#although id prefer if they just have another girl

[easy-there-leftovers]

Magnum Opus (Prologue)

When an MIT prodigy on their gap year is contacted by the FBI regarding potential involvement in a series of murders in Washington D.C., she must now cooperate to uncover how paintings are mysteriously appearing at the crime scenes. (Written with Season 1-4 Spencer in mind, but the timeline could be anywhere pre-season 12. No mentions of past cases)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Artist! reader|cw: Canon-typical violence|word count: 700 words

Notes: I made up a bunch of chemicals and their chemical properties up so shhhh!! Also, I'm not American, I have no contextual understanding of the distance of one place to another. The US is large enough.

Also on Ao3!!

Series Masterlist

---------

"Muses are the silent artists of our souls, whispering inspiration into the canvas of our thoughts, painting the colors of creativity with the brushstrokes of imagination." - Author Unknown.

“Seven months ago, one freelance architect named James Carter aged 42 was murdered in his own home in Newton Massachusetts. The victim was posed like the painting placed at the foot of his own couch. All forms of ID on him were missing.” 

JJ made her way from the map inside the meeting room to the screen to present pictures of the crime scene. All other agents made their way inside, with Garcia jotting down notes, as they listened and took their respective places.

“Four months after that, indie artist Daniel Lopez, aged 25, was also found dead in her apartment with another painting and missing ID. Posed just like the girl in it too. Autopsy revealed similar entry and exit wounds through the chest.” 

Images of the victims’ wounds that have already been cleaned up were exposed to the camera. Wounds that could’ve been missed if investigations weren’t conducted made themselves notable as Emily and Spencer opened up their files.

“Ballistics?” 

JJ shook her head at Morgan's question. “No bullets were found.”

“The unsub probably killed them somewhere secluded, then placed them back in their home.” Emily looked to Spencer, only to see him already getting up towards the screen.

“Look at the way they’re dressed. Clothes fitted like that aren’t meant to be worn without the intention of meeting someone.”  Spencer motioned to their clothes. “They didn’t intend to go just anywhere looking like that.”

“Yeah, well neither did this man.” JJ then presented a picture of another victim, another male, another painting, posed in another home. She then turned to redress the rest of the team. “Found yesterday with similar signatures. The only difference is that he was actually staged in a vacant apartment. Everything in there was left by the previous owners. Still no ID on him.”

The resident team genius furrowed his eyebrows at the information, turning to see what the others thought. “Kills both males and females…”

“Victims were found with their clothes on. Dressed to impress but no signs of torture, no experimentation,” Hotch lifted the pictures nearer to his face. “Doesn’t look like he’s interested in either.”

“A serial killer with no sexual preference?” Emily raised her brow at that.

“Wouldn’t be the first.” Spencer replied, looking closer at the paintings in his own file. “Although the subjects in the paintings look exactly like the victims they’re placed on. It brings up the question of which one came first, the person depicted in the painting, or the painting itself…”

“Says here forensics found no prints anywhere but did find traces of  5-dur– durasta—”

“5-durastalene. Also known as ‘Lunacite.’” Spencer corrected Rossi.

“Actually, this synthetic compound is a little on the newer side, a compound that was originally developed by an MIT student for their dissertation in the Chemical Engineering program. I tried figuring out what the naming convention she used was but she didn’t give an explanation on that part. I assumed it could’ve been one out of a number of references, ranging from an anagram of—”

“How new are we talking?” Hotch interrupted, but deeply thankful that someone on the team seemed to have a lead.

“13 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days new. But it’s weird.” Spencer punctuates his statement by flicking through the papers. 

“The compound shouldn’t be commercially available anywhere and it’s meant to make other materials resistant to corrosion. No one should be using it in paint, let alone processing it.” The team let his words ring in their head before Hotch broke the silence.

“Garcia, look for MIT graduates who have worked with Lunacite and a background in fine arts.”

“Already way ahead of you chief, and deliciously, only one name fits the bill in every angle you can have it.” Their tech analyst who had been typing away then placed her laptop pointedly and turned it onto the round table for everyone to see. Everyone leans forward, but the BAU’s resident pretty boy is the one who says the name out loud.

“Y/N L/N.” On the screen is a put-together picture of you on various digital scans of your passport, driver’s license, doctoral degrees in Chemical Engineering and Anthropology, and undergrad degrees in both Philosophy and Sociology.

“Watch out, pretty boy. You may have just found your match.” Morgan’s comment is greeted with a few snickers, much to Spencer’s dismay.

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[barblaz-arts]

Stephanie Beatrice had played my 3 favorite characters (Rosa Mirabel and Vaggie) and since I watched Encanto and B99 I have my head canon that Vaggie have both Rosa and Mirabel personalities.

Any way, I just want to know what is your head canon or theory about her? ( specifically about Lute calling her weak and why the other exorcist hate her)

Since she is your girl, I would love to read your essay about her.(I’m joking you don’t have to write that much I just like to read your post)

Thank you

"My girl"... Am I just "that one artist who's the biggest Vaggie stan" to you guys? (I won't mind it!)

Oh man! I do have some ideas! A lot of my headcanons were already kinda sorta mentioned in my fic/art tho, so sorry if you're not getting a lot of new info

- I have this headcanon that Vaggie's always been "softer" than the other Exorcists, which is what I assume Lute meant when she said she "always knew [Vaggie] was weak". I know it probably has more to do with how little time each episode has, but what if Lute was so ready, already behind Vaggie when she let that kid go, because she knew this wasn't the first time Vaggie spared a sinner? Maybe that was just the first time Lute actually caught her. Maybe she's always had her suspicions, when Vaggie's kill count would lower every year, and she'd sometimes find Vaggie saying a sinner got away somehow despite cornering that demon moments ago.

- although she's gotten used enough to her lack of depth perception when it comes to her hand eye coordination, especially when fighting, i like to think her reading ability could never truly go back to the way it used to be, so she has trouble reading/ writing/texting (if you notice, i always showed instances of this in my fic ;> )But because she's the hotel manager she still has to deal with them because of paperwork and shit, so she has prescription glasses that help. I'd wanted to include a scene in the First Guest where Vaggie almost cries after seeing Charlie thru the glasses for the first time, because she didn't think Charlie could be any more beautiful, but i scrapped the idea because I couldn't expand the concept enough to an actual scene that could be relevant to the overall fic. I probably should have just mentioned it in a paragraph or something, but by the time i remembered id already posted the chapter I intended to add it in. Maybe I'll use it for another fic.

- she prefers femme clothing so she doesn't really have a reason to do this, but she learned how to do all kinds of ties so that she could do Charlie's whenever

- she grew her hair to compensate for her lost wings

- she wasn't exactly a great cook before she Fell, but she was pretty capable when she lived alone in Heaven. Cooking for Charlie tho gave her the motivation to get better and actually enjoy it

- an angel trait that she could never truly abandon is being a stickler for rules. She's very strict on everyone and herself with these things, within reason. So even when she and Charlie started dating, she insisted that they can't sleep together until they've had their third date. When they're on the clock, they have to be professional and avoid flirtatious advances in front of staff and guests. Charlie didn't mind because she prefers privacy too.

- Vaggie's physical appearance slightly changed gradually the longer she stayed in hell. As an angel, her sclera was paler, her incisors duller, and her skin grayer. But as time passed, her sclera got more and more peach/pink, fangs sharper, and skin more purple toned

- i still like to think that Vaggie's old backstory back when only the pilot was out (having died in 2014 in her early twenties who worked as a sex worker in El Salvador) was still true. Maybe it's just because I've liked Chaggie since pilot, and I've grown really attached to that backstory. I also just really don't want Vaggie to be Heavenborn for some reason. Among the cast she just seems the most grounded to reality to me, so having her revealed to have never been human and born "divine" just doesn't seem right to me. I also just think it'd be cute and funny if it turns out she's chronologically the youngest in the hotel even tho she's basically everyone's strict not-mom.

- idgaf what Adam says, I wanna think that "Vaggie" is short for "Evangeline". I used to have these 2 coworkers in their late 50's to 60's who had Evangeline as their government name, but one of them goes by "Vanj" and the other "Vajee". Being older Filipino women who aren't really too fluent in English, they never thought there was anything wrong with that when they grew up with their nicknames. I like to think that the case was the same if Vaggie used to be human. I'm not sure how common English is in El Salvador, but I'm willing to bet it's possible she could have been given that nickname as a kid by an older family member who didn't know a lot of English. Also Evangeline makes more sense to have been the name of an angel cmon now...

[cepheusgalaxy]

Hello, I saw your post about Brazilian OC because I'm researching to write one too. May I ask for tips please?

The premise of my story (the plan is maybe 15k-20k words) is about an American who moves to Brasil alongside his sister to restart a new life because of a dark past. He meets a 12-year-old girl whose perspective inspires him to face his past in the end.

I set the story in the Northen Brasil; more accurately, Rio Preto da Eva, Amazonas (long story on why but I got suggested to by a friend then I got attached to the place). Do you have any tips for me for portraying this little girl? Like her mixed race, her disposition, her family, her culture, food, her mannerisms, her body language, her English speech as a second language is like (she's bilingual just so they can communicate, maybe imperfect but fluent enough); how to show that she's Brazilian, basically? Not just a random kid in a random country that you can replace with another country and it will stay the same.

Thank you! I'm sorry if it's too much.

Hello! ^^ You can definitely ask for tips, and I'll help in any way I can. As a warning, this may be a bit rambly.

Firstly though, I'd like to say that I myself am not from the North, but from the North East, and there are a lot of cultural differences from here to there so I may not have advice as specific and as accurate as another person may give, but I'll give the tips I can. This is a somewhat long so I also put it under a cut :)

Now, moving on. I decided to divide this into topics so it's easier to understand:

Appearence (hair, clothing, etc.)

