s not in the movie is the inclusion of this character who’s like a little girl that lives near them. and she has like cancer or some horrible illness sorry to her i do not remember but she was friends with oliver, and frankly it made him in the beginning so much easier to forgive for the way he acts there. to be fair this was intentional she’s literally written to personify his redeeming qualities in the midst of elio’s hatred in the earlier stages. where the movie didn’t need her because film has the ability to show things a book can’t. but i liked having her hanging around :) her bailey the sisterhood of the traveling pants realness!

i probably have more to say but these are the big things i’m thinking of right now and this is already so long wow. i literally TOLD y’all i was gonna have boatloads of shit to talk about !!!

[bluethepineapple]

10 and 11 for weird writer asks!

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

The most recent bit of work to haunt me is from @whinlatter's Beasts (which I highly recommend)! Specifically this piece:

They tried, I think, but couldn’t manage it. Some of them are really upset.’ Hermione leans down to try and pick up Crookshanks. He mews at her, before trotting meekly away. ‘Where were you tonight, anyway? You weren’t at dinner?’ ‘No, I went to Hagrid’s.’ Ginny leans down as Crookshanks approaches her, weaving himself between her legs before trotting off to settle down on the end of her bunk. ‘He made a pie. It was almost edible.’ Hermione, it seems, is not really listening. Instead she watches Crookshanks stretch his front paws out on Ginny's old blanket. 'What happened to them?’ she asks, after a pause, gesturing at the other beds. ‘Your dorm-mates?’ Ginny glances over at the bunks, bare, save for Crookshanks and her beloved Nimbus. She points at the bunks in order. ‘St Mungo’s, after Azkaban. Transferred to Beauxbatons. Dropped out, maybe being home-schooled, though I doubt it. And - still missing.’ She looks soberly at the last bunk. ‘No-one’s heard anything from her in months. Her parents are Muggles, they must be going spare.’ They’re quiet as they both get dressed for bed. As Ginny finishes feeding her owl, she looks over at Hermione, sat up in bed. There's a Muggle paperback book open on her lap, though she doesn’t seem to be turning many pages. Her eyes, instead, are fixed on a sleeping Crookshanks on the other side of the room.

For such a quiet scene, it felt so suffocating. Her relationship with Crookshanks here is this very tangible evidence of Hermione no longer fitting into her previous life. There is that very deep sense of having been left behind, of being replaced, of no longer fitting into her home. I will be honest, I found this part difficult to read. There is this very visceral sense of lostness and missing that I felt keenly with Hermione, and I have been thinking about it ever since.

For my own work, I recently re-read Sweet Summer Scents, and two lines come to mind for me :

“I can cook,” she said, willing and failing to keep her voice from choking. “It could even be delicious. Potions need quite similar skills to cooking I would have you know.” She brewed a NEWTs level potion at thirteen. Curry could not possibly be more complicated. She could do it. She could help. They still had time. They must still have time. “Of course.” He hesitated. Then a look so soft came over his eyes, as if she had revealed something precious to him. He smiled at her fondly. “I’m also quite certain you would rather be getting on with your book.”

As well as

There was a rustle of leaves and stupidly she wished that it was her dad coming back. Maybe a scream did escape her. Maybe he would demand the truth, and she would not lie. Maybe he would carry her up the stairs and tuck her into bed as if she were five and with a fever. As the pulse in her side turned into a full-blown blaze, she wondered if she could smell her own corpse again. She hoped her dad would not have to. In the pain, her hand spasmed. The wreath broke, her wilted privets scattered in the wind. The pain eased. There was no one.

The intensity of Hermione's longing is haunts me I suppose. It's that ghost of a home. The fact that her father is right there but is nonetheless unreachable to her anyway makes the resulting loneliness so visceral to me.

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

While I love imagining such scenarios, I have never actually written one. I think I would if it would serve the plot or the theme, but I've never actually tried, so I can't say for sure!

[iobsessoverfictionalmen]

It's a highway to hell but, oh the things we do for love (6)

This fic is a Greek mythology au. This fic includes: betrayal, attempted human sacrifice, violence, choking, character death, cursing, forced marriage, mentions of nightmares, references to Greek mythology, enemies to lovers, and manipulation.

Tagging: @imwithyoutiltheendofthelinebucky, @greep215

Chapter 6

While it was helpful to have a suit of armour escorting you to the king’s throne room because a small part of you appreciated the small comfort of having a little bit of company, having the stubbornly silent suit of armour walk beside you did not ease your nerves about what Hades’ judgement would be.

“You didn’t kill her,” a voice whispered in the back of your mind.  “You simply transformed her and you protected Abigail, Dave, and Thanatos from her future schemes.  They still have their home because you took action.”

“Is there any chance of convincing Hades of that?  What proof can I offer?  If I don’t have any proof, it’s merely hearsay.”  You thought.

The voice was silent.

“Thanks for the help.” 

You heaved a sigh as you walked through the open ornate doors.  Unlike the last time that you visited the throne room, the king was standing in front of his throne and watching the doorway.

“I have found the spell to dissolve our marriage and send you back to Earth.”

Bewildered by the turn of events, you forgot why you had originally come to the throne room. 

“Oh?  Where was the spell?”

“On the back of the drawing that you had that Hecate showed me.  The page was the one that had been torn out of the book and an illusion spell had been cast on the back of the drawing to hide the words until my presence broke the spell.” Hades uttered dangerously, clasping his hands behind his back.  Many possible responses to the king’s statement came to mind but you couldn’t bring yourself to utter any of them as your mouth went dry.  Luckily, it appeared that the king was not waiting for a response and he continued talking as your mind reminded you as to why you had journeyed to the throne room.

