#and her mom being surprisingly insightful

[swan2swan]

I'm going to chew cardboard and cement and concrete and anything else we could have had this for the past decade plus we could have had this look at this all three word bubbles are exact and perfect.

[tibby]

there's a moment in the harry styles rpf This Time There's A MILF movie where anne hathaway breaks up with Not Harry Styles because she needs to put her daughter first (her kid is getting bullied for reasons that are obvious based on the premise of this movie) and he's like "i can quit everything. why can't you fight for us?" and for a moment it was like there could have been a message in this movie. like, if we're working with the idea of it being a romantic drama in which we root for the characters and not a relationship with multiple power imbalances. if we're working with what this movie wants to be, then this moment could have presented an insightful reflection on how young people view love vs how older people view it. this desire to fight for a romance where you can make these grand gestures, this idea that romcoms and disney channel raised us on. and then contrasted with the realistic perspective that the single mom character has, in which those grand gestures and the idea of fighting for love! just isn't reasonable anymore. and i was like, wow, could this movie make a point?

but then i remembered that not twenty minutes earlier a character said the line "how could you break up with a talented, kind-hearted feminist?" and i realised that this movie was no terror train 2 (a surprisingly scathing commentary on modern day true crime culture and how the desire to turn real life tragedies and people’s trauma into a career and social media clout is doing incredible damage to victims) and it would offer me nothing of value. i also realised i should probably stop watching movies when high.

[serpentsillusion]

Sebastian, Ominis, and my x MC

🐍✨

What are their zodiac signs and birthdays? *Near the end of 5th year* 🤔💚

Ever wondered what our 2 favorite idiots were, based on the stars? I studied astrology and similar things before it was mainstream. From what I've gathered based on their characteristics and personalities in the game this is the assumptions I've gathered (and some random other observations I've gathered). These are not fact but just my personal ✨Lore✨ plus a little bit about my MC. Welcome to my spicy brain and my spicy imagination. 💚 I hope you guys enjoy the lore! Hopefully it will give you more insight into my next coming shorts. 🐍

Sebastian: born March 28th 1874. He's MOST definitely an Aries. Aries personality traits include confidence, passion, and independence. But this sign can also be impulsive, impatient, and self-centered. They're Competitive. As a fire sign, Aries are fueled by intensity. They love to challenge others to friendly competition. Positive Traits: Energetic, Bold,  possesses Leadership Skills. Negative Traits: Impulsive, Stubborn, Impatient. Aries brings dynamism. His Mother and Father were named Johnathan James Sallow and Mary Anne Sallow. I figure his middle name is probably of his father's also. I kinda dig the thought of Sebastian James Sallow. 🤔🤭

Sebastian 100% smells like Sandalwood. Have you ever smelled that on a man? Holy Merlin TAKE ME AWAY! 😭 Sandalwood screams masculinity to me. But like a mysterious and seductive, curious masculinity way. The first time MC smelled his cologne on him she immediately had to know what it was. He told her, because she asked, very bluntly to be honest.... And now sometimes her girls bed room smells like burning sandalwood when she misses being around him or his dumb ass gets detention and she has to go to classes without him. (my real life partner wears this and it is INTOXICATING) Give it a try. 😏🤭

Nicknames: Seb, Sebby Boi, idiot #1, Sebs, sex panther (MC keeps that one to herself)

Sebastian's talents: he's really good at wood work and tinkering. He likes carving things for his friends out of tree branches. One of the very few things he doesn't use magic for. He once made a tiny carved bear for MC for her 16th birthday, she put it in a trinket box next to her bed and cried about it when she went to bed that night because it was so precious. Ominis got a teeny tiny carved peepee one time as a prank. He was not amused. ALSO Seb's surprisingly good at making food. (had to survive on his own for a little while)

Favorite food: literally anything. Jelly beans, haggis (he's Scottish, and his mom used to make it ALOT) Tablet (look it up) MC's Dad once sent a whole loaf of homemade banana nutbread to the Slytherin common room for her and she only had like maybe a bite. That was a new thing for Seb he had never tried, and unfortunately he ate most of it and was very upset with himself afterwards because it was for her. It was DELICIOUS 😂 MC couldn't help but love that he loved it. He wanted the recipe but she told him no. It was a family recipe, and if he wanted it, he'd have to marry her. That was a challenge accepted in his mind. Ominis doesn't like Bananas but he tried it and was nice about it, after spitting it in the trashcan without MC seeing. (he really hates Bananas...it's a texture thing.)

Seb=Dom. Likes to be in control 24/7. Turns into a complete and utter almost feral animal when confronted with matching Dom energy. Especially with a female.. aka MC

Probably most definitely has sad boi depression and anxiety. Which turns into fear, which turns into anger. Probably has PTSD. MC shares his pain from her upbringing and that's another reason why they have bonded so incredibly fast.

Ominis:  born September 25th 1874. Definitely a Libra. Libra's are extroverted, cosy, and friendly people. Libra's, like the Scales that symbolise the sign, are often concerned with attaining balance, harmony, peace, and justice in the world. With their vast stores of charm, intelligence, frankness, persuasion, and seamless connectivity, they are well-equipped to do so. I'm going to assume his father was British and his mother was Irish according to ✨le internet.✨ His father's name was probably something fancy like Elias and his Mother was probably something super classy like Violet. Idk 😐😂

Ominis probably smells like vetiver, tobacco (for some reason) and leather. Like a high society lounge for men. With ✨class✨ The epitome of sophistication.

Nicknames: idiot #2, omnomnom he hates it when MC calls him that but it's cute, snakey boi.

Ominis=Sub. Too nervous to touch a girl. Doesn't know what to do. Too gentleman like. Wants to wait until marriage. Probably screams and runs if he tries to be kissed by a girl. Like Poppy.

Ominis and Sebastian are already best friends but Ominis feels drawn to MC in a way a brother is drawn to protect his sister. Ominis feels obligated to help protect MC because he views her as a sister, and the fact that his best friend is absolutely smitten with her. Ominis will 100% be the best man at Sebastian's wedding to MC. She just doesn't know she's gonna get married to that idiot yet.

Ominis talents: is surprising very very good at playing the piano. It was something he was made to do as a child for his parents extravagant parties.

Favorite food: Anything, except fucking bananas.

My MC: aka Jessica "Jess" Garyn Burke born October 16th 1874. The youngest of The Silver Trio, and also similarly of Borgin and Burkes owned by Mr Borgin and Mr Burke, who were known to deal with unusual and ancient artifacts.😉 I picked Jessica because it's actually an OLD name meaning "To Behold" and Garyn meaning "warrior" Everything she knows she learned from her Dad, including protecting herself magically and *physically* like when she decked Leander Prewett in the face for calling her a rather "prude" name and teasing her in front of everyone including Sebastian and Ominis. 0/10 does not like being sexualized by other men, finds it incredibly disrespectful. She can handle her own. Obviously. It only cost her 2 weeks of detention. Leander and her are cool now btw. He's fine. His pride is not. Sebastian purposely got 2 weeks detention shortly after that so he could be around her more. 😂🤭😁✨ She is incredibly sassy, blunt, domineering, sharp as a whip, and not traditionally "ladylike". MC is not afraid to dig her nails in the dirt if she has to. And she will 100% knock a man on his ass for grabbing her butt. "Bitches get shit done." Is her Mantra.

MC=Dom a dangerous mix when tangled around Sebastian. They constantly fight for dominance but he usually always wins. Only because he's taller and a lot stronger than she is. Not sexually active because she's afraid of her father finding out and killing the poor guy. But she does know how to tie a cherry stem in her mouth without using her fingers. 10/10 proud of herself for that after almost choking on a few in her time trying. She learned that from one of her friends back in London. Father doesn't approve of said friend. Useful skill for seduction. Will keep in her back pocket for later. Is actually kinky. She's read A LOT of books about it. Can "work her magic" so to say if need be.

MC usually has her butternut ash brown hair up in a beautiful and detailed bun with intricate pieces framing her face. Slightly pale skin with mild freckles and bright blue eyes. She loves fresh flowers but fresh roses are her ABSOLUTE favorite!! Which is her perfume of choice. Just straight up Rose.

-She also cries when she gets yelled at. Because she's sensitive, but also immediately gets immensely pissed off. You would prefer having her as a friend, and not an enemy. That is why Sebastian and her formed an incredibly strong bond shortly after becoming friends. They are actually very similar. Did not speak to Sebastian for a whole month after he got mad and called her ignorant that one time. Made her cry after he left the undercroft. Did not understand why she would walk past him in the halls and ignore his owls until he apologized.

MC talents: loves drawing. She doodles some of her classmates in her spare time outside the grounds of Hogwarts, while on picnics or laying against trees. She's drawn Ominis and Sebastian. Especially Sebastian. Several times. She hides those ones because she doesn't want him to know she gets butterflies in her stomach around him. MC is also really good at singing, she just doesn't do it in front of literally anyone. She plays the lute but doesn't really care for the high pitched twang if it. Sometimes she wants someone to invent something very similar. They both should have 6 strings so it wouldn't be hard to learn a different instrument that's very *similar* to a lute. Does not like playing in front of anyone. Sebastian heard her one time when she was sick and stuck in her room practicing all day because she was bored. Everyone was "supposed" to be in class. He was befuddled and so incredibly impressed he couldn't move. MC is also formally trained in hand to hand wandless combat, trained executively by her father, Incase expelliarmus gets casted on her. Doesn't want anyone to know she can whoop ass. Also MC is like REALLY good at dancing, LOVES music and making people laugh. Will purposely embarrasses herself dancing just to make her friends laugh.

MC parents and Family: David Burke and Ramona Nielson. Wizard and Muggle. Divorced cuz Ramona is not dependable as a mother and is scared if her magic welding children, had to be obliviated regarding that part of her children. Ramona still got custody even though she wasn't really around for her daughter growing up which made MC want to stay longer with her father during summer vacation, away from school and sharing holidays between both homes. MC has to have that little bit of stern staleness from something...🤷🏻‍♀️ MC was "raised" by her loving and supportive father who served in the Royal Wizard Military as an elite and very powerful wizard. After he retired from the RWM her father decided to travel, collecting ancient artifacts which is why MC is so good at tracking them down so fast. Her uncle is Caractacus Burke who is the founder of Borgin and Burkes. MC has 2 other siblings. An older brother Roderick, and an older sister, Seraphina. Both past Slytherin alumni. Seraphina is diplomatic but deceitful. Spending most of her time working for the Ministry of Magic directly under the Minister. while most unfortunately Roderick is estranged from the family due to criminal "acts" on house elves. MC's father was in Gryffindor. He is somewhat a little disappointed that none of his children were accepted into Gryffindor, however he is still grateful they ended up possessing magic. Does not know his youngest child can see ancient magic. Wouldn't be surprised if she did. MC's bff is her father and her cat Oliver. MC constantly stops to pet cats in hogsmeade whenever she can.

ANYWAY! I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THIS!! It took me literal hours as I'm still trying to figure out how to navigate Tumblr editing 😂 my eyes and hands hurt. Lol

Stay stunned for more ✨lore✨

[mikailys]

MCL NewGen Ep 9 Commentary

I poured blood, sweat, tears, and money to finish this episode. I fought my inner demons to convince myself that they didn't deserved my money but here we are: with a concluded episode and me with 30 euros less in my bank account 🥲 As always, this post will obviously contain spoilers under the cut so beware~

Ngl after the disaster of episode 8 I had zero (0) hopes for this new one, I wasn’t even excited after everything that happened last month (e-girl pack, episode 8, Halloween event and so on) but I have to admit, this one surprisingly exceeded my low expectations by a landslide by finally giving some insight on the LIs about time i might say.

But first thing first, the cost. This episode was hella expensive, I spent 2604 aps, of which 1832 were free. I'm following Jason's route so I know it's more expensive than the others but I didn't imagine this much. I genuinely hope the others will be shorter and that this was just an exception given the backstories cause I can't handle every ep being like this 😩

As a Jason's girlie, I was ecstatic about this episode. For once, his presence was well-contextualized, he didn’t come off like a stalker and we weren’t the damsel in distress. I didn’t expect him to start trauma-dumping on Candy so soon, considering they don’t see each other as often compared to the other LIs, but I’m glad we got to know him better. I really hope Candy’s attitude toward him will start to soften 'cause she’s always on guard around him and it’d be nice to see her relax and trust him a little more, especially after the intimate moment they experienced in this ep.

