#and then by the end of the week start on the second place winners

[tj-crochets]

Hey y'all! I am feeling like making a poll or two, so I'm looking for suggestions for things to put on either my "what to make next" poll or "which pattern to share next" poll Options of things to make include but are not limited to a cuddly owlbear! A capybara! A goose! A poison apple! An isopod! another giant octopus, or pretty much whatever?

[strawberryyyenthusiast]

Dancing with the stars Steddie au 😫

Steve is one of the professional dancers on the show and is paired with frontman of Corroded Coffin, Eddie Munson, who can barely walk in a straight line when sober.

Eddie doesn’t take the gig at first bc he knows that he’s going to be the first one to be kicked out and he doesn’t want to ruin that for the dancer that he’s paired with. Chrissy, CC’s manager, ends up convincing him since it would be great pr and would help reinforce his whole “don’t knock it ‘till you try it” attitude.

The first time they meet is super awkward and Steve keeps making these little bitchy remarks that has Eddie falling head over heels for this quick-witted prep of a man— not to mention that he has a great ass.

Much to Eddie’s surprise, they make it to the finals and Eddie has gained some balance on his legs and a lot more rhythm. (His fans are raving over the fact that he doesn’t look like a baby deer when he does more than walk, plus the newfound, wiry muscles that emerged on his arms and legs were much appreciated).

When they are training for the final dance, Eddie starts to make each session longer than it has to be because he doesn’t want to stop hanging out with Steve. Over these couple of weeks, he’s fallen totally in love with Steve and everyone but Steve seems to notice.

They are waiting to go on stage when Eddie looks into Steve’s eyes and says, “I want you to know that whatever happens, I’m taking you on a date after this.”

Steve just nods and says, “thank god.”

They perform a salsa that has the crowd screaming when they get into their final pose: Steve’s leg wrapped around Eddie’s waist as Eddie dips him.

They don’t win the show, which is totally fine with the both of them. Brad Pitt won with his crowd appeal and gyrating hips.

Steve and Eddie are just happy that they met. Even with their second place status, most watchers of the show deemed them the true winners.

Then they go out on a date and fall in love and get married and adopt kids and grow old together and they stitch TikToks of them reacting to the edits that people have made.

[putellasawfc]

mapi leòn as a girlfriend is the type to …

-

gf!mapi is the type to … ramble on at bedtime, the clock ticking away into the early hours of the morning but she can’t sleep, so she decides you can’t either as she goes on and on about anything and everything. “do you think mermaids exist?” “what if the world is going to end but the government just don’t want us to know?” “should i go blonder?” “we need to book that vacation tomorrow before it’s too late.”

gf!mapi is the type to … beg you to let her tattoo you, she just won’t give up no matter how many times you tell her you’re not looking for a tattoo yet. she assures you she knows what she’s doing, she’s even drawn out a few ideas for you without you knowing. she just really wants to be the one to give you your first tattoo.

gf!mapi is the type to … get clinger, the more exhausted she gets. after a gruelling training session, or an intense match, the woman is hanging off you any way she can. her arms linked with yours, fingers intertwined, hand on the small of your back, arms wrapped around your waist with her chin resting on your shoulder and her favourite of all: getting a piggyback ride back to the changing rooms.

gf!mapi is the type to … be the first person to jump on you to celebrate when you score a goal, whatever type of goal it is. a simple tap in that didn’t take much? she’s all over you. a long range shot that hits the top corner beautifully? she’s cradling your face in her hands with the cheesiest grin on her face. you get the match winner in an important game? her arms are wrapped around you like you might disappear if she doesn’t hug you hard enough.

gf!mapi is the type to … be almost brought to tears when she sees how well you and bagheera bond so quickly. it’s no secret that, that cat means everything to her, and if you didn’t get along it wouldn’t be the end of the world but she’d be upset that her two favourite beings weren’t clicking. but she doesn’t have to worry about that. not when she returns from the store and spots the two of you cuddled up together whilst taking a nap on the sofa.

gf!mapi is the type to … take an excessive amount of pictures of you till her camera roll is 80% you (& bagheera). she’s always snapping photos of you, even if you’re doing something as mundane as folding laundry. she thinks you’re the prettiest girl she’s ever met, and she makes sure to remind you everyday. you cringe at some of the pictures when she shows you, some of them not being the most flattering. but she just playfully swats you away, grumbling under her breath with a frown. ‘stop being mean to yourself before i get it printed out and stick it on the living room wall.’

gf!mapi is the type to … miss you so much when you have to go on international duty. you’re never usually gone for long unless it’s for a big tournament, but she counts down the minutes until you’re back almost the second you leave. phone calls, texts, facetimes and social media interaction’s just aren’t enough for her. she needs to have you back with her in person asap.

gf!mapi is the type to … buy your football shirt and wear it proudly with the most adorable smile on her face. she has every barcelona shirt with your name and number on the back, wearing it whenever she would come to watch the team whilst she was out with injury.

gf!mapi is the type to … talk about the two of you getting married so casually, as if it was inevitable. she’ll randomly suggest places for your honeymoon, ‘venice would be nice wouldn’t it? or would you prefer somewhere colder?’ or she’d point out decorative bits and claim that would look nice on the table during the reception, as if you were already engaged.

gf!mapi is the type to … be annoying at the most inconvenient times. you could be watching a movie that you’ve been dying to see for weeks, and she’ll start fidgeting beside you, which eventually leads to her talking your ear off, and then suddenly she’s tugging on your arm and poking you, and trying to tickle you because she’s unhappy with the lack of attention she’s receiving.

gf!mapi is the type to … comment the stupidest things on your instagram posts. she’ll do it sat beside you, giggling away to herself as if she’s the funniest person in the world. you’ll post a picture of yourself during a training session, and no sooner than five minutes later there’ll be a ‘working hard or hardly working? 😏’ comment appearing. you have to fight the urge to delete it.

gf!mapi is the type to … paint your nails for you when you’re struggling to stay between the lines, especially when you’re using your non dominant hand to paint. she’ll take over for you when you ask, her tongue poking out whilst she concentrates, taking her job very seriously.

gf!mapi is the type to … argue with the ref until she’s red in the face when you get fouled, and the ref decides it was a clean challenge. her arms are thrown around as she tries her best to not raise her voice, absolutely appalled that the ref is letting the player get away with the foul on you with no consequences. she’ll make sure you’re okay, and then target said player for the rest of the game.

gf!mapi is the type to … have you try new skincare products with her. she’ll buy a big package of different lotions and oils and creams, eager to try them out and get her skin gleaming. but she wants you to get in on the action too, the two of you will have plenty of self care nights which include taking stupid selfies with face masks on and a lot of kissing.

gf!mapi is the type to … make sure you know how much she loves you everyday. she’ll make sure your favourite foods are stocked up in the house, she’ll give you a foot massage whilst you watch tv together, she’ll call your name just to say ‘i love you’ every so often, she’ll give you her jumper to wear the second she suspects you’re getting chilly, she’ll randomly message you huge paragraphs about how much you mean to her when she’s feeling a little sentimental. she’ll make sure you never question her feelings towards you.

[samkerrworshipper]

losing | leah williamson x reader

lol i based this off of a sermon that i listened to this morning lol so enjoy! also loosely based off a multitude of requests i’ve been sent x

You’d never felt more heart broken in your life than you did in this moment. Looking out at a crowd of people you didn’t know, a crowd of people that were feeling a fraction of the disappointment you were. You’d collapsed to the grass as soon as the whistle had blown, your heart shattering into a million pieces on the pitch. You’d worked your ass off, your whole team had worked their asses off, and yet you’d still fallen short, it still wasn’t enough.

You couldn’t even really make out the crowd, the overwhelming disappointment that was covering your lungs and clouding your brain stopping you from being able to feel anything besides your own body, the feeling of your stomach dropping, the feeling of your lungs breathing in cold air that burned in your throat and the pure dread that you could feel in your heart with every pump that it did, the disappointment in yourself spreading throughout your whole body through your veins and blood. You’d never failed like this, hell, your debut for the Lionesses had been the home Euro’s, where you hadn’t lost a single game. You were the youngest Ballon D’or winner, you were a golden boot winner, you were so much better than this, your team expected you to be better than this, Sarina expected you to be better than this.

The tears streaming down your face hurt, they hurt to push out and they hurt dripping down your face. The burning sensation of the cold wind mixing with the liquid dripping down your face steadily. Second was always the first to lose. That was something your parents had always told you growing up, no matter what sport you were playing, second place is always the first to lose, and there is nothing worse than losing. You’d never really been a loser per say, your debut senior team had been Barcelona, who were soaring in the Champion’s league, every week was a victory. You’d hardly lost with the Lionesses, and the one game that you’d never been able to comprehend losing you had, you’d lost.

A few minutes went by, of you lying by yourself on the pitch, you could hear the Spanish team celebrating, the women bathing in their victory. That was about all you could hear, the feelings of disappointment being enough noise for your ears. It was like that for a little while, your brain busying your body with enough thoughts, but then, when the adrenaline started to wear off and the real effects of the game started to set in you felt it all come crashing down. Suddenly you could feel everything, from your teammates crying a few metres away from you, the Spanish women celebrating, to the crowd that surrounded you. Everything was too much for you, the tears on your face, the oxygen in your lungs it was all too much, you couldn’t be here, you were a failure, a disappointment, a burden to the whole team. Your tried to stand up from the pitch, but you were humbled by the fact that you had just played a whole 90 minutes of football and on top of that you’d been on the receiving end of a slide tackle that had managed to hurt your ankle, enough that you probably shou;dn’t have stayed on, but it was the World Cup, you would play with a broken leg if you had to. The adrenaline and endorphins had been enough of a pain killer, but now your body was cold and no longer riding on it’s high, everything hurt, from the hair on your head to the stabbing pain that was shooting up your leg from your ankle.

Your feet squelched in the grass as you limped across the pitch, making your way over to the team huddle that was congregating. Your boots long forgotten, laying somewhere on the pitch, they didn’t matter, nothing mattered any more. You let Georgia and Alessia wrap their arms around you in the huddle, you tried your hardest to listen to what Sarina was saying, but it was clear her words were falling on deaf ears, all of you girls as equally gutted as each other, you could hardly stand on your ankle, you could hardly think, let alone really take in the words of the Dutchwoman. You were supposed to win, supposed to be here to make your parents proud, to make everyone proud, and instead all you could feel was the overwhelming fear that you’d let them all down, that instead of making them all proud like you were supposed to, you’d failed them.

You were taken from the group to do the presentations, the silver medal around your neck just another reminder than you had lost, another reminder that you’d fallen short. Lucy and Keira tried to give you a hug, the same with a lot of your Barca teammates, but you weren’t in the headspace, you had to remind yourself to breathe every few seconds, you didn’t have the capacity to do much more than that.

Georgia lead you back to the changerooms, tears leaking from both of your eyes as the two of you made your way down the tunnel, the both of you just eager to be away from the cameras, away from everything. The change rooms were silent, the only sound to be heard was the very faint noise of the music coming from the Spanish rooms, the only sound that could be heard in the locker rooms was the sound of crying, coming from a series of people, sobs filling the air. You managed to limp your way to your cubby, pushing yourself into the space and folding into yourself, your whole body giving out, this wasn’t how it was supposed to be, this wasn’t how this whole month was supposed to end. You’d given everything for this world cup, and yet it wasn’t enough, it was never going to be enough.

A few of the vets came over to comfort you, Millie, Rach, Lucy, Keira. All of their words though, meant nothing to you, you were a failure, as far as you were concerned you’d failed them and it was killing you.

You stayed in your cubby, unmoving, unmotivated to do much more than pray that a random black hole would appear and suck you up right now. It didn’t. Instead you stayed shivering, crying in a mixture of sadness and pain. You stayed that way, until a certain injured England captain sat down in front of you, her eyes soft and a few dried tear tracks on her face.

“Hey sweetheart.”

Her voice was so quiet, so soft, so gentle. You pursed your lips, you didn’t deserve that, didn’t deserve her kindness.

“Leave me alone.”

Your voice was weak, and any of the aggression you were trying to direct towards the woman was lost in the insecurity you were feeling.

Leah leant down to your toes, her warm hands clutching onto your freezing toes and warming them up slightly.

“C’mon, the bus is about to leave, let’s get you back to the hotel.”

You shook your head blindly at Leah and she frowned, she knew it wasn’t going to be an easy job trying to get you out of here, Millie and Rach had warned her that you were gutted and that even their words hadn’t been able to get through to you.

Leah leant down, collecting the majority of your things from your locker and throwing them into your kit bag. Once she was done she looked back at you, acknowledging the fact that you had not moved a centimetre from where you had been before her ministrations.

She sat down as close as she could get to you, her hand falling to your bare knee cap and squeezing it.

“I know you don’t want to leave, but we have to, I’ll come on the bus with you if you want, and I’ll stay with you tonight, Georgia can room with Less and Tooney for tonight.”

You nodded at her quickly, you needed Leah tonight, you didn’t necessarily think you deserved her but you would take her offer up.

“C’mon then, let’s get you on the bus.”

Leah lifted her hand off of your knee, offering them to you as an assist to get you standing. You took them, allowing Leah to lift you from the bench and putting you on your feet. Your groaned almost immediately, the shooting pain across your ankle chilling you to your bones. Leah lifted you up by your armpits, slinging one of your arms around her shoulder to lift the pressure from your sore ankle. She stopped your sliders down on the floor, allowing you to step into them before beginning the walk out of the tunnel and towards the bus.

The bus was close to silent, all of your teammates piled in. There was a lot of crying, a lot of sleeping and a lot of wide eyed and quiet girls. You slid into a window seat, Leah following you and sitting beside you on the aisle. Her hand fell to your thigh, you didn’t say anything, didn’t look at her, just kept your eyes on the city as you drove through it on your way back to the hotel.

The mood was quite similar as the team made its way off the bus, all of you slumped over and slugging your way through the lobby up to your rooms. As soon as Leah closed the door behind you everything broke for you, everything you’d been feeling for the past few hours came crashing down on your like a freight train. Your ankle hurt. You were a failure and you didn’t deserve anything that Leah was trying to give you.

