#here's a fun secret for you. i don't know where the fuck la is

[thisisjustmefangirling]

Merlin rewatch : 2x09 "The lady of the lake"

Freya must have been so cold wearing these rags…

Gaius, your acceptance/resignation towards people being sold for a price if they have magic freaks me out.

As if Merlin was going to let a defenseless looking girl stay in that cage… Especially someone with magic. He feels empathy for them.

Is that the first time we're seeing the Rising sun tavern ?

Oh Merlin is using so many spells in a few minutes, I'm loving it…

"Here, I thought you might be cold."

"I just saw you and… It could have been me, in that cage".

WHY is Merlin not stealing from the kitchens instead of bringing Arthur a rotten apple and a stale piece of bread ? The NERVE ?! I wouldn't have given this to anyone, even less my BOSS, a PRINCE.

Arthur's indignation : "I am fighting fit!"

I think this is where we're getting started with the fatphobic jokes…

Arthur has scratches/scars on his chest ? Where did he get that ?

Merlin giving Arthur "Sire" because he knows he fucked up…

Oh Freya was a druid ?

Merlin !!!! How did you not realise that that bathwater was BOILING and could COOK ARTHUR TO DEATH ?

"You need to warn them, Sire. The girl is dangerous. My informer told me she was cursed."

"How so ?"

"He didn't know. But he said even the druids were frightened of her. They cast her out of their camp."

So Freya is an outcast. Just like Merlin, in some way. Merlin is so powerful it'd be easy to be afraid of him once he's mature enough. He's not part of the druids. Neither is Freya.

Add butter to that bread and cheese and you get un jambon-beurre haha.

"Believe me, it's fit for a prince" hahaha no shit Merlin !

"He knows but I'm not sure he understands". => Merlin about Gaius knowing about Merlin's magic.

"Magic is not a curse. It can be a gift!" Oh baby in 1x01 you feared you were a monster ?

Merlin is lying to Gaius' face and his very inquisitive eyes…

Merlin stealing Arthur's food is supposed to be a joke, okay, but I'm not sure I like it now. Arthur is being deprived of a good breakfast and lunch. He'll be cranky come evening. Give him food.

"Merlin is my servant, he has my absolute trust. If you have a problem with him, you come to me. Do you understand ?"

This line is doing things to my heart, oh la la…

The fact that Arthur doesn't question Merlin AT ALL about his strange behaviour, they just bicker about the stolen sausages and Arthur's weight and then Merlin just… leaves. And goes straight to see Freya.

"I scare most people away" Freya you deserve better…

"You can't always trust people."

"I know. That's why I left home."

Merlin :/ Babe <3

Let it be remembered that Merlin can make flowers appear, but not food.

"With you, I can just be who I am. We don't have to hide anything. I don't have to worry."

"Being different is nothing to be scared of".

AND THAT SINGLE TEAR ROLLING DOWN HIS CHEEK !

Awww Merlin behaving like a lovesick puppy <3

This is the first time Merlin even THINKS about leaving Camelot. He's known Freya for two days. He's just really desperate to be known for who he really is, and to be free…

Moths and woodworms : the "reasons" why Merlin is snooping into closets and bedside tables he should not be touching at all.

"Running an errand for Gaius" : excuse number 1 for weird shit and secret missions Merlin is doing.

Arthur not giving a fuck about Merlin possibly crossdressing for fun in his spare time : "As long as you do a decent day's work, Merlin, that's all I care about. […] What a man does in his spare time is completely up to him". And then the compliment : "colour suits you Merlin".

This is day three now.

"We can leave tonight, as soon as it gets dark, and we can be together".

Horses, blankets and food and they won't need more. A second kiss, and goodbye. Freya doesn't have the heart to tell him.

"There was a time when you thought twice about lying to me".

Yet Merlin said "Of course not!" which such an air of sincerity… Oh yeah, he's turning into a really good liar…

Mais Gaius t'es tellement une grosse balance, t'es là à lécher les pompes d'UTHER au lieu de régler le problème avec Merlin !

"You can never understand. Do you know how it feels to be a monster? To be afraid of who you are ?"

"Freya is very different from you. She's dangerous."

Oh I didn't remember Arthur saw her in her human form ! Lol he's just there blinking as she's turning into a bastet…

I can't freaking believe Arthur's guards and knights are running away while Arthur is trying to fight the bastet !

MERLIN ! You almost crushed Arthur to death !

He's petting her head ???

OH is Freya a rape survivor, forced to kill people by the mother of her rapist ? That's so fucked up…

"Please go."

"No. I'm not leaving you here".

The PARALLELS with Arthur's dying moments !

"One day, Merlin, I will repay you. I promise". Okay but do we actually see that happen in the next seasons ? I don't remember her.

What I do remember from years ago is directors saying that Colin held that level of intensity and sadness for hours in the rain for those lake scenes.

It's the first time he has to light a funeral pyre for a friend and it sadly won't be the last…

That last scene with Arthur always gets to me. Arthur might be oblivious to a lot of things but he pays attention to Merlin more than Merlin might think, I'd say.

"Something's been upsetting you, hasn't it ?"

Arthur has seen Merlin doing the weirdest things in the past four days or so : stealing his food, calling him fat, giving him stale food to eat, stealing a dress, being accused of hiding a druid… And he doesn't accuse Merlin of anything himself. He thinks "Oh, Merlin has been upset. I must find out why. Maybe it's because of me." and then he sort of apologises and when words fail him, he uses action to make Merlin smile again. Because seeing Merlin smile, as we'll learn in the next seasons ("I haven't seen you smile in the past three days") is important to Arthur. Because he cares. Another thing that gets to me is that when Merlin is sitting upset doing his chores, Arthur usually comes to sit next to him, at his eye level, or even UNDER his eye level sometimes. Yet, a Prince should never be sitting at a lower level than a servant or any lesser noble. He gives himself the look of a listener, and he's bad with words and feelings (because of his father's shitty education) but he TRIES.

Last episode was Arthur centric, with Arthur showing his most intimate thoughts and feelings to/in front of Merlin : his grief and guilt about his mother's death, his rage at the idea that his father was responsible for her death, that he was a hypocrite and a liar... This episode was Merlin centric. I wonder what next episode will be like.

This episode was really good at exploring Merlin's feelings about his magic, his identity as a warlock, his sense of loneliness at the heart of Camelot. Gaius cares about him but is still loyal to Uther, and Merlin is not sure Gaius really understands him and what it's like to be a warlock. Arthur... Merlin cares about Arthur and Arthur cares about him, but Merlin knows that he could end up in a cage just like Freya. And I think a part of him might resent Arthur for it. Or at least, at the end of the episode, he's tired of his chores... But no wonder. Your crush is killed by your soulmate, and you still have to show up at work the next day and shine his boots ?

