abovestuffs

[videcoeur]

@goreburdened​

Carina never got caught- at least not in a long while. Her thieving skills were above average, one would say. She was living a luxurious lifestyle, sleeping in one of those grand penthouse in the casino. And all she had to do was walk a few minutes a day in a crowd, stealing as many wallets as she could. 

To be honest, she’d come to the Gran Tesoro to catch a break. A reprieve from the mundane heists and pick pocketing she had been doing from her tenderest age. Still, even with the need for a break, her body and mind craved that thrill, the will-i-get-caught anxiety and the will-i-get-them-all adrenaline. It was like a drug to her.  

Having no friends in the world, no family to care for and nothing else to do with her time, she’d set her eyes on the biggest heist of her life. Carina heard the rumor about a grey city-ship where both pirates and marines traveled safely. A place where one could live with abandon if they played their cards right. But more importantly, a place where somewhere close to 20% of the world’s wealth was hidden.

And so, she made her way there, started thieving for fun but also as a way to scope the grounds and understand the dynamics of this place. It didn’t take long for her to realize just who was the mastermind, who were his allies and, most importantly, how she could potentially get closer to the winning prize.

All she had to do, and it was risky, was to get caught. Putting herself in a position where she would owe the man in question, but also trusting that he wouldn’t kill her on the spot. Prove herself useful, or something like that. Her thieving skills would be of no use to him, but she’d noticed the decline in attendance to his shows. Tesoro was definitely an amazing singer and entertainer, but the lack of variety, so to speak, was playing against him.

But, before she could overhaul the whole singing and dancing business, she had to get an audience. Something she couldn’t achieve by just walking to his door and asking him for his time. So, the best way to get his attention? Stealing an important sum from the casino.

She started with a meager 5k, made sure she wasn’t caught on camera. Then came the bigger amounts. 20k here and 40k there. She went at it for a couple of weeks, until she started to notice security giving her sideway glances. That money, she stacked it aside, fully intending to give it back to Tesoro and hoping it would spare her and give her the 30 minutes she needed to use her wily, scheming brain to give her a job.

Finally, she stole 100k, but made an oopsie, and let herself be caught. Unfortunately, they left her rotting in a cold, golden cell, for about 2 days before she was granted an audience with Tesoro. At this point, she was absolutely starving, thirsty, and weakened - but her resolve was just as hard.

She was brought to his office, where two massive security guards sat her in a chair across his desk and held her in place. One man each having a hand on her shoulders.

“Is that really necessary? All these strong men to hold me down...surely I am not that much of a threat, aren’t I, Tesoro-sama?” Maybe it was a bit too casual, but at least with sama, she was sure to show her respect. Hopefully, her wiles and charm would help her wiggle out of this tight situation, as planned.

[pastafossa]

I love you guys. I hope you know that.

Like.

Ok so I posted the new TRT chapter the other day. Obviously. And I had to force myself to do it, to click that final, 'post' button because at that last moment, this big wave of imposter syndrome hit (that had already hit on and off as I'd started working on the chapter again). And it was just this cycle of, 'It's been like 6 months since you posted a chapter or anything other than a couple one-shots and you're out of practice, I bet it's bad, it's probably terrible, I bet everyone's left and no one cares about this thing you love so why do you? What if no one likes it, you're gonna drop this and everyone's gonna god 'wtf is this, pasta? what happened?'' And so I forced myself to post it, took my meds to ensure I slept, and then kinda just bunkered down and slept/hid because I was halfway convinced that all the trauma in the previous six months had just bopped any ability I had to write.

Instead I got this outpouring, of just like, 'WELCOME BACK' and people telling me they're happy that mom is ok (which made me cry but in a good way) and they're sorry Cato passed away (more tears, but comforted tears), but also delightful jokes about the funny lines I put in or screaming over that romantic line or about missing Jane and the dynamics and comments about being eager for the next chapter, and how now I can be one of those AO3 authors with those notes of 'yeah my life blew up so I was delayed, but hey I'm back!' which... yeah. And much like when I first started TRT, I didn't... really expect that at all, and it's made me really emotional.