You’d let her help you out of your uniform, and even though she’d seen you naked thousands of times and studied you more intimately then anybody else, standing in front of her nude whilst she fished through your suitcase for clothes was so raw. It made you feel like she could feel and read all of your thoughts, it was a kind of vulnerable that you’d never been exposed to before. You shivered in front of Leah and if she took notice she didn’t vocalise, she was almost clinical in her job of redressing you, no stray eyes or hands, she gave herself a job and she achieved it fairly quickly.

Once she had finished you collapsed onto your bed, tugging for the shitty hotel duvet and pillow as your comfort. Leah slid onto the bed beside you, lying down on her side next to you, her hand coming up to rest on your face.

“I love you no matter what, I know this sucks, I know it’s rough but you played so well sweet and you couldn’t have done much more, it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Leah’s words stung, you weren’t used to losing and she knew it, especially not at this magnitude. You had never experienced losing a important game on a national level, you’d never experienced losing a grand final and you were still only 21.

“I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve for you to love me. I lost, we fucking lost, I could have tried harder, could have centred those shots, could have done better. I don’t deserve any of this, Sarina should fucking fire me, I was hopeless on the pitch.”

Leah’s face deflated, the accolades that you already had accomplished were insane, you were one of the best players in the world, and you were only 21. You were running with the big girls, and a lot of the time she forgot that, forgot that you were still only a kid.

“Y/n, you did the best you could, and you were exceptional on the field, you couldn’t have done anything else. Win or loss you are deserving of love, no matter what happens you are deserving of love. You are only 21 sweetheart, 21 and you have already won two champions league finals, a home Euro’s and a Ballon D’or, not to mention the golden boots and other awards you’ve accumulated. You are beyond what anything would have ever expected, you are exceptional and Sarina knows it, everyone on the team knows it. Without your goals and efforts this tournament the team wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did, you deserve to be loved for that and also for being you.”

You couldn’t help the tears that begun to steadily resume their flood down your face, Leah reached her hand up, wiping the tears and opening her arms to you.

You threw yourself into her arms, rejoicing in the warmth and support it provided. Leah was your captain, she was your bestfriend but she was also your girlfriend, something that you’d missed so much over this tournament. She was right, you were still only 21 and spending a month away from the woman, only seeing her after games or on days you had off. Sarina had told the team that she wanted no distractions, and you were never going to disobey her, but it had taken a part of your heart being away for Leah so long, normally you were glued to her side.

“Why do you love me when I failed, why do you still love me when I fucked up?”

Your words were spat out between sobs, sobs that were falling into Leahs shoulder, the space of her body you’d chose to find solace in.

“I love you no matter what sweet, I know that’s hard to believe, but no matter how much you fuck up on the pitch I will always love you, I will always be here for you, rain or shine you are my everything and that’s all that matters.”

Leah’s words were solid, she knew how much you needed her affirmations, that you brain was betraying every piece of self worth she’d tried to instill in you during your time together, when you’d gotten together you’d been a shell of a player, a kid with a whole lot of talent but absolutely zero confidence in herself. She’d tried her very hardest every single day to prove to you how worthy you were, and she’d had a lot of advancement with you,but there were bad days, bad moments, setbacks. This was one of those setbacks, one of the moments where the olderwomens heart broke for you, broke for the fact that your parents had been so hard on you from such a young age, that they’d made you feel like you only deserved to be loved when you were succeeding. It aggravated her, watching as you fought with yourself every single day to convince yourself that you were deserved, that you were worthy of being loved and cared for.

“We lost.”

You words were hardly words, mere broken syllables that Leah managed to piece together, it was significantly difficult considering all your words were muffled by her hoodie, but she managed.

“I know, I know and it sucks. We’ve got the nations league coming up though, there’s that. Or the Olympics next year, and the next World Cup and Euros. You have such a bright future my love, this is only the beginning.”

She heard the way you deflatedly exhaled into her hoodie, your body was well and truly spent, tired and overworked to the bone. Leah knew that, knew you’d been stringing yourself thin and she was so glad that she now had you in her arms, that she could look out for you now instead of observing how much longer you had left before you burnt yourself out, now that she had you though she wouldn’t let it happen, she would make sure that you were looking after yourself.

“Go to sleep honey, you’re tired, you need your rest with the early flight in the morning.”

She was right, in all of this you still had a 8am flight home. A flight that you’d hoped you’d still be on your high for, instead of being an all time low on.

“I love you Leah.”

Your words were murmured against her chest, your body finally relaxing against her own, making Leah happy that you were finally allowing yourself to be vulnerable with her.

“I love you too my sweet, my little superstar, so perfect just for me.”

She pressed her hand to your cheek, leaning down to press a chaste kiss to your forehead and then a quick peck to your lips before angling your head back into her neck, your head finding comfort among the bony expanse.

“I’m sorry.”

Your words were murmured hotly against her neck, your breaths slowly evening out and becoming slower against her skin.

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for, you are perfection my girl and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it to you if I have to.”

[evenmorefatallyobsessed]

Prof. Xiao-Long AU Concept

Note this one is way longer since it did in fact win the polls

Yang Xiao freaking Long was just what her name would suggest XL, bigger then life, the center of attention and life of the party! She was arguably the toughest gal to step through Beacon’s doors. At worst she was tied with her partner Glyn.

They were the strongest duo, Glynda’s ability to bullshit just about everything with her telekinesis and Yang packing enough raw strength to shatter boulders with just a punch. Heck, they were the two time Vytal Festival Winners of Beacon’s Golden era, Even STRQ came second to them.

And that team had her brother Taiyang in it, okay, true it did have the clearance sell, looking knock off of her too, Raven definitely dragged them down… No, she was not pissed at the bandit at all, nope, not a single inch of rage for abandoning her team, leaving her brother broken hearted, she totally didn’t spend months tracking her down and wrecking every member of the Branwen tribe’s shit that she could.

Well regardless she’d gotten over that who issue with her brother’s team, graduated, spent a few years living the dream, journeying around Remnant, helping people, exploring, just outright enjoying freedom. Life had been good. But eventually she got bored of it, bored of it, turns out Yang wasn’t for the lone wanderer shtick, didn’t live up to the hype…

It got lonely, and then her brothers wife died… Summer, Summer disappeared and Tai went into a depression. him remaining teammate Qrow tried, but he could only do so much, and she knew he was avoiding spending a lot of time with them cuz of his semblance the idiot. So she made her decision without hesitation, Yang starting crashing at her brother’s place and helping him with Ruby while beating the depression outta him.

And thankfully Glyn had a job she could work, a Professor at Beacon, she tried to get one at Signal but in her partner’s own words “That School already has to Suffer One Xiao-Long, why would you curse them with two.” And hence begun her domestic life as the stand-in mom for her adorable silver-eyed niece. And Yang realized she was freaking Maternal has all hell! Like Whoa, the amount of times people assumed she was Rube’s mom was scary, and not just cuz it implied she was banging her brother.

And hey, she was a pretty great teacher too, sure she was really more a couch, and every once in a blue mom stand in for Port but hey when she did the students were a heck of a lot more invested in her telling them about her past glory. It had nothing to do with her love of high cut tee’s she swore, she was just that charismatic.

Life was good…

-0-0-0-

LIFE WAS NOT GOOD!!!! She Was Gonna Murder Thos Little Turds! Few Things were as precious to Yang as her hair, and they, her students had abused her trust! She could understand a pulling pranks, heck she still pulled them on her fellow teachers. But The Fuck! CUT SOMEONE HAIR WHEN THEY SLEPT!!!

Beacon was starting up in several weeks! And she was gonna have to show her face now! With her hair like this!

Oh She Wasn’t Fooled For A Fucking Second!!!

This Had Bitch Written All Over It! It had to be those girls who’d been giving her the stink eyed just cuz the boys she taught couldn’t pull their eyes off their bombshell of a teacher! Or Maybe it was one of those douchebag students she put in their place when she caught them claiming they’d bed her.

The fact of the matter was she didn’t technically have concrete evidence of who it was, all she did know was when she went to bed she was fine and when she woke up she felt horrifyingly light. Her beautiful locks of golden magnificent hair scattered across the ground. All she saw after that was red, too bad her partner was there otherwise she could’ve slaughtered the perpetrator, true she would’ve ended up killing a few innocent students, but sometimes sacrifices had to be made for the greater good, and were they really innocent if they just sat there and let such a tragedy happen!

They were lucky her partner Glynda was there to restrain her with several dozen times gravity being forced down upon her. And now here she was in Vale, already on her fourth group of A-Grade assholes clobbered for trying to pick up a red-eyed and incredibly pissed off Yang.

She stopped before it, a salon, one Ozpin had recommended, and one whose life and current state of function was on the line. Because if even an inch more of her remaining beautiful hair was ruined there would be hell to pay.

On the plus side they all seemed to know who she was, a negative is that that also meant every stylist was hesitant to do said firey dragon’s hair. She couldn’t blame them but if someone didn’t hike up their skirt and do something soon she’d-

“Ma’am, th-this way please, our new hire offered to do you hair.” Her eye twitched, a new hire, what the hell, she was ready to tear into him before a voice cut in.

“Hey can you calm down please, your kinda scaring everyone.” She blinked before looking up and meeting eyes with a fellow blonde. A guy around her student’s age, one who was standing up, facing her down with a stern look.

Your scaring the kids her with their parents, she noticed that in fact he was right as she saw some kids looking at her and backing away. And… She suddenly felt terrible. And when she went lack she heard it, a relieved exhale leave her fellow blonde, looking his way she met the boy’s gaze and felt a bit embarrassed.  Leave it to her to go and get worked up and have a kid around her niece age tell her off.

The boy examined her, or to be more precise her hair and she saw his eyes narrow with recognition.

“Prank gone wrong?” She growled.

“No, I think it went just how those little shits wanted it to.” He blinked before shaking his head.

“Well then guess they could count their lucky stars they didn’t do that to a sister of mine or they wouldn’t live to regret it.” That made her smile.

“Oh trust me, I intend to do just that.” The blonde chuckled, shaking his head.

“Well hopefully not with your hair like that you won’t, kinda hard to instill fear in them while their laughing at the result of their prank. C’mon, let’s fix that.” Turning her made his way to a chair, expecting her to follow as he walked confidently to it. She blinked again, well, the new guy was definitely interesting, few people had it in them to sass her while her hair was so much as touched let alone ruined like this.

“Hey you just gonna stand there and gawk or do you want me to fix your hair.” She couldn’t help it, nobody talked about touching her hair.

“If you mess it up I’ll mess you up blondie.” Instead of the usual whimper or retreat the blonde boy… smiled?

“’Snort’ You sound just like my sis Beryl, relax, I have experience with styling long, blonde fine hair okay, your in good hands.” She rose brow, but slowly started to make her way to him. Noticing a picture of a boy and seven girls stuck up in his station.

“Whoa, is that you with all your cousins or something?” He laughed.

“Sisters actually, and I’ve done each of their hairs more times then I can count.” Okay, she was willing to risk it, at the very least the kid had experience. So she plopped herself down and let him do his magic… Okay so she might’ve had to stop herself once or twice from decking him when he touched her hair.

But hey his small talk took her mind off it, heck she only threatened him once when he pulled out the clippers. The boy seemed totally in his element. They talked about tons while he worked his magic, washing, shampooing and clipping her hair.

Eventually she begun asking how long he’d been doing this, she was surprised when he admitted this was his third and last week at the place. Something about needing extra money and having picked up several jobs before he hopefully got into his dream school. She couldn’t get much more details outta him, the boy was very cagey about it.

Finally thought he moment of truth came out and she saw… A pretty good looking cut, a bit shooter then what she’d come in with but not bad. In fact she was sorta digging it! Huh? Who’d’ve thought she could pull off a short due just as epically as she could a long one.

She grinned the boys way, walked up to him and gave him a full on huge, lifting the blonde up in the air as she did. And suddenly he went from her confident sassy groomer to a flustered, confused mess of a teen as socially awkward as her own niece.

It was honestly kinda endearing, guess he was the sort who just got in the zone when it came to doing their job. Well not like she was gonna complain he was so freaking expressive now it was actually kinda hilarious not to mention a bit adorable. She teased him once or twice, and got the boy to fluster pretty bad before she gave him a big fat tip that hit the triple digits. Hey her hair was a treasure, he earned it in her not so humble opinion.

And so she walked out and made her way back to Beacon, all smiles and snark as usual, much to her fellow staffs relief… Until the next day. Where she realized she couldn’t style her hair the exact way the guy had! Made sense, she never had short hair after all!

She made a mad dash back to that salon… Only to find out he wasn’t working there anymore… WHAT!? She had to all but threaten the boy’s name outta the manager! Yes! She threatened a civilian, but this was important! And she got exactly what she needed, a name.

Jaune Arc.

She rushed to Juniors, needing to use Vale’s best info broker to find out the single most important information in the entire kingdom… Why the hell did he go on about Torchwick and White Fang when she said that. Obviously the info she meant was on the blonde stylist!

He blinked at her, and then asked about the name again… Then went pale. And then called Jaune over, apparently one of the jobs he was working also happened to be here as a bartender. One look at her and he flustered going all red face… Yeah, she did dress up, she was in a club after all, had to look good. Glad to see she still had it, not that it was ever up for debate.

Anyways she had him now, made her demand had him promise to teach her how to do her hair, and until then would have him do it. She’d pay him obviously, she wasn’t a monster, and a guy who could actually style her glorious hair was worth his weight in gold.

He told her she’d have to wait till his break, she was about to drag him off as her waiting simply wasn’t a option, until he offered to give her a free drink, a thanks for the huge tip she gave him yesterday. Well, she was already in Vale so why not… And again he shocked her!

Seriously what had she been drinking up until this point? Cuz it sure as hell wasn’t a Strawberry Sunsrise compared to the one he served her. She was about to ask, but he seemed to pick up on her question and gave the answer of ‘Seven sisters’ which just sorta answered it, guess a few of them liked drinks.

And he was back to being mister focused on his craft, sassy and cool as a cucumber… She just had to mess with him. Wasn’t hard, just a little shake here, a suggestive pun there and a wink or two and the boy went cherry red.

It was the best time she had out in a good minute, and then slowly, things started to relax and she fell into that age old troupe of shooting the breeze her the bartender. Talking about her brother and niece who’d get into Beacon this year and how freaking proud of her she was.