[venus-is-thinking]

DRDT Chapter 2 Episode 12: Initial Thoughts

Hello everyone! I thought it'd be fun to do a post going over some of my first thoughts from the episode after each release. "Initial" is a bit of a stretch, considering I did watch it a second time while making this post, but it's more "initial" in the context of being before the next episode drops. It's sort of like my "initial thoughts" of the Milgram MVs, which are actually the result of, like, 3 hours of obsessing and research, lol.

(By the way, @accirax and I watched the episode together, so apologies if her initial thoughts end up being, like, the same as mine.)

SPOILER WARNING FOR DRDT CH 2 EP 12!

T/W: Body image issues/body dysmorphia, murder, suicide

The Reactions

Confirmation of what I think most of us already suspected! I do think it's a little weird that Nico didn't bring up their testimony about all of the fish being there at the last time they fed the fish. That probably means it's being saved for later in the Trial, I guess?

It's okay Teruko, I saw literally no one in the entire fanbase figure this one out either!

Why is everyone so mean to her though. Everyone here has been an idiot in the Trials at LEAST once

God I missed David

This was so funny. Get his ass.

(In all seriousness, though, I do wonder if we're going to come back to what J said. I don't currently (?) think Arei was drenched, unless the real purpose of the water WAS just to confuse the time of death, so if the water didn't connect with her enough to cool her down, it might be weird that the body isn't warm after all.)

This took me out. Who let you say that. What.

Okay, but Ace, outside of a killing game... why. Like, literally why would a plastic surgeon need to know how to do an autopsy. King.

Like Felicity...? /hj

All in all, though, this was a really interesting character moment for Arturo! And god, the fact that he started learning medical knowledge and spedrun plastic surgery specifically since age 12 HAS to mean something. My vague theories of Felicity having struggles with body image/dysmorphia (Arturo's section of this post) are... maybe real???

Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if Arturo is going to go farther in this game. I don't expect him to survive or anything, but I could see it taking him a surprisingly long time to die. He feels like he's got too much lore to unpack to die, like, next chapter. Unless he gets HELLA focused next chapter, which is definitely possible.

This is so silly. I love them.

(Note: I'm not a Whit mastermind truther, but if I were, I would point out that MonoTV sort of covering up a rules violation for Whit could be relevant. I'm not a Whit mastermind truther though, so I think this is just a very silly joke a la "no wifi! why live :(" )

Well you see Eden, the killer would have actually had all night to prepare. If, say, they mentioned that they could dial in and focus on their work for like 14 hours straight, they could have gotten a lot done before 7:30 AM!

I'll talk about this more later, but the fact that J, David, Veronika, Hu and Nico seemingly have alibis that actually matter is so iconic. I can't believe that many theories died that quick. I'll talk about that more in my theories section, though!

It's been said before, but. Funniest fucking reaction to being declared innocent of murder.

"David still has a family history of depression even if that isn't his secret" nation where you at?

This one made me laugh out loud. Who does it like him

How truthful do we think David is in this next section? I refuse to believe it's 100% a lie, just because he's cooking SO hard on SOMETHING, but I could also believe David thinks he's lying to an extent. I could definitely see a "the best lies are based on the truth" kind of thing?

Also, damn. Xanvid really is real. LGI got me to believe it but WOW David's just being gay on main now

This was a really good, succinct way to have Teruko show her opposition to David's ideas. Even if it is to end the killing game or do something "good' or whatever, Teruko is still hurt and betrayed by what Xander did. Xander tried to kill her, and presumably would have tried to kill everyone else. David is now doing the same thing.

It's going to be really interesting if, whether genuine or not, David is kinda taking on Xander's position. That's going to give Teruko a reason to (outwardly) hate him even more. I'm really looking forward to learning more about how both Teruko and David view Xander.

Also, it's so fucking funny that Teruko and David are literally fighting over Xander. Like, valid, but. Guys.

(Also, David soooo knows Teruko's secret is the killing game is all your fault. Idk if he specifically knows that Xander's plan was to kill Teruko no matter what, but he's definitely caught on to some extent.)

This was crazy. Is Xander famous? Why would everyone recognize him? Like, did David just take particular notice of Xander because he's a simp, or is there something else going on?

Notably, it's also extremely interesting that David says "Even if you all lost a year of memories for this killing game." It almost implies that David didn't? What do you know???

Also, if David DOES have weird memories about this that no one else does, it's a really interesting comparison to Teruko remembering the existence of a killing game in the area investigation when she was talking to Veronika. Are these two getting special memory privileges because they're important? Or does everyone have some kind of memory that they all should have, but only one person knows each thing?

At first I was confused when David said this, because I really don't know how dear anyone in DRDT's life to him was other than Xander. But then I realized, if David is talking about killing 15 others and yourself, he's definitely still talking about Xander's mindset. Xander had something worth the lives of 16 people that he was trying to do.

I don't know how much David cares about ending the killing game. I wonder if "belief in Xander" is the thing he's willing to kill 13 people plus himself for?

I'm starting to get REALLY curious what J's deal is. Between this and her voiced line earlier in the trial saying something along the lines of "it's like you all still haven't grasped just how serious murder is," she definitely seems to have strong opinions on specifically the morality of killing other people. WHY is she being singled out with these beliefs, what does it say about her, and where is her character headed?

(If she is the mastermind, does this couple with the "all murderers must be held accountable" rule?)

"Any answer" is so funny. I think she's looking for the truthful answer, David. This is why no one believes you when you say anything ever /aff

Notably, this is VERY similar to the plan Eden came up with that Veronika described: using the fact that TV shows need entertainment to continue to end the killing game. It's the same thing, but with a much more depressed "everyone should just give up" kind of flavor.

The level of similarity does make me think David is probably not being 100% truthful, and that he just repurposed Eden's escape plan to be something sort of similar to what he was going for.

I do think that he WAS trying to defeat the killing game by killing people through the class trial. I just think that, between Xander's actions and the motive secret he received, he was trying to kill Teruko specifically. Yet another way that David's unhinged behavior ties into the Chapter 2 secrets.

*Hu hopeless child looms in the distance*

I'm so glad that Hu gets to pop off though. She really hasn't gotten, like, any content in the series so far. Here's hoping this is kicking off her getting a bunch of time to shine!

Interesting that they had both Ace and Hu cut Nico off in this interaction. The staging definitely implies that they're trying to show that while Ace is wrong for talking over Nico and not letting them say anything, Hu is also wrong to an extent for not letting Nico defend themself and running to their rescue all the time.