So if you've dropped into my ask box or the comments or the replies, seriously, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, because the excitement and love and just you all being the best little fam and continuing on this journey of TRT with me - a journey that has now included both Matt and Jane's journey, and a real life journey through a pandemic, a huge move, a passing of two of my pets, my mom's hospitalization and recovery, some heart issues, the cancellation and resurrection of the show, me meeting Charlie Cox and getting him to hold a red thread, my first wood carving event, etc - and I know I say this a lot, but you all really, really help me keep going when things get hard. I'd write TRT for nothing, I would, because I love this story and I intend to see it through, but ya'll just... I love you all tons. I'm hoping to get through the asks and fic comments and replies in the next few days, but I just wanted you guys to know that.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

your favorite of my favorites: A Book Poll

okay, i have now officially seen Just Enough open tags to override my vampiric need to be explicitly invited into things, so! here are my (current) Five Favorite Books for y'all to vote on, in order of Publication Date (and incidentally the order in which i read them)

shout out to @e-b-reads and @beardedbookdragon for the recent open tags! i am inflicting this on paying this forward to @asexualbookbird and @alloreli (who i warned), and to @sixofravens-reads (who i did not).

[shiominato]

oldsona/femc fans who make their personality hating newsona/non femc p3 content are just as annoying as newsona fans who make their personality hating oldsona/femc and its weird they try to act like they’re not

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

A lovely fellow Golden Girls fan recently made me think of S4E4: Yokel Hero, and I realized I haven't rewatched it yet since I first finished the show, despite thinking it was a really good one upon my first watch. The time has come -- feel free to join me!

[windsfavored]

@roleplay-abiogenesis2 &&. said... "are we actually doing the right thing?" - Cyno, main verse (can relate to our old main verse thread, or be something entirely new!)

he's  standing  at  the  entrance  of  the  ruins,  arms  crossed  and  back  to  his  companion.  a  reckless  move,  considering  the  way  calling  the  circumstances  between  them  TENSE  feels  like  an  understatement  so  severe  it  borders  on  laughable  —  but  of  course,  ren  doubts  he  has  anything  to  fear.  the  general  mahamatra  has  witnessed  firsthand  just  how  unnervingly  DURABLE  he  truly  is;  even  if  cyno  wished  to  attack  him  from  behind,  the  only  thing  he  would  truly  accomplish  is  exhausting  himself.  physical  pain  hardly  registers  to  the  wanderer  these  days;  it's  just  another  form  of  stimuli,  mundane  as  all  the  rest.  there  was  a  time  when  he  once  saw  it  as  something  to  avoid  —  though  that  fear  inevitably  decayed  alongside  his  wide-eyed  innocence  and  enthusiasm  for  the  world  he  found  himself  tossed  so  haphazardly  into.  the  doctor's  experiments  served  as  a  sword  to  the  throat  of  his  naiveté;  lopping  head  from  shoulders  —  an  EXECUTION  carried  out  with  clinical  efficiency.

outside,  the  storm  still  rages.  wind  and  sand,  a  howling  blur  of  pale  orange  —  impossible  to  traverse,  impossible  to  see  through.  he  was  really  hoping  by  the  time  they  found  the  exit,  the  weather  would  have  improved,  but  it  seems  yet  again  MISFORTUNE  has  decided  to  make  the  wanderer  its  plaything.

❝  ... ❞  he's  a  bit  SURPRISED  when  cyno  suddenly  speaks.  ren  had  been  expecting  the  general  mahamatra  to  wait  out  the  storm  glaring  contemptuously  at  the  back  of  his  head  all  the  while.  truly,  he's  still  struggling  to  wrap  his  mind  around  the  source  of  their  CONFLICT.  his  identity,  his  inhumanity  —  they  are  disconcerting  things  to  be  sure.  it's  a  fact  the  wanderer  is  aware  of  better  than  anyone;  the  truth  always  leads  to  suffering,  almost  as  if  it's  akin  to  a  CURSE  that  he  must  bear  in  silence.  still,  he's  always  known  cyno  to  be  a  fairly  level-headed  individual  —  at  least  when  it  comes  to  matters  of  personal  values.  (  he's  even  offered  ren  advice  in  the  past.  )  it  is  for  precisely  that  reason  why  the  wanderer  can't  UNDERSTAND  why  he's  suddenly  taken  to  acting  so  erratically.   ❝  who  knows. ❞  he  says  aloud,  voice  gone  toneless  from  mental  fatigue.  ❝  i  thought  JUDGEMENT  was  supposed  to  be  your  thing. ❞

he  has  half  a  mind  to  simply  leave  it  at  that,  but  if  he  continues  glaring  at  the  storm  outside  he  fears  that  he  may  very  well  go  mad.  ❝  right  or  wrong ...  i  never  asked  to  be  made.  if  that  act  of  creation  is  considered  a  sin,  you  can  take  it  up  with  my  mother. ❞  the  word  comes  drenched  in  a  thick  layer  of  sarcasm  —  as  if  ren  is  only  able  to  painlessly  refer  to  her  as  such  if  he  does  so  IRONICALLY.  ❝  my  existence  is  ETERNAL ...  you've  seen  for  yourself  just  how  futile  trying  to  extinguish  it  can  be.  the  only  right  or  wrongs  i  can  PERSONALLY  claim  ownership  over  are  what  i  choose  to  do  with  it. ❞

...  and  in  that  regard,  the  wanderer  has  no  shortage  of  both.