I must admit tho the premise didn't really appeal to me and I was skeptical this would be another silly ep with all the Devenementiel crew doing stuff but luckily it wasn't. It all starts with Devon telling us that, starting the next day, a group of interns will be joining the team and it turns out these are Devon’s younger brothers, Gebril and Joen.

Overall I liked the time spent with them. I agree that there were a lot of unnecessary moments and some parts I could’ve gladly skipped but it was a cute scenario, and finally we get to meet some new characters for a change also idk but Joen's attitude kinda reminds me of Armin oh I miss himm

Since we're here let’s already get to the sore spot of this whole ep: the whole Tasha situation. I don’t care if it’s wrong to have beef with my fictional sister, but I’m honestly speechless at how she and their mom acted during the internship situation. You knew for months that you needed to pick a company for your internship and yet, the night before, you have no plans because you delayed the application?? And now you’re asking me to call up my boss at 8 pm to beg him to include you in the internship that’s supposed to start tomorrow? Are you out of your mind?!?

Also isn’t the whole traineeship supposed to be organized by the school? I’m not sure how it works in France, but I was quite confused—here in Italy the school usually guides you through the process and handles all the paperwork. It’s unusual for students to be left on their own in a situation like this...

And the mom is even worse cause she just says "I don’t want to judge you for how you’re acting with her because if I were in your shoes I wouldn’t know what to do either" like uhmm you’re the mother, not me?? If you knew about this the whole time –and she knew for months– why didn’t she help Tasha earlier? Or better yet, why didn’t Tasha ask us weeks ago instead of the evening before? And yet they’re just chilling while playing cards omg you have no idea how much this stressed me out it's so stupid but yet so infuriating like the fact that they only have a bathroom in a mega villa but whatever i guess.

After we refuse to help her, Tasha mysteriously ends up joining Goldreamz for her internship. I’m honestly confused, once again, about how this happened because the night before no company had accepted her and now suddenly she's got the job?? Did Jason see her candidacy last minute right before clocking out the office? If I missed something pls let me know cause I genuinely can't wrap my head around it lol.

What a way to twist things...

But anyway, I honestly liked this option. I admit I would have never imagined this plot for his route but I’m glad they went this way. I loved seeing Candy’s reaction when Tasha told her about working with "the devil" and I also enjoyed her reactions to the ambiguous conversation between Candy and Jason in his office watch Tasha being the first to get the hints about their situationship lol

Maybe it's for the better, we don't want to let our lil sis know we blew up big time our first solo project.

Once Tasha leaves, Candy asks Jason wtf he’s doing and he assures her that he doesn’t have any ulterior motives. He just thought it would be an amusing situation for both him and Candy. After a quick recap, we get a better understanding of Candy and Tasha's relationship. It seems like there’s a bit of a rivalry/competition between the sisters—something I would have never guessed, considering we've only seen Tasha about three times since the beginning but okay. I only wish to see more of their sisterhood but I guess we won't any sooner since she's going to her father for a while, that sucks.

After some usual bantering, we find out that Jason envies our relationship with Tasha since he’s an only child, which leads him to open up a bit about his past. We learn that he found comfort in solitude, often isolating himself by going out on his father's boat in the middle of the ocean. I admit this was unexpected, I never would’ve guessed he’d be so into the marine world - as we'll see soon in the rowboat scene. It adds a surprisingly nice contrast to his otherwise business-like persona.

Touched by Jason’s childhood story, Candy spontaneously suggests they take a boat ride right then and there, to experience the peace and solitude he felt throughout his childhood. This was a cute gesture from Candy ngl, I thought she would simply nod and listen to his story but no. This is the first time she takes such an important first step with him in their relationship and I'm proud of her.

But, once arrived tho she has to ruin everything destroying the cute little moment...

Oh my God. You strangely enough managed to get him to open up about his difficult childhood and you still can’t help but joke about him being the big bad guy? Ugh I take back whatever I said about you Candy, you're dumb.

Thankfully, Jason doesn’t seem that much bothered by her comment and they get on the rowboat. I was lowkey hoping for a cute moment where he offers her his hand to help her aboard but nope, doesn’t happen. Honestly I’m convinced this is his subtle payback for that insensitive joke, if so props to you J.

Anyway, he starts rowing and soon we find ourselves in the middle of the lake. This is where the heart of the episode unfolds imo. We finally get a glimpse into his family history. Jason opens up about his father, a scientist deeply passionate about the ocean, that tragically passed away shortly before he turned 19.

This is the moment where I truly lost it. I swear, I was a sobbing mess.

Jason’s vulnerability hit me harder than I expected. We already knew about his father, but hearing him tell the whole story was tough. I can barely imagine what he went through at such a pivotal age. The emotional distance between him and his mother after she got remarried definitely played a big role and when you add his strained relationship with his stepfather into the mix, it’s impossible not to feel for him. It's such a tragic backstory, I hope they don’t mess it up from here on out. My pookie deserves better :(

As for the special scene, it wasn't that much but I liked it. Unfortunately, I can't post the screenshots since I’ve hit the limit per post sigh but it was such a sweet and heartwarming moment. It offered a smooth transition from the heaviness of the conversation to their usual playful banter and I really appreciated how it slowly lightened up the mood without taking away from the emotional depth of his story. I have to admit, I wasn’t really a fan of the illustration. The setting and moment were adorable - it totally gave me Rapunzel vibes with all the whimsy and charm - but Jason’s expression feels off, it’s almost like he’s a villain plotting revenge rather than being swept up in the moment lol. Plus his proportions seem a little strange mmh. Candy, on the other hand, looks gorgeous so gg.

And that’s it. Afterwards, Jason accompanies Candy back to her house, reminding her that despite the little walk down memory lane, things haven’t changed between them in his eyes, and he expects the same from her. Oh, and let’s not forget she owes him an intimate story too as if the whole Ioan drama wasn’t enough.

With that, he leaves and the episode ends with Candy having her same old crisis whenever she spends a little time with Jason.

Now, I’m really curious to see if Jason opening up will actually shift things between them or if it’ll stay the same old. At this point, Candy doesn’t have much of an excuse to keep trash-talking him - he hasn’t done anything to harm her or Devenementiel, yet, and he’s actually been there to help her on multiple occasions. I’m hoping she drops the whole “he’s the devil” mindset because he’s honestly shown more support than hostility in the latest eps.

But honestly I can't hide that rn I'm more worried about the next episode. Thomas having an incident was on everyone’s bingo card -even though I didn’t expect it to happen this early- but here we are. I’ve got so much repressed trauma from everything with Lysander that I genuinely have no idea what to expect next 🫠

[mickmundy]

spy headcanon thread! just some of my personal thoughts and musings about his character :-) enjoy!

starting off by saying that spy is Absolutely Everything to me.. i've put his thread off for so long because i have SO much to say and im afraid i'll leave stuff out BUT we're going to take a Stab at it (😏) and i guess i'll just add more stuff later if i need! As Usual this is just pasted from my twitter so i'm sorry for any wonky formatting issues!

the most important thing to me about spy's character is that it is Varied and can be Contradictory. i say this about all of the mercs tbh but spy is among the Most important given his role/occupation as a spy. he IS A Spy, but he's also Just Some Guy (gender neutral).

spy is a bit dry; very sarcastic, a bit stoic, but he's definitely not heartless. i think he's very "emotionally in-tune" to those around him and prides himself on being able to read a room exceptionally well!

... but just because he knows what people might be thinking doesn't mean he's going to do anything about it! he likes being in the know but seldom ever enjoys interfering; it's best if he keeps out of the fray, or so he tells himself!

that being said, i Do think spy makes exceptions to this rule (which To Me is what makes his character Interesting!).... as we see in expiration date! he spends his "last living days" helping scout become a worthy date for miss pauling!

if he sees someone Floundering or really stuck in some kind of emotional squander, he'll pass by with a hand on the shoulder and a concise, discreet, kind word of advice in their ear and move on. no need for thanks, he's just Sharing an Observation! if you try to thank him, he'll give you a coy look and be like "for what?" but he knows. he's just letting you know you don't need to thank him <3

loves breaking balls. he'll help you if you ask him, but not before he gives you a LOT of shit for it. he'll volunteer himself to help you (even if you tell him you need his Stinking Help!) and he'll roll his eyes and say "ha! you are So helpless! i know you're glad i'm here to see this through with you uUu" LOL

but he will give you genuine insight and Surprisingly Good advice. huh, you didn't know he knew you so well! despite his job as a spy, he'll tell you to be authentic and will encourage you to listen to your instincts.

is an Observer First and an Action-taker second. prioritizes being in the know and likes being in the background (despite how good he is at being in the spotlight!). always thinks before he speaks, very calculated in everything he does!

got wiser with age. when he was younger i think he was quick to save his own skin and thought only about himself. among his first "selfless" acts were running out on scout and his mom to "protect" them, but with the wisdom of hindsight, that wasn't the smartest idea!

firmly believes in the power of respect. seems to have a positive relationship with all of his teammates (yes, even sniper, engineer and pyro lol) and scout's mom, too (regardless of how u see their relationship). tells scout that he has to earn pauling's respect to be worthy of her!

won't hesitate to stick his neck out for/work with people he appreciates. in the comics, he works with (and even prioritizes the safety of) miss pauling, helps sniper, and obviously comforts scout when he's dying in the way that Scout would want to be comforted. good job pops!

which brings me to dadspy... how i love you... i could make an entire other thread about my dadspy thoughts BUT i'll keep it "brief" here. i don't think he ever "treated scout like shit" nor do i think he was abusive to scout's mom or scout. he's just the world's most mediocre absent father to me... KDSKF

i think scout's mom knew What Spy Was and knew that at some point, he'd have to leave her. i think she's a perfectly capable woman who spy is genuinely still in love with (they have an open, long-distance relationship!) and is quite the deadly catch herself! perhaps i'll make a thread on her if that's something people would want....

i don't think she resents spy for running out and i think spy has complicated feelings about running out. he's convinced himself he did it for everyone involved's safety but in hindsight he Does feel a Bit (emphasis on Bit. it's not Earth Shatteringly Dramatic, just a little demon that sneaks up on him now and then...) guilty and tries to "make up for it" by Trying to get along with scout even if it's... not easy LOL. him turning into tom jones when scout died was to comfort scout the way Scout would want, which i think says a lot about spy's character.

however, once scout finds out the truth, i think he tells spy that he shouldn't have lied to him about it ("what kind of dumbass lies to their son on his deathbed! 🧍") and spy's like "ah... i suppose that... was also a mistake." and they smirk/smile at each other.. Road To Forgiveness begins..

also i personally love the running gag that everyone knows that spy is scout's dad (except for scout), not because i think spy would tell all/even some of the mercs but because it's SO obvious that all of them are like "i mean yeah.. doy". extra points if their knowledge Also surprises spy. "WHO TOLD YOU? HOW DID YOU KNOW?!" and the mercs are like ??? "erm... we have eyes...?" LOL

DESPITE being Stoic and Unknowable and Mysterious, he is also Quite the Doofus. one of my favorite and most important thoughts on his character. i think his authentic laugh is his snort laugh and i think that's what made scout's mom fall in love with him... :') has a great sense of humor.

loves playing pranks, causing mischief and being a Smug Cunt. will hide behind his Carefully Crafted Facade, but those who really know him (heavy, scout's mom) can see right through it! teaches scout some of his "best ones" (though not before pranking HIM with them first! it's okay though. scout's a good sport and gives him props LMAO)

a short list of spy's "best ones":

cleaning a glass door REALLY well and tricking the mercs to run into it at full force

oil on the kitchen floor so that anyone who comes running in will slam into the oven that engineer Just Fixed God Dammit! and destroy it

mentos in soda

scout and spy have the "same laugh" when they REALLY start howling. snorting, wheezing.... they sound almost identical. usually if they're laughing THAT hard, the rest of the mercs are looking at them like this >__> (covered in soda, can't get up from the ground because oil, etc)

obviously enjoys literature! language is one of his favorite things, though. loves learning about different dialects, slang, accents and learning the intricacies of grammar, too! likes studying the other mercs for this reason. the base is a fun, mixed bag for him!