You ask about her race first. Amazonas is known for having the biggest amount of Indigenous communities from all the country (i fact checked that just to be sure), but the majority of people in there is also Parda [mixed black and white, you could translate that as Brown]. White people are at a minority of 24% of the population, following the <10% of Black people, so the Brown population is three times the white one. You may, ofc, chose whatever you want for her if you haven't already. Just throwing these statistics there in the case it might help.

If she's Brown, she probably will have coily hair, and she may wear it tied back or braided with a fun color, you decide. The climate in the North is mostly very warm and humid, so having her hair falling on her neck might be a bit uncomfortable so she probably wouldn't wear it loose unless it's for a special occasion or a party where she would want it super neat.

Ofc this changes from person to person, but at least in my city, girls with long hair tend to tie it for the most part and take especial care to leave it loose when they want it neater, since combing your hair with cream for it to look good loose takes a little bit more of work than just making it look nice in a ponytail or pigtails or a fancy bun. Short hair works differently and its more common to wear it loose, since there are less options for tying it and it's not as hot in your back and neck.

As a side note, she may also have straight hair. Girls her age sometimes like to straighten natural curly hair, or maybe she has indigenous ascendance if she's not indigenous herself and her hair is straight and her skin, dark.

Lots of girls also like to wear earrings and usually at twelve i don't see a lot of big ones so she may prefer to wear tiny ones, bracelets, etc.

An acessory you might also see is this one:

[ID: A toddler wearing a blue stripe turban, a bandana-like cloth on their hair, tied in a flower at the front. /end ID.]

For some reason I couldn't find an example of any older kid but it'll do lmao. This is a turban, or headscarf, that is common among women here and comes from African influence. We have the ones that cover more of the hair, and this one, which is more common for younger children, that has the shape of a stripe and has a stylized knot in the front. They can come in patterns or plain colors, like this. It's pretty cute, although not very popular amongst tweens and older teens, with some exceptions. The kid's ones usually come already tied and we call them tiaras.

Moving on to clothes, as the northern areas are very warm we usually wear tshirts, small dresses and short shorts or trousers. That is probably where the stereotype of Hot Skimpy Brazilian comes from (hand in hand with racism ofc). I notice that in colder countries people tend to layer up and wear long sleeves and pants in the summer but unless it's a party, an event or a particularly cold day that's really unusual here. Bc of the warmth, leggings and crop tops are super popular too.

Patterns are also really really common, not just in shirts but in dresses and shorts as well. That's also from African heritage.

Though I am pretty sure that patterned, long skirts are very common in Amazonas. You may want to research this one a bit more.

Accent

You also note that she speaks English, and I don't know exactly how the subject is in schools there, but in my area we learn English in a very basic and very simple range, especially at her grade. I'd say it's very unlikely that she'd have learned it there, but there's always exceptions though! If she didn't learn it in school, however, the most common way to learn it is by engaging in content in English. I learned it by engaging with the PJO fandom that is mostly in the US, for example, and my cousin learned it by playing pirated Pokemón that he couldn't get in Portuguese. Maybe she loves subtitled shows and learned there!

I'm not sure about her accent bc I'm not generally good at pointing them out, but a few things in her native language that may influence it are that, in Portuguese, vowels are a little bit more open most of the time, and she may also have trouble spelling the r in the way you do, and will probably acentuate it to compensate (my little sister does that) or switch it to a french r or a spanish r (if you've heard French or Spanish you may know what I'm talking about). She probably also speaks a little slower or accentuating each syllabe to make sure she's speaking right.

She may also just make some sounds completely wrongly, like spelling the S as a Z sometimes, like "azexual" (in portuguese when the S is between two vowels it has the sound of Z), pronounce X as "CS" or "SH" like Asecsual (asexual) or Eshtra (extra) or accentuate the Ts at the end of a word, something native anglophones tend to set aside for the most part, I've noticed.

School (coz I think that this might appear sometime, if your story doesn't take place in summer break)

A thing I'd like to note is that schools in Brazil work very differently than in the US.

Firstly, the "grades": We call them Years and they are divided in three parts: Fundamental School I [Ensino Fundamental I], Fundamental School II [Ensino Fundamental II] and Highschool. Before all of that, optionally we also have preschool or "childhood garden" or just daycare, that we also refer to as alphabetization.

F. I or E.F. I -- from 6 to 10yo. Here we have 1st year, 2nd year, etc allup to 5th year. Kids learn the basics and may or may not get in already knowing how to read and write.

F. II or E.F. II -- from 11yo to 14yo. Here we start from 6th year and go up till 9th

Highschool -- You know this one. Three years, called 1st, 2nd and 3rd year. A literal translation of its name would be Middle School. (Ensino Médio.)

We don't have homeschooling, and by law kids are obliged to attend school as soon as they are old enough to.

Schools here also have a pretty big difference from public to private that idk if you have in there.

Private schools are owned by individuals and Public schools are owned and funded by the government, as you probably know. All schools in Brazil also have uniforms.

Each private school has their own particular uniform, and you have to pay for your child's subscription, uniform, materials and snacks.

Public schools are divided in two categories: State schools and Municipal schools. State schools are owned by the state, and municipal schools are owned by the city. The state and the city all have separate uniforms, so every municipal school from a city is going to have a shared uniform, and every state school from a given state is going to share a uniform too. In public schools, the subscription is paid by taxes, and so are the uniform and food; you just have to pay for your personal material, not including books, that are provided by the school, and any school outings your child may attend to.

I took the liberty to take a look into the Amazonense public uniform and the uniform from the city you choose too:

[ID: A bunch of students wearing jeans or black pants and a white shirt with a green and yellow arc at the bottom, and a small crest on the chest. /end ID.]

^ Amazonense State Uniform

[ID: A little kid wearing black trousers and a white t-shirt, both with an orange crest. /end ID.]

^ Rio Preto da Eva Municipal uniform.

As you can see, the uniforms usually consist in trousers or shorts for younger kids or pants for the older ones and a plain shirt with the school, state or city simble. Unlike other countries, where the (girl's) uniform usually consists of some kind of skirt, the uniforms here are the same regardless of gender and come in some different sizes (Small, Medium, Big and Big-Big). Private schools also follow this model.

In Municipal Schools you usually get both the shorts and shirt by the school, and in State Schools you just get the shirt and can wear whatever pants you want, but following a dress code (usually it's "jeans or black or dark blue pants and closed shoes" and trousers are only allowed if they're a certain lenght, but maybe Amazonas has another code I'm not aware of)

Another difference from State and Municipal schools is also the offered curriculum. Fundamental I, sometimes II, is offered in Municipal schools, and highschool and Fundamental II are offered in State schools. Some schools may not follow this rule and have more or less stages.

And also the school year is a bit different: The year starts in the beggining of February, then there is a starting weekbreak for Carnaval, then the classes start for real. The year goes on till July where we get around 15 days off, then the classes come back and end at the start of December. This may change a little depending on the school's jurisdiction (Private, State or Municipal).

Schools also work in turns: Morning "Matutino" (7 to 11AM) and Afternoon "Vespertino" (1 to 5PM) or Full-Day "Integral" (7AM to 5PM or earlier). Most Municipal Schools as far as I know are morning + afternoon.

And lastly, as a side note, some medical services in Brazil are also public and free, like the SUS (unique health system), where your insurance is paid by taxes so you don't pay for it unless the service costs more than what your plan allows for.

Food

Now about food, I'm not completely familiarized with culinary from the North, but we share some dishes in common and I also did a quick search. So we have:

Lots of fish -- the Amazonas is cut by a lot of big rivers so fish is very important to the culinary

Cupuaçu -- a tropical fruit that gets delicious in ice cream

Açaí (another fruit you can make great ice cream with) with beans. Half of the people like it and the rest claim it tastes like mud.

Maniçoba -- a dark soup made of cooked cassava leaves and meat basically

Muqueca -- a kind of fish soup

Pirão -- it has the texture of mashed potatoes and it's made of cassava flour cooked in fish broth

Fried banana - you cut up banana in slices and fry them in the pan till they go gold and it's very sweet, crusty and delitious tbh. Some people put it in couscous

A lot of fruit juice, like guaraná, cupuaçu, graviola and any other fruit you can find in there

Beiju -- beiju is a sort of flour you prepare like pancakes (rolled up pankakes, that is) and they are crispy and you usually put salty toppings like chicken and cheese in there. some people like it alone though

Pão de queijo -- technically "cheese bread" but it's a completely different kind of cheese bread. it is very small and round and also crusty

You can search for more of the food but this should give you an idea.

For table manners, at least where I am from, idk about Amazonas, it's considered rude by some people to support your elbows on the table, and by most it's also considered rude to speak while your mouth is full.

Family and other details

I'm not sure how family would be very different and idk much about family in Amazonas but where l live specifically (northeast) I've seen these elements in families very commonly

single mom (usually black and poor)

a dad or grandfather with a lot of abandoned children with many different woman so you may have 7 unknown siblings/uncles

idk about other areas but here we greet our older relatives by 'asking bless' (pedindo a benção or just bença)

I am not really aware of mannerism differences but I can give you a silly list of swear words because 12 is just the age kids are really sweary and I think she could literally translate some of these by accident and some don'r rlly work in english but here they are:

Desgraçado - disgraced. Medium swearing

Miserável - miserable. Light swearing

Filho da puta - son of a bitch. you know this one. Can be very heavy or very playful

Filho da mãe - son of a mother. Heavy swearing

Filho da égua - son of a (female) horse. Medium swearing

Seu cu - your ass. Light to medium swearing.

Tomar no cu - go take it up your ass. Light swearing but can be heavier depending on circumstance.

Seu porra - the only translation i can think for "porra" is cum but it can also mean fuck. this one is calling someone a porra. a bastard in this context. light to medium swearing

Porra

Foda - can mean fuck, can mean shit, can mean badass, can mean 'it sucks', can mean 'hella cool' and really really depends. light swearing when it's used like that

Caralho - i am not sure how to translate this one. it's usually a term for when things suck. or are very cool.

