#but ye these are some good murphy vibes

[queenshelby]

Yes! Mr Murphy (Rewritten)

PART 26: THE ARTICLE

Pairing: Cillian Murphy x Reader

Warning: Lots of Angst, Age Gap, Teacher x Student, Pregnancy Loss, Infertility

After you picked up the paper and read through the short-winded article, you could not help but feel nauseous again.

Seeing Cillian kiss his assistant like this made you sick, and you quickly realised that you were not wrong when you got a bad vibe from Kit, making you uncomfortable.

You also wondered whether, during your short-lived relationship with Cillian, he engaged in anything intimate with her. That would not have surprised you, considering that Kit had always had it out for him.

Kit clearly loved the attention as Cillian was not the first actor she was dating and you were curious as to what made her an excellent personal assistant for him. Was she more than that, even when he was married to Danielle? You were unsure and you knew that you should not care.

He had ended it with you and yet, you felt appalled and disgusted by his actions.

Filled with pain medication making you not think relatively straight, you picked up your phone and sent Cillian a photo of the article you read with the note saying “I am disgusted, but not surprised”, immediately following which Cillian called you.

“What is that supposed to mean? You are disgusted, but not surprised?” he asked, seeing that the article had made you upset as, even now, on the phone with him, you were crying.

“It means that I was right. There was always something about her, but you brushed it off when I mentioned it” you told him in a teary voice, causing Cillian to sigh but not answer.

“Did you sleep with her?” you asked after his long silent pause, knowing this was none of your business.

“What does it matter?” Cillian asked almost defensively, causing you to take in a deep breath.

“I will just take this as a yes,” you told him before allowing yourself to curse loudly so that everyone in the room could hear you. “Fuck, Cillian. Why?” you asked but, again, knew that he did not owe you any explanation.

“Because I have been trying to get you out of my fucking head Y/N” Cillian explained with much emotion in his voice but, of course, this made no sense to you whatsoever.

“So, it is my fault that you slept with your assistant?” you chuckled in disbelief, resulting in Cillian backtracking.

“Listen Y/N, I don’t have to explain myself to you. I slept with Kit, yes, but none of this is any of your business. We are not together anymore” Cillian told you and you could not help but ask him whether he had slept with her in the past as well, namely when you were dating each other.

“Of course not. Why would you even ask that?” he wondered and, again, you stated that she had always shown an interest in him, which was something he clearly was too blind to see.

“Okay. Well, at least I know that you have moved on, so that is good for you” you then told Cillian with some sadness in your voice and he asked you again whether it was still all right for him to bring Nina in to see you to which, of course, you agreed.

“Yes, sure. Just, please don’t come in with her. I cannot see you right now because, if I do, I might say something wrong, which would not be fair to Nina. She doesn’t need to know about any of this” you explained to Cillian as tears continued to stream down your face.

“Say something wrong? Like what?” Cillian asked, oblivious to the fact that you were hurting.

“Fuck Cillian, two weeks ago you told me that you loved me. Then you take it all back because of my age. Now I am in the hospital and find out you fucked your PA. How do you think this makes me feel, huh?” you cried before telling him that you were still upset after what happened and that him sleeping with Kit was your final straw. There was no coming back from this and you told him you were hurt by his actions which made Cillian gasp for air.

“All right. I will wait outside. I am sorry” he barely managed to say which is when you hung up on him and he started to curse.

Dropping back into his seat, Cillian sighed as tears in the corner of his eyes began to build up again, this time from knowing how much he had indeed hurt you. It had been two weeks since you parted ways and he never expected to find himself in a situation where he could not cope.

He knew very well that, over the past two weeks, he had been acting destructively and this included the fact that he had slept with his assistant Kit which, if it were not for his heartache and pain, he would not have done.

He regretted it and now, his mistake was already haunting him as even his daughter and ex-wife had brought up the article this afternoon.

Explaining the situation to Nina was, of course, almost worse than explaining the situation to you, and what Cillian did not know was that his daughter had grown to like you much more than she should have.

She also knew much more than she should have and, seeing her father upset, did not bother her much as, in Nina’s mind, it served him right.

“Are you and Kit a thing now?” she asked, before revealing to him that she would not like him to date a woman like Kit who, to this date, had always been a throne in her mother’s eye.

“No, we are not a thing. We just fooled around and it was stupid. I made a mistake” Cillian admitted carefully, trying to gauge the situation. He did not want to upset his daughter and had to be mindful not to hurt her feelings.

“Well, I suppose you are old enough to make your own decisions and certainly not too old to make mistakes, so I guess that’s fair,” Nina said wisely, knowing that her father was feeling bad about what happened. It was evident from his voice and demur and this somehow concerned her.

“I think we are never too old to make mistakes, Nina. In fact, I made many in recent weeks” Cillian admitted, referring to the fact that he had hurt you.

“Was breaking up with my dance teacher one of them?” Nina asked, catching her father by surprise, and causing his chin to drop. He wondered how she knew and why she had not said anything about it previously.

“What are you talking about?” he thus asked, again gauging the situation and, in the end, Cillian was surprised to learn that Nina knew along, ever since he started dating you.

“Come on Dad. I am not stupid” Nina told him, chuckling.

“No, seriously Nina, what are you talking about?” Cillian asked, still pretending that there had been nothing between you and him.

“I found some of her clothes with mine about a week ago when granny visited. She thought they were mine, from the dance academy, but I explained to her that they were not and placed them back in Y/N’s locker when I got to class. I don’t think she ever noticed. Also, the necklace with the Beatles quote she is wearing? It had to be from you. Only you are so weirdly romantic that it hurts” Nina laughed and, just as she explained to her father how she came to know about his relationship with you, he cursed.

“Fuck” he said, causing Nina to break out in even more laughter than before.

“Watch your language, Dad!” she lectured him and he admitted to her that he had, indeed, recently broken up with you.

“Yeah, breaking up with your dance teacher is one of the stupid things I have done Nina” Cillian told his daughter and, of course, she had questions.

“Did you not like her anymore?” she asked, wondering why her father had broken up with you.

“No, I still liked her very much but she is a little too young for me, sweetheart. It was not going to work” Cillian told his daughter who simply shrug her shoulders, knowing that she had to stay out of her father’s love life.

“All right. That’s your choice Dad” she thus said. “I can still like her though, right?” Nina then wondered.

“Of course. She is a wonderful person and there is no reason for you not to like her. Despite, she is your dance teacher and you love dancing, so who am I to get in the way of what makes you happy, hmm?” Cillian reassured Nina before hugging her and, since she was no longer into this kind of parental affection, she pulled away and told him it was time to head to the hospital.

***

An hour later, Nina and Cillian arrived with two books for you to read and a box of chocolates.

Seeing how upset you were earlier, Cillian remained outside, by the door while Nina walked in to see you, glancing back at her father with confusion.

“Dad? Are you coming?” she asked, but Cillian shook his head, telling Nina that one person at the time was enough. According to him, you still needed some rest.

Nina, of course, did not believe his reasoning and wondered whether the separation between you and her father was not on so amicable terms.

This, of course, was the case but both you and Cillian shielded his daughter from your disagreements with each other. This was the right thing to do and, since you liked Nina a lot, it was not very difficult either.

With that in mind, you hugged Nina and thanked her again for pretty much saving your life that day which was something that embarrassed her.

Like her father though, she did not like attention and thus quickly changed the topic.

Thus, you talked about dancing for a while and engaged in some jokes about life and a book you had both read before it came to your mind that you were sent a video of Nina’s recent solo by one of the other dance teachers.

“Can I see?” Nina asked and, of course, you showed it to her, not only once but twice, and, still, she criticised herself whereas you thought she did fantastically.

“Can Dad come in and see it?” Nina eventually asked and, even though you did not want to be anywhere near Cillian, you agreed, simply for her sake.

“Yes, of course” you thus said, pretending to be unbothered by Cillian’s presence as Nina called him inside.

“Y/N has a video from the training on Thursday which one of the other dancers took,” she told her father who, cautiously, approached you.

“Yes, come and have a look,” you told him, making him feel more comfortable.  “I was still in action then and Nina did amazing with the solo. She is showing so much emotion on stage now” you explained to Cillian who appeared to be very proud of his daughter as he watched the video.

“Can you send this to me so I can share it with Danielle?” he even asked and, of course, you nodded.

“Sure” you said before Cillian thanked you and told Nina that it was time to go, which was something she did not want to do.  She wanted to stay a bit longer and engage in conversation with you but her father was adamant that he had to go home as he had a meeting at six o’clock.

“A meeting with your assistant isn’t a meeting, Dad. She can work around you. Just tell her to come later” Nina told her father, knowing that Kit was supposed to come around to discuss the upcoming release of Oppenheimer and his interview schedule.

“I am sure Kit and your father have a lot of important things to discuss” you couldn’t help but say sarcastically before telling Nina that, if it was all right with her parents, she could return the following day for another visit.

“Okay Y/N. Take care” Nina told you before giving you yet another hug and, with that, Cillian and her left to go home and meet with his assistant.

***

At around 6 o’clock, Kit arrived at Cillian’s apartment and, as usual, she was punctual and on time.

As soon as she entered though, she attempted to give Cillian a kiss who quickly pulled away. He told her that his daughter was staying with him, as she already knew, which meant he could not interact with her this way.

Kit, of course, was disappointed, and even though Nina saw Kit’s attempt to kiss her father, she did not say anything, but disappeared in her room, smashing the door shut behind her.

“She seems angry” Kit pointed out before, finally, taking her chances. She pressed her lips onto his in haste and, again, Cillian pulled away.

“Kit, stop. This is not going to work” he told her, to which she sighed with frustration.

“Why? Because we work together?” she assumed, but this was not his reason.

“No, because I am not over Y/N and I don’t think I will be for quite some time. I love her and she...never mind…” Cillian stammered causing Kit to become angry.

“She just what?” Kit asked, trying to contain her emotions while pretending not to care about Cillian’s words.

“She saw the article in the paper, about us and she did not take lightly to it” Cillian explained, causing Kit to laugh.

“So what? You are not together anymore!” Kit pointed out, but Cillian remained firm.

“Still. She just had a miscarriage and I honestly need some time to digest all of this. Nina likes her and I miss her” Cillian explained before regretting telling Kit about your matters which, at this point, he did not know she would be using to her advantage soon.

“Fine. I mean, it was and would always be just sex Cillian. I can get that from someone else” Kit chuckled, telling Cillian not to worry about it.

“So, we are good?” Cillian asked, wanting to ensure that Kit could still be working for him as she had been an excellent assistant thus far.

“Of course, we are good. Let’s forget anything ever happened, okay?” Kit told him before diving right into Cillian’s work schedule.

“Okay, grand” Cillian confirmed with a smile, and without knowing that, later that night, Kit would take it upon herself to send an email to your place of work, using a fake email address.

