#edward: welp! i’m here now!

[thegameartist03]

some Modern Alchemist doodles from the past couple days

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

how do you feel about nolan’s batman/scarecrow?

i’m not fully sure what you mean here. like, as in how i feel about the characters in that movie or that version of the pairing? 

but either way, i don’t hate it! i don’t hate any of batman movies tbh. no matter, how different or hella campy they are compared to source material, i still can see smth redeeming in them. i’m generally somewhat lax n’ chill with superhero movies/games. in most cases, i’d be more nitpicky toward cartoons/newer comics, than i’ll ever be toward cinema or video games. nolan’s batman falls into that category too. it’s not my fav batman movie by any means, but it has its moments.

besides, i believe that it was the first dc’s newer *2000 era* cinematic project back then, n’ i happen to watch it as a kid, so i have somewhat nostalgic memories about it as well. i also must say, that the tone of nolan's dark knight was very different compared to more campy, playful batman movies till that point. so it was nice change too. very unexpected turn in a way.

personally, for me it was hit in some places n' a fairly big miss in the others. for one, i get why a lot of people were annoyed with who nolan chose to play the scarecrow, since yes, it is strange to see a character, who canonically was considered to be far from pretty *to put it mildly* suddenly becoming basically an opposite of it. but tbh, i usually not very sold on who they pick to play characters in those movies. so it’s not like i tend to be 100% pleased in that aspect. n’ i do find it somewhat amusing, that for once, jonathan can be a real ‘princess’, both in manners n’ looks. it took some getting used to for sure, but i’m not super-duper upset about that change! i feel like i would have more inner dissonance if that batman movie, where nicolas cage was about to play crane had actually happened lol. i mean, it could have been interesting tbh, bc i cannot imagine cage being tame in his performance, esp back then. so maybe it's actually too bad that it didn't happened, bc we might have gotten the most over the top jonathan crane, who ever existed. like, you see jim carrey's riddler n' there is still no riddler to this day to top his exaggerated, campy performance lol. n' i have this vibe here too. i can bet 10$, that nick would have improvised in some scenes, n' like licked batman's face or smth. .... ah man, now i kinda wish that it had happened, dang.

but uh err, back to nolan's movies. if i’m being completely honest here, my main pet-peeve with nolan’s scarecrow wasn’t his looks per say, but rather how little he was presented in those movies in itself, and how nothing was really going on there for him. it really rubs me the wrong way, that he wasn’t even his own thing, just a pawn for another batman villain to use. he was never allowed to play a major role in anything, despite *might be wrong here tho* how nolan said that he considers the scarecrow to be batman’s real arch-nemesis not the joker, so this is why he used the scarecrow first. the scarecrow being batman's real fuel is smth i’m 100% sold on, and it all considering, that i actually love the joker as character. but like, the clown gimmick is basically antipod to literally everything lol. him being batman's 'fuel' always felt kinda idk, a bit lazy to me. at least, make the black mask or two-face his arch-enemy, this would be way more nuanced vs the clown, who's just hella insane n' have zero morals. so if nolan was also one of those people, who felt that the joker can be put aside for a moment or two, n' let another old batman's rogue shine, welp, he didn't implemented said sentiment very well in his movies.

there was a lot of room to do smth with crane’s character. to flash him out in newer ways or craft him more specifically for the setting, that they had going on. batman 2022 actually got this bit right. their edward was still very riddler-like, while also possessing enough ‘original’ elements to make him exist within the movie’s narrative/tone perfectly. he felt like that movie's main villain specifically n’ he played the part. n’ it all considering how he also was on the screen for idk, 20 minutes at max. but his presence was important n’ left an impact. not hannibal lector from silence of the lamb level, of course, *you cannot beat a suspense masterpiece after all* but still, it was smth. n' it was one of those things, that made me like the movie way more, than i expected.

with this in mind, now compare it to how we had to sit through a long ass movie, where we were teased with the scarecrow being the main antagonist. only for it to turn out to be a lie. instead, crane was taking the back seat to ra al ghul. just degist this sentence. he wasn't even bested by the joker or bane. but by ra flipping al ghul. like out of curiosity, i asked a couple of people, who have very limited n' slight knowlege of batman's media as whole, but who watched nolan's movies, n' i asked them who was the villain in the first movie. and they all were like 'the scarecrow'. no one even remembers ghul. an' it's not bc crane did smth big in the movie, but it's bc no one really cares about that past lore, where ghul was bruce's teacher. everyone only remember, that he kinda died or smth, when the cave/building collapsed lol. granted, i’m also bias here, bc ra al ghul is one of those batman’s villains, who personally bore me. and naturally, him stealing the spotlight from crane doesn’t win him any brownie points with me. but like, idk. this is just so unfair to the scarecrow. i mean, his iconic fear toxin wasn’t even released by him or on purpuse, which had me like ??? as a kid. bc it just made zero sense. it would have been the same, if i dunno, a clock king in btas had released joker’s laughing gas, all while the joker himself was just sorta/kinda there. just idling in the background without any proper input, aside from being the one who created the said gas lol. this is what had happened there. so yeah, it was a very awkward way to make bruce's old asshole teacher revelant again. also jonathan being a drug dealer *kind of* an' having a 'business plan' is so hiliriously opposite of what he usually did in the comics/btas. maybe, he could have shared his knowlege of how to make money with other cranes, who are usually broke as hell lol.

n’ well, if i had to be nitpicky here, i also was disappointed with how little thought they put into crane’s scarecrow costume. the excuse of ‘they tried to make it more realistic’ doesn’t work on me, bc catwoman in burton’s batman was designed with the same idea in mind, n’ her costume was freaking awesome n’ creative. but oh well…it is what it is.

as for nolan’s scarebat version, well, i don’t mind it. i love comic/btas crane n’ bruce the most. love jon as that socially inept, unsightly, closeted gremlin, n’ bruce as a low-key emotionally stunted, but still sympathetic hero. but aside from that, i can see an appeal in a good-looking scarecrow, who might have the power to sway batman with one smokey look. granted, jonathan already acted all whorish around the bat in the movie, so it’s not hard to picture him trying to seduce his way out of an encounter with batman just bc he feels that he can do it. so just this one time, crane can have it ‘easy’, when it comes to wooing the big bad bat. there is also smth funny about people expecting the fearsome scarecrow to look literally anything, but how nolan’s one looks. an' i also must add, that i've read a few of nolanverse scarebat fics an' usually the authors doing a better job at flashing out crane, than the movie did lol. so props to them for that!

[sxrahwashere]

TICKLED PINK ( written by me ofc )

——————————————————

early one morning on the island of sodor, james was huffing and puffing along with shiney red paint glistening and shining in the sun, he felt very special about it until sir topham hatt came to the sheds where he saw edward and james

“James! today you will be repainted with a new coat meaning you will go to the steamworks!”

James was so happy he heard that

“Yes sir! i will go straight away!” he said as he started chuffing away

while james was puffing along on his branch line, he wondered what type of new coat he would get and once get got to the steamworks, he got his red painted off and red painted to pink from fender to footplate and james look up and saw sir topham hatt came along

“james! today is my grand daughters birthday today and the only reason why your pink is because her and her friends love the color pink so be prepared to pick up the children before tea time” he exclaimed

“but i’m not even ready sir!”

“i’m pretty sure you are”

and with that, he left james in there

“welp now i gotta go pick up the kids then i guess” so he went and grabbed the passenger coaches and went along until he saw his gf broken down

“uh babe?- I MEAN, emily, what happened to you?” he asked

“i have broken down and i cant pick them up but oh my james, your all pink!” she laughed and giggled

james felt very silly and went away from his gf

“surely now everyone is going to laugh at me, if they see me, i will hide” he said to himself

while on the go, he saw toby up ahead and hid with the branches in a side track and he stood there and stayed quitely as he could but until he a heard a familiar whistle

“oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck” james whispered to himself

“EXPRESS COMING THROUGHHH!!” he exclaimed as he chuffed quickly

as gordon went, the wind blew off from the branches meaning james got exposed and toby could see james in all pink

“oh my james, your pink!” he laughed softly

ofc james felt embrassed and so silly but he knew what he had to do

“must go get the children, i shall not be late”

so he went to get the children but you ahead he saw diesel shunting trucks and he knew dang well that diesel would laugh at him so he hide in each one of the trucks buy even though how hard james tried, diesel shunted those trucks until saw james

“james, your all pink! holy shit” he laughed his ass off and james felt all embrassed but he had to go and pick up the children and he found a tunnel to hide in few minutes later because he heard gordon,thomas, and percy came along

“move outta my way!” he exclaimed

“im trying to not be late here!” gordon exclaimed angrily

james moved even more back to hide but just then percy and thomas chuffed in

“who is there?” Thomas asked curiously

“i don’t fucking know!” gordon grumbled

“but they should get out of my way, show yourself!” as gordon shouted

so then james came out and showed himself and the 3 engines laughed their asses off

“i would hide too if i was bright pink” as gordon laughed while saying that

james couldn’t take it anymore so he went but he saw spencer up ahead and he ignored spencer ms went on with his day and he went past henry from below and henry laughed and james but james didn’t even care at all so he went and made it to the party and before he chuffed in

“surely the kids well laugh at me for being bright pink” he said to himself

so then james puffed in and looked at the kids and the kids were smiling at james

“omg guys look! james is pink like us!” as sir topham hatt’s granddaughter said with an excited look

“so you don’t think.. i look silly-?” james asked

“no! pink is our favorite color!” she exclaimed in happiness

as the kids celebrated and happy that james was pink, james was glad that he was pink too and didn’t even feel embrassed any more

“im just the smartest ( dumbest ) engine on the island of sodor!” he said happily

The End

[volturi-stuff]

Blood Moon p4

Demetri Volturi x fem!swan!reader

Taglist: @volturidoll13 @raindancer2004 @captainxholmes @kpopgirlbtssvt @avyannadawn

WARNING; mention of blood, Riley being an ass. Injuries

A/N: welp, here we go again. I’m sorry this took so long.

You let out a soft yelp of pain, as Riley clutched your wrists in his cold hands. It looked like he got a thrill out of your fear. "Hm... And I thought Bella's scent smelled good." He purred as he lowered his head to the crook of your neck, as you shook in fear, wishing Demetri would have stayed now. “Let me go!" You yelled as tears welded in your eyes. You tried kicking him back hard in his stomach, but he didn't budge, he didn’t even move a muscle. His grip on your wrists only tightened, with a low throaty growl escaping passed his lips, as his is teeth grazed down the side of your neck, drawing a scream from your lips. Riley’s head shot up quickly, as he furrowed his eyebrows, he inhaled the air as he let a soft growl slip passed his lips. Riley dropped you all at once to the floor, fast and hard as you let out a whimper. A sob ran through your body, as the hot tears fell down your cheeks. You sniffled, as you suddenly felt stinging, your eyes trailed down your leg, to see one of your stitches had popped.

There was a lot of noise followed by Edward's shouting. You couldn't bring yourself to care, as your mind wouldn't stop thinking about the 'what if' possibility of Riley returning to finish what he started.

Oh had been silent for a few minutes, as your door creaked opened once more, but you couldn’t bring yourself to look, or even move, as the hot rushed tears fell down your cheeks. You began feeling very nauseous at the sickening crimson running down your leg, as you laid there on the cold hard wood flooring of your bedroom.