the best secret keeper. contrary to popular belief, spy will NOT air your business if it's Serious. he might "let it slip" to medic that sniper sleeps with a stuffed animal, but he won't let anyone know that heavy has ptsd. he likes giving people shit, but not genuinely causing harm!

ah.. breaking balls as a love language.. this is something that i think is shared between spy, scout, and scout's mom. they LOOOOVE to give you shit, but it comes from a loving place. i think a lot of scout and spy's banter in exp date is like this:

it's not actually Insulting to either of them (spy calling scout a failure, scout telling spy to go to hell, etc) and is in fact more like a thing of Endearment. if you know people like this then you know what i'm talking about. idk how else to describe it KSDFKS

he is very girlfailure that thinks he's a girlboss but is actually a girlfailure and is coming to terms with his girlfailing. as i've said, spy isn't heartless. he knows he's made mistakes and knows his job has costed him a lot and now he's trying to reconcile with it. sometimes it's funny, sometimes its angsty!

is a total foodie and has a LOT of opinions about all kinds of cuisine! loves cooking with engineer and pyro (YES i think pyro is an INCREDIBLE chef. they only burn things because it's fun/funny! for the bit. you understand), and heavy has a perfect palette (just a personal hc of mine heh) so he always gets to tag along and taste test! <3

if spy is involved with any of the other mercs, scout's mom knows about it. they're in an open relationship and spy values her just like he'd value any of the mercs in a romantic relationship. she knows all of them and they're all very polite to her (ala like they are with miss pauling), but she quickly surprises them by being snarky and playful like spy and scout! she also doesn't hesitate to begin telling the mercs the most Humiliating Dirt on spy AND scout! HEHEHE

i don't think he'd cheat on her nor do i think he'd bother cheating on any of his partners. he's very open with communication when it comes to his interpersonal relationships (this is ironic to everyone but him because his relationship with his son is currently in shambles). he's good at it when it comes to romantic relationships though!

his love languages are, well, any and all of them! he loves being in love, he's a huge romantic and is not shy about showing it. will absolutely DROWN his partner in gifts and pretty words (that he really does mean!) and so on... perhaps to the point of it being a little overwhelming! at his partner's request, he'll dial it back... but he still loves to spoil his lovers, and THAT is something he WON'T apologize for! >:)

as i touched on earlier, has a good rapport with all of the mercs and pauling. he's patient with soldier and the other mercs hear him out about the bucket list idea (and are all Quietly Amused by how scout promptly ruins that for him. team dynamic ykwim). i think he's the closest with heavy (i'm a spoovy enjoyer), engineer, pyro, and sniper (BUT in kind of a "unique" way. perhaps i'll elaborate) but he enjoys the company of all of the other mercs as well!

is Informed about engineer's, demoman's and medic's research (though not on the levels they are of course) and likes being in the know about things going on around the base. he mostly shares enemy intelligence with these three over anyone else. they talk frequently and Love to gossip (engineer SWEARS its not gossiping but demo and medic are like "no. its gossip!" SKDFKSDF)!

will absolutely always enable you to treat yourself. scout, spy, medic and demo are the KINGS of "go on!! treat yourself!! :D" no matter what it is. if spy sees you really struggling about whether to get something, he'll slip it in with his own purchases and gift it to you later. "this one is from me, so you don't need to worry about compromise. <3"

in battle, he's a bit more sadistic than his teammates; likes making people squirm and is more than capable of getting under your skin. information extraction is part of his job and he treats it as such: Part Of The Job. he doesn't get a LOT of pleasure from hurting others, but he Does enjoy starring in a good revenge tale!

no, i do NOT think the world's most absent father cares about his 30 year old son's sex life nor do i think he's even "fiercely overprotective" of scout just in general. i think he knows scout is a grown man who has to make (and account for) any failures and fumbles he makes in his life. he'll be there with a kind word (and a few snarky ones!) when shit hits the fan, but he's not running around fighting scout's battles for him. scout loves battling too much to let him anyway! LOL

he teaches him things that Spy Himself values (like respect) because he... values it and since spy IS trying to be a bit more of a Dad to scout, it's also a reflection on him (to spy. scout doesn't care or think of it that way). insists on the value of self improvement! (something he himself didn't learn until he was Much Older... but scout doesn't need to know that!)

[voided-selfships]

Favorite scene/storyline with your F/O in canon? Or in your personal canon with them? with Bojack

GRABS BOJACK. YES YOU ASKED ABOUT THE RIGHT GUY /SILLY going off of personal canon. And by personal I mean selfship. True Timeline let's fucking GO!

My favorite scene? Forgive me in this gets long imma be talking about a LOT of different shit because I cannot simply choose ONE

So I'm going by season. Heart emoji

Gods where to start, Our A-Story is a 'D' Story? /silly [we all know it would've been The Telescope but surprisingly Warren veto'd going on that trip. (Unsurprisingly, he missed Herb to death but was not ready to be in a room with both him and BoJack.) I digress.]

Anyway it's my favorite just because of the idea that Warren gets out of bed to see BoJack passed out on the couch before immediately seeing AND hearing news of the D from the Hollywoo(d) sign being stolen???

[That "What- what- what the fuck did you do?"

"What did I do? How do you know you didn't do it?"

"BoJack I was actually sober last night-"

"Sure, sure-"

"And you know I can barely carry half of my weight- how the hell did you do this??"

Anyway, the 90s Trio (BoJack, Mr. Peanutbutter, and Warren) scrambling to get rid of this fucking letter is- this is why it's my favorite. Like comedically??? Yes. Yes. Classic Season 1 Shenanigans.

Season 2? Brand New Couch or The Shot. Brand New Couch...Warren trying his best to be supportive of BoJack's uh....brand new attitude!! Even if its weird- not a bad weird! Just not something he's used to! He tries to be supportive for the entire time BoJack works on Secretariat. [Really I need to draw a comic for Brand New Couch because fuck it's so so good. They make me insane. Moving on.]

Season 3? Not even a Question. Episodes 9-12. I don't even wanna ELABORATE. [Warren trying to console BoJack after the conversation he has with Todd only to be kicked out. Getting the news about Sarah Lynn's death and wondering what he could've done differently. Wondering if he could've been there to prevent it. Knowing that to an extent it was BoJack's fault but not understanding the full story- in the end just wanting and needing to be there for him]

Season 4....The Old Sugarman Place. It's already my favorite episode but in Lore Context? Warren goes with BoJack to his family's lake house- which opens the flood gates to a lot more...person bonding. Which they really hadn't done before. Stories about BoJack's family that Warren only heard snippets of- now more in full, a deeper insight into his friend [crush?] They kiss this episode [and it's a lot more meaningful than any other time. They did it just to do it- not as a lead up to sex] Then of course this season has his mom moving in which was. So so so fun. [And Hollyhock! Warren had a feeling that wasn't his kid but didn't want to say anything. Otherwise enjoyed spending time around her- gave him that weird domestic feeling he oftentime tries to ignore when he's around BoJack for too long]

Season 5... they get together in season five. Free Churro has to be my favorite. If only because they don't go to the funeral together, so what ends up happening is Warren ends up in the right room and after a solid 15 minutes has to scour the entire place to look for BoJack. [He does miss a good chuck of his speech finds him halfway through just to listen instead of telling him it was the wrong place. And Beatrice's funeral was so so empty, no one was there aside from BoJack and him]

Season 6. What episode ISN'T my favorite lmao. I guess I can talk about whenever BoJack gets back- so The Face of Depression? I guess lore wise it's important. When BoJack gets back Warren is startled but not upset- goes with him [not by choice] on his trip around the country. It's mostly fine. They have a fight about...a lot of things later in the season [I wanna say...episodes 11 and 12.] Break off- not up! Just off. Don't hear from eachother again until Angela and The View From Halfway Down. Then don't see eachother again until Nice While It Lasted. [Which!!! All my favorite favorite episodes by the way! Fuck!! /pos]

I just realized I started talking about lore instead of my favorite scenes so whoops fjebdjdjd I'm just so passionate [insane and mentally unwell] about them

[ratmor]

Wolves of Greed

Part 1. The Sheep Skin

They will come to you in cloth of sheep, but from within they are the wolves of greed.

The literal translation from ancient greek of Matthew 7:15

N. Index

I. Losing Rose-Tinted Glasses

II. The Illusion of Choice

III. The Emotional Morning

IV. The First Seance of Nonconformism

V. Salem

VI. The Aftermath of Fester Addams

VII. The Ravensdale Camp

VIII. The Kidnapping

IX. Truths and Lies of Owen Sinclair

X. The Roadtrip

XI. Playing Games

XII. The Suit for Vigilante

XIII. Smuggling Operations

XIV. The Feral Alert

XV. One Day of Forensic Photographer

XVI. Cry Uncle

XVII. The Choice

XVIII. Big Brother's Insights

XIX. Murdered Hopes of Joel Glicker

XX. The Unlikely Friendship 

XXI. Don't Touch What's Mine

XXII. Not So Ordinary Wednesday

XXIII. The Parents' Day, Year One

XXIV. The Furs' Protection

XXV. The Nevermore Quad Fight

XXVI. Boston Holidays

XXVII. New Happy Tree Friends

XXVIII. The Lack of Reciprocity

XXIX. The Help of Understanding

XXX. The Supernatural Creatures Care Club

XXXI. School Days

XXXII. The Sheriff's Kid Full of Greed

XXXIII. The Not So Little Furry Problem

XXXIV. Tricks of the Cannibal Raven

XXXV. The Cleansing Agent

XXXVI. The Future Lost

I. Losing Rose-Tinted Glasses

Enid was waiting for her sixth birthday with great joy and energetic annoyance to everyone around.

Her eldest brother recently turned twelve, and on his birthday they went to the Muir Woods, to the usual camp of the San Francisco Pack, to celebrate with the whole pack and be closer to nature so that the young werewolf turned. At that time, Enid did not know all the details, but she really enjoyed spending time with the other children, that's why she asked her mother, Esther for the repeat.

She, surprisingly, agreed.

Years later, Enid realized what caused her consent.

Austin Sinclair, the oldest brother, didn't turn at twelve, but Esther Sinclair read all the necessary brochures to speed up the turning process and decided to follow one of the tips.

A young werewolf needs diverse interaction with peers and elders, and due to the fact that Austin did not turn until the age of twelve, she decided to add such interaction with the help of a rather conflictual gathering of the whole pack. And it seemed conflict-based even when it was without the participation of teenagers and children.

And what if not a bunch of hormonal teenagers, children with propellers in their asses and a general lack of a criticism filter against each other, could provoke a boy to turn?

Austin turned right in the middle of a werewolf croud, right during a scuffle with one of the teenagers who had already turned. And who decided to have fun at and even suggested that Austin is the late bloomer.

Austin turned and became the first pack alpha in his generation.

All attention turned to the boy, congratulations poured out like cornucopia of sorts. And obviously, everyone forgot about little Enid, even the rest of the brothers. It was new for them, as well as for Enid herself, but she was always quite emotional and sensitive.

Mom often pursed her lips and noted with a dismissive snort that these were the traits of the future omega of the pack. Murray, the father, always shrugged his shoulders at this and seemed to be showing that there was nothing terrible about it, even if you were the omega of the pack, but preferred to keep quiet.

Enid didn't want to be the omega of the pack even when she didn't quite understand what it was.

The understanding that being the pack omega is not the worst thing, came with time.

She remembered later that she had run away from the jubilant loud gathering, depressed and splashing emotions, all in tears because everyone had forgotten about her, and she hadn't even received her promised cake, nor had she received any gifts. These moments, small and even stupid, have not been forgotten for a very long time, although they have lost their sharpness, of course.

Enid turned ten minutes later than her eldest brother.

A couple of hours later, she was found by Owen Sinclair, a distant relative and former member of the pack, a lone wolf that Enid had never heard of before his introduction and attempts to calm her down. If it hadn't been for her heightened senses and certain traits that could only be discovered by a werewolf who turned, she would never have believed his story.