It was great, fun, and she was… tipsy, so maybe when his break came around she chose to drag him to the dance floor for some fun instead of out to do her hair… And once again he surprised her with another skill of his. Jaune Arc, could dance.

He even dared suggest he was better then her… the nerve. She had to prove to him wrong, she just had to. So they spent his whole break dancing, drinking, laughing and just having fun, and one stink eye from her and Junior let her new young buddy take the rest of the night off.

And then everything went dark and she woke up in a bed, naked… Oh no.

Then she realized thank Oum there was no blonde boy right by her, instead her Scroll had a message, saying how he’d taken her to one of junior’s rooms to rest after she’d gotten wasted. And how he swore he left the room when she started to strip…

Yeah, that sounded like her when she got three sheets to the wind, he also sent her a message about how to do her hair. She asked Junior about the blonde but the guy insisted he was just a temporary hire.

-0-0-0-

Well, it was time her baby niece’s first day was upon them! It took everything she had not to charge up grab little ruby up in a huge and completely embarrass her in front of everyone of her potential classmates.

Yang might’ve been wary of Ozpin when he first suggested it but still, she was aiming to enjoy this, to watch her niece, thrive in Beacon, to make a name for herself and have the best experience she cou- And she exploded…

Then some little white haired bitch started hounding her niece! She readied to walk up there and clobber the uppity brat. But before she could the spoiled brat left when some other goth looking chick got in the way. The black themed kid left too, leaving her poor niece all alone looking miserable!

She readied to make way only for the last person she expected to show up.

“Jaune?”

-0-0-0-

She stood with Ozzy and Glyn watching things go down in the emerald forest, watching her niece having the misfortune of teaming up with the bratty Schnee. But there was also someone else who interested her, Jaune Arc, AKA her personal stylist, bartender and clubbing escort to be the next four years of Beacon.

What could she say, the kid was a man of many talents that she very much appreciated. She’d looked his files over, and yep… Guy had fake transcripts, so that’s why he needed all that extra scratch. Still though, considering they had a ex-terrorist in their roster this year she couldn’t view it too negatively, heck Qrow had been a freaking bandit.

Also, the kid really wanted this, I mean guy let Ozzy launch him into the forest… without aura! Yeah that was a shocker, the fact the kid was even willing to fight Grimm with having aura much less knowing what it was spoke volumes to his bravery, stupidity too yes, but mostly bravery. And hey, when the cereal girl herself unlocked it turned out he had a bunch.

Yep this year was shaping up to be a interesting one.

-0-0-0-

Glynda didn’t know what to think of how Yang was acting, given she rarely knew what to do when it came to said brawler, but moreso today the usual, Yang was acting quite perplexing, well more then usual. Focusing on miss Rose she could understand, the woman all but raised the silver-eyed warrior after all. But her interest also seemed to focus on a second individual as well.

Mister Arc, a student she still had doubts about, but who also seemed to gain her partners attention, she sighed for the poor student. She didn’t wish her partner’s teasing on anyone, much less a seemingly easy to fluster first year like him.

Oh well, she supposed sacrifices had to be made for the greater good, a happy or at the very least entertained Xiao-Long mean much less collateral damage for the school and free time for herself. Perhaps she could offer him a bit of favoritism for such a burden, he did have a lot of aura, she supposed she could give him advise on control of it, he’d need it in case her partner ever tried to spare with the poor thing after all.

-0-0-0-

Okay, this was not good, Yang had not expected Jaune to be in Beacon, much less for him to befriend her precious niece and be such good friends with her… What was this kid? He could, do hair, make drinks, dance and could even be a reliable man when the chips were down if him turning back to help against the Deathstalker was any indication.

Seriously, the kid didn’t even have aura for a full hour and yet he turned to face a grimm most huntsman would think twice about facing much less potential first years. And all for some strangers… Yep she didn’t care if his transcripts were real or not, Jaune earned his place in the school with that bit of bravery there.

She nearly laughed when he was declared leader of his team, not cause it was funny, kid was the obvious choose, he was quick the decide, enact and didn’t hesitate. Hell, he had no actual training and yet when the chips were down he lead three people he didn’t even know the name of into battle.

Ozpin would have to be blind not to pick him, at the after party she made her way right to him ready to tease him to high heaven. But instead caught him talking to one of his sisters, well her her wife and… And. AND THE MOST ADORBLE THING SHE’D SEEN SINCE BABY RUBY!!!

Apparently, it was his nephew Adrian! So yeah she sorta cut in and got involved, talked to his sister, baby talked his cute nephew and informed said sister that her little brother was on the fast track to being a kick butt huntsman. What? you didn’t it so many checkmarks with her and not get a few benefits for it. Yang Xiao-Long was the kinda teacher who definitely played favorites, and Jaune Arc was certainly one of them.

-0-0-0-

Yang did not know what to do… Well, that wasn’t true, she knew exactly what she wanted to do, or to be more specific… Who.

How had it come to this!? Seriously, she just didn’t know what to do… Okay, maybe she should back up a sec and explain. So she, Yang Xiao-Long, Huntress extraordinaire, hottest teacher in Beacon (Okay… Maybe Glynda and her were tied) was lowkey crushing on one of her students…

No! It was not Blake! She didn’t get why Port assumed that? Nope, she had found herself thinking of and gioving extra attention to Jaune, yep, Jaune, mister fake it till he made it. HE JUST CHECKED OFF ALL THE THINGS SHE WAS LOOKING FOR IN A GUY!!!

Yeah, she was surprised too, as it turned out, you didn’t need to be a huge giant of muscles like Yatsuhashi or that transfer student Sage. Nope, lean was good too, maybe not Lie Ren lean but a nice in-between. And Jaune Arc hit that sweet spot, heck he was decently built even before Beacon, it was just more like a farmboy than a actual knight. But now, ‘heh’ Yang very much approved his teammate Nora’s insistence on weightlifting.

He was blonde! Which yeah maybe that wasn’t strictly necessary for him to catch her eyes but it didn’t hurt. He got along with her niece, heck he was her first friend in Beacon. And he was brave, something she knew when he turned back to help his team against that Deathstalker during his Initiation.

He proved it again though about a month later when he saved Cardin Winchester against a Ursa Major, now that said a lot about him. While his team ran for their lives Jaune stood his ground and fought to save his bully… the threatened him to not mess with his friends… Yeah, that was when she realized he was on her radar.

More then that he checked off things she didn’t even know she was looking for a guy, he was good with hair (though not his own if that mop of blonde was any indication), dancing drinks, And Oh My God Cooking! The Boy Could Cook! Again Thank Oum For His Sisters and Mom For Forcing Him To Learn Those Glorious Glorious Domestic Skills! But More Then That thank Mama Arc for giving him that ass!

And she was perving on Jaune again… Great. Ugh she needed to settle this already, heck she wasn’t even able to hide it anymore. The Staff totally made fun of her over it even!

But like, she didn’t wanna be all weird, plus the blonde liked the little icy no tit princess, and she was in a mood again… Was she really jealous of a teenager who was built like a ironing board… Yes, yes she was and that more then anything else infuriated her.

Heck he was on a team with Pyrrha-Obvious-Nikos! At least Yang could accept losing to the spartan! Okay… Maybe lose was a bit much. After all if she went for it she would nab that blonde up in a second. So why didn’t she?

Cause, cause she was a teacher… Y-yeah, that was it, totally not because she had cold feet, and never been in a relationship that lasted more then a weekend… Gods Dammit.

And then she stumbled upon it, Jaune and her partner training, Glynda had taken a shine to Jaune, not at first, her partner was pretty peeved about the whole Transcripts thing. But after a few weeks her favorite student (Ruby being the exception) had used his Arc charm on her.

Glyn was a bit softy underneath all that stern strictness of her’s. Wait? Was she… checking him out? Yep, Glyn was focusing pretty hard on her blonde Himbo’s ass… And she was touching him! WAIT WHAT!? Glyn Didn’t Touch People, She didn’t need to with her semblance! Why Would She… OH THAT BITCH!!!

That’s right Glynda had been benefiting from Jaune’s talents as much as she was, actually he was also helping her with paperwork apparently (something about paying her back for the aura control lessons) NO NO NOOO!

She was not losing Jaune To Her Partner and the stick up her ass! Yang never thought of herself as the jealous type but here she was, going into her room and grabbing some of her risqué clothes… Yeah they were pretty old, she at least went up to cup sizes since she last wore this to… Perfect.

Now all she needed was a night to alter them, thank Oum she was used to sewing cause of Ruby. And she was ready, and as she stepped into class, ready to teach unashamed and with a cocky smile on her face she looked to her mark. Jaune Arc much like the other boys in her class was staring just like she wanted him to.

Yep, Yang Xiao-Long might’ve been scared of screwing up, of causing issues for Jaune or more importantly Beacon and the moral implications of a teacher screwing her student, but that all came second, because more then that she refused to lose to anyone. And now that Glynda might be in the competition she wasn’t gonna hold back.

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

First Word - Rooster

Pairing: Rooster / Fem!Reader (Wife!Reader)

Word Count: 0.7k

Warnings: One Suggestive Comment at the End; Unnamed Biological Daughter; Second Person POV ("You"), Female Reader but No Physical Descriptions of Reader or Daughter, No Y/N

This work, all of my other works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only.

Summary: You and Rooster make a bet about your daughter's first word.

Master List

Getting your daughter to speak had been an interesting experience in the Bradshaw house.

“Dada. C’mon, sweetie, say Da-Da,” Bradley cooed to your daughter.

Instead of repeating the phrase, like Rooster desperately wanted, your daughter merely let out a giggle in response to her dad’s antics. She clapped her hands together and stared up at her father with an adoring smile as drool dribbled down her chin.

“Da-Da,” Bradley annunciated again.

“You’ll never get her to say Dada like that,” you commented, looking on with amusement.

“That’s what you think. But when she says Dada before Mama, you’ll be so jealous,” Bradley replied, sending you a wink. “C’mon, honey. Da-Da.”

Your daughter opened her mouth and Rooster smiled, expecting the word ‘Dada’ to come tumbling out. But instead, she just burped. You let out a laugh and shook your head.

“That sounded so close to Dada from over here,” you joked at your husband’s expense.

“Very funny,” Rooster sighed, shooting you a look.

“M . . .” your daughter started to mumble. You and Rooster stopped and stared at your daughter with surprise, waiting to hear if she would finish the word. “M . . .”

“Ma-Ma. Go on, sweetie. Ma-Ma,” you encouraged softly, leaning in closer to your daughter.

“M . . .” you daughter repeated, bouncing in place.

You smirked over at your husband as you folded your arms over your chest. He pouted at your daughter, who laughed when she caught his expression.

“You might as well give up now, Bradshaw, she’s obviously going to say ‘Mama’ before she says ‘Dada’,” you stated confidently, tilting your chin up.

“The bet was for the full word, Bradshaw,” Rooster shot back at you.  

You and Rooster made a small, harmless bet about your daughter’s first word. The winner got to pick the ‘punishment’ for the other, but you both agreed nothing too crazy. If you won, you would more than likely just made Rooster do some chores you didn’t want to do. And if Rooster won . . . well, you would have to make sure that your daughter was blissfully unaware in the other room.

“Can you say Mama?” you cooed, trying to encourage your daughter.

“M . . . m . . .” your daughter continued to mumble.

“Da-Da,” Rooster cooed instead, trying to get your daughter back on the ‘Dada’ train. “C’mon, say Da-Da for me. Da-Da.”

But your daughter didn’t seem to want to listen to either of you.

So, you put her down for a nap and went to each lunch. Working together to clean up the house and chatting about your plans for the week, you and Rooster looked up at the same time when the baby monitor went off about an hour later. The two of you made your way to the nursery to get your daughter up for the afternoon.

She was already standing up in her crib by the time that you arrived, bouncing excitedly as she waited to be picked up. Rooster scooped her out of her crib and pressed a series of kisses to her chubby cheek that made her squeal.

“And how did my beautiful princess sleep?” Rooster asked, resting her on his hip.

“Da,” your daughter gurgled instead.

“No, no,” you tried to shush your daughter, but Rooster quickly turned her away from you.

“Can you say ‘Dada’ for me, honey?” he cooed, keeping you at arm’s length.

“Dada!” your daughter exclaimed a moment later.

And just like that, the bet was sealed. Rooster won. And your daughter betrayed you.

“You were supposed to say ‘Mama,’ sweetie,” you whined, cupping your daughter’s cheeks with your hands. “I carry you for nine months and this is how you repay me?”

“Dada!” your daughter giggled in response.

“That’s right, sweetie,” Rooster laughed, pressing a kiss to her head. “And you said your first word!”

Rooster and you, even though you were still a little disappointed, congratulated your daughter and clapped for her. You daughter laughed and clapped in that dramatic baby way that got both you and Rooster to coo and give her kisses in celebration.

“Well, I believe that I won the bet,” Rooster told you smugly, adjusting your daughter in his arms.

“I suppose you did,” you huffed, still a bit of a sore loser. “What did you want then?”

“How about some . . .” Rooster covered your daughter’s ear and pulled her other ear to his chest to block her hearing. “. . . Mommy and Daddy time?”

“Perv,” you joked, shaking your head at your husband.

[jessiarts]

Pumpkin Stencil Game: Round 2!

Last week I started a fundraising game where I would create whichever pumpkin carving stencil won the poll, in exchange for you guys helping to raise a certain amount of money for this verified GFM by the end of that week.

Not only did you guys do that, early, but you also surpassed the goal set for that week!

So, we're going to do it again!

But first, here's the stencils you won last week. Bill Cipher won first place in the poll. And, as a reward for beating TikTok, I made a second stencil with the second-place winner of the poll, Deadpool.

As promised, both of these stencils are available for free download on my Ko-Fi.

Alright, on to this week's game/goal:

Here is a Verified GFM organized by Tasnim Alhamss (on line #663 of Operation Olive Branch's spreadsheet), with a goal of $35,000.

If we can increase the amount currently raised from $33,146 to $33,300 by Saturday, Sep. 14th, I will make another pumpkin carving stencil of whichever fandom character wins the poll below, posting it for free download on my Ko-Fi.

That's roughly $150 dollars in a week- slightly higher than last week's goal, but this is still super doable! You guys were able to surpass last week's goal, I have no doubt we can meet this week's!

