#guys people with no understanding of what they watched are the bane of my existence

[jullythevamp]

ok guys I am SO MAD so here's a rant sorry for any mistakes bc i am MAD

so I was scrolling tiktok and I saw this

SO THIS IS ACTUALLY INSANE

yes armand did wrong things I AM NOT DENYING THAT in fact IN THE BOOKS HE DID WORSE BUT he's not the evil guy the tiktok series only fans are making him out to be he's not the wolf in sheep's clothing BUT A VERY TRAUMATIZED AND EVIL SHEEP

he survived KIDNAPPING SEXUAL ABUSE SEXUAL SLAVERY PEDOPHILIA ABUSE RELATIONSHIP KIDNAPPING AGAIN BRAINWASHING AND BEING PART OF A CULT if I was him I WOULD BE WORSE

but the worst part isn't about armand IT IS ABOUT LESTAT

LESTAT THE LIONCOURT IS NOT AN ANGEL

the fact that people are FORGETTING EVERYTHING LESTAT DID TO LOUIS AND CLAUDIA IS INSANE

CRIMES HE DID ON THE SHOW

- kill many people (all of vamps do that so ignoring this one)

- domestic abuser

- toxic father

- throwing louis off the SKY

- beating the shit out of claudia

- cheating on louis MULTIPLE TIMES

- and the biggest crime for me, THE LACK OF EMPATHY FOR LOUIS AND CLAUDIAS FEELINGS

now the things ON THE BOOKS

- rape (yeah this actually happened)

- sexual harrasment

- turning a guy into a vampire against his will

- traumatizing many innocents just because

- being best friends with an pedophile and lover with another

there are more things but I am so angry I can't think

honestly the reason yall actually hate armand that much is because he isn't white. there I said it

so armand does bad things to louis and claudia and he's the villian but lestat does bad things as well and HES THE HERO? HES THE POOR MEOW MEOW????

that has a name and that's RACISM

if you only take a brown man accountable and not a white man? I will raise and eyebrow

also HAVE WE WATCHED THE SAME SHOW?

and you know that person's defense?????? "LESTAT DIDNT KILL CLAUDIA"

BUT IN THE BOOKS HES CONSTANTLY HAUNTED BY HER BECAUSE HE TOLD ARMAND THAT CLAUDIA WAS THE ONLY PERSON GUILTY OF TRYING TO ASSASSINATE HIM

THAT MAN ONLY CARED ABOUT LOUIS. YALL PUT ARMAND ON FIRE ABOUT NOT CARING ABOUT HER WHEN LESTAT DID THE SAME

I will stop because I'm so mad but anyways I think you got my point

[skele-bunny]

NOO THE POLL IS WRONG PLEASE POST THE ZEPHRIT PLEASEE :((!!!! PLEASE PLEASE

OH MY GOSH OKAY 😭 THERES LIKE.. SO MANY OF YOU IN MY INBOX RN. AND MY DMS. AND WKKWKSJ???!!! (Small tag for @sister-nyx , @everybodyshusband , @hypnoneghoul , and @artificialmoth I know y'all were also interested) is this impractical? Ye. But it's fun to me

College AU — Zephrit

Warning: It's professor/student in this but everyone is consenting adults

Cw: Internalized Homophobia, Pet Play, Master/Pet dynamic, Power Imbalance

Ifrit at college on a sports scholarship, but he's recommended to have extra credits to keep his GPA up, so he takes a German language class. Mr. Zephyr Luft, this cold, no nonsense professor who has a reputation for kicking people out even for little things. So take Ifrit who's now suddenly the bane of their existence.

Snarky comments, not doing any work always with the excuse of "This is only extra. I don't need this course." And he's gotten so many academic write ups, even to the point of Mr. Luft talking to the sports director. Nothing. So, they take it into their own hands. Requesting Ifrit to stay after class one day, and he obviously automatically assumes he'll be getting "the talk" of why it's important to do work and that he'll be getting another deduction.

Zephyr waits until the final student closes their door before beckoning Ifrit near, getting up and walking around with their cane as they do, indeed, babble about how Ifrit will be getting a deduction. But also...

"I can tell you were never properly raised, Gör. Such a nasty tongue you own."

"Whatever you say, old man."

There's a sigh before Ifrit can only gasp as a hard wack goes to his ass, turning around and seeing Zeph slowly put their cane back and stare.

"Did you just—?!"

"Well, obviously. Do you feel like speaking with manners yet?"

Ifrit just scoffs, "I'll have your job you fucking pervert."

A simple shrug. "Then I guess I need to make my worthwhile."

Now, Ifrit's strong. Works out a lot. He's taller than them! So he doesn't understand how this older, shorter person that relies on mobility aids had the ability to slam him back over the desk and keep him pinned while caning his ass more and more.

Finally had enough and letting Ifrit drop, face a dark red, fists clenched. Zephyr is just as calm as ever, not even paying attention to Ifrit anymore as they return to their desk and mumble that administration is in a different building upstairs. Ifrit sniffles a bit before quickly getting up, grabbing his bag, and high tailing it out of there.

He's so fucking humiliated! He's a grown ass man who could've overpowered them! His own damn professor!! Who do they think they are?! Slams out of the building and to his car, wincing as he sits down and stares at the admin building Zephyr mentioned. He has all reason to go there. To report what was done to him... But... That would mean they'd have to see. They'd have to know that Ifrit was too weak and too much of a pussy to defend himself from some old guy. Swallows his shame and instead, just goes home early. Looking at his bruised ass in the mirror, cane welts very obvious.

It's in the shower where he massages the pain, his dick slowly getting hard and he just chalks it up to the water. Nothing else. Nothing else is in his mind as he released down the shower drain. Don't realize the pattern as every time he has Mr. Luft's class the rest of the week how he'll massage and jerk off again. And again. The memories of being bent over and used and... And... And that cold stare that he starts imagining watching him, demanding perfect satisfaction as Ifrit masturbates in front of them. Then slowly changing to that cane dragging between his thighs and making him rut against it.

He feels sick the first time he imagines one of his one-night stands as that same old asshole.

Staring at himself in the mirror, turmoil bubbling. He's not gay. He's never been gay. He loves women and pussy and tits, and so much. This must be his nerves, is all. Some kinda trauma thing maybe? But even still, he notices how his attraction has slowly shifted. They must be the exception. Attracted to a single amab body, that's it. That's all it is. But he craves it. Wants to feel that helpless again. Wants to feel his body pinned down and where he's not the one in control...

And Mr. Luft can do that.

Packs so slowly one day after class, waits until it's just them when he approaches their desk. Zephyr humming and asking if Ifrit's reported them yet.

"No... I just, uh," There's shame and embarrassment Zephyr instantly picks up on. "Would you... Would you do that again? To me?"

"Spank you?"

"Yeah..."

They stare at each other before Zephyr just laughs a bit, worsening Ifrit's shame. But, "You poor thing. Just a stray dog looking for warmth, aren't you?"

He just nods, keeping his eyes down but can see Zephyr lean back in their chair. "No need to whine, hund. I can take you home with me if you'd like. Give you what you want."

Ifrit nods, and the rest is history.

Given directions to Zephyr's home after classes are finished, Ifrit knocking with hesitation. Brought in and led to the bathroom, listening to Zephyr make demands of how Ifrit is to shower, to attempt to finger himself for the first time, and lay on Zeph's bed nude. He does as he's told, albeit questioning himself more and more. This is some freaky shit he's getting into, isn't it?

But oh... Oh it's worth it. Explained how it's not Mr. Luft in the bedroom, only Zephyr or even Master. That he must say thank you to everything given to him, even punishments. He didn't realize how much he missed that cane against his ass now with hands as well once they start. Who gets his ass eaten for the first time and cums from it. Sucks cock and fingers Zeph for them to ride him. The degradation and that sharpness on their tongue like always. Sometimes speaking it in German, Ifrit can't understand, but he can feel the tone and just whines from it.

He stays over, tucked into Zephyr's arm as they come down from their bliss. More internalized hatred bubbling in his mind but it always seems to mute when he focuses on Zephyr's heartbeat. How he hates having to leave, but Zeph assures that all Ifrit has to do is ask and their home is open to stray dogs.

Ifrit takes that offer.

Finding himself on his knees just about every other day for them, listening to commands and being dominated. Taking on his role of a dog, desperate for that love and care in the form of heavy hands and instructions. Finally, a simple collar around his neck. So many new things he's exposed to and he loves each and every one of them. How German lessons follow into the home, Ifrit bent over and spanked with either a ruler or their cane for every thing he mispronounces.

Finds himself with no interest in the opposite gender as he's come to terms of what he's attracted to, just how much Zephyr has opened his mind and what he enjoys. Learning so much about himself in the process. Not only does his grade drastically improve, but so does his mental health. Finds more confidence, a new release as he doesn't have to think with Zephyr. Just has to be a good dog and listen to what he's told to do. What's he's trained to do.

Always lingering in their classroom, spending lunches with them and his free time. Their relationship developing so much they officially start dating privately, and to the point Ifrit moves in with them out of his dingy apartment. They keep everything quiet, out of respect for each other and also Zephyr's job. Everyone thinks they finally had a meet God moment, as they've become different people basically. Even Zeph watching some of Ifrit's games and practices, that cold stare no longer being of distain but craving.

Just a loyal dog as ever.

[alelathedragon]

Not me going back and hyper analyzing Mr.Puzzles episodes to further ramble about how silly he is and just how well written he is

Just how blind is this man to memes? VERY.

VERY BLIND

Like I said in my last post he looks at the Meme Factory and only sees the Comedy Zone bc: Being Funny is how he suspects SMG4 has fame, hes been watching these guys for who knows how long and while they give epic performances in Arcs there is always one key denominator to SMG4 and that is: he makes people laugh

Mr.Puzzles doesnt get it. And another way we can see that is in the Despicable Mr.Puzzles episode where

Notice Shroomy has a NORMAL dog. This is important!! Because in Mr.Puzzles world, his TV safe space where HIS shows go the way he thinks they should... Shroomy having a normal dog is good! So when Mr.Puzzles gets upset at him and transforms his dog into a meme...

Shroomy doesnt react how Mr.Puzzles would want him too bc currently, the man himself is partaking in a Roll. Blinded by the Roll he is in. Playing the Character of Gru... Just like how SMG4 is himself but shifts just enough to fit the roll of like Dora The Explorer? Puzzles cant micromanage the NPCs reactions so

This isnt Shroomy just being dumb

This is shroomy: reacting how he might in Real Life, his dog is now a meme. Cool!! How nice of Mr.Puzzles to make his dog funny!! Itd be nice to have my old dog back but i wont argue the new dog

Bc Shroomy is a bit of a people pleaser he wouldnt show his true feelings on that and again: in this world memes are good. So while Puzzles thinks hes so evil... Hes actually doing Shroomy a TYPE of favour

So why does he Like Leggy then?? You may ask... Shes a Meme as far as any of us are concerned, its cannon too!! On meme island Meggy gets turned into Leggy and is confirmed as a Meme.

Wouldn't Mr.Puzzles dislike her for being a foreign unfunny meme to him? Nope!

He looks at Leggy as a Creature. Because that is how she acts in front of him, Leggy as a meme is a goomba gremlin that acts like a loyal pet to whom cares for her 'boss'. A silly lil guy

And being a Fresh Made meme, she hasnt hit Mr.Puzzles media radar so chat

He doesnt know.

He just looks at this small gremlin and goes: what an annoying dog lmao time to move on with my life. But then he gets stuck with her and she animols all over the place getting him attached against his will lmao!!

Hes the perfect antagonist for the smg4 universe

A guy who doesnt think memes are funny/does not understand how the fuck they work. Even after the adventure through the meme factory what is the first thing he does upon hitting the stage?

He tells a dad joke.

His audience: he himself: find that to be the only GOOD source of funny so of course he does that and gets power from it temporarily

(like sure he doesnt STOP memes from happening but bro he doesnt know how too/if a meme happens to be funny in his eyes its only bc it relates to something on TV he saw and can compare to his audience likes. He doesn't outright think memes are the bane of existence but he does have a distaste for them and maybe that's because he doesn't understand how HE can use that power meanwhile everyone is using it against him)

And dad jokes are funny lol kill me if u want lol so ofc the camera worked for him.

But the important thing is: he didnt conform to memeage bc bro doesnt get it

And i love that for him

[observeowl]

Second Chance | Chapter 14 - Call it off

Series masterlist

In the end, you decided to stand there and waited until he came down. There was nowhere else for him to go other than towards you. You continued staring at him as he continued smiling at the girl he was holding around her waist. You don’t understand what you were feeling, you were so angry but at the same time unbothered. 

It wasn’t until the last few steps did Andrew notice you. His hands left the girl’s body immediately causing her to look at him. “Y/N…” At least he managed to look half decent to look ashamed about his actions. 

“Are you going to explain yourself?” 

“I… I just wanted more excitement.” He started. “We have been going out for so long but we haven’t done anything more than holding hands. I am tired of being stagnant with our relationship, we hardly go out anymore because you’re focusing on your studies.” 

“What’s wrong with that? All I’m hearing is that she is prioritising her studies because that’s what is important for a student.” Diana came to your rescue before you could speak. You pulled her back slightly before telling her to lower down her volume. Even a normal noise is loud at a museum and you’re not particularly interested in letting everyone hear your business. 

“If you have a problem with that, you should have come to talk to me instead of cheating behind my back. I would have worked out something so we could spend our time together, or if we really couldn’t, none of us would have to be the bad person. I may be the bad guy here now breaking off our relationship, but you’re not looking too good either in front of your new side chick.” 

You gave her a glance and while she does dress up nice, you can’t expect her to have a small expense either. “Good luck.” You nodded towards her, whether it was to her or to him, doesn’t matter. 

Camellia and Diana followed after you as you let out a huge sigh stepping out of the museum. Not a great start to a new life, Y/N… Is it so hard to get your love life right? 

“Hey, don’t worry about that guy now. Less of him, more of us!” Diana encouraged. 

“Yeah! How about we spend the rest of the day together, we can watch a movie, go cafe hopping, thrift shop to get over Andrew!” Camellia listed out ideas of what you can do together. “There’s no getting over Andrew, I’ve already gotten over him. And there’s no need to spend more time out. He’s right on one point, I’m focusing on my studies, so I’ll be heading back now. Feel free to continue hanging out without me.” You turned and headed home without looking back at them. 

Camellia and Diana were reluctant to see you go, but they knew nothing could change your mind and it wasn’t the first time you break apart from a group to leave first. “Come on, let’s go. We can bring something back for her tonight.” 

You were waiting for your bus to arrive when something blocked the sun from shining at you. Thinking it was the bus, you looked up trying to find the number but only came across Natasha. “I thought you were out with your friends?” Natasha asked as she sat next to you. “I was, now I am not.” You connected your earpods to your phone to block her out and she got the hint that you didn’t want to speak to her anymore. She continued sitting there even when your bus arrived.

Why is it so hard to not bump into people?

You sat at your desk staring into the void, another half a semester and it would be time for your final examination for your third year in university and sad to say, you are not confident in increasing your grades even with this restart. If there was a limit cap assigned to each person when brought to earth, this would be your limit, just ever so slightly above the average. 

Shaking your head, you opened your laptop and cleared the emails before getting started on the hardest module this semester, Financial Investment, the bane of your existence. If there was one module that could make or break you, this would be it. 

Burying your head into it, you managed to do about two hours worth before taking a break, something you haven’t accomplished in a long time. Moving onto the next module, something slightly easier for you brain since it was something you did before entering university. 

You were just about to get the answer for the last question when someone knocked on your front gate. You were so close to finishing so you left them hanging as you wrote your last sentence before rushing to get to the door. 