“Dear Mr Beasly

I am writing to you as it has come to my attention recently that one of your dance teachers has engaged in intimate relations with one of the parents who, to this date, is still married.

Her name is Y/N Y/LN and the parent she got involved in is Nina Murphy’s father. Now, considering Mr Murphy’s status, I believe that this could and would reflect poorly on your establishment if their affair was to become known, especially since, recently, the said Miss Y/LN had undergone a pregnancy termination.

My suggestion would be to have Miss Y/LN resign on a favorable redundancy package, which includes the signing of a nondisclosure agreement.

Your sincerely;

A Concerned Parent”

[gabessquishytum]

Ferdinand Kingsley in Reacher is doing very wrong things to my head. I swear to god I do not normally find arms smugglers appealing in any way & do not even like military/copaganda shows & am thoroughly ashamed. But I've been thinking like... what if Hob is a gun guy with a progressive club that trains/protects marginalized groups (like Trigger Warning Queer & Trans Club: https://www.facebook.com/triggerwarninggunclub/ or any of these here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/22/if-others-have-rifles-well-have-rifles-why-leftist-groups-are-taking-up-arms )

And ok, he's totally not a SMUGGLER (hates that word) but he will SOMETIMES help someone get a weapon who needs to protect themselves but can't because of bullshit convictions — like sex workers or people who've gotten caught up in spurious War on Drugs(/Poverty) crap or honestly just the racist system, whatever. And his background checks are like 1000x more careful than any of the usual gun show loophole-riddled checks anyway, & everyone who gets a weapon knows they'll have to answer to him if they go bad with it.

But mostly he's a friendly face teaching new folks their way around a weapon when they've literally never held one before or have only ever been to ranges full of 'phobes where they felt even less safe.

And maybe one day he comes across this skinny wild-haired Murphy shooting cans in the woods because things have gotten bad & he feels even LESS safe than he has his whole life here & he knows he's on his own to defend himself — it's not like reporting it would do any good, the Burgesses are too powerful in this little town & even his own family isn't that helpful. And Hob is like "Woah, woah, woah, where is your ear protection and also how about moving this safely to a range, my friend!" But he has to do some convincing because Murphy only ever knew about the 'phobe-filled ranges and has a hard time believing that someone would actually want to help/protect him & not have shitty views. And honestly Hob is SCARY attractive — emphasis on scary because Murphy has only ever known the worst kind of open-carry gun guys & actually come to think of it maybe shifting to a more populated location is wise...

And anyway, Hob is fucking great actually, and makes Murphy feel safe & introduces him to everybody at the local group & personally sees to his training, which is how they start really getting to know each other & boning all the damn time. And when Murphy moves into Hob's apartment, he feels safer than he ever has in his life.

And the Burgesses back the fuck off because they are cowardly fuckers at heart & honestly it turns out there are more people willing to stand up to them than they thought.

Queer Hob who hunts down homophobes in the woods for sport... hmm yes im vibing with this!! The thing I love about a.m in Reacher is the ✨️eroticism✨️ of the way he kills people. It's so gorgeous and there's a definite queer spiciness about him.

So yes Hob is a queer guy who is absolutely sick and kind of jaded by the way he's been treated him whole life, and he's determined to spread his self defence skills as far and wide around the gays as possible. When he finds out about the Burgesses and all that bullshit he's actually quite excited to teach lil baby gay Murphy to shoot and stab (when necessary). Hob doesn't have any intentions towards the young man, because he definitely is young and Hob doesn't really do relationships these days... but once he sees Murphy all kitted out and getting into Hob’s little group of gun toting gays, mud streaked on his cheeks and stomping around in his big boots!! Hob’s heart melts!!

Meanwhile Murphy is going weak at the knees over the older, slightly grizzled, VERY sexy man who's hands are covering his, teaching him how to point and shoot the gun, how to be safe. If Murphy falls asleep thinking about those hands in other, more intimate places... who's gonna blame him?

And if he ends up planting himself right in Hob’s lap when they sit down after target practice, that's his business. The way Hob wraps an arm around his waist to keep him safe gives him a good feeling about the future, anyways <3

[songbird-oracle]

Live thoughts watching Fantasy High Junior Year episode 5

Spoilers ahead

Im so nervous already about Cassandra

These dudes getting swole

It IS spicy tonight in the dome

Screaming

I WANT A BOGGY KISS

OH FUCK SHES HOLD MONSTERING KRISTEN

THE SECURITY COMING THROUGH OH SHIT

“Do you want me to kill that guy for you 👀” vibes

OH NO PLEASE NO NIGHTMARE KING OH NO OH NO

I’m Shittering my pants rn

No not the girlies!

Located in the astral mall, This place has *everything*. Ripped valley girls, a goddess and prophet and familiar going through a very tumultuous time in their relationship, a frog wearing a paper hat, and a weird ass clock

I live for the hangman banter

Oml I love the Yarrbucks coffee art

LOU HOLY SHIT

BOX OF DOOM DC5!? The stakes are seriously so high though

Okaaaaaaaay 13 works ig

“Does she need scratchies?”

Wooo Murph!!

THE STAR TALKS!?

I love Emily’s reaction to “banging out a 1st level spell”

Riz sadly flossing

Oh no Kristen oh no Cassandra!

No stop attacking Cassandra!!!!

🎶non-a-crits🎶

Thank goodness no failures

Break it up guys come ooooooooon

Damn, man needs strudel with sauce at a time like this

Profiling the minis 🤣

NOT THE TAP DANCING

“I don’t think you’re scared, I think you’re mad. And that’s okay” I’m sobbing

YES THE FUCKING SECURITY DETAIL

Kristen is so low, oh no

A 0 initiative 🥲

FUCK THIS IS WHAT RAGHS MOM ABSORBED!?!? Gorgug is the greatest wizard of our time

Abjurative grammar is prescriptive. Iykyk.

I knew the DC would be high

NAT 20 BEARDSLEY IN THE FUCKING HOUUUUUUUSE

YESSSSS HEALED CASSANDRA 😭

Oh fuck oh fuck bad stars

Let it out Cassandra, feel your feelings

Oh my goodness, philosophers scone

OOP PAUL BLART INTERGALACTIC MALL COP

It’s not the nightmare king??????

41 damage each, damn Adaine

We aren’t even half way through guys

BAHAHAHAHAHHA playful picking on Riz

Mass dispelling?? Damn

????? TUMMY ACHE SURVIVOR????

THE SHRIMP!!!!!!

Why is Fig a walking embodiment of Murphy’s law rn???

WHAT THE FUCK

NO NO NO DID GILEAR STEAL HER LUCK??????

IS THIS QUADRANGLE FUCKERY??????

Okay it’s just a curse

WAIT WHAT???

Cloaca why 😂

Whoopsies, shattered the shatter star

Oh fuck, rage Adaine is scary dude

Is this some rage and revenge deity??

Anyone but Conor

BAHAHAHAHAHA “no no, this is gonna happen”

“Stay hot Conor”

NOT KALINA NO

RAGH??????

Not the shimmy

WHAT IS KALINAS AC

44 DAMAGE??

Old Fabian

Legend has it the wizard is still waiting for his strudel with sauce

WHAT THE FUCK NO NOT CASSANDRA NO NO NO

“Unfortunately stop flossing”

COMPELLED DUEL ON KALINA OH FUCK

3!!!!! Woooooo!!!!!

Worst mall cop ever, Paul Blart would never

🤣 “is that not property damage??”

I’m so scared for Cassandra guys

Kristen and Cassandra are down oh no 🥲

BARDIC SHRIMPSPIRATION

NO NAT ONE NO NOOOOOOOO

Somewhere Katja Cleaver is raging because Conor Counterspell said he hates horses

A ball. Not *the* ball

ARMOR ZOMBIE AND LICH IM LIVING FIR THESE NAMES

Bards and Noble 🤣

Kristen coming in with the hugs

Box of doom has been working hard this episode

Shake out the bad ones

Screaming crying throwing up

I can’t look

Dammit Murph

Ecaf again

“What are you talking about girlieeeee?”

Brendan’s stare scares me

FUCK

Strudel for the win Girlie!!!

“One more roll girlie 🤪”

Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no circle of death oh no

COUNTERSPELL MY BELOVED

“How old are you” “45” “gross”

WAIT WHAT TIME REVERSE TO- TEN SECONDS

Conor, you’re the best secret service agent ever

WHAT????? WHERES CASSANDRA??????

WHAT????????

I’m so fucking scared right now

Wait is Cassandra a triple goddess? Like how Hekate is a triple goddess, is Cassandra one? Cause Cassandra, Nightmare king, and a divine thing that isn’t a different divinity?

I want to enjoy “we got that bad boy buttered” but I can’t 🥲

Dead stare 🥲

I love Hangman 🥹

Feral Murph

NAT 20 SHRIMP JUMP

Thousand yard stare

Best shrimp jump ever

Maximum legend

That’s right, kick flip the system

Fuck KandyKorn Lullaby

See you at Basrars, I’ll be sobbing into my ice cream

[serenpedac]

OC in 15 - Yael Greene

rules: share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. Bonus points for just using dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well!

Thank you @aztarion, @topaz-carbuncle and @serially-wayhaven for tagging me, I loved reading the ones for your OCs so much! I'm stealing Lucille's idea for adding a link to the fic (if posted) where the quotes are from ^^

“I understand,” she whispers. She turns around before he can see her break down completely. (x) 

“In case you haven’t guessed, and I know you have, you were distracting me. I was thinking that you look very beautiful when you’re concentrating. Very beautiful and very distracting and I would like to—” She shakes her head. “No, one thought.” (x) 

“You know I’ve always wanted a sister?” “Would be fun, yeah? Good thing you have—” Farah falls silent, realisation spreading over her face. “Me. Oh, that’s what you meant, isn’t it?”

“But don’t you see, we shouldn’t have to find them. No one should have been taken in the first place. All they want is me.” (x) 

“Or you could… demonstrate?” She bites her lip, his gaze flickering to her mouth at the movement. “Right now?” (x) 

“Hmm, yes. Yes, you did. But it’s part of what makes it romantic, don’t you think? Being lost in the throes of passion, forgetting about anything else. No thinking, only feeling, feeling…”  (x) 

“I don’t think I need to make any wishes tonight, you know. Not when you’re already here with me.” (x)

“Are you sure there’s still space for me between all the bubbles?” (x) 

“Just like me. And each mark tells a story, some are good and some are bad and some might be sad or funny, but they are all part of its history, you know? In trying to remove that it felt like, like they were telling me everything was fine. That Murphy never. That I wasn’t changed.” (x) 

Do you, can you maybe understand? Just a little? (x)

After a few deep breaths, Yael places her hand on top of Morgan’s. “Thank you. I appreciate it.” With a wavering smile, she adds, “I appreciate you.” (x)

“My car didn’t die, it’s just… ill. Yes, it’s ill.”