Then you felt a cold hand on your shoulder, you jerked up in a panic and crawled to the corner of your room bringing your knees tight to your chest, as you sobbed putting your head into your knees, “Please..” You begged as another sob ran through you. Deep down, you had thought it was Riley coming to finish the job. But a softer voice spoke, a familiar voice. "Darling, please... It's just me, come here." Demetri said in his low accent softly, wrapping his arms around your shoulders, as he got into the crouch position next to you, softly stroked your hair with his icy hand, his soft finger tips brushed against your face. After you realized whom it was, you hugged him so tightly around his waist, like he would float away. You pressed your face into his chest, inhaling the familiar scent of Italian cologne, and rose water. "Metri!" You cried out, as you pressed your face further into his chest trying to hide from the supernatural world, "I-I tried to fight him off b-but- the-the blood and I-" You sobbed as Demetri cut you off, "I know, my Love... I know..." He whispered as he held you tightly with his chin resting on the top of your forehead, slightly rocking you. It broke his heart he wasn’t fast enough to spare you from all this new trauma.

Demetri's eyes trailed down to your leg as the scent of your blood hit him all at once like a title wave. He slightly tensed but softened at you, "Here, let me fix your stitches... hm?" Demetri whispered softly, as he gently picked you up into his arms. You let out a tiny squeak as he effortlessly carried you into the bathroom, sitting you on the sink as he grabbed what he needed out of your bag, and the medicine cabinet. He returned to his place in front of you, as he spoke again, "I'm so sorry I wasn't here to help you, Darling." He whispered, as his ruby orbs faded to pitch black, with worry for his little mate. You stayed silent, as your lip quivered, your gaze fixed on the wall. "Ow!" You screeched, as your face contorted in pain, Demetri had begin cleaning your cuts, putting disinfectant on it that Carlisle had given him. He began to fix the stitches that had popped, as you let out a soft cry putting your head against the wall. It felt like fire sticking through your bone as you let out another scream of pain. Demetri whimpered at the fact, he was causing you agony. "Hey, shh... Love, it's okay." Demetri whispered as his cold hand slipped into your warm one. He ran his thumb over your knuckles calming you, as he put a clean bandage over your wound, his dark crimson eyes looked up into yours, giving you a comforting look. "See? You're okay..." He whispered bringing his hand up to your cheek, wiping the tears that had fallen with his cold thumb.

Demetri took in the sight of your bruised face, as he brushed the hair away from the gash on your head once more. "Come, I'm doing your hair love." Demetri said in an attempt to lighten the mood. You nodded as you sniffed your tears back, trying to forget about the pain coursing through your leg. "Okay, Dem." You whispered in a hoarse raspy tone. And with that Demetri grabbed your brush off the sink, and began brushing through your hair gently, as you sighed in content leaning your head back to give him more excess. “You know, I like it when you do my hair.” You said with a slight grin. Demetri smiled in response, as he put your hair in a messy bun, a successful smirk spread across his face. You giggled and started feeling better as Demetri placed a small kiss to your head, "Thank you, Demetri." You said with a slight smile, as the pain was still coursing through you. Demetri smiled in response, "Of course, Darling." He whispered, giving you a look, he only gives you. A look that's filled with such love, and kindness, memorizing your every detail with such admiration, that if he looks away, he'd be afraid you'd vanish. You blushed and looking down at your hands as you played with the sleeve of your shirt in nervousness every time he did this, too flustered to look at him. He thought this was the cutest thing he's ever seen.

Edward was watching from the doorway, as he read Demetri's thought's. He was confused at the fact his mind only held worry, and love, for the girl in front of him. Demetri Volturi, was supposed to be this evil ruthless man, a Casanova. But what Edward had witnessed, it’s like it was all a lie. He retreated back to the kitchen, to be with Bella after he knew there was no danger, but was deeply confused about how he managed to mate to you.

Demetri helped you off the sink, gripping your waist softly, your cheeks had heated up, as you turned into a strawberry in front of the tracker, with a small smile. This did not go unnoticed by Demetri as he smirked with such smugness, at the face he, made you feel this way. "You have to change." Demetri motioned to the blood on your pants. He went into your drawer, looking for anything that would be comfortable enough. He ended up tossing a pair of your shorts and his hoodie at you, the most comforting thing he could possibly find. "I'll be right in your room, let me know when you're decent, Darling." He said walking out of your bathroom, closing the door behind him.

With a small sigh, you changed out of the crimson dyed clothes, as a hushed wince slipped past your lips. You changed into the shorts, and soft black hoodie, the cotton material brushed against your skin making it feel like clouds. It smelled like Demetri, his cologne was strong on it, that gave you a comfort feeling, as butterflies begin fluttering in your stomach. You smiled slightly, opening the door to face the tall tracker. He was in your chair, with his feet against your desk as his bright crimson eyes fluttered up to look at you. Demetri drew in a breath at the way you looked in his clothes. His eyes lingered on you, as you froze like a deer in the headlights of a car, already feeling your cheeks redden in his gaze. “You feel comfy, Darling?” He asked in a low tone, with a small smile. You nodded, going over to your bed, a small wince escaped your lips, carefully leaning back onto the soft sheets of the bed.

You looked over at Demetri, as his eyes were already locked onto you. “When are you leaving?” You asked in a mumble. Demetri sighed shaking his head, “I’m not. Not till morning. I can’t leave you… Not again.” Demetri murmured as his voice broke. You nodded at him, as you patted the spot next to you. “Do you uh… Wanna lay with me?” You whispered, as Demetri heard your heart beat quicken, in the same way it did earlier that day. He gave you a small smirk and walked over, you felt the bed dip from his weight as you were faced with his crimson eyes, boring into yours. Demetri snaked his cold arm around you cautiously pulling you into his chest, looking for any sign of distress. You returned the feeling, moving to curl into his side. Your head rested in the crook of his neck, while your hand found its way to his cold one, Demetri got the hint, as he intertwined his cold fingers with your warm ones, giving you a sweet smile. “Metri, I feel safer with you.” You said just above a whisper. If Demetri’s undead heart could beat, it would have in that moment. “Of course, Darling. I intend on keeping you safe. You’re not just my blood singer, you’re my mate. You are my other half.” Demetri said, running is other hand through your hair, giving your scalp a soft massage. You closed your eyes, suddenly feeling really tired as Demetri continued this. You nuzzles your face into his shoulder more, giving into sleep, as your eyes fluttered closed, and your breathing slowed.

Demetri looked at your sleeping form, and his heart melted. You trusted him enough to let him hold you in your most vulnerable state. He places a soft kiss to you head, as he listened to the soft thumps of your heart beat, making him feel more guilty. But there was a reason as to why Demetri was there. And the secret he was keeping from you, killed him inside. Especially because he had fallen in love with you.

[sodor-spirit]

Welp, here’s some angst featuring Gordon and Scottie. (Sorry, Robo.)

Watching a rather offended and hurt Edward leave the station with his blue tender engine; Gordon sighed loudly, feeling upset and angry towards his brother’s attitude and his inability to understand what the water spirit had gone through.

“What did I say?” Scotsman asked, also watching Edward leave. “I’m just stating that if you Sodor Spirits simply continued following the Mainland’s society and caste system, then at least all of you would look like your on the same level as us.”

“You don’t understand, Scottie.” Gordon spoke in a rather soft, uncharacteristic tone.

The famous spirit looked up at his brother with a bemused look on his face.

“Scotsman. Most of the spirits here, aside from us Air spirits lived horrible lives during their time on the Mainland. Edward was mistreated on the Furness Railway and was forced to be a slave, Henry was horribly bullied by the other spirits and was told he never should’ve been born, Donald and Douglas weren’t treated as separate individuals and thrown into a freezing cooler for days if they broke any rules and Oliver was tormented by his own brothers and sisters on the Great Western for being a metal spirit and had to wait for a long time for a single chance to escape to Sodor.”

Hearing this made the Flying Scotsman’s face drop. Now the horrible nickname of “Sodor Savage” didn’t sound very great to him anymore, especially hearing what some of the spirits living on the island went through.

“And… what about Thomas?” He asked, feeling a rush of concern of what that electric spirit might’ve gone through.

A sharp sigh passed Gordon’s nose. “I don’t know. When Thomas first came to the island; it was during the Spirit War that Edward, Henry and I were caught up in. None of us got the chance to ask him.” The Air spirit, placed a hand against his head. “Wished we did because after Thomas was torn in half by- I mean nearly at the end of the War; when he regenerated he lost all of his memories of his time on the Mainland.”

Scottie let out a noise of horror, unable to believe what his brother just told him about that cheeky blue spirit. Thomas was torn in half and fought in a war? He wondered to himself how the electric spirit was able to recover from that horrific experience, let alone how old he was at the time. Despite this curiosity; he knew it was better not to ask since the topic seems to be taking a toll on his brother.

“But that’s not when I’m trying to say, Scottie.” Gordon continued, his voice now becoming quite shaky. “The Sodor Spirits don’t hate the Mainland Spirits because of them being more “superior” than us. They hate and mistrust every single spirit living there because of what they went through while they were trapped there and they don’t want or care to understand why we have no caste system and why we constantly have to fight. Compared to the Mainland and possibly around the world, Monsters are constantly invading because they’re attracted to the island’s magical energy and because the Sudrians living here seems to have some form of magic that allowed them to see us, it also makes them easy targets as well.”

Gordon wiped a few tears away after sucking in an uneasy breath, his back still turned against his brother. “We fight those shadowy creatures to protect our home and the people living here. That way no more lives will be killed during that horrible war and no one… will suffer the same deaths that my original driver and fireman had when they were killed, trying to protect me during a monster attack.”

The pieces finally started to fit. It was clear as polished glass on pretty much everything for the Flying Scotsman. Why the Sodor Spirits hold such a hatred towards the Mainland Spirits, why they constantly have to fight and why Gordon lashed out at him earlier for making a joke about Monsters. Even though he knew that his own crew weren’t able to see him like both Gordon’s original and current crew, he also would’ve felt the same way if his crew had the same the horrific death.

He then started to reach out towards his brother. “Gordon… I’m so sorry, I didn’t-“

“Don’t bother.” Gordon cut off.

‘W-what?’ Scottie thought, looking incredibly stunned and hurt at the same time by Gordon’s emotionless tone.

“Go back to the Mainland and never tell anyone there, what I said to you…” The air spirit then took a softer tone. “Look… it’ll be better this way for everyone here and for the both of us. Just go.” Not saying another word; Gordon started to fly away, his large tender engine starting to leave the station with the Express coaches behind. Tears were now flowing out of purple eyes, once he was high enough from where nobody would see him in such a disgraceful way.

Watching his brother leave in silence; the Flying Scotsman let his arm fall to the side, a devastated expression etched on his face.

END…

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

Finally watching Goodbye Partner!  I’m watching the dub, but I have the subs on so I can read the date/location popups and signs, so I’m getting a bit of dialogue comparison.  I’ll probably go back and watch a few scenes with the original audio as well (Kiyoshi Kobayashi my beloved).

Here begins the liveblog, but all in one post and under a cut so it’s not as insufferable:

Starting strong with a heist escape sequence as per usual!  As far as openings go, it’s hard to go wrong with that.

Oh, hello, literal actual Chopin courtesy of a timeskip/flashback.

What are these RWBY-ass CGI piano hands??  Y’all warned me and you were not kidding.  Traditional rotoscoping would never hurt me in this way.