“Heyyy!! We didn’t want you to be left alone after a day like this, so we got us things to hang out! We got drinks, snacks and we’ll order food when we get hungry later.” Diana stuffed the goods in front of your face to emphasise her point. “Are your parents in?” The more sensible, laidback, Camellia asked. 

“No, they’re out until tonight.” You shook your head and let them in. Sifting through the bags you saw that they brought Soju, a type of Korean alcohol. “You actually brought alcohol?” 

“Why are you acting as if you don’t drink alcohol? I want to play the part of comforting a friend through their breakup.” 

“You're gonna have to find another friend for that.” 

They got comfortable on the couch and logged into Netflix before starting to decide what they wanted to eat. Scrolling through the options on the phone, they couldn’t decide what they want, not particularly craving for anything. “How about Mexican? I feel like trying a burrito.” You offered, not fond of them taking a long time to decide and having to wait for them before starting the movie. 

“Alright. This place’s review ain’t bad, I’ll pass the phone, just input what you want.” Camellia announced.

It was finally getting to the good part of the movie when the doorbell rang. Diana made sure the movie was paused and even brought the remote with her before getting to the door. However, when she opened the door, she wasn’t faced with the delivery man but Natasha. “Is Y/N here?” She asked.

“Ahh, yeah�� Y/N! Natasha is here for you.”

“Is there something I can help you with?” You don’t understand why Natasha was standing in front of your house. “Nothing. I just thought you were alone so I came to drop something for you. I know you tend to skip dinner if you’re alone.” You looked down at her hands and indeed there was a paper bag full of food for you.

“Natasha…,” you sighed and stepped past the door to let it close behind you, “I appreciate this, but you have to know that it’s not going to lead to anything. I don’t want us to be uncomfortable around each other when we see each other in school.”

She nodded. “I know. But we are still friends, I don’t see why I can’t see you outside of school. I can care for you as a friend would. Just like how Camellia and Diana are with you right now.” 

Because I know you can’t keep within the boundaries. You’re just great like that, when you want something, you put your all to make sure you get it. You’re not a bad person, Natasha, but I’m not sure if I want history to repeat itself again. 

“We’ll see how it goes.” 

“I don’t know what you’re feeling right now, but I got a burger and waffle for you.” She handed the bag over before turning away. 

“I’ll see you in school, Natasha.” She brightened up slightly hearing your voice directed at her. “I’ll see you in school too.”

You sighed and entered your home again, this time with the bag of food with you. “Mate, we really have to talk about this.” 

“Anyone want some food before the driver arrives?”

“Nahh, Natasha bought it specifically for you. I wouldn’t dare to eat it.” You sighed and removed it from the packaging and indeed, she ordered it specifically for you, as if it wasn’t clear enough from her personally delivering it to you. She remembered how you liked your burger, no pickle, no tomato with extra onion. 

The doorbell rang again but this time, you didn’t want to leave your seat to get the food anymore. “I’ll put your share in the microwave. Maybe you can have it for breakfast tomorrow or when you get hungry in the middle of the night.” Even your friends were wary of your mood change. 

“Right, now’s the time we can drink since we have food in our bellies!” Diana gave each of you a bottle before taking her bowl. “Drink up! We are going to play truth or dare later, and I need you to be tipsy and not in your logical mind.” She didn’t have to encourage you, you were already gulping down the first few sips.

“Come on… this is getting too boring and awkward, yall want me to talk right? So get the conversation moving.” 

Camellia and Diana looked at each other before taking a sip of their own. “Why did you go for the second round of Logistic Director? I mean, you had no reason to do it, most students have their title for one year before passing it on. In fact you’re considered the minority to even have a title.” Camellia asked. 

“You’re right, most students don’t even go for the title or the position, but I’m not great in my studies and I have to rely on other means to get a position in the workforce. To have some semblance that I got what it takes. I don’t have it down like most people think I do, so I have to take whatever scraps left to put myself out there.”

Contrary to what people think, you’re a lightweight drinker. A can of beer is your go to, not this alcohol percentage in the double digits. You felt restless, unable to stay in a single spot so you kept walking around. Doing this made you unaware that your friends weren’t drinking as fast as you were. You started talking a lot more than you would, a lot louder, more daring, cutting in and it was a very different side for your friends to see.

“What about you? Are you seeing any guys at the moment? I know your flirting game is very strong.” You pointed at Diana as you took your last sip of soju. You swayed on your feet and your friends quickly brought you back to the couch to sit. Your face flushed with imprecise movements were worthy of their camera space. “You guys are not answering the questions.” You whined. 

“I am trying to find someone, but I have been unsuccessful so far.”

“Aww, I’m sure you will find one before you graduate.” 

“What about you? Do you like Natasha?” 

“Of course I like her. She used to be my wife!” 

“Your wife? I think you have finally drank too much. Camellia, go get her some water.” 

“I’m not joking! We were married for five years, but it didn’t work, we started arguing a lot and were going to get a divorce in the end.”

“Yeah yeah, and my boyfriend is Charles Leclerc. I can’t believe you still like her after saying you didn’t and going out with Andrew.” 

“So you do have a boyfriend!” 

“No I don’t!” 

“You don’t?” 

“Come on, let’s get you in bed before your parents come back and realise you’re drunk.” 

The next morning, you woke up with your blazing alarm, feeling more drain than ever. Memories were hazy, not really being able to remember what happened after seeing Natasha. Looking around, your room looks clean and untouched so you rule out doing anything crazy that you will regret. 

Having a pounding head first thing in the morning wasn’t really in your checklist but it managed to sneak its way in there. It’s worse than you ever felt before during your previous university time. You definitely have felt these kinds when working though. Groaning out of bed, you wander to the kitchen to find something to help with the pain. 

“You’re finally up, it’s almost lunch time.” Your mum said as she saw you walking into the kitchen. “You must have been really tired last night. When we came back, you didn’t even move a muscle when we called.” 

“Yeah, we went out for the whole day so I was tired from walking for a long time. Just the last chance to really relax before the finals starts. It’s coming in about… three weeks.” You finally find the painkillers and pop one into your mouth before getting a glass of water. 

“Well, go freshen up and we can go for brunch together.” 

As you showered, you were still racking your brain to find something that happened last night. You knew you drank soju, but it was just a weird feeling having a gap in your memories. No matter how hard you tried, you just had no recollection of what happened after Diana asked about Natasha. Reluctantly, texting them was the only solution you had. But before you couldn’t even type the message out, there was an unread message from the group with a picture in it. 

Didn’t think you could be this adorable. Diana sent a picture of you lying on the couch. You groaned out loud once you saw it. All the image of you being stoic that you sought to maintain just vanished. You better not spread that photo around. You texted back. 

Why is this life tougher and harder than the first? You thought. 

The brunch was great, you were craving Nandos so that’s what both of you went for. You did a little shopping, bought some clothes, and replenished some groceries before heading back home. It was a really hot day so you were glad to enjoy some free aircon at the mall.

Series masterlist

@queen-of-chaotic-surprises @esposadejoyhuerta @gemz5 @natsxwife @dyslexic-dreamer @unexpected-character @eternalnight410 @leenasayeed @oh-thats-sad @skz-xii @gay-frogs-dancing-around @justspance

[casuallyawkardd]

Dating Hobie Brown

Pairing: Hobie Brown x GN!Reader

Summary: My personal headcannon of what it would be like dating Hobie Brown. Includes how you met, got together and etc. 

Warnings: fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, death and violence

A/N: Idk how old Hobie actually is, but I always pictured he was like nineteen so don’t @ me when the NSFW comes out. Also I didn’t mean for it to come out as sad as it did?? So sorry I guess 

Meeting

Your mother is the captain of the police force. Growing up, it was just the two of you and because of this your mother made sure to raise you right. Making sure you said your ‘please’s and ‘thank you’s, got good grades in school, didn’t get involved with the wrong crowd, etc. etc. As you got older, you learned just how hard your mom worked to make sure you had a good childhood, a good life, and so you made sure to do as you were told. To be her perfect, little baby. 

However, it was hard to make sure you grew up in a ‘good’ environment the older you got. Especially when you began to understand that not everyone saw your mom as the hero you saw her as. The political environment of London was unstable, protests and riots becoming more and more frequent. Sure, you agreed that the government was corrupted and people abused the power they were given, but when you started seeing signs that trash talked the captain of the police force, you couldn’t help but take it personally. Yeah, there were some bad people out there, but your mother was not one of them. 

Being the kid of the police captain makes you a walking target and you find that out the hard way. One night, as you’re walking home from one of your uni’s night classes, some extremists decide to back you into the nearest alley. They weren’t like the usual protestors who would shout at you while you walked down the street, these were the kind that were in it for the rioting. More about making a scene than supporting a cause, practically looking for an excuse to do some damage. 

You have no intention of making it easy for them, mama didn’t raise no bitch. They shove you and you shove back even harder. They get in your face to spit insults, you scream some right back. It’s a back and forth that goes downhill quickly, four against one being painfully unfair odds. 

Before you get your ass kicked, your savior arrives. You recognize him immediately; the ripped jeans, leather jacket, the red mask with a spiked mohawk, you’re taken aback as you watch Spider-Man pummel your antagonizers and yell at them to ‘fuck off!’ Now it’s just the two of you in the dark alley and you don’t know how to feel. On one hand, he did just save you from getting your teeth knocked in. On the other, the guy was the bane of your mother’s existence, practically the ringmaster of every protest and riot in London that makes her lose sleep at night. 

”You’re the captain’s kid, ain’tcha?”

“Can’t let a lovely face like yours get broken, eh?”

He’s...charming, his fingers gently grasping your chin as he assesses the damage. Even offers to take you home, which he doesn’t even give you the chance to say yes or no to as he’s already walking you down the street. While there’s a certain allure to him, he’s also a thorn in your side. Teasing you, making up antagonizing nicknames, by the time you make it to your apartment building you’re sure he’s just doing it to spite you. For once, you go against what your mother taught you and don’t thank him as you slam the window shut.

“What? No kiss goodnight?”

Meeting...Again

When you two cross paths again, it’s not when he’s Spider-Man. One of your friends from your creative writing class drags you out to the pub. Saying it was a crime you had been eighteen years old for six months and had yet to have your first drink. The bar is loud, filled with the type of people your mother would kill you for hanging out with. It seems your friend had neglected to tell you this particular venue was a dive bar. A dive bar that was frequented by bikers and freedom fighters. 

You don’t notice him, but Hobie recognizes you instantly; a smirk making its way onto his face as he strolls over. You’re tucked into the corner of the bar quietly sipping on some drinks, your friend having long since ditched you to talk to someone who caught her eye.

“Hiding away are you, love?”

The voice is familiar, making you turn to face him instantly. Where you’ve heard it is a little trickier to place. One quick up and down of the man now leaning against the bar has you stiffening. He’s practically the definition of what your mother has tried to protect you from for years, telling you that people that looked like him were bad news. Yet it seems your attempts to dissuade him are futile, in fact Hobie almost seems to enjoy the banter. He says one thing, you turn your nose up at it. He responds to your insults with vaguely flirty comments and chuckles when you go hot under the collar. 

He finally gets you to crack when he brings up music. It’s your passion, your life, hell it’s what got you a scholarship to even get into uni in the first place; tuition being well out of your budget. While it’s no surprise your tastes in music differ, it’s more about how he talks about music. You learn he’s a musician too, that he believes it’s not just about ‘finding a good beat’; how music can touch the soul if done just right. That it’s something that can unite the unlikeliest people.

It surprises you, in a good way. Has you thinking there’s maybe more to him than meets the eye. You say as much, Hobie teasing you about how ‘you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover’, which has you rolling your eyes. He’s not wrong though, the more he talks the more you want to listen. Not just about music, but the little details of his past, his beliefs, ideals and even his little quirks that he brings up organically in the conversation. What’s even better is how he matches your interest with his own, pulling out every little detail about yourself he can. 

You don’t realize it’s gotten late, a quick glance at your phone showing you had missed a concerning amount of calls and texts from your mum. Drunkenly, you stand and stagger, the drinks you had been sipping on, that Hobie so generously kept buying you, starting to pack a punch. Large hands hold you steady, Hobie offering to walk you home. You tell him no, the slur of the word causing him to guide you out of the pub regardless. 

You never thought walking home from a bar could be this fun. The fuzzy feeling in your head making you giggle and stumble down the path, Hobie following along and indulging you and your drunken bantering. When you do finally get home, you dread the idea of encountering your mother in your intoxicated state. Not to mention the fact you were accompanied with a ‘ ‘delinquent’ ’, your mother’s words not yours, like Hobie. The final decision is to crawl through your bedroom window, demanding Hobie give you a lift. The suggestion has him grinning ear to ear, tall stature lowering into a crouch and longer finger intertwining to give you a step.

“So there’s a little rebel in you after all, eh?”

Getting Together + “Dating”

The two of you becoming an item happens before you even realize it. You had been going about things under the guise of friendship, that is until one of his friends brings it up. A harmless little comment really, telling you that your ‘little boy toy’ was causing a ruckus yet again and might need someone to reel him in. It perplexes you, said friend beginning to tease you for playing coy. When you finally do fetch Hobie and apologize on his behalf, they give you a knowing look as you and your ‘boy toy’ head out for the evening. 

Suddenly you’re very aware of the way he grabs your hand when guiding you through a crowded room. Fingers laced with yours for a better grip and using his body to shove people aside to give you a clear path. The gentle kisses on your forehead when he tells you goodnight or on your knuckles when he’s trying to apologize for something. How his forehead touches yours when you listen to one of his favorite cassette tapes, your eyes closed to focus on the music while he watches you softly mouth the words to the song. The proud look he gets on his face whenever you do something out of your comfort zone, followed by him saying ‘I told you so’ when you end up liking it. 

“Nah mate, I don’t do labels.”

Is his response when someone flat out calls him your boyfriend. He says it simply, bluntly and you try to deny the sting in your chest when he does. And yet you hold your tongue, suppressing your comments with the bitter taste of beer. The routine you’ve begun now feels full of falsehoods. Spending the day between home and uni classes to keep up appearances as the ‘perfect child’; evenings at small pubs and Hobie’s flat where you finally get to unwind and take a break. What were his intentions? Was he like this with other people? Is what the two of you have not as special as you had thought?

The thoughts swirl through your head as you begin your walk home from the pub, yet another part of your new routine. Although this time, rather than Hobie and you walking side by side, air filled with chatter and quieted laughter, tonight he’s a few paces behind you. Not by choice, rather you seem to be refusing to speak to him, picking up the pace whenever he tries to match your stride. Could he easily close the distance with his long stride? Sure, but he knows when to not push your boundaries. 

He’s had enough by the time you arrive at your apartment building, a familiar, large hand wrapping around your forearm and pulling you to him. He’s not mad, barely even upset, just confused why you’re acting so differently. Usually you liked his calm demeanor, it seemed to balance out your high strung one, but right now it infuriates you. How does he not get it? Swerving the goodnight kiss, you head up to your flat to put this night behind you.

 After about a week of you declining invites and giving him the cold shoulder, Hobie decides to come to you. He tries to be respectful, giving you space for reasons he has yet to understand, but that doesn’t mean he can’t watch you. It’s not creepy...he’s just making sure you get home safe, watching from the building across the street from your usual route home...it’s not weird, right? Right? 

He can’t stand it, shooting a web and swinging to land gracefully in front of you. Or he tries to, his boot got caught on the concrete and he had to stumble to a stop. Since when has he been this clumsy? You stand dumbfounded, not recognizing him when he’s in his Spider-Man suit. He doesn’t even remember he’s in the stupid thing until he’s halfway through his rantings; talking about how ‘uncool’ it is to be avoiding him and how he thought of you as more mature than this. That he can’t fix the problem unless you tell him the problem.