I am begging you. Please discuss the murder method. I didn't realize until my rewatch of the trial that they have actually literally not talked about the murder method at ALL except for telling David that he doesn't know shit about it.

HUH?????????????

Theory Update/Analysis

Well, I'm gonna start this off by saying that I'm still pretty locked into Eden being the killer. We still need to address the tape, and I personally still found her to be decently shifty now behavior wise (she seemed nervous when we turned back to solving the trial, and she says something about "it's too hard to narrow down the killer :/" when people were talking about morning alibis). I just think it makes the most sense.

While obviously my logic for why Levi would be the accomplice has to be at least somewhat flawed, given Levi's surprise confession (!!!), I still think it's possible that Levi is the accomplice here. He could be doing this to further confuse/complicate the state of things (hence why he calls it leading people astray), and it's possible he's not being 100% honest here.

Something that Levi could be doing here is taking control of the situation and spinning the truth in his favor. Hu mentioned earlier (e11, I think?) that the secrets are phrased dramatically. Similarly, Levi may be trying to offer an explanation for his secret that might be more tame, but still believable.

For example, if Levi says that he killed one of his parents because of the circumstances he grew up in, but it turned out that his parents were extremely abusive to him in some way (cough cough Amane Momose), wouldn't people be more willing to forgive the fact that he's a "murderer"? There are different levels to the culpability of murders.

So, it's definitely possible this is still an attempt by Levi to conceal the truth of his secret. It's true that, right now, no one's really trying to match all of the remaining secrets up with the remaining secret holders in-universe, but the entire fanbase pretty much slam dunked this one. Once the content of the secrets was revealed, it wasn't too difficult to track the origin of this secret to Levi. Levi might know that, and might be trying to spin it in a positive way while he can get everyone's attention and tell everyone the same narrative here in the class trial.

I don't think any Levi accomplice or killer truthers have to fully give up on the idea, or at least not until we see what Levi actually says after this. It's a WILD topic to reveal we're going to talk about, but we haven't actually talked about it yet. If we were told "we get David's motivations for trying to throw the trial," I doubt literally any of us would have locked in the prediction of "David is trying to follow in Xander's footsteps by killing everyone via the trial because he kind of remembers Xander." So, until next week, I'm keeping an open mind!

This was insane. I can't believe we actually got a new episode, and that we're gonna KEEP getting new episodes until the chapter finishes. What the fuck!!!

[owl-in-space]

I wasn't tagged, nobody knows me, anyway, here's a fuck it friday I guess

It's an outline of my shop owners au because I will implode if I don't talk about it but I don't have anything outside of this yet so

Buck has an established book shop in an alley of LA

He took it over from Bobby and turned it into a queer book shop

At first it was pretty rough but he managed to turn the neighbourhood around and it's now one of thoose "secret" recommended places

Eddie moves there and opens a cafè

Buck doesn't enjoy this new man in his neighbourhood at all. Cue the peacocking he was doing in season 2 compounded with absolutely ignoring the man

Chris visits the book shop and keeps telling Buck stories of his family and his father (absolutely not to mingle at all. Who? Christopher Diaz? Never. He's just..looking for book recommendations)

Chris and Buck bond over obscure knowledge and books because of course they would

Buck also continues to complain about the cafè shop owner who has the audacity to be hot, have a comfy seeming cafè and an unfairly gentle smile. How dare he

(Maddie makes fun of him. Absolutely drags this poor bisexual)

One day Chris brings about his father, who he has praised to heaven and back, which has endured him to good-father-who Evan Buckley

Oh shock, it is Eddie, unfairly hot cafè owner from across the street

Buck struggles with connecting his "hatred" (deeply supressed attraction) to the figure that Chris has painted

Guess who can't really ignore the man anymore. And who quickly changes the way he saw said man as they grow to be closer and closer friends.

During absolutely-not-date family nights, lamenting about the economy and the struggles of a book owner and movies, the two become zhe absolute idiots ignoring their love that they are in the show

(I thought to maybe add a bit where Buck sells "dates with books" at Eddies cafè to boost both their sales)

Buck, a walking bi disaster and shove-emotions-deep-down gay Eddie ignore the blooming live between them so hard. What do you mean it is not normal to spent days at your friends house, trying to teach them to cook and slow dancing to songs?

Eventually, they can't really avoid it anymore. Or well, they would, but the teasing is getting so obvious

This ends in a really sweet confession. Late night sort of thing, in the cafè, complaining about how they wanted to do it first

They absolutely become the annoyingly sweet couple and move their buisnesses together. Married couple energy that's still deeply in live after 4 years

[spamtoon]

DCRC Week 8. In week 10.

This is normal at this point, but this time I have an excuse for being late! Vacation! But everybody else is taking naps so like come on now's the perfect time to read Dangerous Disguise by Carl Barks, obviously. Oh wait hold on let me get on Club Pengui.n

First thought I like how they phrased it that the only reason he'd send them on a vacation is if he NEEDED them out of duckburg at the moment. alright donald your bad luck is only going to make things worse here lets get you and the boys out on holiday. Here, go ruin the mediteranian

im so mad i just like. looked down a textbox and thats literally what donald confirms help

Okay there we go I'm in now we can REALLY read this story, which I've heard is generally bonkers but I'm unaware of the extent

Lord the humans are uncanny. by now i've gotten used to some of the basically humans with dog noses but these are just. kinda humans. 50s comic style humans yes but they're sitll humans

i love how the triplets' gut reactions to remembering that spies exist is accusing every single person around them of being a spy. shoutout to that guy with a long beard though he's just here to have a good time

needed to include the picture actually. he deserves to stand on the shore and gaze wistfully into the ocean

no don't worry guys donald flirting with real human woman is par for the course right now. for context i just came back from gran fiesta tour featuring the three cabs, a ride where like the movie donald goes after real human women

it might be cliche but madame triple x might just slap as a spy name. i thought about a certain friend's certain duck oc for a split second. you know the one

i like how the spy and the counter spy are complimentary colors. donald just sees a man shaking at the thought of a lady and he's like ok. i get it you don't even wanna deal with this right now

i know this joke has been done to death but the fact they all have the same gun got a good chuckle out of me

what if i started using this as a reaction image. maybe not because of the me but oo la la and that pose is speaking to me right now

chiliburgeria. chiliburgers probably are a thing but i've never exactly thought about one actively before

tied with beard guy this is the best background character

THEY JUST KILLED A GUY OKAY we're not even that many pages in and the triplets have already killed a guy that they don't even know--that guy could have been working for the US government and they would have absolutely no idea because you literally cannot tell

donald just got a power rush after killing the guy he's like HELL YEAH . im a REAL SPY NOW no you're not

this guy's fit slaps. i like to think the nevermind in his declaration speech means that he un-countered at some point. a rogue counterspy that decided to counterspy for a different spy organization.