After all, when Enid was six years old, no one thought of scaring her that she would become a lone wolf and leave the pack if she didn't turn. The maximum of her fears was, as already mentioned, to become the omega of the pack, a kind of fool to be ordered around, as she understood it. Even for such a straightforward and assertive woman as Esther, it turns out there were limits to what was reasonable or not.

Enid didn't know at that time that you could be kicked out of the pack simply because, in theory, for biological reasons of your turning, you could challenge the right to the power of the pack alpha. And if you do not transfer power over yourself, do not obey, want to remain equal, then this "could be kicked out" turns into "definitely kicked out and deprived of your last name."

Such utter betrayal was new to Enid.

Owen asked to be called uncle and was surprisingly helpful when the girl turned into a human form and whimpered softly from the pain of the first turn, feeling every blade of grass and pebble on her heated and overly sensitive body. After she recovered a little, he told her the whole thing. As soon as her head cleared a little, Enid started asking questions. Why he told her all this was the first question.

Owen grinned, without malice but also without joy, smoothed Enid's disheveled hair, adjusted the blanket she was covered with, and lifted her by the armpits to the level of the side mirror of his pickup truck.

The scarlet sparks still lingered in her eyes.

Enid felt overwhelmed with emotions again, tears rolled up to her throat, and soreness in bones, joints and muscles added reasons to burst into wailing, but the man gently shook her, put her on the ground and looked into her eyes.

His pupils lit up with the same scarlet sparks as hers, but it was clear that he was letting them glow, and they were not doing it themselves without his knowledge.

This made little Enid hold her breath and stretch out her palm in an attempt to find support in the older werewolf. Her emotions were still getting the upper hand.

Owen gave her his palm and in a gentle tone began to explain to her the way to control these sparks. And the transformation. And her emotions.

Three hours flew by unnoticed, as if in a fog.

It was only later, years later, that Enid realized it was the alpha's power. That's how he gave her some of his knowledge so that she could hide her turning from her mother, father and brothers. They were insanely happy because of the presence of the next pack alpha in the family. That's how Owen made her not be gullible and childishly prattle everything to the family on the same day, as it would be logical for a child who still believed his parents, even though offended. That's how she, under the pretence of interest in the new status of her elder brother, asked all the adults available for conversation about what would happen if another alpha of the pack suddenly appeared. That's how she managed to ask her brother to show her the half-turn of the eyes.

That's how Enid realized that Owen Sinclair wasn't lying to her.

The next time they met was six years later, on her own twelfth birthday. Her parents let Enid go into the woods, hoping that there would be no problems with her - just as there were no problems with the other brothers, Brandon, Colin and Dylan. Each of the brothers, except Austin, were beta wolves and turned on the night of their twelfth birthday.

The same was expected of her.

Every full moon of the previous six years, she got out of her house to be closer to the moon, but did not give free rein to transformation - this was Owen's knowledge, developed over decades. Every full moon, she did not allow herself to turn, so that she would not be kicked out of the family - the laws of the pack have not changed since Owen. She was sure, she checked. Even though emotions still took over sometimes and she wanted to loosen control and stop torturing herself.

On the night of her twelfth birthday, when she was left alone in the forest, as it traditionally happened to everyone before her, Owen offered his support and help, said that even if she would be kicked out, she would have a place in his family. He was not as lonely as the stories of other relatives about lone wolves painted it. He had a wife, the witch of one of the psychic clans, it seemed. As Enid understood from his meager explanations. And he sincerely claimed that there was simply no difference between the Mates of werewolves and how he felt about the witch. Enid had doubts, not about his love for the witch - it was not for her to talk about matters of heart, she could not have an opinion on this, and she accepted Uncle Owen's version without much resistance. Enid was doubtful about their ability to provide for another growing and demanding werewolf - as Enid understood from his stories, Owen had his own twins much younger than Enid herself, who had yet to turn for the first time. And he didn't say much about the identity of his wife. All this together has become decisive for determining future actions, to some extent.

Enid couldn't risk her future like that.

Enid was persistent and stubborn, as alphas should be, which Uncle Owen noticed with a grin when she made her decision and informed him. And there was no taking that away from her.

That is why her decision to continue pretending was not revoked even when she realized the depth of contempt and neglect from her mother and even brothers that this decision brought.

Enid preferred to endure, realizing that it was still better than completely losing the opportunity to finish school and make friends with other outcasts, to find herself for hell's sake! Enid was jealous of her brothers when they were sent to Nevermore, and she definitely didn't want to say goodbye to such an opportunity without even trying.

Her position in the San Francisco Pack didn't mean that things would be the same in Nevermore. There, her turning situation will not be as important, and she will be able to surround herself with outcasts of various species and characters.

Enid understood that this was a postponement of the inevitable, yes. But during all this time of bullying, teasing and outright pressure that piled on her, she changed her mind about wanting to be in the pack. Fundamentally changed.

Enid cooled down to any attempts by relatives to urge her to respect the Sinclair leagcy, controlled any attempts by the inner wolf to get out and show primacy, which led to control over emotional outbursts that could lead to the wolf breaking out. By fifteen, Enid knew all her weaknesses and triggers, felt when it was better to close her eyes and when the inner wolf began to feel and act for her.

Enid gave herself free rein only in this small, if compared with what could have been, of course, uprising in the form of bright colors in clothes and decor - it was not wolfish in the slightest and irritated both narrow-minded brothers and mother as much as possible.

After the domestic torment of trying not to give herself away, the room in Nevermore was simply paradise. Without a roommate and without any obligation to visit the local containment cells - after all, Enid was not officially capable of turning. Within the room, Enid could even turn at the full moon and curl up on the bedsheets. The mentoring of another alpha, and such a detailed one, which began with that very "unsuccessful" twelfth birthday, aside for those few hours in early childhood, helped a lot with such antics.

By the time she entered Nevermore, Enid was convinced that she did not need such a pack as it was. That's why every quarrel with her mother over her non-turning was not something traumatic or deserving of special attention.

Enid knew her own worth.

And she knew that there's always a price.

***

If anyone thought to ask Enid Sinclair what exactly was the most important turning point in her life, she would have answered something like "Nevermore admission." 

And then she would smile brightly so that what she said seemed truthful. 

No one asked Enid such questions, so the honest answer would be something like this. The most important day in her life happened when she turned six, and her eldest brother turned for the first time.

That day Enid got lost in the woods and lost her rose-tinted glasses forever.

Next chapters on AO3

[amsalexbashir]

Bio

Character Name: Amsale Bashir Character Age: 30 Faceclaim: Ashley Moore Family: Beydaan Bashir (Mother) David Alexander (Estranged father)

Full Biography: Born in Boston to her single mother, Beydaan, Amsale learned the power of independence from a young age, ingrained in her from her mother who was a tour de force all her own. Her mom was an immigrant from Somalia and had to work her ass off to get where she was, she taught Amsale that nothing was just given, everything must be earned through hard work as well as the importance of community and offering what you can for the greater good. 

Growing up, her childhood was pretty standard except for some cultural differences which when she was younger used to embarrass her but as she got older she took more pride in, encouraging friends to try the traditional foods they used to call weird or gross and being happy that they now asked for a serving themselves. She did well in school, not daring to bring anything back that was below a B. She wasn't popular in any sense of the word, but those that knew her liked her and knew they could rely on her when they were in a pinch. In high school she took on a bunch of extra-curriculars and as many AP classes as she could to get her college career started early and save her mom some money for pre-requisites . One of the projects she was most proud of was starting a community garden shared amongst the different schools. She found a lot of satisfaction in helping things grow and problem solving to improve the crops as well as donating the food that was produced to the local food banks and shelters. 

Once she went to Boston University she decided to follow the career path to become a physical therapist while researching alternative medicines on her own. Thanks to her finishing up most of her pre-requisites early in high school, she was able to finish the bachelors program at 21 and started her master's program finishing that at 23. She decided to take a few years and dip her feet into the professional world, getting some experience and some more insight. She found success in a private clinic and was able to get good results for her patients, though did get criticism for her blunt-ness and her poor "bedside manner". Fluffing around issues was never something she found much ease in, finding it a waste of time.

She was just in the process o applying into the doctorate program when the world began falling apart. Her mother heard about it over the news first, she wasn't the type to wait around and find out, so she convinced Amsale to join her in leaving the city and moving with some old family friends out in the country side. A decision she was sure was unnecessary, this would all blow over after all, just a few people got sick, they could catch it in time. Of course that wasn't the case and a short stay turned into a struggle to survive. The first few months were okay, but after food ran out, she, her mother, and their friends had to adventure out for supplies meeting with another small group and joining each other. They did surprisingly well for how small they were, Amsale went back to gardening and was able to use her medical history to help with any injuries, a few others hunted, and others worked as security while the remaining had their own roles to keep the group sustained. A few years passed before a raider group attacked taking their supplies, killing some of their group, and sending them scattered to the wind. 

Amsale and her mother were luckily able to find each other again, after a few days of living on their own they were taken in by another larger group and stayed with them for some time. Unfortunately a year in, Beydaan became ill, something with her lungs that Amsale suspected was aggressive lung cancer but was unable to be sure. It took her mother 6 agonizing months to succumb to the disease, leaving Amsale with the responsibility of sending her off so she wouldn't turn. Losing her mother tore her up, she was the one constant in her life, the one thing that grounded her in the insanity the world had become, and in just a flash, she was gone. After her mother's passing, she tried to keep to as normal of a schedule as possible, continuing her work, but there had been whispers of the plans of the new leader of the group talks of raiding other groups, of becoming more aggressive. As the rumors became more frequent, more detailed, Amsale decided enough was enough and left before she suspected things would turn south. Only with whatever she could carry on her back, she made it out on her own, just before winter began to hit. She realized a little too late that she wasn't the survive on your own type but had hopes she would find a new group she could join. Finding an abandoned small house in the woods, she set up camp and waited out the winter. 

A week ago, she overheard gunshots in the distance, some sort of fight, it only lasted a few hours before things got quiet again. Uncomfortably low on food, she decided to check it out, maybe if another community was ransacked, they might have left something. Heading towards where she heard the noise, she came across some trapped hares, and took the opportunity to help herself, that's when she was discovered by David, the father she never knew.

Headcanons:

• Amsale was raised in a Muslim household, she did her best to hold on to her religion even after fleeing the city, but after her mother's passing, she's lost her faith. She keeps her mother's  Qu'ran in her memory and will sometimes read it for comfort.

She is very straight to the point and isn't known to mince words. Her mother always told her she had more of her father's personality, something she didn't understand

She's fluent in English and Arabic and knows a bit of Somali but has lost most of it over time.

She has a slight idea of what her dad looks like, her mother used to show her pictures of him in their photo album, she thought she had more of his jawline than her mother's. She's not sure how long David and her mother knew each other before she was born.

She's very much the type that doesn't have time for drama and will call people out on it when they're annoying her with it.

She's pretty stubborn, she has a hard time seeing things from another person's perspective and will hold on pretty strongly to her viewpoint

[lorie217]

With Bella, anything is paw-sible.

I've been thinking of possible ways to describe Bella, my feline, four-legged, accursed, grumpy, iconic, jealous, lithe, naughty, active, beautiful kitten, friend and buddy. Her antics and behavioural patterns

Bella is only a stray cat so it's kinda difficult to say her exact age. But based on objective deductions, physical features, and characteristics. I would say she is approximately 6-7 months old. Bella was found stalking around the neighborhood by my little niece at a very tender age, probably being abandoned by her mother. After talking to a few neighbors about it an attempt to find the owner failed. We planned on calling the animal rescue team at first but on further consideration, I decided to take upon myself the duty of nurturing, caring, and taming what seemed to be a hopeless, homeless, and pitiable piece of the creature; to love and to adore. I was drawn by her shiny appearance and wide eyes. Without wasting time, I got her rehydrated and provided shelter. Fortunately, there was a Vet store around that took over caring for this adorable kitten. After she was certified well and fit, she was transferred to a new home we had put together for her. And then I thought of a name that would suit her being. Nothing made more sense than the word "Bella" which means beautiful. It described her all-round adorable charm. It seemed a difficult task initially as she failed to develop appropriate social skill but with time, she adapted and became the center of attraction as every one was in awe of her antics and sneaky but interesting behaviors. I would be talking on a few which I found most amusing .