Rapariga - calling someone a bitch lightheartedly. light swearing

Viado - faggot. can be very heavy or very playful

Quenga - similar to rapariga but more agressive

Desgraça - disgrace. usually to express frustration. medium swearing

Portuguese has a lot of curse expressions actually.

Some other things that may be worth noting are:

Most brazilians, unless they're very wealthy, don't have dishwashers. Or drying machines for that matter. Since it's hotter here we mostly dry up things in the sun. We use strings for that or just hang them up the wall at the back of the house.

Some brands we refer to when we mean certain products (but this one may not apply to Amazonas): Maizena (corn starch), cotonete (cotton swab), QBoa (bleach), Veja (disinfectant), Nikito (a brand of stuffed cookie), Springles (you have that one too), Play-Doh (play dough), Amoeba (a weird slime toy) and Oreo

'Gringo' is a word that means foreigner. If you're not from here, u a gringo

Your character may struggle to use 'it' to refer to some objects, because in portuguese we don't have it as a pronoun. Objects are either he or she so your girl is probably gonna call the table a she and the car a he a lot of the time. I do that too sometimes.

Very specific anime thing if she likes anime: there's a culture here that if you watch dubbed anime instead of subtitled ur a loser. it's silly but it exists.

If she's twelve she probably grew up watching Sítio do Pica-Pau Amarelo. It's a child's cartoon based off a classic child's author work, Monteiro Lobato. And she probably read Turma da Mônica as a child (the comic books ever)

She also prob watches a lot of dramas. They usually air in channels like Globo or SBT. Three very popular and classic ones are Chiquititas (a show about a bunch of children from an orphanage and one of them was the secret heir of some rich guy idk. my sister loves it), Carrossel (i don't watch novellas but i know there's a school and a black boy and this racist girl. it's also a meme) and Chaves. Some more recent ones are Romeu e Julieta and As Aventuras de Pollyanna.

We tipically use the 24 hours format so if your mc can't understand that he'll probably confuse himself a lot

"Meia" (half/middle) usually refers to the number six, when we're talking about phone numbers. That's because three and six sound way too similar and you may confuse them up so to avoid that we replace six with meia

A dozen and half a dozen are also used a lot, like when you go get groceries and eggs, idk about other countries

Vasco -- vasco is a soccer team that is a meme because they Always Lose. We have the expression "went vasco" to express someone got fucked over

She will probably refer to soccer as football when speaking english bc in portuguese, soccer is "futebol". Depending on her personality she may refure to correct herself

The girl almost definitely cheers for a soccer team. I know few people who don't cheer for a soccer team.

Talking about soccer, another team that is a meme is Flamengo. Bc they don't ever win a "world" medal. Idk much about soccer but a world medal or a mundial is a class of tournaments?

Soccer is a big thing here. We cancell classes when the soccer world cup is near.

Now for your last line--how to show that she's brazilian. I'm not really skilled in showing different nationalities in writing, but I think that the most effective tool you could use is the cultural difference. How do things work differently here in opposed to there? What is your usamerican character used to or not used to, what does he have to adapt to? What does the girl think your character should know, or be used to, when he isn't? What are the things your character prides herself for in her culture (like soccer or the food bc of the meme of Bad USamerican Food)?

Anyways, this is a really wide topic but I hope I have been able to shed a little light or offer some guidance. If anybody who sees this is from Amazonas, your insight could be helpful too!

Good luck with your story, anon!

[virisdescently]

WAKING UP IN VEGAS

— ⟡ pansy parkinson x f!reader

✎ summary: in which a trip to las vegas changes everything.

• notes: post-hogwarts era, homophobia, angst, mentions and allusions to smut (nothing too graphic or detailed), loosely based on katy perry’s song “waking up in vegas”

You gotta help me out

It's all a blur last night

Pansy’s eyes blinked open slowly as the sunlight poured through the blinds into her room. She soaked in the warm light, smiling to herself as it had been so long since England had anything but cloudy, windy, and rainy days.

Wait! Pansy suddenly remembered.

This wasn’t England and this surely wasn’t her room. The tacky yellow paint decorating the walls was far too cheap for her taste, and the blinds looked as if nobody had dusted them for months. She rolled over in the motel bed, only to remember another detail: she wasn’t alone.

Her best friend, (Y/n) (Y/l/n), was sprawled across the white sheets, clothes nowhere to be found on her body. The blankets hugged her perfect body and Pansy found herself taking a moment to admire her, before suddenly realizing that she too had no clothing on.

Did we…? Pansy tried to scroll through her memories of the previous night, but all she could remember was taking a few shots and having fun with a friend. Although judging by the position the two girls were in, Pansy started to wonder if just a “friend” was the right word to describe (Y/n) at the moment.

One thing Pansy did know for sure was how she got here. (Y/n) and her had been planning a trip to Vegas for months now - it was Pansy’s 22nd birthday, and after the last few birthday parties filled with people she hardly knew, just friends of friends wanting to party with the Parkinson heiress, and perverted bachelors eager to get a chance at her family’s vault, she decided this year she wanted just a girls trip - just her and her best friend since 6 years old.

We need a taxi 'cause you're hung-over and I'm broke

I lost my fake id but you lost the motel key

Pansy stumbled through her memories, frantically trying to piece together what had transpired the night before. She was interrupted, however, by the morning groans of (Y/n).

“Hey there, gorgeous” (Y/n) said smiling, now awake and admiring Pansy’s petite form. Pansy, still confused on what had transpired the night before, awkwardly smiled, trying to find a classy and non-chalant way to ask her best friend if they did the devil’s tango.

“Hey, um… good morning” Pansy said, half-smiling and half-internally panicking. It wasn’t that Pansy didn’t want to have sex with (Y/n) or be with her as more than a friend, because Merlin knows that’s all Pansy’s wanted since she was 13 years old, but she was scared to death of what a night of passion would mean for her and the (y/h/c) woman laying next to her.

“How’s your head?” (Y/n) asked, taking Pansy out of her thoughts.

“It’s fine, just a bit disoriented I supposed” Pansy replied, “what about you?”

“Pounding” chuckled (Y/n), beginning to sit up and move her hair to the side. As she did so, Pansy could see a bright red mark on the side of (Y/n)’s neck. If Pansy wasn’t panicking before, she certainly was now. She knew that if anyone found out about her sexual preferences, especially her parents, she was screwed. Not only would they cut her off financially, but they’d completely disown her and so would the rest of her family. No, absolutely nobody could know Pansy Parkinson was a lesbian. The thought alone of someone knowing or even suspecting made Pansy’s stomach churn with anxiety.

“What are you thinking about, Pans?” questioned (Y/n), sensing that her friend was worried about something. (Y/n) could always read her like a book.

“Oh, just about last night” Pansy said, trying to subtly ask what she so desperately wanted to know.

“What part? When you lost your fake I.D? Or maybe when I lost the bloody motel key?” (Y/n) said giggling. Pansy gave a heart-hearted smile and chuckle, but (Y/n) knew something was still on Pansy’s mind.

“Or… perhaps was it what we did after all that?” (Y/n) said, finally bringing up what Pansy wanted to talk about, “you know, when we…”

“Had sex?” Pansy interrupted, not being able to wait any longer. (Y/n) took a deep breath and blushed.

“Yes, that” (Y/n) said bashfully, but still smiling. Pansy felt like her world stopped when (Y/n) finally confirmed her suspicions.

Spare me your freakin' dirty looks

Now don't blame me

Pansy sat in silence and shock before (Y/n) broke the tense quietness.

“So… how do you feel about it now that we are sober?” (Y/n) asked, looking at Pansy.

“I-I… don’t know” Pansy admitted, “I just- I mean- I guess I’m fine with it, I suppose.” Pansy regretted her choice of words when she saw (Y/n)’s tiny frown.

“Fine with it as in-“ (Y/n) began, but was promptly cut off by Pansy’s frantic voice.

“Fine with it as in fine with it. It happened, and we can’t go back in time and change it, but let’s just not mention it to anyone or make a habit of it, okay?” Pansy said, coming off a bit angry. Pansy didn’t mean to be so harsh, but she was internally panicking trying to fix the mess she had made. Deep down, Pansy knew that no matter how much she truly loved (Y/n) they could never be together, Pansy’s family would ever allow it. They’d live in misery, looking over their shoulder every day to make sure some Parkinson family member hadn’t come to hurt them (or worse) for “ruining the family name”.

“I-… Pansy, what?” (Y/n) said, hurt and confusion written all over her face, “you were the one that initiated everything… you made me promise that it wasn’t a one-off and that I loved you as much as you me. Did you not mean any of what you said or did last night? Were you just horny and were willing to say anything to relieve yourself?!” Now (Y/n) was the one with anger in her voice.

Pansy could hardly believe her ears. She really confessed her love for (Y/n)?

And even more shocking, (Y/n) seemingly reciprocated it.

Pansy was both ecstatic and heartbroken. Ecstatic because her love for the most beautiful girl she’s ever laid eyes on wasn’t unrequited. Heartbroken for what she knew she needed to do to keep said girl safe from the wrath of her wicked parents.

“I don’t know what to tell you, (Y/n)” said Pansy, “I was drunk and just saying random things. I’m sorry you got the wrong idea, but the truth of the matter is that sex is sex, and an orgasm is an orgasm - but I like boys, and if I’m having sex with you, it’s for the orgasm and dopamine, nothing more.” Pansy hoped her lies would be enough to get (Y/n) to stop pursuing the topic any further.

You roll the cash out

And get the hell out of town

“I can‘t believe you” huffed (Y/n), getting up and quickly shoving her stuff into a suitcase. She threw on her clothes from last night and angrily threw Pansy’s clothes in Pansy’s direction. Pansy winced at the throw.