“I shall begin the preparations tonight.”

“Your majest--”

“Thankfully I have all the necessary ingredients in the Underworld and there is no need to wait for any particular mystical moment like a full moon.  This isn’t the movies.”

“But--”

“It shall be better if you leave as soon as poss--”

“HADES!” Your patience snapped and the god’s name left your lips in a shout.  It was hard to tell who was more surprised at your exclamation, you, or the god.

The god raised an eyebrow, “I trust that whatever you need to tell me is important.  Otherwise you would be exceedingly foolish to interrupt me.”

You breathed in deeply as you lowered yourself to your knees and stared up at the god, “I wish to report that I committed a crime in regard to Minthe.  I will accept any punishment you deem sufficient.”

The king paled, “You did what?”  He asked menacingly.

Fearing that your bravery would desert you if you waited too long to explain what had occurred and since there was also the possibility that Hades would smite you if you didn’t explain yourself very quickly, you launched into your recount of what had happened in the gardens.  You weren’t even midway through your first sentence when the king held up his hand.

“Enough,” he commanded in a harsh tone.  “How do I know you are not lying to me?”

You shook your head, “If you could see my memories, you would know that I’m not lying.”

Relief passed across Hades’ face so swiftly you thought you imagined it, “Fortunately for the both of us, I can.”

Some of your nerves abated after you heard his statement, “What do I need to do?”

He stepped towards you and you fought the impulse to shuffle back as he drew closer, “Put your palms flat on the ground and concentrate.  Create a picture in your mind of the gardens,” your heart leapt at the confirmation that he had been listening to you, “and I shall take care of the rest.”

You rested your palms flat on the ground like the king had ordered you to.  Speaking of the king, he too lowered himself to his knees and with a gentle finger, he raised your chin so that you were staring into his eyes.  They were such a deep shade of brown and you knew that you would melt if he gazed at you softly long enough.

The king withdrew his finger from your chin and you had to fight the whimper that threatened to leave your mouth at the loss of contact.  Your pulse stuttered as he rested the pointer finger and his middle finger from his hands against your temples.

“Focus on the garden.”

Your brain took a few moments to process the order as it was preoccupied by the way the king’s breath fanned across the lower half of your face.  Eventually, the rational side of your brain won out after it reminded you not to keep the king waiting and you followed his low order.

It was hard to tell how long the both of you remained in that position.  You continued to focus on the mental picture of the garden and just as your legs were starting to become numb and your attention began to waver, Hades pulled away from you and climbed to his feet.

“I have seen enough.”  He stated.

You also ascended to your feet.  If you were going to die, you would not cower away from it.  Plus, if there was even a sliver of mercy in your afterlife, you would still be able to communicate with Dave, Abigail, and Thanatos.  Hopefully, you would be able to convince them that you had tried your best to keep Minthe away from them and they would believe you.

“We appear to be at a crossroads.  The first option would be for me to proceed with the spell.  You would return to your former life with no memory of the underworld and what has transpired these past few days.  I cannot guarantee that you would be safe from being persecuted by Demeter or another god as a result of your justifiable actions towards Minthe despite your absence of memories.”

“You mentioned a crossroads.  What is my other option?”

Hades scrutinised you, “The second option would involve you placing your fate in my hands.  You would remain in the underworld with me for the rest of eternity and you would be crowned Queen of the Underworld.”

You frowned, “I’m sensing that there’s more to this option than you’re saying.”

The critical expression didn’t leave the god’s face, “More of the immortals on Olympus would become aware of your existence.  I highly doubt the Olympians are ignorant of your presence now.  Their interest will only grow as the minutes pass and without the protection of the underworld and my protection, you would not last long in this world.”

At first, the god’s words seemed unnecessarily harsh and a rebuke was poised at the tip of your tongue but then you realised that you were reacting as if you were dealing with another mortal.  You weren’t.  You were dealing with a god.  Not only were these gods millennia old but they had powers that you could only dream of and you knew Hades was right.  There was a very high chance that some Olympian gods would seek retribution for what you had done to Minthe. 

With a start, you registered that Hades was looking expectantly at you.  Your heart dropped when you suddenly understood that Hades wanted an answer at this very moment.  Your brain froze, how could he expect you to make such a life altering decision?  On the one hand, he was giving you what you wanted with the first option; freedom from him and the underworld.

“Is it really freedom if you can’t remember why you’re alone and being persecuted by gods?”

You squared your shoulders and made your decision, “I choose the second option.  My fate lies with you.”

[confuzzled-crow77]

Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus/Trials of Apollo (+ TV show + musical - movies):

We all call the author “uncle Rick,” which just makes it feel like a big family. We all mutually hate the movies, which I fall back on when my one friend says they’re good (I freaking-). There’s this one piece of crap character we all cheered when he died and are vengeful because he stabbed Percy’s stuffed animal.

This applies to Apollo kids because I consider myself one: healing manifests in all of us in one way or another. Because I don’t look or act like a stereotypical Apollo kid, I was iffy on this, but then I got in my brain that healing doesn’t just have to be physical.

Zoe Nightshade. Truth be told, I wasn’t overly attached to her because she was here for one book, but the sheer amount of heartbreaking fanarts I’ve seen and little fanfics of Calypso learning her sister died just before she got off of her island makes me just… die.