“You should go help them. I’ll,” she swallows, “I’ll be fine.”

He breaks the kiss when she shivers against him. “You’re getting cold, darling.” “Are you going to follow that one up with a proposal to warm me up?” (x) 

“You could have escaped,” Nate says, vehemently. “You should have escaped.” Tears of anger and frustration burn hot in Yael’s eyes. “I couldn’t. How was I supposed to just leave you? You were— I thought—”

(Yes, nr 10 is me cheating, but letters are a kind of dialogue, right?) Tagging anyone who wants to do this really, but also: @evilbunnyking, @nat-seal-well, @agentnatesewell, @wayhavenots, @ellstersmash, @fauville, @nsewell, @sustainably-du-mortain, @lykegenia, @lukas-du-mortain

[lorata]

hi bestie!!

I’ve been rereading your district 2 stories bc duh they’re amazing and I’m currently wondering if you have any visual references for the characters and how you think they look :3 specifically Claudius.

but yes, thank you for completely changing my perspective of district 2 and making Lyme one of my favorite hg characters. ily. <3

oh yes i am famously bad at physical descriptions and sometimes change them completely years after i've written a character sorry!

HOWEVER yes claudius i do have one, long-time readers will know that murphy from the 100 has the essential Claudius Arena vibe

D's hair is more dishwater than true brown BUT it would look fairly similar in the Arena given all the grease and dirt, and then lighten back up once he's out and washed, so really this is a pretty good representation.

WAIT TUMBLR'S SEARCH IS GARBAGE BUT I FINALLY FOUND SOME OTHER POSTS YAY FOR NOT REPEATING MYSELF

long post with pictures here, older short one with no pics here

(I keep repeating these because I can never find the ones where I've talked about this before lol)

[evenmyhivemindisempty]

behold my very biased and arguably baseless list of where I think BHol’s characters fall on the Kinsey Scale:

The Corinthian: 3. Comics Corinthian is another matter, but the one Holbrook plays?? This man nightmare is pannnn

Cap Hatfield: X. I am always of the completely unfounded belief that Cap would very much like to roam in the woods and occasionally jerk off to nature sounds and have nothing to do sexually with anyone thankyouverymuch

Clement Mansell: 2. Yeah, he’s mostly into women. Yeah, he also does sometimes go out to get his dick sucked at a glory hole. He has cruised before. He actively is nursing a big crush on Raylan Givens.

Quinn McKenna: 1. Yes, he’s into women. Yes, at a certain point a hole is a hole. (And hey, good soldiers give their brothers-in-arms a helping hand in exchange! Only fair.) Firm believer that what happens in the desert stays in the desert.

Klaber: 5. Idk why, but I get mostly single-target sexuality vibes from this dude, and he seems laser focused on his boss

Ty Shaw: 3. This baby is just so wildly down! He gives off the exuberant touchy-feely vibes of a golden retriever bisexual who’s finally gotten to go to his first pride parade and the gays are liquoring him up. He’s totally surprised girlfriends by being hella down for MFM threesomes

Cal: 5. I would’ve said a 6, but apparently he checks out a girl in Bikeriders, so he gets bumped down! But. The single earring?? The fact that he’s a California transplant?? Holbrook’s interview where he says that Cal’s afforded some leeway on certain things because he’s the mechanic?? Gayyyy

Donald Pierce: 5. Holbrook based his accent and mannerisms off of the famously gay Tennessee Williams, and he ain’t one bit subtle with his crush on Logan. But also canonically involved with Gabriela Lopez! Basically confirmed: Pierce is mostly into men but demisexual for the right girl.

Steve Murphy: 6. This boy is so deep in the closet Javier Peña really ought to launch a rescue mission. Him flashing lovestruck eyes at his partner and then coming home and basically giving Connie a respectful head nod?? He has made a career of sublimating his queer desires into being the very bestest DEA agent ever. He might actually have a heart attack if a man kissed his cheek.

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: American Horror Backrooms

Ryan Murphy: hey everyone it's me ryan murphy! Brad Falchuk: and I'm ryan murphy! Murphy: and we're back with another exciting American Horror Story Murphy: with me! Brad Falchuk! Falchuk: and me! Brad Falchuk!

Murphy: we're doing an official backrooms adaptation! you guys all love the backrooms don't you? Koontz: oh! oh! i love the backrooms! Barker: oh yeah dean loves the backrooms Barker: you just put on the youtube vids and bam he's occupied for hours

Poe: i don't know that you should leave dean unsupervised with the algorithm like that Barker: what's the worst that can happen? Koontz: i'm doing the 2 am minecraft kermit the frog cellphone challenge Barker: Poe: Barker: he's fine, it's fine Koontz: momo is real

Falchuk: so you might think, uh oh, an ambience-heavy horror world built on vibes? how's that gonna translate to the american horror story aesthetic? Murphy: don't worry, american horror story fans, we won't let you down Falchuk: get ready for a whole lot of real dumb bullshit!

Murphy: you guys like the backrooms huh buddy? Koontz: yeah! yeah! Koontz: i think the ominous emptiness of the backrooms universe speaks to the alienation of modern life and to the haunting void within Murphy: Murphy: uhhh Murphy: ok but what if there were monsters in it

Murphy: check it out, we're giving this the real american horror story treatment Falchuk: we'll get evan peters to play the yellow wallpaper and jessica lange to play the flickering incandescent lightbulbs

Murphy: how about that pal? pretty scary huh? Koontz: i dunno Murphy: what if we put some people with fucked up faces in it? like, some real freaks so you know they're evil? Falchuk: maybe put 'em in gimp suits? Murphy: yeah! yeah! that's some good evil signalling!

Murphy: so whatya think about that? Koontz: i dunno Murphy: we'll put in more lore Murphy: you kids like lore don't you? Koontz: oo i love lore! Murphy: course ya do! Murphy: what'd i tell you ryan? the kids love lore! Brad Falchuk: i'm not ryan

Ryan Murphy: yes you are Murphy: ryan we had this discussion this morning Brad Falchuk: i'm brad falchuk today Murphy: no we agreed that today i would be brad Falchuk: but i want to be brad!!

Barker: so you two sure you're up for the challenge of juggling all the intricate plot threads of a story re an empty world w no characters in it Murphy: i'm brad falchuk!! Murphy: i know who i am!!! Falchuk: don't gaslight me! Barker: yeah yeah i'm sure you guys'll do just fine

[doctorhouse5343]

Dream Murphy is a successful writer (his pen name is Morpheus) who is happily married to Robert 'Hob' Gadling, history professor at the university (considered the best by his students, colleagues and husband) and proud father of Orpheus and Robyn (Orpheus is from his previous marriage, Robyn is Hob's kid). Everyone in his family are happy for him, even when he is doing too much PDA with his husband..Except for Desire. Love never seemed to interest them, they kept making faces whenever they were told that they'd find someone and will probably end up like that. So it was a shock to all when they dragged a lanky young man, whose entire body was covered with a white skeleton tattoo (for the face it was half a skull) , unruly white hair on his head, piercing blue eyes and announced, with the biggest smile of all,that it was their boyfriend. Dream was rather skeptical, afterall Hobo Heart hardly looked like Desire's type : all skin and bones, skin always cold told to the touch, very quiet with a perpetually melancholic vibe to him, as if he spent hours writing heart-ripping poems but after seeing the boy in a conversation with his husband, he saw how polite and kind he was...too kind for someone as fickle as his sibling, so he concocted a plan to try to get Hobo Heart away from Desire. He would just need to get Hob in on it , all while trying to not make his intention known to his sister Death. He was sure that she would never approve of their meddling but he preferred seeing the kind librarian with someone better, someone who could treat him better. And if he and Hob could be just what he needed, so be it

if anyone has any name suggestions for the story, please give me some, my brain can't seem to find a good one :,(

also Death will have her iconic makeup and adorable top hat because yes

[imichelle-l-rigby]

Reflections: Cillian Murphy’s Limited Edition

Season 3, episode 1

———————————————————————

*I am a music prof (predominantly classical vocalist), and I LOVE listening to Cillian’s music choices! That being said, sometimes I won’t like a song simply because of a vocalist (it’s a professional hazard - sorry!) 👩‍🏫

** The following are my own observations/opinions. We may not agree, and that’s ok! That’s what makes music fun! 😊

*** I wouldn’t say I’m well-versed in Cillian’s music preferences, but I do enjoy them (for the most part). I always wind up adding to my own playlists after listening to Cillian’s recommendations.

———————————————————————

And without further ado… my reflections!

🎵 Set 1 (24 Track Loop - Halleluhwah)

This seems to be all electronic music focused. He’s done entire episodes around electronic music before, so I’m enjoying the sampling. Great way to start!

I also remember him saying somewhere that he takes time creating sets of music. I appreciate that and it helps the flow and continuity so much.

Side note - it’s taken me a looooong time to appreciate electronic music, but thanks to Cillian, I now can say I like it

24 Track Loop: reminds me of the first composers to play with recorded sampling compositions in the ‘50s (Varèse comes to mind), but the “track loop” is reminiscent of early minimalist recordings in the late ‘60s, especially with how repetitive some of the sounds become.

Diskhat: yeah, I’m definitely getting ‘50s experimentalist vibes! Reminds me of John Cage’s prepared piano pieces (and honestly it may be quoting some but I’m not sure so this is a guess), but mixed with some funky grooves! As weird as this is, it’s growing on me and I kinda really like it!

Halleluhwah: nice vamp at the beginning 😎 this is definitely something that could get stuck in my head and I wouldn’t mind it!

🎤 Talking break:

I missed hearing him talk about music!!! 😊

“It’s been a minute now”

How many times can he say “back” in a 5 second time span??? 😂😅

“… very amenable to light housework.” Great! Do you think if I ask nicely he’ll come clean my house while I’m at work??? 😂

When he’s talking about the above 3 songs, the “insistency” is so true. They all have elements of a continuous underlying pulse, which is pretty common in electronic and minimalist music.

I do find fault with his term “atonality” - atonal music has no pitch center, but the pieces just played DO have a pitch center.

“Turtles have short legs - which they do!”

🎵 Set 2 (fix-Guns of Brixton)

Fix: not my favorite song, but peaceful. I neither like nor dislike

Guns of Brixton: ok but this has been stuck in my head since I heard it 😂 I really like it!

🎤Talking break:

Yes Cill, covers are so appreciated!

��Set 3 (Look Down From the Bridge - Pale Blue Eyes)

Look down: nice, chill. Again, not my favorite, but I don’t dislike it. Interesting instrument choices. 👍

Pale Blue Eyes: I like everything about this except for his voice. I wish I liked it, but I don’t. 🤷‍♀️ if I had to describe it, his voice sounds thin, and the voice teacher within me wants more.

These songs seem like great examples of storytelling within music, so I definitely see why Cillian likes them.