After a moment of awkward silence, the look of recognition flashes across your face and he’s ushering you into the nearest alley before you can blurt out his secret identity. Stuck between Hobie and the brick wall, you’re forced to fess up to why you’ve been so distant, Hobie refusing to budge until you do. You can’t even look him in the eye as you spill every thought you’ve had over the last week. Talking about how you have feelings for him, but hate him for making you like him. How you don’t care if he feels the same, but you do care that he acts like he feels the same. That it’s not fair he gets to decide what can and can’t be a label and if he’s not your boyfriend then what is he? That it-

Hobie cuts you off as he leans in, lips pressing tenderly against yours. You hesitate before leaning into it, his warmth surrounds you as his arms move to wrap around your back. You realize you missed his touch, the contrast between the coolness of his piercing and the comfort of his lips on your skin. When he pulls away, he continues to hold you close, hand coming up to hold your face, a calloused thumb stroking your cheekbone. 

“I’m not into putting a label on things, but I’m into....this. I like what this is. I don’t need a stupid label to tell everyone I like you and you like me cuz the only people who need to know are you and me. Innit that right, love?”

You point out that while it’s touching he feels that way, there might be a hole or two in his idea. The two of you decide to compromise so the next time someone asks, you tell people you’re ‘exclusive’. It’s not a label, it’s an adjective, totally different.

Future

You two met before the spiderverse, before Hobie even knew what a canon event was. If he had, he might’ve prevented his next one. Your mother’s death came during a flurry of incidents. For you, it was her finding out about Hobie. As expected, she was furious when she found the two of you saying your goodbyes through your bedroom window. The fight that ensued between you and her was monstrous . You’d always been a good kid, her perfect, little angel. You’d grown to hate that word. Perfect. What’s the point in being perfect if you can’t live your life? Have a little fun?

She blames Hobie for your change in tune, forbidding you from ever seeing him again. The bubble of anger swelling in your chest bursts and you tell her ‘no’ for the first time. Scream it at her actually. That you’d done everything she asked for your whole life and that you weren’t going to give up the one thing you did for yourself. That it wasn’t a crime to like someone like Hobie, that there was more to him if she would just give him a chance. Your mother refuses to listen, dismissing you to go to your room. Reluctantly you comply, but not without shouting a final ‘I hate you!’ as you slam the door. 

Hobie, while frazzled by the little bit of the argument he’d witnessed, has his own problems brewing. He’s caught wind of Kingpin, the rumor being that he’s working with Osborn once again. This time, he’s gotten his slimy hands on some illegal weapons that’ll give the police force the upper hand against the freedom fighters. He’s on the scene, but so is your mother, who had left after your fight when she got tipped off. Hobie can see she’s alone, most likely being too impatient for backup like she usually is. 

Everything happens too quickly, hissing whispers between him and her as he tries to tell her to ‘bugger off’, her saying she’s not going to let some kid get hurt while playing hero. Huh, she’s never called him a hero before. Hobie doesn’t get to dwell on the thought before they’re spotted, bullets and gun powder filling the night air. Some webbing takes care of Kingpin’s goons, but the bastard is able to get away as usual, but not without delivering the final shot. 

The eyes of Hobie’s spidersuit widen when he sees the blood leaking down the front of your mother’s uniform, instincts drawing him to her side to help her lie down. Emotions stir uncomfortably inside his chest, this is a cop; not just any cop, but the leader of the swine that call themselves the defenders of the people. And yet he’s applying pressure to the wound, holding off the inevitable because right now she isn’t the captain of the police force, she’s a mother. Your mother. 

Her last words are ingrained in his mind, ‘My baby...I can’t leave my baby.’

You’re confused when you see him in your living room, quietly but urgently saying that he has to go before your mother catches him, unaware she’s not even home. That she wouldn’t be coming back home. Routine and structure is embedded in your being, the idea of your mother’s death coming ‘too soon’ or that ‘you wouldn’t get to say goodbye’ have never crossed your mind. And yet it’s your reality. Your mother doesn’t get to retire and die of old age and the last words you said to her were ‘I hate you.’

“She knows you don’t.”

Hobie tries to comfort you, holding you close despite your resistance. In all honesty, you don’t know if you want to be left alone or never want him to let you go, so you settle for what he has to offer. Hobie doesn’t say much else, partly because he doesn’t know what to say and partly because he thinks all he can do right now is hold you and let your tears soak the front of his suit. 

As morbid as it may sound, your mother’s death came at a convenient time. Your first year of uni had wrapped up the week before, so it hurts less to withdraw. At least you were able to wrap up one year. Whether or not you’ll go back isn’t on your mind, but deep down you know you will. It’s what your mother would’ve wanted. 

You’re grateful for the support system you have, a few uni friends who still keep in touch after you leave and the friends you made through Hobie. While their ‘I’m sorry for your loss’s and ‘I’m here for you’s are comforting, Hobie is the one who’s truly there for you. 

Hobie’s the one who lets you move in with him when you can’t stand being at home, everything there reminding you of her. Hobie’s the one who brings you your meals when you forget to eat, the water you have yet to drink. Hobie’s the one who asks you to play a song he likes, his excuse being that he likes it better when you play it, but you both know it’s his way of making sure you don’t abandon your passions. Hobie’s the one who carries you to bed when you fall asleep to home videos, tucking you in and placing the baby blanket your mother made you on top. Hobie’s the one that heals you, even if it’s only a little. Even if there’s still more of you to make better. 

In terms of marriage and kids, they aren’t things either of you talk about. You’re young, you have a lot more ahead of you. Hobie reminded you of that. That sometimes life doesn’t follow a ‘routine’, that sometimes it’s better to live day by day with the ones you love. 

Tags:

@khaleesihavilliard @graysonshaven​ @qiaipia​ @3zae-zae3​ @thedevax @erissco​ 

[honeybeefae]

A Court of Wings & Fire: Chapter Three

Summary//

Eris had control of everything in his life. The war was over, he was planning to take the Autumn throne, and nothing was left to surprise him…until he met you. A mating bond with an Illyrian was like a spit in his face and neither of you could understand why fate had put you together. You both swore off relations to each other, refusing to even be in the same court, but you should have known that fate is not to be tested.

(ITS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING BUT I AM BACK BABY! I really really hope you guys are still reading and excited and love this! I missed writing for you guys and I'm so happy to be back!!)

((This is the dress I had in my mind but if you like something different, that's okay!!)

/ Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Four / Chapter Five

Three weeks. It had been three weeks since your world had gone to shit. Three weeks of anger, bitterness, grief, and hundreds of other emotions that could all be summed up with one word. Hatred. 

You hated him, hated the bond, hated everything. It showed in your face, your voice, hell you were half convinced you could taste it. Rhysand had assured you that Eris would have broken the bond but yet you could still feel it deep inside. It was keeping you up at night with worry.

And if that weren’t enough, it seemed like everyone around you treated you as if you were infected with plague. The topic of what happened that night had not been brought up whatsoever but the tension was hanging thick in the air. Sometimes it seemed as if they were avoiding you altogether, specifically Mor, and it made your hatred grow. 

He had ruined your life.

If you knew how to break the bond you would have that night, that moment, but you had no clue. The books in the library didn’t give you any clear answers and you were too afraid of Amren to go to her. You had considered asking Rhys but he was busy with Feyre, Briallyn, and Nesta so you didn’t want to bother him with this more than it already was.

For now, it seemed you just had to grin and bear it. Faking your smiles and conversations while slowly dying inside. 

Training was the only time you felt you could truly let out your frustrations. Your knuckles were red and blistered, muscles sore for how often you were up on the training grounds. Today was no different as you stood before one of the punching bags, dawning only a sports bra and shorts, and beating the hell out of it.

The sun warmed your skin and wings as you threw punch after punch, feeling the eyes of two people on your back that you were sure belonged to Cass and Az. You would’ve thought by now that you wouldn’t have more anger left to give but as you stood there, picturing his face and the way he had stared at you in disgust, it only seemed to increase.

Your mind began to race over the encounter again as you replayed his snarl, the way his mouth twisted down, and his eyes raking over your body like you were the bane of his existence. The bag didn’t even have enough time to reset as you used every muscle in your body to strike it. 

His amber eyes appeared in your mind as you closed your eyes, chest heaving and sweat dripping down your neck. It was like he was watching you now and you swore you could feel something down the bond but you closed it off, curling your fist and raising it to hit the bag once more only to be met with a solid object.

Cassian was looking down at you with sympathy, your fist caught in his much larger hand before he let go. “Before you completely obliterate the rest of the training grounds, I suggest you go ahead and get ready.”

“Ready for what?” You ask out of breath, nodding towards Azriel as he handed you a cup of water. 

“Hewn City. Two hours.” Azriel replied, his arms crossed over his chest. “We have a meeting with Eris.”

Even the sound of his name made you grimace. You stood straighter, lips turned down into a large frown. “Do I have to go?” You asked quietly, already knowing the answer.

They both nodded solemnly, pity in their eyes. You hated it. You didn’t want their pity or to be treated like some broken doll. If anyone would ask you that, they would know. You just desperately wanted things to go back to normal.

“We will be by your side the entire night,” Cassian assured, clapping your shoulder with his hand. “This meeting is going to be attended by everyone. We want to know what his game is, why the bond isn’t broken yet.”

“You and me both.” You said snarky, finishing the rest of your drink before making your way to the doors. They fell in line beside you, their presence comforting. “And he agreed to come?”

“Rhys said that he was ‘very eager’ to see us, and you, again. I have no idea what that could mean but something does not feel right to me.” Azriel noted, holding the door open for you. “I know Eris and what he is capable of. There has to be another reason for this.”

“Well,” You sigh, finding your bedroom door and opening it. “Just make sure there is lots of wine tonight. I don’t think I will be able to get through this without it.”

Cassian grinned and Azriel gave a small smile. “We’ll take you out to Rita’s tonight to make you truly forget about this.” Cass promised, crossing his fingers over his heart. You chuckled and sent them on their way, shutting the door behind you and leaning back on it as you took some deep breaths. 

Dread was heavy in your stomach as you collected your thoughts. What if he was planning something tonight? You knew your friends had assured you that they would be by your side but you still didn’t fully trust that Eris wouldn’t try to kill you the moment they were distracted.

You also knew if you dwelled on the what-ifs you would go mad so you decided to get ready, bathing yourself and making sure you were “Court of Nightmares” potential. Seeing Eris was already going to be hell, you might as well look good to boost your confidence. 

The dresses you had were custom-made for your body and wings, a perk of being in the Rhys’s inner circle, while also being designed with your taste in mind. Tonight’s dress was no different. It was a dark green, almost black, with a halter collar that cut out around your shoulders and also completely backless. 

Small, golden beads made an intricate design around your breasts and neck while the rest of the gown flowed softly down your legs with a slit that ended right at the top of your leg. It was one of your favorites, allowing you plenty of movement. It was also the perfect dress to conceal weapons with as you strapped your dagger sheath around your thigh, tucking your trusty knife inside. 

For a brief moment you pictured Eris standing behind you, his hand on your waist and those damned eyes admiring your outfit with a smirk. You scowled at your reflection before turning away to grab some heels, knowing it was the bond making you envision things you didn’t want. It was pretty good at tricking your brain so you were hopeful tonight would go the way you needed it to.

As you slid on your shoes and went to a different mirror to finish applying your rouge and lipstick, you felt a small tug deep within you. It made you smear the corner of your lip from surprise. 

“Fucking hell.” You grimaced, ignoring it as it tugged a second time. 

Eris seemed to be testing if you would respond but you refused. You would not be giving him any satisfaction for this sadistic dance he seemed to want to draw out. Tonight was to be the end of it.

This story had one chapter, one page, and the happy ending of never seeing each other again.

-------------------------------

All eyes seemed to be on you when the eight of you strolled into the throne room of the Court of Nightmares. The bond was still a secret as far as you knew but the way they were looking at you made your skin crawl. You passed the tables piled high with food as well as the quartet while keeping your eyes out for a certain redhead, taking your position beside Cassian and Azriel. 

He was nowhere to be seen and while that made you more unsettled, you decided to turn your attention to your High Lord and High Lady as they put on their masks. You bowed with everyone else, though you and your friends were the only people in the room who truly meant the respect that came with it.

You looked up and saw Keir approach the throne, trying not to look at Feyre and addressing Rhysand instead. Mor smirked as Rhysand corrected him, putting him in his place in front of everyone, which made you smile. The bastard truly deserved it.

“Look alive.” Cassian whispered beside you as the feast began, sending you a friendly wink as he went to his post. You nodded and looked at Rhys briefly, feeling safer that his eyes were on you as you made your way around the room.

While you were by yourself you knew your friends were keeping attention on you subtly. It would definitely rouse suspicion if you suddenly had two of Rhysand’s best soldiers guarding you so you had to keep it lowkey.

The crowd naturally parted for you as you headed towards the back, your face stoic. Some of the males stared in awe at a grown female Illyrian with wings, others disgusted. Almost all of the women sneered at you. However, you knew all of them thought themselves better than you.

Their opinions of you did not keep you up at night. You knew how bitter and miserable they were, how the game worked down here, and if you were honest, you pitied them most of the time. They would always be stuck here, playing the same old game for the same old prizes that would only get them a vague understanding of freedom and power.

Eris was still yet to be seen and you felt yourself relax after about an hour. It would seem he either was waiting in one of the rooms or had bailed completely. Either way, it delayed your meeting as Rhys and Feyre dealt with small court troubles that Keir was rambling about. 

Mor and Cassian were discussing something over goblets of wine, the latter’s eyes straying to the oldest Archeron sister several times. To your surprise she also was watching him just as much, her cheeks lightly flushed if they caught each other’s gaze.

Interesting.

You looked for Azriel but he was nowhere in sight, though knowing him, he was probably lurking in the shadows. As you rounded around the table closest to the hallway, your eyes flickering upwards to admire the chandeliers for a brief moment, you felt a large hand wrap around your mouth and an arm around your waist.

They immediately pulled you into the hallway and inside a small room, their grip tight against your skin as you thrashed, kicked, and finally bit down on the hand covering your mouth. 

“Fuck!” Eris hissed in pain, pushing you away from him. “What the hell is wrong with you? Who bites someone?”

He was disheveled from your fight, his shirt wrinkled and hair tousled. However, his face was still the same. It still held all the disdain in the world for you, you could see it in his eyes.

“Someone who is being kidnapped.” You snap back, fixing your dress and standing as tall as you could. “I will slice you into a hundred tiny pieces and feed you to the dogs if you do not let me out of this room.”

“Going straight to threats again are we?” He raised a brow, looking you up and down. “I forget that your kind only communicates in violence and grunts. Shall I draw on the walls so you can understand what I’m saying?”

Before he could revel in his comeback, you had unsheathed your knife and shoved him against the door. The knife was cool against his throat, and your bodies pressed against one another as you stared at him with all the anger and hatred you had been swimming in for the last three weeks.

“I will only warn you once.” You say lowly, gaze locked onto his. “If you say anything against my kind, my people, one more time, I will not hesitate to kill you in every way that I know how. Consequences be damned.”

His pupils were wide as you curled your upper lip, pressing the tip of the blade into his pulse point. “Do you understand?”

There was a beat of silence, of tension, as you both shared the same breath before he held his hands up in surrender and nodded. You held him there for a second longer before stepping back and allowing him to fix his suit. 

“My apologies…”

Eris looked at you expectedly, his hand waving in front of him as he waited for something. When you only stared at him, he rolled his eyes. “Your name.”