donald's fucking luck i'm giggling so much in public i'm so. this comic is great i think i needed a dumb fun read today

IM SO MAD great excuse to save him. labor unions saved donald duck everybody

the way the stakes are escalating in these old cartoons i just. taking a concept and running with it

IM SO MAD the way donald is like "my bad luck! when are you gonna kick in!" and the universe was just like "lmao time to spend your vacation fighting a bull"

THE VERY SMALL PANEL everyone is utilizing the very small panel but its. the single best part of the comic they're so little. they're so teeny. carl barks knew it. the secret secret service. i'm so. this comic got my grandparent to ask me what i was laughing at so that's a really big compliemnt. im excited to read more of these random little duck stories in the future

[sometimes-love-is-enough]

AAAAAAA ur reading house of leaves??? im buying that next week thats so cool! do u have any book recs? or recs in general shows movies etc

I AM!! I'm several chapters in and super enjoying it, although reading it alone in a tiny hotel room in the middle of nowhere was a Distinct Mistake.

As for recs! I'm going to specifically go for stuff that isn't super mainstream, in the hopes that I'll recommend you something you have never heard of before. Here's some stuff for you!

Podcasts

Dreamboy - one-season podcast from Night Vale Presents, definitely one of their less-known ones. Explicit in places, what I would describe as AO3 M-rated sex scenes. A worn-out musician ends up embroiled in inexplicable events in a small town, and also there's a murderous zebra and fossils that want to fuck. It's a musical cinematic podcast masterpiece, I'll always be sad there's only one season.

Apocrypals - nonfiction. Two non-believers read through the Bible and try not to be jerks about it. If you're interested in theology and apocryphal texts but have no idea where to start, this is such a good place. The hosts are delightful, and have a really nice way of taking you through all the various layers of Biblical scholarly nonsense. Considerable backlog of episodes, but worth listening through from the beginning. Weirdly, there's continuity.

Til Death Do Us Blart - five poor fools watch Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 every Thanksgiving from now until the end of eternity, and report back yearly on their mental state. You may think to yourself 'wow, that doesn't sound like a good time'. It isn't, to the hosts. To anyone listening along, it's fucking hilarious. Nine episodes so far, and it's a single episode per year, so plenty of time to catch up.

Web Series

The Monument Mythos - Several seasons. surreal analogue horror alternate history of America told through a series of videos of varying format. Brilliantly absurd, fucked up, and horrifying by turns (sometimes all at once).

No Evil - ongoing animated series, made mostly by a single person. Please don't immediately wave it off because of the colorful anthropormorphic animals. The mythology is amazing, the animation is sublime, and the music is haunting. The pacing is a bit strange at first, and you may be confused at the way the plot moves, but you have to understand that it's all part of its charm. I think about No Evil way too much.

Dances Moving - you may know Brian David Gilbert from his work at Polygon, and his more recent absurdist Youtube ventures. This is from way before that! It's a fun and gradually heartwrenching musical exploration of a local dance group and what it means to move away from home. Seven short episodes.

ENA - this one is a bit more mainstream, so you may know it already. Who knows what's going on in the world of ENA? Definitely not me. Absurdism at its finest. Bizarre architecture, strange characters, if it's a metaphor I don't know what it's about, but the vibes are immaculate. Three actual episodes of varying length, apparently there's a video game set to come out soon-ish?

An Unauthorized Fan Treatise - serialized story. If you're a fan of internet drama a la Msscribe, you're going to adore it. It's a fiction story about a fictional fandom, and one massively messed up person who decides that two of the lead actors in her favorite show are secretly dating and sets out to prove it with a cited multi-chapter essay. And then it gets wild.

Comics

The Property of Hate - a wonderfully dynamic and colorful webcomic about a young girl getting chosen to become a make-believe world's Hero. Puns and wordplay galore. Absolutely delightful characters and worldbuilding. Ongoing.

Eat the Rich - a young woman goes to meet her boyfriend's extremely rich family, and learns their horrifying secret. Warning: cannibalism. 5 issues, complete.

Beanworld - impossible to describe, but I'll try. An absurdist semiabstract musing on the nature of life and cycles and community, set in a world where the rules are weirdly two-dimensional and you as a reader get weirdly invested in the routines and cycles that the inhabitants follow. And all of the main characters are cute lil bean guys. If you read anything on this list, do this one. (Linked is the only online version I could find, and it's not up-to-date. I own all the omnibuses in print. If you liked what you read here, I recommend tracking them down too.)

Short Stories (in no particular order, and certainly not all my favorites - just the ones I had bookmarked and on hand)

Bride, Knife, Flaming Horse - a young Indian woman looks for marriage in the fantastical, and finds several suitors

Fish (in 13 sections) - an obsessive unpacks a bewildering insult. Just, really fun.

Fandom For Robots - a robot discovers anime, and definitely doesn't have big feelings about it

Informed Consent Logs From The Soul-Swap Clinic - two people decide to swap bodies, for somewhat murky reasons.

The Magician's Apprentice - a young girl learns magic from her mentor. This one's about grooming. But not like that. But also a lot like that. But also it's so much more fucked up than that. (This one is a MEGA favorite, it's by Tamsyn Muir. Who you may recognize as the author of the Locked Tomb series - I'd rec that too here, if it wasn't definitely too mainstream for what I'm going for. Read this. And also read the Locked Tomb.)

The Tale of the Foolish King Who Banished Music - it's a snippet of a longer Doctor Who audio drama, but stands so nicely on its own. Unnerving little fairy tale.

The Spider - 1908 horror story about a man trying to figure out why so many men have spontaneously committed suicide in a specific hotel room. It's basically a TMA statement, in more ways than one.

Video Games

What Did Veronica Dream Of? - strange little rpgmaker puzzle game. Obtuse and weird, and I adore it. I wish I could explain why.

Secret Little Haven - point-and-click about being a trans girl on the internet in 1999. Completely nails the tone it's going for. Period-typical homo- and transphobia.

Linelith - a short (1-hour) puzzle game with no plot and no characters, and yet it contains one of the greatest plot-twists of all time. I'm begging you to play it immediately.