🎤Talking break:

He sounds so pleased knowing his factoids 😂😂😂 never change, Cillian!

Drella is my favorite thing now! 😂

🎵Set 4 (No No - Three Drums)

No No: why isn’t this mentioned in the track list??? THIS IS AMAZING AND I AM LOVING THE POLYRHYTHMS! I’m having so much fun rhythmically that I can’t even focus on the lyrics I have no idea what they’re saying 😂😂. ✨ This is prob my fave song of this episode. ✨

The way these songs blend into the next is so satisfying 😌

Three Drums: I like how this is a “cool down” from the craziness of No No, but also pairs really well. Nice and chill. It’s a feel good song and such a vibe. 😎

🎤Talking Break

THE TERRIBLE IDENT RETURNS!!! 😆

Sugar is a great song!

The exclusive - omg 😳😂

*whisper* exclusive

🎵Set 5 (All Your Fails)

All Your Fails: If bop is still a term, this is a bop! *dancing along* 💃 but seriously, the vocal line has so many upward leaps that it reminds me of a lot of boppy pop music. I’m digging this!

To be fair, I tend to like Broken Social Scene, so it makes sense I’m into All Your Fails.

🎤Talking Break

The way he says “woo” without any enthusiasm 😂

🎵Set 6 (It’s Love - Minor Meditations)

It’s Love: ok, I’m in love! 😍😍😍 acoustic guitar is beautiful, and I’m enjoying these harmonies.

Minor Meditations: nice segue with the acoustic guitar selections. 👍 the title is cute and punny, too! AND THE PICARDY THIRD AT THE END!!! 😎

🎤Talking Break

“… excellent! … wahoo wahoo wahoo”

🎵Set 7 (Wahoo - Where Did Our Love Go)

Wahoo: for a song with such a happy title, this was quite bluesy in terms of lyrics! And the funk and jazz bits - What a twist!!! 🙀

Girl group power!!!!!!! I love listening to artists recall how hits came to be.

Where Did Our Love Go: YES I LOVE THE SUPREMES!!!! 😍😍😍

🎤Talking Break

As much as he talks about W. Kerry, I feel like I need to go! It sounds gorgeous!

🎵Set 8 (To War - Jah Nuh Dead)

To War: this guy is playing the fire out of the concertina! 🔥

Side note - I am sooooo into traditional music! It’s one of the things I study, and many composers find inspiration from traditional music of various regions. I have such respect for the genre that I could go on, but I won’t to save y’all’s sanity 😅

Again, the transitions between songs are soooo well done!

Master Crowley’s: the drone and pedal points are so effective! The inclusion and intentional omission actually do a lot in building momentum. It’s also so cool how eventually everything fades into the background and you’re left with just sonorities, and then you go back and get a mix of everything! 💯

Jah Nuh Dead: Sinéad!!! I hadn’t heard this song before, and it’s absolutely beautiful and haunting. It takes a special person to keep you captivated and carry their own against such bare/sparse accompaniment. She has such a unique voice. She’ll truly be missed.

I’m guessing this is the Irish set 🍀

🎤Talking Break

Ya gotta love it when he fangirls over bands!

SINÉAD!!!!!!

🎵Set 9 (Fairlies)

Fairlies: so this is what happens when Irish musicians go to HOT climates? Jk jk 😂 no, I really like this. Some interesting lyrics!

🎤Talking Break

I kinda miss flip phones.

🎵Set 10 (I Am A River)

I Am A River: this is a bright song, and I mean that in terms of timbre. All the instruments and even the vocals are very ☀️☀️☀️ it definitely paints an image in your head/imagination

🎤Talking Break

No!! Don’t shut up! I love your rambles!

“Aylesbury Boy, in a kinda animated buffalo character” - what on earth does they mean??? Bullwinkle???

🎵Set 11 (Aylesbury Boy)

Aylesbury Boy: I’ll be honest, I don’t like this. It’s got a lot of funny words in it, a decent background rhythm, but it’s not my jam.

🎤Talking Break

Ok, an album of covers is a great idea.

“Stop talking. Listen to it” 😂

🎵Set 12 (Three Hours)

Three Hours: I’m really digging the backing track. It’s got some fun sound effects, but what I really like is the driving rhythm against this free-flowing vocal line. Nice contrast!

🎤Talking Break

I like how he talks more as the show goes on 😂

New content! 🙀

“Outrageously reasonable questions”

I’ll be honest, the non-advent music calendar confuses me 😅

“Cardboard aperture”

THE IDENT. OMG.

🎵Set 13 (O Barquinho - Till the Morning Comes)

O Barquinho: yep! This is bossa nova!

Till the Morning Comes: the piano and other background music reminds of Penny Lane 😂😂😂 I genuinely can’t even listen to the song properly because I keep expecting Paul McCartney to burst in with some vocals 😂😂😂😂

🎵Talking Break

Oh dear. We’ve gotten to the experimental poetry part of the show! This could be good or bad 😅

“I like jazz for the principle of what jazz is” - Nordine

Well Nordine, if that’s your stance, then I appreciate your performance of Coral for the principle of what it is, as a non-musical reinterpretation of jazz.

“A flight of musical fantasy within structure.” Ya know, not a bad definition of jazz. You do improvise over a pre-arranged chord progression, so that makes sense!

🎵Set 14 (Coral - nightclub)

Coral: not gonna lie, this is my least favorite selection of the show. HOWEVER, I will give credit where it’s due! I do appreciate that he’s got word plays, puns, and other poetic devices all over the place. That stuff mimics some of the techniques you’ll find throughout jazz. Now what’s really cool is the background music - you can hear bits and pieces influenced from different eras of jazz, such as New Orleans, swing, some bebop, and more modern stuff as well! Even though I hate it, I appreciate what it does.

Also, I first thought this song was a cheesy ad 😂😅 I definitely can tell he’s a voice actor

Nightclub: I like this a lot! Crazy how it goes from insanity to something really sweet, funny, and enjoyable. The background music is so ethereal and although a bit random, it’s great! The contradiction is like “salty and sweet” snacks. It shouldn’t work, but it does. Although I guess it mirrors some of the temporary images in the poem, like the smoke disappearing.

🎤Talking Break

Whoa. Cillian put the backing track in?! Good choice, dude!

🎵Set 15 (Remember Begum Rokheya)

Remember: ok I love this!!!! Polyrhythms galore, and the instrument pairings are so much fun! 😍

🎤Talking Break

“Approachable mellow” - does this mean there’s mellow stuff that isn’t approachable? I’d love to hear an example

🎵Set 16 (I Smile for E)

I Smile for E: I like the contrast between verse and chorus. Going from a minor key to major gives an auditory version of “smiling” nice touch! But I’ll be honest - idk why this is more “approachable” than other mellow songs 😅😂

🎤Talking Break

I’m not sure he’s saying “Hinoki” correctly. It looks Japanese to me? But idk. I’m not an expert and he’s definitely more informed than I am

“Useful music” - isn’t all music useful in some way? 🤔

🎵Set 17 (Hinoki Wood - Woman In Late)

Hinoki Wood: an interesting choice of instrument. You can tell it’s an old upright that needs a bit of maintenance, but it does have some charm.

Woman In Late: ok, so we are back to the tape loop concepts seen at the beginning of the show! Kinda cool how he’s circling back. Anyway, the “tape loop,” or looping of small lengths of recorded tape, was a thing done at the beginning of the minimalist trend in the ‘60s (think Reich or Riley) to create this fuzzy sound effect seen here. I love how you hear that influence in so many corners of the music world!

🎤Talking Break

“Delicious”

What???! The last song??? 😭😭😭

Yay! New music!

“Mind yourselves”

🎵Set 18 (Unknown Summer)

Unknown Summer: I’m digging it 😎 This has some amazing dissonant vocals and it is soooooo satisfying. I don’t like the crackle effect in the background, but it does help build this “distortion” they’re building in the song. It’s kinda fun to put that distortion against the “clear” blue skies. I see what ya did there… 😂

———————————————————————

Ah! That’s the end!!!

Thank you so much for reading all this. I honestly can’t believe anyone is interested in my rambles. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! I’ll write again next week for episode 2!

Tag list:

@iammrsrogers @deliciousnutcomputer @mariamoonie @brownskinsugarplum76 @look-at-the-soul @kj-davis @neverroad @teapothollow @thepurplearmyposts @possessedmarshmallow

[tortoisebore]

IDK IF YOU’RE STILL DOING THIS BUT!

How would wolfstar act during Barbenheimer? Who wants to see what? How are they dressed?

EEEEEEE i am ALWAYS doing these ALWAYS i love them so much 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶 ((i have some unanswered ones in my inbox i promise im getting to don’t worry 💕💓💞💖))

okay first off we’ve established that they’re both insufferable wanna-be film critics & everyone hates them for it. so keep that in the background. they’re annoying as hell.

so they get wind of oppenheimer first. the teaser plays at a midnight screening of “nope” ((sirius is a jordan peele stan)) and it’s just a bunch of fire and black and white shots of cillian murphy so they’re both like “🙂 huh okay fun.” but then christopher nolan’s name is on the screen and sirius is nearly flying out of his seat bc he’s potentially the world’s biggest chris nolan stan. and he’s hitting remus on the arm and he’s all “👹 FUC K! !!!” and remus is like “oh good another nolan movie that’ll be fun love that” and enduring sirius’ semi-quiet fangirl moment but then he catches on to what the trailer is actually about and “oppenheimer” comes on the end card and then he’s ALSO having a freakout moment & he’s all “oh fuck 😧😧😧 oh fuck it’s oppenheimer 🫢 oh fuck 😵 oh fuck cheistopher nolan’s doing oppenheimer 😵‍💫😵‍ oh god.”

so for the next couple of months they’re both telling all their friends “yes so we’ve heard the inside scoop about nolan’s new film, very ambitious, word on the street is that it’s all practical & the b*mb isn’t CGI” and “did u know that christopher nolan himself created an atom b*mb on set to 1/36th scale” like they’re just making shit up from these random reddit threads & illegitimate news sites and everyone’s like “yeah great okay sure no one cares 🙄”

but then fall rolls around & remus overhears someone on the actual street talking on the phone about a barbie movie. and he does a little google and there it is, greta gerwig is doing a barbie movie with margot robbie, and holy shit sirius is going to freak ((he’s also a greta gerwig stan, they both are, obvi. sirius’ favorite of hers is ladybird and remus’ fav is little women, also obvi)). remus makes the mistake of sending sirius the article ab the movie in a text instead of in person where he could have done some damage control and he immediately gets a facetime where sirius just screeches at him for a good three and a half minutes before a single coherent word comes out of his mouth. so yes, he’s very excited for barbie, and remus is excited for greta gerwig to make everyone cry over a doll.