[aletheialed]

Right now, wine glass in hand and staring vacantly into the dark corners of the room in which he dwells - Barok can't help but think about his brother. To think about Klint during hard times, the man who he's always admired so much, has always come naturally to him - but it can't bring him any comfort now.

The truth is, Barok doesn't know what he should feel more betrayed about. The fact that the brother he'd wanted to emulate all his life was nothing but a killer, who's actions resulted in the ending and ruining of so many lives, including Barok's own? Or... is it that, until the very end, Klint was too afraid to share that horrible truth with him, even when that fear allowed him to be controlled into committing the most heinous acts imaginable?

It makes him want to laugh with a bitterness he hasn't felt in years. It makes him feel ill; desperate and angry and like a fraying rope about to snap. Perhaps it's sinful, and a sign of Barok's own weak character, that Klint's lack of trust in him might be what hurts the most. Had he thought Barok would break under the weight of the truth, and sought to protect him from that fate? What's worse is that Barok doesn't know how he would've reacted deep down. What's the scarier thought - that Barok would've turned away in despair and been unable to carry on just as his brother feared, or that he would stand with Klint, perhaps even turning a blind eye to his crimes...?

...There's no point in thinking about it now. But if he doesn't think about Klint, then there's no shortage of other things to take his place at the forefront of his mind. Such as the true identity of the Reaper, and how Barok had been complicit in his crimes for the longest time - allowing himself to be used and manipulated like a puppet on a string, even when he didn't see the full extent of it all.

His whole life, these past ten years in which he thought he'd endured so much, all for the sake of the people of London... what were they all for?

When he hears the knock on the door, it's tempting to ignore it entirely - he barely has the energy to stand, anyway. He doesn't know who it could possibly be, considering everything, but... in the end, he rises like a man possessed, and finds himself walking to open the door as if in a trance. What he sees when the door opens is the last thing he expects.

"Mr... Naruhodo...? You... pray tell, what are you doing here at this hour?"

@tenacquity ( starter! )

[misslisamiray]

Yesterday started off pretty shitty. First off, I didn't bring my Rick Bear with me to the blood center because it looked like it was going to rain more & I didn't want to risk him getting damaged. Adding insult to injury (or rather, the other way around judging by my sunburn 😅) the rain stopped & the sun came out in full force. So I could have definitely brought him.

Then the blood center was... not successful. More about that later maybe. At least the bruising is super minimal, & since they weren't able to get anything out of me, there's no deferral time.

But my day started to get better with the news there's FINALLY a release date for the RaM anime. I'm so excited for that, and it's just over a month away now! Then I decided to take a walk to the Goodwill about a mile away, and look!

After having zero luck finding anything at two Savers near me, I now have the start of my Rick cosplay!!! Yes, I got both shirts, but the first is the one I'll be using.

[cherish--these--times]

I’ve been talking to my sister about TedBecca. She doesn’t watch the show. Described the Red Thread of Fate to her (btw she said it’s obvious they’ll get together based on that alone). And you know what? She’s right.

Wait. Don’t throw stones at me just yet. I stand by the fact that it remains unlikely because they are really clever about it and avoid going there by basically making sure they never spend time together. Which is hilarious when you think about it. And by hilarious I mean infuriating because they are the ones who have established they’re essentially in each other’s bones and have been since birth. They keep reminding us of that, and of the fact that they keep missing each other (Rebecca searching for him when he has a panic attack, or her losing her phone just when he decides he’d like to hang out in a pointedly not professional setting). They are hell bent on keeping them apart. By all accounts, possibly forever. Not even for the sake of preserving a fabulous friendship because it’s objectively not there. They’re not in each other’s pocket in that way. They are not each other’s go to person in crisis.

Yet… When you lay out all the evidence, you would be hard pressed to argue with my sister’s logic. It’s utterly obvious that they belong together. Yes, romantically.

The man she is really into is effectively Ted coded. She meets him just when Ted was trying to reach her. That’s ridiculous. That’s on the nose, guys. It just is.

She eats his biscuits every single morning and she’s almost feral about it. They’ve yet to address that and we can’t just move past it.

They are going on the same journey, just not together. Recovering from their ex partners. Craving love and a stable, loving family. Both of them. That’s their wish fulfilment. That’s their happy end. Funny, that.