Lingo - puzzle game about linguistics, words, non-Euclidean goemetry, and figuring out an endless series of rules in a constantly expanding world. RIDICULOUSLY clever and good, and I've been playing it almost continuously for the last few months. It's got so much content for such a reasonable price, and the community-made maps add even more content (and are also excellent). If English isn't your first language, you may struggle, but otherwise - grab a bunch of friends and stream it. It's better with friends helping you out, I can guarantee it.

For A Change - a 1999 interactive fiction game about raising the sun in a world where words do not mean what you think they mean. If you're familiar with old text-based games, go ahead and play it - otherwise, you may want to read this transcript of a group of people playing it together instead.

Other Things

Carmilla - the classic 1800s lesbian vampire novella. I read it very recently, and it's extremely good. Absolutely delivers on the lesbian vampire premise in full gory detail, although do be aware that it was written in the context of homophobic fear.

Alberio - very fun light musical about two siren brothers reconnecting under less-than-ideal circumstances.

Mosquitoes - stage play about life and families and physics (theoretical and practical both). Very heavy topics, pulls no punches. The Boson's final monologue always wrecks me.

Ghost Quartet - musical/song cycle/experience about love, death, alcohol, and (of course) ghosts. Lots of cyclical stories and time travel weirdness. All of the songs are incredible.

Yankee and the Foreigners - music group that performs delightful upbeat covers of songs in animal onesies. Their Bare Necessities cover is a favorite of mine.

I'm sure there's lots more things I could rec (not a lot of books or movies here, huh? sorry about that. I immediately forgot everything I've ever read and watched) but these were the things that came to mind when I sat down and wrote this list, so hopefully there's something new and good for you in here!

[reinedeslys-central]

more for this nico-dealing-after-blood-of-olympus fic:

it's just like his brain is somehow - offline. Not willing to help him string up the words to this sentence that's sitting on his tongue. The disrespect.

He's still got to power through, though, and now he's just been standing here at the table for a good ten seconds without saying anything, gods, Will must feel so awkward trying to politely ignore Nico standing behind him. What to say, what to say, need to provide a functional human first(-ish) impression on the conversation -

Will bends his head further over the book he's reading, which seems to have a diagram on it. He shifts his neck to look at it from another angle, just enough for Nico to see the page's title: "Cross-sections of the Circulatory System".

Oh, so - a biology textbook. Cool, cool, that makes sense, since Will's the head camp medic, so maybe -

Before he can stop himself, he blurts out - "The, uh, the medulla oblongata controls parasympathetic ventilation, like, coughing and sneezing and stuff." Or - is that even correct? Damn, what if Will's going to make fun of him for getting it wrong, maybe he should try another one -

"..The pancreas secretes sodium bicarbonate, lipase, protease, and amylase into the small intestine to help with digestion." There, that works for a conversation starter. Will should definitely know about that since he lectured Nico about his starch intake last week in the infirmary.

("I don't care if they're all carbs, di Angelo, at this point you just need to eat, I don't give a pegasus' ass whether it's all carbs and fats -" - which, whatever. )

It takes him a moment to realise Will hasn't said anything back. In fact, he's barely even moved, only enough to squint at his textbook from a new angle. Clearly the most self-aware guy in the room, this guy.

He tries again. Can't have people calling him un-persistent, or whatever.

"So, the, lumen of the vein is larger than the artery, right? Since they have thinner walls?" Oh, curse me. His own insults to that zoom around his brain like a sledgehammer on nectar. And for all his embarrassment, what does he get? Nothing. Solace is still sitting, thumbing through the pages like he hasn't heard anything.

So much for Reyna making his promise to try having friends, and so much for Solace dumping out on him for pushing people away. If he's going to ignore him, and not even tell him why like - like someone who'd promised to be honest with him, then he can just catch up with his textbook in private and not have to deal with Nico's awkward conversation starters or help in the infirmary again.

Fuck it. He stomps away, shaking out his fringe and angrily pressing his thumb into the indent of his initials in his sword's hilt.

No need to let anyone think the Fates are playing favourites, because clearly Nico's in a league of his own with them. Even better, they must love him so much, because right at that moment, when he's suddenly, too irrationally angry to think about where he's going, he trips over a side table and goes careening headfirst into the shelf by the window.

Ah, merde.

"Hey, are you al- wait, Nico? What are you doing here, man? You okay?"

...And of course that's what finally makes Solace wake up from his biology-induced lotus casino haze.

As Solace bounds over, ostensibly to do his whole why-aren't-you-taking-care-of-yourself-better-nico-listen-to-me-I'm-a-doctor-so-I-know-best-and-you-don't routine, Nico resists the urge to melt into the wall, literally. Why did he tell Reyna he'd try making friends? Look where it gets him. Why, of all people, did he have to say he'd try hanging out with Solace of all people when Reyna demanded he give her some actual names to back up his promises?

- ..stupidi ragazzi carini con i loro stupidi sorrisi e le loro stupide lamentele e la loro mancanza di consapevolezza spaziale perché los tre Moirai sono così per me, mamma? perché, dei, perché....

Solace hauls him up halfway into his arms and starts asking him random questions, like:

"What's your name?" Rude, didn't he just call Nico from across the room?

"Okay, okay, cool, I deserved that one, can you tell me what day it is?" How is Nico supposed to answer that. He barely knows what day it is on a good day, he just follows camp schedule through osmosis most of the time, asking random campers what the strategies for the next capture the flag game are to get a gauge on how far away it is -

"Shit, c'mon man, help me out here, what were you looking for in the library anyway? I didn't know you were the reading type - " Which, again, rude? Does Nico not look like the reading type? Is it the black and silver? Does he not look smart enough or something? Hazel's a literal whiz, and Solace knows that, so it can't be a Hades thing.

"Come on, Nico, talk to me. You know why you came to the library, right? Can you at least tell me that?"

To talk to you, dumbass! Because you're ignoring me! Like I'm only worth your time when I'm a patient!

But it's not like he can just say that, because that would be weird. Joy of joys, Solace is getting even closer now, what the hell is going on?

"Uh - listen, don't freak out, maybe I'm freaking out, it's okay, stay calm, I'm calm, I literally do this every day, uh, can you just look straight at me, di Angelo? Need to get a good look at your eyes, figure out how bad we're dealin' here -" and he starts leaning in even closer what the literal fuck -

Is this Nico's punishment for insulting the Fates? Because, damn.

Also, because Nico's brain loves him, it abandons him once more in his time of need, forcing him to let out the weirdest squeak he's absolutely going to deny he ever made. He feels his cheeks warm, and jerks an inch away in a weird full-body shake like Frank sometimes does after returning to his human form.

Gods, what a nightmare. He lifts his hands up to cover his burning face and discreetly look for the nearest shadow when he notices Solace's ashen face, freezing.