“What?”

“What is your name?”

You crossed your arms over your chest, wondering if you should give it to him. He was sure to find out if you didn’t tell him so there shouldn’t be any true harm in it.

“Y/N.” You responded quietly.

“Y/N.” Eris repeated, testing it on his tongue. Your fingertips squeezed the upper muscles of your arms when you heard how he said your name. It made something flutter deep inside you but you drowned it as fast as you could. Damn bond. 

“My apologies, Y/N.” He continued, rolling up the cuffs on his sleeves. “For both the words and the ‘kidnapping’, if that’s what you want to call it.”

“That is what I will call it because that’s what it is.” You snark, frowning. “Would you rather me call killing you ‘expediting your trip to the Mother’?”

He couldn’t stop the genuine smile on his face at how quick-witted you were. “I suppose not.”

“Enough talk. Let me out this instant. My friends are sure to be looking for me.” You stated, going to walk around him until he shot his arm out and blocked your path. His face was dangerously close to yours as you turned your head, having to look slightly upwards in order to meet his eyes. 

“Move. Your. Arm.” You seethe, growing annoyed by how much enjoyment he seemed to be getting out of riling you up. 

“I wanted to talk to you before the meeting.” Eris explained, briefly looking at your wings before back to your face. 

“What could you possibly have to say to me?” You argue, stepping back and away from him. “Because I have nothing to say to you. Nothing except to break the damn bond.”

“And why haven’t you?” He asked, leaning against the doorframe. 

“Do you not think I have tried?” The words shot out of your mouth like poison. “I have no idea what to do or how to do it. Believe me when I say that if I knew how it would have been done the moment it happened.”

Eris hummed and it only infuriated you more. He was treating you like you were dumb, like a child trying to play chess. His arrogance was seeping through every pore of his body.

“And since you do know, why haven’t you?” You question, pointing your finger at his chest. “You don’t want this. I don’t want this. Break it.”

“It is much more complicated than that, Y/N.” He answered with a sigh, gesturing for you to take a seat. However you didn’t trust him, didn’t know if there was someone lurking behind you, so you remained standing. Eris studied you for a second before rolling his eyes and sitting down in the chair closest to him. 

“I’m not going to harm you-”

“I will remain standing, thank you.” You cut him off. “Explain yourself or I am leaving.”

“When a bond is severed, it is traumatic for both parties involved regardless if the bond is wanted or not.” Eris began, gesturing between the two of you. “Not only is it painful emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. We will both be sick, tired, feeling as if we had just been through a war.”

You looked down at your feet, mulling over his words. It didn’t register in your brain that it could be that painful. You thought it was as simple as wishful thinking.

“And I’m not saying this out of concern for your well-being, but for mine.” He added, ignoring your scoff. “If my father sees me like that he will know something has happened, that something is off. He will go snooping and if he finds out I am mated, especially to someone like…”

He trailed off as you narrowed your eyes, daring him to say something. Eris raised his hands up in an innocent gesture again.

“I will not restate my feelings for your…people,” He said the last word painfully, and your fist curled up at your side. “But if you think I do not like you, you have not met my father.”

“So it is for my well-being?” You counter with a smirk, letting your wings open just a tad. “You just said that your father was worse than you when it comes to my kind and if you think he will be hard on me-”

“Do not assume that is what I meant.” He snapped, eyebrows furrowed. “I have no care for what happens to you. I care more about the ant underneath my feet than I do for you or this court. However, even being mated to you will have my father’s anger turned to me.”

Your smirk fell as he stood, irritation growing in his voice. “If he finds out who I am mated to not only will he see me as less than he already does, he will know I have been spending time in the Night Court. It would ruin the entire plan and I will not have it jeopardized because the Mother, for whatever reasons, thinks we would be a good match.”

“So what is it that you are proposing here, Eris?” You question, taking a step closer to him. “To keep the bond? To remain mates and forever?”

“Just until the war is over, until I can take the throne and finally end his tyrant ways once and for all.” He corrected, watching you closely. “So as unfortunate as this situation is, and as much as I hate you, this is what has to be done.”

“And what if I refuse? Why should I care what happens to you at the hands of your father?”

“Because if I am killed, he remains in power. That means his alliance with Briallyn stays. They take over once more and kill everyone you love, and you are left with the guilt and regret for letting your stubbornness get in the way.” Eris ranted, stepping closer to you until you were toe to toe. 

“I hate you.” You cursed through your teeth. “I hate you, I hate this situation, I hate everything about this.”

“And that is fine. I think the only mutual feeling we share is hatred and if we can work together on this one simple task, we can end this in a few short months and forget all about each other.” He assured, his hand flexing in his pocket as your scent wrapped around him. “But, for now, we must endure this together.”

“Why did you want to talk to me alone before the meeting?” You murmured, the proximity getting to your head. “You know I have no secrets with my High Lord.”

“Of course, you don’t. You are all oh so loyal to him.” He chuckled without humor. “I approached you first because if you come at my solution with a level head around the others, it might make them more willing to understand. I knew you would react poorly to my news so I planned accordingly.”

You looked into his amber eyes, the same ones that had been haunting you since the bond snapped, before over his shoulder at the door. Rhysand and the rest of your friends were looking for you by now, already suspecting Eris. This needed to be wrapped up.

“So keep the bond connected until the end of the war, or your father's fall, whichever comes first. You give me your word?” You ask while brushing past him, ignoring the way your skin seemed to burn at the part where your arms touched.

“Yes.” Eris responded swiftly, his gaze giving away nothing. 

As you reached for the door handle you felt his stare on your back, on your wings, and you found yourself slightly turning around and asking, “Is there any way this could go wrong? Could fail? This bond will not strengthen, right?”

He snorted, actually snorted, and shook his head as he looked down at you. Whatever feelings might have just sparked between you from the touch and stares were now washed away with anger as he stared at you with disdain and distaste.

“As long as we steer clear of each other and harbor no romantic or sexual feelings towards each other, it will remain as it is now.” He explained, tugging on the bond which made you involuntarily place a hand over your heart. “That is the most you will be able to feel.”

You nodded, not catching the way he glanced down at your breasts where your hand lay, and opened the door. “Stay as far away from me as you can and you have a deal.”

He hummed and straightened himself out, watching as you left through the door and replying, “That should be easy enough.”

[lurafita]

If I ever were to write a Malec AU inspired by the Leverage series

If you are not familiar with the Leverage series, here a very short synopsis: former high profile criminals form a team of vigilantes and use their unique skills to help the people that have been screwed over by the system.

Alec, in my head, is a cross between his canon personality, and his TWI personality. Meaning he may come across as ooc in specific instances. He would also be crushing on Magnus from the get go (as in, he has been crushing on him for a while before they see him in the room with Valentine) Okay, so basically the scene I have in mind is the crew watching the life stream of Valentine’s consultation with his court appointed lawyer. The scene starts with whoever is watching the stream, let’s say Izzy, seeing Magnus enter the room and calling over the others.

Izzy: “Oh no. Guys! We have a problem!”

Jace: “What’s wrong?”

Alec: “... That’s Magnus!”

possible other crew member: “Who’s Magnus and why is he a problem?”

Izzy: “Magnus Bane is one of the best lawyers in this country.”

Jace: “And also the guy that Alec here has been crushing on for like a decade.”

Alec: “It hasn’t been a decade, shut up!”

Izzy: “And as today is the day that Valentine was scheduled to meet with his attorney, it seems that Magnus Bane is the legal representative in question.”

possible other crew member: “So this Bane guy is in league with the scumbag?”

Alec: “No. Magnus would never do this to me and the kids.”

Jace: “He doesn’t even know you exist. And what kids?”

Alec: “The ones we will be adopting once I get up the nerve to ask him out!”

Izzy: “I’m sorry big brother, but if it turns out that Magnus is in Morgenstern’s pocket, I cannot give you my blessing to pursue a relationship with him.”

Alec: “Hey, we don’t have all the information yet. Let’s just see what happens.”

focus on the video

Magnus: “Mr. Morgenstern. My name is Magnus Bane, and Judge Dieudonnè has appointed me personally with your case. But I’m pretty sure that you know that already.”

- Alec: “See? I knew Magnus couldn’t be in league with someone like Valentine. Stupid judge.” -

Valentine: “And why would you think that?”

Magnus: “Mostly because I no longer practice criminal law, so I shouldn’t have been in the rotation for court appointed legal defense to begin with.”

Valentine: “Hm. How curious. Well, I’m sure the judge just wanted to make certain that the best defense is available to a law abiding citizen. And if the rumors are to be believed, you are the best.”

- possible other crew member: “So wait. If this Bane guy wasn’t supposed to be a possible pick for Morgenstern’s defense, does that mean that the judge is in cahoots with Morgenstern?”

Jace: “Who even says cahoots anymore? That is a good question, though.” -

Magnus: “It seems we have a different understanding of the term ‘law abiding’. The list of charges against you and your organization is as long as it is disturbing. And frankly, I believe that you are guilty of each and every atrocity you are charged with.”

Valentine: “I thought you lawyer types believed in ‘innocent until proven guilty’. Almost all the evidence against me is circumstantial.”

- Izzy: “Yes, which is why we cannot afford for Valentine to have as good a lawyer as Magnus fucking Bane!”

Alec: “Maybe we can discredit the judge? Get Magnus released from his appointment?” -

Magnus: “Call it a gut feeling. Anyway, while I couldn’t outright deny Judge Dieudonnè’s request, I am allowed to decline the assignment after an official meet with the client. I have now officially met you, and I’m afraid to say that I don’t feel comfortable with defending you. Have a good day, Mr. Morgenstern.”

- Jace: “Alright, bullet dodged. Congrats Alec. Looks like your man is one of the good ones.”

Alec: “Do you think I should ask him out in that little cafe he likes to go to on wednesdays? I could buy him his favorite drink to start us off with, but I don’t want to come across as stalkery.”

possible other crew member: “Yeah, you knowing that he has a favorite cafe he visits every wednesday isn’t stalkery at all.” -

Valentine: “Should you really treat me like that, if you truly believe that all those heinous allegations against me are true? Shouldn’t you be worried about possible repercussions, in that case?”

- Alec: “Did he just threaten my future husband? Okay, that’s it! I’m getting into this prison and then I will break every bone in his body!” -

Magnus: “Let me make one thing perfectly clear, Mr. Morgenstern. I grew up as the only son of one of the richest, most influential, and morally bankrupt men in this state. I have been threatened with ‘possible repercussions’ my entire life, and I have endured and survived quite a few of them as well. You are a pathetic, hideous excuse for a human being, and for all the lives you have ruined, I sincerely hope that you will rot and slowly die in the most awful prison they can find for scum like you. As long as that is a viable outcome of your incarceration, I don’t care what you do to me.”

- possible other crew member: “Damn. Okay, that was hot. Not gonna lie.”

Alec: “It will be a spring wedding. He loves halloween. If I propose to him then, we will have enough time to plan everything so that the spring flowers will be in full bloom by the time of the actual event.” -

Valentine: “You know what? I actually believe you.”

Magnus: “Goodbye then.”

Valentine: “Can you say the same about Ragnor Fell? Or Raphael Santiago? How about Catarina Loss? Or her cute little daughter. What was her name again? Right. Madzie.”

- Jace: “Did he just…?”

Izzy: “Threaten Magnus’ loved ones? Yeah, he did.”

Alec: “I’m going to fucking kill him!” -

Magnus: “How did you-”

Valentine: “I bet you are already running through your options on how to keep your little found family safe. Bring additional blackmail charges against me? - Now that would only make me more angry, wouldn’t it? Get your friend into police protection? - If only you could be sure that I don’t have people under my thumb in the police. Fly them out of the country? - But do you really know how far my organization and allies reach? And would the threat against them be over with as soon as I face my sentence? What’s it gonna be, Magnus. Your friends, or my freedom?”

- Izzy: “Fuck.”

Jace: “Okay, we need to get on top of this like yesterday.”

Alec: “Contact the other teams. We need round the clock protection for Magnus and his family. We have to find and take down Valentine’s allies and underlings, in and out of law enforcement. And we need to do it before Valentine’s trial starts and Magnus is forced to represent him.”

possible other crew member: “Guess that first date you have been planning is gonna be sooner than you thought.” -

[quaranmine]

Missing 411 guy?

David Paulides, the guy who is the creator of "Missing 411" which is basically a conspiracy about suspicious clusters of people going missing in National Parks in the United States. He is also the bane of my existence for the past year as someone who is researching a story about someone who goes missing in a National Forest.

To start with, if you've ever been even on the fringes of "irl spooky stuff" videos on YouTube, you might have encountered this. There are a lot of youtubers and podcasters who cover this guy's content without understanding What and Who they are giving platform to. Sometimes, people don't even mention him but will relate the cases that he covers in his books or use the same conspiracy points as him. I would not be suprised if you watched a Buzzfeed Unsolved/Watcher video (which are fine btw) and then got recommended something related to Missing 411 in the sidebar since it's a similar genre. It's super popular to the point where its outgrown its creator. I can't stress enough that many of you have probably encountered this content, at least in passing, without knowing what it was.

So to recap, Missing 411 documents cases of real-life people who have disappeared or been found dead in national parks, national forests, etc and claims that these cases are unusual and mysterious. It frequently talks about missing person "clusters" and things like that. There is often an overt, if not outrightly stated, implication that something supernatural, crpytid, or UFO/alien related was involved. For starters, David Paulides has written a ton of books trying to prove the existence of bigfoot. Now, I have no issues with people believing in bigfoot, or cryptids, or aliens, but I do have an issue with people co-opting real life tragedies and twisting information to push this as conspiracy. I simply do not think it is helpful or respectful to talk about missing and dead people (and children!) like this. Also, with the high prices of his books ($100-200) he just reeks of grifter to me.

To me, Missing 411 "criteria" is a stretch at best. You will see cases "mysteriously" connected because both of these people wore red when they went missing. Both these people's bodies were found near water (as if many National Park do not have water features.) Both these people's bodies were found near granite rocks (like, the most common rock type in mountains lol.) All these cases involve the weather turning bad! (um, yeah, that's a big reason why people get in trouble?) He frequently claims that bodies being undressed is highly unusual, without ever acknowledging paradoxical undressing. Or he claims laughably weak connections between people like "these two women who went missing in different years are connected because they both had three letter names that started with A." I haven't personally listened to this talk but there is a data scientist mentioned in his Wikipedia page who examined the case data and found nothing out of the ordinary in them. If you don't want to watch a video (I don't either right now) then he also wrote this article. From a different person, this article from a podcast is also good.

David Paulides does not present Missing 411 cases with accuracy. He has been known to cherry-pick data and purposefully omit data to make them seem more unusual. Many cases he covers are either already solved, or have extensive information available. He does not retract information or admit when he is wrong. Even if he does present a particular case accurately, he has such a bad track record with reliable research that he cannot be trusted as a source. There used to be someone on reddit who would deconstruct cases he covered. In this post they found several instances of cases of Paulides missing sources and coming to incorrect conclusions.

Note there's a few differences in the sources I just linked. The data scientist and podcast skeptic both said they found the data to be accurate, while the redditors have found evidence to the contrary. The data scientist also says he found Paulides' presentation of information respectful, but I personally find all of this highly disrespectful. But despite these differences I think we can all agree....the claims of Missing 411 are pretty ridiculous.