“You know, I actually thought you loved me like I love you, Pans” (Y/n) said turning around to face Pansy, a look of anger and hurt etched across her face, “I actually thought we could be something! Salazar knows I’ve been waiting to do what we did last night for ages - but I see now I was the only one ready for more.”

Pansy watched in sadness as (Y/n) put on her shoes and headed toward the door, luggage in hand. Oh how she wanted to yell after (Y/n), tell her she did want more, that she did love her, but she kept reminding herself this was for the best.

Don't be a baby

Remember what you told me

Shut up and put your money where your mouth is

That's what you get for waking up in Vegas

(Y/n) opened the door and turned around one last time to Pansy.

“I’m going back to England. Have fun waking up in an empty bed in Vegas, Pans” (Y/n) said sarcastically.

Pansy swallowed the lump forming in her throat and looked down at her lap, suddenly very invested in the sheet covering her body.

Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes, now

That's what you get for waking up in Vegas

“Oh, and Pansy?” Pansy looked up at (Y/n), taking in all her beautiful features one last time.

“When you’re ready to stop pretending you’re someone that you’re not, call me.”

And with that, (Y/n) (Y/l/n) left, taking all of Pansy Parkinson’s happiness with her.

[the-passer-outer]

I just realized that any time ive talked about the higher ups its always them doing something bad but not all the higher ups are bad so i think i will talk about them a bit (plus bonus of characters who SHOULD be higher ups)

Lemon!! chat i love Lemon, shes a mother of two and is married to another higher up named Sandy. This also means they are some of the only married ocs I have. Lemon has inspiration from the old kaiju paradise lemon shark, the sucker for love third date, and i believe some third thing i cant remember. Shes typically seen when the higher ups are called upon although i do believe she lives with the danganronpa ocs in that world. Lemon also very much enjoys the beach, often preferring it to be sunrise! Sandy! Shes actually a v1 taraka from dragon adventures and doesnt seem to have a human form. As u know shes married to Lemon :3. I honestly dont know much about Sandy due to her remaining very mysterious but I did used to have her in dragon adventures at some point! Although I do know she misses her son Lovebug, I bet Lemon also misses him.

Meka? Okay so shes reallyyy mixed when it comes to being good. She is very much at fault for why her love interest (Monitor Girl) killed herself but ya know. It does seem like after all the harm she has done to gain power she is trying to fix things. Shes also one of the older higher ups, with her origin world being the anime seven deadly sins (dont question any of these okay) although not many ocs remained in that group. I believe she went kinda like seven deadly sins -> danganronpa -> helluva boss anddd then stopped, well im lying shes moved to total drama but not with the total drama group but thats for another day. She is also one of the past sonas, they are past sonas for a reason. I dont think there are any other good current higher ups so its time for ocs who should be higher ups! Vete! Starting off strong with an oc from the total drama group i know but just trust me. Hes got strength comparable to the higher ups and honestly is in a much better mindset then most of them. Also him being a guardian angel + having a holy weapon is just very good overall. ALSO HE CAN HOLD A STABLE RELATIONSHIP. Unlike half of the higher ups... (calling out YOU, Star and Cosmo) デジタルタイガー !! Aka, Digital Tiger. She wasnt always a tiger but she ended up as one, also she left the danganronpa oc group to be the only oc for digimon! Also im going to be honest she is a lot stronger then Vete but id say shes around same strength as Lemon so its still fair. Also I just miss seeing her :( ??? ! Okay she doesnt have a name but shes the only battle cats oc I own. I remember before Dixie destroyed The Forgotten she was second in charge, meaning that she most likely has a lot of the skills needed to be a higher up. Shes also a rarer character to be spotted so it would be nice to see her more. I think there might be more but i dont know, so this is it for now :3

[pjulian]

Lilac Patisserie - Aptly named for gay nerds

In the mood for some gay brunch and pastry, Saturday morning brought us to the ever fancy “lilac patassery,” as julian calls it.

Like many white people coffee spots in the area, I had been wanting to try it out for a while. A decently long line of people awaited as we got there.

They seem to have a large collection of cakes and tarts and things that made me want to pee myself or something. Truly tempted by the lemon cheesecake but the lemon merengue tarts captured me more. Lemon will always be seductive to me.

Anyways, a cute $80 pricetag for two mains, the tart and two lattes and we were seated.

A wonderfully gay man informed me and julian that he would “recommend that we cut the tart” after he watched us nearly break our forks trying to take bites. Tart pictured here, post destruction:

Things came out pretty quickly, lattes following soon after. I always enjoy cute latte art, although they gave me the GIRL design. Just kidding. The lattes were a decent size, julian’s was his coveted mocha, mine was a caramel latte.

Unsure if caramel meant sea salt caramel? A sip of mine tasted almost salty, however it was quickly fixed with a sugar packet. Very good afterwards.

Post-latte was only another few minutes until the food came out. I got the classic breakfast, something delightfully american. julian got his favorite french toast.

The breakfast was good. Being a bakery, they had some thick fluffy bread for toast which was its own experience. A little sugary for my taste but, good nonetheless. The potatoes were my favorite part, mostly nice and soft and well seasoned (with the exception of one half raw piece). That being said, Lilac makes an interesting decision to pair the potatoes with a sea of roasted onion and bell pepper. Honestly I didn’t even touch the onions, not wanting to deal with the monstrosity of onion breath for the rest of the year. The apple chicken sausage offered was a little bland, but good. Not an exceptional amount of flavor but I just love sausage. Overall the food was decent but not spectacular.

Most of the points for this place come from the atmosphere. Nice lavender walls and a really clean and dainty french feel. I don’t know how often i can justify a full breakfast at the price point but it’s definitely a place to return to. Campy and gay enough for me!

★ ★ ★ ★ / 5

Warm wishes,

pj

Read julian’s thoughts on his food below ⬇️

i was most surprised by the speed of the service as pj already pointed out, everything was delivered to us pretty quickly and paced out well. the tart itself i enjoyed but im also not really one for messy food and the gay guy telling me how to cut the thing was embarrassing so i cant really give it too glowing of praise but its also a pretty personal thing, if you like creamy desserts and gay men humiliating you then its probably great. the mocha was good just a little too sweet, i prefer it a bit more bitter but again thats personal taste it was still very good. i liked the leaf on it was very sad when i drank it to the point of complete dissolution.

the french toast was served with a cup of butter, syrup, and a side of assorted fruit. pretty average presentation but strawberries with french toast is like crack to me so i cant bring myself to care too much, dont need anything too exotic to enjoy the meal with.what definitely surprised me though was that i typically hate blueberries but the ones served here were actually great with a very consistent ripeness and sweetness to the point that it may have turned me around on the fruit a little. like sorry blueberries i didnt realize you could taste like that. the toast itself was pretty decent too although i wish it was served with a little more syrup, it was like a tiny cup i need the whole gallon.

despite lilacs pattassery not entirely aligning with my autistic inclinations id say it was a pretty good dining experience overall especially if youre normal. you got to hand it to white people. but only sometimes. id give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

best regards,

julian

Lilac Patisserie: 3.75 ★

[raitou-otcha]

a princess tea party

"would you like more tea mister?" asked Sophie to Pitch, it was rather interesting of a scenario where the guardians ended up being dragged (guilt tripped) into joining Sophies Bennett's tea party, they were definitely not expecting to need to wait for someone else but due to Sophie so adamantly telling them to wait for another guest, they kind of had to wait for this unknown guest.

"id love to have more tea princess, your tea is the best out there!" smiled Pitch as he responded to Sophies question. "okay! it will take a bit though! i hope you don't mind!" said Sophie "i need to get something first so please enjoy yourself!" giggling away Sophie went outside to get something that wasn't in her room, before any questions or fights could instigate Pitch spoke.

"what? have you never been to a kids tea party?" laughed Pitch at the guardians, earlier they really couldn't do much because of the confined space and the fact that the little girl would've gotten hurt tremendously.

"how are you so good with kids?" questioned Jack as he leaned in. "Jack Frost! were not supposed to ask these types of questions! but im pretty curious too." mumbled St North.

"its really not that surprising in all honesty. i mean, i have kids so it would make sense on why i have experience in dealing with them." Pitch waved dismissively as he replied.

"you have kids?!" exclaimed Toohiana with a surprised expression, she and the others definitely weren't expecting this kind of reply. "i mean yes, even if you were to claim that spirit children like your own don't count, id still have two daughters. also sorry for about what i did earlier, the entire point of taking your daughters was to simply get them out of the way and i wasn't trying to actually hurt them, you know?" Pitch sheepishly explained away, still non of the guardians knew about this.

It showed how much they really didn't know anything about Pitch, meaning that either he was simply playing along with their ideas or that he well aware of the fact that they didn't know and capitalized on that but why would he now give this information now?

"what in the bloody fuck is this. what we want is answers, non of this kiddy bullshit. if you tell us something that can allow us to use to aid us then maybe i wont crack onto you." angerly Bunnymund said as he got prepared to tackle Pitch down and fight him.

"ahhh simple,, hm. oh! i know, about dream sand. I've said before that it took me a while to perfect the technique on turning it to dark sand. I know not that creative of a name but then again i have given it a scientific name. but the, ah, reason why now sandman cant turn the dark sand back to dream sand is simple. Sandman doesn't study at all, I've studied dream sand and things like that, it took a while because there was no actual studies don't on those things so i needed to go completely blind in with these." explained Pitch much to the confusion to some others, he was just talking too quickly to actually fully understand the things they did pick up on in the conversation.

"in simplified terms, the answer is that i studied dream sand and sandman didn't. that why i can turn in to dark sand and why they cant turned it back." now that was baffling, studies? "what are you a scientist?" laughed Jack.