Oh- You guys will also be playing against TikTok again! Same rules as last time. Whichever opponent meets their goal first (and/or raises the most by Sep 14th) wins an addition stencil!

I'll be updating with these progress bars frequently so you guys can see how far you've come!

(Tip to help ensure Tumblr's victory: reblog this so it reaches more people!)

Tumblr's Progress bar: 19% [🦀🦀🦀🦀➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖]

TikTok's Progress bar: 4% [⏰➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖]

[mcuamerica]

The Shadowsinger | Epilogue

Warnings: ACOTAR series spoilers, mentions of past miscarriages, mention of canon level violence,

Summary: Much time has passed. You and Azriel are finally starting a family.

Disclaimer: I do not own SJM’s characters or plot lines, only the ones I create for the purpose of this story. This is a work of fiction. I do not give permission to repost my work on any other platform or medium. Please be respectful.

Graphics are my own. If you use, please give credit!

Series Masterlist

You stood on top of the hill as you watched the camp's lively movements, hand resting lazily on your swollen stomach.

You were eight months pregnant, two months from giving birth to your and Azriel's little girl. Much to Azriel's protests, you were still overseeing your camp.

After your official mating with Azriel, you took to creating an all female unit of Illyrian warriors. And Cassian had the perfect space to do it, the camp he burned down after his mother died. He thought it fitting that females would get to reclaim it, and you agreed. So, you were the war camp Lady of Beornwynn, meaning joyful warrior. Even after 50 years of running the camp, you were still baffled at people coming to you for advice on fighting techniques or for settling disputes.

Just 25 years ago you and the other camp Lords, along with the IC of the Night Court, decided it was time to end the Blood Rite. While tradition still lived on with qualifying courses comprised of three levels, and determining rank, the Blood Rite was too bloody a ritual. Too many potential warriors died in it, and too many sons and daughters were victim to cruel acts or vicious creatures. So, instead, there was a week of qualifying courses that rotated from camp to camp each year. The first set of courses were competed at a team level, the second as smaller units, and the finals were individuals. The winners for each round were determined by time, skill, and ability. If one made it passed the first round, they were named Arktosian. The second round winners were named Oristian. The third and final winners were named Carynthian. At the end of the week, when the stars were lined up perfectly with Ramiel, there was an induction ceremony where the warriors names Carynthian would climb the final trek of the mountain to touch the top. Wings bound and magic temporarily taken from them, but supervised. If they didn't make it, they would be demoted to Oristian. It was a good middle ground, and the ranks held out just as they had centuries before.

The ending of the Rite came after Nyx had participated, as part of your camp. You started allowing males to join the Illyrian units 10 years after it was established, just in time for Nyx to truly start learning. He, along with a group of friends, made it to the top of the mountain and were named Carynthian, just like his father. It nearly killed him, and he had a nasty scar that ran down his arm because of it. But he survived and he was an incredible warrior that made his entire family proud. Especially when he chose to continue his training and ended up taking a position as one of your commanders.

You watched as he trained the females and males alike, all moving as a unit. You couldn't wait for your little girl to be apart of it, hopefully trained by Nyx and his younger sister, Nera.

The Valkyries had a place at your camp too, it was a mix of Illyrains and them. When a warrior reached a certain level, they could choose between the two. While Nyx was an Illyrian through and through, Nera was a Valkyrie. There was a ground unit of Illyrian females (and males) that couldn't use their wings, if the females didn't join the Valkyries. And you would be happy with whatever your daughter chose. Even if she decided to not participate at all.

You felt Azriel's presence as he appeared next to you, his arm snaking over your shoulder. You glanced up at him, smiling at the faint stubble that graced his jaw. After all these years, you still admired his beauty. "Hi." You whispered. "Spying go well?" You asked.

Azriel hummed in acknowledgement, leaning down to kiss your neck and take in your scent, something he hadn't stopped doing since he scented that you were pregnant. "Everything okay here?" He asked, eyes glancing over to the camp below.

"As always.. though I did have to break up a fight earlier." You said, a teasing smirk on your lips as you felt him tighten his grip.

"You shouldn't be-"

"Nyx was the one who got in between them. You think him or Nera are going to let me break up a fight myself?" You teased, smiling at the look on your niece and nephews faces when they found you watching the fight. They immediately jumped in as you scolded the two warriors.

Azriel still let out a growl. "You should be resting. Not worrying about fights." He said, hand coming up to cup your cheek.

You knew his worry. You'd lost babes in the past, but always early on in you pregnancy. It took a while for you to really start trying again, and even longer to actually get pregnant. But when you did, you were overjoyed. Azriel was even more excited. Especially when you made it past the crucial months.

"We're going back to Velaris tomorrow, remember? That was part of the deal." In which you made with him when you first got pregnant. When you were officially 8 weeks away from giving birth, you would go back to Velaris and let him dote on you. As long as he took a break too.

"I still regret agreeing to it." He said, hand trailing to rest on top of your belly. You smiled as he knelt down and pressed a soft kiss to it, muttering a hello to your daughter.

"Help me to our cabin?" You asked as he stood up.

He winked at you, taking your arm and walking with you down the hill to your cabin. He gave Nyx a wave when the young Illyrian noticed him and Azriel nodded to the cabin. Nyx gave him a nod back and went back to training his unit.

"You know, Feyre is still very upset Nyx chose to spend all his time here." Azriel teased.

You laughed softly. "I can't help it if he loves his aunt and uncle more than his parents." You joked. In all honesty, Nyx spent his time between here and Velaris. And the other war camps. But this was Nyx's home base, where his friends and family were. Nera, on the other hand, spent more time with her parents, learning everything there was to know about running the Night Court. She presented with much more power than Nyx, and he quickly stepped aside for his younger sister. Being a warrior was much easier than being a courtier for him.

You soon were sat on the couch, letting Azriel rub your swollen ankles and feet as you sipped on some steaming tea. It was autumn, and while being in the Illyrian mountains meant having early snows most times, it didn't mean that currently. Autumn leaves fell from the trees planted around the camp, the shrubs and grass descended into browns. Still, it wasn't quite as cold as it normally was and you were happy for it. Even if you were hot because of the hormones all the time.

You looked out the window, smiling as you got a glimpse of Nyx training some of the younger recruits on how to fly in a unit. He truly never stopped working. Your smile faltered as you began to think about how you'd have to navigate teaching your own daughter how to fly.

Azriel caught your gaze, sensing the shift in your demeanor. "You will be able to fly with her. Just like you fly with me." He said, squeezing your calf.

You glanced down to his hands and then back up at him. "Not as well as I could." You said, shifting your wings behind you. You still woke at night from the lingering pain of your snapped tendon. While it was repaired and you could fly, it never lasted long without your muscles having a spasm and then you needing to land. Trying to teach your daughter to fly with the pain made you wince while you thought about it.

"She'll see her mom flying and that will be enough." He said, moving to sit closer to you and pull you towards his side. "You know you're amazing in more ways than one and she will see that. Especially when she sees you flying with your scars." Azriel said.

Tears had welled in your eyes, from what you really didn't know. It could've been Azriel's words or the prospect of teaching your daughter to fly. You knew for certain your emotion was increased because of the hormones coursing through your body.

"Oh.. sweetheart." Azriel whispered and cupped your cheek, wiping the tears from your eyes.

"Stupid pregnancy. Makes me all weepy." You muttered, a smile coming to your face. "Thanks, Az." You said and kissed his cheek, sniffing slightly. "Maybe we can go back to Velaris tonight... I'd honestly like to make the family dinner today." If only to rub it in Rhys's face that Nyx spent an extra week with you all instead of going to the Day Court's official High Lords meeting. You knew his parents would scold him for it, but you also understood not going to go to the meeting. They were boring most of the time, and the other times normally ended with someone being restrained from a fight. You were glad you were never required to go to those anymore, instead sitting in on the occasional war meeting with Azriel, Cassian, and the other commanders of Prythian. While you hadn't had war in quite a few years, it was still good to keep prepared. Which is exactly why you spent most of your time at Beornwynn.

"Only if you want, I know you've been getting drained more often as the sun goes down." He said, rubbing your shoulders.

You hummed and nodded, smiling a bit. "I'm up for it, Az. I want to see our family." Which would be increased by two within the next year. While you were close to bringing your little girl into the world, Nesta was only 6 months pregnant at this point, but excited as ever to have a baby. Lucien and Elain already had two of their own, though they were now ruling in the Day Court after the unfortunate passing of Helion. Your family was growing by the day, it seemed, and you couldn't wait for your daughter to be apart of it.

It didn't take long for you to settle into a routine back in Velaris, happy to see your family and have them close to help with chores when you were too tired. Azriel was always by your side, but even he was getting restless. Which is why you sent him and Cassian to train some of the Valkyries at the House of Wind while Nesta and you relaxed in your house. You watched as Azriel's shadows swirled under your feet, sipping more tea as Nesta went on about the book she was reading.

"Are you listening?" She asked, waving her hand in front of your face. "I just said the main character of the book almost died from getting fucked too hard and you don't react?" She asked.

"With the books you read, isn't that par for the course?" You asked, a teasing smirk forming on your lips.

She nudged you with a scoff, but a small smile graced her lips. "How are you doing? Did your headaches go away?" You asked, nodding towards her growing belly.

She hummed, smiling faintly. "Yes, thankfully." She said and hummed, closing her eyes as she leaned her head back. "It was so bad one week I just stayed inside and laid in bed. I couldn't even open my eyes." She said.

You scrunched your nose, shaking your head. "Get ready for a constant aching back next. I can't wait to lay down on my back for more than five minutes." You said, smiling as she laughed along with you.

"Is Elain going to be here closer to when you're due?" You asked.

She nodded, smiling. "She also can't wait to see your little girl." She said. "But she can't make it in when you're due."

You nodded, giving her a gentle shrug. "With the rest of our family, I think I will survive." You said.

Nesta nodded and rested a hand on her belly. “Madja says we’re having a boy,” she whispered. “Honestly, I think I’m relieved.” She said.

You tilted your head. “Why’s that?” You asked.

“I don’t think I would be a very good mother to a girl.” She said.

You shook your head. “Nesta, you’re going to be an incredible mom either way.” You said. “And if you ever have a girl later, you’re going to be amazing. Because you worry about being a bad mom.” You said. “That’s why you’ll be good.”

She nodded and looked at you. “Are you ready?” She asked.

You smiled happily and hummed as you set your mug down. “Yes, very.” You said. “I can’t wait to see Azriel with our little girl. He’s been wanting it for so long… and I remember him with Nera when she was young. He was so sweet… and I just can’t wait for that to be him with our little one.”

Pretty soon, it was time for your babe to be born. It took hours with the labor, but finally, you had a little baby girl in your arms. Her wings would flutter every now and then when she would coo at you.

Azriel stood above you, his hand resting on your shoulder as he peered down at your daughter. “She’s beautiful.” He whispered, smiling at her.

“Can you take her?” You asked, smiling as he nodded. His eyes were slightly wide as he took your babe in his arms, smiling at her as she reached up.

You settled back into the now clean bed, leaning your head against the pillow. “Did you settle on a name?” You asked him. You both had come up with a lot and you were way too indecisive to choose, so you gave Azriel the role of choosing one from the list.

Azriel smiled down at his daughter, rocking back and forth with his hips. “Sorin.” He said.

You smiled and looked at him as he swayed back and forth. “Perfect name for a perfect baby girl." You said, admiring your mate and your babe.

You drifted off to sleep to Azriel's quiet soothing, "Hi little one.. I'm your daddy.. I love you so much. I'm going to protect you and keep you safe... and warm.. and no harm is every going to come to you. I love you."

A/N: I didn't think I was going to continue this series on, but I just had to write an epilogue (esp after I saw how close it came to my Eris fic in the poll). Annnddd I've wanted to give them a longer conclusion.. though honestly I might still write some drabbles if any of you have reuqests...

Tagging: @cherry-cin @cleverzonkwombatsludge @nickishadow139 @complete-randomness2 @lilah-asteria @tele86 @mybestfriendmademe @mariahoedt @6v6babycheese @secretsthathauntus @krowiathemythologynerd @fightmedraco @he6rtshaker @kayla-rose15 @aelincaddel @mfri06 @hauntedstudentobservationus @brieflyclassymortal @read-write-sleep-startover @krowiathemythologynerd @ialwayscryatendings @chxosangxl @tanyaherondale @randombibitch @plants-w0rld @etsukomoonbeam @riorgail @herondale-lightworm @panther-girl-124

[silkentine]

An anatomy and lighting practice that turned into Ichiji! 😊❤️🎇✨🔥 I’ve been really inspired by @dannymans66 lately so I’ve got #1 on the mind.

ALSO!!! I HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO WIN A FREE COMMISSION BELOW (Check it out and see if you can win!)

So I jokingly shared the lineart for this piece with my friend and said that it looked like a page from a coloring book and the idea humored me so much that I decided to hold a competition. I’ll give you all TWO WEEKS (ending June 4th 2024 at 23:59 EST) to color this picture of Ichiji using the blanks provided below and submit your illustrations here on tumblr with the tag #ichijirecolor (and it’s probably best if you @ me as well @silkentine). I’ll judge all the submissions (with the help of my unbiased mom) and the one that I like the best* will receive a free commission from yours truly :) anything you want!!! Feel free to color outside the lines, add stuff to the illustration, use the “wrong” colors, print it out and color it traditionally, whatever floats your snail-boat! 🐌 The only requirement is that my original illustration is included in some way (it doesn’t even have to look like Ichiji at the end, I suppose!)

*If my first place winner declines the prize or fails to respond with a week of the announcement, I’ll move on to the second place and so on and so forth.

Below the Read More, I’ve provided two versions of the lineart with and without the tattoo. Also, they are all 1526x2048 pngs either with a white background or no background at all. To color using a white background, place it as your top layer and set it to a Multiply blending mode, then you can add colors on a layer below without having to fuss with the lineart or delete the background. I’m not going to check if you keep the original size or ratio of the images; I like to work really big, so feel free to compress it if necessary. Feel free to move the watermark around, and it would delight me so if you added yours alongside mine!

Thanks in advance to all who decide to participate!!! I’m so excited to see what you can create!!!