Also, let's talk about David Paulides himself. Before becoming a writer, he was a cop in California. He was a cop who was fired for corruption (well that's hard to do), because he was caught soliciting donations for a fake charity he set up. That's straight from his Wikipedia page. He continues to use his past as a "dectective" to attempt to make his claims sound more reliable. There was also a redditor who pulled up some other career highlights from when he was a cop in the 80s, by looking at court transcripts and news articles. His job used to be entrap gay men by pretending to be gay, getting them to invite him home with them, and then arresting then. He and his unit were also accused of police brutality many times in the 80s, with Paulides testifying in defense of his unit. And he has not changed btw, he's a Qanon stolen election covid denier type of nut right now on his YouTube channel (according to reddit. I am not watching this man's videos.) So yeah, I think his character speaks for itself.

Anyway, I'm tired of hearing about this guy and seeing 411 related content pop up around YouTube, Reddit, Tiktok, etc. Pay attention if you watch things related to "creepy and unexplained real life disappearnaces." I do not think he is a good person, I do not think he can be trusted, and I do not think that his work actually benefits the families of the missing persons in question. These are real people. He turns them into spectacles to push ~unusual~ circumstances and paranormal activity.

[capn-twitchery]

Feeling quirky and sending my favorite blogs sweet asks like Valentine's whenever I have free time

Freddie we've been friends over a decade (what the FUCK) so I could write an entire novel series of reasons I love you

But you've got plenty of a clue of half those reasons so I'll just say this: Your character designs are always serving. You have a wild ass innate talent for making little guys that are my type completely on accident and I love being a little menace simp about it.

I've loved watching your art skills flourish over time and being around long enough to see all your amazing little guys go from trolls to humans to your own unique world just like me.

And now to watching you be super totally 100% normal about a game I barely understand and making even MORE cool guys for me to be the bane of your existence about. On top of that, you've introduced me to so many other people who I may not talk to, but I absolutely adore their OCs through osmosis.

Thanks for somehow staying in my corner of the internet all these years even though we barely actually talk anywhere. Know I'm always lurking and being your cheerleader <3

Happy Vday :)

what the ufck what the fuck this is so nice i'm gonna CRY? ;; THANK YOU SO MUCH ILY

it has been a Joy waving at you across the internet for a decade now...i always appreciate your comments & thank you 10000x over for loving my ocs & sticking around through my years of fandom hopping😌

i love everything i've seen of yours too & your improvement has been CRAZY TO WATCH!!! i hope we can continue to point and go YOOOOO at eachother for another decade♥︎

[rodolfoparras]

Right?!?? Calling it predatory is beyond awful and it just reeks of vilifying queer people. We aren't safe from it in every day life and now we aren't safe in our online spaces too?? Particularly in a space we curated for us because we want to write and discuss our queer fics?? And the sheer irony of (presumably) straight woman saying we are acting like a woman in gay bar like.....GIRL- GIRL ARE YOU HEARING YOURSELF-

And the twitter situation omg I have to briefly rant. Someone I follow commented on (albeit 2 years old) post of this straight girlie who was whining about the fact that character she likes was confirmed gay and how she wanted to keep drawing him in straight ship with her female self insert but people were mad at her for doing so. Like no shit 😭 she kept doing it for months after and I think she eventually stopped but like erasing character's sexuality like that when he canonically struggled with being gay too is just gross.

And my gods- girlies acting like Astarion is straight and guys acting like Shadowheart is straight is bane of my existence when all companions are canonically queer!!

As for games, Imma finally be able to properly play all of my favourite games because my laptop is so fucking old that it takes forever to play Sims 4 (admittedly I do have billion mods) let alone something else. I only played BG3 on my bestie's PC and I'll finally be able to do it properly 😭 I swear the only game I don't have any problems with playing on current laptop is Monster Prom. I tried playing Resident Evil 4 (another big hyperfixation) and it was so ungodly slow.

-🔮

Right?! And it’s literally on the verge of painting us as PREDATORS for writing fics? Like come on love both me and you know you aren’t that stupid to think what I do is predatory 💀

Also yes!! Like I said a privilege take to make by a straight woman 😭 like the self insert community isn’t a sacred straight space and fanfiction as a whole is not even a straight space 😭

Some ppl will never stop fascinating me bc I don’t understand this obsession straight people have with canonically queer characters. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an exclusively lesbian character and gone “let me make a male insert fic for her” like there is a whole lot of entitlement there. Not to mention how these little self inserts they make are always catered to white women. There was a Valentine’s Day cod post and i believe all characters except for gaz’s partner were white they will literally do anything to ensure there’s content for them

Also I can imagine how slow sims must’ve been my friend who has a good game set up still has issues with the game and I cant even imagine your situation also resident evil sounds like sm fun to play! I’ve only watched play through but I’ve loved every one of them!

[kazoosandfannypacks]

summary: when a demeter camper falls for an ares camper, carnations and crocuses aren’t too far behind, whether they like it or not. word count: 4173 words a/n: hey guys! i know y'all liked my last story so much, and i had so much fun with it, that i wanted to do another one! and yeah, i've never seen anything anywhere about the power i gave the demeter kid, but it i just kinda made it up and it works well for this story. enjoy! taglist: @poptart-cat-78 @fynn-arcana @babsbabbles @laughingphoenixleader {if you’d like to be added to my halfblood 5&1 taglist/pjo taglist, let me know!}

also on ao3!

five flowers ares girls don't appreciate (and one that they really, really do)

~oliver's third summer~

 Oliver McAdam had a rare blessing from his godly parent, and it was the bane of his existence.

 For some people, sometimes being a demigod meant you could do really cool things. A few of Hermes' kids were able to run fast enough, they may as well be teleporting. Apollo's kids sometimes had prophecy, or the ability to bend light. Some of Aphrodite's kids could control you with their voice like a Jedi mind trick.

 Oliver, however, a child of Demeter, possessed an ability none of his siblings— or anyone else he'd ever met— did. He'd first noticed it on his father's farm, when orchis started growing in the pumpkin patch, and he found osmunda in his window box of violets, but it wasn't until the tulip tree sprouted in the bathtub that he realized these flowers weren't random— he was creating them.

 Different flowers came from different moods. Daffodils and daisies bloomed when he was happy. Black dahlias surrounded him when he was anxious. Hyacinth grew when he was sorrowful. Sometimes fruit would graft itself from a nearby tree when he was hungry. That one wasn't so bad, of course, but he could do without the rest of them. The trail of flowers that followed his emotions made him feel like a freak, even by demigod standards.

 One of his little demigod half-sisters, Calla, had done extensive research on Victorian flower language, and thought it was the coolest thing ever how the blossoms that surrounded him followed him and responded to his mood exactly, speaking a language that florists had spoken for more than a century. She'd always been able to read his flowers like a functional mood ring, and sometimes she'd explain them to him when he didn't understand them.

 But he didn't need her to tell him what the sweet-brier blossoms growing at his feet were about, because even though they sounded pleasant enough by name, well, a sweet-brier by any other name could still spell terror. As it was, he was quaking in his boots. It was his day to check the cabins, which wasn't ever so bad in and of itself, until he got to Cabin 5. The Ares cabin was bad enough to look at from the outside, but to go inside the house of horrors? That was terrifying.

 He approached the cabin nervously, glancing down at his clipboard and praying no more sweet-brier planted itself on the cabin doorstep.

 Someone in front of him opened the door, and he froze with fear. The only thing scarier than Ares' cabin was Ares' kids, and though he didn't know which of them would be at the door, he could guarantee he didn't want to find out.

 The camper in question, apparently, hadn't seen Oliver standing there, but she became very aware of his presence when she ran into him.

 "Watch it, punk." she said.

 "I'm sorry," Oliver said, his voice squeaking as several flowers cropped up around him, "I didn't mean to…."

 If there had been more to that sentence, Oliver forgot it when he looked up at her. He'd never dared get this close to an Ares kid before, but if anyone had told him they were this pretty, he would've much sooner. Her eyes were the color of freshly upturned soil, her skin like a field of ripened wheat touched by a sunrise, her hair the same shade of black as the leather jacket with the ripped off sleeves she wore over her Camp Half-Blood t-shirt.

 "You'd better not've," she said, pushing past him.

 Oliver barely had time to notice the crocus that sprouted between them before she pushed past him and stepped on it on her way out of the cabin.

~oliver's third summer~

 By the end of that summer, Oliver had gathered that the beautiful child of the war god was named Emilia, and he recalled her claiming a couple summers ago after a divisive and merciless Capture the Flag victory. Oliver hadn't been outgoing even then, and Emilia hadn't exactly ever played nice, so he'd had no problem avoiding her.

 But now, that was the last thing he wanted to do.

 As he packed up at the end of the summer, he kept an eye out the open door of his cabin, watching Cabin #5 more closely than ever before.

 Most of his siblings had already left by the time he decided it was time to go, a couple ox-eye daisies budding around his suitcase. He saw in the distance as Ares' cabin door opened and Emilia left. Oliver had planned and timed this, quickly grabbing his suitcase and hoping he could make it look like an accident that he happened to leave at the same time as her.

 "See you next summer," he called across the distance, waving at her, "have a great school year!"

 "Get lost already!" she grumbled back.

 The last two times he'd tried to talk to her, she'd ignored him entirely, so he took her upset response as a good sign, hoping she wouldn't see the snowdrops that blossomed around him.

~oliver's fourth summer~

 When you feel refreshed by time out in the garden, winter lasts an eternity. Just when you think there's hope for the browns and grays around you to awaken into green again, they're buried in another layer of heartless white.

 But, just as hope comes to fruition from the darkest souls, so springtime blooms out of winter's chill, and soon it was spring at McAdam farms, and Oliver was soon busy helping his father on the farm. The past few years, he'd done as much as he could in the spring and fall, wondering how his father even got on through the summer while he was away at camp.

 And once again, his father would have to manage, as Oliver found himself in the familiar fields of Camp Half Blood.

 In the past four years, Oliver had gotten better and better at controlling his emotions and their telltale flora. He still couldn't stop himself from growing monkshood in moments of panic or control what plants he created, but for the most part, he had a handle on his feelings in the minutiae of day-to-day life.

 That is, until he sat down for his first dinner of the summer at Camp Half-Blood, and saw Emilia at her sibling's table across the pavilion, laughing with a violent excitement at being together again. Oliver's life wasn't very exciting in the offseason, so one of the biggest points of interest that year had been the thought of Emilia.

 Despite his best attempts at restraint, his plate was soon covered in yellow blossoms, blooming out of his chicken nuggets in a feat of nature that would've been incredible if it wasn't so incredibly annoying.

 "Tarragon?" Calla asked, taking a seat next to him, "funny, I prefer ketchup on my chicken nuggets, myself."

 "Are you sure you don't want to try it?" Oliver joked, as he started to pick the flowers off his plate, hovering a few over her dinner plate as a taunt.

 "Oh, I'm good," she giggled.

 He looked up across the pavilion again, and saw that Emilia was looking at him. Granted, most of the camp was looking at him, almost as though they'd been awaiting the first of his accidental flowerings this summer. He only really noticed Emilia though, and how she smiled a little and rolled her eyes.

 Oliver didn't care that her smile was meant to taunt him, that she was laughing at him and not with him— he still saw something warm in it, and her smile made him smile.

 Unfortunately, her smile also made him sprout, a yellow tulip blossoming— not in front of him, but at the longest distance away he'd ever gotten a flower to bloom: right out of Emilia's blood red glass of cola.

 He looked back down at his food quickly as her siblings began laughing and her face flushed as red as her cola. When an Ares kid gets into a rage, you don't want to find yourself in their warpath, and Emilia was no exception. Oliver looked up, only a little, to see the crumpled tulip land on his dinner plate, though he knew that if flowers were a better projectile, she definitely could've taken his head off with it.

 "I guess I'm eating salad," he muttered, deadpan, shrugging as he stabbed at the head of the tulip and pretended to eat it.

 His siblings laughed, and he looked up to see Emilia, still upset, and he tried to convince himself that she didn't look cute when she was angry like that. He wasn't sure how she'd respond if his feelings accidentally covered her table in red roses, but he didn't want to find out, especially once she'd remember that roses have thorns.

 Instead, he kept his mind occupied by his quest to remove the plants from his dinner.

 "Don't think I don't know what that means," Calla whispered to him.

 "I know you do," Oliver said, without looking up.

 "Tarragon is for lasting interest," Calla said, "and even though everyone thinks yellow flowers just mean friendship, the yellow tulip goes deeper. It actually means 'there is sunshine in your smile." Isn't that so dreamy?"

 "I guess," Oliver chuckled.

 "You've had a crush on her since last summer?" she whispered. He looked up at her with a glare, "what makes you say that?"

 "It's so obvious," she said, "does she know?"

 He looked down at the crumpled tulip on the table.

 "I sure hope not."

~oliver's fourth summer~

 It wasn't uncommon for Ares kids to challenge each other to combat. Sometimes it was to air grievances, and sometimes it was to let off some steam, but usually it was just for fun.

 Oliver had never found it fun to fight or to watch fighting, but he was excited to watch the fight that broke out between Emilia and the new girl, Clarisse. Clarisse was young, but still a terrifying force, and Olilver wouldn't've wanted to face her, even before she'd gotten a month and a half of half-blood combat training.

 But Oliver was still rooting for Emilia. She was still older than Clarisse by a few years, and was one of the most formidable fighters at camp.

 "You think she's gonna win?" Calla asked, coming up behind Oliver and standing next to him as they watched this fight.

 "Who?" Oliver asked, without looking back at Calla, taking advantage of this chance to stare at Emilia.

 "The Easter Bunny," Calla said, sarcastically, then clarified, "Emilia."

 "Yeah," Oliver sighed, "isn't she so cool? She's such a talented fighter, and she knows exactly what she's doing, and her moves are so graceful and calculated, and…."

 "You need to get out of here," Calla's voice was suddenly serious.

 "What do you mean?" Oliver asked, but before the words were out of his mouth, he saw Emilia fall to the ground, having tripped on something. Clarisse was quickly at the ready, with a sword pointed at her neck before she had a chance to get up. He then noticed what she'd tripped on— dozens of trailing alyssum plants had grown at her feet.

 "Was that me?" Oliver asked.

 "No, it was the Easter Bunny again," Calla said, "you'd better run. If you're here when she gets up…" "Yeah, I know," Oliver said, taking off for his cabin, hoping Emilia wouldn't join the trail of peony that followed him away.

~oliver's fourth summer~

 Oliver tried to ignore the flowers at his feet as he sat on his cabin's steps. Over the last few days, Emilia had made it clear that she didn't want him, or his pity apologies and peony powers, within two hundred yards of her.

 But even two yards from her would've been too far for him, and no matter how physically distant he was, his crumbled heart was still with her.

 "Red carnations?" Calla interrupted Oliver's brooding silence.

 Oliver didn't respond.

 "Do you need me to tell you what that one means?"

 Calla sat down next to him. "'Alas, for my poor heart!' I always thought that was a strong sentiment for one plant to carry, but I get it now, mopey."

 "She won't even talk to me," Oliver shook his head, "I mean, she never talked to me, but she won't even let me apologize."

 "It probably wouldn't've worked out anyways," Calla said.

 "What's that supposed to mean?" If anyone would've understood his feelings, it was her. He sometimes wondered if his little sister had been misclaimed by Demeter, and if Aphrodite was her mom instead. She saw the potential for a relationship in anyone.

 "I mean, her dad's the god of war," Calla said, "our mom is the god of wildflowers."

 "The opposite of that," Oliver shook his head, "the harvest. Things we plant."

 "So, gardening."

 "Have you ever started a garden?" Oliver asked. When she shook her head, he continued, "you look at a piece of land, and you say, 'this is mine.' You mark off a territory, and you fight for it. You rip it apart by the roots, you make it yours, and you don't show mercy to any weeds or wildflowers that stand in the way. If you let your guard down for even a day, the enemy will choke you out. You have to keep fighting. Gardening is war, and if anyone could understand that…."