"more of a researcher, if i were a scientist i would be under constant limitations by expectations so that's why i just prefer to do my own thing, plus! normally being a scientist is just a sub thing of researching. technically they are the same thing but one is more specific." before any more questions or micro aggressions could happen, little Sophie came back into the room with items to continue the tea party that they were having earlier.

"here you go mister!" exclaimed Sophie as she handed Pitch a cup. "why thank you princess. quite amazing tea here that you have offered." smiled Pitch, acting as nothing of the events earlier happened. although Sophie did notice that others were acting a bit differently from before. thankfully Pitch was capable of explaining it away by simply saying that 'they didn't know that he was a researcher and were surprised!' which Sophie understood.

before any convorsations could be held and the tea party could continue there was a knock at the door of the room. everyone turned outside of Pitch and sandman who looked like they were in deep conversation about sand. "ill go get it!" said Jack before walking to the door and opening the door to see who was there.

"well, well, well. you drop off the face of the world and you come back for a tea party with my daughter." said Mrs Bennett as she entered the room partially fazing through Jack before leaning on the door frame and raising an eye brow at Pitch Black.

"oh what? can i not visit my god daughter? I'm sorry I've been busy but you know how i am my lady." smiled Pitch in response. "wait wait wait, you know each other?! man that's wild!" said Jack in surprise, thing seem to become more and more surprising.

"mhm? my lady? hah! haven't heard that one in a while, i feel like there are others here too. wonder who they could be." replied Mrs Bennett to Pitch. "ah well,, there's nose nipper, food bones, rabbit eggs, reverse insomnia and christian Odin but he isn't talking much at all, think he is still processing some things." gesturing to Nicholas St North, with all the things that were happening and how quickly things have been moving there was barely any time to process what was happening and it seems like he was still stuck on that.

"hmm im guessing jack frost, tooth fairy, easter bunny, sandman and santa with those nicknames? your creative names never have left you it seems." sighed Ms Bennett before turning to her daughter.

"how about we go into the living room so we have a bigger space to have a tea party? also so we can have more snacks!" exclaimed Ms Bennett. "that would be a great idea! i can help getting some stuff when moving to the living room" said Pitch as he stood up from the chair he was given earlier by Sophie

"okay! i can go move stuff too!" said Sophie before attempting to move some heavy things to the living room. "ah how about to take the rest of the guests to the living room?" gesturing to the guardians, Jack and North stood up to help move before asking some questions but those were pushed until they fully moved to the living room later on.

[natti-ice]

OMG NATTI?? 700??? it feels like just yesterday i was scrolling through tumblr and found your blog through another milestone you had before you deactivated…. and then deactivated again.

BUT CONGRATS POOKIE BEAR. THIS JUST GOES TO SHOW HOW AWESOME YOU AND YOUR WRITING IS!

in honor of 700, id like to request a mini challenge! (although i don’t really have a preference for fandom. stick me with whoever, pookie, i trust your judgment 😚)

so… about me! i’m very shy and anxious and introverted but once you get to know me, i’m super talkative!! but you actually have to KNOW me first because i absolutely SUCK at texting people and understanding how to carry a conversation that way without talking in person first (ironic, isn’t it??)

my hobbies typically include reading fantasy books, listening to music, a little bit of embroidery but i haven’t picked that up in a while, and watching shows (with friends). my favorite genres of music are indie and musicals. honestly, i like songs based on their vibes for the most part. i’m very passionate about music in general, as i played the viola for 9 years from 4th grade up until i graduated high school.

currently, i’m in my first year of college and i finished my first semester with a 4.0 gpa!! (i don’t get to brag about that to many ppl…pls be proud of me ;-;) i’m a psychology major studying to hopefully become a counselor or therapist because people need someone to talk about their problems with in such a fucked up world. and to be honest, i wanna be able to help people how i needed (and still need) when i was younger. i also just find the workings of the brain super interesting!

uh uh uhhh i crave to be soft girl core and have a nice romantic experience with someone at some point, but i wear a lot of hoodies and jeans (specifically boot cut) which doesn’t really get to exhibit the soft girl vibes. does that make sense?? i crave to be girly feminine pretty bisexual but my wardrobe and wallet can’t afford that type of change 😔

ANYWAYS!! hope this helps pookie 😌

Thank you pookie bear!! I’m very glad we found each other my dear mae 🫶🏻🫶🏻 (we don’t need to talk about the deactivation 🌚) ALSO SLAYYYYYY 4.0 IN THIS BITCH‼️

I ship you with…finnick odair!

He definitely finds intelligent very attractive and would be drawn to your passion for fine arts! I think he would find you very charismatic, your shy exterior would be presented to him as almost a challenge and that excites him

Join my 700 celebration!

[grumpy-mare]

what kind of compression mask are you using? my horse has buddy sour issues and im curious if it would help him

I’ve been using a Vickie Wilson titanium one but plan on buying another and will get one that zips up rather than ties up only because I prefer the look of a zip, it’s more streamlined but honestly I think any kind of compression/titanium mask will do the trick! I only got that one because I live in New Zealand and the other NZ company that sells them had a 6 week wait but I found some places in Australia which have the zip ones in stock and shipping from aus to nz doesn’t take long so I’ll get my second one from there.

I have one with ears, but not soundproof ears because although Fly can be really sound reactive a lot of that is a training issue and happens when she’s worried so id rather help her self regulate and show her she can be okay even when there’s scary sounds and not rely on completely blocking sound from her altogether. The next one I get I’ll probably get without ears at all for that reason but will probably always float her in the one with ears. It’s definitely worth a try for buddy sour issues! I find with Fly it just helps her reach her normal brain when she has it on, she really tries to be a good girl but when she’s stressed her brain just goes so having the mask just helps her

[the-iron-tipped-quill]

Cyber Angel Cynthia (part 2)

i did not think id churn this out so fast but fuck here we are

too many friends of mine wanted more of the angel so here we are i wrote more

(im looking at two mutuals specifically)

if this is well received again ill write a 3rd part

as mentioned in the last part, content warnings galore (there is a detailed torture scene here please dont read this if you dont like that)

as usual divider credits to: samspenandsword and saradika

people to be tagged: @chevcore @bluebeepboop @aliceslimegirlsupreme @steamfunkoo7 @spookychan360

Writing under the cut! Please heed my warnings and enjoy the writing!

“Jamie, question for you? While your out today can you pick up the grocery order?” My roommate asked me.

“I got you, anything else you need Ren? I’ll pick up some stuff while I'm out, got another client to meet.” I said, grabbing my backpack. 

“Nope, see you when you get back.” 

I walked out the door, hearing the click as the door shut behind me. I kept making sure my voice didn’t slip. I didn’t need them knowing the truth. 

I headed for the stairs. Hopping onto my bike, I headed for the bar I was set to meet the client in.

After a couple minutes, I arrived at the bar. I looked around for my client before being waved over by a guy towards the end of the bar. 

“Got a target for you to send off. Grab the  details here. You’ll send them off for the angel won’t you J?” The man in front of me asked.

“Always will Ry. I can only imagine how happy Cyn will be with another contract. Let’s have her work her sadistic magic shall we?” I said, smiling at Ry. 

“I’ll be tuning in. It’s always a delight to see her work. Although I gotta ask. Why are you the only contact point to get to the angel herself. Is there something between you two Jamie?” He asked me, smiling strangely. 

“Nah, nothing of the sort. Just got trust issues is all, and anyways we’ve known each other since the womb practically.” I replied casually, lying through my teeth. 

“Anyways, a toast to a new job? Or do you got places to be J?”

“A toast, but then I gotta be off, I have some stuff of my own I gotta do.” I said smiling. 

“Cheers then.” 

I downed the glass, pushing it towards Ry. “I’ll be off then. You have my number if you need me.” I said, sliding my helmet on and heading out. 

The next person up for judgement has been revealed. Off we go then. 

“Another audience member. I see his donations come in regularly. Such a shame he won’t be lining my pockets again.” I said with a sigh. “Ah the sacred audience, that's a new title for them.”

A giggle resounded in my head. I pulled my bike over into a side alley and started to rub my temples, trying to shut it up.

“You really think you can silence me?l” I heard her say, clicking her tongue. 

My vision went black, I lost any sense of control I thought I could hold. 

“He always forgets. I prefer not to be lied about. I am apart of him just as much as he hates to admit it.” 

“Cyn, you can’t do this while we are out. Cyn please. Please.” 

“What a shame Jamie, what a shame.” 

“CYNTHIA-“ I tried as I felt myself get silenced.” 

“Even you must be judged. You may be the face behind me, but that matters little to me.” 

I overpowered Jamie. Taking over the body and shifting it to appear as myself. Not cyber angel but a more, normal girl. A previous version of Jamie. Just to make it worse for him. 

“Groceries were next on the to do list today I believe.” I said, pulling the bike back onto the road and heading to go pick up food for both Jamie and his roommate. 

“I’m here to pick up the order for Jamie Harris?” 

“You a friend of his?”

“Of a sort, he’s a little under the weather right now, asked me to pick things up.” 

“Sounds good, he already got the payment in. He’s a good guy.”

“I'm well aware” I said as I walked out, setting the destination to the apartment. As I approached closer and closer, I thought about the next person up for judgment. Quite a strange man. I set up my searches to find him as I walked up the stairs, knocking on the door as i dropped the groceries off with a note. 

Heading back out again, I started to track down my target. A man named Thomas Treaty. What a name he has, shame he won’t actually have his name stated as he dies. 

I tracked him as he drove back to his apartment. He didn’t even get to make it through the door before I had him slumped over unconscious. 

“Cyn. Let me handle this part.” Jamie said,  begging to take over again. 

“Fine fine. You prepare him for the stream then.” I said, retreating as Jamie took proper control again. 

I clutched my head as she retreated away. 

“Now to bring you home with me.” I said, setting up one of my augments to animate him getting into the car with me. 