Also here’s my version without any shading, you could use this too if you wanted to but isn’t it more fun to start blank? Idk I just think this is fun to look at.

If you made it this far and you’re still not sure if you want to participate or not, let me sweeten the pot and let you know that I’m a very small creator and I’m not expecting to get many submissions, so your chances of winning could be much higher than usual with these kinds of things!!! I’m not someone who judges on technical skill either, it’s purely my own taste that will decide the winner, so don’t let your skill level hold you back! I love funny things and getting to know people in the One Piece community!!! This is all my selfish attempt at making some new friends hahaha!! Thanks for reading all of this 😋🥰 you mean the world to me.

[abiiors]

𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚠𝚘 — 𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚞𝚎

✧ — 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝

✮ a/n: the actual last thing about jules and matty i'm so emotional 😭 but also we have more blurbs coming soon!! <33 sorry this is late, i ended up scrapping and rewriting

✮ cw: extreme cheesiness and equal amounts of sappiness

✮ wc: 1k (she's tiny <33)

“red or pink?” jules holds up two tubes of lipstick in front of him. matty frowns. 

“neither,” he takes them out of her hands one after the other and hides it behind his back. “i’d rather you stay.”

stay… that’s a word he says openly now. and she does stay. some days he can’t quite believe it if he’s being honest.

jules clicks her tongue and looks at him, exasperated once again. he’s been on her bed for the past twenty minutes now, watching her ritualistically put on makeup, once step after the other like she’s done for all the weeks they’ve been together. 

“matty, don’t be like this,” she gets off the chair and stands in front of him, between his legs. “we should have left ages ago.”

and even though her words are admonishing, he can see that tiny smile on her face that she tries so hard to hide. matty lifts his finger and traces her lips, widening the barely there smile until it’s a full and gorgeous grin. 

“will you return my lipsticks, please?”

“and what if i say no?” he puts his arms around her and puts his chin on her stomach, effectively trapping her in place. 

she looks absolutely beautiful—even with half her makeup done and no lipstick on—he could stay like this and look up at her for hours. matty almost snorts to himself. why is he having thoughts like he’s twelve years old and hanging out with his first crush?!

“i’d have to wrestle you,” jules smirks, indulging him.

“you’d never win against me,” matty declares, his voice all confident until jules scratches his scalp with her nails. whatever words he was about to say dissolve on his tongue as he sighs, practically melting in place. 

shit… she’s fucking good. 

“you sure about that?” jules teases and drags her nails through his hair once again. 

once his eyes flutter shut, he shifts, squishing his face in her boobs, tightening his arms around her some more. 

the soft fabric of her t-shirt rubs against his face. he’s surrounded by her smell too—vanilla and sugar with vaguely clean fabric softener. matty breathes her in, humming in the back of his throat. 

fuck! he loves this… 

he loves her… 

the realisation doesn’t hit him like a truck, no. it just… makes sense. like he was always meant to reach this point. 

“i’ve got you now,” his voice is muffled. he’s sure she can feel the vibrations in her chest, “where will you go?”

the clock on the wall ticks, inching closer and closer to when they have to leave. 

they’re supposed to be back at the arcade—to even the scores he’d told her. truth is, ever since their first date—their first real date—at the arcade, he can’t stop thinking about how excited she gets when she wins against him; arms thrown up in the air, her body contorted and already at the start of her absolutely insane ‘winner dance’. 

if he has to lose for the rest of his life just to see her like this, he’d do it happily. 

except now jules is here, ready for their date, and he’s too comfy to go anywhere. to even move an inch. 

the more the seconds tick by, the more his body feels frozen in place. jules is going to make him move any minute now, he thinks. he’d have to let her… instead, she sighs and climbs onto his lap. 

“oh?” matty looks at her with renewed interest, mouth curving into a smug smile. 

jules, however, takes her chance and reaches behind him, closing her fist around one of the lipsticks. quickly she yanks her hand back and holds it up in front of him. it’s the red one, the one he wasn’t going to choose. “gotcha!”

matty looks at the bullet then back at her, moving his hands from her hips to her waist. a confused frown makes its way onto her face. “what are you—”

jules yelp before she can finish her question. in an instance she’s off his lap and under him on the bed as matty flips them both, faster than she can blink.

“gotcha…” he whispers, close enough that their breaths mix together. “do you still want to leave?”

he can practically see the no written on her face. 

the other lipstick tube rolls against his thigh, and he knows it’s within her reach now. he wonder if jules will go for it, will wiggle out from under him somehow and make them leave. 

matty supposes it’s fine. it’s not like she’s leaving, he gets to spend time with her anyway. but…

and then jules places her hand on his cheek, cranes her neck until she can press her lips against his. barely a second passes before matty’s deepening the kiss, moving his hand from her waist to her ribs. 

her body is so familiar against his, so comfortable and safe that he almost lets out a shuddering breath. 

“we’re not leaving tonight, are we?” jules giggles, kissing his jaw. 

matty clicks his tongue, “not a chance.”

she giggles again, a tinkling sound. matty slides the sleeve of her t-shirt away, kissing her bare shoulder. 

“for the record,” he murmurs, “i would have picked pink.”

“yeah?”

he nods, pulling slightly off her so he can look at her properly. “looks the best on you. looks the best on me when you kiss me…”

“and red doesn’t?” she teases. 

this time it’s his turn to thread his fingers through her scalp. jules sighs and almost closes her eyes. “well now that we’ve decided to stay…” matty swoops down and captures her lips in another lingering kiss, “we could test out all the shades.”

“i think that’s a good use of our time,” jules laughs, and kisses him once again. 

[inceptiversary]

Inceptiversary 2024 Masterlist

July is almost here, and we are so excited!

The Inception fandom currently has two chat room servers:

Inception Chat (Slack)

You’re Waiting for a Train (Discord)

Jump in and say hello! If links are expired, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Inceptiversary mods for assistance.

Below the cut is a list of all the events that will be taking place this year! Most events run from July 1 to 31, but some are starting earlier and some are running a little longer. Make sure to read the descriptions for each event and don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions!

Inception 30 Day Challenge (@inception30daychallenge)

The Inception 30 Day Challenge is a set of 30+ questions and prompts about Inception, its characters, and you! They’re meant to inspire some reflection and creativity about Inception, whether it be through a simple text post, art, music, recs – anything goes! And there will be prizes! Visit the @inception30daychallenge​ blog for the full list of questions!

InceptionArt (@inceptionart)

A blog to celebrate all the wonderful art created by the Inception fandom! Feel free to share inception art with us, either your own or others’, by reblogging (not reposting!) the artwork and tagging the inceptionart blog!

Arthur/Eames Last Drabble Writer Standing (@aeldws)

Signups open June 21 through June 28 or all 10 slots are filled. A weekly elimination drabble challenge where all works must fit a given prompt and feature Arthur/Eames as the main pairing. This year’s AELDWS will run for seven weeks, from June 30 to August 11, with a maximum of 10 participants. Prompts are posted on the @aeldws blog Friday at 1AM EDT, and drabbles are due Tuesday at 1PM EDT. Voting will take place Tuesday night through Thursday night.

Inception Auction (@inceptionauction)

Donate fic, art, services, crafts etc. to raise money for a charity - then let the bidding begin! Accepting offers: June 6 - July 6 Auction open to bids: July 8 - 23 Winners notified July 25 Proof of donations due July 31

Inception Big Bang (@inception-bigbang)

Posting date July 31 An author and artist collaborative event. Authors anonymously submit fic summaries, and artists claim their favorites and create art. Claims ended in early June. First check-in for participants is July 1. Second check-in for participants will be on July 15.

Inception Kitties (@inceptionkitties)

30 days of InceptionKitties means 30 questions for the 30 days of Inceptiversary before we draw a random winner on the 31st! A fun question will be posed to the InceptionKitties community each day, and all our cat parents have to do is reblog the post and share their response! There’s no signups or obligation to do all 30 questions. Pick and choose at your convenience! But anyone who tackles 15 days of questions gets entered into the draw for a small prize!

Inception Positivity (@inceptionpositivity)

Submissions open June 24 until July 28. Inception Positivity is a place to send love and kind thoughts to Inception fandom friends anonymously and receive some love in turn. People submit kind messages via Google form and these are turned into colourful posts that are posted on the blog.

Inception Quiz (hosted on the @inceptiversary blog)

July 16 - July 30 Test out your Inception knowledge for a chance at winning some prizes!

Inception Watch Parties (@inceptionwatchparty)

Watch parties will be hosted starting July 1 on the You’re Waiting for a Train Discord server. See above for invite link to the server or contact the watch party mods. For the full schedule and list of films that will be viewed, visit the @inceptionwatchparty​ blog!

Inception Watch Party Bingo (hosted on the @inceptiversary blog)

Come join our annual Inception Day watch parties and play bingo for prizes! Grab a bingo card ahead of time by emailing inceptiversarymods @ gmail . com and enjoy!

[distantlaughter]

Exclusive Interview- Nico Rosberg

Originally published 23 January 2014 on transfermarkt.com (x)

Nico Rosberg has big plans for 2014. The Formula One pilot is desperate for a shot fighting for the Formula One championship and would love to become champion with Mercedes. "It is time for a proper clash" he says in an interview with Transfermarkt. But we spoke to the 28-year-old German mostly about his second love – football. Since he was a little boy Rosberg supports FC Bayern.

Transfermarkt: Why FC Bayern?

Nico Rosberg: Because Bayern were the first club I encountered. Again and again. When I was at my parents there was always football running – every Saturday. There you could see all clubs. But during the week, there was mostly Bayern. I learned to love them during the Champions League evenings – something happened between me and them.

Transfermarkt: And this "relationship" had it´s peak last May in London?

Nico Rosberg: No, unfortunately not. I couldn´t be there as I first had to win my home Formula One race (laughs). The Formula One is not very lenient in that respect. But in the driver´s paddock luckily football is a hot topic and everyone has his favourite club. Felipe Massa for example is also completely crazy about football and so are the English drivers. During the Chmpions League final we Germans obviously had the upper hand! I was extremely happy.

Transfermarkt: Your fondest football memory?

Nico Rosberg: Hmm…probably the summer of 1990. I was only just 5 but I still remember that we were in Sardinia at some friends' place. And our parents were totally taken by the World Cup fever. The final we watched on a boat everyone was edgy and I couldn´t really understand that at my age, but with the final whistle it was pure joy. And I just repaetedly jumped from the boat into the water because I was so happy. I think I even managed my first somersault – long before Miroslav Klose used his as a trademark (laughs)

Transfermarkt: Do you have a Bayern Shirt?

Nico Rosberg: Of course!

Transfermarkt: And what name is on the back?

Nico Rosberg: Via the national team I was able to meet some of the players and they visited us once at the Monaco race. Really great guys! So my problem is: If I had Müller on my kit it wouldn´t be fair towards Robben who I also really like – Or Schweinsteiger. No, I couldn´t decide for one.

Transfermarkt: But a shirt without a name is not cool!

Nico Rosberg: I do have a name on the back: Rosberg. That was the least problematic! (laughs) But seriously, the shirt was given to me by Philipp Lahm with signatures of all players and Rosberg was already printed on the back. I thought that was excellent.

Transfermarkt: Last match in the stadium?

Nico Rosberg: I manage that very seldom. Last time I was seen in the Allianz Arena was in the end of 2011 against Dortmund. Wasn´t so great, we lost 0:1 against Dortmund and the goal was scored by Götze – luckily he now plays for the right club (laughs)

Transfermarkt: At the best club in the world?

Nico Rosberg: Definitely. It is impressive what an extremely strong team has evolved. Now even with international flair through Guardiola. You don´t see a Bayern team as great as this one very often, and only many, many years ago.

Transfermarkt: Is that a motivation for Mercedes to become the best team of Formula One?

Nico Rosberg: That´s difficult to compare. We started building the team up basically from zero. But this phase is past us and it took long enough. It is time for a proper clash now, regarding the results.

Transfermarkt: Do you envy the "winner gene" of Bayern?

Nico Rosberg: No, I think it is about your very own motivation. This will to win every single time. And I can say about myself that I do have that. I am extremely ambitious. I want to solve every task and I am definitely not good at losing. Winning gives me enormous joy and makes me even more hungry for winning again. Whoever wants to get to that feeling needs to have the ambition to come first every time.

Transfermarkt: Are you comfortable with a ball yourself?

Nico Rosberg: Not great, but a little bit. Football has been my second favorite hobby. I played in a suburb of Monte Carlo in a club some years ago. Well, actually I only went to the training as I had cart races every Saturday. But as I said, I am not very talented. I think with racing I have chosen the right path. Funny really, that I was so much better at it. In the end both sports are about similar things. You need eye-foot-coordination for one and eye-hand-coordination for the other. Let´s just say: My foot is better for stepping on the gas then playing passes (laughs).

Transfermarkt: Is Formula One more likely to compare with football where the whole team is working with the star or with Tour de France, where the whole team is working for the star?

Nico Rosberg: Good question, easy answer: The team, the whole machinery is working for two drivers. We are the ones who have to convert the work that hundreds of colleagues have done for month and every day again in the end. And we the drivers drive for our team but also against each other. That is a very special situation. The tactics might change within a season. At some point we start driving together for the team. That is a whole different spirit. Like it was at the end of last season. We just wanted to beat Ferrari in the constructors ranking and come overall second. When we reached this goal it was an amazing feeling for everyone involved. From start to the end of a season the approach can change.

Transfermarkt: Back to Bayern. How many titles will it be this season?

Nico Rosberg: As good as we currently are we should basically win the lot. If in the right moment luck is on our side. Luck plays a big part as well of course.

Transfermarkt: There is a Bayern fan talking. What about the German national team?

Nico Rosberg: They have every chance of becoming World Champions in Rio. What a great goal to look forward to. Seriously, which team is really better than the German team? We have so many so good players. The chance is there, so I think it can happen!

Transfermarkt: But you will only have a chance of watching it on the TV, right?

Nico Rosberg: Yes, it looks that way. TV, live ticker and on the mobile. I seldom miss a match. Even in the engineer meetings I take a look at my mobile or internet-TV - in secret of course, nobody must know…

Transfermarkt: Be careful then. And thanks a lot for the interview.