 He shook his head as his voice trailed away.

 "I didn't know you were such a fighter," Calla smiled, then nudged him, "and I bet Emilia doesn't know that either."

 Another red carnation sprouted at the mere mention of Emilia.

 "And she never will," he half laughed to shrug off the pain.

 "Not with that attitude," Calla said, "but maybe if you show her?"

 "How?" 

 "Maybe start with flowers," Calla suggested, motioning to the DIY bouquet at their feet.

 "Give her these?" Oliver asked.

 "It's a start," Calla said.

 "I can't do it."

 "You have to try."

 "No I don't."

 Calla shook her head and got up.

 "And here I thought you were a fighter."

 "So?" Oliver asked.

 Calla smiled and shrugged, "so fight for her."

 Oliver looked down at the flowers at his feet and knew exactly what to do.

 🥀

 He watched her cabin from a safe distance. He'd seen his brothers leave flowers for the Aphrodite girls all the time, but he had a feeling Emilia wouldn't respond the same way. It was just a simple bouquet with a note that said "I'm sorry," but he hoped the rich hue of the red flowers would appease her, like a sacrifice painted in the blood of her enemies.

 He watched as she opened the cabin door and picked up the bouquet, then re-entered her cabin.

 Did it work? Would she hear him out? Would she at least treat him civilly?

 He watched again as she left her cabin, holding the flowers upside-down, a lighter in her other hand (and where she got a lighter at camp, he didn't want to know.) The flame quickly licked up the plants, and she left the charred husk that remained on her cabin steps as a reminder.

 Oliver didn't need to hear that message twice. If his poor heart ached when he saw that happen, he wouldn't give her the flowers to prove it.

~emilia's third summer~

 Emilia had had just about enough of this flower boy, and it took her every last ounce of restraint to keep from burning down his cabin instead of just the red flowers he'd left at the doorstep yesterday. She couldn't imagine what would've happened if any of her siblings saw them before she got rid of them. They'd already given her a hard enough time about the tulip soda at the start of the summer and losing in battle to the new girl last week, she didn't need this ruining her image either. When would this pansy stop trying to embarrass her already?

 She smiled as he cowered away when she saw him at breakfast that morning. She'd put him in his place. Nobody, nobody makes Emilia Alvarez look stupid and gets away with it.

 🥀

 Emilia had been cornered by a lot of people in her life. Even mortals like her siblings back home and the bullies at school had seen her as easy prey for years— though the older she got, the less she let them give her problems. And demigods? Most of them would steer clear of her with just a glare, and the ones that didn't quickly learned their lessons.

 That's why she was so thrown off today, when a girl grabbed her by the arm and growled her name like it was some kind of curse.

 Emilia turned to see a girl ten inches shorter than her, with flowers braided in her hair and a necklace made of plastic daisies.

 "What's your problem?" Emilia asked.

 "No, what's yours?" the flower girl sneered.

 "Hey, I'm not usually in the mood to bust someone's nose right after eating," Emilia threatened, "but you wouldn't be the first, and you won't be the last."

 "Take your best shot," she said, "you could stand to lose dessert privileges the next few days."

 Emilia frowned, then smiled and pulled back to punch, but stopped when she saw the fear in her eyes.

 "I recognize you," Emilia said, "you're the one always hanging out with that punk."

 "Calla," she said, "and 'that punk' has a name— it's Oliver— and if he didn't care so much about you, I would've flattened you myself by now."

 "Back that train up," Emilia crossed her arms, "'Oliver' doesn't care about me. He's been using his flower powers to make me look stupid all summer."

 "I didn't know he goes for stupid," she sighed, "but he's absolutely crazy about you, so…."

 "'Crazy's' a good word for it, runt."

 "You don't understand," Calla said, "he hasn't been trying to make you look bad at all."

 "Well, he's got a funny way of showing it," she rolled her eyes.

 "He can't control it."

 "Can't control what?"

 "The flowers," Calla said, "they just kind of happen. He doesn't cause them— deliberately."

 "I don't buy that," Emilia asked, "you've got ten seconds to scram before I bash your brains in."

 "It's true!" she said, apparently undeterred, "they respond to his emotions. Like the tulips when someone's smile reminds him of the sunshine."

 "What?" Emilia asked, recalling the soda blossom at the start of the summer.

 "And the alyssum you tripped on?" Calla said, "when he likes someone for who they are, more than just their beauty." "Beauty?" Emilia asked, "He thinks I'm pretty?" "More than that," Calla said, listing a few things off on her fingers, "a skilled fighter, a queen on earth, the pride of Camp Half Blood. He won't shut up about you."

 Emilia tried to pretend that the red she could feel creeping across her cheeks was from anger, not because she was blushing. She tried to change the subject.

 "So you expect me to believe the bouquet of flowers with an apology note was an accident too?"

 "That one was my idea," Calla admitted, "a foolish attempt to get you to talk to him— but it was only flowers he'd already grown, borne of heartbreak. He's devastated, Emilia, and it's because of you."

 "Good," Emilia said.

 "I know you don't really think that," Calla said.

 "You don't know me." 

 "I know you would've pulverized me by now if you were glad you hurt him."

 Emilia could've pulverized her. She could've punched the smug grin off the flower child's face. She could've flattened her before she got a chance to turn heel and leave. She could've yelled a few insults, or chased after her and beat her down. Instead, Emilia stood in silence as she walked away.

 🥀

 Everything felt different as Emilia walked across the camp. Her heart raced like she was preparing for war. She smiled like she'd completed some conquest. Somehow she felt a little bit invincible— was this what love feels like?

 She started to notice things more too— most prominently, she noticed a trail of red flowers, just like the ones she'd burned yesterday. Now that she realized that was a declaration of love and not of war, she almost felt guilty crushing his heart in response. In fact, she did feel guilty— and she needed to make it up.

 She followed the trail of flowers to the shade behind cabin #4, where she saw Oliver sitting against the wall, lost in thought. She approached him with military stealth, and he didn't even notice as she stood right over him.

 "I thought I'd find you here," Emilia said.

 He looked up at her, startled, though she couldn't tell if it was a general startle or if it was because her presence had that effect on people.

 "Then again, the carnations gave you away."

 "Emilia!" he said, nervously jumping to his feet as though he were about to make a hasty escape, "don't worry, I'll, I'll get out of your way."

 "Not so fast, punk," Emilia said. She grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him back, turning him around and pushing him against the wall in front of her, her arm pressing against his collarbone, "I had a talk with your little friend."

 "What about?" he asked, fear swirling in his eyes.

 "Something about you having a little crush on me," she narrowed her eyes, "is that true?"

 He looked down at the ground for a moment, then back up at her, meeting her eyes with his.

 "Yeah," he said, followed by a quick, "please don't kill me."

 For a moment, before his face washed with fear, she saw a confident determination, like a soldier prepared for war. She liked that more than she normally would've admitted. She also liked the fear in his eyes too— actually, maybe it was just that she liked his eyes, and the rest of his face as well.

 "Oh, don't worry," she said, pushing him harder against the wall, "I wouldn't do that. I can think of something a lot better to do with your face than pulverizing it."

 "Like what?" his voice squeaked.

 "Like this," she smiled.

 She leaned toward him and planted a kiss on his trembling lips, which stilled themselves as the world did, stopping itself and starting itself all over again.

 She pulled away, and he blinked a few times, stupefied. She ran a range of emotions she couldn't begin to place names to. He must've as well, because as she looked down at their feet, there must've been a dozen different flowers growing around them, entangling their roots, planting them both to the spot.

 But one flower stood out most to her, a couple bright orange blossoms she couldn't stop herself from picking.

 "Nasturtium," she said.

 "What?" Oliver asked, breathless, still clearly trying to regain his senses.

 "These grew back home," Emilia said, lost for a wistful moment as she twirled the buds between her fingers, "when I was a little girl, back in Chile."

 She met Oliver's eyes.

 "Know what this one means?"

 He shook his head.

 "Conquest," Emilia said, "victory in battle."

 She didn't explain how she knew, but he seemed too shocked still to even bother to ask.

 "I think I'll keep this one," she said, tucking the flower behind her ear, "if that's okay with you."

 "Yeah," he whispered.

 She could tell he was still processing, trying to figure out what was going on, and if there'd been a flower for confusion, it would've been in the garden growing between them. It might be best to give him time to weed out his thoughts— pun literally intended.

 "I'll talk to you later, okay?" she said.

 He started to say "yeah," but she planted a kiss on his cheek first, which apparently flipped a reset switch in his brain all over again.

 As Emilia walked away, she brushed her fingers along the flower behind her ear. She knew her siblings were gonna give her a hard time for it, but she'd give it right back to them. As much as she hated them picking on her, she'd tolerated it— but somehow she knew that if any of the others started poking fun at Oliver, she'd personally arrange a meeting between their head and a toilet, complete with a black eye as a parting gift.

 She'd heard someone on TV say that love was strength, and maybe they were right. As much as she'd always fought for herself, she was twice as prepared to fight for Oliver.

 Especially that day at lunch, when he gave her a whole bouquet of those bright orange nasturtium flowers, and though he was still apparently too tongue-tied to get out anything more than a "these are for you," the note he'd written on the card said it all in just how he addressed her: "to the champion who conquered my very heart"

[rollercoasterwords]

hi rae how are uu!!!

i was reading about mulvey and the female gaze and i remembered you saying something about how it pushes bioessentialist agendas but i don't remember what u said exactly so do you mind sharing a piece of ur mind about this again

also!!!!! i've read captive prince with ur influence and then read ur laurent's pov rewrite and god!!!!! it was so so good it brought me to tears and made me laugh out loud and scream into my pillow at times... the first book didn't stick out to me that well but afterwards?? their dynamic is everything i was missing in life. also reading the first book in laurent's pov was an otherworldly experience, him getting surprised to see damien isn't the definition of all things evil like he thought ahhhh u captured him perfectly i think

also read all for the game series (saw a fanart of neil in ur blog and it kickstarted me getting into yet another fandom) and i was like wtf is this and then later i was like wtf is this but in a positive way. now the characters are all my babies (except kevin like yes i understand his struggles and all but i still see that guy as a little bitch which is a bit ironic when andreil are the biggest bitches to exist but still)

also binge-watched iwtv and goddddd gays with communication problems who happen to be vampires i love them all sm <333 do u have a fav character i wonder AND any thoughts on the last episode?

anyways i hope life is treating you kindly much kisses and good wishes <3

hi i'm good hope ur doing good as well!! such a fun message hang on let me take this piece by piece...

mulvey's male gaze the bane of my existence lmao...yeah the entire theory is rooted in bioessentialism. basically mulvey is basing her theory in freud who assumes that the categories 'father' 'mother' 'son' and 'daughter' are stable + static & therefore assumes that the categories 'male' and 'female' are stable + static biological categories which engender inherently different psychic/interior qualities. mulvey's entire argument hinges on the idea that men will be categorically unable to relate to/empathize with/see themselves as women onscreen--this argument begins to break down when you start asking questions like 'how is mulvey defining 'men' and 'women'? is she defining them, or is she assuming that they're static biological categories? are they static biological categories?' also i disagree with the idea that people are categorically unable to identify with characters across sex and/or gender & think it's kinda dumb tbh. to be fair, mulvey's theory was meant to apply to a pretty specific context and has largely been taken out of that context in ways that are very annoying but not necessarily her fault; still, when the original theory is so rooted in bioessentialism i don't really find any of it useful.

anyway. moving on to the fun stuff captive prince omg!! so glad u enjoyed the series & my own take on laurent...it was SO fun trying to get inside his head & imagine what would have been going on in there i love him so much <3 <3 tricky to write tho bc i was definitely trying 2 walk the line of like. not diminishing/excusing laurent's cruelty while simultaneously showing why he acts the way he does in the first book...abuse as cyclical etc...

and aftg lol such a trip...wtf is honestly an accurate response it's a wild ride but so much fun <3 & not liking kevin...valid honestly i like him but i also don't care abt him that much compared 2 the other characters...u should read 'the sunshine court' at some point it's abt jean & it will probably make u like kevin even less lmao

& finally. iwtv!!!!!!!! i've been obsessed w that show the past few weeks i just binge watched season 1 & have now been watching season 2...SO fucking good omg. personally my favorite character is. armand <3 idc what he does they could never make me hate him...last episode was soooo good claudia is my second-fave character just a smidge after armand i truly think her story is probably the most interesting + tragic out of all of them like. makes me feel a bit crazyinsane thinking abt it BUT her & madeleine. oh my goddddd that scene broke me. don't have many more coherent thoughts currently other than wailing + tearing my hair out etc but i am having a great time nonetheless...

anyway thank u 4 the message love catching up life has been busy but mostly treating me kindly hope it's doing the same for u!! <3

[hermesserpent-stuff]

31 - TSSM

https://youtu.be/ChVV5EVL4W4

Thus always to tyrants: the oh hellos (on mobile)

Crimson Curse is Harry running around with gear from Quentin to try and right the wrongs of the rich and powerful in New York. Now he meets spider for the first time. Spider nephew au adjacent. A bit shorter sorry!!

Thanks for the ask tho!! (To the other person with the same number that asked later, I have a plan don't worry)

Harry is constantly being amazed by how easy it is to break into places. Yes he has good training from Quentin, but some part him had always seen a locked door as some insurmountable object. And yet here he is, the Crimson Curse, sneaking in to yet another place he knows has dirt to be dragged up. ESU's lab is directly funded by Norman Osborn and that fact alone has Harry suspicious. They had been in the news a fair few times. But it had always returned to vaguely normal for the lab. Which is worrying because he knows that something deeper has to be going on and his two best friends could get wrapped up into the trouble. Curse just needs to take a short stroll through their records, find anything he can and go about the business of making any dark deeds come to the light. He knows Kraven is attached to this place, but only has the bairest details of gossip from Sandy and Dan. He needs something more… concrete.

His flashdrive is plugged into the computer to start scanning while he flicks through paper files. A creak has him turning and he is only a little shocked to see Spider-Man.

"Aw great. Someone new. What's your gimmick? Vultures already got the bird thing and Mysterio's our local magician, so fair warning those roles are taken."

"I have no desire to fight."

Good, the voice modulator works. Maybe Spider-Man would leave him alone if he tried to explain things.

"Really? Then why are you breaking and entering if not to draw the attention of little ol' me."

"Osborn has connections with this lab. There is something going on here that has been hidden from people. It is my job to uncover the truth and show the world."

A little dramatic. So sue him. Quentin rubs off on people. Spider-Man tilts his head.

"Wait. Who are you?"

"I am the Crimson Curse. A bane to all who skulk and hide in the dark."

Curse carefully checks the face of his watch. Only fifty percent of the files have been transferred from the computer to his transmitting flash drive. And he had not yet combed through all the paper files. He needs more time. Plus he knows he cannot fight.

"You think Dr. Connors is up to no good? He's a friend. Sort of. Kind of. Look, the guy's not evil."

Spider-Man says, shifting on his feet.

"That may be true but he does not have sole responsibility over this lab. Kraven got an augmentation here from someone. That means some amount of supplies must be missing and notes of that research might exist. I am simply seeking answers, Spider-Man. I will steal nothing but the knowledge of the truth."

"Maybe I can help. Keep the good docs name clear…"

Spider-Man sounds hopeful and Curse decides to let him be. Easier to deal with an ally that is semi blind than a poison filled enemy.

"Alright. Help me with the papers. See if there is any record discrepancy when it comes to supplies. If you try to cover things up… I don't think we will be able to work together again."

"Yep. Yep. Totally understandable."