CUSTODY_OF_CHILD.JPG

Lupin playing in those see-through inflatable “hamster” balls skdfjskjdflsl

Intricate Rituals.  Jiglup gunplay confirmed

Epcar’s delivery here was so much more aggressive than Kobayashi’s.

“Area 61, Colorado” just say Cheyenne Mountain

EDWARD ZNOWDEN

Fujiko really is terrible with kids

Listen, I love a good Dutch angle, but I’m starting to feel like I should set up a CinemaSins counter at this point.  I’m glad to have some shot variety but there are other compositions, you know.

Motorcycle Jigen returns!!

Loving this little Morricone shoutout, which I unfortunately cannot seem to find on YouTube.

[strangled Goemon voice] “MISTAKE.”

God. GOD. Tony Oliver’s delivery in the betrayal scene is so good.  Lupin is clearly not buying it at all and is quite willing to play along with whatever the hell this is - until Jigen shoots him right in the heart.  That’s going to hurt a lot more than literally when he wakes up, though 1) given that the movie’s barely begun, I’m guessing he’s still not completely buying it (rightfully so) and is gonna look into this and 2) unfortunately this franchise isn’t known for actually digging into all the delicious angst and implications it likes to sling around.  Cowards.

Also, I like that Lupin seems to be wearing a navy shirt and pink tie like he had in early Part 2 instead of the blue shirt/yellow tie he has in the other Red Jacket movies.  Not sure why that’s what they went with but I’m down.

Okay, I went back and watched the betrayal scene in Japanese and OOF, it hits DIFFERENT to hear Kiyoshi Kobayashi deliver those lines.  He’s so utterly casual about it and it’s all the more angsty since he’s, y’know, a million years old, so here his Jigen sounds much more tired/resigned compared to Epcar’s brasher gunman.

The way that the shots focus on not only Jigen, but also Fujiko when the boss asks about the betrayal...nice.  Fujiko doesn’t know for sure if Jigen killed Lupin, but I imagine such a possibility would shake her at least a little - not just because she cares for that silly monkey man, but because that partnership has been a surprising constant in her life.  If even that could finally crumble, her natural cynicism is about to get a whole lot deeper.  Morbidly, she wants to know if Jigen had the balls to do it.  It’d be a hell of a lot more kindred spirit between them than she ever expected if so.  It’s a shame this plot wasn’t used in a Koike movie; it would’ve been great to see the deliberate parallel/foil from TWCFM continue.

“Why don’t we talk about your future?” the boss says as Jigen’s whole demeanor screams What future?  Even though Lupin isn’t dead and Jigen has his reasons for why he did this, Jigen hardly expects forgiveness after all this.  Lupin may be alive but Jigen has just killed the best thing he ever had and he can never get that back (except he can, because movie and long-running franchise, but y’know, Watsonian vs. Doylist).

The Dark Crystal (1982)

HATSUNE MIKU???  ACTUAL HATSUNE MIKU????? (just her voice but aksdjfkajsdkfjaklsjdfljasjdflajsdf)

Ohhhh, the Lupin & Clarisse / Jigen & the kid’s mom (still haven’t heard her name lmao) parallel was just uncalled for, my heart

Let Jigen wear burgundy more often

...Mr. Epcar, I love and respect you, but is it too much to ask that you vary your inflection a little more?  Where’s the PATHOS?

Slightly cried instantly, “The Wendy lady lives.”  Then Peter knelt beside her and found his button.  You remember she had put it on a chain that she wore round her neck.  “See,” he said, “the arrow struck against this. It is the kiss I gave her.  It has saved her life.”

BLACK JACKET

Burgundy suit + round glasses Goemon!!!

There’s no way Pops is getting his job back after this one

Goemon: [turns his usual hot girl swordsmanship up to 11]

Lupin: Well mark me down as scared AND horny! dot jpeg

Again with the CGI hand crimes.

Wow he straight-up said Jigen was cheating on him

Ah, see, that “waste of oxygen”/“huge mistake” bit of dialogue is the kind of inflection I like to hear.

WarGames (1983)

It took me entirely too long to realize the president was supposed to look like H.illary.

Goemon: [slices open a door for Fujiko]

Fujiko: “Oh, you.” <3

This is all very action-heavy and surprisingly decent for a Lupin film so far, but uh. why is Jigen once again a side character in his own movie?

Ayyyy, nice reference to Zantetsuken’s composition from Part 1.  Still insane that they melted down three awesome swords to make a different sword though.

Goemon snarks back to robots confirmed.  Not that Lupin would ever be stupid enough to buy an Al3xa/etc. but can you IMAGINE

JAZZ PIANIST FUJIKO!  Fujiko having actual interests and hobbies!!!

Comrade Emilka

TRIPLE PARALLEL WITH JIGEN & ALISA NOW

They just?? left Jigen in the middle of the desert after the absolute minimum discussion of All That????  That’s...on-brand actually but give me the angst this plot device deserved >:(

Michelle Ruff I would die for you

This variation on the main theme is my favorite.  I’ve probably listened to it about a thousand times at this point but I finally got to hear it in context.

Welp, that was one of the better Lupin movies I’ve seen, but I do wish they’d done more with the whole Jigen betrayal thing that ended up being more of a subplot.  Thank goodness for fics that do the work.

Edit: “There are about four different plots going on at once in this movie, and they forgot to focus on the one that’s in the actual title.” - @theimpossiblescheme

[sweet-curried-powder]

IBVS Week Day Two: Adventure

*cue rude buster*

so i was listening to the deltarune soundtrack again a while ago, and while i was thinking of a prompt for day two i vaguely remembered an ibvs/deltarune crossover au where ed and isaac get yeeted into the dark world, so that was my inspiration for this one! i know i could have technically used this for the favorite au prompt on day six, but i have something...different in mind. ;)

by the way, spoiler warning for chapters 22-25 of season one of ibvs! i think everyone has read the entirety of season one already, but if anyone wants me to put this under a read more or anything, let me know.