so they know about the movies separately and then the barbenheimer phenomenon takes over, and they become aware that not only are both movies coming out in july, they’re coming out on the same fucking day. and when they find this out they’re at home on separate sides of the apartment and marlene texts in the gc like “are we doing barbenheimer weekend orrrr” and they both take a minute to catch up but then they’re meeting in the living room like WHATTTTT😵😵😵😵😵😵

they plan a whole weekend. on saturday morning remus gets up early and makes waffles in the heart-shaped waffle maker sirius found months ago specifically for barbenheimer weekend breakfast and even puts red food coloring in the batter so they’re pink hearts with whipped cream and cherries to top it all off. and they do black coffee to drink because it gives oppenheimer vibes & they couldn’t think of anything else appetizing to go with it in a breakfast scenario.

they’re going comfort over style for the premiere bc they’re ab to be at the theater for like seven or eight hours, but sirius is wearing a hot pink malibu barbie baby tee for the occasion. remus is ✨not✨ wearing hot pink bc he’s a ✨warm autumn✨ & it’s ✨not✨ his color but he made sure sirius took one of his sweaters bc he always gets cold at movies and complains he’s freezing until remus gives him his own & that is “not happening this time, sirius, get your own fucking sweater.”

they’re doing barbie first. they got the tickets the second they went on sale, two seats in the middle of the row ⅔ of the way back into the theater bc that’s where sound designers sit for screenings & it’s a perfect view. they get their giant sodas and a big popcorn to share, plus some m&ms they snuck in to do an m&m/popcorn mix ((god tier movie snack fr)). they’re enraptured from the very first scene. giant barbie on a desert background. barbieland. the dream house. ryan gosling. all of it. it’s a masterpiece. they both cry at the end & they’re caught off guard bc wtf this wasn’t supposed to be about mothers??? what the hell???

they have a forty-five minute break between movies where they recover in the lobby for a while & refill the popcorn, but they’re getting one water bottle to share this time bc bathroom breaks are not an option & oppenheimer has like a three and a half hour fucking runtime. like they’re doing bathroom breaks twenty seconds before the movie starts bc missing part of this film would actually destroy them psychologically

they do it in IMAX, obvi, ⅔ back in the middle of the row. it’s an out of body experience. they don’t speak or move the entire time. they don’t speak or move while the credits play. they leave the theater in silence. they go home and sit on the couch and stare at the wall and remus goes “we……we should have seen barbie last.” and then they both look at each other like 😐👀? and then they’re getting up and rushing back to the theater and seeing barbie again

the next day they’re getting together with all their friends to do barbenheimer day 2 and trying not to spoil it but they’ve already talked to each other about the individual movies too much, like they laid in bed and talked about the fucking movies like idiots for multiple hours, so they need new feedback to talk over & correct everyone’s wrong opinions

and like obviously everyone hates them

[mermaidsirennikita]

I need a laugh. What titles have made you lol the most? And like, actual lol, not the breathy exhale "heh" lol :D

Ooooh, GOOD QUESTION

Alexis Hall is always one of my go-to funny writers. He's just so fucking naturally hilarious. If you're in the mood for true "oh my god this is hilarious and largely lighthearted" funny, I would go for Something Fabulous and then Something Spectacular, his two historical romcoms. (A Lady for a Duke is also historical romance, and it is quite funny, but it's not really a romcom imo so much as it is a true sweeping romance.) I laughed out loud with both of them, and though they standalone, I think they're best read in order. (Spectacular is my favorite of the two. It does have a bit more emotionality than Fabulous, but there's also a scene where the leads accidentally incite a gay orgy at a poetry slam, so.) They're super irreverent and so, so good.

Julie Anne Long writes some very funny books. Her Palace of Rogues series is consistently funny, and though it does have some sadder aspects, After Dark with the Duke is overall very lighthearted and made me laugh out loud a couple times lol. The entire series is set in this boarding house where everyone is kinda zany and crazy and I have a GREAT time with it.

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian is a m/m historical highwayman/dandy book that had me laughing quite a bit. Especially because when our heroes have a meet cute, one of them (the dandy, Percy) is internally like "OH YEAH. HE WANTS TO FUCK ME. HE'S CHECKING OUT MY ANKLES LIKE CRAZY". To be fair, he's right.

Ooh, The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles! Like, there are some stakes, but KJ is also frankly hilarious. Another m/m historical about a smuggler and a guy who accidentally inherited a baronetcy or whatever trying his Best. Part of why I love this one is because some of the humor is in like... the sex. They have a lot of snarkery and fun while fucking. MORE OF THAT PLS.

Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy's Christmas Notch romcoms are fucking hilarious and STUPID HOT. Yes, they have Christmas vibes, but for the most part they often don't take place around Christmas--they're about people filming Christmas movies, lol. I had to sit these books down a couple of times because it was just TOO funny.

Vivienne Lorret writes a really funny book, but Never Seduce a Duke is by far the zaniest one I've read by her. Arthurian cookbook shenanigans! Secret baby! The hero almost coming in his pants while watching the heroine eat pastries.

Speaking of, Grace Callaway is also very funny, but her books do also tend to have darker notes throughout. So I'm not sure about recommending her. But if you are okay with a bit of darkness, I would say try Olivia and The Masked Duke. It's extremely funny to me. But it also has like. Murder and stuff lol.

Talia Hibbert is really funny, though Act Your Age, Eve Brown is by far the funniest to me. While also being super sexy? I mean, he fucks her with a sparkly purple dildo at one point.

Omg! Annika Martin's Billionaires of Manhattan books are HILARIOUS but especially The Billionaire's Wake-Up-Call-Girl, which is basically Phone Sex with a Bit o' Degradation for the hero. I also really loved The Billionaire's Fake Fiancee, though I'll admit that part of why the humor worked so much for me is that it's kind of a send-up to daytime soap operas, and daytime soaps are integral to my psyche.

[ritzcrackee]

april tbr post yayy

rereads are marked by a ☆, new reads are marked by a ♡, and new acquisitions are bolded

physical tbr: 20

what moves the dead - t. kingfisher ♡

an education in malice - s. t. gibson ♡

juilet takes a breath - gabby rivera ♡

stories of people and civilization, greek ancient origins - lindsay powell, j. k. jackson ♡

rebel girls - elizabeth keenan ♡

the silent stars go by - dan abbet ♡

touched by an angel - johnathan morris ♡

dracula - bram stoker ♡

dune - frank herbert ♡

dune messiah - frank herbert ♡

frankenstein - mary shelley ♡

sense and sensibility - jane austen ♡

hippie - barry miles ♡

evernight - claudia gray ☆

stargazer - claudia gray ♡

the handmaids tale - margaret atwood ☆

the testaments - margaret atwood ♡

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the

universe - benjamin alire sáenz ☆

would-be witch - kimberly frost ☆

the ballad of songbirds and snakes - suzanne collins ☆

digital tbr: 2

pandora's jar: women in the greek myths - natalie haynes ♡

wild is the witch - rachel griffin ♡

read: 7

a million kisses in your lifetime - monica murphy - dnf

i got like 80 pages in and then just,,, could not continue. no shade if u liked this book it was just solidly, solidly not my thing.

my monster valentine - various authors - 3/5

debated putting this on here for obvious reasons but i neeeeed to be accurate i guess. i only read about half of the stories in this collection and they were pretty hit or miss. it was free though so yk. vibes.

high spirits - camille gomera-tavarez - 2.5/5

this book was pretty alright! i don't have much to say about it (hence the middling rating) but i would reccomend it if you're looking for a fast read :D

the coldest touch - isabel sterling - 4/5

THIS WAS SO CUUUUTTTTTEEEEE!!! i liked the way the author portrayed the genuine hell that being stuck at 17 would be. please get me out of here i want a fully developed frontal lobe. AW and all of the characters were super likable. truly so adorable i was squealing the whole time.

im knocking a point off for the romance being a littttllllleeeee rushed and the character descriptions feeling off (it felt odd that both pov characters categorized every single person into a specific race? i think its good practice to make a characters race clear, but idk if that applies to a random teacher with no dialogue). to be so real though i loved this book enough that it didn't bother me too much.

beastly & bookish - catrina bell - 5/5

did i finish this book in one sitting? yes. did i stay up until 1am doing that? ...mind your business. honestly, im maybeee being a little bit generous giving this 5 stars but !! i really liked it!!! rom was soo mecore. i'm excited to read the rest of the books in this collection (even though they're all christmasy), and i can't wait for my physical copy to get here!!

holly's unjolly christmas - lark green - 2/5

this book was truly just fine. like, the definition of pretty alright. the tropes weren't my thing and the romance felt wildly rushed, but the writing style was easy to read and there were some funny bits. i also felt like the demon characters fell pretty flat? idk felt mid overall. (tbh the highlights of this book were when rom and noelle showed up. my babiesssss)

holidays ablaze - lucy limon - 3/5

v cute 👍 i love samite he's so autistic 💗

last months goal: finish dune

hmm ok. so i did not finish dune. i don't know why i thought i could. whatever possessed me to believe i could finish an 800 page sci-fi book in one month was truly of the devil herself. what the fuck. that was a blatant temptation towards hubris and I FELL FOR IT. anyways i hit 300 pages. everyone clap.

this months goal: finish a re-read

i have a lot of books i'd like to re-read but!!! i just never get around to it!!!! there r always newer shinier books that grab my attention!! i'd also like to carve away a more sizable chunk of my physical tbr this month because i have officially run out of space on my bookshelf TwT. everything is so so crammed in there, i truly cannot afford any more physical books. public library here i come!!

[ruby-red-inky-blue]

small things on my second (third?) unsleeping city rewatch, pt 1

truly nothing compares to that first episode. I've never seen characters and a world so deftly introduced in such a perfect tone, setting up so much of the reveals down the line in everyone's first goddamn scene

I ADORE Margaret Encino, I really do. I still think that TUC1's Pete is my favourite Ally character of all time. Watching him stubbornly refuse to accept that this is not just a bad trip is so good, and honestly good on them for introducing their character with a fake name to half the party and keeping that going literally until Brennan forced them to drop it. They're playing the trust issues so well and it bringes such a fantastic crunchy tension to the group dynamic, bless them for going so hard on this character

the dynamics on the right side of the table have my entire heart:

Ally still being occasionally overwhelmed and Murph hovering at their shoulder like an excited dad teaching his kid to drive

the brutal and beautiful clash between Misty's and Kug's vibes at all times

whenever Pete is doing anything blatantly illegal and Kug the character is taken over fully by Brian 'Lawful Good' Murphy the person. It'll always be Ally doing their scene and Murph being So Scandalised beside them

Siobhan and Murph low-key egging each other on whenever it's about playing the Party Elders

"Do you want me to roll for you?" "Yes, I do, actually! I might make Siobhan my designated roller."