Both quietly and quickly get to work. Spider-Man speaks up a little bit later.

"I've seen some of your work. I respect it."

Curse tilts his head.

"Thanks."

"Have you tried looking into Thompson Lincoln or Roderick Kingley?"

"They've yet to enter the perview of my spells. But I shall look into hexing them."

"Uh… right. Well if you do, be careful. It's nice to know other people see somethings up with the city. Even if it is a weird witch dude."

Curse rolls his eyes. He upped his magic talk in costume to change his pattern of speech.

"So irreverent."

He teased Spider-Man. Something about him felt familiar. Safe.

"That's me! Super irreverent!!"

And they continue digging.

[moonchild-things]

Chapter Eight: Beachside Summer Story!

Summary: Being a psychic is not an ideal life, at least for Saiki Kusuo. Didn’t you read/watch The Disastrous Life of Saiki K to know that? Still, this isn’t about him, not really. Instead, let’s focus on his one and only friend, Akari Watanabe, who is also quite abnormal. You might not believe that Saiki would actually have a friend, but that’s what fanfictions are about, right?  

Word Count: 4081

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MORNING TIME WAS SOMETHING THAT AKARI HATED with all her being. With the sun coming through her window, birds chirping their greetings, and annoying morning people starting their day with a scary amount of enthusiasm, it was the bane of her existence. All she wants to do is sleep in, especially since it was break time from school. The perfect time to let her sleep for however long she wants. Her family understood that fact. If they didn't, they risked facing her wrath.

From time to time, she enjoyed some mornings. It wasn't like she always had terrible starts to her days. However, the usual components that made up a morning mainly consisted of annoying, shiny things that usually gave her a migraine. Mornings that were a bit overcast or training were something that she appreciated. Or even when she didn't have school, though when that happens Akari sleeps in for as long as she can. Which is what was happening right now.

Though one thing that definitely had her up and awake was the sound of her little brother screaming at the top of his lungs. Akari was instantly out of her bed and sprinting down the stairs to find Rikuto and why he had suddenly screamed bloody murder. If there was one thing that would get her up, it was definitely the sound of her family members in distress.

Her yellow eyes were sharp as she jumped down the stairs and turned the corner to look for her brother. At the moment, it was only Rikuto and Akari in the house, if she remembered. Her mother had been forced to take a day off by her father because they all knew she had been working herself to the bone for such a long time. She needed some time to just rest, which their father was more than ready to provide for her with a nice day out. He'd most likely take her to a park or something to just spend a nice peaceful day with her. Though that didn't matter, what mattered was finding out why the hell Rikuto was screaming.

She found that the front door was wide open, which is certainly something to be concerned about. Though she wasn't that worried once she noticed the two people in the doorway. "Heya, gal pal!"

The biggest idiot known to man, Nendo Riki, was currently standing at her front door with a stupid smile. He was decked out in beachwear with quite a few beach items on his back. Next to him, quite obviously annoyed was Kusuo. He looked like he did not want to be there in the slightest bit.

'He sure looks upset.' Akari thought to herself and approached them.

Kusuo glared at her heatedly, 'Of course, I am.'

"Hey, Nendo," she greeted him softly and took a glance around trying to look for Rikuto. "I, uh, heard my brother."

"Oh, that kid who screamed?" The moron asked, "Yeah, he ran and hid over there." Nendo pointed to the couch in the living room where the trio of teens was able to catch a glimpse of black hair hiding behind it. Akari raised her eyebrow at her brother's behavior.

Rikuto was visibly shaking as he peeked out from his hiding place. His face was pale, paler than Akari, which was saying something. "M-M-Monster!" He called out shakily pointing at Nendo.

"Oh." Akari simply said, now understanding what had happened. Rikuto must have opened up the door and been greeted by Nendo on the doorstep. With his less than friendly appearance, Rikuto must have screamed at the sight of the moron. Nothing to worry about. She turned back to her friends, "Well, what are you guys doing here?"

"We're headed out to the beach!" The idiot shouted, causing Rikuto to squeak out in fear behind them and run out of the room to find refuge in his own bedroom. The older teens didn't acknowledge him as Nendo continued to smile down at the girl. "I saw my pal's house on the way there and he said you lived right across from him. So now we can all go together!"

Akari stared at him with wide eyes. The beach? She never goes to the beach, for good reason. "Oh, well I-"

'You're coming with.' Kusuo cut her off with a mental demand before she could decline. She stared over at the pink-haired boy to see that he was glaring at her rather harshly. He obviously didn't want to be the only one to have to go to the beach and socialize.

Akari pouted, 'But why?'

Kusuo's green glasses gleamed in the light as he stared down at her, 'Because I won't suffer through this alone.'

Akari huffed at him and crossed her arms over her chest, 'You just want to see me go through the same pain, huh?' Kusuo didn't say anything else, just continued to glare from under his tinted glasses, which gave her an answer. Akari nearly had half the mind to sneer at him, 'Truly a sadist.' She turned to Nendo, who was completely oblivious to their mental conversation and was just quietly waiting for her answer. She sighed loudly through her nose, "Let me grab some stuff, all right?"

"Awesome!" Nendo jumped up happily as Akari reluctantly walked off to grab some essentials for the beach.

She surely couldn't go to the beach without a plethora of sunscreen and also her favorite sweatshirt. Though it was really only her favorite because it was a tad bit oversized. She liked the feeling of being swallowed up by the extremely soft fabric(It isn't hers, but Kusuo never explicitly asked for it back, so she's kept it). It would be quite stupid of her to show up at the beach dressed in her pajamas. So she had to get the correct clothes, to make sure that she was covered up from head to toe. As if this girl would actually wear a bathing suit to the beach, come on. Akari hates the sun, what gave you the idea she would even think of wearing a bathing suit. Some nice leggings would go really well with her stolen sweatshirt, the perfect outfit for the beach!

Seeing as it was break time for school, it wasn't much of a surprise to see that there were quite a few people at the beach. Just another reason why Akari didn't want to be there. I mean, she could have just said 'no' to Kusuo's demand and shut the door in their faces to stay at home and sleep. However, one does not simply say 'no' to Saiki Kusuo. Her life most likely would have become a living hell for some time after this if she had not gone with them. He would make sure that she regretted not obeying him to go to the beach. So, to save herself from future misfortune, Akari had no choice.

That being said, both Kusuo and Akari were now sat underneath an umbrella on a beach towel. Unlike the other beachgoers, neither teen was lounging around in the sun or running around having fun. For one thing, they both didn't want to be there, at all. So they just sat underneath an umbrella, sharing a towel to sit on while watching Nendo and Kaido playing around in the water. Another thing, Akari did not want to be in the sun for an extended period of time. Her skin was extremely white, which makes her susceptible to getting sunburnt super easily. So to prevent it, she had put a generous amount of sunscreen on nearly her entire body and also wore a sweatshirt that was a tad bit too big for her. In doing so, she protected her body to the best of her ability. She definitely didn't wanna end up as a burnt chicken nugget at the end of the day.

Akari could understand why people like the beach. The calmness that came with watching the waves lapping at the shore and the gentle warm breeze that drifts over the sand is a nice scenery to see. There were just a few downsides to the beach though, that Akari found to be unavoidable. That's when there are a ton of people around screaming and splashing in the water, obnoxious guys flirting with any and all girls they can see, the scorching sun rays, and the annoying kids kicking up sand by her. If those things were to disappear, then Akari would enjoy the beach far more than she currently was.

"Don't you know how to swim?" Nando taunted Kaido while standing in the ocean water, "Wimp!"

Unlike the big idiot, Kaido hadn't gotten into the water at all. He hadn't even taken his shirt off yet even though they had been here for a while. Though both Akari and Kusuo were wondering where the blue-haired boy had come from, since they had only come here with Nendo. Guess they just wanted to add him to this episode, no need to question it that much. "What are you saying?" Kaido shouted out as he started to cry, "I can swim."

Akari deadpanned while getting herself comfy on her shared towel, 'That's a lie.'

'His eyes can, at least.' Kusuo commented on the fat tears that were streaming out of Kaido's eyes.

Kaido then fell down in the ankle-deep water, "Water!" He cried out and squirmed around in the few inches of water that he had fallen into.

The two teens under the umbrella stared at him boredly. Saiki raised an eyebrow, 'It would be impressive if he drowned like that.'

Akari eyed the poor boy as he pathetically flailed around in shallow water. As strange as the sight was, would he actually drown like that? Given his luck, it's pretty possible. 'Should we help him?'

Kusuo was about to deny helping the poor eight-grade minded boy when they heard the pounding of feet coming up behind them. Whoever it was, shouted as they got closer to the struggling boy, "Are you all right?"

'No need.' Saiki commented to Akari as they watched someone dive at Kaido to "save" him. The water crashed around them as Kaido's savior's pants fell down revealing a recognizable ass. 'Could that butt be...'

In all his amazing glory, Kaido's savior was the one and only Hairo Kineshi! The passionate and firey class representative! "Oh, Hairo!"

The red-haired teen flashed them all a smile. A smile that nearly blinded Akari just by looking at him. He was far too bright for her taste if she was to be honest. He could chase away every shadow with that smile, including Akari. "Nendo?" He asked while approaching his classmates, "And Saiki, too?"

Nendo pointed at the silent girl next to Saiki that the passionate boy hadn't seen, "Don't forget Watanabe!"

"Ah, Watanabe," Hairo chuckled while scratching the back of his neck, "I didn't notice you there."

Akari gave the boy a small wave from her spot slightly behind Saiki, "...Hi." As class representative, Akari thought that Hairo was her perfect pick for the job. He was so firey and supportive of all of his classmates and tries to push them to their best ability. That is what any class representative should be. Though he can easily become far too much for Akari's liking when he tried to involve people in things that they didn't want anything to do with. Thankfully, Hairo never really notices her, so she doesn't get dragged into any of his annoying team-building exercises or other shenanigans. Another blessing that comes with her powers.

"What are you doing?" Nendo asked while tilting his head.

Hairo walked over and placed his damsel in distress onto the sand. The blue-haired boy scuttled across the sand like a crab as he seemed grateful to be back on the shore. As a heroic aura radiated off of him, Hairo proudly placed his hands on his hips, "I'm volunteering as a lifeguard."

A man suddenly yelled out in distress before the teens could continue to talk with each other, "I'm drowning!"

Hairo was already sprinting away towards the man in need of help, "I'm on my way!"

'He's always so eager,' Akari thought as she brushed off the sand from her oversized, white sweatshirt.

"Volunteering on a hot day like this? He sure is enthusiastic." Nendo commented. Really, it's probably around 35*C out here! How he could continue to have so much energy to run around in this heat is both impressive and terrifying. Also, 35*C is about 95*F, in case you needed the conversion. Nendo then turned to the teens under the umbrella, "Hey, pal, gal pal, aren't you two going to swim?"

Kusuo shook his head and buried his head into the book that he had brought, "Don't mind us."

Akari shook her head at the idiot, "Sorry, Nendo." She flashed him a small smile in apology, "We don't feel like swimming."

The giant of a teen huffed, "What is this? Nobody is swimming. It's no fun to swim alone." He popped on some sunglasses that I'm sure he thought improved his appearance. I didn't. "I guess I'll hit on some girls."

Kusuo raised an eyebrow, "What are you saying?"

"With that face of yours?" Kaido asked snarkily. Yeah, there was no way that Nendo would get a girl looking like he did. Sorry, Nendo, but I don't think any girl would go for a guy looking like him.

"Why not try walking on water?" Kusuo suggested, "You would have a better chance of success." Oh, look, foreshadowing!

Akari shook her head and cringed slightly, "It's a good thing to be optimistic, but don't give your hopes up." Even if she wanted to try and cheer the poor guy on, she had to be realistic. It was better to just tell him not to get his hopes too high since she was certain no girl would agree to talk with him.

Nendo brushed off their words and shook his head, "For a man, looks don't matter." He flashed them a thumbs up, "What matters is the spirit."

Soon enough, Nendo went off in search of some ladies to flirt with. Though just as suspected, they all turned him down within the first few seconds. Even though he tried, they all waved him off. It also didn't help that he chased after them afterward. He really needed to work on his communication skills.

While Nendo went off looking for any woman who was willing to have a conversation with him for more than a minute, Akari and Kusuo stayed bundled up on the towel. They made sure to stay as protected by the umbrella as they could, considering neither of them, especially Akari, wanted to get a sunburn or something. The long-haired girl leaned against Kusuo's shoulder while reading the book over his shoulder. While Kusuo wasn't exactly a fan of physical contact, there were times where Akari was allowed to be closer to him than most. Of course, she never went out of her way to be close to Kusuo. The last thing she would want to do is make him uncomfortable. Though if he was, he would make it clear to her and straight-up tell her to stop. He had yet to do so as they read the book together. However, Akari can usually tell when he was uncomfortable, so she would back off if she saw the irritated twitch in his brow when he wanted to be left alone.

'This is actually kind of nice,' Akari thought to herself as they finished a page. She glanced at Kusuo from the corner of her eyes. 'I guess it was okay that you forced me to come with you guys, Ku-kun.'

He didn't spare her a glance as they continued to read together. 'Maybe you won't question me next time.'

Akari huffed while rolling her eyes. She will admit, there are plenty of times where she was forced to do something or go somewhere with Kusuo because he gave her no other choice that she ended up enjoying. Just like now. Though every time she said that she didn't necessarily regret leaving her shadowy domain, Kusuo always teased her about it.

'I still think you're a sadist though,' she commented. Which is true, Saiki is one of the more sadistic anime characters I've seen, don't you agree? He's kind of like Kyoya and plenty of others... Uh, excuse me while I go rewatch Ouran High School for the 100th time.

The barest hint of a smirk graced his lips, 'And you're a masochist for agreeing to come with.' Akari sputtered for a moment, slowly becoming red for having been coined a pain-loving person. They then heard Kaido's and Nendo's shouts as the smaller teen was now buried in some sand. The result of having gained the attention of the women that Nendo had tried to woo. Kusuo sighed heavily, 'He sure is embarrassing.' Then he disappeared, leaving poor Akari by herself as he floated in a tube in the ocean. He wanted to be left alone, that much Akari could tell. He would probably just swim down to the bottom of the ocean where he likes to be alone whenever they were at the beach. Akari would join him, but she can't hold her breath like him. So she'd rather not drown, thanks.

"Where did our pal go? To the toilet?" Nendo asked as he lumbered back over to their spot, "Gal pal," he spun around to face Akari. The black-haired girl was now trying to catch a few minutes of shut-eye since she had nothing better to do. "Where'd pal go?"

Akari shrugged her shoulders and tried to get comfortable on the towel, "I'm not sure… somewhere to be alone probably."

"And he left you alone!" Nendo gasped dramatically at even the thought. He had rarely seen his two pals apart from each other. So he could barely imagine seeing Akari by herself. "Pal, where are you?" He called out before he eyed something from the shoreline that caused him to jump right into the water, "Look at that girl. She's drowning!"

Akari eyed what was happening. She had no doubt that Nendo would be able to help him. He's an idiot, but he's a strong idiot with a big heart. Nendo could easily save that girl. Though, she glanced around the beach, where was Hairo? He's the lifeguard so where was he while this poor girl was drowning?! All of a sudden, Kaido followed after Nendo and started to swim out alongside him. Akari would have called out to him, but he was already so far away before she could even stand up. He couldn't swim, right? She may or may not be slightly worried about her idiotic friend now.

She finally caught sight of the passionate teen and ran over to him. Abandoning her shady paradise, she thought that it would be better to get the lifesaver than her own preference to stay out of the sun. "Hairo!" Akari called out to the fiery boy. Of course, she had gained his attention straight away since he had never heard her speak that loudly before. "There's a girl out there drowning and Nendo went out there to get her!"