I do think it’s poetic how Leo (the seventh wheel) found love in someone who had been rejected by the greatest heroes of mythology. I don’t personally ship it because I wanted Leo’s arc to end with him coming back to CHB single and seeing how everyone truly cared for him even if it wasn’t romantically.

I will be honest, I don’t read fanfiction a ton, but I always like how Sally is an absolute angel in every single one. We Stan Sally Jackson.

This doesn’t just apply to PJO but the diversity and changes in the characters. I love Hispanic Percy and obviously with the show black Annabeth, but also little things like Apollo with brown hair and “stay hot!” Shades, and Nico with crutches.

Gosh, probably exploring the aspects of demigods that weren’t explored in the books. I don’t mean philosophical stuff, I mean a daughter of Poseidon that can cause earthquakes instead of control water, a child of Apollo who causes disease and attracts crows instead of healing. Thats always fun.

The Trials of Apollo series. Yup, all of it. I’ve seen so many people shun the series because they’re afraid of a certain character dying, or because it’s about Apollo himself. They’re missing out on the best character arc I’ve ever read because they’re scared.

Jason x Brick. True love. Piper can go to the sidelines.

@uni-amaly And my other nerd friends who aren’t on Tumblr.

HAH! So my friend made a demigod-writing template that was just for making little personas and now I’ve written 40 characters and the doc is over 100 pages long with plans for stories, oneshots, an overarching plot of overthrowing Olympus, and more.

Okay, thank you to EVERYBODY who watched the show and gave their opinion with LOGICAL REASONINGS. I’ve seen paragraphs of all different point of views on them and I have to say, while the fandom may be divided, I’m thrilled to see it instead of senseless yelling. The negative and positive views each have valid points and I love them.

Ooh… maybe Percy’s birthday? I’m honestly just pumped for summer itself. With the show… the show dates, I guess. Always nice to see the Empire State Building blue for our boy, though!

Percabeth. Yeah, I could’ve said Solangelo but it’s tainted by TSATS now. Legendary slow burn, honestly perfect. I adore it.

Apollo/Lester. My favorite overall is Nico but Apollo always brings a smile to my face. Whether imagining him singing or chilling in his chariot and waving at his kids, he’s a sunny guy who loves his ukuleles.

Nico went through Tartarus alone and survived. Yeah, I understand they didn’t show it but he DID IT. There was no Percy and Annabeth, there was one, 14-15 year old kid who went through the definition of psychotic insanity and made it through as a good person.

Blue food!

#Percyjackonandtheolympians or whatever the typo one was.

PJO/HOO/TOA, Heathers: the musical, Arcane, and Gravity Falls (plenty more but off the top of my head).

Gosh. I GUESS How to train your dragon but that was my childhood obsession. My real first nerd one was Star Wars. Very basic, I know.

Ninjago. Listen, the fanarts are top tier, alright? I like the fandom and the show too, even if I’m a bit farther away from it now. I have a lot to thank it for.

Jeez. Can’t say their name but I guess @uni-amaly I mean, they half forced me to read HOO at Godspeed to get to TOA so thanks… I guess.

Jeez, all the Minecraft SMPs, I suppose. Especially pirates.

back to PJO etc I guess: I mean, tons of writing, so many awesome convos with friends, happiness (literally pure happiness), an interest in mythology, gift ideas for friends, and of course feeling connected with the fandom because of the recent hype. Everything else I don’t have the words for too.

You don’t have to have an opinion! You can throw up your hands and say, “F it, we ball” and just love it without thinking analytically. And if you do have opinions, you can say them and people can be jerks and agree and debate politely and ignore you, but if that’s your opinion, then it’s yours. Just be nice and have common sense.

✨ love your fandom asks ✨ 

Saw the opposite of this floating around and thought the reverse might be fun.

list 3 positive things about your current fandom(s)

a headcanon you weren't sure about at first but have come to like!

a character that fandom has helped you appreciate

say something nice about a ship you don't ship (it can be another ship in your fandom, a mutual's OTP, etc)

something you see in fics a lot and love

something you see in art a lot and love

your favorite tropes to read/write/draw

you hope more people will come to appreciate ___ (a ship, a trope, an episode, etc)

a ship that isn't your OTP but that you enjoy

a blog (mutual or one you follow) that has made your fandom experience brighter

if you're a writer or artist, what fic or piece of art are you proud of making?

compliment someone else in your fandom

your favorite type of fandom event (gift exchange, ship week, secret santa, prompt meme, etc)

the ship that always makes you smile

the character that always makes you smile

a tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate

the thing in canon that everyone loves and that you also love

a fandom tag that you track

your current fandom(s)

your very first fandom!

a fandom you're not active in anymore but that you still really like

the fandom friend you've known the longest

the fandom you're curious about because of a mutual

how has fandom positively impacted your life?

a piece of advice for taking care of yourself in fandom spaces

[literaturessound]

People in Nature - Celine Karg

As I was reading my book on a bench by the water, I started noticing different sounds merging together - the rapid feet of runners, revolving bicycle tyres, a mother pushing a pram, the familiar sounds amplified and changed by the gravelly path, growing in loudness the closer they got and dampened by distance.

Slightly further away but still audible  enough to catch my attention a ferry passes, the paddle of a kayak repeatedly and rhythmically hits the water and waves ricochet long after the initial movement has ceased.