Siobhan and Ally just absolutely shattering at the Wally reveal

honestly so in love with how endlessly polite Ally and Murph are about trading their dice back and forth, every combat there's just a pleasant background chatter of "here you go" "oh thank you" "you're welcome", it's a very small thing but it's so pleasant to see

all three of them being SO nosy and sympathetic about each other's rolls

.

god I love the Pixie wedding so much. The atmosphere, the endless Godfather references, the massively creepy intro to Robert and co, the silly dancing, poor Sofia struggling hard (and Murph and Ally commiserating even harder), "It's my special day so, if you're gonna cry, you should leave", Ally's face when Robert mentions the bubbles, the absolute perfect suspense move of casually going "Kugrash you know this guy" when even Misty didn't, it's all SO good

honestly the perfect episode maybe?

Zac, Murph and Emily's reaction to La Gran Gata is so funny. They're truly The Most Cat People

also Murph's long-suffering but extremely fond "...always needs a familiar"

Emily and Murph are SO tuned specifically into each other all season (can't help but suspect this is a natural consequence of the seating arrangement tbh), but narratively it makes so much sense! Kug was Sofia's intro to the Unsleeping City so she turns to him for everything, and he knew exactly how miserably she was doing and how new this is for her so he's looking out for her and trying to cheer her up in his trashfire ways (and also probably feels some kinda way about seeing someone so shattered by their husband's abandonment). This friendship forever and always

I'm outspoken absolute trash for Sofia and Kug, but the first Dream Team's party dynamic overall is probably my favourite ever party dynamic. There's so much respect and admiration and history and mistrust and fondness and protectiveness and perfectly calibrated power imbalances in terms of knowledge of the word vs. actual magical power, every two characters together have individual conflicts and connections and dynamics, it's just. Perfect.

"Hey Pete, I... bless you with the blessings of um, uh... some pidgeons who died... near a church..."

coming from Twilight Sanctorum where Murph was on an unreal lucky streak for his standards, seeing Kug and his abysmal rolls is truly so funny

given that this is the season that spawned "I'm all the bad guys", I always forget how benevolent a DM Brennan is in TUC. Like, Zac is rolling badly in Ricky's first real talk with Esther? No dude you were funny, take some inspiration (is this literally the only time Brennan gives inspiration on D20???). Emily is disappointed when she doesn't find cool shit in the Bodega? No, you just saved the cat, it's giving you advantage!

the whole weird sexual energy happening between Sofia and La Gran Gata, special shout-out to Murph's face when Sofia says "I'll be waiting, but not in an impatient, desperate way" and "You are not the first woman to turn to a cat when her marriage has fallen apart"

Ricky, Ox and Kug the busted mutt having a jogging sesh will never not be funny, "It's fine, fuck me, go! You stupid kid! You goddamn beautiful boy, you fucker! You absolute asshole!"

"Animal control has decended on you"

Ricky being canonically too hot to stealth

"Just another perfect day for the luckiest, hottest man in New York"

Ricky's selfies and texts to Esther, my beloved

"Misty goes in, word-perfect, note-perfect-" "Please roll low, please roll low..." and Murph's absolute delight at someone else rolling a nat three

Misty and Alyssa tho. Siobhan is ice-cold. "No, I know you're sorry." "This will never happen again -" "No, it won't."

Kug in David's home, just. That whole scene. Crushing. The letter?? Everyone around the table bracing for impact before Kug even opens it. "I leave the letter... because I'll remember it."

we all know this, but Kingston and Liz's talk at the precinct is ICONIC. "Because of you I live in a fucking cartoon now!" lives rent-free in my head

Sofia's tiny meltdown in the drugstore is so funny. Also, her reaction to a random man getting all up in her business is an immediate "Okay! I fight him!" I love her so much

Spaghetti's Bakery, my beloved

The Cry Booth (and half the table cracking up at Pete’s incredibly quick “oh yeah he mistimed the pour over” excuse)

God I love how hateable Priya is. I love nuanced characters a lot but occasionally. You need a villain. Who is just a raging manipulative bitch. For the catharsis

The Talk About Pete?? Incredible. Kingston's devotion gaining such a dangerous edge, like damn, Lou, out the gate with "if things get out of hand, we put him down. Straight up." Kug, searching for a way to explain why he hates this whole situation and landing on just interrupting this extremely serious discussion by yelling "I have kids! I have kids! I fucked up raising my kids!". Misty wanting to lock everyone that bothers her in a cave (it can be a nice cave!). Ricky, the goodest of good beans, pointing out that if they're protecting all of New York, that also means protecting Pete.

All Hail Kug's rat swarms, I love them so much! "Our lives suck anyways!" "We prefer death!" Truly just a LotR girly gifting another some sewer Rohirrim (aka, "sorry i made you play superheroes buddy, can i interest you in some tiny high fantasy dynamic to make it better?")

Brennan revelling in his players outrage will never not be funny

Kingston continues to go so hard, casting heat metal and taking equal damage himself, "What do you say to her?" "Nothing."

the idea of some poor train driver hitting a mounted cop in a subway tunnel

"Live like a rat, die like a rat." !!!

The LOVE for the city radiating off of Brennan and Siobhan in particular is so so sweet

Pete opening the mind link and then just being silent on the line, ultimate power move

god I fucking LOVE this fraught dynamic so much. Always give me groups that have secrets!!!

WALLY AND KUG

just a reminder that Sofia has pictures of Kugrash hugging his son :(

Nod is so fun. The talking cherry tomatoes, the mobsters literally sleeping on the bottom of the river, the dreamworld literally receeding from Kingston, Brennan's mind is just incomprehensible to me

"Ricky, you're gonna get a clue one of these days!" "I know, I think I'm close!"

Siobhan reading The New Colossus!! Also, Emma Lazarus as a Vox Phantasma!

"She's gonna kill you." "Only if she can get here, and I have her goddamn shoes!" God, I love Misty so much, what a pompous little old savage

The Hell scene is SO GOOD though, with the coked-up rat men all scrambling for a finite amount of money!! Murph's "Oh no, this isn't subtle at all!" will always make me crack up. Also can I hear a hell no on the concept of "you weren't so much transformed as made to take the form of your soul"?

Ricky being complimented by the Statue of Liberty

"the danger, of course, is losing the dream in the pursuit of your ability to obtain the dream"

Sofia's (and Emily's tbh) RAGE at the Dale revelation, GOD

also "He's got a job to do on earth! He has deer in the backyard to watch!" Emily!! She cannot keep getting away with this

I really love Pete's evolved wild magic mechanic so much

The Kingston Brown biographical exhibit :(

Goddd Sophie and her brother!! The most tense of scenes!! My love for Sofia knows no bounds

[henrike-does-writing-sometimes]

Ready ? Fight !

I'm shit at writing fight scenes so this is basically practice. I give most of the context in the text, so I don't think I need to say anything beforehand.

Enjoy !

Word count: 3306 Warnings: Violence Wip: The Divine Characters: Rei Yamada, Aiyo, Andie Calinao-Fox, Taki, Timothy Murphy, Oid, Nico Morales, Aman, Mike Chandler, Doto

: Taglist - @vacantgodling​​ :

Let me know if you want to be added/removed !

//

“Are we there yet?” Doto drawled, stretching out their body across the dashboard. 

“Aren’t you the ones guiding us?” Rei said with a puzzled expression. 

“We’re giving directions based on feeling, yes. Doesn’t mean we know where they are.”

“We’re getting close, though.” Oid said from her perch on Timothy’s shoulder. She moved her head as if sniffing the air, snout scrunching up every so often. “Take a left, please.” 

her instruction sounded more like a request. Either way, Mike complied. 

It had been common knowledge that something was up way before the monsters reached Earth to begin wreaking havoc. Understandably so. Several people had voiced their questions regarding their motives, their origins. It had even gotten to the point where internet “detectives” were taking it upon themselves to figure it out. Though obviously, none of them knew what they knew. 

None of them had been at the fights. Had seen the strange humanoid figures that were either running from the newly formed monsters, or commonly watching over them from afar. It wasn’t too big of a stretch to assume they were involved in some way, for better or for worse. And tonight, that assumption was to be tested. Grouped up in Mike’s car, the boys drove in whatever direction their Lumens pointed them in. They had finally been able to fully confirm that these beings weren’t human, and so their presence stood out amongst the masses. Almost as if to beacon them closer. 

"We have been driving for a while now." Aiyo hummed, sounding more worried than annoyed. 

"We'll give it one more hour." Mike said. "If we haven't found anything by then we'll call it a night." 

Doto groaned, “But then this will take even longer.”

“Oh come on,” Taki smiled and jumped down from Andie’s shoulder to their knee. “One more road trip isn’t going to kill you.”

“I don’t think this counts as a road trip.” Timothy said, quickly dismissed by Taki. “It’s not about what counts and what doesn’t, but the vibes.” they then perked up, ears pointed straight as if listening to something only they could hear. "Stop the vehicle. And wake up Aman." 

Nico gently nudged his Lumen. Aman, who had been sound asleep in his lap for the past few hours, stirred for a moment before abruptly standing. Wide awake and almost alert. “We’re close.”

“Real close.” Aiyo echoed.  

"Alright, let's get to it.” Andie grinned. “Twi-"

"We are not transforming in my car." Mike stated and undid his seat belt.

“Yeah, hold off until we give the clear.” Oid said, to which the boys nodded before leaving the car.

They were in the more quiet part of town, with mostly residential buildings and obscure shops that had been running since the 80s. The late hour also meant the area was close to vacant. The majority of the people there were either passing through or gathered in the nearby park. Still, the Lumens kept away in jackets and sweaters.

"Did we ever decide on what to do when we catch this guy?" Nico asked.

"A simple interrogation," Mike said. "We have no reason to fight so, let’s avoid that as best we can."

"Which means we also need to keep them from making a monster." Rei pointed out. Then muttering his addition, "If, you know, our theory is correct and they are responsible for them, that is."

Andie gave an exaggeratedly dreamy sigh, "A mission with no fighting? Oh, this is going to be a good night."

“Don’t jinx it.” Timothy warned.

“I'm not ‘jinxing it’, I'm calling it. This is going to be a good night."

"Hell yeah!" Taki cheered in a loud whisper. They held out their paw for Andie to bump their finger against. Timothy rolled his eyes, but smiled regardless.

They continued to walk aimlessly through the street. Following the occasional direction given by their Lumens.

“Stop.” Doto announced after a while. “We’ve arrived.”

“Then let’s not waste any more time than we need." Mike said. When he’d assured they were alone on the street, he turned to the group. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

“Sun!”

“Twilight!”

“Moon!”

“Aurora!”

“Arcadia!”

“Illuminate us!”

A flash of light and they were in their uniforms. They looked around, scanning for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Anything that could've been the one alerting their Lumens. A faint howling brought Timothy's attention upward.

"There!" he called, pointing up to the rooftops where a strange figure loomed before disappearing behind the edge.

"Let’s go!" Andie charged, the others following quickly after. With the boost in athleticism their champion form provided they were able to scale the building in no time. Though the being was still way ahead of them.