“Off we go home again.” I said, checking to see what this strange man has in the way of augments. 

I set him down on the table. I got to work removing his augments slowly. So many damn things to remove. Lot of expensive ones to sell though. At least a hundred thousand for all 9 pieces. 

“Let’s get you set up for the stream.” I said, picking him up and setting him down in the streaming room. Tied up and gagged. I left him to head upstairs for a brief moment. 

I saw Ren at the table tinkering with some kind of new augment. I went into my room, grabbing something new for Cyn this stream. 

I headed back down to the basement, setting it into the weapons corner. 

“Your turn Cynthia.”

“The Cyber Angel appears once more. My my do I have a treat for you all tonight! It is a double stream tonight! 10 hours of your lovely Cyber Angel! Now how do we judge the man in front of us everyone?” I said smiling. With a voice a little too cheerful for someone about to torture a man for 10 hours.

“What to use on you first is the question..” I said, grabbing a personal favorite to start. 

“Another member of the sacred audience judged.” I said, slamming a metal pipe into his rib cage. 

I kept watch as the audience requests poured in, but one message in particular caught my eye. A person claiming to know the judged. They told me to keep beating him with the pipe. 

“Apparently a friend of the judged is here with us. According to them, this is exactly what they want. I did just get a fun new toy for this stream.” I said smiling as I pulled out the set of surgical scalpels. “A lovely donation from one of you in the sacred audience.” 

“I think we can take a limb or two off, wouldn’t you agree?” I said, watching as the audience went wild. The numbers climbing higher than I had ever seen. 

“I think our judged is a little frozen in fear. Any ideas for how we get him to scream at least a little bit?” I asked, watching as the money piled sky high. 

I grabbed one of the scalpels, slowly cutting off the skin around his elbow.

I picked up my saw, and slowly began to saw away at the bone. 

“Unfortunately he isn’t a screamer. A shame, but not much you can do.” I said sadly as I tossed the arm away. “We do need to keep your head intact for the finale.” 

I laid him on the floor, looking down at him with a smile as I slowly cut the skin around his heart away. It was a pain to avoid the broken ribs, but I managed to cut around them. I took a second to carve my name into his arm. ‘Cynthia’ was carved very badly into his right bicep, and ‘Cyber Angel’ on his left. 

He wasn’t in good shape at the very end, and as the timer approached 10 hours, neither was I. I smiled as I saw the timer hit 9:59:50 and as I grabbed the metal pipe I adored to use on those I judged, I slammed it repeatedly into his skull, shattering it into as many pieces as I could. Laughing hysterically as I did so. Ending the stream, I collapsed onto the floor.

I awoke the next morning collapsed in the stream room. I managed to end the stream in my tired haze.  Blood, skin and bone covered a good chunk of the floor. I sighed as I started to clean it all up.

What a mess things are becoming.

[terras-diary]

manga review - ceres: celestial legend

some context: so in my quest to read different demographics of manga, i discovered ceres. i really liked the art and figured i'd give it a try. i began reading scans on my phone, but around the half way point i switched to reading on my ipad.

the story: another case of angel sanctuary i fear. if i were to explain the overarching story line it sounds pretty good, but once you delve into the thick of it, i mean it just kind of makes you cringe. although, i was surprised at the amount of action in the series, i know my preconceived notions of shojo usually means that it's mostly slice of life modern (for the time) romance. in some ways it was, don't get me wrong, but the depictions of action and horror were really unexpected and a nice surprise.

but on the other hand.

the age gaps. oh my god. why. why is a 24 year old man going after a 16 year old orphan girl. why does she get pregnant, drop out of school, work two jobs, and her baby daddy don't even have an id. (i read that in a review on myanimelist and i just had to reiterate it here) and that is the conclusion of the manga. that really happens, i swear. her happy ending is my nightmare. i cannot believe that this is where the story went.

also just the romance in general. i mean ugh. i understand this is supposed to appeal to younger, japanese girls who may want an older man. perhaps it's a sign of the times! the times being japan in the 1990s. but while reading, 23 year old terra was on the phone with 911 because you stay away from that little girl! don't come around here, toya!! go get a job.

another thing that the myanime list review mentioned that i didn't quite catch (probably because i was not alive in the 1990s.) was that back then the hot topic was genomes, which is a large part of this story. and once i read that and started to think on it, i really do agree. metal gear solid, for example. another 90s game which deals heavily with cloning, genomes, and what genes are preferred. i even thought back to high school biology class where we were showed a video from the 90s about cloning a sheep. it really must have been the zeitgeist. (justin taught me that word, thanks justin)

the characters: ceres did nothing wrong. she was not a villain in any capacity. in fact, she should have killed all those mfs. just saying. her and aya when she was not in the presence or otherwise thinking about toya were my favorite characters.

completely random - q/kyu. why did she look like that. and she was played as a comic relief character? most interesting.

but honestly the villains were kind of meh. other than being evil, they really weren't fleshed out until their cop outs at the end. most of the side cast were definitely thrown even farther than to the side by the end. i really liked chidori and suzumi but they were kind of just forgotten about.

the art: easily the best thing about this manga. her lines are so clean for cutesy art, but then she'll draw a guy getting melted via ceres' power and you're like 'oh shit.' even with the fuzzy scans, i could tell this is some of the nicest art. not necessarily the nicest layouts or dynamic poses, but man can she draw a face.

conclusion: i'm glad to have gave it a try and seen it to the end. broadening my horizens, etc. i haven't really thought about it much, so that's usually not a good sign that something left an impression on you so.... lol

[hazmatazz]

it’s me again :D

man i love the angst too!! and i could theoretically just draw them for you. but 1. i’m too lazy rn and 2. id have to go off anon and i love the mysteriousness hehe i feel like a secret agent whenever i’m on anon

SO :D first of all, they’re both afab and 15 years old

imma start with floryn!! she’s 1.58m tall, her skin tone is a darker sienna (a medium brown, idk how to describe it) she has an hourglass body type but is kinda chubby, her hair is dark brown and curly (hair type 2C if we wanna get rlly specific) and around shoulder-length. she usually wears it half down and the other half in a messy kinda bun. her eyes are pretty round (my art style is more on the cartoony side, not sure how it would look irl) and also brown. her eyebrows are pretty thick and dark as well. she doesn’t use a lotta makeup but sometimes draws a heart or star on her cheek with colorful eyeliner :D she usually wears dresses or skirts with cardigans or tank tops depending on the weather. and she prefers shoulder-less sleeves that are either a bit puffy or loose. if that makes sense?? the skirts are mostly around knee length and she always wears sneakers that are mostly white with different pastel colored accents. her clothes are always very colorful and she has dresses in genuinely every color of the rainbow, some pastel ones, some brighter ones, just no dark colors. she loves wearing all of them, although her fav color is orange <3

imma just hope i didn’t forget anything and move on to rory :D her skin tone is ivory and her face always has a visible light blush. and whenever she actually gets embarrassed or something her whole face goes red and it’s very cute tbh. her body shape is either the rectangle or inverted triangle one, i’m not 100% sure yet & she’s pretty muscular. in my style her eyes are more rectangular?? kinda like this shape ♦️but horizontal if you know what i mean? they’re blue & her eye brows are more round. her hair is wavy (hair type 2A maybe), around armpit length and a warm blond (pantone 4655 but a bit warmer, i’ve been searching for the perfect color for like five minutes and i give up) and at some point later in the story, once she gets more confident, she dyes her hair tips a light blue color!! her go-to hairstyle is usually a high ponytail. she usually wears jeans or corduroy pants and on warmer days she often wears bermuda shorts. she mostly wears crop tops but also tank tops and sleeveless shirts. when it’s colder she wears button-up shirts with long sleeves. she doesn’t HATE skirts but you’ll very rarely see her wearing one, usually it’s jean shorts and crop top :] her color palette isn’t that colorful, usually blue with accents of brown, grey, white and/or black but she has a few tops in other colors too. she definitely wears dark blue converse and those tennis socks with two colored stripes at the top

i have no idea if that was detailed enough, if you’d like to know anything else feel free to ask :D also if you have any questions abt their story or them as characters apart from their physical appearance, i just love rambling about them <3

i haven’t described their personalities in detail yet i think so maybe i’ll do that in another ask but my phone battery is running out aksbkajdkja

and i love florora tbh that sounds so magical <3

✨

!!! they sound absolutely adorable!!! idk why but i was imagining rory to be like a redhead with a boyish cut and straight hair?? like that one girl from that "arcane legends" show or whatevr. but her with long blond hair also soumds adorable!! esp with round eyebrows as i'm imagining

ohh and their clothing styles <3<3<3 ehegehgtjehr rory does seem like the kid to wear sleeveless shirts and button ups snsbksebkshs. and flora!! she gives me very soft warm color vibes so i can see it!!!

and ohh w the little heart on the cheek <3 i think rory would absolutely stare at that

also flo's 5'2 :D??? awee little friend :33333

[radiant-reid]

Blurb on Derek giving spencer “advice” on

How to swoon reader but when he desperately tries to flirt with reader by acting like Derek the reader is all like “you know you can be yourself right?” This is just so cute and funny to me 😍

Love love love

“I just really want her to like me.” Spencer whines, trying not to look at you from across the bar. It’s basically impossible when you’re so enticing. He can’t help his eyes drifting over to you.

“You have to be smooth then, charm her.” Morgan instructs him. “Flirt with her, play some cat and mouse, touch her a little. You have to make her want you, and before you know it, you’ll have a girlfriend.”

Spencer shakes his head firmly. “I can’t.” Even with two drinks in him, when he’s bolder than usual, there’s no way he can flirt with you. “Seriously. She’ll just think I’m an idiot.”

“No, she won’t, kid,” Morgan reassures him. “I’ll give you some pointers if you want.”