​​This is a place very familiar to me, and so are the sounds. Yet listening intently, they reach a different quality. They begin to sound like they are being made just for me, just for the purpose of being heard and noticed and recorded by me. They must always be there, and yet you stop noticing them after a while. The sounds are hardly novel, but I found myself drawn in by how they changed in quality on the sandy path, little pebbles being catapulted into the bike spokes and pinging off with a metallic clang or being crunched by the soles of the runners and walkers alike. The sounds are human in their nature, irregular and rhythmic all at once. You couldn’t stop them from happening even if you tried. They were as certain as the laboured, quick breaths of the runners and the happy chatting of the baby in the pram.

In the span of 5 minutes, I counted 17 people going past - walking and dragging their feet across the rough terrain. Cycling, either alone or with others, talking or silent. But while they all differed in their modes of transport, there were some noisy constants: the breathing, heavy or easy, but all about as natural as it gets. It felt like the world was waking up after a day filled with rain, taking deep breaths to absorb the entirety of their and my surroundings. They must’ve had the same idea as me - enjoying the day outside - and I can’t help but wonder if they notice the same things as me. Did they also try to locate the sound of the paddles in the water and the flapping birds in the  sky? Did they notice me noticing them?

It feels like I can hear the rays of light coming through the treetops (one of those things that surprisingly doesn’t make a noise, at least one that mere humans can’t understand), a sound that should be as audible as the whistling of the wind. I store the question of what sound the sun would suit away, to occupy me for another day. The world felt too noisy to commit to serious thinking. Even though the sun wasn’t very loud, today it was accompanied by strong gusts of wind, making the usually silent river into a lively vehicle of constant sound. But still, this part of the city wouldn’t be half as noisy if it weren’t for the people occupying it. 

Humans add noise to everything. Nothing we do is ever silent. I imagine the tiny insects, from their perspectives, aren’t quiet in their movements either but their physical impact on the earth is so miniscule that we can rarely hear anything apart from maybe the vibrating wings of the flying varieties. How odd, then, that animals as imperative to the environment as insects leave so much less of a physical trace of their existence compared to us unimportant humans (in the grand scheme of things), their bodies so light we don’t even notice them crawling on us. I hope they don’t get too annoyed at our constant array of noises.

Behind me the more soothing and calm sounds of rustling grass and chirping birds. I wish my knowledge of birds was better to properly identify them, but I find joy in listening to their familiar songs anyway. When they communicate with each other they provide a kind of noise that I expect to hear everywhere I go and one I would find myself missing dearly if it suddenly disappeared from the world.

Oddly, this reminds me of bell hooks’ idea of discovering your own voice as an act of rebellion in order to convey personal beliefs and to bring about societal change, which she mentions in the chapter “When I was A Young Soldier for the Revolution”: Coming to Voice in her book Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black. I begin to imagine the passers-by's lived experiences and I’m certain they, but especially the mother pushing her child have faced struggles they were or weren’t able to vocalise, and if they will use their voices to impact others. Like hooks, I often find myself turning towards poetry, not because I write it myself, but because it seems like an honest expression of life in a way that doesn’t hide from itself. In its concision it conveys sureness and encourages to look inwards and express like-minded thoughts. But I reckon nature doesn’t particularly care about how scared we are of speaking our minds. And yet that fear is persistent, even in this tranquil space, where insects are scuttling by oddly noisily (or maybe I’m just beginning to imagine things) and little woodland animals are rustling behind me amongst the bushes. Which, now that I’m thinking about it, all feels like the sort of experience Mary Oliver would write a poem about.

Just as I could feel my mind spiralling, my attention was grabbed by a bumblebee buzzing almost mechanically next to me. They are fascinating creatures and my brain can’t help but be drawn to the fitting name of the bumbling bee - like a tuba is providing its very own soundtrack every time they clumsily fly past you. 

My listening was rudely concluded by a man emerging from the park, accompanied by roaring music. I noticed that the bumblebee hardly seemed bothered by all the noise. I didn’t quite relate to that sentiment, so I decided to put on my own music, albeit through my headphones, and started walking.

[campbluelake]

This Could be S’more Fun | Trial 1.1 | Eri | Re: Mason, Warrick

When Eri had expressed her desire to experience a campfire, she didn’t exactly picture it under these circumstances. There aren’t any smores ingredients, for starters, and also someone is dead.

No, not just someone— Niko Moralis is dead, his life taken from him in what Eri can only imagine was a very painful way to go out. And now they’re gathered around this campfire not even to mourn him, but to discuss who here’s responsible. Because one of the other 19 people here is the murderer… which is perhaps the most fucked up part of all.

She’s never enjoyed murder mysteries, yet here she is, living one… as is her best friend Kyousuke. As she drapes a blanket over the two of them where they sit on a bench, she can’t help but wonder how well he’s taking all this. It’s hard enough to believe the guy she was trying to set up with Kyousuke is now dead, so she can only imagine how he must feel.

Once this is over, she’ll have to ask. For now she settles on watching the fire and listening to the others begin their discussion. 

…Though honestly, she could do without everyone bringing up just how battered Niko was. To think he had to die in such a painful way made her blood boil. He was just a normal guy, after all— not deserving of such a twisted fate.

Still, when Mason brings up the insulin, Eri makes the mistake of looking over at him. She stares at him for a few long seconds before a lightbulb finally goes off in her head.

“Oh, shit, you’re right.”

She then listens to Warrick’s theory, before nodding.