ibvs belongs to @onebizarrekai

~~~~~~~

Ever since Chris was young, he wanted to leave his hometown and explore the world.

He wanted to be like Link from the Zelda games that he grew up playing; to grab a sword and travel through unknown lands, slaying monsters that appeared in his path. Well, he had a sword, technically, but honestly it looked more like a giant knife. That could be a thousand degrees, for all he knew.

Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the case, not now, or anytime soon. He was stuck with a neglectful father who had been drinking more as of late, stuck having to repeat junior year due to all the times he’d had to change schools, stuck with so many things he’d rather not be stuck with, in all honesty.

“Oi! Earth to Chris!”

He snapped out of his train of thought, only then noticing that Isaac, his friend, was waving a hand smeared with ink and pencil smudges in his face. Chris shook his head quickly to clear it, smiling slightly at his friend.

“Oh, uh, hey dude.”

“Are you good, man?” Isaac asked, tilting his head. “You seemed really out of it. Did you not sleep well or something?”

“Nah, I’m good. Just zoned out, I guess.” He fidgeted with his sleeves a bit. “What did Ed even want us for, anyways? There hasn’t been any supernatural shit going on since the whole Onceler thing happened.”

“No idea.” Isaac put his hands behind his head, Kokichi Ouma style. “You still okay after that, man? I mean, that must’ve been freaky. I mean, what’re the chances that you would’ve gotten possessed by the Onceler, of all people?”

“I’m still okay. I mean, I still have nightmares about the Onceler, and I can’t listen to ‘How Bad Can I Be’ without getting chills, but I’m alive.” Chris rocked on his heels. “I swear, sometimes our life feels like some sort of crazy fanfiction or something.”

“With all the ghosts and supernatural shit? I totally agree. I mean. We fought what? 90’s terrorists? If that didn’t really happen I’d think I was on something.”

Chris chuckled slightly. “Yeah. I mean, Dillian’s in jail now, so we don’t have to worry about our school getting blown up by a J.D. kinnie.”

“A who kinnie?” Edward asked, suddenly approaching behind Isaac.

“J.D. You know, Jason Dean?”

Silence from Edward and Isaac.

“You know. From Heathers? Veronica’s crazy boyfriend?”

More silence.

“...Jesus Christ. Isaac, we’re watching that this weekend.”

“Anyways, what the fuck did you want, Error?” Isaac looked back at Edward, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. “School doesn’t start for like an hour and a half. It’s early as shit.”

“Cause I need to talk to you guys. Obviously. In the closet.” He grabbed the two boys and pulled them into the closet, where it was pitch black dark. Not just normal janitor’s closet dark, a dark that you’d expect to experience outside during midnight.

“What the hell? Why is it so dark in here?” Isaac mumbled, looking around. “I can’t see shit.”

“Maybe a light bulb burst or something,” Chris suggested. “I mean, the school’s still looking for a janitor after Mr. Chudley got arrested. I think there might be a box of bulbs in here though. I mean, it is a janitor’s closet.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Edward rolled his eyes as the trio walked further into the closet. “Well, good luck trying—”

SLAM.

Their heads whipped around quickly, just in time for them to notice that the door had slammed shut behind the three of them, leaving them in the darkness.

“Well fuck me-” Isaac mumbled under his breath, Chris running to the door, shaking and pulling at the doorknob with everything he had.

“I can’t open it!” the monochromatic teenager cried desperately. “I think it’s locked from the outside… but how did it get locked, I don’t—”

There was suddenly a loud rumble, as the floor shook beneath their feet. Chris took several steps back, breath caught in his throat. “Fuck, an earthquake? Now?”

“No,” Edward muttered. “This...this doesn’t feel like an earthquake…”

And as if on cue, as soon as Edward said those words, the floor gave way, and the three boys found themselves falling, their screams lost in the void-like darkness.

“...Chris...Chris!”

Chris groaned, eyes opening. It was Isaac, but...he looked different. Instead of his normal clothes, he was wearing some sort of purple cloak, with a shining white brooch at the neck, and several bottles full of different colored liquids attached to a sash that was tied at his waist. It looked like something from an anime, or an RPG-style video game.

“Isaac?” As Chris shifted, he heard heavy metal clunking and creaking slightly, causing him to look down. He had on several pieces of armor with a cape, with leather boots, and there was a sword and a shield nearby. “...what the hell am I wearing? Where are we?”

“No fucking clue,” Isaac answered. “Last thing I remember is falling through the closet floor, and the next thing I know, I wake up on the floor of some weird place. Looks like something out of a fantasy movie or some shit.”

Chris stood up, looking around. The area was wet and humid, water dripping from the ceilings, colorful crystals sticking out of the walls. It seemed to be some sort of water-gem-cave? “Do you know where Edward is?”

“Nooope.”

“Welp. Guess we should find him then, huh?” Chris picked up the sword and shield, slinging the former over his shoulder. “I mean, it wouldn’t hurt to explore this place a bit. It’d be a fun adventure, anyways.”

[starlypenguins]

Ibvs week day 2: Adventure

Ibvs belongs to @onebizarrekai

---

“Error out of all the dumb ideas you’ve had, this one has to be the dumbest.”

“Yeah I have to agree with Isaac on this one.”

“Oh come on, I’ve had way worse ideas!”

Isaac just rolled his eyes and continued walking while Chris struggled to catch up.

“Okay yeah, he’s definitely had worse ones,” Chris said.

“Were you actually thinking of all the bad ideas he's had?” Isaac asked as Chris caught his breath.

“Yeah, which was hard since there was a lot.”

“Okay I admit, I’ve had a lot of bad ones,” Edward said, grabbing a pair of keys from his pocket.

“What are we even here for again?” Chris asked.

“You’ll see,” Edward said as he unlocked the door to the park lair.

“Is it something that can wait until it's not 1 in the morning?” Isaac asked, letting out a small yawn.

“Nope, now quit complaining and get in here,” Edward said, holding open the door.

Isaac and Chris walked inside, looking around to see what Edward could have possibly wanted in there.

“Alright, Ink mind passing me that box over there,” Edward said, pointing to a small cardboard box.

“Yeah whatever,” he said, grabbing it and handing it to Edward.

“Thanks.”

Edward pulled out a pair of scissors and cut off the tape. Isaac and Chris looked at it curiously, wondering what could’ve been in there.

Turns out, it was just a map.

“Seriously, you dragged us out here at 1 am. FOR A MAP?” Isaac asked.

“Not just any map, it's one that Dez found. Turns out it has some of the secret locations in this town,” Edward said.

“Even that weird abandoned mansion?” Chris asked.

“Yep! And I want to explore all of these, starting right now!” Edward said.

“How about we start in 500 years,” Isaac said, trying his hardest not to fall asleep. 

“Oh come on Isaac, it could be like an adventure!” Chris said.

“See, Cross gets it!”

“Chris why are you taking his side on this?” Isaac asked, feeling a little betrayed by Chris.

“Sorry but this one kind of interests me, I mean who would’ve known that Foxfield has all these secrets,” Chris said, taking another glance at the map. “Besides, a little adventure never hurt anyone.” 

“Actually a lot of people have gotten hurt from a little adventure,” Isaac said, trying to leave the lair. “Welp, you have fun with your little quest, I’m going to go back to bed.” 

“You aren’t going anywhere yet,” Edward said, blocking the door. 

“Error I just want to sleep, is that so much to ask for?” Isaac asked, letting out another yawn. “Seriously, I’m going to fall asleep any minute now.”

“Okay I once have to agree with Isaac, as interesting as this is, we all need sleep,” Chris said. 

“Fine, but expect me to drag you two out again tomorrow,” Edward said, moving out of the way of the door. 

Isaac just rolled his eyes and walked out of the lair, Chris staying behind to talk to Edward about something.

‘An adventure huh?’ he thought to himself. To him it sounded like something a 6 year old would come up with. 

But he had to admit, things had been a little boring recently so maybe an adventure is what he needed. 

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Edwards' voice.

“Hey Ink, are you just going to walk all the way to your apartment or do you want me to drive you there?” he asked.

Isaac stopped walking, realizing that it probably wasn’t the greatest idea to walk when he was already pretty tired.

As much as he hated being in the same car as Edward, it was betting then passing out on the sidewalk.

“Oh uh, a ride would be nice,” Isaac said.

“Alright come on, you need to get enough sleep so that you aren’t grumpy tomorrow.”

Isaac let out a sigh as he walked over to Edward, bracing himself for whatever adventure he was getting into.

[zero-max]

Bestie tell me about your Bunny doll au pls 🥺👉👈

Welp, looks like you chose one of my more angsty au's with a bit of fluff sprinkled in so strap in lol!

Basically the story follows Eiji, a small rabbit doll as he gets tossed around from person to person and slowly falls in love with each of them as, he learns more and more about them.

(I know I'm being really vague here but I'm trying not to spoil to much of it and prevent myself from tearing up a bit lol)

This au was actually a mini collab with @almostsweetchaos who was also a big fan of the book that inspired this au! (If you haven't read The Miraculous journey of Edward Tulane please do it's really good and I highly recommend it)

Now I'm just gonna say this right now, this au is very near and dear to me and getting the chance to write scenes with the Bf cast that was inspired by my favorite book was honestly amazing and a treat for me. And since I mentioned this au was a tearjerker, the two people Eiji learns to love are Ash and Yut. Do with that info as you will.

I would also like you to appreciate Eiji in this since, he's not only insanely small but really cute and he was honestly the most fun to write.

[fvrxdrm]

City of the Living Dead

Chapter 6

"September 28, 2:30 am... It's down to just me and 3 others. No weapons...no ammo...and too many skirmishes have drained us mentally and physically. We're not gonna make it... Officer Phillips once suggested we escape through the sewers. Apparently, there's a secret tunnel under this place left over from its museum days. I brushed her idea off before, but now, it's not sounding all that bad. Yeah, there's no proof there's even a tunnel or that the sewers aren't infested with zombies, but I don't wanna sit here and wait to die, either. It's a long shot, but I'm gonna try to find out what I can about that tunnel... Elliot Edward," you read, "Shit. Rest in peace, buddy." You placed the transcript back to where you found it and proceeded in scanning the room you and Leon were in.

It was an office of some sort with mahogany desks occupying the center, swivel chairs pointing towards every direction, some paperworks piled in a stack and some (or rather most) cluttered all over the tables and floor. It looked like a hurricane together with an earthquake and a tsunami clashed and crashed in the area.

"Leon, w-" your head twisted and turned as you looked for best friend and even called out to him when you found him just staring at something on the ceiling, his trembling lips pinned in between pearly-white teeth, eyebrows furrowed upwards, and eyes looking like a dam was about to breakdown because of too much pressure. You went towards where he was standing and followed his gaze. You gasped. He was looking at stringed triangle banners with letters printed out on each of them

WEL COME LEON

Your face began to mirror Leon's but a pained smile differentiated yours from his as a sudden rush of memory enlightened your brain. "Hey, look, the design's the same as the banner I surprised you with when we were 15," you said, raising an arm to point at the triangular flags.

Leon chuckled softly at what you said and nodded while a sneaky tear flowed down his cheek in a tiny stream. "Yeah."

"Come on, Leon! I worked hard for this." You hauled on your friend's wrist and led him towards his room with a strain as Leon's languor held him back.

"This better be good, Y/N. You fucking woke me up and I'm really close to fucking strangling you." His voice was a little hoarse from having just woken up right before you pulled him off of the couch and he was still lowkey tired because of the three-hour rest he had last night, but as much as he wanted to throw you out of his house and fall into a well-deserved slumber again, he was into surprises and was curious as to what you had in store. So, he went along with it even though he was pretty much a sloth still.

"I promise you'll love it." You chortled.

Leon sighed in defeat before loosening up and letting you pull him towards where you wanted to take him for this so-called surprise with a rub of his crusty eyes.

When a familiar door came into view in front of you, you covered Leon's eyes with one of your hands and twisted the door knob, revealing a bedroom with a banner hovering over Leon's messy bed, before lightly pushing him inside.

"All right, here we are," you spoke as you removed your hand from your face, moving right beside him to watch Leon's face as it shifted from being enraptured to crestfallen real quick. You guffawed in a boisterous way at his reaction and plummeted down to the ground whilst clutching your stomach in a joyful pain.

YOU SUCK LEON

"Really, Y/N? This-this is what you wanted to show me?"

"It's true though, you actually suck!"

"Come on, you know you only won in Street Fighter because I let you," he whined. You stood up from being laid on the floor before clutching onto Leon's shoulder for dear life.

"For 20 times? Really?" You laughed again, "nah, you just suck, bro."

Leon narrowed his eyes at you with lips pressing tightly in a thin line and turned towards you, his feet moving slowly in tandem as he approach you with a spurious anger, his hands closing into fists.

"What?" You asked with a nervous chuckle and feet backing up in rhythm with his laggard advances.

"You think I suck?" His voice imitated a dark tone. Had you not been slightly scared - which you hated to admit - you would've busted a gut at how ridiculous it sounded.

"I mean, yeah, it's already said in the banner, dimwitt."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Well, let's see who sucks now!"