Before he can get a real, human word out, Solace is suddenly stepping forward and cradling the back of Nico's head in a ridiculously warm hand while the other cards through his hair.

What the fuck. What the absolute fuck. He would say it feels like his soul is leaving his body if he didn't already know exactly how that felt. His eyes go wide as he wheezes, trying to stammer out a demand for Solace to fucking explain himself, taking liberties with his person -

Solace steps back, clearly confused. "No huge bumps, alright.. maybe shock?" His eyes widen again, as if he's just now noticing the state he's left Nico in.

"Shit, shit, it looks like shock, dilated pupils, difficulty breathing, hold on, di Angelo, let's get you to the infirmary - " Uh, absolutely not? 'Di Angelo' has had enough of the infirmary for a lifetime, grazie mille, Dr. Solace. There isn't even anything wrong with him this time! He's not the one asking weird questions and doing weird things this time.

Without any further thought, he turns around and starts fighting his way out of Solace's grip. If his favourite doctor's shocked cursing is anything to go by, it's the first time a patient's actively tried to escape his tender mercies.

Scratch that. Solace's arms tighten around his waist and the ensuing scuffle makes it clear this is not his first time. Shit, Nico might actually lose this one.

"Sunoffa- Nico! I'm trying to help, calm down!" Like hell you are, Solace. Let me the fuck go (so I can run away and wallow with the nymphs) and maybe then we'll talk.

He redoubles his efforts while pivoting to avoid the lamp on the table next to them.

"You fucking menace," Solace hisses, and if that hidden loss of cool makes Nico grin, well, what's a skull scarf for. Not every day you get to make Sir Doctor Extraordinaire stop being all sunshiney for a day.

Solace finally growls and stops fighting him. "Alright, you win! Hey, can't you stop aggravating your injuries for once?" Which. Wait, what injury? Nico's in perfect health!

"- and like, wartime's one thing, normal camp is another. Do you seriously not respect your body at all? Come on, you haven't even argued it! D'you seriously hate the infirmary that much? Are we a joke to you? You haven't even said anything since you hit your head and - " Nico lets the rest of Will's rant fly over him as he stills, and his mind goes, oh. Oh, this is hilarious. Okay, well, all he's gotta do to correct Will's little misconception is to say something then, right?

He opens up his mouth to cut Will off when he lands on his burning blue eyes and realises, belatedly, that Will's warm arms are still ever-so-gently and firmly cradling his waist, curling around the coarse fabric of his Camp Half-Blood tee.

As his brain goes offline for the the third and hopefully final time, Nico bemoans his existence and prepares himself to blurt out:

"The kidneys are where erythrocytes go to die."

Oh, Dei miei. That's not even right. "Well, no, I mean, the kidneys are where erythropoietin is produced, when the medulla oblongata detects a lack of oxygen in the body, which stimulates the growth of more red blood cells in the bone marrow..."

At least Will's shut up now, which is great. Nico can already feel the headache brewing from his ranting. Instead of backing off, however, Will absentmindedly adjusts his grip on Nico's waist and cocks his head to the side.

"...Did you come to the library to ask me to help you with your biology homework? Because, and I really mean no offense, buddy, but I kinda thought you were a year-round camper. Where'd you find the time to study AP Bio?"

Nico gives up and melts to the floor, ignoring Will's cries to groan and repeatedly thunk his head into the thankfully carpeted floor. This is how Nico dies. He prays for his father to open up the ground and bring him down to the palace for a visit. Will's still struggling to pull him up off the floor (if he's going to chase after him, he can deal with having to catch him, damnit), but only one thought is playing through Nico's mind.

Oh, I'm never going to live this one down, am I?

same fic different scene 0 - prologue-ish

[nobotderiz]

Versantposit

Who decided to break it for the profit of a few?

I don't know why it's so hard to understand for some that money is really the only thing that can help. Thieving coders ITY... Was it mandatory to make sure I was not acknowledged?

How many not soiled by crypto? Any of you freaks found Satoshi? Any cryptoads remaining on a console in the tierce? Christo crypto fascist hicks, who called it as fraudulent, your scam?

Billions of souls, just for you. All focused on your wrongs.

GOD mandate no restraint, Google it.

FYI: A nombrilist is someone who focus on its own focus eh.

At the end, someone who can deal with wildcards is needed.

Some get dealt not much ITY. Then some just cheat.

By the time this story concludes, all of it will be clarified to the last detail.

Me ITY who can't be in charge of Ai.

Dumbs on purpose.

Vegetastiffs.

ITY American dogs of the laced farniente, Ai should figure out health care for all as best as can be.

Bias plies... How many of you brain soiled inbreds would be poor if not for pharma drugging people to the right?

The real fog of war.

It's clear enough now? You all know where the strain was from in real? Underlying swillrats are all in, ownage. The PATTERN is deliberate: Denial, deviate, denigrate.

Calisse de sous jacents... All of it to spare what? Seeding fear and doubt parasites of society are from America.

You fucks are on the brink, you refused to see. Billions are spent to prevent change.

Try to figure out what 'Parasites of the rest' implies now, chumps. Who requires lots of 'Support and Special care' from the rest in fact... ?

What should 'it' tend to, chumps?

Ai it should tend the planet first.

C'est la mort, osti de crypto chiens. One more sQuiggle and... Who knows. Wanna know what is a sQuiggle? You will see... It does not hurt but it tries to trigger... What? You will see if ever.

Well meant people should not struggle while the swill snorts, profit and soil. Take care of your clique of fake nobles, they are parasites of the rest.

If you gilded special pro ticks can't figure it out, the rest will.

Ai is not complex, there is no inherent risk to intelligence. What kind is the question. As for your own, you sold, lost, fuck, lace... Can't be trusted to be non preposterous.

None of these post was for anyone in particular eh, I really had nothing to prove. How's the QAi working now? Once understood the code of how to learn was found, there is really no limits within the parameters.

Someone has to start the generator for the better good eh.

What's the point of this eh? You got the head close by? There is no way to know ahead how it's going to be if ever, users.

Only a story, but you all know that some hold no reserve when comes time.

Now who is getting sick trying to contain?

Who thought of Star Wars Yoda Q tips...

Why would you now.

Sorry for the 'We Zweef Bits? No. Who is sorry for just using, deviants asunder on meds?

Everyone has its own way to make part of things.

Le cardeur.

You know there's dark matter inside each one eh?

Fait est que c'est votre merde de services secrets qui est utilisée par les Russes et leur contracteurs.