“I guess there’s a chance the murderer is diabetic, right? But I agree with your idea instead— that the insulin was gonna be used to kill someone. Except, uh, maybe that someone was Niko from the start?

“The cabin’s door was knocked down, right? Why would the murderer bother doing that if they weren’t going after Niko? Or Suzy, but uh… well, I think it was always Niko.”

It is now time for her to draw upon what little she knew about the dearly departed victim.

“We found those two sets of pills in the infirmary, right? Benadryl and then Vicodin. Niko was from New York, so maybe he had allergies out here. If anyone can confirm that, it’d give him a reason to be taking the Benadryl, right? As for the Vicodin… Well, I ain’t a full-blown nurse like Sayacchi, but I’ve done enough sports medicine shit to know mixing meds that makes you tired is a bad idea.

“So I’m wondering maybe whoever did this was in the infirmary with him trying to knock him out, so they could use Insulin to kill him in his sleep or somethin’, yeah? And Niko caught on and booked it outta there, and that’s when things went south… ‘Cause like, if you had to hide somewhere here, why not go to your cabin?”

Not that it saved him, she thinks with a grimace. But then again, no matter where he ran, she’s not sure Niko would’ve stood a chance against whoever killed him. Especially if the state of his body is anything to go of off…

Man, why did they have to end up in such a nightmarish situation? She huddles closer to Kyousuke, wishing their reason for being around this campfire were anything but this.

[erin-bo-berin]

can I have an imagine where it’s set in the Steve x singlemom!reader, they just bring home the new baby and daughter is very upset and thinks you guys will forget about her and she tries to run away to Joyce and Hopper’s? Packed with all the usual stuff a kid would pack, a stuffie, coloring books, crayons and maybe a change of clothes? 😂 and Reader and Steve feel terrible for making their baby girl feel so unloved, if you could, make it kinda angsty, but end it fluffy? I’m so sorry this is so long 😭

Omg poor little baby girl 😭 also, if you haven’t read the latest full length fic that describes the pregnancy journey with baby #2, oldest girl is now Abbie and baby is Arabella. Just to make things less confusing. For the sake of this story, let’s pretend that they live in the neighborhood of Hopper and Joyce because she ends up there lol

Anyway, to the angst!

It’d only been a week since you’d brought Arabella home from the hospital.

People weren’t kidding when they said how big of an adjustment it was to go from one kid to two. It was rough.

But things had just went from rough to absolutely, catastrophically bad.

“Steve, I can’t find Abbie anywhere!”

You raced into the nursery where he was feeding Arabella in her rocking chair and he looked up, panic immediately contorting his face.

“What do you mean you can’t find her?”

“I mean, I’ve looked everywhere for her and I can’t find her.”

He stood, accidentally knocking the nipple of the bottle out of Arabella’s mouth causing her to fuss.

“Sorry sweetheart,” he murmured, placing it properly back in her mouth.

He followed you, hungry baby still in his arms as you led him towards her room.

“I checked her room, the bathroom, our bedroom and bathroom, downstairs. Hell I even checked the closets! I was hoping she might be with you in the nursery.”

Steve shook his head.

“I haven’t seen her in hours.”

“Hours. Oh my god,” you felt faint, “How long have I not noticed that she was missing? What if something awful happened to her?”

“Don’t panic,” he assured you, “Why don’t you go check the front yard and I’ll go check the back yard? She’s probably just outside playing.”

“Okay, good idea,” you nodded, not having considered that possibility.

You flung the front door open and went and checked the yard. You looked high and low, even checked behind bushes and trees, but there was no Abbie.

“Any luck?” you asked, quickly growing frantic again when you met Steve inside.

His serious face made you aware that he’d had no luck either.

“We gotta call Hopper,” you said, rushing to the phone.

Before you had a chance to pick up and dial, the phone rang. You grabbed it up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Y/N, it’s Hopper.”

“Oh good, I was just about to call you. Listen, Abbie’s missing.”

“About that,” he said, “She’s here.”

“Here? Here where?”

“Over here at me and Joyce’s house.”

You sank in relief, clutching the wall to keep you upright.

“What is she doing there?!”

“She said she ran away from home.”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry. We’ll be right there to get her.”

“Take your time. We’ll take good care of her, I promise.”

When you hung up, you turned to Steve’s expectant face.

“She’s at Joyce and Hopper’s.”

“What’s she doing there?” he asked, just as you had moments before.

“Hopper said she told them she ran away from home.”

He sighed, eyes closing, relief washing over his face.

“Let me finish feeding her,” he nodded to Arabella, “And then the three of us can go get her.”

•

It wasn’t a long walk to the Hopper household. Thankfully so since your three year old had walked all the way there by herself.

“Abbie!” you exhaled, rushing towards her when you stepped inside.

“Mommy!” she ran into your arms.

“Sweetheart, don’t ever do anything like that again, okay? You scared me and daddy to pieces.”

“I sowwy,” she frowned, hugging your neck.

Arabella was asleep in Steve’s arms, but he bent towards Abbie carefully to not to wake the infant.

“Why did you run away from home?”

“Cause mommy and daddy like Bewwa more den me.”

Abbie had a hard time pronouncing her sister’s name so she called her Bella, in her own little kid talk.

“You fowget bout me,” she frowned, lower lip trembling.

“Oh honey. We don’t love anyone more than you. We love you and Arabella equally,” you said.

“We could never forget about you princess,” Steve said, tapping her nose with a finger, making her smile a bit, “It’s just hard because Arabella is little and needs help with things that you as a big girl can do yourself.”