Welp, that's my cue!

You dodged Leon's attack by the skin of your teeth, stumbling on a stupid pencil for a bit, before proceeding to run around the house to avoid Leon's "spider fingers" as you call it and making a tiny bit of a mess. However, your luck has gone away and he eventually caught you when you accidentally tripped over the leg of a chair, throwing you into his bed and tickling each spot that would make you squirm and and laugh.

"I still suck, huh?"

"N-no, fine...y-you don't...s-suck," you cried in between heavy breaths and hysterics. Satisfied with your remark, Leon stopped his fingers from moving and plopped down beside you, taking a moment to catch his breath before he pulled you closer to his body and spooned you. "You still couldn't win yesterday though."

"Yeah, well, I know a million ways to win your heart though."

"Fuck off, Le-le." Leon tsked at the nickname.

"Y/N, that sounds awful as fuck."

"Whatever." You felt his lashes kiss the nape of your neck as he closed his eyes to give them another four hours of rest, your own following afterwards when you heard Leon's muffled voice vibrate against your shirt.

"Hey, you wanna be my date for homecoming?"

"I thought you already asked Lexee to be your date."

"Dante already asked her out, so..."

"Okay, fine, I'll be your date." You squeezed his hand before intertwining your fingers with his and smiling when you felt him kiss your hair.

"Thanks, Y/N. Good night."

"It's 10 in the morning, dumba-"

"Shh... Rock-a-bye baby..."

"You do suck though." You light-heartedly nudged Leon's side and wrinkled your eyes in a grin, chuckling when he returned the gesture with a titter.

"I really don't," he retorted back.

"Sure." You took his hand in yours and gently squeezed it in a comforting way to ease the two of you before placing a feather's kiss on the back of it. "Come on, we still have a job to do."

*****

Leon S. Kennedy, we're putting you on a very special case for your first assignment. Your mission is...to unlock your desk! The key to your success is in the initials of our first names. Input the letters in order of our desks. There are 2 locks- 1 on each side of your desk. Make sure you get them both. Basically, your first task is to remember your fellow officers' names, but you figured that much out, right? Good luck, Leon. By the way, it might take a little work to get Scott to give you a straight answer.

Lieutenant Branagh

Scrawled in a corner between drops of blood on the paper was an additional note the lieutenant had written while he and his fellow officers were isolated and trapped, and it read:

Be glad you're not here, rookie.

"Remember your fellow officers' names..."

"I think that means the initials of my supposedly co-workers' names should be the password to open these locks on my desk." Leon stood up from where he was knelt down on the floor and casted around from desk to desk, unlocking the padlocks on his table and claiming the prize after accomplishing his "first assignment" - a magazine for his beloved Matilda.

You smiled when Leon pulled out the gun he's had since the beginning of his adult years, another retention reminding you of the peaceful days you once had before you started walking right into confusion.

Matilda was a gift Leon's father had given him on his 18th birthday, a few months before he died of cancer. He was happy about it, and knowing how his family had supported his decision on him becoming a cop, his heart fluttered inside and he couldn't be more grateful about it. Leon held onto it everyday, even becoming a bit hesitant about leaving it behind whenever he went to school. And when his father passed away because of said illness, he grasped onto the weapon the same way he did when his dad was still alive, if not more.

"Happy birthday, Leon. Happy birthday, Leon. Happy birthday, happy birthday... Happy birthday, Leon... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEON!"

Leon's cheeks stretched in an almost painful way as everyone erupted into cheers and confetti fell from the ceiling. Each person was wearing cone-shaped hats and the living room was decorated with different ornaments colored in his favorite hues. His family was there and so were his friends, and oh, how could he almost forget...

It was his 18th birthday!

"So, what do you think?" You spoke from behind him. He turned around to see you smiling like an idiot and tugging on the string of a party you picked up from the floor.

"This," he began. "This is amazing! Wh-"

"Well, son, the candle's almost melting. Wanna make a wish?" Leon's dad emerged from behind the small crowd with a three-layered cake balanced on top of his palms. The icing of the pastry was blue, edible police-related finishing touches garnished it with such perfection he almost didn't want to eat it for the sake of admiring and staring at the cake, and a single candle formed into the number 18 as an emphasis to his recent age was placed on top with a tiny flame dancing around in the air. Leon closed his eyes and wished for the best before blowing the candle, watching as the fire disappeared into a swirling smoke. Everyone rejoiced once again.

When voices had began dying down one by one, Leon's father called his name and picked up a box from underneath the table after placing the cake down where it wouldn't fall down.

"Leon, you're going to be attending the police academy soon and in the next few years you'll be the cop you always wanted. So, as a gift, I give you this gun." He opened the rectangular cardboard box where a gun laid and presented it to his child, Leon's eyes sparkling in delight at his very own weapon. "I know you'll be taking good care of Matilda."

"Matilda?" Leon asked in confusion.

"You know, like, Mathilda from Leon: The Professional," his dad replied. Leon chuckled in response before he carefully took the gun out of its container, still a bit iffy about touching it.

"I'll be taking good care of this, dad."

"I know you will."

"You still have that gun?" You spoke as you gestured towards his firearm.

"Yep, she still looks good as new. I didn't want to break my promise," Leon responded. He turned his gun around to show you just how much he kept it safe like a mother would to a child. Your E/C orbs twinkled in admiration, a feeling in your heart you had kept for a very long time flittering in a joyous manner for the first time since you last saw him.

"Nothing's really changed, huh?"

"I don't want to change anything for now...especially now that you're back here with me."

*****

So, I found this image on google and an idea suddenly popped into my head lmao.

Anyway, WE'RE BACK! I was busy in school blah blah blah. I think yall know that already.

[lady-plantagenet]

Unsolicited Book Reviews (n5): Wife to theKingmaker

Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Even before I had an account I had a tendency to go to tumblr to see people’s opinions before buying a histfic novel. Certain books are either severely underrepresented where I feel like there needs to be something on them, whereas others that are talked about enough - something more can still be said. So for my quarantine fun, I had decided to start a series where I review every medieval historical fiction novel I read. Hopefully, it will either start interesting discussions or at least be some help for those browsing its tag when considering purchasing it.

TL;DR: Ok swear to god this book was written by two different people. The ending was actually heart-wrenching, but so much had annoyed me throughout that I swore to myself to never again touch this genre for my own health. Twas an odd tale, and tbh the fact that it was odd probably elevated it from the 2 stars (or hell maybe even 1 if it was going to get any more richardian) to 3. Honestly, quite glad I read it in the end. Not the most historically informative, but some of the character arcs were actually quite neat (however extremely farfetched). Spoiler Warning: I’m going to divulge a lot on here because I know no one who follows me is going to read this book.

Plot: Ok, the plot... It was only after I placed my order that I realised this is the Sandra Heath Wilson of ‘Cicely’s King’ fame. I cringed and didn’t know what to do. For all you innocents out there... her Cicely series is a saga wherein Cecily of York pretty much bangs everyone who is male and from the house of york (minus her father and uncle George) and Even Henry VII(!!). She then has this kid by Richard III, calls him Leo and the rest is history(this is what I gleaned from goodreads). Nevertheless it had already shipped and honestly I had it coming; the synopsis does say she has an affair with her brother-in-law John Marquis of Montagu. Whatever, I couldn’t resist buying the only novel about Anne Beauchamp, and since it was published in the 70s/80s I knew it would at least be flamboyant and go all out. It delivered enough for it to have been worth reading.

So the novel follows Anne Beauchamp!(Nan) from when she is a 13 year old girl to 1478 when she finally leaves Beaulieu to go live at Middleham with her (as you guessed it- favourite) daughter Anne and her oh so belovéd son-in-law Richard Duke of Gloucester - You see? Since now finally the Great Other (Mr George) is finally vanquished England has its peace. Of course this is not true, Nan historically left the abbey in 1473 for Middleham and while I wanted a possible explanation from the author (who I would assume is better researched than I) for whether she went to Middleham out of her own volition or simply because the King trusted Gloucester better than Clarence... alas I got none. It was all pinned on the fact that the evil George (who as per usual alternates between omnipotent mastermind to absolute drunken himbo at the turn of a page) would not have her free for as long as she lived (for whatever reason). I really think the real historical explanation was because Edward trusted Gloucester - because after all Warwick Castle was Nan’s patrimony not Middleham. I doubt Nan had a choice in the matter but, the point is, Isabel was alive in 1473 and since there’s zero historical record or suggestion that Nan and Anne had ever seen her again, it would have been nice to have had a depiction of the conflicted feelings or a final meeting written for the three women. I’ll let it slide I guess, after all, one needs to cut some slack when it comes to books written pre-internet age by non-historians. And unlike Sunne in Splendour, this book does not purport to be completely accurate or a representation of the truth.

Christ some sub-plots were truly unexpected. One that made me groan at first was the whole arc between Nan and her niece Eleanor Butler. In this book she’s her ward (not historically true) and little Eleanor is all sweet and innocent and virtuous and, hell, at one point we get more Nan-Eleanor interaction than even between Nan - her own daughters (particularly Isabel who would have been the right age and a better substitute for Eleanor in their dialogue, but alas, who cares about Isabel right?). Eleanor even is the one to accidentally discover that Margaret of Anjou slept with Edmund Beaufort, siring Edward of Lancaster.

Ok. You’re probably thinking, god how trite eugh the Richardians are at it again, right? Yeah ok the Richardians are at it again, but it turns into something really neat at the end. Essentially, as I said, Nan has an affair with John Neville Marquis of Montagu (long story that I will expand on in characterisation) and she and him come upon Edward and Eleanor (overhearing them nothing more). So Edward and Nan then have this mutually assured destruction between them, because Edward divulges that he saw Nan and John years later when Nan confronts him (by this time he is married to Elizabeth Woodville) that she knows about the pre-contract with the intention of telling him off. He tells her that if she dares tell Warwick about the pre-contract he will tell Warwick about John, so she then agrees (also because she promised her niece that she would keep it quiet for the safety of her son by Edward). Years later when they meet again, Edward realised how much is at stake for Nan (especially since it turned out she loved Warwick all along and Edward figured that out), and so, during the period of John’s back-and-forth loyalties (we know he was disgruntled by the loss of the Northumberland Earldom)... Edward returns and tells Nan that if Montagu abandons him he will out her to Richard and cause a massive division between the brothers (militaristically speaking as well) and he knows he can do that because he figures out Nan will not out him because she blubbs about her promise to her niece. This madness then becomes bittersweet when (as history would have it) Montagu does end up fighting for Warwick, nevertheless, Nan is releaved during the whole time because there’s nothing in Warwick’s letters that give any indication that Edward ended up exposing her. Warwick dies in the battlefield, Nan is deeply aggrieved but happy he never found out at least. But then... years later when Edward comes to Beaulieu (1478 as this story would have it) to inform Nan that she may depart for Middleham, he tells her that he in fact did expose her to Warwick... but that Warwick didn’t believe him and laughed in his face because he thought there was no way she could be unfaithful because he knew she loved him. This sounds silly but it got to me a bit when I read it. Of course, we also have Edward saying he regretted his handling of the pre-contract affair because apparently Elizabeth Woodville had since lost interest in him and he’s hurt by how she shows no reaction to him having mistresses and he’s kinda given up, whereas Eleanor would have been more of a lapdog. This was essentially the centrepiece of the plot.

Look, I don’t really read these types of novels as a habit so I don’t know if bizarre plot lines like this are commonplace. Not going to lie though, it threw me and it was pleasantly enjoyable. This is basically what is to be said about the plot... the rest goes into characterisation. Nevertheless, this novel too often fell into the exposition trap (like telling us what is happening politically instead of showing us). While I appreciated the refresher of what happened 1445-1461 and I understand that the target audience of this book aren’t Wars of the Roses experts, I’ve seen it done more smoothly in many other more literary novels (eg Hawley Jarman’s or Lytton-Bulwer’s Last of the Barons). I’ve often said Sunne in Splendour was terribly dry and exposition-heavy, but at least it had historical detail so I could sometimes switch off and treat it as a non-fiction account for battles and character locations. But with this one I a) don’t have faith that the author paid attention to detail; see what I said earlier about the years 1473-1478, so I won’t take this as information and b) know that if she had done this with the years I know more about: 1461-1478, I would have gotten annoyed because of my familiarity with those decades.