1. Silly Sleeping Positions: Bella was a master of finding bizarre and amusing sleeping positions. She would contort her body and stretch out like furry noodles lol.

2. Bella displayed great skill of acrobatics and coordination. They termed it to be "tail chasing ". I would spend minutes watching as it was not only entertaining but made me wonder why.

3. Pouncing Surprises: She would hide behind furnitures waiting for the right moment to leap out or even attack your feet.

4. She was a natural hunter and her playfulness often mimicked hunting behavior. Animal experts explained that it helped to keep them physically active and mentally stimulated.

5.She had an inherent passion for moving objects and shadows were no exceptions. It was a good way to relief my Dad of his depression after mom passed on.

6. Annoyingly and surprisingly, Bella could interupt human computer activity as she would not only sit on the keyboard, paw at the screen but also on important documents demanding carefully handling and attention.

7. Love for heights: She would perch on high places like bookshelves, countertops, and top of furnitures. From these vintage points, she keeps an eye on everything happening around.

These traits are only but a few among others. I'm still on the lookout for something new. I find these very fascinating and mean a whole lot to me. What more can I do but share on this amazing platform, as my very first Tumblr. I only hope it reaches as much audience possible as I embark on this journey to meet a circle of worthy family and friends, communities, spaces with whom I would share my life. Cheers to happy readings and better insights as we toe along this great path together.

[cjbolan]

Just finished American Mermaid. SOOO good!! A lot of plot twists and turns, emotional highs and lows, perfect balance of comedy and drama and fantasy, a welcome subversion of typical magical realism, a book-within-a-book that I wish were a real book, and many thought-provoking questions about women’s place in society and about the difficult choices between seizing opportunity vs. being true to yourself. As someone who loves mermaids, who’s been to Los Angeles, and who’s worked in the film industry I found this book deeply relatable. It’s a perfect companion piece to R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface, which also follows the insane escapades of a woman who suddenly becomes a famous author. And of course I also kept comparing this book to Liz Kessler’s Emily Windsnap series also about mermaids! I wonder if Liz Kessler has read or could relate to American Mermaid.

*WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW*

1) Derek is a refreshing subversion of your typical bumbling idiot: making things both better and worse for Penelope, usually by accident, but by the end even his accidents help Penelope learn important lessons which ultimately change her life.

2) The ending was surprisingly heartwarming!! When Penelope’s mother and sister come to see her in the hospital, she realizes that her loved ones will always be with her, that her life is not predetermined by breast cancer, and more importantly that she will have many more ideas and wonderful opportunities in her life than just her one debut bestseller. Especially loved the Epilogue where she uses all her past trials and tribulations in L.A. as inspiration to write another bestseller!

3) This book ends with Penelope letting her mermaid story stay in development hell , so she can keep making lots of money and not let her story get completely rewritten. I don’t know true that is in real life, but it would explain why so many film/TV projects are still in development hell.

4) The breast cancer subplot hit uncomfortably close to home. Like her mom my mom is also a breast cancer survivor, and inheriting her heightened risk of cancer has been a looming specter over many of my life choices.

5) Are we ever going to get closure on why Penelope and her dad don’t get along? I sense something deeper than just ideological l differences. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t accept her being asexual (which I’m 100% convinced she is). Or, given how Penny’s book is clearly inspired by her real life, maybe she’s being forced into her dad’s line of work and wants to do something different. He must’ve done something pretty awful to warrant Penny calling him an asshole on a public broadcast. Kinda sad Penny’s mother and sister but not her father come to see her in the hospital. And it seems her near-death experience didn’t repair their relationship.

6) I feel like we get tremendous insight into Penelope’s personality and relationships just from her book-within-a-book excerpts alone. Very clever use of character establishment.

7) That ending was…*Chef’s Kiss* PERFECT!!! In a way it’s Penny’s ultimate revenge: Penny keeps making bank as her story keeps cycling through development hell under a constantly changing pair of “fresh eyes”, while her character Sylvia comes to life and continues her killing spree against everyone who dared change her story. Murphy got lucky. I feel a little bit sorry for Dick Babbott, as he did try helping Penny the last time he saw her when he really didn’t have to.

8) Speaking of Sylvia I liked her character-establishing moment using her Siren song on two men yet only chooses to kill one of them. Unlike her mermaid sisters who just kill all humans on sight.

9) Do Vanessa and her friends ever get caught for trespassing and then doing hard drugs in a Hollywood celebrity’s private home?

[elementroar]

So funfact, AIC tried to crowdfund for an El Hazard direct sequel (to the OVA I believe) back in 2018, and they showed the concept art and pitch for the sequel featuring the next generation descendants of the original main characters.

So remember that bit in the OVA of Jinnai being dragged off to ‘repopulate’ the Bugrom. Well, seems like they also produced a ‘princess’ in Farasha, their daughter.

I just love her design, she looks so cute. It’s kinda funny that it’s unclear if her antenna is natural like Diva’s, or she’s wearing earphones with them to look more like a Bugrom on purpose. Basically a young version of her mom tho not tan and more Japanese looking.

But ofc we got the adult concept of her dad himself too!

Gawd, the cape, the freaking stache, the GRIN! And most definitely still has the LAUGH! He’s still wearing his student uniform under the cape tho!?

And there was a new Bugrom featured interestingly enough, not one of the original Bugrom gang that were directly under Jinnai.

Tama is pitched as Farasha’s guardian, and a leading figure in the Bugrom empire himself. Probably the gag was Jinnai tasked him to protect Farasha while she goes to school and so on.

I wonder if the surprisingly fatherly attitude Jinnai had with Ifurita in the TV series would’ve been brought into the main OVAs via his parenting of Farasha. Heck he was the ONLY returning character design shown, so possibly he would’ve been really prominent in the sequel because he’s helicopter parenting Farasha a lot.

There’s also some interesting insights about the Bugrom biology we can kinda infer here. Like with regular bugs, there’s only one clearly female (and weirdly very human) breeding Queen in Diva. Farasha presumably is the only human-looking one of Jinnai’s probably very numerous offspring because she’s female, basically a princess of the Bugrom.

Which leads to the interesting possibility that the vast majority of the Bugrom empire by the time of the sequel are actually Jinnai’s many, many offspring via Diva. Who aren’t human-looking and have bug traits because they’re not queens/princesses.

Meaning Tama could actually be Farasha’s brother and not merely just her ‘guardian’. The pitch stating Tama isn’t so simple and is a ‘leading figure’ in the empire instead of one of many grunt Bugrom is interesting. Maybe there would be a reveal his intelligence is more similar to a human, or that he can even speak and understand human language like a Bugrom version of Jinnai’s power to understand the Bugrom.

Alas, it’s all speculation since AIC wasn’t successful with the crowdfunding and this is all we got. Still, I’m kinda glad to know ‘official’ art of adult Jinnai and his daughter Farasha simply exist. It’s nice to know a bit of what became of him after the end of the OVA.

Underrated Bad Guy Blurbs - Katsuhiko Jinnai

Time for one of my favorite underrated anime villains ever, LORD GOD JINNAI!

- As the main antagonist in the El Hazard series, his depictions differ from version to version. In the original OVA, The Magnificent World, Jinnai is actually a serious villain. Not that his personality isn’t comedic and he isn’t the butt of some jokes, but he is repeatedly shown to be incredibly capable, keen minded, and dangerous as an adversary, using tactical know-how, charisma, and sheer force of will to enhance the Bugrom’s threat level and keep ahead of the good guys on many occasions, accomplishing many great exploits of evil that prove him a force to be reckoned with. In the sequel OVA and the The Alternative World series, however, he’s devolved into just an overly cocky but bumbling clown who fell victim to several comedic pratfalls and degrading defeats due to being blinded by his own inflated ego that he lost all grasp on common sense and isn’t nearly the evil mastermind he thinks he is. The The Wanderers series and the manga adaptation settles on a middle ground where he’s normally the overly egotistical and more hapless than he’d like to be bungler who’s the constant butt of jokes, but there are a fair number of times that show he can be truly dangerous and even competent when pushed to the edge, making him as effective as he is entertaining.

- Jinnai’s personality can best be described as…a young Donald Trump. Seriously, any quality, usually less than flattering, that you can cite in the Donald - namely narcissism, obsessiveness, megalomania, vulgarity, spitefulness, low impulse control, self-congratulatory, self-indulgent boastfulness, lack of tact or brain filter, and being a complete, utter blowhard and buffoon with an overly inflated self-image who nonetheless can be capable and even dangerous in the right circumstances and state of mind - can apply to Jinnai. He’s also a ruthless leader with a capitalist mindset and a military fetish, so that’s also very Trumpian.

- There is one thing that makes Jinnai reasonably more charming and likable than the Donald, though - his voice. Not so much his voice in original Japanese, which sounds a little too deep and gravelly for someone his age, but his dub voice done by Robert Martin Klein. Even the Japanese team behind the series consider the English dub to be the superior version, and Jinnai’s dub voice is probably a huge reason why. It sounds so much more appropriate for a boastful, self-obsessed teenager with a diabolical villainous mind, and he nails the hammy line delivery and gleefully comedic, over-the-top evilness of the character.

- Jinnai’s strongest relationships would be with his classmate/archrival Makoto Mizuhara, his sister Nanami, his new ruler/admirer Queen Diva, and the Demon God Ifurita. With Makoto, it’s really only a personal dynamic in Jinnai’s own mind, as Makoto has always done better at everything than Jinnai, one-upping him without even trying, so Jinnai views Makoto as his sworn enemy even when Makoto held no animosity towards him. Nanami is subject of a more complicated relationship, as the siblings do have their own special sort of closeness, but it’s defined by Katsuhiko belittling Nanami and treating her as less than him while secretly envying that she has better sense, better values, closer relationships, bigger success at business, and just tends to get stuff that he never could. Nanami, for her part, mostly considers her brother to be a major nuisance, ‘cause he is. With Diva it’s mostly one-sided - Diva fawns over Jinnai’s brilliance and strength, and Jinnai basks in the adulation. His most interesting dynamic is probably with Ifurita in The Wanderers - he treats her like a tool and a loyal minion at first, but after a while there are undertones of a weird father-daughter type relationship between the two of them, then by the end of the series you get the sense that he really does care about her, like a surrogate daughter and possibly a lifetime companion too.

- Alright, better end this on the main attraction I’m sure you were all expecting: THE LAUGH.

[rouecentric]

Hello! I hope you had an amazing day. Can I request a yandere platonic aria roscente from the villainess reverses the hourglass and the other characters? The reader is aria's sister and their mom brought the two of them to the roscente estate etc

Of course you can! Have a nice time reading this one!

a/n: i reread the ask and realised it was only p!yan!aria and not all yan! characters.. sorry for the inconvenience!

(reader will act more like her bio dad and look more like her mom bc if aria has his looks, then you'll definitely have his personality and your moms looks)

-Who would've known that a prostitute and her children would be this fortunate and lucky? I mean, marrying a count? That's practically winning the lottery!

-When your mother brought you and your younger twin sister to the county, you were anxious. Becoming a counts daughter is nice, yes, but what if your new family didn't like you? Do they even like commoners?

-Surprisingly enough, your step-siblings treated you warmly! unlike how they treated your twin sister

-As the second oldest child and eldest daughter, you decided to take the mandatory lessons from lower ranking nobles, which your family first tried arguing with you about it, but you quickly and indirectly shut them down, saying that sharing the same tutors with your younger sister, mielle, would be confusing and embarrassing, as she knew more than you. But in the future, you unknowingly made ties with families that would blow up in society from marrying off their children

-when the engagement between Mielle and Oscar Frederick from the Frederick duchy came to light and everyone was informed of it, you were overjoyed so much, that you embroidered her a silk handkerchief and gloves so that she could gift it to her fiance!

-Carin knew that it would be better to marry the count for herself and her children, she knew that you would thrive if you recieved proper education, so, when she learned of any rumor about you wanting to learn something, be it business, economics, finance or even cooking and sewing, she would hire a tutor for you before you even cleared up the rumors, but you never defied your mother, as she was the one that brought you and your little sister into a luxurious life and you believed that you should just take the classes like the good daughter you are.