“Like eat and sit by yourself and you don’t wear diapers anymore like your sister does,” you pointed out.

“I big girl,” she nodded.

“Then why don’t you come to us if you’re feeling lonely, next time okay?” Steve said, “Besides, you can be mommy and daddy’s little helper and help with Arabella. How about that?”

She smiled, bending over to kiss Arabella sweetly on the head.

“Otay.”

You straightened, seeing Joyce and Hopper come into the room, having given you the space your family needed to settle the matter.

“Imagine how surprised I was when the doorbell rang and I found her on our doorstep,” Hopper laughed.

“Here’s the backpack she brought with her too,” Joyce opened it so you could see inside.

Inside, Abbie had packed her bunny stuffie, a coloring book, crayons and a change of clothes. You chuckled at your daughter’s insight. She was way too smart for her own good.

“Thank you for taking care of her,” you thanked them, taking her backpack and picking Abbie up in your arms.

“I not gonna run away again,” Abbie told them firmly.

“I’m gonna stay home and be da best big seester ever.”

[citrusfield]

“yeah, you’re right. i’d never brag about my intellect — in fact, i’m almost embarrassed when someone mentions it — but with how he acted, you would think i never shut up about it.” it’s impressive how easily hayes is able to read their ex like a book based on what little information they’ve already shared about him. it’s like he’d been a fly on the wall for the entire duration of the relationship, listening in on every little nitpick at how she spends her time and each jab at her intelligence, watching every impatient roll of the eyes and pointed glare thrown her way. the truth is, riley’s ex didn’t have a supportive bone in his body and much preferred to spend his time trying to convince her that she would never be able to get to where she is today rather than be the person she could lean on during the stress of studying and getting through med school. if they were still with him now, they might’ve buckled under the pressure months ago. god knows he wouldn’t have bothered to comfort her after this first patient loss, especially not by taking her out to dinner and ensuring she knew that no matter what she believed, it wasn’t her fault. with a quiet sigh, they let some of restlessness drain out of their muscles and spare hayes a small smile. “i guess it’s a shame i’ve never dated anyone with your mindset, isn’t it?” imagine the self-confidence they might have if they’d been with someone a little more like him instead.

“ah, that explains why you’re so good at this whole comforting thing then… i feel like you can see right through me sometimes. it’s fine though, it's only a little disconcerting.” that could be due to both his obvious skill and also the fact that they aren’t necessarily the best at hiding how they’re feeling. when they’re upset or anxious about something, it’s written all over their face; brow furrowed, lips downturned. it’s no wonder he caught sight of them back at the hospital and immediately knew they weren’t doing well. “i’m medicated, so i am trying to get better.” she doesn’t mention the fact that working as a doctor means she often forgets to take those meds on time while she’s busy dealing with everyone else’s health above her own, but she really does try her best. she knows she won’t be able to help anybody if she lets herself down first. “i think bringing in a professional is a good idea though. i’m not making any promises myself, but i’m sure there are plenty of staff who would benefit from it being so accessible.” and who knows? maybe one day, she’ll be brave enough to make use of it. it’s not that she doesn’t believe in therapy; she most definitely does and wouldn’t hesitate to encourage patients to give it a shot if she feels they may need it, but if riley herself can barely comprehend why she feels the way she does, how can she string enough words together to get them to understand it for her?

at the first brush of skin, their gaze falls to his hand that now rests atop their own and they try to ignore the odd feeling it stirs within them. it’s been a long day filled with heightened emotion and she can’t trust anything her mind conjures up when it’s running on so few hours of sleep. after a good nap, maybe she can revisit this whole interaction again and spend a few hours untangling its web. “i know i still have a lot to learn. believe me, i’d be the very first to admit to that. some days are good, and then with most others, it feels like i don’t know anything and i’ve gotten in way over my head. i don’t see this as a competition. i want to do well, obviously, and i want to help people, but i would never take any of it for granted.” letting their ego get to their head is never a thing he’ll have to worry about when it comes to riley. hell, she’s not sure she even has an ego to begin with. “oh, do you really hold my opinion in such high regard? i had no idea,” she teases, knowing full well he’s only being polite. that’s all this really is, after all; someone taking the time to make sure a member of their staff has their head in the game and won’t topple over and crumble at the next wave of panic. he has a hospital to run. he can’t afford one of his doctors to not be utterly laser focused. “you know, you're starting to sound like your sister.” there’s a hint of amusement in her voice, thinking back on all the times jenny would try to coerce them into heading out for a drink somewhere after a particularly long shift. “i wouldn’t say i isolate myself, it’s not like i lock myself away and refuse to speak to anybody. i just have a small circle of friends that i really trust and i’m not an extrovert by any means. i definitely don’t get energy from being surrounded by a bunch of people. it’s overwhelming.” she can manage an hour, maybe two tops, before parties and gatherings start to sound like a wall of noise rattling around her skull. she doesn’t intentionally try to be a downer.