Characterisation: Well we have lovelorn saintly Dickon here - always a pet peeve of mine. Look, I don’t have strong opinions about the man but it just innures me how whenever Richardianism rears it’s ugly head the plot suffers massively and it’s always favourite figures of mine that suffer the most. George Duke of Clarence... oh god, what can I say? Wife-beater, alcoholic, is disgusted by his wife when she is ill (you know, unlike the historical Clarence who had resided in the Abbot’s home near the infirmiary for the last months of his wife’s lying-in and after to be close to her and thereafter stuck with her until she passed away and two months after that as well), is stupid yet somehow still devious, is the indirect cause of her death... the list goes on. Welp, at least this Clarence unlike the Sunne in Splendour one has an elegant bearing, sense of fashion and is a great dancer. The Sunne one had NOTHING. It’s also odd that they make his attitude towards Isabel undergo a complete 180 as soon as he realises this marriage will no longer make him king. This makes no sense as the book has them want to marry for love, like YEARS before 1469, so this sudden attitude change makes no sense. Authors really need to be reminded that crown or no crown that marriage would still have made him the greatest magnate in England. There was also a ridiculous handling on the circumstance of his death, and this was the most factually wrong part of the book. Between Ankarette being aged down by 4 decades and the whole shmaz with Stillington, I don’t know where to begin. I bet most of you can guess how it was handled. Isabel is as per usual constantly depressed and without a personality because, well, we can’t have her compared to our shining heroine Anne Neville. 3x more beautiful, 5x more vivacious and 20x more significant than her doormat of a sister who complains all day- that is when she isn’t crying. Gahhh. Of course Anne Neville also cries but it’s for her beloved Dickon who she pines for constantly. Look, I have no qualms with romanticising this pairing, but authors need to keep in mind that Anne was like 13 at most when she became estranged from Gloucester. You. Need. To. Stop. Writing. Her. Like. A. Woman. . I don’t care what anyone says, no matter the time period, you can’t make me visualise a 13 year old that could feel romantic love of that deep a devotion and maturity and not send me laughing across the floor. But want to write a strong childish infatuation coming from a place of deep friendship? Fine by me.

Ok, onto more positive characterisation points: I liked Nan, quite a lot actually (I mean blatant daughter favouritism aside). A lot of authors attempt to write the proud noblewoman and great lady character but few pull it off. This is always how I have seen the real Anne Beauchamp and I’m glad to see it here. For a novel so insensitive towards certain figures, the author wrote Nan with great empathy. She was very intelligent but not in that artificial girlboss way, she loved her daughter(s) but in that medieval mother type of way (so no baby brain here), she may have not gotten along splendidly with all the women around her but there was none of that demeaning cattiness. About that, I want to say I was shocked by what a turn her relationship with Margaret of Anjou took. Since the whole Somerset-bastard child plotline was a thing... Nan was initially revolted and lost all her respect for Lancaster, but when the two women find themselves joined by fate they gain this strange mutual respect for one another. They butt heads a bit initially but Margaret of Anjou rises above it for her son’s sake and eventually strikes up an agreement with Nan on when they are to set sail. Margaret first won’t listen to Nan because she thinks she’s a fool but when she eventually slips by to tell Nan that she had thought about her plan and that maybe she’s right, she doesn’t apologise and Nan doesn’t need her to and it’s this weird telepathic understanding from then on and I certainly did not expect to see something like this in this novel. After the landing in England and news of Warwick’s death reaches the party, Margaret doesn’t gloat but diplomatically relays the news and when Nan says she wants to take sanctuary because she lost all heart and can’t fight on, Edward of Lancaster gently says something like: well if you come with us, you’ll at least get your revenge and that’s at least something (paraphrase). You could just tell this was Edward’s way of offering condolences, the type of way a child like him raised through war and promises of vengeance only could, and it was oddly powerful. Shame it couldn’t have happened as Nan and Margaret and Isabel all travelled at seperate times. The whole theme around Nan was that she wasn’t very partisan but only followed her husband as a magnate and then as a man, which I believe and it was great to see Team Lancaster understood Warwick was a seperate entity from York, and for all intents and purposes they were all in this together. Cool-headedness is much needed in this genre I realise, god how low flies the bar ~

Now onto the characterisation most people are wondering about. What of Warwick? He was the saving grace of the novel. He has the common touch yet he is sophisticated, he is idealistic yet he is shrewd, he is impassioned yet collected, he is dramatic yet subtle, he is ... I can go on and on. What is all the affair plot point about then? It doesn’t diminish the bond between the two main characters; to tell you quite truthfully the relationship the author wrote was bizarre yet still really touching. They used to hate eachother because Nan thought herself above him (after all the Warwick earldom was far more valuable than the Salisbury one- remember it was briefly a dukedom at one point), but then she sees what he made of himself and becomes proud of him and falls in love with him. However, he starts to get carried away with his ambitions, gets all-consumed by the legend of Warwick that he had cultivated and essentially becomes impersonal without wanting to (and realising). Nan feels she has lost him to the people of England (which are apparently all hypnotised by his presence, which ok is a fact grounded in history) and because of her wounded pride she starts seeking comfort in his brother (although, it makes little sense how this would work as I would gather he would also be away, especially at the Scottish boarders). When he refuses to support Warwick over Edward later on, she loses all feelings for Montagu and thinks him a coward, and when Warwick apologises for being amiss she realises that this whole time it was him she loved all along and is racked with guilt. I found this exploration of what it is like being wed to a man of such public standing quite interesting, the idea of losing him not to another woman or such but to his cause (which in this book is a mixture of belief in the french alliance, the common weal and subconsciously his own wounded pride brought on by an extreme adherence to inflexible chivalric values on his part and Edward IV’s actions), I confess, is not something I saw portrayed in this particular manner anywhere else. I mean it’s not like I’ve been searching for this particular motif, but this was a refreshing depiction of a medieval couple and it was a poignantly written relationship which the author had me invested in. The relationship was heartfelt because it was very distinct, Nan and Warwick weren’t just some stand-ins for a cash-grab but some consideration was paid to the real historical figures. The John plotline, sure I would in principle protest against something like this but it seems to have had two plot purposes: To illustrate the strain caused by the aforementioned issue and to kick off the whole Edward-Eleanor Butler-Montagu-Nan arc, which bizarre and unbelievable as it was, kept me on my toes. I’ll let it slide. Also, Edward IV was portrayed as quite a chilling villain in this, beholden of this weird mix of indifference, charm and wickedness.

Prose: This is what made me briefly wonder if this book was written by two different people. It failed to engage me in the first half, the descriptions were trite (except for the natural scenery bits), there was very little variety in sentence structures which gave it the stilted heaviness that thus afflicted The Sunne in Splendour (and most modern literature). There was a lot of redundancies eg the type of stuff like ‘whispered quietly’ or ‘yelled loudly’ and the author’s misunderstanding of certain period fashions drew me out eg references to bodices (not a thing then), calling the henin veil a silk scarf etc. She didn’t pull a Penman: exposit emotions to us, making me feel like I walked into a therapy session, but it was often heavy-handed. It first felt very much like an uninspired debut novel. A bit try-hard and I was wondering if this was the way of the bodice ripper... I wouldn’t know, I never read one before (though I’m unsure if this qualifies as it’s really not graphic and the focus is really not on sex nor is there much of it).

However, out of nowhere, the prose suddenly changed a little before half of the way in; colours, emotions, thoughts and the like started to blend masterfully. The sentence structures started varying to convey the way Nan was feeling. It became very show don’t tell, and it drew me in emotionally a bit (I must confess). Of course, that’s also around the point the plot had sort of started redeeming itself. Nan’s grief at her husband’s passing was particularly well conveyed - how she became a husk of her former self... I could read fifty pages of that. Her realisation that it had been him all along was also well written, and you could feel all the urgency and regret she felt at all the time she had wasted disregarding him as the plot grew nearer to Barnet. The mutual longing was also subtle yet strong, and it really was down to the effective use of sentence structure and waylaying of inspired thematic details. The mingling of past memories with present day in her later years was also very well done and with flow, and the adjectives etc used were no longer becoming distracting as before. My favourite part by far was the very last scene when she rides ahead of her escort to Middleham and she imagines a horse riding beside her caparisoned with the Neville standard; you can really feel how this is the first time that she had felt joy in years and she lets the ghost follow her.

... In Conclusion, this novel gave me very mixed feelings. I don’t know if I would have enjoyed it as much as I did had it not been for the fact that I entered it with a massive pre-formed love for the figures. It’s a bit like my experience with ‘Death Be Pardoner to Me’ (review #2 on this tag), was the book actually good or do I just have an affinity for the protagonist (Clarence in that case)? As such, I don’t think I would reccomend it. Indeed I wrote this spoilerish review because I was sure no one would fly off to Amazon after seeing this post. I can’t say if it’s above commercial historical romance in standard as this is the first time I’ve ever read a book from this genre. I think I’ll take a loongg break from historical fiction (after I finish with Jarman) because the Clarence portrayal was a bit of a nail in the coffin for me and I don’t want to continue upsetting myself for no reason. As I have now truly lost hope in reading a balanced depiction of him and if the literature isn’t absolutely expemplary why bother? Nevertheless, Warwick’s portrayal was a saving grace and made it impossible for me to give it two stars - it wasn’t perfect but still the best I’ve read (minus Last of the Barons Ofc). This is also a bit sad when you think about it, Warwick is also due some fictional justice. Even scholarly if you ask me.

The experience was educational as I learned a valuable lesson in what to avoid and include in my writing, what pitfalls/clichés not to fall into etc. I think I can draw another valuable lesson from this: Dear Histfic authors, if you happen to not be historians, heavily-researched in this time period, objective or literarily talented etc don’t take yourself seriously by publishing some tome of a work but just go nuts like this novel. At least this way you’re not sharing misinformation, inducing people into error and your work still gets to be engaging as opposed to a repetition of the previous amateur historical novelist. Yeah. For all the Sunne in Splendour’s superior quality, I must say I prefer this one better.

Tagging @pythionice who I have recently discovered has also read this book! Welcome fellow fan of Warwick <3

[iamvegorott]

Hm,,,, MadMare prompts..,, or at least prompts you might be able to use as inspiration,,,, “whispers”, “game night”, “sharing a seat”. Idk these just seem like interesting prompts to me; and anything with MadMare is just, Yes.

Welp, this became a whole thing XD

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“That’s a shot, Wilford!” Anti shouted from the floor, pointing with his own cup that was going to need a refill soon.

“Oh no, what a shame.” Wilford reached over to the overflowing end table and grabbed one of the many bottles of liquor. 

“I still don’t get this game.” Mad was on one of the couches between Mare and Dark. “I understand that the cards mean something, a different rule, but how do you win if everyone is drinking for most of it?” 

“The point of the game is to get everyone drunk, duh.” Phantom rolled his eyes from the second couch, hugging Yancy’s arm to his chest while Yancy was leaning against Illinois. 

“And it’s going great, right Jamesy?” Wilford was on the third couch with JJ and Henrik. Edward was sitting on the armrest of the couch. 

“It’s fun.” JJ silently giggled and had a flush to his face from the alcohol and it deepened when Wilford gave him a quick kiss. 

“I do not need a rush of arousal while in a crowded room.” Mad grumbled.

“Just drink some more and you won’t even notice.” Mare brought Mad’s drink to his mouth. 

“I could test that theory and do a little dance when we’re shit-faced.” Anti offered, rolling up to his knees. 

“Most of us are already there,” Google stated from his spot on the floor while Bing happily hummed next to him.

“Drunk, not shit-faced.” Chase corrected. He and Marvin were sitting in front of the couch Phantom, Yancy and Illinois were on. 

“So you’re saying I should dance now?” Anti wobbled up to his feet. “Someone play me some music.” 

“You’re not dancing, Anti,” Dark said, voice slurring slightly. 

“Wha? You don’t want them to see my amazing moves?” Anti started to sway his hips. 