-Although Count Roscente only married Carin for her beauty and planned to marry off Aria and didn't see her as his daughter, the count saw you as one, he even didn't have plans marrying you off to some noble, just wanting you to stay by your step-father's side, and in turn, he would whole heartedly support you, even if he didn't personally agree with it

-Aria wasn't happy with you wasting your time studying and working hard, but was still somewhat grateful, as you'd attract less men that would want to date you

-Mielle was attached from the start, you're so nice and patient with her! You even made her sweets before her lessons! You act and look like nothing that of a commoner, so how did you come from such vulgar blood?

-Cain was slowly yet steadily becoming overprotective of you, seeing how kind you were to your younger step-sister and how motherly you were towards your younger siblings.

-Your first personal meeting with Cain was you asking him to escort you to a tea party from another county, being acquainted with the daughter of the count by helping her find a suitable dress in a boutique

-After your first appearance in the aristocratic society, you were the main subject of rumors, but surprisingly, they weren't negative! Instead, they were talking about how beautiful, insightful and open-minded you were, they circulated long enough that they were even heard by the fiancee of the crown prince, Isis Frederick

-as the sponsor of Mielle and future sister-in-law of her, Isis was both curious and cautious, as rumors were never this nice when it was about the newcomers and children of aristocratic society

-So to know more about you as she is your in-law and wanting you to become acquaintances with your in-laws, she asked Mielle to bring you the next time she visited, and so Mielle exactly did that!

You were anxious, and reasonably so. The eldest child and daughter of the Frederick duchy and in-law, has invited you, the oldest commoner step-daughter of the count and older sister of Mielle.

Out of gratefulness and anxiousness, yesterday you hand-embroidered a handkerchief with a golden rose, the symbol of the Frederick dukedom until you almost passed out, with it being safely secured within a simple, yet elegant box, being woodcarved by a skilled man, intricate floral designs decorating all of the sides of the box.

.

.

"Hello, miss Frederick, my name is (name) Roscente, the older sister of Mielle." you greeted the older woman, curtsying.

"Hello, miss Roscente, I hope we get along." Isis nodded before curtsying and slightly smirked, with it being barely noticable.

-Isis was stunned when you brang out the handkerchief and gave it to her as thanks of her inviting you into the dukedom

-A shame Isis didn't meet you earlier before she set Oscar up with Mielle, because if so, she would've gotten you to get engaged with her brother

-Safe to say, you made two allies, Isis and Oscar from the Frederick dukedom

-Speaking of Oscar, he was rather curious about you, as you were the main topic of discussion whenever Mielle talked with him

-So when he met you, it was a pleasant surprise! You were rather genuine and kind, but reserved, something Oscar was grateful for

-Your first meeting with the crown prince, Asterope Franz, was when he was undercover, walking around the capital when he heard you openly disagreeing with the crown prince's option to keep the casino

-He then became curious and asked you the reason why you disagreed with the prince's choice, but your answer with it was so logical and reasonable that he was stunned, before he could've asked your name, a maid ran up to you saying that your carriage was coming, so you announced which family you're from if he "wanted to know more about your opinion if he's so invested", walking away from him

-The next day, a man who claimed that his master wanted to give the eldest daughter of the Roscente county compensation for the "advice" she gave him, with multiple boxes and a boquet with the kingdom's national flower being held in his hand

-Although those were fond memories, it all soon ran downhill, with the announced death of your mother, Carin, being poisoned in her office

-You didn't even have enough time to process and cry about it, just running to your sister Aria and hugging her shaking form, consoling her broken sobs in the lobby of the Roscente county

-And then the news of your sister supposedly attempting to assasinate your step-sister was announced

-Everything was going wrong. Your mother died three weeks ago, and now your biological sister is being sentenced to death? You couldn't even do anything, you simply watched while clutching onto your older brother's coat, silently crying while he tried to calm you down

"You know, I'll have a looot of fun with older sister once you're dead, right? No one as lowly as you can now interrupt my plans of living happily with Oscar and sister." Mielle stared overexcitedly at Aria's furious expression "i promise to take good~ care of her once you're gone." she smirked, standing up and going back, approaching you and Cain.

-When Aria fully processed that she actually was back in time before she was executed, she was really thankful, she even promised to completely ruin Mielle's life and future because of her getting too close with you

-And now every time you didn't have lessons, Aria took them up, oh! Mielle is with you? I hope you can deal with another overbearing little sister, then!

-When Aria announced she was seeing someone, you were stunned! I mean, you were also happy, but still stunned!

-And when THE crown prince Asterope Franz arrived and was confirmed to be the person Aria loves, you literally squeeled before running up to Aria and congratulating her

-When the trial against Mielle happened, you were reasonably angry and dissapointed with her, why would she even push father down the stairs and blame Aria?

-After the trial, you were curious about why the judge would invite you and Aria to her house, even more after she asked the both of you to wear some clothes she had..

-The clothes you had to wear weren't big on you and even looked like a perfect size for you! But the problem was that it seemed to belong to a man, probably a relative?

-When you and Aria were introduced to your father, you were shocked, happy, and disappointed all at once. Why did he leave? Did he even try looking for you two?

-When Chloe Piast found out he had two children from the prostitute apple who he fell in love with, who was now Carin Roscente, and twins at that, he was reasonably shocked! But he was sure that he should meet them and reconcile with Carin

-When he married Carin, it felt like your life was finally complete! You finally met your father and he married your mother, your friendship with your sister strengthened and now you're a completed family!

-And when Aria married Asterope, everything was like a fairy tale to you. Everything (somewhat) went like how you wanted, and now you can simply quietly leave and live your life travelling the world!

-That was until you were locked in a huge mansion by your brother in law and sister ten meters away from the imperial palace..

-the mansion was designed by things you liked, there were rooms made for you to do your hobbies such as painting, embroidery, etc

-You could have everything you wanted (except freedom), just say the word and everything will be done!

-You were obviously chosen as the godmother of Aria's children, even if it was against your wishes

-With how your brother-in-law and sister acted with you, praising you and telling everything about you to their children, they were bound to become yandere over you, too

IN SUMMARY: Aria pre-time reverse is possesive, Aria after time reversing is possesive and obsessive, Asterope is possesive, overprotective and nurturing, Mielle is delusional, obsessed and worshipper-type, Chloe is obsessive, nurturing and possesive, Carin is Possesive and nurturing, Isis is nurturing and possesive, Oscar is obsessive, nurturing and possesive, Cain is possesive, count Roscente is possesive and nurturing

ADD-ON: I hope you enjoy being locked up in a luxurious mansion!

[mari-lair]

can you please give us more insight on how you see Akane or his home life??🙏🙏🤲🤲🤲

I did an Akane analysis and I still mostly see him the same, so I’ll link it here, but I never talked about my take on his home life, so I’ll quickly share my thoughts on that! :D

I think he has loving parents that aren’t home often.

We don’t get to see much of his family, but we do get these two lovely panels to overanalyze, and of course, Akane himself to play with!

Both of Akane’s parents are present here, which sounds unimpressive, but it’s surprisingly rare for a character to be shown near their mom and dad in this manga (The Minamotos, Aoi, and even Yashiro are never shown in a shot with both their parents. The only people that interacted with both parents were the Yugi twins, who had a very loving family before the curse, and human Mitsuba in his childhood pictures from chap 74, who also had a loving family), plus Akane seems happy with the idea of meeting new people! He is confident, which greatly contrasts Aoi’s wary behavior, hiding and clinging to her mom.

Akane is young here (3 years old baby) so he can’t lie or act, he is genuine in his joy, comfortable with his Mama resting her hand on his head. It makes me believe his parents love him very much and raised him as best they could. They feel like genuinely good people too, they went to greet their new neighbors and his mom is even caring a gift for Aoi’s family!

Akane also declares his love proudly, he is obsessive for sure, but overall, he seems to think love is a beautiful and genuine thing, something good that should be told! So his parents must have a good relationship he looked up to.

His childhood truly seems delightful! But Akane’s parents never show up in the present time, there is no mention of them either. When we get glimpses of his house, there isn't anyone in the living room to open his door.

Akane also doesn't have a curfew, looking very unworried when it gets late enough for Yashiro to go call her mom .

So I don’t think he is avoiding his parents, I think they just aren’t home, they are away. Knowing how much of a workaholic Akane is, his parents are likely working too, trusting him to be able to take care of himself now that he is 'grown up' which made Akane very independent and eager for social interaction. @iamhereinthebg told me her personal headcanon about their job being something that focuses on helping others, like a doctor or fireman and I absolutely agree! They must be eager to help and create a very positive view on being kind and helpful for Akane.

I can picture them being the type to stay after hours to do ‘the best they can’, something that happens more and more, the more Akane shows he is 'independent and capable!' like any kid that wants to impress their parents. So his parents eventually consider him ‘old enough to stay alone', oblivious to how living in an empty house will fuck up Akane, no matter how good Akane is at adapting.

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2022!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

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301. Lore Olympus Vol. 1 by Rachel Smythe--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was not expecting that!!! I loved this so much that I immediately want the next volumes!!! The art work took me a little to get used to, but the story immediately drew me in. I loved seeing a new adaptation of how these two came together, but I especially love the portrayal of Hades in this. Why was he drawn in such a way that made me immediately root for him? I...don't blame Persephone.

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302. I Think Our Son is Gay by Okura--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a cute read with some great moments where the mom and younger brother actively stood up for him against the bigotry of the dad. I loved that while the son feels like he isn't ready to come out to his parents, his mom is creating this safe environment for him to come out one day. I don't know if I'll read the next one, just because this felt a bit episodic and I like series that have more of a flow to the storyline. But we will see, who knows if I'll cave and read the next issue!

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303. Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton--⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this autobiography because of how honest Felton is and how surprisingly funny I found him. I'll admit that I never gave much thought about him as an actor whenever I watched the movies in that series, but I'm glad I decided to check this one out because it was so incredibly insightful. Felton talks about how he ignored his mental health as his life continued after his pivotal career role, and how his worldview changed as he grew and learned more about himself. I'll admit that after reading this, I also grew to understand and appreciate why he was such a fan favourite. His personality shines through his writing and the book flew by. I felt like I was a friend of his while he detailed the events, small and major, that make up his life. I know that the series in question was a huge part of his life and I know that the series has gone beyond the horrific commentary of the author, but it was still jarring to hear her name so casually mentioned throughout the book. I'm sure that he like many of us (him more-so because he was actively a part of making that magic happen) that the series changed his life in many ways, but I will throw the disclaimer out there that her name is mentioned and none of her actions are mentioned along with mentioning the name (this includes quotes she's said surrounding the series. We all remember Dumbledore's many wise comments.) It's all positive and that made me pretty uncomfortable. Anyway, I really, really enjoyed this and I'd recommend it--but keep in mind my TW mentioned above.

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304. Intercepted by Alexa Martin--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Re-read in December 2022! I was craving a re-read of the first two books in this series. I found the audiobooks at the library and just went for it. Looks like I never wrote my review in 2019 LOL For the most part, I love this book. I love the idea that the MC gets her hot football player who treats her like the queen that she is. I loved their chemistry and the spicy scenes that we get. What I didn't love was that frustration final conflict and the random hashtags that the MC started using after the halfway point of the book. Am I wrong in saying that they randomly started happening? Anyway, that being said, I'll probably re-read this book again in the future because some books just crawl under your skin and stay dormant until the bug bites you again. Plus, I just love seeing a beautiful black woman getting the love she deserves!

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305. The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James by Ashley Herring Blake--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the second book I've read by Blake and just like the first book, I LOVED this one. It was so incredibly heartfelt and the MC is dealing with some pretty heavy stuff like her health (a new heart transplant), her complicated relationship with her birth mom, her ex-best friend, her sexuality, and the new friend who she literally meets in the coolest way possible. One of the reasons why I love middle grade books like this is that they always offer something so incredibly special because it's written for those young minds that are still developing who they want to be as adults. These kinds of books are pivotal in growing that sense of understanding and empathy that these young readers need as they grow. But I think books like THE MIGHTY HEART OF SUNNY ST. JAMES also offer adults that moment of emotional complexity that older books might not be able to offer us. A child's difficulty with dealing with the emotional trials that life sometimes throws at them makes books like this one more poignant because we get to see these young minds learn and grow as they confront these challenges. Blake does a beautiful job giving us such an impactful novel. Sunny, the mc, is just a child but she's already learning to navigate her complex world. All of that to say that I loved this book and I think everyone (child, teenager, adult) should read this.