“i have no doubt that you’ve got a lot on your plate, far more than one person should, and if i’m honest, i think i’m now more concerned for you than you are for me.” when does he even find time to sleep? surely nobody could handle all of those responsibilities alone without eventually breaking under the pressure. riley definitely couldn’t. “but — and forgive me if this is too forward — i think it’s foolish to let that get in the way of the rest of your life. it’s not so much the timing that’s wrong, it’s more the mindset. if anything, the fact that you have so much going on in your work life should be more of an incentive to pursue other things too. you’ve got to practise what you preach, sir, and don’t get me wrong, you’ve done well so far, but it sounds an awful lot like you’re on your own path to burning out at some point. maybe you need someone else around to help shoulder some of that. i suppose that doesn’t necessarily have to be romantic if that’s not what you want, but… someone you trust, at least. who really cares for you. someone who can make sure you’re not always bringing your work home, so you don’t have to be doctor hayes all the time, with everyone looking to you for answers and you can just be… you. whoever that is.” her head shakes then, followed by a quiet laugh at their own expense. “then again, you didn’t ask for my opinion and you definitely don’t have to listen to me… sorry.” if he wanted real advice, they doubt he would come to a resident to hear it, but it had spilled out without much thought and there’s no taking it back now. at the very least, he’ll know that it all came from a good place. he may be her boss, but that doesn’t mean she can’t care about his well-being.

nodding along with every reason he gives for not pursuing the potential crush, it's slowly getting more and more difficult to argue with him… but not impossible. “that makes sense, but the fact that you’re so concerned about all of that sort proves that you’re not like any of those disgusting men who hold employee’s jobs over their heads if they don’t do what they ask.” leaning forward, there’s a mischievous smile dancing on riley’s lips and they hope he doesn’t mind if she lets the curiosity take over for a minute. “just hear me out. you can’t talk to them about it without worrying that you’re abusing your position, i get that, but what if the person you like came and asked you out? would you still say no? it’s not like you can’t keep it a secret from everyone else if you wanted to — i know of a bunch of residents that have hooked up with each other by now.” a wince briefly crosses her face because yeah, maybe she shouldn’t have said that part, but then she’s soldiering on. “point is, tinder is horrid and i’d rather you had a chance with someone you’re into than ever go back to one of those apps again. it’s not like the two of you would be doing anything scandalous in the hospital itself and if you keep it private, nobody would know any difference. well… i would know something was going on, i suppose, but i promise i can keep a secret.” alright, the likelihood of any of this happening is basically slim to none, but she will admit to having a little bit of fun painting a picture in her head. it's a nice change from the overthinking she's been doing tonight.

when riley is on the job, despite knowing it happens from time to time with superiors, she doesn’t consider who might be watching or taking notes about their approach with patients. if she focused all her energy on trying to make things look good to an outsider, she’d be so caught up that there’s no way she’d be as attentive as she usually is and that would come at the detriment of the patient. so, when hayes begins to sing their praises about the way they connect with others — something that requires a different technique with each and every person she deals with in a day — they can’t stop their cheeks from flushing red. he has such a shocking amount of faith in her that if it was appropriate to give him a hug, she would’ve thrown herself across the table by now. “i will, i’ll… i’ll think about it. thank you for even considering me at all. i guess i didn’t realise how closely you’ve been paying attention to me, but i really do appreciate it... your support means a lot to me.”

"Because you've told me enough about him. I may not know him, Riley, but I have come across enough men like him. Men who are secure in their masculinity, who know their worth, they'll seek out a partner who's worthy of them, a partner who also knows their own worth, and finds them worthy. They'll respect each other, both inside, and outside of the relationship. But when men who are insecure get into a relationship, they'll try to impose that insecurity on their partner, like your ex." Hayes explained with a shrug of his shoulders, leaning back in his seat as he flipped through the menu. "This idea that men are superior, that they need to be better at everything, that societal pressure drives their insecurity. Consider this, Riley. You're incredibly smart. You're smarter than the average person, as a matter of fact, and there are several tests that confirm that. A man who is secure in his masculinity, he would not be threatened by your intelligence. But an insecure man, like your ex, he will be. So, what does he do? He'll try to find a way to make himself feel better by constantly nitpicking, and criticizing everything you do. Find one small mistake, and blow it up, use it against you, let you know that you're not any better than him. But this isn't just true in your case. Every time a woman shows an insecure man that she is smart, confident, capable... better, he'll wait for the moment she slips up, and when she does, he'll make sure to let her know that she's not as smart, or capable... to the point where she'll start questioning herself, even internalize it. It happens to a lot of women. Hell, I even have a friend who went through something similar. The truth is, Riley, you are way out of his league. But every time you showed him that you were, his insecurity made him want to prove otherwise, to make himself feel better. In order to stroke his own ego, he made you feel smaller. But you're not." From what he can tell, it seemed as though Riley had internalized it too. Not that he considered that to be a flaw, but he hoped to help her overcome her insecurities.

"Needless to say, I also learned all of that from the articles I read. Psychiatry was kind of my back-up plan, in case surgery didn't work out." He let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head as he closed the menu, and set it down. With a concerned expression plastered on his face upon hearing her confess to having constant anxiety, Hayes looked up to meet Riley's gaze. "Have you considered seeking professional help? I know that mental health wasn't such a big deal back when you were a kid, but the times have changed. As a matter of fact, I'm currently in the process of assigning an in-house psychotherapist for the hospital. I figured that the staff could all benefit from having access to free mental health services, not that it's not covered. But when I spoke to some of the residents about what else we can do to improve their mental health, they brought up the fact that this job requires them to be at the hospital at all times. They can't leave the hospital whenever they wanted to, even if it was to go to therapy. I thought that was bullshit, pardon my language, so I said... fine, if you can't get yourselves to therapy, I'll bring the therapist to you." Getting the board to approve that had been a hassle in itself, but that's besides the point. "You don't have to make use of this service. But if you ever feel like you need to get some help, you have the option to." A small, reassuring smile crept upon his lips as he reached across the table, placing his hand on top of theirs, the professional boundaries be damned. "There is no such thing as caring too much. It's called being passionate. The fact that you care as much as you do is what makes you... you. It's who you are, and who you'll always be. I'd say embrace it, but don't let it consume you to the point where you underestimate your own abilities. You are good at what you do, but the only way you can be better than good, in order for you to improve, you have to admit to yourself that you still have a lot to learn. Life is not a race, Riley. But even if it was, just because you've managed to get ahead of everyone else who began this race with you, it doesn't mean that you've already made it to the finish line. You still have a long way to go."