"What's the plan?" Nico asked as they began the chase over the rooftops. 

"Well, we need to catch them and preferably not kill them," Rei began, caught off guard by how quick he was with calling the shots. "So we shouldn’t go for a group attack. Instead, we need to slow them down and keep them down."

"Piece of cake." Andie grinned and turned their head to Mike with a knowing look. The other boy gave a curt nod, flashing a toothy grin. “On it!” teal colors swirled around his hands as he charged up his attack. Quickening his pace, Mike ran ahead of the group for a clear aim. With his hands held out before him, he spoke; 

“Dreamer’s Distortion!”

A disk turned like clockwork in the air, before shooting off like an arrow. As if glitching, it changed its form over and over— before hitting its target right in their back. They stumbled to a stop, breathing heavily as the world began to morph around them. Leaving them unable to protect themselves from Andie as they tackled them to the ground. 

The being fell to the concrete of the roof with a grunt, glaring sickly as the rest of the boys surrounded them. They looked human, but was clearly not from either of the worlds. Their ears were pointed, their snarl held fangs. And their skin seemed to shimmer, and caused the air around them to flutter strangely. 

"Alright," Andie declared. "Who do you work for and what is your deal?"

The being groaned. "None of your business and none of your fucking business."

"Rude." Andie huffed, and Mike nodded in stern agreement. 

"'Rude' is whatever the fuck you hit me with, ugh." the being squeezed their eyes shut to ignore the nauseating twists of the world.

"Then you better start answering our questions or it'll only get worse." Timothy said and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Please don't threaten people." Nico whispered to him.

"I'm not. Just, being clear about what's going on. Anyways, why have you been watching us?"

The being tsked, a faint grin tugging at their lips. "It's been 60 years since we last heard of the elusive Champions. I just wanted to see what all the fanfare was about."

"That's bullshit!" Andie interjected. "If that were the case you wouldn't hide in the shadows or behind trees, nor would you stalk on random rooftops. Like, there are way better and less suspicious ways to go about it."

"I have only done one of those."

"We're generalizing." Mike noted. "Because there are more of you, aren't there?"

The being slowly opened their eyes. Dizzy gaze moving across the group as they considered the question.

"Yeah, there are more. But don't think we're running some club together like you are. I do things on my own. Whatever the rest of them do is unimportant to me."

"And what about the monsters?" Mike questioned. "Club or not, you all seem to bring one with you. How?"

"That's an easy one." the being said. They struggled for a moment, before producing a small device from their pocket, held proudly in their hand. “We just use these.” 

It was a metal square, with fine engravings and what looked to be a bronze-colored pearl secured in its center. 

“Mind explaining what it is?” Timothy pushed. The being gave him a quick look over, before smiling a too calm smile. “Why of course.” they said. Then they threw it. With all the power they had left in their arms. 

The device landed a good bit away from them on the rooftop. It lay idle for only a moment before latching onto a nearby roof tile like a magnet. Wires protruded from the engravings, wrapping themselves around the ceramic, and the pearl began to glow. None of the boys had ever seen the monster transformations, only heard about it through word of mouth from news channels and classmates. Standing only meters away from it as it happened, as it constructed its body and slowly gained control, was chilling. 

Standing before them, held together by the wires, was a large warrior of ceramic. Its armor was made from roof tiles, with the device held as a centerpiece on its chest plate. Several ceramic shards hovered in the air surrounding it. Compared to the other monsters they’d faced off, this one didn’t seem too intimidating, but Rei knew better than to believe a fight would be easy. He was proven right when the monster made the first move; swiftly shooting off three shards aimed at their group. 

They all dove to the side in time to dodge the shards. They buried deep in the concrete of the roof, right where they’d just been situated.

“Well, as much as I’d love to stick around and see how you’ll handle this one,” the being spoke, now suddenly standing on the far edge of the roof with a smug grin. “I have better things to do.”

Rei blinked, “How did you-?”

“Have fun.” the being sang, offering a quick salute before jumping off the edge.

“Oh that is so low!” Andie cursed. They were about to run after when Mike caught their wrist. “We’ll catch them another time. Right now we’ve got a monster to deal with.” and as if on cue, another shard shot through the air between them. Missing by only a small margin.

Andie grumbled, "There goes our good night."

"I told you not to jinx it!" Timothy called from across the roof.

"Oh shut up!"

“Guys, please focus!” Rei said, ducking quickly for an incoming shard. 

“Yeah, let’s get this over with as quick as possible.” Andie nodded.

“And try not to damage the device!” Mike added. “There’s no guarantee we’ll be able to get another chance like this.”

“Defeat the monster, don’t break the device.” Timothy echoed. “Got it.”

The ceramic warrior fired off a couple more shards. Each was dodged, however, upon impact with the roof, they each exploded.

“Are you kidding me?” Rei groaned. He then turned to Nico, “We should keep this fight on the roof as best we can. Got any ideas?” 

Nico scanned over the roof, quick to note a heap of potted plants. They were practically dead, having seemingly been forgotten about, but it was good enough. 

"Count on me, dude." he said before rushing over. 

He worked fast, healing the plants enough to be able to properly control them. And with tiles flying overhead he worked to create a tightly woven cage around their temporary arena. Which needed constant reinforcing each time it was struck with projectiles and explosions. Nico panted softly. The cage was taking more aetherium than expected, but it was working. Leaving no chance for the monster to escape and cause more damage than necessary. Even if it did seem more interested in them. 

Mike dodged another shard, shielding his face as it exploded. Like with the strange being, using a group attack was off the table. "The device always seems to break when we nullify the monster.” he thought aloud. 

“Then why not just separate the two?” Timothy proposed.

“Can we do that?”

“No idea, but I can try.” the device seemed relatively easy to reach; and even if he wouldn't be able to get it off right away, he could still get an idea of how difficult it would be. Which was better than nothing. So Timothy ran for it. Advancing with relative ease, dodging shards with the grace of a dancer. Though as he entered the final stretch, hand reaching for the device, the monster raised his hands— where several shards gathered to form a blade. 

A warning howled a moment too late, and the blade came down to strike Timothy across his chest. He screamed, the impact pushing him to land hard on the concrete a bit away. The ceramic warrior held out its hand, sending out another wave of shards toward the ravenette. Rei moved quickly, standing before Timothy with flames swirling by his hands. He thrusted them forward, creating a whirlwind of fire that chewed through the ceramic shards. All except one, which slipped by and crashed into Rei’s upper arm. Rei gasped sharply, legs giving out to bring him to his knees. 

“Guys!” Nico rushed towards them, hands still glowing pink from keeping the cage standing. He knelt by them, brows knit in worry. “Are you okay? Is anything broken?”

"Yeah, I'm good." Timothy winced, using one arm to push himself up while the other was wrapped around his chest. "It's going to bruise, but I'm okay. Rei-?"

“Just a bruise. I’m fine.” the boy promised, brushing of the dust from the shirt of his uniform— which was still intact like Timothy’s. 

"Alright. Projectiles, explosives, and blades." Mike assessed. "That's quite the arsenal. And none of us has an effective shield."

"Maybe not," Andie said. "But there are still ways to keep it from attacking." without waiting for a response or reaction, they ran towards the monster.

“Chains of Twilight!”

Lightning sparked to life around Andie, manifesting like ropes as their hands curled around them. With a trained flick of their wrist, they had the ropes wrapped around the ceramic warrior’s wrist. Wave after wave of lightning traveled through the monster, keeping it tense and idle. 

“Alright!” Andie grinned victoriously. “It’s all free game now-" a shard hit them in the side of their head. Thrown off balance they stumbled, grip loosening enough for the lightning ropes to vanish. And even as Andie managed to somewhat steady themselves, the world wouldn’t stop spinning.

"Andie!"

"What…?" they slowly turned their head, didn't process the approaching blade until it was right before their eyes— caught by a thick root. Andie stared wide-eyed as the monster fought against it. Too caught in their shocked trance, they didn't notice when Rei grabbed their arm and pulled them behind a newly made wall of tightly woven vines. Their only means of protection against the monster’s incoming rampage. Nico dug his feet into the concrete, standing strong and bracing for the onslaught despite the ache in his body. Despite the desperate urge to make sure Andie was okay. Fortunately, Mike took on the task without hesitation. 

“You still with us? Can you hear me?” Mike questioned while he helped Andie to sit. He carefully pushed their hair away from where the shard had made impact. Small beads of blood had started to break from the injured skin, steadily blossoming in deep shades of blue. 

“Yeah- Yeah I’m fine, I hear you.” Andie groaned, bringing a hand to their forehead. “I just need a moment. Monster can attack even when immobilized. Got it.”

“It was a good plan.” Mike said in earnest, a warm smile on his lips. 

“Aww, thank you-” an explosion sounded right behind them as another wave of shards collided with the wall. Mere seconds later the blade struck against it in quick succession. Nico gritted his teeth, sweat beginning to form at his temple. 

"At the very least this monster is an idiot." Timothy muttered. Most of them were, but there had been a few exceptions. Resulting in long nights and wounds that had yet to heal. But at least in those fights they could properly attack the monster without worrying about more than the possible collateral damage.

"We're too big targets for it if we keep going one at a time. But we risk damaging the device otherwise." Mike pondered, a crease between his brows as he thought hard on what to do.

"Then let’s not attack at all. We just need to get the device thing off, right?" Rei turned to the rest of the group.

"If that is something we can do, then yes." Timothy said.

"Right. Nico, how much can the cage take?"

Nico took a moment to determine his estimate. "It'll handle the blade and projectiles just fine, more difficult is the explosives. But I should be able to keep it sturdy for a bit longer."

"Good. Mike, can you hold an illusion for us?"

"I sure can." the boy grinned, already catching on to the younger's plan.

Rei nodded, "Alright, here's what we're going to try."

By the time the monster had come to a pause with its rampage, the boys were all in position. Ready to execute the plan.

"Vision of Arcadia!" 

Mike spoke as quietly as he could with the words still taking effect. Teal mist swept over the 'arena' like a tidal wave, disorienting the ceramic warrior for just a moment. When it faded, an army of Reis, Andies, and Timothys stood by— all awaiting their cue. The ceramic warrior faltered for a moment. Confused over the sudden increase in numbers. But quickly it called its shards to action. And so too announced the boys’ cue. 

They ran towards the monster, shards cascading around them— some burying into the concrete of the roof, others exploding on impact. The ceramic warrior’s blade was just a bit slower. Still, illusions were broken left and right. Vanishing into thick clouds of teal. Luckily, the monster hadn't realized where they were coming from, so Mike could continue sending them in. Wave after wave, overwhelming and no doubt agitating. Even luckier, it had yet to strike the originals.