Spencer’s first instinct is to shut him down. He’s never going to be able to get with you so why not try with one of Morgan’s routines. But the longer he thinks about his friend's flirting, the more clear the answer becomes. “Okay.” He agrees. If Morgan’s gotten countless girls to go home with him, something he does must work. “But I’m not baby-girling her.”

“Good. Garcia wouldn’t be happy with you.” Morgan reminds him. “What you need to do is go over there.” He points to the bar where you’re sitting with the girls. “Stand behind her with your arm on one side of her so when you talk, it’s in her ear. Ask her if she wants a drink. Then sit next to her, tap your knees against hers, compliment her and let the conversation go from there. Easy.”

It doesn’t sound easy. “Is that really going to work?” Spencer asks, not wanting to be set up.

Morgan hands him the rest of his beer. “If you drink this, ditch the cardigan, roll up your sleeves, gain some confidence, make eye contact and stop thinking so hard. Also, lower your voice.”

Spencer unhappily gulps down the rest of the beer, grimacing at the taste. He much prefers cocktails with enough sugar in them to make a normal person sick.

Morgan slaps him on the back as he gets up. “Go get the girl, lover boy.”

He’s nervous as he walks over. Although he’s permanently nervous around you. Following Morgan’s instructions, he places her hand on the bar to your right side and hovers behind you.

You don’t expect such a bold move to come from Spencer Reid, but you recognize those forearms and that cologne. “Spencer.” You hum, looking up at him. To your left, JJ and Penelope are watching eagerly.

“Want a drink?” He offers, already flagging down a bartender. His voice does make a noticeable shiver run down your spine.

You order another of what you were drinking and Spencer, much to your surprise, orders a scotch. It’s his own improv move, figuring Morgan doesn’t go around sipping cocktails.

He slides into the seat beside you while your drinks get made, and he spins the chair around so you’re facing him. That was smooth.

He taps his knee against yours, hoping you realize it’s more than just because he’s tall. “Green really is your color.” He says, looking at your olive-colored blouse.

“Thanks.” You reply, slightly suspicious. You hadn’t even realized Spencer noticed things about girls until now.

“It might be my new favorite color now.” He continues, cringing at every word. “Or maybe your eye color.”

You laugh, and he tenses, worried about how you're reacting. "Tell me more." You prompt.

"I'd love to." He agrees. "At mine or yours?"

"How do I know you're not a serial killer?" You ask, leaning closer and grinning.

He frowns at you. "What do you mean? Obviously, I'm not, we work together against serial killers."

"Really? Because I thought maybe you were one of those frat boys." You nod to a group of backward-cap-wearing, colored-shorts kids. "Who definitely have fake IDs."

"What?" He asks again, confused.

You touch his knee lightly with your hand. "Spencer, you know you can be yourself around me, right? I like you, not some really odd persona."

He's blushing, more from your confession than embarrassment. "You like me?" He squeaks.

"I do." You assure him. "Real you, though. Can I have him back?"

"Yes." He nods quickly. "You can."

[juniperhillpatient]

Lake Laogai

It's not even remotely a secret that I'm incapable of being unbiased or objective about this episode. I love Jet, & I think killing him off was a huge mistake & a waste. I wrote a post explaining in more detail why I specifically think that Jet's death was a writing mistake HERE.

This re-watch has been interesting because it's really nice to re-watch a fave show & re-evaluate my opinions after spending a lot of time engaging with the fandom. I don't know, maybe it's just my annoyance with the fandom's pushing for a Katara/Aang/Zuko love triangle but this re-watch has made me take a firm stance that Jet should've lived, & become part of the Gaang, & dated Katara. "But Rose, don't you prefer Katara with girls?" I mean yeah, I like to write that more, but I'm talking about what I think should've happened in the actual show, which is entirely separate.

[ID: two pictures from different angles of Katara & Jet in the streets of Ba Sing Se]

Katara & Jet have the whole contentious complicated past & I'm always gonna be a sucker for the dynamic where the girl is violently angry & the guy is just like "I'm so sorry I've changed please accept me" like, I'm just being honest that's a good dynamic. Jet's already pretty strong redemption arc could've been concreted & we could've had a new, needed perspective in the Gaang from someone who was a victim of colonization in a similar way to Katara & Sokka but with a very different experience & reaction.

I will try not to spend this whole post being salty though, that's why I made a separate post. The brainwashing under Lake Laogai is very creepy, & it is one of the aspects of the show that stuck with me the most upon first viewing & for good reason. All the Joo Dees speaking in unison is genuinely terrifying. Long Feng is also a well-written villain. He's sly, manipulative, & just creeps me out.

The other thing that I wanted to ponder on with this episode is Zuko saving Appa, & Zuko & Iroh's discussion. I want to make it clear that I think Zuko's redemption arc is incredibly well-written overall. I only criticize Avatar because I love it so much & have thought about it so much. There are a lot of popular Avatar hot takes on Tumblr about how Zuko's redemption arc is poorly written, nonexistent, or whatever, & I simply strongly disagree. I have to get that out of the way & be clear about it or I'll worry I'm being misinterpreted. I also like Iroh, although I feel like I don't always understand what's going on with him & this episode is an example. That's another thing I wanted to clarify because I don't want to come across as anti-Iroh. I don't know, maybe I worry too much about how I come across lol but anyway -

Iroh: And then what!? You never think these things through! [Points at him.] This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole! You had him, and then you had nowhere to go!

Zuko: I would have figured something out!

Iroh: No! If his friends hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death! Zuko I know my own destiny, Uncle! Iroh Is it your own destiny, or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you? Zuko Stop it, Uncle! I have to do this!

This scene specifically & the entire framing of Zuko's unhappiness about the teashop is very interesting. I have said before that I dislike Zuko as Firelord in the end, but that's not necessarily a firm stance...I guess I just dislike the inconsistency with how it was built up. Others who are willing to be much harsher than I am have often pointed out that Zuko went from following his father's orders & vision to following Iroh's vision of his destiny, & I think there's some truth to that. But what bothers me more than that, is that we don't actually get firm foreshadowing on what Iroh's vision for Zuko's destiny even is.

This is the first time we see Iroh really yell at Zuko & go off on him but it's unclear what he wants from Zuko. I mean, okay, he wants Zuko to be happy serving tea. I guess that's fine, but it doesn't quite work knowing that later, Iroh completely does a 180 on this stance & it's sorta like...What happened? Ya know? It's just inconsistent. And characters can be inconsistent, people change their minds, but we're not really given much information about Iroh's internal struggle concerning what he wants from his nephew so it just comes across as confusing to me.

Zuko's character arc is all about discovering what it is that he wants & acting on it. I've said before that my issue with Zuko's ending on the show is that Zuko always wanted to be Firelord & then he....becomes Firelord. That's not really a change? This scene between Zuko & Iroh feels like it was building to something larger with Zuko's arc, but it really....isn't.

That said, I do love Appa's return! Aang & Appa's reunion & Appa getting to be a badass is just amazing.

[ID: two pictures of Aang & Appa hugging, one from up close & one from a bit of a distance.]

I definitely enjoyed Appa's reunion with the Gaang the most out of all the parts of this episode.

Well, I enjoyed Jet's parts up until his death too. I also wanted to point out that Sokka teases Katara about her thing with Jet, but doesn't seem that angry at Jet himself & is quite willing to give him another chance. And it's Aang who breaks Jet out of his brainwashing by reminding him that they are friends. So, Katara is not the only one in the Gaang with any connection with Jet. Again, they should've addressed --- ah, whatever, I'm done.

That's all I have for this episode.

[lovelybarnes]

god- l. laufeyson (part 2)

pairings: loki laufeyson x reader, platonic!tony stark x reader, mentions of nick fury warnings: language and minor angst about: part 2 to god a/n: i apologize for taking so long to post it, i was having trouble coming up with the little details and honestly just writing overall but it’s up!! and another bucky fic will be up tomorrow or saturday!!

loki is suspicious after you leave. in the- admittedly short- time he’s been shoved away and locked in a cage to rot, he had seen you all of two times, and he was enthralled. flabbergasted, too, surprised that a simple mortal managed to stay hidden in the deep parts of his brain and refuse to leave. you were… interesting, just as you had described him: not as a villain, or evil, or horrendous, but captivating; unbelieving that he would do anything for no good reason.

whether that was true or not was still up for debate, so he had yet to decide if you were incredibly intelligent or the simple, stupid mortal he thought you all to be. nevertheless, he found himself slightly disappointed when you left, waving goodbye to him and tucking your book under your arm. while he tried to dissolve the sensation, tony stark came bounding in, standing as close as he could to the glass barrier. stark barked words that loki didn’t care much for, ignoring the man. he could see you wince from inside the elevator, a sliver of your face still available from the closing doors.

“hey, hey!” stark barked, snapping his fingers at loki. the god tilted his head at him, “yes?” he asks, voice dripped in more annoyance than usual. “that girl who just came out of here?” stark started, while loki took a minute to examine his words, “girl,” was she not an accomplished avenger? he thought tony of all people would show the respect that loki thought none of them deserved. “if you even think about doing anything to her, i will bring in the big guy to slam you around some more. you remember him? or do you need a refresher?”

loki nearly scowls at the mention of hulk, body reminding the strange ache that was left after the oaf slammed him into the floor. he only chuckles lowly, though, “how much do you distrust a fellow avenger to believe they cannot handle themselves?” loki muses. tony scoffs, shaking his head, “i really don’t think you’re in a position to question me.”

“i’m a god. i am always in the position i wish to be in,” loki reminds, making tony roll his eyes, “you’ll never see her again if i can help it. and i can,” he says. “oh, but i like her!” loki rebuts, riling tony up, “so sweet, don’t you think?” tony freezes, abruptly turning around and slamming a hand against the glass, “you will not lay a hand on her. i’ll make sure of it.”