The red-haired teen nodded and gave her a thumbs-up, "I got it! Thanks, Watanabe!" He then sprinted off into the water to start his swim out there.

Akari watched from the edge of the shore as Hairo jumped after them and swam to the distressed teens. At this point, Kaido and the unconscious girl had now needed to be held up by Nendo. The large teen had seemed to have a handle on it. Eventually, Hairo got close enough to help out Nendo. Though he only ended up in the same predicament as Kaido and the girl as his leg cramped up. So now, Nendo had three people to lug back to the shore. At the sight of the teen struggling, Akari was nervous about them. There wasn't much that she could do herself since she was, physically, not that strong. And there weren't any shadows for her to use to possibly save them. However, she certainly wouldn't want to expose herself for having strange powers to anyone.

'Stop worrying so much.'

She was dragged out of her thoughts at the smooth voice that invaded her mind. Akari jumped slightly but calmed herself down with a deep breath. 'I can't help it, they're our friends.'

'Not friends.' Out in the ocean, Kusuo scoffed as he swam up to the struggling teens, 'Did you forget that I can help them.'

The shadow-manipulator bristled slightly at the reminder that her best friend was an over-powered psychic who could save them with a snap of his fingers. Still, she was just relieved, 'So you're going to help them?'

'It'll be annoying if I didn't.'

Akari giggled, 'So heroic!' He may not be admitting it now, but he cared about their friends. Yes, they were his and Akari's friends. Kusuo could easily just make them leave him alone, but he tolerated them enough to spend time with them. Sure they were annoying and idiotic most of the time, but Akari knew that he found them to at least be aquiqntences.

So(as foreshadowed beforehand), Nendo found himself "walking on water". Though it was really just Kusuo holding up Nendo by his feet. How Nendo didn't notice that someone was holding his feet, is beyond Akari. Despite that, Kusuo easily carried the four to safety.

As the sun started to disappear behind the horizon, the now safe group all stood on the sand. Akari gladly placed herself next to Kusuo and used a towel to dry off his wet hair. While the others were happy to accept the fact that Nendo had miraculously walked on water, Akari knew who really saved them. So she was definitely going to show her gratitude to him when no one else would. "Thank you very much." The now conscious girl said reluctantly and coughed as she addressed Nendo, "I'm sorry I was rude to you earlier."

Nendo was more than happy to get that from her. Since she had been one of the girls to turn him down rudely before, he was more than happy to accept her apology and gratitude. Kaido commented on it as they watched the woman walk away, "Knowing you, I thought you might demand compensation for saving her."

"I would never do something so lame." Nendo shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing, "If she falls in love with me, though, that's that."

Kaido laughed, "Fat chance."

"What did you say?" Nendo raged, just about ready to jump his friend for making fun of him.

Kusuo smirked, 'Well, one person has fallen for him.'

"I'm in love, Riki Nendo." Hairo thought to himself. Obviously, the one to have been enraptured by Nendo. Tears of admiration ran down his cheeks while he stared after the giant buffoon. "I'm in love with your way of life."

'Though, it's a guy.'

Akari glanced over her shoulder to spy at the weeping boy. She laughed lightly at the love-stricken expression on Hairo's face. 'Coming to the beach today was quite fun,' she smiled slightly. She glanced up at Kusuo with a sly look in her eyes, 'So, Mr. Hero, I think you deserve a reward for your heroics.'

Kusuo let out a small huff in amusement, 'I'll accept the usual.' It felt nice, to have someone recognize what he does. Sure, he hated having attention on him so he kept his powers quiet. However, when he does something like save lives, he's more than happy to have someone thank him for what he did. It also helped that it was Akari doing it. If there was one person he glad knew about his abilities, it's Akari. While she can understand what it's like to have powers, she knew what it felt like to not be thanked every time she did something good with those powers. They related to each other in that way.

'Mhm, I thought so.' Akari hummed, breaking Kusuo out of his thoughts about her, 'Pretty sure there's leftover coffee jelly in the fridge. If not, I'll make you some!' The little skip in her step was quite obvious now that she was more than happy to reward her friend for what he had done.

---

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[autobot-ratchet]

MTMTE 9-11

MTMTE 9

“You're telling me those eyebrows aren't secret recording devices?” Well, not his eyebrows lmAO

as annoying as it made the fandom, I do like how this comic doesn't just gloss over how the Decepticon movement started out with good intentions and solid points, they weren't cartoon villains who loved to kill and oppress because it's fun. They just ended up that way lmfAO

Rewind's out here making relationship charts

Rewind is so cute lmAO no wonder he was initially one of my faves when I first got into this comic

“Is this Prowl fellow going to be a recurring character? 'Cos if so he needs to be fleshed out a bit. I'm not feeling it” fucking womp womp lmfAO talk to Barber about it

ah, yes. The panel that gave birth to the headcanon that was the bane of my existence for the better part of a decade lmAO honestly it was never even the buymech headcanon in and of itself, it was how everyone who subscribed to it made Drift into a poor little meow meow who needed to be saved from himself, specifically and only through the power of getting dicked down but in the good and respectable way this time that drove me fucking insane lmAO like I get that he has issues, but not the kind that make him helpless, I assure you. Also cool job demonizing sex work as “the scary nasty profession that traumatizes you but is also shameful on your part and you only have the excuse of doing it if you have no other choice”

oh lol I forgot that the same decepticon generics that find Drift tripping in an alleyway are the ones that tried to help Pharma kill everyone on Delphi, including Drift lmAO these dudes just keep fucking with Drift by pure coincidence

love Drift purposefully agitating Ratchet lmAO get his ass. Also still love the little detail of Ratchet getting paint from his hands on Drift's face, it's such a tiny detail only there for one panel, but I cherish it so

nnnfghndf they both still think about it..... oops uh oh I still love Dratchet lmfAO

“These days all you get is state-sponsored scrap or froth like 'the top 10 Metroplex sightings'” god. Fucking. gOD LMFAO THE ABSOLUTE FUCKIN STATE OF IT ALL........

the thing about kinning Ratchet at a young age is that the older you get, the more like him you become. Which is even more fucky in this instance because that was a quote from young Ratchet lmfAO god

aw man I forgot about Red Alert's suicide attempt, poor guy. I remembered that he was out of commission for a while, but I didn't remember that he did it to himself

MTMTE 10

jdfsks love Chromedome using Rung's model ships to reenact a chase scene

oooghfj Prowl being genuinely nice to Chromedome in the past...

lmao get dunked on, Drift. It's still so funny watching him try to be a cool guy at Cyclonus

oooOOOUGFDHJ WHIRL HONEY........ you got done so dirty I'm so sorry

I remember seeing people criticize Rewind for getting on Chromedome's case about talking about his experiences with Prowl a little too much what with his quest to find Dominus, like “oh so YOU can talk about your ex,” but I think that it's less that Rewind is jealous or something and more that it's about Prowl lmAO like “do not evoke the name of that demon more than necessary.” Which still sucks (mostly bc I wanna hear more, I am so interested in how they almost could've made it work, LOVE that kind of doomed romance shit) but is understandable, Prowl has done too much

I also love this little “thwarting government conspiracies” arc, I like how the mystery has played out. I've been playing/watching a lot of mystery-solving media lately and while my favorite way to do it is in a way where the viewer (me) can piece it together before the grand reveal if they're smart enough, I also like how this has the characters figuring things out as they go along in a way that's not really possible to predict bc they put things together immediately after getting the necessary information, there's no “it's a surprise tool that will help us later,” which I think is fine for this one little arc, especially since it's working within the framework of the characters telling a story that they all know the details of already. But it also doesn't feel like I'm being info dumped upon, like we're getting the clues/information at a rate that lets you breathe a little before hitting you with a new piece of the puzzle. I just really love mystery-oriented media lmAO

MTMTE 11

I do love that the group that actually gets to tell a story on screen isn't the first group Rewind put together. Just casually dropping that a bunch of background characters that we never really get to see much of (save for Percy, Sunstreaker, and Blaster) are connected to each other

“he's like a historical constant” stares off into space........

oof Roddy feels responsible for Red Alert's suicide attempt, at least on some level... and he gets mad at Magnus for suggesting they not bring him back online, but honestly, I get it. Honestly, I understand both Roddy and Magnus on this one, as someone who constantly struggles with the whole “wanting to live” thing and yet continues to do so out of mostly spite and desperation. On the one hand, you gotta try to live no matter what, but on the other, god please just let me rest lmfAO granted, Magnus just wants to let him rest a bit and resuscitate him later but. Yknow. As a human that can't do that shit, etc, etc, you get it

this fucking ship's alarm goes “awooga” lmfAO looney tunes ass siren

god that fucking Shockwave namedrop, what a cool way to reveal that, what a cool backstory to give Shockwave aaaAAAAA

[nsfwhiphop]

My very first time writing this Incoming Text for David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson & Vera Farmiga & Patrick Wilson

Hey, David, Gillian, Vera and Patrick!

I have been ignoring you since March 16th on my twitter page.

Guess what day this is? It's the 16th April, exactly one month later.

I have to ignore you because I can't say anything to you on a public page, these people will lose sleep and they will have panic attacks and we don't want that, do you want my readers to have panic attacks? No, you don't, see, I thought so too, that's why I ignore you.

Also, I don't want to talk about Alien subjects because my readers are unprepared for this type of literature, they will lose their minds trying to understand TIME TRAVEL and stuff of that nature. My readers think that Time Travel is possible only in films, little do they know, this guy named Angelo has a reservoir of that TIME TRAVEL knowledge right here in his tiny home, you see, I told ya!

Just because someone refuses to believe me, does that stop anything, no, the world keeps spinning, even when there are many disbelievers, that's why I keep my mouth shut, because of disbelievers, they are dumb, stupid, ignorant and they hate, they envy and they are just so negative minded, man! So, I choose to shut my mouth and never argue with dumb people. I always let them win the argument and stay away from them to protect my peace.

You should watch the movie "Idiocracy", directed by my good friend Mike Judge, Luke Wilson is the actor in that film, call him, he will explain how difficult it is to speak your mind when you're surrounded by stupid people who refuse to believe, it's called ignorant disbelievers and they're the bane of my existence.

Them: "Why do you refuse to talk about Alien subjects"

Here is my answer: "When delving into discussions about alien subjects, I notice that my writing has a transformative effect on my readers, eliciting a sensation akin to the heightened euphoria associated with certain drugs, like cocaine. While I've never personally experienced that sensation, I'm keenly aware of the powerful impact my words can have. I'm cautious, however, about unintentionally inducing such intense feelings in my readers. Consequently, I find myself hesitant to fully explore these topics, fearing that my writing may inadvertently lead readers down an unintended path. It's a delicate balance between crafting engaging narratives and ensuring responsible storytelling, and sometimes, I opt for discretion to avoid unintended consequences."

There is so much you don't know about me and what I'm capable of, what you read on my blog is only 1% of the Iceberg.

Them: "What do you mean when you say 1% of the Iceberg?"

Me: "It means that the majority of my readers are stupid, ignorant disbelievers and they get excited and impressed whenever I mention wealth, that's all they care about wealth, they worship wealth. They get impressed when I mention the $500 billion dollars but what they don't know is that is nothing, it's a small amount. They don't understand that TIME TRAVEL is the true wealth making machine, but I can't explain that to them, do you know why? Because they're ignorant disbelievers. They're idiots. This the End of Time and when I speak about the End of time, they get panic attacks, so what do I do? I have to change the subjects and put on the Cartoon Network to entertain them like little children in kindergarten. You have no idea the level of stupidity I'm dealing with here. When you talk about the Anti-Christ regime they get shocked, but when you talk about the latest episode of Friends they all like you, it's that type of stupidity that I'm dealing with, so yeah, that answers your question about %1 of the Iceberg."

You don't know that there will be a Nuclear war soon, there are angry Christians who refuse to accept this Evil regime. They want to erase all forms of worship in the three big religions. The term "Abrahamic religions" refers to the monotheistic, or worshipping one God, religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The fact that humans refuse to fight back against this Evil regime will lead to the creation of the Anti-Christ regime and guess what? We are seeing the emergence of this Evil regime right now as we speak and no one is fighting back.

The reluctance of humans to resist oppressive regimes may pave the way for the rise of even more sinister powers, akin to what some refer to as an 'Anti-Christ regime.' Indeed, we are witnessing the emergence of such oppressive forces in our current landscape, yet there seems to be a lack of concerted action to counteract them. It's crucial to recognize the signs of tyranny and take proactive measures to uphold justice and freedom.

Christians around the world can ignore this problem all they want but they will face the consequences of their actions when the fateful day comes, when they can't open a bible in public or attend church on sunday, oh, yeah, we are headed in that direction if you don't fight back, so excuse me if I'm not in the mood to be on television, you all live in a world that is controlled by the Evil regime and when you're asked to do something to fight back, you get panic attacks, I don't care, it's your world, I'm not from here anyway. I have a spaceship to catch soon, yeah just like a Taxi, I will catch a spaceship soon.

You do whatever you gotta do with this information. This not the Conjuring Franchise or the X-Files, this is happening for real.

Also, I called you guys to make sure no one comes near me or tries to own me or tries to control me, you have to make sure that no one will touch me. I will put my trust in you, I will have conversations only with you, David, Gillian, Vera and Patrick, you have been chosen by God to protect me and collect information from me.

I will also encourage you to think about your security, because anyone that believes in me will become a target.

Do you remember Pharoah of Egypt and how he bullied Moses in the Bible? Well, we are dealing with evil men like Pharoah, so get ready for bullies.

Also, I'm not Jesus, and I'm not Moses, I'm not Muhammad may peace be upon all these holy men.

I'm just a servant of God and I'm here to kick some ass, Pharoah's ass, he thinks he scares me, he is gonna be very disappointed.

Pharoah will never come near me, all his money, his power will never stop me, if he touches me, it will be the end of his rule on earth. There are very powerful people with Nuclear weapons on this earth who have promised me to push the Nuclear button if he puts his hands on me, so you know what time it is.

We are at war, Christians of the world, it's time to read the bible and see the chapters about the Antichrist because it's happening now in 2024.

You can call any Church on this earth and they will confirm, it's time to fight back, or they will win every war if we never fight back and we will wake up in a world with no church and reading the bible will be considered a felony.

Your choice, fight or flight? That is the question.

Also, you have to understand something about me, I'm worth a lot of money, more than $500 billion dollars, that is only 1% of the Iceberg.

TIME TRAVEL the ability to foresee the future is the real money maker.

You should make sure that no one comes near me or speaks to me without your knowledge. I'm fighting to protect my freedom.

A lot of wealthy billionaires think they can corrupt the Police and then put their hands on me to own me like a slave, but they will never get away with their crime, do you know why? I have so many people ready to fight them, I have so many witnesses, they will never succeed.

Also, this is the last time I write to you, you should understand that I don't want to spook my readers, so yeah, I will ignore you on purpose.

Also, I forgot to mention that you have to help me with the women, if a woman wants to be in a relationship with me, you have to prepare the N.D.A. with many lawyers, that way if she attempts any criminal attack on me, I will have that N.D.A. to sue her in court.

You have to protect me from evil women, the devil wants to use women to attack me, that's how he humiliates a lot of Christian men in the media, have you seen what they did to Diddy lately?

Any woman that wants to approach me, or come near me has to first meet you guys and once you give her your blessing, I will agree to meet her. It's the safest way to protect my peace and not let any negativity around me or my family.

Okay, this chat was fun.

The end of this conversation. Your friend, Angelo.