It came close on several occasions, causing their hearts to race. Rei’s almost stopped when he was first to the goal. The ceramic warrior seemed preoccupied enough with the incoming hoard to its left to miss him. So Rei braved on. He sped up his strides the way Andie had taught him, and made the leap. Finding leverage on the ceramic armor he managed to keep balanced as he wrapped his fingers around the device.

The monster immediately froze. Tensing up as it began shining with a dull bronze glow. When Rei began pulling on it, the device started pulsating as if a beating heart, sending a painful tremble through him. More wires protruded from it, wrapping tightly around his arm and burning against his glove. It protected him from any remaining marks, but the pain still seeped through. Rei gritted his teeth and pulled harder. So too did the device fight harder against him. Tightening the wires, threatening to cut into his skin. Turning the tremble to violent shudders. But Rei pushed through and managed to slowly pry it off from the monster. 

And like pulling out a stubborn cable, the device snapped off of the ceramic. The pearl’s glow faded, leaving it a dull brown barely reminiscent of its previous bronze shade. No longer attached to the device, the ceramic warrior fell apart. Returned to its former state as a pile of broken roof tiles.

Rei stumbled slightly when he dropped back down to the roof, static numbing his arm. Nico lowered the cage, reverting the plants to their former states. Albeit more alive and thriving. As the dust began to settle the boys gathered around Rei, staring down at the still intact deceive in his hand. It looked insignificant enough, but they all knew it would lead them one step closer to figuring out what was going on with monsters and the strange beings stalking them.

[queen-scribbles]

🖊 🖊 🖊! -em

Okay, rather than use this to specifically ramble about a character, I'm gonna instead ramble out some thoughts on my Wayhaven Love Interest Swap bc that brainworm has settled in GOOD and I need to let some of these this out before I explode. xD (this Swap being AJ/Adam, Mallory/Nate, Janinie/Mason, and Kasey/Felix. Yes, I realize there's three pens and four characters. I'll be much heavier on one or two of these that are really driving me insane)

🖊 AJ/Adam first bc AJ is always first, and it's the one I've thought about most(thus most likely to happen).

She's very easy-going and willing to work with Bravo, open to suggestion, and basically takes an "I know the town better, you all clearly know the case better, let's pool that knowledge" attitude rather than trying to be In Charge. Adam appreciates that, while it also irritates him and he cannot figure out why. (Spoilers, it's bc he likes her and her working so closely with them puts her in danger and he doesn't want her to get hurt. I think Nate would put those pieces together before Adam does, tho :3) Mishka's mentioned that A's route is them Love-at-First-Sighting the Detective, but I see it being something they both try to downplay for most of book 1(AJ's trying to be professional, Adam's trying to Make It Go Away bc he's trying to protect her from the dangers of the supernatural world, including him). It would be probably when she stops by his room after her arrival at the Agency facility following the vampire reveal that AJ starts to maybe acknowledge/lean into the attraction a bit more. Adam's still fighting it, but it's so hard to do.

He wants to protect her, from everything, but being around her is a different kind of dangerous for both of them(Nate is watching his best friend's struggle with equal amounts of sympathy and amusement). Then it turns out her blood is Special™ and she's in this world whether she likes it or not(she does) and Adam just doubles down on wanting to protect her. I think failing to keep her safe from Murphy would hit harder than it did with Mallory, which is so deliciously angsty. There's this amazing, palpable tension between them in the hospital after she's rescued; not sexual, but definitely something romantic brewing there. (I'm dying at both the patrol scene with him giving her his coat and the first time he makes one of the comments alluding to being viewed as a monster and she just looks him dead in the eye "You're not a monster, Adam" said with such genuine gentleness and conviction it makes him stop breathing for a second)

(Sidenote: her loving to read and him being such a protective grump makes them together give major Beauty and the Beast vibes and I am HERE FOR IT)

Book 2 is where things get really fun bc AJ would actually be more bold about flirting with Adam than she is with Nate in canon. This is because Nate is very suave/charming/open about being attracted to her, which makes her appreciative but shy. I wanna say she was somewhere between 70-80% shy on the romance meter by the end of book 2 with him(and it would be about the same if I put her with Felix or Mason bc they're also both very open about being attracted to you, it's just the tone/nature that changes). With Adam, while she wouldn't be flinging herself at him or anything, she would be a little more obvious with showing signs of her attraction. She'd figure his reticence was due to not being sure she felt the same(he's a vampire, could be from an era/culture with standards about "protecting a lady's honor") and want to clear that up. So it would be little things like touching his arm or holding his gaze. Stuff that's obvious without being forward.

I mentioned in the original post that the main things attracting them to each other is her genuineness(there is no guile in this girl) and how much he cares about his team(she'd notice that real quick). He worries her sweetness/trusting nature is going to get her hurt and she's terrified his protective streak is going to get him hurt again. Enter Trapper Fight and the "Tu omnia" which she would need Nate to translate for her bc she doesn't know Latin. She would definitely go supernatural research on his route and I would go feRAL over the library scene. And while she's willing to give him time and be patient, I feel like moving in to book 3, when it's really hard to deny this mutual attraction, she would start gently pushing for him to either commit or explain why he can't bc this back and forth isn't fair to either of them.

ALRIGHT THAT GOT LONG, sorry about that.

🖊 Mallory/Nate isn't super fleshed out as a concept, I just really like the idea of them together bc she will call him on his bullshit when he tries to deflect about discussing his past and he's easygoing to work with her wanting to be in charge while having the patience to deal with how long it takes her to open up. Suave enough to navigate her prickly topics, too, and the mental image of the fourteen inch height difference is also hilarious. She would want to Protect so badly with him, even if he is a foot and change taller than her. xD Bc he cares about people and he's so good and gentle and the world needs more people like that. Even if they're actually centuries-old vampires.

🖊 Janine/Mason is also not very fleshed out, just Sunshine/Grump pairings are my JAM. While there would still be flirting, it's far less sarcastic/challenge-mode than Kasey's flirting with him. Janine just likes him and is so genuinely sweet and charming, the "Sweetheart" nickname starts almost mocking and the shift to it being a more genuine thing is so subtle Mason doesn't even really notice he's doing it.(Nate and Felix sure do👀👀👀) Janine would want to hold off on sex until it means something, further confusing him about why he's so drawn to her and why he likes her so much, when she doesn't even want to "have fun". The bakery scene in book 3 would be BRUTAL, she would leave in tears, Mason's internal monologue would be something along the lines fuckfuckfuCK SHIT FUCK. >:3

🖊Kasey/Felix is the other one I've put some decent thought into. It starts out just as fun. It's casual flirting, at least on her end, sweet how much he cares, and he's kind of adorable, but Felix is definitely to more invested of the two of them until the Carnival Date. His unmitigated joy sends her just plunging head over heels, like she stepped into the deep end of a pool with no warning and she doesn't even look back. ("Look how happy you are, that's so much sexier than any pout" Girl's a GONER) She loves taking advantage of being slightly taller to wrap her arm around his shoulders, he's jokingly asked for piggyback rides bc he thinks it'd be funny. She would hesitate even more than Janine did about saving him vs Sanja in the Trapper fight. I think she would still save Sanja, but fullblown panic attack about seeing him so hurt, like we're talking walks like a zombie, Nate or Mason has to drag her by the arm to get her where they need her to go, absolutely stays when Felix asks and wraps around him like a very protective big spoon.

🍪🍪🍪Cookies for anyone who read all that, I'm now taking bets on how long until I run at least the AJ/Adam one(I'm a teeny little nudge away), and I'm high-key amused all these swaps put my girls in the perfect spot to rack up friend points with their bffs xD (AJ-Felix, Mallory-Mason, Janine-Nate, Kasey-Adam)

[notebookmusical]

Ooh it's cool that you got to see Bea at Lolla or Maisie and whoever else! If anything, concerts have gotten more expensive than they used to be for me so there have been some I had to pass on too. I have been meaning to listen to the Japanese House album for a while and will soon. I've listened to most of the artists you named and will add the rest to my list too.

Oh I didn't know the Waitress proshot had come out already. Maybe I will check it out. I remember hearing about the Roman Holiday musical but it never went to Broadway or anything so I didn't know too much about it. I just heard the Notebook musical is coming to Broadway in spring so hopefully they've improved it. Those are also such good examples of movies into musicals. I do agree about the cash grabs and like just coming out with or rushing more musicals each year or just making everything a musical just because.

I honestly didn't know what to think of it cuz I didn't even hear about it until recently. I do agree he seemed a little old for her though..I wonder how he will pull off the part. But it at least has potential with the actors since I like them. I actually didn't know there was going to be two..but I remember hearing that Florence Welch was working on the music I think? Or is that the same thing? It could be cool and kinda reminds me of the same vibes as The Wild Party. I never actually read the book..but I remember liking the movie and how glam it was..so the sets could be similar..or have potential. The music might be similar to an older 50s musical or idk. Maybe it would be similar to Moulin Rouge too. I would be pretty excited for it though anyway I think! I would love to hear more about there being two versions too since I didn't know that.

i was telling one of my best friends that it's very unlikely i'll do another music festival soon (although that same friend wants to do a music festival at some point, so i'll probably go with her just so she has someone to go with) because while i had a blast seeing so many people (and was able to justify the cost that way), it was just ... too peopley and too hot etc etc. for my liking! but i love her, and i'll do anything for her, including braving crowds and the heat again haha. glad i did it though, just for the sake of having done one, and for seeing that many people i wouldn't have gotten to see otherwise! and i actually haven't really been a big concert person up until this year, but that's what i've been hearing, unfortunately :( and eeee! i hope you like them!! i'd love to hear your thoughts on their music later 🤍 roman holiday is one of my favorite, favorite movies of all time, so i was super excited for the musical and as much as i love it, it is definitely not broadway ready (and i don't think it ever will be, unless they do an original score). and yes!! here's hoping they reworked the notebook so it's stronger! it's been about a year since it did the tryout, so plenty of time to have worked on it! yes! so there's the gatsby musical by kait kerrigan, jason howland and nathan tysen that's premiering at paper mill playhouse — you might know of kerrigan from kerrigan-lowdermilk (sam brown/the mad ones), howland from little women, and tysen from amelie and tuck everlasting — and that's the one that jerjor and eva are in! i love mad ones (and just kerrigan-lowdermilk's songs in general), and really enjoyed little women, amelie and tuck, so i'm really excited to see what becomes of it! and then the one that florence welch is involved with is the one premiering at the ART in boston! i am just so so excited to see what happens with both, and i think there are a lot of directions they could go in! not to mention, the set and staging — i'm thinking of how they can play with lighting (green light) already and i am just soooo excited. and i just thought of wildhorn & murphy's scott & zelda musical that drew gehling and laura michelle kelly sang songs from too (i have/had audio ... somewhere, i think, and i remember liking what i listened to, but might've lost it when i switched computers). there's so much to play with, and i just think it's really exciting! and now i want to do a gatsby reread!!