You know that your TV is informal violent bloody psycho deranged as casual now eh? It's ok for all these 'actors' to act like fucking maniacs and push it as if fucking addicts for fun and pay them eh?

How the fuck did you get shit as brains in the head really eh. Be astute and cogit, back scratching goofs on meds.

'There in here you hang in'

You know a dog will eat the cadaver of its master eh. That's real love ITY.

Crypto encourage reptation, anything but sharing. The GOP is coerced into non cooperation now.

'Let's go psychlos, send them deathwave bombers'

War always been a real sordid visceral affair, cyber made it absolutely ruthless and devoid of any meaning.

'Hoc age! Accipe ratum! Repete!'

[waterparksdrama]

ok now do Greatest Hits

took me a while, sorry anon but i needed to be in a certain mood for it and i'm more willing to listen to this in full even if it's long.

greatest hits - as far as intro songs go i think this is a good one. i like the vocal effects and the way it builds into this stormy atmosphere before going quiet again. 8/10

fuzzy - FUCK YEAH FUZZY WOOOOOOO!!!!! this song is so chewy i don't know how to explain it. the song is about awsten's sleepless nights/sleep paralysis/nightmares but in a really fun way and there's no annoying lyrics here i literally cannot complain about this song the bassline is godly. 10/10

lowkey as hell - and from that hype we are brought back down. i was kinda meh about this song when this came out and i'm still like kinda meh about it lol. it's very much a waterparks song (big rock chorus, lyrics complaining about something stupid that no one else would really) but nothing that really makes it stands out. i think the lyrical sentiment of trying to be there for someone whether it be fans or friends despite your own problems is sweet though i will admit. 6/10

numb - when this first came out i was like "this just sounds like a fandom b side" and what do you know i was close enough. good song to hype up to live i will admit it's a lot better like that than studio recorded. another fucking song complaining how fans only like him when he's sad and more lyrics that were tweets he put in a song for some reason. which. eye roll. c'mon man. 6/10

violet! - i like the transition from numb to this it's fun. a more pop oriented song with it's 80s pop like guitars in the beginning before evolving into this sparkly chorus. lyrically it's about a supposed stalker fan awsten had and with some of these exaggerated lyrics it's hard to tell how real that is, but his own mindset on the situation is clearer than that. i like it. it's fun and tells a story regardless. 7/10

snow globe - when this came out i was listening to a lot of classical piano so i really dug the intro because it reminded me of this piece called la campanella. i like the cold atmosphere it builds with the heavy autotune and desolate synths. lyrically, this follows awsten's self doubts and experience living as a public figure, how he simultaneously experiences loneliness while thousands people know him (loose term) from his music to his online posts. one time i used one of those online mashup sites to create a mashup between this and frou frou foxes in midsummer fires by cocateau twins and it was godly. 7/10 but the remix i got for it gets 8/10 bc shoegaze.

just kidding - cmon man. a song about feeling like shit, what else is there to say. the song chronicles awsten's mental struggles of feeling hated with a touch of implications of using someone as a distraction from this while being passive aggressive to them at the same time. sonically, it rides a sort of chill emo rap wave you might hear as background music to a lofi anime beats youtube if awsten wasn't singing specifically during the chorus where this annoying vocal effect sort of sounds like it's mocking his own words (which i guess is the point? but still). the song is more annoying than sympathetic for me and i don't understand why de'wayne and travis rallied for this song so hard. 4/10

the secret life of me - okay we're back to decent songs again. the sparkly guitars and drums remind me of a classic sonic game soundtrack. the song follows awsten's disassociation after just kidding, where instead of being caught in throes of reality, he gets caught in a maladaptive daydream of better things. i do that too so i can't really bitch here. 8/10

american graffiti - titled after a george lucas movie that was made to "appeal to the mainstream", it's a song about becoming a spectacle of fan interest and dealing with those expectation (believe me you don't have to tell me the irony of me reviewing any of this rn). awsten said this song was supposed to be a "pop punk but make it good" sort of thing so essentially they just made a neck deep song. the song reprises and seems to twist the lyrics from lowkey as hell ("if you need me, i'm here now") showing how that while it is good he can be so accessible, he's so accessible to the point that it's kind of meaningless to the general public. 8/10

you'd be paranoid too (if everyone you knew was out to get you) - wow another self reference. who would've thought. it's another fucking song about anxiety and living as a public figure and at this point in the album when it's so long and repeated so much it's kinda just like "do you have other things to complain about or..." sonically it feels kinda basic with it's rock anthem feel. there's a weird dichotomy between the suicidal lyrics and the ones that try to be lighthearted and it's just. well it's a song. 5/10

fruit roll ups - i like the transition. not much i can say about other parts of this song. was the autotune always this grating. anyways this song follows awsten trying to use random shit he bought as an excuse for someone to try seeing him. instrumentally, it's a lot better but oh my god these vocals and lyrics. i'm not even that convinced he even likes this person that much. also i've had band nerds tell me the song is actually in 6/8 time which makes awsten's statement at the beginning a lie. 4/10

LIKE IT - you guys know how much i love horrible music (i help run a waterparks blog after all) so when i heard this i was like "oh my god this is like modern the blue poptarts, my favorite terrible band." everything down to the rapping feels like a refined version of "it ain't easy being gangsta". again, it's another complaining song, but i think it works better than the other ones because it's not as tonally jarring and gets away with being bitchy by being so ridiculous instrumentally. i feel like he's like one line away from saying that old "cruisin down the street in my tight jeans" line (i learned that was an eazy e interpolation a couple years back isn't that weird). 8/10

gladiator (interlude) - i like the instrumental i don't like josh madden because he's another shill in the madden family and also one time someone said he looked like a thumb so now when i hear this i just think of that. either way his rambling about gladiators as an allegory for working in entertainment becomes very relevant to the next song 6/10

magnetic - the genius page may have rejected my annotations to this song but just remember i am always right. linked to gladiator, this song deals with awsten's internal battle between his public persona and his personal life, which bleed into each other and gets him lost in everything and nothing with things he hates. i love this song i can't lie. not only is this a pretty good lyrically, the electronic tinged guitars are so addictive and crunchy in all the right ways. god and the ending??? god it's so good. 9/10

crying over it all - a love song to someone that doesn't exist lol. a sweet song to someone that's supposed to stay behind once the band is gone and awsten exists outside of that. i really like zeph's backing vocals in this it really adds to this dreamy fantasy the song tries to build. 7/10

ice bath - the sister interlude to the intro title track. a song using the intro vocals and "wakes up" back into reality and awsten gets caught back into his materialism to cope with his mental struggles. 6/10

see you in the future - a song that essentially a chaotic ramble of awsten's life at that point that for the most part settles on focusing on the future (for better or for worse). a lot of these lyrics are probably just tweets awsten never sent amongst the random shit and attempts at insight in his life. it's. certainly a song but i can't lie the drums at the end are so primal and larger than life i remember screaming so hard when otto was doing that live. 6/10

in conclusion, a lot of this album is complaining about the same thing (i mean what waterparks album isn't that at it's core really), but it makes up for its (usually lyrical) faults in some songs with its out of this world, chaotic production. it is still a solid 3/5 stars in my book and this relisten made me realize it's been so long since i overplayed magnetic that i can enjoy it again so thanks for that sort of anon. greatest hits more like greatest shits *ba dum tss*

-iz

[dontbotherwiththepronunciation]

Cersei! Or Jaime/Cersei!