“i seem to remember midgardians can usually do as they please,” loki replies smoothly. “and you really think she’ll want to spend time with a monster?” tony questions. loki smirks, “i suppose i simply have a feeling.”

-

tony is seething when he comes to your lab, having switched with steve to come talk to you. you’re humming along to a song he doesn’t bother to recognize. “you’re in a good mood,” tony observes. at the sound of his voice, you turn, taking your earbuds out and grinning at him. you press what he assumes is the pause button on your phone, “tony! i’ve actually been meaning to ask you something,” you begin. tony raises an eyebrow to tell you to continue. “it’s about loki,” you continue, anxious about his reaction. the man pauses, exhaling softly, “oh. i know what you want to- i’m so sorry for doing that to you, y/n. i promised that i wouldn’t put you with him and we should’ve been more prepared. it won’t happen again.”

the confusion is clear on your face, vocally affirming it with a “huh?”

“that’s what you wanted to talk about, right? babysitting loki?”

“well, yes, but no, it actually wasn’t bad, i wanted to bring up the idea of maybe allowing him books? or maybe music or something, i can’t imagine going from having any book at your fingertips to none at all. also, he’s not getting enough food and i wanted to talk to you abou-” tony stops you with a raised hand, “what?” you recognize the conversation won’t end too well, so you try to phrase your words in a way that tony won’t get too angry at. “i just- when i was watching him, i thought we could be a little less… cruel.”

“with the guy who tried to take over earth?” tony retorts, you sigh softly, already beginning to feel resigned. “he still deserves to eat,” you defend weakly, “come on, tony, please? i’ll watch over him myself when he’s listening to music or reading or eating and i’ll take it back when i have to leave.” tony shakes his head, “someone will always be watching, and it won’t be you.” you frown, “why? don’t you trust me? i’m an avenger, tony. i’m not weak or useless, it’s just watching over someone who is literally in a cage. he can’t even escape.” tony’s about to say no again, so you press, “how come nick fury- man who doesn’t trust- trusts me enough to do that but you don’t?”

tony’s fingers squeeze the space between his eyebrows, eyes closed. he contemplates the effects if he refuses, no doubt ending in the thinning-by-the-minute thread that is your trust in him completely snapping.

“fine,” he finally agrees, and your frustrated frown melts back into a relieved small smile, “but everything you give him has to go through someone else first. i don’t care if it’s fury or hill or romanoff or me, but it has to be approved.” you nod quickly, “yes, of course.” tony raises a finger, “and, you will watch him the whole time. you got yourself into this, kid. i trust you can protect yourself from him if you ever need to.” you agree, “absolutely, and, uh-” you reach into your bag, pulling out the book finnegan’s wake, and your old ipod, equipped with a single downloaded song and earbuds plugged in. “i actually have already chosen a book and a song that i think he would appreciate during the time he tells me himself what he would like and while it gets approved, and um,” you push the objects toward tony, a surprised look lining his features, “since you have time now… the ipod has only that one song and i doubt he can do anything with either of the items, although i’ll be here if he does.”

“you picked these out for him?” tony questions, and you nod again, “i don’t really know him, i doubt anybody does, but i thought james joyce was a good guess considering.” tony looks from the objects in your hand back to you, before sighing and grabbing them. “i want to break free?” he asks, holding up the ipod. you feel your cheeks heat, “music is hard, i went for the obvious.”

tony exhales, looking down at the book, “fine, both are approved.”

“what, you’re not gonna check to see if i carved out a hole into the book and put the tesseract in there so he could escape?” you ask sarcastically, taking back the items while he rolls his eyes. “no, i trust you.” you grin, “you better. there’s no reason for you to not,” tony agrees with you softly, genuinely feeling bad while he kisses your cheek in goodbye. “steve was just called on a mission and needs a replacement, so you better get down there. bowser isn’t in a good mood today.”

you huff out a light laugh at the nickname, cradling your dear books and tangling your fingers in the cords of the earbuds while you walk to the elevator. you catch your bottom lip between your teeth while you watch the numbers blink above the elevator doors, nerves from your choices finally making a home in the pit of your stomach and making your grip tighten on the items. you really don’t know him, and one of the few things that you do know about him is that he isn’t the nicest- although you think it probable that it was warranted- which begins the inkling of regret of your carefully-picked choice to form. you try your best to push past it though, attempting to reassure yourself through the fact that loki’s reading options are limited, and as evil as everyone (including him) claims he is, you suspect (hope) that there is something in him that can’t simply disregard kind gestures. you suppose that theory is from what thor has told you about frigga. you hope it’s correct.

the elevator dings, knocking your thoughts off their destructive railroad and your attention to the shield guard wearily eyeing you and what you carry. “hey, wally,” you greet, shooting him a smile as you walk over to him, pulling your id card from your pocket. “what’cha got there?” he asks, sitting up straighter in his chair to look closer at you. “a- already approved by tony stark- book and song for loki. you know how much he had access to in asgard?” you question. he shakes his head, and you sigh, “me neither. but i imagine it’s a lot, and i don’t think he’s been introduced to our books yet.”

wally stares at you for a few seconds, before pursing his lips, “already approved by stark?” he checks, “already approved by tony,” you repeat. “just no ear things. don’t want him to choke somebody,” he instructs, holding out his hand. you oh quietly, hurriedly pulling off the headphones and putting them in his hand. wally only nods then, trusting you enough to not ask for any more reassurance, and pressing a button next to him to allow you into another elevator. the ride is much shorter, and you bounce on your heels, fidgeting with the edge of the book.

you barely recognize when the doors part, the slick-haired god already examining you. “in asgard, it is strongly discouraged to damage books like you are doing,” loki states. you stop your picking, dropping your hand and walking inside. “hello to you too, loki.” the god ignores you, instead focused on what is in your arms. “i thought any pleasantries for you weren’t allowed down here,” he says, eyes focused on your ipod. “ah, not if you ask nicely,” you reply, standing next to the chair, “and, these aren’t for me.”

you set your own book down on the floor- a very cliche wuthering heights, but it was either that or romeo and juliet, and you’d prefer not get caught reading about a forbidden romance while watching a villain- and hold up the one for him, grinning. “so i don’t know much about asgard or its books because thor hasn’t budged yet on taking me, but from what i can gather, you have little to no media from here, right?” loki ducks his chin suspiciously in response. “so i can imagine you haven’t read shakespeare, or james joyce, which reminds me a lot of you, so…”

you offer no more explanation, putting the book on your chair and showing him the ipod, walking closer to the glass. “this is an ipod. it’s used to play songs offline, and i picked one out for you. i don’t know if you’ll like it because i don’t really know what type of music you like or if you like it at all-” you pause, finally recognizing how long it had been since he’d talked. “but, uh, i hope you do.”

you look up at him then, unsurprised to find him already staring back at you. “you did this for me… why?” he queries skeptically. “i told you before; i imagine it’s difficult to go from everything to nothing in a day. and i think it must be boring to be trapped in there all day with nothing to do.”

loki still looks distrustful, but you grab the book, pulling out the key card to open his food slot. “i can’t leave these in here after i leave, but i’ll stay until you finish both,” you assure, pushing the book through the small gap. your ipod is still in your hands as you walk back near him. he looks at you for a few moments longer before his eyes flick to the book. “and there are no… explosives? poison of some kind in that?”

you shake your head, “no, of course not.”

loki narrows his eyes at the paperback anyways, walking towards it apprehensively. “when you want me to, i can teach you how the ipod works and you can listen to the song. it’s by a rock band called queen,” you babble, watching as he slowly observes the book before picking it up at an even more leisurely pace.

“i’m going to go sit over there now. just let me know if you need something,” you can’t seem to stop talking, so you focus instead on your legs moving you back to your seat, picking up your novel before sitting. you’re about to ramble on about something else again, until you notice the publication in loki’s hands, slightly panicking at the immediate rush of satisfaction and happiness it gives you when he opens the first page.

you try to avoid the sound of turning pages when you stay stuck on the same sentence, too concerned about why your neck decided to warm when the god accepted your favor.

“you can play it,” loki voices suddenly, almost as if reading the loud thoughts about your decision on the song. he looks up at you, “reading is usually accompanied by light music, but i suppose i could listen to rock.”

you nod, pressing a button on the small device that makes the beginning notes bounce off the walls of the room. your fingers gently tap along to the beat on the edge of your page without your noticing, too used to the melody to not react. you try not to look too hard at loki to watch for his reaction, too interested if he’ll like it or not.

after the first minute passes by and he doesn’t object to the sound, you count this as a win, allowing yourself to relax into your chair and actually read the words lined on the page, discovering them to make a lovely combination. you only notice when the song ends when loki speaks up, “it is okay,” he compliments, “i enjoyed it. i think i’d enjoy your so called queen.” you chuckle softly, “i thought you would. do you have any favorites here so i can add them for next time?”

“no,” loki responds, not taking his eyes off the page. “i’ll find some for you, then,” you promise, then press play on the ipod again, not missing the tiny quirk of loki’s lips, making you way too giddy than you should be.

-

after it has been over six hours and loki has barely finished finnegans wake, you’re completely sure he took extra time to read it; whether it be to absorb it better or simply have more time with it in his hands, you don’t care, pride swelling up in your chest because you did something right for him. he hadn’t complained about the repeated song, and you can’t blame him. the sounds are a lot more entertaining than the cold silence that usually occupies the space where he resides.

you ask loki more about what he thought, attempting to coerce him into telling you his preferences, until tony is calling you up.

you’re about to leave, both books and ipod in hand when you pause.

“y/n,” loki starts, and you realize it is the first time you’d hear your name out of his mouth. you decide you like how it sounds in his voice, not disregarding how you shouldn’t. “yes?” you answer instead, meeting his eyes. “thank you.”

you swallow, surprised at the genuinity in his voice while you nod, “it was no problem.”

loki finds it disturbing how much he dislikes seeing you walk away.