“Anti, come here.” Dark beckoned with a hand. 

“But I-”

“Now.” Dark’s voice dropped and Anti went stiff. 

“Oh God, give me another drink.” Mad groaned. 

“How strong?” Mare asked with a little laugh as he took Mad’s cup. 

“Deadly.” Mad covered his face with his hands, unable to look at Anti at that moment. 

“So, you can feel...feelings, right?” Wilford asked. 

“I don’t like where this is going already.” Mad sighed. 

“And you said that you can feel arousal.” Wilford continued on. “So, like, can you feel if Mare is horny before even Mare knows he’s horny?” 

“I don’t need his powers to know he’s embarrassed.” Marvin laughed when Mad could only squeak at that question. 

“Here’s your drink and a shot.” Mare handed Mad the small and large cups. 

“Wait.” Mad quickly took the shot and downed the cup. “I need another round.” 

“He just downed straight vodka like it was nothing.” Anti giggled as he was now sitting on the ground between Dark’s legs. 

“And I’m going to need more,” Mad said. 

“So...can ya?” 

“Wil, you’re being silly.” JJ lightly slapped at Wilford’s leg. 

“I can be something else and we can also test how long Mad can handle it~” Wilford wrapped an arm around JJ’s waist and pulled him in for a long, deep kiss. 

“No! No! No!” Google shouted, covering Bing’s eyes while everyone else just yelled. 

“Public fuck, public fuck!” Anti chanted. 

“Don’t say that!” Henrik’s laugh made his scolding mean nothing.

“I need to pee,” Mad said after taking another shot. Mad stood up and wobbled a little; he shooked his head before walking away. 

“So, Mare, can you answer Wilford’s question?” Marvin asked with a grin. 

“Can’t answer that,” Mare said. 

“Is it cause you don’t want your brother to hear about your sex life?” Chase asked. 

“La, la, la, I can’t hear.” Phantom sang and pressed his hands over his ears.

“Quick, does Mad let you know when you’re about to pop a boner?” Anti asked with a giggle, leaning his head back when Dark started running his fingers through his hair. 

“That’s not really his thing.” Mare took a sip from his own cup, sitting back down on the couch. 

“How do you mean?” Google asked. 

“He’s not one to...how do I put this...initiate things,” Mare said, moving more towards the edge of the couch when Anti crawled up it and took Mad’s spot. 

“He doesn’t initiate?” Anti was a little too close and he squealed when Dark grabbed him and moved him so he was sitting down properly on the couch, but leaning against Dark’s shoulder. 

“Oh! Mad’s shy!” Bing exclaimed. “That’s adorable!” 

“Sounds like Yancy.” Illinois chuckled. 

“Hey!” Yancy protested and Phantom took his hands away from his ears. 

“What did I miss?” Phantom asked.

“He’s not shy he’s...” Mare chewed on his lip. “Yeah, he’s shy.”

“I’m not shy~” Anti giggled. 

“I know, Anti.” Dark started rubbing Anti’s back, hearing an almost purr coming from him. 

“Guys...guys...I found, I...forgot what I found.” Mad fumbled into the room. 

“And the booze has hit!” Chase called out with a laugh. 

“He’s gone.” Marvin held out his words.

“You good Mad?” Mare asked.

“I feel great. Is this-is this what not feeling other people’s feelings is like?” Mad made his way back to the couch. “Cause it’s nice.” 

“It is, now let’s get you on the couch, you can squeeze in here.” Mare patted the spot next to him.

“No room.” Mad plopped himself down on Mare’s lap. “No room.” 

“We might need to call it a night,” Dark stated. 

“I’m not done for the night.” Mad giggled and nuzzled his face into Mare’s neck. “I’m down for a nice, long, ride~” Mad nipped at Mare’s jaw. 

“Shy my ass!” Wilford started laughing. 

“We-We...uh.we should-we should go home and-uh…” Mare stumbled over his words. “Bye.” Mare waved his hand and teleported himself and Mare away from a room filled with laughter and cheers.

[volturi-stuff]

Blood Moon P2

Demetri Volturi x fem!Swan!reader

A/N: I- welp.. This is long overdue, I apologize. But enjoy lovelies!!

You woke up in a very uncomfortable hospital bed, and you had a killer headache.

You turned your head slightly to take in your surroundings. As your eyes scanned the room, you noticed no one was there, no surprise there. You sat up a bit and groaned in pain, everything hurt. There was no people, however there was something that caught your eye, laying at the end of your bed. A black and red cloak, neatly folded and layed there. You slightly tilted your head and picked up the cloak analyzing it. It was very soft, and it gave you a sense of home that made you feel comfort. It smelled like cologne, and cinnamon, the most intoxicating scent you've ever smelled. You smiled slightly and noticed something on it, Inside were the initials D.V. you traced over that with your finger and sighed.

You had remembered everything that had happened, but very faintly. You cuddled into it because you knew it was his. The vampire that saved you from getting slaughtered. You were grateful to him, but you felt a pain as your chest tightened as you thought about him. You knew exactly what was happening, Bella went through the same thing. This so called vampire was your mate...

You layed back down as you were lost in thought. So that means, you would finally have someone? That you weren't gonna be totally alone forever.. Your thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. Still frightened from getting attacked, you jumped on instinct. You looked to see who it was, as you ever so slightly perked your head up from the white pillow to find Carlisle standing at the end of your bed. He was staring at the cloak you had in your arms, staring like it was a virus he, oh so desperately wanted to kill. Then he opened his mouth to speak, "Where.. Where did you get that?" He asked, trying to sound as sympathetic as possible, but you could hear the concern in his voice.

You moved it closer as his hands went to take it. You gripped it as tightly to your chest as you possibly could, "Carlisle.. A n-newborn... Attacked me. Which you probably know, someone saved me.. Sucked the venom out of my leg, as weird as it sounds.. He was wearing this.. Carlisle do you know anything?" You said in a raspy hoarse voice from not speaking for so long, and you narrowed your eyes at Carlisle as he closed the door, and ran a hand through his short golden locks, as he began speaking, "May I..? I'll give it back, I promise.." Carlisle asked as he moved closer and held his hand out. Contemplating for a second, you looked at it, then back at him. You sighed and nodded. You trusted Carlisle. You handed it over to him and felt your chest tighten again, like the missing puzzle piece was ripped from your chest again.

Carlisle examined it, and checked the inside, at the initials. His eyes scanned it as he thought for a second. He then set it down next to you, and sighed heavily. "Y/N.. You know about the Volturi, from when Bella went to italy..?" Carlisle trailed off and sat on the end of your bed. You nodded and furrowed your eyebrows waiting for him to continue. He looked at the floor and sighed again, "Well, the one who saved you.. Was Demetri Volturi, their tracker... He was probably here, because of the army... Or to see if Bella was still human. Listen, please." Carlisle said in his stern tone, but he was softer. He then looked up in your eyes to make sure you understood, he could see the way your face lit up at the mention of his name. He knew you were mates. "They feed on humans..." he continued.

You stopped him with a sigh, "Carlisle, thank you.. So much, for letting me know... But I know for a fact, Demetri will not hurt me... The way he acted last night-" Carlisle stopped you, and gave you kind eyes, "It wasn't last night dear... It was five days ago..." Carlisle said in a soft like tone he'd just used. You blinked at him a few times and covered your mouth with a sigh. You couldn't register what he had just said, "Where's Dad and Bella?" You asked with tears in your eyes, Carlisle got up to check your vitals as he spoke, "Charlie is at work, and Bella is.. With Edward." He said refilling your fluid bag.

You layed back down with the cloak cuddled tightly to your chest, holding it, as hot tears fell on the pillow, "Thanks, Carlisle. For everything..." You whispered in a raspy voice, Carlisle nodded and smiled that comforting smile. "Of course. If you have anymore questions about the Volturi, don't hesitate to let me know." Carlisle said as he walked out the door.

As the door closed you broke down in tears. Why did this have to happen to you? Why now? You cried yourself back to sleep, as you tightly held the cloak closer to you, oh so wishing you were in his arms again.

Demetri's POV:

I somehow managed to get away from, Jane and Alec, to go to the hospital. What would I say? What would I do? I had no idea, the only thing that mattered was knowing she was safe, and that I got there in time to save her life.

I walked into the hospital with my hood up, and my sunglasses on. I obviously couldn't walk into a public establishment, looking like I was from a different decade, so as much as I hated it, I went on a shopping spree and bought casual clothes to wear. It was ripped Jean's and a black hoodie. Definitely wasn't my style.

I walked up to Carlisle, and whispered. "Carlisle, what room? We both know why I'm here..." I whisper, Carlisle sighed and looked at the papers in his hands, "Room, one-forty nine. Be careful, I mean it." Carlisle warned me in his stern father like voice. I simply rolled my eyes, not like he could see through my black tinted glasses. I walked to her room in 'human' speed. Being surrounded by all the blood was absolutely driving me insane. My throat burned and I clenched my jaw as I desperately needed to feed.

I got to her room, and I was suddenly very nervous. What on earth would I say to her? I turned the silver door nob and walked in quietly closing the door behind me. As I turned back around I saw her laying there on the white hospital bed, unconscious? I sighed in relief at the fact I could hear her steady heart beat. It seems I'd forgotten, humans need sleep.

I sat in the uncomfortable green chair next to her bed, and took in her features. She had a giant gash on her forehead, and a busted bottom lip. That made me very angry. All I wanted to do was take away her pain and wounds. I very gently held her hand in my gloved one. "Everything's okay, Love." I said with a sigh. I didn't wanna think about what would have happened if I hadn't come when I did.

As I looked at her, I felt a very strong pull. It was like she was my everything, I wanted to be her everything. I felt everything else that mattered to me, suddenly slip away as it was only her and I. Like I was living for her.

She looked so... Weak, so drained. It broke my unbeating heart that my mate was in this condition. I looked over at her again and saw she was cuddling my cloak, it was pressed to her cheek as she held it to her chest. That brought a comforting warm feeling to me, I had never experienced this before. It was like my heart would beat again. How did this tiny human mean so much to me? I couldn't get my head wrapped around it.

I gently moved her hair away from her wound, someone should have pulled it up, to keep the gash from getting an infection. I got up to close the curtains too. Excuse me, what was Carlisle trying to do? My amore was sleeping, she didn't need the stupid sun in her tired eyes. I pulled the blanket back up, and smiled. "Sleep well, sweetheart." I whisper, but right as I went to leave, she moved, and put her leg out of the covers and turned over.

I saw the bandage on her leg and sighed sadly. I once again fixed her covers so she wasn't cold, and then I put the cloak around her. I was in no hurry to take it back, and Carlisle told me it was keeping her content, so she needed it more then me. After a metal debate I decided to stay. I sat down and waited for her to wake up, as I read some random book on the end table. I silently hoped she would wake up before I had to go.

Taglist: @kpopgirlbtssvt @ssa-volturi @raindancer2004 @heartsarecompatible @ansellalexandra @megaprincesscakes @tomatana @volturidoll13 @stormbornsvalkyrie

[toumu-106]

Imma put out my opinion on Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and move on because my mind's been stuck on this topic for so long that I can't focus on anything else lol (or maybe that's just an excuse for procrastinating welp)

DISCLAIMER : this is just my narrow opinion so please don't fight me qwq

ok so fmab has been this god tier show that I literally see NO BAD CRITIC on the internet, so I have high high HIGH expectations watching it alright

and out of all the animes I've watched (which is not alot), the one that I enjoyed the best and thinks it's god tier is Attack on Titan. I know y'all gonna fight me for this but please listen.

So I started watching fmab expecting to see really dark plots, lines that would make me think about life, lots of heartbreaking deaths and large scenes with music that would make me burst tears cause that was what I got from animation aot.

Now I've finished the whole series, I think fmab is definitely an awesome anime, it has great pacing, charismatic characters, iconic scenes and lines and a wholesome ending, and I like it's description on equivalent exchange, one is all all is one and revenge cycle etc., overall it is flawless. Seriously, I binged all 64+OVA+4 panel comic theater in a week because it's goooood.

But that's it. It's good,everything is fine and smooth. There's no really boring parts in the anime, but I just felt like something was missing.

In comparison to 03 fma, although Edward was depressed af at the end and the parallel universe thing was so messed up, but the emotions described in 03 fma was much more deeper and relatable than fmab and it just leaves something in me. The night of the chimera's cry, when Ed first met Barry the chopper in his human form, Hughes' death...and the way that Dante said "what about the people who worked as hard but didn't achieve the same result as you(ed)? Where's the equivalent exchange?" was so realistic that it hurts geez (and personally I liked 03 fma's music better but I guess that's not the main point here).

Maybe it's because I don't usually watch alot of shounen anime? or maybe I'm just not used to stories with light tones and happy endings??? idk I really want to love fmab but I can't feel that 10/10 hype that everyone's been talking about 😢

However what fmab did better than 03 fma is that it didn't have awkward filler episodes, had more constant humour that kept people out from depression, awesome visuals, more amazing characters and background stories, hotter Roy Mustang and more royai, and a better ending for every character, so it still stands a place in my heart. Overall, it is an incredible series, and I definitely will read the manga and rewatch the anime again.