Ted is a mess and so is she. They’re both really kind and a bit mad and they instinctively know when the other is down and what to say or do to pull them back up. Instinctively. It speaks of something deep and visceral. Gut and heart. But also they never hang out. Or when they tried there was something in the way. Funny, that.

Granted they’re not in love with each other.

Instead, the writers have established the following:

What Rebecca seeks in a partner is someone who makes her feel special and cared for. Makes her laugh. Likes to sing and is unashamedly corny. Bonus points if they cook delicious food for her. Funny, that.

What Ted needs is a person who loves his sense of humour and is not just humouring him (lol). Someone who cares about and understands his profound relationship with his son. Who senses when he is struggling (handy because bottling stuff up is his coping mechanism of choice) and would know what to do when his anxiety gets the better of him. Funny, that.

Period.

[lilyharvord]

I need people to understand that my hyperfixation ships are limited to one thing: a man who is usually in full control of himself meeting 1 woman and losing complete and utter control over absolutely everything he does.

I just like to watch when they go full feral for a woman who could literally chew them up and spit them out, but choses to let them stick around because I don't know, it's nice to have someone carrying their bag or whatever.

[tacit-semantics]

Completely incomprehensible right now but we’re moving along!!

[irregularbillcipher]

watched the musical demon show (don't wanna name it so this post isn't in the tags) at the behest of an IRL friend and i can already tell this is going to be a piece of media where i absolutely cannot stop thinking about it, not because i really love the show as-is, but because it has so many individual components i really like and find incredibly fun or compelling, and i'm so frustrated that it doesn't come together for me

i think the main thing i can say about it as a show, setting aside some of the insensitive choices that were made that i really don't feel qualified to tackle or talk about, is that the entire thing sort of gives off this vibe of someone really excited to show you every single oc they made in high school and college and i very genuinely mean that in both the best and worst ways possible

there are some good hooks for season two though so i will absolutely give them that

[sorrowveined]

Alucard has slept for a long time. Thus, it's only natural that the world has changed in his absence... yet, despite knowing that, it's funny how much difference a mere hundred years can bring.

It only takes an instant to turn the world on it's head. But while he's always known that, what's strange about this time is that the world itself seems to have very little to say about Dracula. Sure, his name can be found in legends and stories, but the general belief held by humanity seems to be that his existence is a mere rumor, or at the very least, something belonging only to the distant past.

But Alucard knows that his father is still here... he can sense it. The bone-deep awareness he feels; of dark magic and hatred and evil - it can't be mistaken for anything else. It was the reason he awoke in the first place, even, but it seems... that this time around, if he wants to understand the nature of his father's wicked plans - he'll have to dig around a little deeper than before.

"Though, humans certainly bring enough ruin to themselves on their own..." ...He may fight for them, and he would never hate them, but Alucard holds no illusions about the darker nature of humans - and it's never been more obvious than it is now.

"...Ah." But it seems he's not alone anymore. Turning to face the person who's newly arrived beside him, Alucard's expression is impassive - his somewhat melancholy true feelings hidden well behind a resolute mask.

"I hope I haven't caused you any trouble. To find me in a place like this... is there something you need from me, after all?"

@viitlumi ( starter for vito! )

[gonersgoners]

remember when i said over a year ago that vegapunk's arc would start revealing even more of sanji's power and potential and how hard that was worrying me? yeah

[sunshineram]

sans keychain :)

he was verry fun and i love him :) the rings a little too small so he kinda curls in on himself a little but thats okay :) he was supposed to be a double sided keychain, but the ring was too small to hold all of the thread needed so i had to cut them off when i finished this half

he protects my plants now :)

heres what the other half was gonna look like! im still planning on making it eventually :)

btw heres what the back of an alpha pattern looks like :) bunch of strings!

[ichorsflood]

Ugh. This sucks.

When she'd first heard about the trip, Neptune had thought maybe it wouldn't be so bad. A visit to a city full of museums... well, it's not really her thing, but she can think of places that'd be a lot worse, so. Take what you can get, right?

But through some stroke of bad luck, both Venus and Jupiter ended up sick. So now here she is, stuck on her own with a bunch of shitty teachers, boring classmates, and Jesus somehow shoehorned into every conversation. Great.

At the very least, having a moment to herself like this is a blessing. ...She hopes Venus and Jupiter are doing okay. It's their own fault for working so hard lately, but. Still.

Neptune had decided to sit down for a drink, but the cafe she's found herself in is surprisingly busy. Suppressing the urge to sigh, and holding back a cough tickling her throat, she eventually chooses a random table with only one other occupant in the back.

"Hey. Mind if I sit here?"

@dnangelic