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306. Knight of the Ice Vol. 1 by Yayoi Ogawa--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have finally read this and I'm not going to lie, I really enjoyed it! This definitely felt like a hetero version of YURI ON ICE lol. I don't know which one came first, but it felt like it because not only is this about figure skaters, but there are also side characters that give off similar vibes. Anyway, this was fun and kind of cute because of the obvious love these characters have for each other. I just know that the next few volumes are going to be misunderstandings and stolen looks and honestly, I'm so ready for it.

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307. Fumbled by Alexa Martin--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Re-read in November 2022! Okay, I'll be honest: this is the one I really wanted to re-read. I am the biggest sucker for secret babies/kids. I love seeing those bonding moments between parents and child, and usually how the dad is just a massive asshole until he becomes putty in the hands of the child or baby. Also, I still love how this one addresses the brain damage that can happen when you get hit in the head repeatedly in a sport like football. I'm changing my rating to four stars from the three stars I gave this in 2019. Past me had probably read a million sports romances at the time whereas present me is seriously missing them.

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308. Five Survive by Holly Jackson--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy from the publisher since I interviewed the author on the Indigo Instagram! I was a big fan of Jackson's first trilogy (except for the last book which I may or may not have DNF'ed), so I was really excited for this one. Somehow, Jackson managed to write a heart-racing, quick read that takes place over the span of eight hours. In those eight hours you learn of secrets, see the bully side of a certain character, encounter violence and blood, and feel the panic that the characters are feeling while being stalked in the middle of nowhere by a sniper. I talked to a friend about the conclusion because I wasn't the biggest fan of it. I think that this book will translate great into a movie, but I do wish there was a little more character growth regarding one character and that the ending wasn't so...how it was. Anyway, that being said, I really did enjoy this one. It's a fun and quick read that the author (in our interview) mentioned should be about an eight hour reading experience!

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309. The Stone Child by David Alexander Robertson--⭐️⭐️⭐️

Listen, I've enjoyed this series, but I'm going to be honest: I didn't care a lot for a chunk of this book. I don't know what it was, but I was bored and I even zoned out a few times. Maybe one day I will re-read this and feel differently. I wasn't a big fan of the MC's constant snapping. I can understand that she is grieving and that she is an emotional mess because of everything she's experienced and is learning about her life, but it felt repetitive for her to just snap and then immediately apologizing and just...what was the point? I don't know, I just felt annoyed by it. She was definitely not my favourite in this one. I DID enjoy seeing them explore some of the changes that they encountered and the surprise connection between the MC and her best friend. I look forward to reading more about that in the next book! There was also a beautiful moment near the end that made me almost tear up. We will see how the next book is!

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310. A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I remember thinking, when this book ended, wow, I actually really loved that. I'm always hit or miss with Armstrong books, but this was such a surprising read. It truly gave me OUTLANDER vibes but with a mystery at its heart. The character development between the MC and the two other main characters was entertaining, and I loved hearing the comparisons between the past police work and how the same work would be done in the present day. I'm looking forward to the next book because I want to know some answers. This didn't really have romance--more like a potential budding romance for a future slow burn. This book was mainly setting up the world and the characters for future mysteries and I loved it. If you want a time travel book that isn't all about romance and has some intriguing murder mysteries thrown in there, then you might really enjoy this one!

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Happy reading!

[aliwritesfic]

The Wedding Date (Frankie Morales x F!Reader) (part 3)

Fic summary: After walking in on your boyfriend boning the neighbour, you suddenly find yourself single and without a plus one to four weddings over the summer. Wanting to avoid looks of pity and the ‘still single?’ comments, your best friend Olivia Miller suggests you take a friend of her brothers; Frankie Morales.

Warnings: casual drinking

Rating: 18+

W/C: 4k

Previous Next

One good thing about your job was that a lot of it didn’t actually need to be done at the aquarium. Today, however, was not one of those days. You sat at your desk, knees pulled up to your chin, watching the blinking dot of your favourite shark, Betsy, as she made her way to what you liked to call Baby-Makin’ Bay.

You made a few notes about Betsy, comparing them to notes made in previous years. The research department of the aquarium only had four computers, and each was crappier than the last. After the last round of budget cuts, you preferred working on your laptop at home.

Your phone buzzed on the desk, and you ignored it, figuring it was either Olivia or your mother. Your mom had been trying to set up a lunch with you and all your siblings, which you were decidedly ignoring until you felt you could stand being around your older sister long enough to have lunch with her.

Olivia on the other hand had been freaking out about the little show you and Frankie had put on at the wedding on Saturday. Most had been akin to ‘are u fukin kidding me that was brilliant’ and ‘did u see that bitches face!!’ and ‘this shit is from an 00s romcom’.

You had to roll your eyes at the last one. Your situation was nothing like a romcom. For one, there wasn’t a flip phone or pager insight, and secondly, they always ended up together in the end. At the end of this, you and Frankie would go your separate ways, probably friends but nothing more. Even if the thought of that made your stomach hurt.

Gas, you thought, I’m just gassy.

It wasn’t until your lunch break that you checked your phone. There were the usual suspects of messages from your mother and Olivia, an email from your favourite bookstore, and surprisingly, a message from Frankie.

Sitting down at the lunch table, you pulled your bowl of leftover veggie stir fry towards you and opened his message first.

Frankie: How be the sharks today?

You smiled down at your phone and began to type your reply.

You: my best girlie Betsy is making her way to baby makin bay, it’s an exciting time

You attached a photo of Betsy you kept on your phone, you had edited it so she had a flower crown and pink cheeks. It was, in your opinion, your finest work yet.

Frankie must have been on his break too because his reply was almost automatic. She looks ready to reject all the sloppy men sharks.

I have it on good authority that she has No Scrubs on repeat, you sent back. You stared at the screen, watching the three little dots that indicated he was typing, all other messages forgotten.

Frankie: I have to get back to it in a minute, but are you busy this Friday? My friend Santi is having a bbq at his place, it’ll just be the boys and Santi’s wife.

Your eyes widened slightly at this. Was he asking you because he was being friendly, or because he actually wanted you there? Before you could spiral too much into that though, another message came through.

Frankie: Bring Olivia too, and her ‘friend’ if he wants to come.

Not a date, you decided, only very slightly disappointed.

You: sounds excellent, anything I need to bring?

Frankie: Swimsuit, drinks if you have something you prefer besides beer.

The boys . . . you figured that had to include Will and Benny. As Olivia’s brothers, you had met both a handful of times but never long enough to leave a lasting impression. The last time you had seen Benny had been last New Year; you had spent the night getting hammered and high with Olivia at some seedy nightclub that had sticky floors. At about four am, when you both realised neither of you had enough to pay for a taxi, Olivia had called Benny. It had been even longer since you had seen Will.

You returned to your desk and spent the afternoon churning out as much work as you could before you had to work from home for the rest of the week. Every few minutes your thoughts drifted back to Frankie and his invitation.

You had to stop reading into it, stop hoping for something. It would just lead to disappointment, heartache piled on top of the heartache you already felt whenever you thought about how the last few years of your life had been a lie.

It wasn’t until you arrived home later that afternoon when you had set Mr. Baldwin down in the grass of your backyard to allow him to wander in the warmth of the afternoon sun, that you knew what you needed to do.

You sat on an old wooden patio chair, toes curling in the grass, and opened up a battered notebook that you had kept since college. Most of it was filled with now useless notes, idle doodles you had made when you were supposed to be studying, the occasional shopping list that consisted of ramen and Red Bull.

Now you opened it up to a mainly fresh page and labeled it RULES.

It was good to have a set of rules, you figured, when venturing into the unfamiliar territory of pretending to date someone.

No flirting w/ others at weddings

100% honesty at all times

If one of us wants out then it’s done

Simple, straightforward. You would tell Frankie about your list on Friday when you would be able to explain the points in finer detail. You kept a careful eye on Mr. Baldwin, watching as the cardboard dorsal fin you taped to his back peeked through the longer patches of grass. Deciding you needed to have your own personal set of rules, you opened up to another page. This one was half used, notes on the bacteria found in different bodies of water covering the top half.

Do not read into things

Do not be disappointed when you do read into things and are wrong

Do not get your hopes up

Do not catch feelings

You figured a clear set of rules for yourself would be safest. Having them written down, somewhere you could remind yourself, felt smart, prepared. You refused to let yourself be caught with your guard down, refused to allow yourself to be upset over a man twice in less than a year.

The sun had almost completely set by the time you grabbed your tortoise and headed inside. You ripped both pages out of your notebook, shoving the ones with rules for the both of you in your everyday handbag, and placing the other with your personal rules in the drawer of your nightstand.

It would be better this way; there would be clear boundaries, you wouldn’t get hurt. Keeping people at arm’s length was what you did best, it was how you got by. The only person you had let in and hadn’t disappointed you or hurt you in some way was Olivia. You intended on keeping it that way.

~

“So will you come on Friday?” You reached for a cube of cheese and a cracker, peering at Olivia over the top of your sunglasses. You were sitting in your backyard, a tray of finger food and wine between you.

“Yeah, any chance to crash a party,” she said.

“It’s not crashing if you’re invited,” you rolled your eyes. Olivia shrugged.

“Same difference where my brothers are concerned,” she said, “so Frankie invited you, huh?”

“He did,” you said carefully, “and he invited you and Jeremy too.” Not just me. He’s just being friendly to his fake girlfriend.

“Fuck no, I’m not taking Jeremy,” Olivia scoffed. “I’d rather eat my own toes than introduce him to the Miller clan.”

You smirked, remembering how Olivia had told you stories of how her older brothers had scared off every guy or girl she had brought home to meet them. Each one had ended in a disaster and in an inevitable breakup. It was part of the reason why she had refused to make things official with Jeremy, skirting around the topic whenever he brought it up.

Olivia bent down and scooped up Mr. Baldwin, setting him in her lap. “So, what bikini are you taking?”

“I was thinking of my yellow one-piece, actually.” Decidedly unsexy.

“No, wear the blue bikini. Blue looks good on you.”

You narrowed your eyes at your friend. Olivia held your gaze with a smirk. You knew that smirk. You had learned to become weary of that smirk. It meant she was planning something. You just had to find out what.

~

Frankie was looking forward to Friday more than he would admit. After a week spent in the oppressive heat of the mechanic workshop, drinking and eating in a pool seemed like heaven. He was glad he had invited you, even though it took convincing from both Santi and his wife, Vanessa, to do so. He wasn’t sure if you guys were that type of friend yet, but in the end, he figured there wasn’t any harm in just asking.

He hadn’t really expected you to say yes.

When he arrived mid-Friday afternoon, Santi and Vanessa were already getting the food prepped. The scent of whatever marinade Vanessa used hit Frankie’s nose and made his mouth water, his stomach grumble.

Santi pulled his friend into a hug, slapping him a couple of times on the back. “Good to see you, Fish.”

“You too,” Frankie said, grinning at his oldest friend. It had been more than a month since he had seen Santi after he and Vanessa had gone on yet another trip across the world. This time they had gone to Singapore to visit Vanessa’s family.

“Your wedding friends are coming today, right?” Vanessa called from the kitchen.

“Yeah, they’re coming,” Frankie called back. He had asked if you had wanted a ride, but apparently, you and Olivia were going to be arriving with Will, after you had finished work. I don’t wanna make you wait around for me all day, your message had said. Frankie understood, but that didn’t mean he was exactly pleased about it.

“So, what’s the deal with all that?” Santi asked as the pair walked into the kitchen. He handed Frankie a beer and took a swig of his own. “The whole weddings thing.”

“She needed a plus one after some shit happened with her ex,” Frankie said, not wanting to go too deeply into it. It wasn’t his story to tell, and he wouldn’t disrespect you by giving more details than were needed, even to his best friend.

“So you’re just her plus one?” Santi probed. “That’s all?”

“That’s all,” Frankie said, taking a seat at the island counter.

Vanessa raised a brow, “then what’s this about dates?”

Frankie almost choked. “Not real. Where’d you hear that?”