[whumpinthepot]

Hamster Interactive Story

Chapter 12. Decision

Prev - Masterlist

Content: Giant/tiny, tiny whump, pet trope/whump, kidnapping, cages, loss of mobility aid (prosthetic leg), solitary confinement (non descriptive), manipulation, power dynamics, fear, female cast

Ashley’s Pov

Poll winner: Let Hamster decide what to do with Soap Scrub. 

ART, WRITING, AND POLL UNDER THE CUT

-

A row of ideas fills your mind on what to do with this pest. Just as you’re thinking of chucking the whole jar out, you look at your little girl's face. Hamster’s eyes are full of worried tears and it dawns on you to get her input on the matter.

Placing the jar with the tiny man inside in a different room, you return to converse with Hamster. Admittedly you sway the options in your favour when speaking to her. Picking her up, you wipe her tears and brush back her curly hair. “Do you want him gone sweet pea? I can get rid of him for you,” you roll the words slowly, “Or, would you like a new friend?” A careful smile spreads across your lips while you rub her back gently. “I think he could warm up to us. He could be a new model for our blog. Who knows, if we got rid of him he could get hurt again. He would be safer with us don’t you think?” 

Hamster frowns slightly with pressed lips. You can only guess her worries and reassure her. “Don’t worry honey bunny, I would never let anyone hurt you. Ever. If he’s not nice we can make him go away after all.” 

Hamster hums and then nods her head. She smiles some, and dare you say she’s starting to get excited by the idea. You give her a little kiss on the cheek and explain that it might take some time to become his friend. She’ll have to be patient with him. You also tell Hamster that she gets her cast taken off in the next few days, giving her more to look forward to. 

Once that's settled, you go into the room where the pest was left alone. He’s there in the jar with his head slumped against the glass. He becomes alert when you get closer. 

You rest your arms on the dresser with your face close to the jar to talk to him. “I know it was you who scared her before. Tell me what happened.”

The man reacts exactly how you want, and goes rigid. “I- I never hurt her. Ask her. When she fell off the counter a mouse was going to attack her, and I scared it off.”

“And then?” You raise a thin brow. 

“And then, what? That's all that happened,” he defends quickly. 

You watch him for a second as his eyes dart around, then break the news to him. “I’ve decided to keep you. It's that or I sell you and who knows what could happen to you then. I won’t hurt you as long as you never upset Hamster. M’kay?” 

“You have to be kidding me…” Tears well up in his eyes and he cradles his bandaged hand. “Can’t we make some soft of deal? I- I can do what ever you want if you let me go after. Then you’ll never see me again, I swear.”

Furious, you pull the jar closer just to startle him, who does he think he is trying to negotiate as if he has any leeway. “That is the deal, little boy. You’ve caused a lot of stress to my pet, and now you’ll pay it back to her with nothing but kindness. Do that and I’ll make sure you’re comfortable, well fed, and I won't hurt you. If you don’t, well… I’ll sell you and who knows where you’ll end up. Snake food? Some kids live Barbie doll? Neglected, starved, forgotten in a tiny. Little. Jar?” You tap the glass with your long nail between words. “The choice is yours.” 

The man is left speechless with his mouth gaped open and his hair sticking out everywhere. You take a second to breathe deeply to calm down. The thought that you're taking this overboard clouds over you - but he really did cause a good amount of grief for you last week. "So, tell me your name or I'll come up with one." You smile, feeling just slightly sadistic. "Maybe Rat, Pest, or maybe Hamster can choose."

“It’s Soap.” He chokes out in a tiny voice.

You snort at the strange name, but wild pets are usually an odd bunch so you don’t hound him on it. 

“It's nice to meet you, Soap.”

The next few days you set things up as a precaution. Making sure there are no other wild pets in your home, getting Hamsters cast off, setting up an escape proof cage for Soap, and isolating him just enough for him to crave the company of yourself and Hamster. On the fifth day of leaving him in the dark alone, you enter the spare room to check in. He’s sulking, hidden under a toy that you’ve given him in his cage. 

“Soap?” You use a softer tone than the last time you two spoke, “Are you ready to come out? What would you like to do?” You give him a few options to choose from and offer to give him his doll leg back if he cooperates. 

—-

(Multiple options may be used depending on the top poll winners)

Thank you @alittlewhump for looking over my chapter <3

Tag list: @frogkingdom @verkja @whumpsday @octopus-reactivated @marvel-gt @rsitb-second-account @fallen-grace-smd @winged-wolf-s-collection-of-arts @kyp-the-spacekiwi @ilasknives @hollowgast1 @redd956 @zobodahobo @alittlewhump @blackrosesandwhump @angst-after-dark @sandygarnelle @coppercoyoti @kim-poce @mayisreallygay @smoll-stace @demondamage @vickytokio @whump-in-the-closet @sunshiline-writes @coyotehusk @cypresscove @shadowsnowdapple @whumpy-wyrms @re-whump @whumpninja

[puckleberryfinnie]

covey!reader in the quarter quell (the performance ratings!!)

hey guys!! I’m finally backk <33 I’m soso sorry for the long wait for this, hopefully someone still wants this!! school and life got really intense there for a sec but I think I’m in the clear now so be prepared for lots more to come!!

summary: reader is now forced to go through with the rating system prior to the games, and with some new found anger, she shows off her skills in a very special way

ships: finnick odair x reader, johanna mason x reader

this is honestly not very good writing (especially the dialogue), but i still hope some for you still enjoy my yapping anyway!! anyways, hope you enjoy!!

The week leading up to the performance ratings was an eerie time for every tribute. Yes, people were preparing like they had in their games prior- but no one really wanted to. You, especially, found yourself talking to the likes of Katniss and Peeta more than spending time flinging around a sword, or learning how to properly start a fire. But when Mags, the sweet lady from Finnick’s district, approached you, you felt willing to learn some sort of skill from her-- even if it was just tying a knot.

There was no real dialogue during your conversation, but it was important nonetheless. She’d been in the games right after Lucy- you’d remembered that. You could tell she knew something-- wanted to say it too, something important. The look he gave you, shiny eyes staring into yours. She motioned to your face, a light motion. It took you a second to understand her notions, but then… She wanted you to sing. Of course! Lucy had been every girl’s idol, you knew that for certain. The girls would listen to her sing, mesmerized by such a voice as hers. Not only a year later that voice was taken from them- unexpectedly, when she’d gone missing. It would be no surprise that Mags had heard Lucy sing.

“Oh… sure, Mags. You might know this one-- it’s something she used to sing.”

Mags gave you a light smile, gesturing for you to start. You normally would be standing on the Covey’s rickety old stage, guitar in hand. But despite that you swallowed, briefly looking around before starting to sing quietly. You felt Mag's cold hand grab yours, increasing your comfort.

You're headed for heaven, the sweet old hereafter

And I've got one foot in the door

But before I can fly up, I've loose ends to tie up

Right here, in the old there-before

You continued singing, the lyrics slipping easily from your tongue. You smiled, the feeling of performing coming back to you after so long of silence. These games had momentarily taken your will to sing, and now that you’d started you didn’t want to stop- like a bird flying for the first time.

When I'm pure like a dove

When I've learned how to love

Right here, in the old there-before

When nothing is left anymore

You smiled at Mags, finding an endearing look on her face- a small tear dropping from her wrinkled face. To your side were the lovebirds- one Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, sitting on a bench facing you with an awed expression on their faces. Johanna Mason stood behind them, a smile and raised eyebrows towards you adorning her features. She started walking towards you, passing the recent winners before coming to a stop in front of you.

“I knew you could sing, Songbird- but wow. You certainly are a showgirl in my eyes.”

An arm was wrapped around you from your left. “Mine too. You were phenomenal, darling. What song was that?”

Johanna rolled her eyes from in front of you, crossing her arms in the process. “Don’t you have something’ better to do, Odair?”

Finnick let out a laugh, almost a giggle, leaning his head on your shoulder. “What, didya think you were Y/N’s only fan? That’s not really possible, with the talent she’s got.”

You smiled at both of them, unaware of the arising tension. A stare off match was now occurring, though out of your view point (Finnick’s head being placed almost directly on top of you). “Thank you guys, I appreciate it. Mags wanted to hear something, and I missed the rush of performing, if I’m honest.”

Finnick smirked, something scandalous becoming his next bright idea. “You know you can also get an adrenaline rush if you-”

Attention tributes-- please begin to prepare yourself for the performance rating process. Similar to prior years, you will be placed in order of district. The male tribute will start, followed by the female tribute of the same district. Note that these scores will give you more opportunities to gain help from outside sources- please keep that in mind during your scheduled time. Good luck.

Suddenly flung out of your performing-induced daze, you sighed, shaking your head. The others, too, seemed to be awoken from any prior confort they’d been feeling. Now, all they felt was the dread they’d felt those years before. What hope they’d had before, if any, had vanished at the prospects of the ratings.

Everyone was then, in a mannerly order, district by district, taken to a confined room, steel walls surrounding. Benches had been placed for the tributes' comfort, but most of everyone who was able found themselves pacing, awaiting their turn in the larger room directly attached to the ones they found themselves in. You, however, stood quietly in the left corner of the space, farthest from the door. Johanna, who’d been pacing like the others, noticed you, and walked over before slumping against a wall near you. She stared, her eyes tracing your face. She gave you a look. A sympathetic one, letting you know she knew how you felt. She didn’t say anything, though. She simply grabbed your hand, intertwining your fingers. While the movement itself was quick and rushed, the feeling was soft and sweet. Neither of you said anything, caught in your own thoughts. It was enough to have someone to be with for the time being. Enough to have someone who knew what you were going through. The two of you continued to hold hands, occasionally brushing a thumb across the other's skin for some sort of momentary comfort.

Every once and a while the doors to said room would open, and the next tribute would enter. You watched as Finnick’s name got called, winking your way before entering. Shortly after, it was Johanna’s turn. She looked over at you, giving you a somber smile, slightly swaying your attached hands. You smiled, giving her hand a squeeze, before letting go. It was a sweet moment. With a sweet girl. There was no doubt that you felt nervous about this new feeling. But there was no time for that. The comforts of crushes and romance were stripped away at the prospects of The Games. But it was nice to enjoy this while you could. No matter what happened, you knew. You knew that there would only be one victor. Last year, with Katniss and Peeta, it had been an exception. One that had left the Capital with a mess to clean up. Meaning, in all reality, it would never happen again. Meaning that whatever could grow between you and a tribute wouldn’t. You hated the games for that. It took away your chance to live. You hated Snow more than anything. He’d been the cause, and that was one thing you knew for certain. No matter how the games started, Snow continued it. He fought to bring them something of mass entertainment, so sure of himself. And dear Lucy Gray. She was gone because of him, too. The amount of pain he’d caused for so many years was unimaginable. There were so many people dead under his account. The Covey were never a violent type of people in any respect. But when it came down to it, they were a stubborn group. They would do anything if they put their minds to it. They’d insist on change till they got it. So, in some respects, their stubbornness could be so much worse than some violence in the eye of a challenge.

With your partner's turn ending, you arose from your spot, making your way to the open door. With a breath, you put on that charming smile of yours, entering the examination room. The glass room above held many familiar faces. That main one, however, being Snow.

“I’m supposed to be showing you guys a skill… right? Like demonstrating it for you?” You knew the answer, of course, with the many weapons adorning the room. You looked around, finding axes, swords, spears, and much more. “Too bad there’s no guitar… that’d really show my skills, right?” You looked up at that box, that same smile still on your face, never wavering. “Well… I guess that doesn't really matter, does it? Acapella would do nicely in such a big room like this one. This one’s been sung without any of those instruments before, too, so it’ll be no problem, really!”

“Ms. L/N I suggest you move along with whatever you’re planning. You are on a time constraint, after all,” commented Snow from above. While his voice largely held a tone of annoyance to it, there was also a hint of something else. A warning, maybe.

“Why of course, Mr. Snow! I’ll get a move on with it right away. Wouldn’t want to waste any more of your time.” You said, your smile slightly wavering before gaining its same previous shine. You gave yourself the briefest of moments before looking directly at Snow, starting to sing.

And I'll be along when I've finished my song

When I've shut down the band

When I've played out my hand

When I've paid all my debts

When I have no regrets

Right here, in the old there-before

When nothing is left anymore

This was your talent. Your skill. Back home, this is what kept your family alive. With this being brought up earlier, with Mags, it was the perfect song to sing. Perfect because it was your relatives. Perfect because it had been her song of rebellion. Perfect because Snow knew it by heart, and remembered, too, who it had been. It was showing, too. His face was redder than normal, and his face pulled into a deeper frown.

And I'll catch you up

When I've emptied my cup

When I've worn-out my friends

When I've burned out both ends

When I've cried all my tears

When I've conquered my fears

Right here, in the old there-before

When nothing is left anymore

You bowed, like you normally did when the song finished. “Thank you for your time.” You smiled up towards your small audience and left without another word. As you left on the opposite side you’d entered, you saw Peeta on the other side. He had a smile on his face. He nodded towards you before you exited through the door. Upon exiting, you noticed the multitude of faces looking up towards you. Many had smiles, for doing what you did. For standing up. It wasn’t much, but it meant something to the people who had little left to hope for. You found your way to Johanna, Finnick following behind you.

“Well, Covey girl. I’m not sure how much the singing will do for you in the area, but I know I liked it.” Finnick said with his usual smirk adorning his face.

“Honestly, Odair. Think about it. It’ll help more than you think.” She gave him a look that you didn’t quite understand. There seemed to be some sort of understanding between the two, despite their constant bickering.

Finnick crossed his arms around his chest, looking towards you. “Hm. I guess you have a point. Y/N, if you promised to sing me some lullabies in the arena every night, I’d promise to keep you safe. I mean, I’d do that for you anyway, but it’d be an added benefit for sure.” He laughed to himself, before walking away. “Think about it, Covey!” he yelled out.

“Really, Songbird, it does mean more. It was really powerful. Just look at everyone else in here. They needed something to break the routine like that.”

“Thank you Johanna. It meant more to me too…”

ahhh ok so I hope you liked it pookie!! it was mostly just me yapping on, but I hope you got the general idea of it!!

ps: I’m open to any requests (check my most loved post for ideas <33) so if anyone wants to send anything feel free to do so!! thanks ❤️❤️

tag list (my beloveds 😍):

@randomgurl2326

@marvelescvpe

@h-kitty-world

love ya!!