"I never seek praise for what I do, but thank you." Hayes offered them a wider smile as he withdrew his hand. "It means a lot coming from you, but I also have a long way to go." Why did their opinion mean so much to him? He had no clue. But knowing that someone did believe in him while most people in his life had been waiting for him to fail was rather refreshing. After all, not many people had considered the changes he had been making at the hospital as positive. But that did not stop Hayes from wanting to bring forth those changes anyways. While he might not be able to make everyone happy, he would still be able to make the right people happy. That he was quite certain of. "Maybe?" He remarked, a cheeky grin plastered across his face before he let out a rather hearty laugh. "I'm just stating the obvious, Riley. This job is emotionally taxing. Everyday, we deal with people during what could possibly be the worst day of their lives, and we do this day in, and day out. That's a lot for anyone to deal with. You shouldn't isolate yourself when things get hard, so you might as well surround yourself with people when things are going well. There's nothing wrong with that." Perhaps that was why he had felt the need to bring Riley out to dinner that evening, especially after hearing what had happened.

"No, it's not that I don't have confidence in my love life. The timing just isn't right." As of right now, the hospital was taking up all of his time. But even if it wasn't, it was not like he would ever consider crossing a line with a resident. He had considered waiting, but that would take years anyways. Either way, he did not need to meet anyone, or settle down, no matter how many of his friends bullied him for it. He was too busy. "Hey, easy for you to say. You're just a resident physician. Your hours might be long, but all you have to do is whatever your Chief Resident tells you to do... which is see patients. I, on the other hand, have an entire hospital to run... when I'm not performing surgeries, that is. Not only did I choose a surgical specialty where one procedure takes at least half of my day, but when I'm not in the OR, I'm also overseeing my regenerative medicine lab, where I'm no longer the primary researcher, since I don't have the time to do any of my research since inheriting this hospital. This means I have to deal with bi-weekly board meetings where a group of old men who've never gone to medical school, or treated a patient in their lives tell me how we should be doing things, after which I have to explain to them why we can't. Then there are the monthly budget meetings, where I need to figure out how to allocate the funding in a way that makes everyone happy, which is nearly impossible. Then I have to go back to the board, present the budget, and get it approved. Between all of this, I have to charm potential donors, treat VIP patients in return for donations, and God forbid the nurses try to go on strike. I have to be the one to negotiate with the union, and find the money to cover their demands. I've also been overseeing the residency program, as you already know. Not to mention the fact that I'm the first point of contact when there's any sort of crisis at the hospital. Let me tell you, this is why I hate my father." He explained, letting out another laugh before he shook his head. "It's much harder for me to take my own advice, Riley. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't find some work-life balance." Maybe Hayes was the one who really needed to leave the hospital, and had used Riley as an excuse.

"You're not wrong about that, Riley. It's not a crime to date your coworker. It might be frowned upon, but it's definitely not illegal. Besides, HR does have paperwork for these kinds of things. It's just a lot more complicated in my case." He noted, shrugging. "It's hard to establish consent when I am in a position of power. I'm the Board Chairman. I'm everyone's boss, and I can't abuse that power. That's one line I would never cross." Shaking his head, Hayes offered Riley another smile, clearly not upset by his current situation. "If I were to ask out an employee, and they accepted, there is a possibility that they might have done it because they thought they would otherwise lose their job. Even if they did it because they wanted to be with me, I know that I have a reputation as a successful surgeon, Board Chairman of the hospital, and I come from a whole family of doctors. I may not engage with hospital gossip, but I know what it would look like... to everyone else. I don't want anyone to think that this person was using me to get ahead in their career, even if it's not true. I know they're not that kind of person, but I can't put them in a position where it seems that way. I don't want someone's hardwork, and dedication to their career being undermined just because I had a hard time on Tinder. I'll get over it."

"But enough about me, and my non-existent love life. Let's talk about you." Hayes grinned, hoping to lighten up the mood. Seeing the apprehension on Riley's face, he leaned forward in his seat to meet their gaze, and shook his head. "Because I know that you're capable. I'm not looking for someone who's experienced, Riley. I'm looking for someone who cares. While someone more experienced is definitely capable of doing this, they don't need to do something like this, nor would they want to. They have the experience, the reputation, and the salary that comes with it. They won't care. I'm not doing this just to have someone add this as the umpteenth thing on their LinkedIn profile, and make themselves look good. I want someone who will use this as the experience they need to move forward, to say that they ran a whole damn clinic so early on in their career when they're trying to make a name for themselves." He explained, his voice laced with conviction. "I want you. You're an excellent physician, and you care so much about patient care. You're empathetic, and you have this way of connecting with people. I've seen it with my own eyes. You're exactly what I need. I'm not going to make you go into this blindly, and you'll have my full support throughout. You don't have to accept this offer right away, but... at least take some time, and think about it?"