“Benny, who just told us what Olivia said.”

Of course. “It’s a bit much to explain, but we’re not actually dating. I’m just a friend doing another friend a favour.”

“Mmm-hmm, a favour. Sure.”

“It is!” Frankie protested. “I get free food out of it, so it’s a win-win.”

Santi rolled his eyes. “Just as long as you’re both on the same page.”

Frankie was pretty sure you were both in agreement about things. Maybe he’d have to talk to you about it, just to be certain.

He and Santi made their way outside to the pool and sat down in the shade of the gazebo he and Santi had spent the previous fall building. Each of the boys had carved their call signs into the wood, Santi had carved Tom’s in solemnly.

‘He’d be here to do it himself if it wasn’t for me.’ The only thing Santi had said about the matter. It had been years since the trip to Colombia, but Santi still refused to let go of the guilt he felt. Frankie knew that each of the boys, including himself, carried their own guilt about what happened, and each dealt with it in their own ways. For Santi, that meant small memorials where he could make them, sending Molly and Tess money periodically throughout the year.

It was just after three by the time Benny arrived, carrying a beer in one hand and a portable speaker in the other.

“Gentlemen, the party has arrived,” he announced, turning the speaker on.

“Who invited him,” Santi groaned with a chuckle. Benny shimmied over in time to the music, shaking his ass in what Frankie considered a very white boy way.

“He’s your friend,” Frankie muttered, watching Benny with a grin on his face. It always shocked Frankie how Benny was a completely different person inside of the ring. If he had put them side by side, Frankie would have been convinced they were two completely separate people.

The three made steady progress on the beers, waiting for everyone else to arrive.

“Oh, by the way, Will been dating someone,” Benny said, tipping the last of his beer in his mouth. “So don’t try and set him up with your cousin tonight, Pope.”

Santi and Frankie glanced at each other. Will was notoriously private about his love life, preferring to keep quiet about it until he was completely sure about the person he was with. So far, the boys had only met one of Will’s partners, a woman named Daisy whom he had almost married.

“Is he bringing her today?” Frankie asked.

Benny shook his head. “He’s not ready for that yet, but I met her - accidentally - and she seems really good for him. Grounded, you know? Smart, too. She’s a fucking neurosurgeon.”

“As long as he’s happy,” Santi said. Benny and Frankie nodded. Somehow they had all come to the silent agreement that Will would tell them about his mystery woman when he was ready, and they wouldn’t bother him about it until then.

It was another hour before you, Olivia, and Will arrived. Frankie perked up at the sight of you, taking you in as you set down a large blue cooler that Frankie recognized as Will’s. You hung back slightly as Olivia went and hugged Santi, before spotting Frankie and grinning.

“Nice hat,” you said, crossing your arms over the front of your chest. It struck Frankie that maybe you were a bit shyer than you had appeared when he first met you; that maybe being here was out of your comfort zone.

“Nice sunglasses,” Frankie said. You were wearing pink-rimmed flower-shaped sunglasses that Frankie thought would take a certain person to pull them off. As it turned out, that certain person was you.

“Thanks, I got them at a gas station in Nevada for like, five bucks,” you grinned. The tight way you held your shoulders was slowly easing, your arms dropped to your sides.

You sat down beside Frankie, stretching your legs so they were in the sun, slipping off your Birkenstocks.

Soon, the sounds of laughter and music filled the air, splashing as more people entered the pool. Frankie looked at you, noticing you hadn’t moved. He could have sworn at one point you started snoring softly.

“You going in?” he asked when it finally seemed like you were awake.

“I will,” you said, “I should, just to wake myself up a bit. I had to get up at three this morning because one of the missing sharks was spotted on radar.”

“Missing sharks?” Benny, who apparently heard this, asked, leaning over the railing of the gazebo.

“Yeah, most likely they get eaten by something bigger, or the tracker gets damaged, but a few of us went out earlier today and it seems like this guy just went down too deep for radar to detect for almost a year at this point.”

“Wouldn’t he need to come up for air, though?” Benny asked.

You stared at Benny for what felt like a long time, your mouth open in a small O. Frankie fought to keep a straight face.

“Ben,” you said after some time, “I want you to really think about what you just said.”

“Well, how could it stay down underwater for almost a year? It needs to breathe.”

“Are you thinking of whales?” Frankie’s voice came out in a rasp, his throat hurt with pushed-down laughter. Benny thought for a few moments, and Frankie imagined the cogs slowly turning in his brain.

“Oh! I am!” He said finally, laughing.

“Jesus, you fucking dumbass!” Frankie couldn’t hold back the laughs anymore. Tears sprang to his eyes as he wondered how someone he knew to be smart could be so dumb sometimes.

“I’m telling your sister about this,” you said, the biggest grin Frankie had seen on your face. You pulled off your shorts and tank top, leaving only a blue bikini.

Don’t stare Frankie’s conscience told him. He averted his eyes, only to find Benny staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

It wasn’t until you had jumped in the pool and began to talk to Olivia that Benny smirked.

“Fake girlfriend, huh?”

“Yes, fake. For weddings.” Frankie said.

“You’re not looking at her like she’s a fake girlfriend.”

“I’m not looking at all!” Frankie protested.

“But you want to,” Benny countered. Frankie had no rebuttal for this. Of course he wanted to. You were beautiful, magnetic, anyone with eyes could see that. But it felt like crossing an invisible boundary that you had created.

~

The kitchen was cool and quiet compared to the cacophony outside. You sat at the island counter, unaware that this was where Frankie had sat just hours before, slurping an iced coffee, cutting cucumbers, and watching Vanessa fry up potatoes.

You had already known Vanessa for a couple of hours, but you already liked her quietly confident demeanor. The way she moved with the knowledge that she knew exactly what she wanted to do and knew how to do it.

“I should thank you, you know,” Vanessa said, breaking the easy silence. You looked at her through tired eyes; her back was to you, thick black hair in a single braid down her back.

“What for?”

“Hanging out with Fish - Frankie - this summer. It’s giving him something to do rather than mope around here all summer.”

“Mope?” You inquired.

Vanessa nodded. “He’s been out of sorts for the past . . . year or so. A lot has happened to him and I think it just all caught up all at once, you know? Sent him into a bad spiral.” Vanessa sighed and looked out the window to where the boys had crowded around the grill. “It’s nice to see him doing something, back to himself and smiling again.”

You considered Vanessa’s words. You didn’t know Frankie very well, didn’t know him well enough to be sure that Vanessa was correct. You didn’t think that your little wedding fiasco was the reason he was apparently back to himself. People turned corners all the time, for better and for worse. It was probably just the timing of it all.

You finished helping Vanessa and returned to the pool, lowering yourself into the water that was still warm from the setting summer sun. It was the kind of temperature that if you let yourself, you’d fall asleep and probably drown.

Frankie called your name and set a paper plate piled high with food down at the edge of the pool. “I didn’t know what you wanted so I got you a bit of everything.”

You grinned at him, hanging off the edge of the pool while you ate. “How’d you know I was starving?”

“Lucky guess,” he smirked, sitting down so his legs were in the water.

Now seemed as good a time as any to tell him about the rules you had written down a few nights earlier. You were out of earshot of everyone else, and you were still sober enough to remember them without the piece of paper.

Frankie listened in silence as you explained the rules and your reasons for them to him between mouthfuls of burger and crispy potato bake. He nodded occasionally or made a soft hum every now and again.

“That all makes sense,” he said when you were finally done. “But you don’t have to worry about me flirting with anyone, I’m not much of a flirter.”

“Just as long as we’re on the same page,” you said.

You ended up falling asleep a couple of hours after dinner. Still in the pool, but folded into an inflatable donut, almost empty bottle of beer resting between your boobs.

Will, Olivia, and Santi pushed you gently as you floated between them.

“Dead to the world,” Will remarked as he pushed the inflatable tube once again. Frankie chuckled. From his spot in the water, he could see your eyes moving rapidly beneath their lids. Dead to the world indeed. They let you sleep, understanding how badly it was needed after your day.

It was almost nine by the time you woke up, peering around at you with groggy eyes. You were silent, lifting the bottle that had been resting on your chest to your lips and draining it.

“Ah,” Olivia said, spinning around the inflatable donut, “just like college.”

“You make a habit of falling asleep in random places in college?” Santi asked.

You nodded, paddling towards the edge of the pool where Frankie stood, water lapping at his chest. “I like to sleep. Especially when I’m full of food.” Without really thinking about it, Frankie reached out and grabbed your ankle so you didn’t float away again. When you didn’t shake him off, he left it there.

“I need to tell you a secret,” you whispered. Frankie leaned in, brow furrowing. “I’m stuck.”

“Stuck?” Now he was really confused.

“In this tube thing, I can’t get out!”

He looked properly and saw that you had sunk too deep to be able to get yourself out. Frankie chuckled.

“Do you want some help?” He kept his voice low. You nodded. “I might have to-”

“-Grab my ass? That’s fine.”

Once again, you surprised Frankie. He hadn’t met many people who weren’t afraid to say exactly what they were thinking. It was refreshing.

“Sorry,” he muttered, reaching under the water. Each ass cheek seemed to fit perfectly in his hands as he gripped and pushed up, freeing you from the inflatable prison.

Your eyes held his for a few moments, lips slightly parted. He didn’t know if it was the alcohol or his own feelings, but he wanted to close the space between you. Shit, if this were a bar, or if he didn’t know you already, he would’ve made it his goal to kiss you.

Fake. He reminded himself sternly. Inviting feelings of attraction to you would just be asking for trouble. He would call one of his old hook-ups tonight when he got home, he decided. Fuck it out of his system. Johanna was usually free after her shift ended at two.

Already he was mapping out the rest of his night; text Johanna, leave the party, fuck Johanna, go home. That was the perfect thing about his relationship with Jojo; it was only sex. No strings, no expectations.

Frankie was shaken out of his thoughts as you turned away and swam towards Benny. Hell, once maybe this was all over he would put in a good word for Benny with you.

Maybe.

~

Neither you nor Frankie noticed the way everyone else had come together at the other side of the pool, out of earshot. Wrapped up in yourselves, you were both oblivious.

“So, you all agree then?” Olivia asked.

“They’re obviously meant for each other,” Vanessa replied, watching the way you two stole glances when you thought the other wasn’t looking.

“They’re both just stupid and stubborn.” Will rolled his eyes. He knew you well enough now to know that while you were often the smartest person in the room, you were also somehow the dumbest.

“Look, I’ll work on her, you guys work on him,” Olivia said.

Her plan was coming together, and she couldn’t be happier about it.

Tagging: @idreamofboobear @gracie7209

[loverboyromanroy]

q: what do you think is gerri's softest moment in canon (presumably but not necessarily related to roman, including microexpressions and subtext you're reading in etc)

oh baby we LOVE to talk about gerri being soft! that's my woman!!

the first thing that came to mind is in 1x02 when roman is talking about baird and the tortoise (gif linked from my gerri smiling set lol) – obvi it's early in the show and we don't get much more insight on gerri and baird's relationship, but the way she smiles at this little eccentricity that her husband had is SO wonderful and soft, and it shows there's a love there that was deeply meaningful to her, that cuts through that grief that she's feeling from being in the place where her husband was sick...it's just surprisingly tender given we don't see much of that from her through the rest of season 1!

then, truly, unironically

i don't know if it's because she's just happy that someone is actually taking her advice for once or if it's because she genuinely believes roman is taking the first steps on the path towards not being an idiot, but she's SO sweet here. roman undercuts it a lot with his self-deprecating jokes because he's calling to complain, but she's just like..."how is it going!! this is so good for you!!". it's also so warm and fuzzy because she matches his humor (because she's fucking funny!) but not really at his expense (she's laughing with him, not at him!), and she's genuinely being encouraging because she knows that he needs the encouragement! it's so compassionate and kind, i love her!!!

and then i'd also throw in her taking a photo of the chyron to send to her daughters in 3x02 because it's SUCH a cute little older mom thing to do (the way she zooms in on the screen 🥺 and also the way she brings the phone to her chest to kind of shield it when roman catches her, because it's kind of embarrassing but also because she's like...guarding the idea of them/her relationship with them from him) that i find endlessly endearing.