[yzafre]

who wore it better – 2003 v 2012 episode comparisons

I said I wanted to do this in my 2003 thoughts post, and I’m gonna. I've been picking away at this for a couple weeks now.

I’m focusing on places where they actually recycled a storyline rather than adapted general concepts.  Fugitoid and the space arc is an example of the second method – Robot Scientist with a connection to a Dangerous Machine is a shared concept, but the stories are different.

“Ohhh how did we end up here we’ve GOT to figure out how to get home, our Dad might still be in danger” versus “we HAVE to collect the McGuffins before the enemy or earth is going to EXPLODE. AGAIN.” You know?

Comparing those types of adaptations could be done, but it’s not what I’m interested in here.  I specifically want to look at the places that made me think “oh, 2012 just copied this” while I was watching 2003.

Now, obviously this is extremely subjective.  So take this as me defending my nominations for winner in these categories, rather than some sort of objective truth.  I am presenting my dinky power-point on why you should vote for my favorites.  Ect.  Your preferences may be different!

My ramblings on the episodes got long (should I have split this into parts? maybe! didn't though), so uhhhh...

tl;dr: Scoring got weird at 3.5 to 2003, 3 to 2012, and two draws.

Key takeaways: 2003 better matches my personal tastes, and what makes 2012 good is the stuff specific to its iteration, rather than copying 2003

With all that taken care of, here’s my opinions, in very messy order.

Meet Casey Jones vs The Good, The Bad and the Casey Jones

So, this was the very first episode that made me sit back and go: wait.  This is just.  The same thing? 

Raph loses a fight, loses his temper violently over it.  He then goes out to get some air and runs into Casey, getting into a fight.  Raph goes back and apologizes to his brother, and then they have to deal with the Casey situation.  Eventually they’re friends.

That being said, they do handle things a bit differently inside of those plot points, in a way that makes me very split on which one is better.

So, this episode is doing two things: introducing Casey (at least to the turtles, in 2012’s case), and spotlighting Raph’s anger issues, and the shows handle both of them differently.  So let's look at them:

Raph and his anger

I want to start with the positioning of the episode within the wider series.

This is the 4th episode of 2003.  At this point, they’re still setting up the characters and your understanding of them – so this is really here to say hey, our Raph has a temper, that’s going to be a thing going forward. (I'm watching '87 right now, and while I've heard Raph gets more of his anger late in the series, at the beginning he is... not that. So signaling this for people who might have watched the previous show is valid.)

After this, I don’t remember there being other episodes that are Explicitly About Raph’s anger issues?  That’s not to say there aren’t any – there very well could’ve been some that were just so boring I don’t remember them, which would be a whole other issue – but what I remember of him being, to quote the show, a “hot-head” is integrated into other stories.

For 2012, this is nearly halfway through season 2, and is one of 3 episodes I can think of off the top of my head that at least start out framed as a lesson on Raph’s anger issues.  (The one with the guy that turns into a spider mutant, this one, and…. Okay so I don’t remember the details but I’m Pretty Sure I remember there being another one post-space arc).

Now, in theory this is good – having a sort of long-term journey recurring throughout the series.  In practice… eh. 

This is very subjective, but from the way the topic was constantly put on the shelf until they wanted to use it for an episode, to the way it was all extremely surface level and used mostly for jokes, it didn’t do much for me.

That aside, let’s look at the content of the episode itself:

Raph's anger issues have two different tones here.

2003 Raph’s snapping at Mikey is framed a lot more seriously – and a lot more dangerously – than 2012 Raph going at Leo.  And, accordingly, ‘03 Raph is a lot more horrified at his actions, whereas ‘12 Raph is more petulant, unwilling to fully own up to his mistake.

That carries over to when they’re “getting some air” - ‘03 Raph is blatantly angry with himself, where ‘12 is complaining about his brother’s not getting it.  I do think some of that frustration with himself is buried underneath, but it's interesting to note the difference between how aware of it they are. (Of course, ‘12 also didn’t try to brain his brother over the head with a metal pipe.  So.)

The two different versions also shifted what they chose to have “spelled out” versus implied.  What I mean is.... okay, so ‘03 had Raph explicitly say “What is wrong with me” – that frustration with himself I mentioned earlier – where it’s kind of buried underneath for ‘12.

On the other hand, ‘12 Raph flat out says he wasn’t angry, just “determined to win,” when explaining himself to Splinter, whereas with ‘03 the reasoning comes from Raph’s “You think you’re better than me?” line during the fight (and a bit of Mikey’s taunting, the menace), allowing you to (very easily, let's be real, I don't know that you can really count this as subtext) connect the dots on how it escalated.

So, that leads to their fight with Casey – where they both get carried away, before coming to their senses and questioning what they’re doing (and subsequently getting surprise-attacked).  The difference here is that ‘03, upon calming down, went back to trying to talk some sense into Casey (using the lessons he’s obviously trying to absorb himself), while to me ‘12 Raph just kinda seemed disoriented by it all?

Which. Fair.

Next step: the apology.  VERY different receptions.  The ‘03 brothers greet Raph with worry and care, and take his apology quietly and warmly, whereas for ‘12 they act like this is another Tuesday, a bit dismissive, and tease and taunt him through his apology.  I’m not trying to disparage the ‘12 turtles here – not exactly – more so observing the difference in tone once more.

When people say the ‘03 turtles feel older, I think this is a huge part of it – the ‘12 turtles’ behavior feels very “stupid teenager”.  And I mean that in a genuine, fairly affectionate way.  I remember being that age, I was dumb.  You don’t know how to handle all these strong feelings, you have no impulse control. Also around 2012 I remember being genuine being deeply uncool, so. But ‘03 are demonstrating a higher level of emotional maturity, compared to that, and it does make them feel older.

Anyways, after that you get the reunion with Casey, having very different tones.  ‘03 purposefully tries to reach out and rehabilitate help Casey get himself under control, whereas ‘12 diverges into a surprise attack by the Foot where Raph and Casey bicker their way into teamwork.

Overall, ‘03 takes a more... introspective? Approach to Raph’s anger, where ‘12 flickers between being slightly emotional and using the situation for humor or cool action scenes – it feels like setup for an arc that I never felt we got satisfying payoff for.

For my tastes, I think I prefer ‘03 for the Raph part of the episode, if only because it remains thematically cohesive till the end.  From start to finish, Raph is trying to impart the lesson he wants to learn to Casey.  With 12, it feels like the “Raph’s anger issues” thread got a bit lost/abandoned in building up the Raph-Casey dynamic.

Speaking of...

Casey Jones

I think ‘12 is the better Casey intro episode.  There, I said it.

I know, I know!  It’s not technically where we meet Casey, we already saw him interacting with April (also scenes I like), but... although having finished 2003 I think ‘03 has the better overall Casey (mostly because they give him like. Actual personal connections to the world), ‘12 has the better initial burst of character, in my opinion.

His little intro monologue is so stupid, and I love it.  The skates and the little taser-gloves he obviously put together himself (and the fact that we only got one episode of Donnie and Casey bonding over this kind of engineering is criminal???).

The initiative to follow Raph down, his reactions to Splinter, the entire subway tunnel chase scene, where his and Raph’s rapport is building up... it’s good stuff!  I like it!  Maybe there’s a bit less depth in some places – we don’t get the personal connection with the Purple Dragons, how it ties back to his family – but his character voice, his initiative and impulsivity, and his creativity all come through.

It’s such a shame they didn’t do more to add to his character throughout the series in ‘12, because he had a fantastic early showing.  But then, that series didn’t seem interested in doing that for any of their characters, to me.  Sigh.

But... just looking at the episode itself, I'd give the Casey have to 2012.

So... draw?  Great way to start off, I know.

Shredder Strikes Back vs The Invasion (or: Leo gets thrown through a window)

So, this is a tough competition, we’re gonna have to take this point by point, I mean -

2012.  It’s 2012.  Are you kidding me.

Okay, look.  2012 already has an advantage just on moving this from halfway through season 1 to the season 2 finale, but, I mean... come on.

With 2003, there was barely any build up with the Shredder.  We’d seen him sort of being in charge of the various villains since early on – but the turtles didn’t see that!  For them, he showed up, tricked Leo, Splinter gave some back story, they fought and then Splinter seemingly killed him.  It just... wasn’t that dramatic? To me??

So when you have Leo thrown through the window, whispering “he’s back”, I was just like... I see no reason for this level of dread.  It doesn’t feel that personal, or important, or.... anything, really.  I know 2003 came first, but having watched 2012 beforehand this was kind of a letdown.  Didn’t feel earned.

Now, 2012 on the other hand....

Shredder has been a constant, ever-increasing threat since the moment he showed up in Season 1.  It was already personal with Splinter, yes, but then he also became a subject of looming dread for the turtles themselves.  And it doesn’t come out of nowhere. 

Like, yes, we, the viewers, were aware 2003 Shredder survived, but otherwise he was just hanging out off-screen, doing who knows what.  He wasn’t on the mind.  2012, on the other hand, showed the way Shredder was slowly amassing power, planning for something.

And then you add the Kraang on top of it.

Like, seriously, making this a two-prong threat is. Mwah!  The boys are falling apart, stressed by the time-limit of the upcoming Kraang invasion, disagreeing on how to handle it.  And then the argument gets cut short by their home being discovered – they don’t even get a chance to choose their path together, because they have to run, and everything’s chaos, and they’re still focused on the Kraang.

And that’s when the Shredder comes in.

This is insult on top of injury with everything going wrong that possibly could.  This is an immaculate payoff to the set-up they’ve been doing all season. This is fantastic.

And when Leo is thrown through the window, you feel it – the dread, the horror, the regret.  It really feels like the breaking point of “we can’t take any more” that leads to them retreating.  It has a weight to it that 2003’s version was sorely missing.

When it comes to Leo getting thrown through a window, 2012 takes the win, hands down.  The stakes, the drama, and my investment are all so much higher than they were in ‘03, no contest, it’s my favorite part of ‘12.

What comes after, on the other hand....

Tales of Leo + The Monster Hunter vs Season 3a (or, the Farmhouse Arc)

Maybe it’s unfair to compare 2 episodes to 8 episodes.  And maybe this is diverging from my “only episodes that are directly connected” rule I stated in the beginning, but I need to get this off my chest.  Because I just.  I’m not impressed by 2012’s farmhouse arc. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Warning: rant ahead, this is VERY subjective and heavily based in my personal tastes.  Reminder that I do genuinely enjoy 2012, I just think the farmhouse arc is the lowest point in the whole series and is representative of what I find to be the weakest aspect of the series’ writing across the board.  That being said.

I see what 2012 was trying to do, by drawing out Leo’s recovery over all those episodes, giving the characters some space to breathe.  But they didn’t do it well in my opinion, and honestly the whole thing.  Flounders. 

2012’s best feature is its plot writing, how one episode tumbles into the next, Rube Goldberg machine-style, across an entire season.  But at the farmhouse, they’re removed from the greater plot, and that’s not doing the writing any favors.

And it’s not that the episode ideas are bad – I generally think they’re pretty interesting!  It’s just that without the inter-connected plot, they need something else to push them from “okay” to “exceptional”.  Usually, this would be where deeper characterization and relationship building would kick in instead, but uh.  I don’t personally think 2012 is great at that.

They under-cut the message of the episode with Big Foot, the Casey and Donnie friendship doesn’t really go anywhere after this, every other episode where inter-personal issues are only dealt with on a very surface level become even more obvious and a bit annoying without the greater plot to distract from it. Yes I know this is a kids show, but A:tlA had already finished airing at this point, also on Nickelodeon.

I think there’s a consistent issue with character writing in 2012 where they do what looks like set-up with no intent to ever give a meaningful pay-off or significantly change the status-quo, and that’s very much on display here.

And it’s not that there was nothing good in the season – I liked what they were doing with Raph, and how he was trying to help/encourage Leo, while somewhat bungling it in very realistic ways.  It was a fascinating look at what this Raph acting at his best as the Lancer trope could be, and I genuinely wish they leaned into it more later down the line.

Also, I’m always thrilled to see the Leo-April friendship get some focus, so Eyes of the Chimera was a favorite.  But across the board... the season didn’t wow me, and the longer it went on, the more I could see the cracks.

It all tops off with Vision Quest, which was my biggest disappointment in the entire series, the point at which I had to really stop and reset my expectations on what kind of story the writers were interested in telling.  The summary describes them having to go on a spiritual journey to really face themselves and their weaknesses, and I was so excited!  But then it was just.  Really surface level.  And occasionally confusing.

Raph needs to work on his temper, sure – but how is this any different than any of the other episodes about it?  Do we look at all at where his anger comes from?  A deeper way to handle it?  No, of course not.

Mikey needs to focus, stop getting distracted – I mean, yeah sure I guess.  Not a particularly interesting way of handling it, though.  Also, even if he manages it here, I know it's not going to pan out to the rest of the show, they’re not giving up their easy source of humor for the younger demographic.

And Donnie needs to... stand his ground? What?  I was so caught off guard.  It’s not that it’s completely out of touch, we see him coming up with complex paths to his goals, trying to think his way around of problems, ect, but... it was never really highlighted or presented as a real problem other than maybe the episode on instinct over thinking too hard?  It just felt really disconnected from anything else they were doing with him.  A genuinely interesting pay-off scene, with no solid set-up.

And Leo.  Oh jeez.  My friends.  WHAT is up with how they handled Leo’s knee injury?  The pain is just in my mind? It's not real??  Really???  No, thank you.

Like... I think this was supposed to be a riff on what Splinter says about ‘03 Leo’s coma, and him being trapped in his head due to fear – but because in ‘12 they tied it to an actual, specific physical injury, the execution falls apart. 

(Especially when they use the same flash-effect they used on Leo having issues with his knee of Splinter having issues later in the series but I probably shouldn't take that into account here.)

I mean, his quest is the closest to being satisfying, because they had lain interesting groundwork with his struggle with recovery and his insecurities in previous episodes, but then they just completely bungle it at the end! Argh!