Uh that's it for my opinion on fmab that probably no one cares lol if you've read all the way down to here, feel free to tell me what made you love fmab and maybe how can I enjoy it better?? just please don't roast me damn I'm having ptsd from anitwt

[roc-thoughtblog]

Sense and Sensibility Readthrough Part 25

Chapter 28, Pages 151-155

Previously, Marianne's emotional state deteriorates as Willoughby continues to ghost her. Meanwhile, rumors of their engagement spread to Brandon, whose heart it falls upon poor Elinor to break.

Today I went on a big tangent learning what hartshorn is and what it is used for. It’s been a while since I went a big tangent.

Readthrough below.

Chapter 28

Another half-week passes and still no Willoughby. The Dashwoods are off to attend another Middleton party, a hot and stuffy one, which must imply an amazing number of attendees considering it's still winter. Marianne is throughly depressed and completely out of it.

Oh.

Well, here is the man at last. Elinor spots Willoughby a few metres away and makes eye contact. Willoughby bows in greeting and then continues to ignore them, in favour of the another young lady he's currently speaking to. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions yet.

Margaret sees him too, glows, and is ready to run him straight down but Elinor stops her. "Do not betray what you feel to everybody present." Hmm, I dunno if Marianne can manage that. She tries though, sitting with an "agony of impatience". I like these lines.

Willoughby finally approaches and... greets Elinor while avoiding eye contact with Marianne. And the first thing he asks is how Mama Dashwood is doing. Look, we all love Mama Dashwood, but please man, what is going on with you? Elinor is absolutely speechless.

Marianne is not.

"Good God! Willoughby, what is the meaning of this? Have you not received my letters? Will you not shake hands with me?"

You know it's serious when God's name is invoked. I don’t remember that Marianne’s done that before. She's tearing straight to the heart of the matter, demands to know why he's avoiding her so much. Seems to try to hold his hand too, but he lets her go.

Willoughby tries to excuse himself by saying that he did try to visit and missed them while they were out, but that's obviously not enough. Marianne still wants to know why he never wrote to her. Did he miss all her letters?

Apparently no. Willoughby just looks really embarassed, mumbles something about having received all the letters, and then hurries back to the other lady with no further comment. O-okay.

Marianne, now looking dreadfully white, and unable to stand, suck into her chair,

Oh dear. Elinor's worried she'll faint. She's definitely close to causing a scene. Marianne begs Elinor to make Willoughby come talk to her. Elinor won't, as the middle of a party is not the time or place; Marianne is inconsolable either way though and it's all Elinor can do to stop her from finding Willoughby and messily interrogating him herself in public. Willoughby's probably noticed all this and has escaped the room.

With no Willoughby left to chase Marianne just begs to be taken home. Understandable. Lady Middleton hands over her playing cards to a friend (I just like this little detail, I want to play cards with my friends now) and finds them a carriage and the sisters go home immediately.

Marianne was in a silent agony, too oppressed even for tears;

Gee, Marianne can't even cry. .__. That's something alright, poor girl.

hartshorn restored her a little to herself.

... What is this? Some kind of old plant-based antidepressant drug?

I looked it up! Hartshorn here refers to Salt of Hartshorn, which was used a smellingsalt. And also as a precursor to baking powder, but here it's a smellingsalt. Rather than a plant, it's literally made from the horn of a hart. Distilled horn. How do you even distill a deer antler?

I can't find any videos of people distilling deer horns or animal bone in general, but I imagine it probably resembles this wood distillation. That produces the oil of hartshorn, but I can't find much more information on how the salt of hartshorn is produced. Wiki says its a dry distillation of the oil (and has no citations for it), but everything I can find on dry distillation says its a process applied to solids. I'm just going to assume the oil was distilled again until only some kind of ammonium powder remains. I spent too much time looking this up but it was really cool.

Given it is a smellingsalt, "restored a little to herself" would be referring to how she was feeling faint earlier, as opposed to her emotional state like I initially thought. I guess emotional state just isn’t easily fixed.

It's really neat to find every now and then while reading this book, the odd random reference to something that needed no explanation back then, that is completely foreign to me today. Hartshorn seems to have been a household enough item that it wasn't necessary for Austen to even specify that if it was the salt, oil, spirit or jelly. I think it's just extra fascinating that it just blindsides me out of nowhere and leaves as soon as it appears. It's completely mundane.

A-anyway.

Marianne goes straight to bed early while Elinor ponders the events of the night. Her assessment of Willoughby as he appeared, is straightforward:

Some kind of engagement with Marianne did exist, and with genuine attachment.

He's "grown weary" of Marianne. Absence made the heart grow weaker?

He may already have somebody new.

He does feel guilty, so he's probably not entirely devoid of conscience.

Elinor finds she no longer as anything to envy in Marianne, as whatever happens, she can stay good friends with Edward. Marianne's relationship with Willoughby on the other hand, is probably irreparable. Welp.

Welp. That's two chapters, two broken hearts. What a mess. =I

Guess there'll at least be no more reason not to expect answers about Willoughby anymore, so I imagine that's the natural next chapter. Not even sure how though, if he's trying to avoid the sisters.

[the-roanoke-society]

i was working in the lab late one night...

when my eyes beheld an eerie sight...

welcome to the final post of horror aus for halloween 2020! i hope you all enjoyed the ride. i apologize for not having everything ready on halloween like i originally planned. remember that the inbox and dms are always open for questions, comments and concerns. if you missed them, here are parts one, two and three. all warnings still apply, so be forewarned.

i know things are scary right now. but to quote the infamous n. gaiman: fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

take it from me when i say that we outnumber the monsters of this world--and more importantly, take heart.

click below the cut if you, too, like doing the monster mash (no offense but it is kind of a graveyard smash...)

there’s bloodstains beneath the carpet - a ∆ au inspired by the super, co-starring technical officer drake and @agents-of-virtue​'s agent annabelle

it was a new start. for both drew and matthew. a new city, shining with opportunities and adventure. they had no shortage of hope--but maybe did have a little shortage of cash.

all the same, the knox-edwards boarding house wasn’t that bad. grimy and with a level of grunge akin to a garage band circa 1995, sure, but nothing unbearable.

but as drew was stuck in the hallway holding up their couch, matthew trying to figure out who needed to pivot and in what direction in order to not have furniture stuck in the doorway, he overheard it:

“what? another one? are you serious?”

two people were walking down the hallway, and they didn’t look to be much older than himself, or matthew. a man and woman, close together, as if they were conspiring.

“wait, drew, i think i got it, turn left a little bit--”

“as a heart attack. that makes it four people in three months. i’m telling you bekah, something fuckin’ weird in goin’ on here. people don’t just up and vanish from their own homes, and--oh!”

“drew! are you listening to me? turn it left!”

oh shit. oh shit. don’t act like you were obviously eavesdropping, maybe they didn’t notice...

“drew!”

“hi!”

welp. all right. be cool.

“uh--hello!” but he yelped when matthew unexpectedly let go of the couch, and it landed on the ground with a hard thud.

but drew was still processing what he heard. four people in three months? what did that mean?

mini soundtrack sampler includes: rockwell, ‘somebody’s watching me’ + absofacto, ‘dissolve’ + barns courtney, ‘99′

won’t you cut me down? - a second chances au inspired by seven in heaven

joan, normally, wasn’t so forward. at least, not a society-thrown event where multiple agencies were represented, and especially not when he knew lilith was around and not above reprimanding an agent in front of god and everyone else in the room.

but he’d had quite a bit to drink.

the evening was winding down.

and josie... josie was breathtaking.

he couldn’t help it.

“joan--joan!” she laughed as he turned her, taking her elbow and leading her down a hallway close to one of the larger coat closets. “what are you d--”

her voice cut off abruptly to the tune of joan’s mouth on hers, and the closing of a closet door.

joan didn’t stop to think about how this particular door wasn’t room he distinctly remembered. he was tipsy and enamored and his wife consumed his senses. he didn’t care.

but he did care a while later, after they’d made themselves presentable again and opened the door to a manor that was much, much quieter than he was expecting.

and josie felt it too.

it was an odd sensation, to feel that he’d stepped out of one place and into another entirely.

josie asked quietly, “where... where did everyone go?”

mini soundtrack sampler includes: jack white, ‘i’m shakin’‘ + konrad old money & sleep steady, ‘rage’ + k. flay, ‘blood in the cut’

my hands are growing colder - an inverse functions au inspired by eli

ginny knew erik wasn’t broken. she would rather have faced down a demon or some unholy thing sprung out of the gate than ever describe him like that.

but he was--unique.

beyond the understanding of most medical doctors, at least. even aly and caroline were struggling to treat his symptoms. it was like he’d become allergic to everything around him over the course of just a few days. his symptoms were sudden, severe, and left her nervous.

it wasn’t just allergies. she knew that. and if she had to seek help outside of the society, then so be it. all that mattered to her was seeing him brought back to health.

and late one night, during a despair-fueled search through some files in the archives that looked like they hadn’t been touched in years, she found a name: dr. isabella horn.

the fact that lacey, who’d been overseeing the roanoe medical wards for ages, hadn’t heard of her, should have been a warning.

but desperate times call for desperate measures.

the next day, they were on their way to a facility in the middle of the midwest--though ‘facility’ wasn’t quite the right word. it looked more like a mansion, with nothing but wheat fields all around as far as they eye could see. the horizon was only broken by the occasional oil derrick.

and they were surprised when they had to be buzzed through pressurized, completely sterile chambers to even get inside.

but there, right at the front of the welcoming committee, was a woman with dark eyes, and an easy smile.

“good afternoon! you must be ginny and erik, welcome. i’m dr. horn.”

but ginny didn’t trust her grin.

and that should have been the second warning.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: stevie wonder, ‘superstitious’ + the killers, ‘when you were young’ + the revivalists, ‘wish i knew you’

i saw your bones on the road - a pastel goth au inspired by the silence

meli would look back on it and realize with no small sense of irony how loud it was when it began.

the screaming, the terror. how she blasted her spotify on her furious drive to guiliana’s house in the blessedly quiet suburbs, eyes constantly searching the sky. she knew that the responsible thing to do would be to listen to the coverage on the radio, but honestly? she’d heard enough. she had more than half a brain, and she knew exactly what to do.

get her girlfriend and head--okay, maybe she didn’t know exactly what to do.

but giuliana was smart. they’d figure it out together.

the government didn’t know what they were, exactly. nobody did. meli only knew that they were calling them vesps.

it was a word that she mulled over frantically. linguistics was always a welcome distraction. she thought she’d heard it before, but all she could think of was the latin vespere. it roughly translated to ‘from the evening,’ or ‘from the night.’

from the dark.

perhaps that was an apt name.

the sunset had painted the sky in shades that were obnoxiously beautiful given the circumstances, and her jeep lurched in protest as she abruptly slammed the gear shift into park in the glow of guiliana’s porch lights.

in the distance, she could hear shrieking--but not that of human beings.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: mourning ritual, ‘bad moon rising’ + twenty one pilots, ‘ride’ + royal blood, ‘trouble’s coming’

waiting for the vultures - a time traveler’s husband au inspired by the houses october built

it had been dara’s idea.

“oh it’ll be fun! think about it, italy and the states celebrate halloween with way, way different aesthetics. think of this as getting a sampler of how america does it,” she said, sitting in silvano’s lap, charm volume as far up as it would go.

and he agreed. “all right--okay. a grand adventure across the country hitting as many haunted houses as we can.”

“geez, try not to sound too excited.”

he murmured into her shoulder, “i’m mostly excited to spend time with you. but if a road trip through october is what you want, then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

he was rewarded with kisses peppered all over his face and a very excited dara dragging him excitedly to best buy to pick up a camcorder. “what? of course we need a camera! if we record everything then it’s like--i don’t know. like it’s ours. we can go back to it whenever want, and we can show all our friends the cool places we saw when we get home!”

dara hadn’t known then.

she didn’t know it would start with one lone figure in a clown costume standing in front of the rv like he was going to charge at it. she didn’t know that they would end up surrounded, followed. abducted.

it had been dara’s idea.

and she would never forgive herself.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: van halen, ‘runnin’ with the devil’ + the 1975, ‘if you’re too shy (let me know)’ + afi, ‘miss murder’