I was so excited for Vision Quest, but this didn't tell me anything new about the characters or progress the characters in any meaningful way! It had no effect on how the characters are written going forward. So – other than some admittedly very cool fight choreography – what was the point?  Was there one??  It felt like putting on the trappings of an emotionally deep story without any of the actual, you know.  Depth.

I am clawing at the walls. Look at all the potential you wasted.

And yes, I’m aware this is all very subjective, and again part of a show for kids, but that’s how it hit me.

The 2003 farmhouse arc, on the other hand, was very short, and I think it benefited from that.  It had two episodes, and it knew what it was doing with both of them.  They felt purposeful, in the larger arc of the story.

First episode: they make their way to the farmhouse, Leo’s in a coma (according to Splinter, one driven by his fear), and his family tells stories of when he was brave/strong as a little kid to try and bring him out.

Wonderful, amazing, I love this episode.  So much character work – both in the past and present!  By going back to when they were kids, it helps us contextualize the turtles’ relationships by making them simpler.

In showing early memories that probably started cementing their views of each other, we see the core around which they developed.  By seeing which memory each brother chooses to present, we get some insight into how they each see Leo.  It gives us a point A to our current point B, which allows us to extrapolate the line between the two, how they developed.

And then you also get the little moments of how the brothers are handling this catastrophic event, how they react to the stress, to seeing their brother so hurt – Raph especially!  It’s pure character work and I love it.

After that, we get one episode of shenanigans, which is both representative of that “space to breathe” after Leo woke up, and also gives space for the B-plot (which is the truly arc-important plot) of Leo, now awake, dealing with his own handling of this stressful situation.

Is the A-plot of this episode quite as good as some of the ideas for the 2012 episodes?  Honestly, no, but just the fact that it’s carrying the Leo recovery story pushes it ahead.  We see Leo struggling with his failure, Raph stepping up to herd him back on the right track – the idea of physically remaking his swords to remake himself!  And, though we don’t know it yet, how hard Leo takes this is great foreshadowing to how he reacts going into his season 4 breakdown.

And then, having done the character work they wanted to accomplish, the writers go back to the main story.  The characterization here matters (and also is good) in a way that whatever is going on in the 2012 farmhouse arc just.  Isn’t. 

In my opinion.

Okay, rant over, winner is obvious, moving on.

Triceratons

Again, we’re not comparing most of the space arcs, as that’s apples to oranges, but there are two episodes that caught my attention:

Rogue in the House vs Dinosaur Seen in Sewers!

Here we've got two episodes where the turtles find a Very Confused Triceraton and trick him into helping them.

I like the 2003 one better.

Honestly, it comes down to the context of the episode.  Rogue in the House comes after the turtles have been in space and when they know more about who the Triceratons are.  2012 on the other hand is a sudden introduction to a new arc.

2003 also... questions the ethics of their decision more, by the end.  It’s a bit more empathetic?  And I appreciate that.

I will give 2012 credit that translating “we’ve been dropped into the middle of a war where both sides are bad” over to be attached to the Kraang, which they’ve built up already as a powerful alien threat, was clever.  It doesn’t have the same edge of commentary that “and one of these sides looks just like us humans” has, but it is clever use of their existing world-building, and I like it.

The Arena vs The Arena of Carnage

The most obvious connection in the 2012 space arc – the turtles get thrown into a gladiator arena.

Now, 2003 does have an unfair advantage in this comparison, as The Arena is heavily bolstered by the set-up work done in The Big House, giving you a sense of place, stakes, connection to the other characters...

That last bit is where my bias and personal taste shows: I really love the turtles making any kind of meaningful connection with other characters, and I find this more convincing in the 2003 version than the 2012 one.

But 2012 also weakens itself in its own right by doing some setup here with no long-term pay off.  You’ve got your fellow prisoner, who turns out to be a Triceraton who objected to the leadership's decisions... and after this episode, that means nothing!  Cool, okay.

Like I get that was a part of the episode they’re pulling from, but if they’re not planning on reusing that long-term story, then they really could have cut that aspect all together.  I know they have enough creativity in them to adapt the concept of “stuck in a gladiator arena” to do something more interesting, they’ve proved they have it in them.  They just... didn’t, and the plot point didn’t translate well.  Ah, well.

2003 also wins this one.

City at War vs... City at War?(???)

Look, I am only comparing these because they use the exact same name.  Otherwise, it’s nowhere near a fair comparison.  For 2012, this is actually part of a couple episodes where they talk about there being a power vacuum after the Shredder is out of the picture, but...

Can we be so real?  They don’t even get close to the scale of 2003.  Like with the farmhouse, it’s not that they don’t have any good ideas – I like the Don Visioso episode quite a bit – but it never gets to the depth or scale I want it to. 

Like, 2003 made it visually obvious that the city is falling apart, that things are really out of control, in a way you can feel. Though, honestly, I’m not even sure 2012 could reach the levels of 2003, because they never put as much effort into making their NYC feel... real?  I guess?

Also, the 2003 City at War arc is just.  It’s really good, guys.  It did such great work on Leo and Raph’s characterization, the danger in the city is palpable, the tension is thick, and then you add Karai on top of it all?

You’d think 2012 could push this, given the added dimensions to Karai and her connection to Shredder, but it ends up falling short.  Point again goes to 2003.

What a Croc! Vs It Came From the Depths (Leatherhead)

So. I am painfully biased, because It Came From the Depths is my favorite 2012 Mikey episode, and I thought What a Croc! was... just okay.

I frequently bemoan that 2012 didn’t lean more into long-form character arcs for their story, and this is one of the central episodes that defined my desire for Mikey’s arc.

The instant compassion and understanding he has for Leatherhead – the way he recognizes and is willing to work with his trauma responses, but also is childishly impatient with the process when it gets messy later on, showing he still has some maturing to do – it's great, and I love it.  I didn’t find the same kind of depth in the 2003 episode.

On the other hand, long-term I like Leatherhead better in 2003, just because he’s more present as ally, friend, or even family.  2012 Mikey’s always excited to see Leatherhead, but you don’t exactly see them hanging out.

But this is about the episode, and for that, I’ll give it to 2012.

Renet (Time Travails + Return of the Savanti Vs Turtles in Time + Tale of the Yokai)

I’ll be real with you, 2003 gains points with me just because this is another example of 2012 poorly shoving in romance. I would like to make it clear – I don’t have an objective issue with the turtles being in romantic relationships.  It’s just... don’t put it in there if the writing's going to be so... bad. And boring. And unnecessary.

Additionally, this particular example put me off a bit more because... hm. Okay, the episode starts with Mikey going “I'm never gonna get caught up in all that!" Only for the show to do the writing equivalent of saying "of course you will, as soon as the right person comes along. And here she is!"

And uhm.  Okay, so, I’m asexual with a big ? when it comes to romance.  So that framing is..... nghghghgh I don't like it. Like I get the joke, but it still gave me the ick.

Also it was another infatuation-at-first-sight situation like Donnie which. Is a romantic trope that is So Stupid, you CANNOT tell me that's how it actually works, I don't believe you, and also it makes for stupid, boring writing. So there.

Ahem.

Once you get past that, there’s points to be made for both episodes.  The way the 2003 turtles find Renet just kind of tiring but can’t help going along with her anyways is very funny to me, but 2012 lets them do Tales of the Yokai, and I enjoy the concept of them getting to see what Actually Happened Back Then, rather than just hearing subjective stories of it.  Adds some texture.

I dunno on this one – if it’s Time Travails vs Turtles in Time, 2003 wins, but once you move on to Tale of the Yokai I give it to 2012.  Call it a draw?

Loosely inspired by

Okay. So. These are things where I can’t say “Oh, they were just doing this story again”, but where I think there might have been some heavy inspiration.  Your mileage may very on these, and you could think I’m completely wrong, but I thought they’d be interested to talk about.

Even if they are from Back to the Sewers.

The Engagement Ring to The Power Within Her

April gets magic jewelry that possesses her, goes on a rampage?  Admittedly, the set-up is very different, as is the tone, but... well, you have to wonder.

I thought The Engagement Ring was one of the better episodes of Back to the Sewers, but as entertaining as it was, I’m still going to give this to 2012, I think.  I like things that have more build-up to them, and they did pretty good at setting up this episode ahead of time, building up that dread.  And it just did more with the concept, you know?

Also, it fit well into my interpretation/re-write of April’s character, so.

Identity Crisis to Brain Worms

I mean.  Turtles get brain-washed by the Foot, have to be broken out of it by being reminded of memories/who they were.  Methodology of the brainwashing is very different, admittedly, which is why I put this down here rather than in the main section!  But it’s similar enough for me to connect them.

This is another situation where I think 2012 took a concept and further developed it.  The brain worms are fantastically gruesome, and really treated like the existential horror it should be.  The amount of fics I’ve seen expanding on the brain-worms concept is proof of how it hooks in people’s brains.

Another point to 2012.

Conclusion

So let’s run a tally.

I'm not sure the two Back to the Sewer episodes count, but I also maybe have broken my rule on the farmhouse arc... I guess we could count those as half points?

Casey Intro: Draw

Window: point 2012

Farmhouse: half-point 2003

Lost triceraton: point 2003

Gladiator arena: Point 2003

City at War: point 2003

Leatherhead intro: point 2012

Renet: Draw

Losely inspired: cumulative point 2012

So that's... 3.5 for 2003, 3 for 2012, and two draws? Pretty close.

Realistically, I think these should be the two takeaways from my opinions:

First, 2003 better matches my personal tastes. I'm a character arc girly, and 2003 gave a lot more attention to that aspect of their writing than 2012 did, and that affects my opinions. See: the Vision Quest rant.

Second, what makes 2012 good is the stuff that’s specific to its iteration.

The way they adapted the Hamato Yoshi backstory from 2003 to be about Splinter and Shredder, making Karai Splinter’s stolen daughter, and how that whole plot line plays out.  The way they make the Kraang a whole organization, and their alliance with Shredder.  The full season, Rube-Goldberg machine buildup of plot.  These are all the thing that make it excel.

So... yeah. That's my thoughts. Your opinions might be different, and - if you're nice about it, please - I would love to hear your thoughts on what I've said, which episodes you like better, and why you like them! Shows hit different people, well, differently!

[futbol16]

Happy New Year  • Alexia Putellas

Request:  Could you write a fic where reader posts a picture of her kissing someone but you can't see who, Alexia also posts a picture in the same location and fans go crazy trying to figure out if the person reader is kissing is Alexia

Word count: 930

Your phone vibrates on your nightstand for the umpteenth time and you quietly groan as you reach for it. Alexia shifts in your arms as you do so, tiredly opening her eyes.

“Are you this popular every morning?” she sleepily jokes to which you only hum with a nod of your head.

“But I haven’t been on the pitch the past week and we didn’t have media day” you mumble as you look back at her, eyebrows furrowing in confusion “I don’t know what’s going on” the brunette next to you lets out a breathy chuckle and moves further into you to burry her head in your shoulder like that would help her get back to sleep. You smile down at her before you unlock your phone, giving yourself a minute to adjust to the brightness. Somewhat aimlessly you scroll through the notifications until one of them catches your eye, an article of sorts.

Loved-up Ballon D'or winners?

Barcelona superstars Y/N Y/L/N and Alexia Putellas found love on the pitch?

Read more

“What?” you murmur to yourself, the midfielder momentarily looking up from her place in your neck but you shake your head at her. You weren’t sure if this was one of the many dating rumors or someone actually found out about the two of you. 

The device in your hand vibrates again and you finally click back to your most recent post that the fans seem to be hooked on. It wasn’t a usual post from you, actually it was one you thought over long and hard whether you should post it or not, but you have. You stare at the picture for a second with a small smile. Although not much was visible other than you and the sea behind you, it was very obvious that you had someone in your arms. 

That someone was Alexia, but you didn’t think the fans would somehow figure that out because you couldn’t see her face in the photo. What you could see though was your arms around a girl’s waist, said girl’s arms around your neck holding you close in a slightly leant back position. And with your own head covering her face it didn’t take a genius to realize the two of you were kissing.

Still, people couldn’t have just guessed who was in your arms, not without proof and so you decide to take a look at the comments of your Instagram post.

Pretty sure our favorite woso dating rumor just got confirmed! Look at the location tagged and then Alexia’s post!

¡Ay dios mío, estaban en la misma playa! (Oh my God, they were on the same beach)

This is the best thing today after Christen’s Preath photo dump!

You groan aloud as you mentally facepalm yourself. You knew it wasn’t smart of you to post the location of the picture but you hadn’t thought Alexia would post anything. But she had, a picture of her standing next to a palm tree with a sign pointing to the direction of the beach you had posted your picture from. She does look really pretty though, but when does she not.

“What is it mi amor?” your girlfriend seems much more awake now as she looks at you questioningly and you wordlessly hand her your phone. She stares at you confused for a second until you voice your thoughts.

“I think they’ve found out about us” you quietly tell her, afraid of any type of reaction. The two of you hadn’t talked a lot about going public, both of you were very private about your personal lives and you wanted to keep your relationship to yourselves. Only your closest friends knew about it, your teammates. 

“I’m sorry Ale, I know this isn’t how you wanted this to go and I know we wanted to keep it quiet but I just liked the picture so much… and I ended up posting it” you start your apologies, genuine worry written all over your face. Your words die in your throat as the brunette slowly starts smiling a smile that turns into a fond look. 

“Ale? I really am sorr-” you’re cut off by her lips on yours, lips you’d never deny a kiss from and you melt into her warm body as her thumb strokes your cheek.

“It’s okay querida, it was bound to happen at some point. I’m actually happy it happened now, I know we said we wouldn’t come out to the world yet but I’ve been waiting to finally get to show you off as my girlfriend. And anyway, I probably would have posted a kiss from midnight of new years by accident” the two of you giggle at the admission and all of the worry from before leaves your body. 

“I’m surprised we kept it between us for this long, two years huh?” you cheekily smiled at her as she took you in her embrace. 

“The best two years” she gets out before she pulls you into her again and the two of you get lost in each other. 

Two days later your phone is once again going off, Alexia’s in a similar state next to yours on the coffee table. Except this time there’s nothing for the fans to figure out because your love for each other is clear as day. The picture of the two of you kissing with fireworks going off behind you is one you will cherish forever and the football community seems to feel the same way.

“Happy new year my love”

“Feliz Año Nuevo mi amor”