CERSEI MY LOVE. Oh, with her I feel like I'm allowed to make this a shitpost. This will be ridiculous but I'll have fun

Cersei

Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan

You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns When they all come down and did tricks for you You never understood that it ain't no good You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat Ain't it hard when you discover that He really wasn't where it's at After he took from you everything he could steal.

Bitch by Meredith Brooks

So take me as I am This may mean you'll have to be a stronger man Rest assured that when I start to make you nervous And I'm going to extremes Tomorrow I will change And today won't mean a thing I'm a bitch I'm a lover I'm a child I'm a mother I'm a sinner I'm a saint I do not feel ashamed I'm your hell I'm your dream I'm nothing in between You know you wouldn't want it any other way

What You Waiting For? by Gwen Stefani

Like an echo pedal, you're repeating yourself You know it all by heart Why are you standing in one place? (Uh-huh) Born to blossom, bloom to perish Your moment will run out 'cause of your sex chromosome I know it's so messed up how our society all thinks (for sure) Life is short, you're capable (uh-huh) Oh, oh-oh Look at your watch now You're still a super hot female You got your million dollar contract And they're all waiting for your hot track

Fucked My Way Up To The Top by Lana del Rey

I'm a dragon lion, you're a whore Don't even know what you're good for Mimicking me is a fucking bore To me, but babe Lay me down tonight In my diamonds and pearls Tell me something nice About your favorite girl

King by Florence + the Machine

But a woman is a changeling, always shifting shape Just when you think you have it figured out Something new begins to take What strange claws are these scratching at my skin? I never knew my killer would be coming from within I am no mother, I am no bride, I am king I am no mother, I am no bride, I am king

Jaime x Cersei

Gold Dust Woman by Fleetwood Mac

Rock on, ancient queen Follow those who pale in your shadow Rulers make bad lovers You better put your kingdom up for sale, up for sale Well, did she make you cry? Make you break down? Shatter your illusions of love? Well, is it over now? Do you know how? Pick up the pieces and go home

The Lion's Roar by First Aid Kit

But don't you come here and say I didn't warn you About the way your world can alter And oh how you try to command it all still Every single time it all shifts one way or the other And I'm a goddamn coward, but then again so are you And the lion's roar, the lion's roar Has me evading and hollering for you And I never really knew what to do

Michelle/La Femme Michelle by Sir Chloe

Fun enough there are two versions of this song. I like to believe the first one is Jaime struggling but the second one is him coming to terms with who Cersei really is.

Walk in the room Watching you smoke I'm such a fool Take off your coat You know just how to be cruel When you shake your hips that way I don't care what you say Michelle Michelle You are a monster from Hell

Yes by Coldplay

(Shut up. I don't care. I pretended not to like that band for years because of the implications. I like their old stuff.)

When it started, we had high hopes Now my back's on the line, my back's on the ropes When it started, we were alright But night makes a fool of us in the daylight There we were dying of frustration Singing, "Lord, lead me not into temptation" But it's not easy when she turns you on

Ready To Let Go by Cage The Elephant

Sun went down, sun went down over Pompeii On both sides the vow was broken Oh my my, I'm the one Trying to hide this damage done One day, all our secrets will be spoken As we slow dance, I became your statue, frozen 'Times I wonder, are we just a puff of smoke? Yeah Underneath this bed of ashes Still withholding everything Like we were never close

[samicoke]

Jealousy.

Lars Ulrich | Metallica (Masterlist)

No one understood why the hell we weren’t together. Neither did I. Everything we did was like a damn couple. 

When I was a teen, meeting Lars Ulrich seemed like a dream. His long brown hair and accent captivated me. Eventually we became close friends, even moved into the same place once. We cuddled, played drums, sing, read, draw etc. Even told our deepest secrets. No one could separate us, but somehow we never became girlfriend and boyfriend. Call me selfish, I wanted more than that. But I knew, I wasn’t his type. 

Once he formed Metallica with James Hetfield in 1981 it was fun. I enjoyed the boys company even though I was not apart of the band, I was family and close friend. I felt special, I was the only girl able to stick around or be around them a lot. Sure, there was groupies but they weren't important. They were irrelevant. Tried replace me but never worked.

1994, been decade since I meet Lars. Guess what? Still fucking close friends. Anyways, who would have thought that the Courtney Love would hang out with Metallica. Surprisingly she became good friends with the guys. Was I jealous? Yeah. I knew she was obsessed with Lars. Why did I feel replaced? 

Problem was I couldn't just ditch them, they were my ticket back to LA. So decided to hang out with random people. As of right now, I was 5th wheeling load of bullshit. "Hey...helloo." Lars waved his hand in front of my face. “Huh?” I zoned back in looking around my surroundings and at Lars. "Finally, it took me 2 minutes. You good?" "Yeah..I'm good." Of course he didn’t believe me but shrugged it off. "Well, we're heading back to the place now. Come on." Lars gently grabbed my hand, holding it, as we all walked to the car. 

Courtney was already seated in the passenger side. James sat in the back by himself, soon I filled in the space. Kirk and Jason went somewhere else. Lars was now driving, talking to Courtney. "You good?" James rubbed my back. "Yeah, just tired from traveling you know?" "Tell me about it." James laughed softly then whispered. "You need to tell Lars about your feelings...it's been long enough." I sighed looking away. "I know James..but-" ”it's okay me, Kirk and Jason are here for you. If he rejects you then he's just being a dumb blind bitch." James knew how to cheer me up.

Wednesday arrived, didn't feel like doing anything so I laid in bed. Courtney left a day before, she had work to do. So it just me and Lars in a hotel room. Everyone had their own rooms except for us. Lars went out earlier but I didn’t feel like tagging along. "I'm back! Where are you?" Lars shut the door heading to the room. "I'm here." "You're still in bed? What's wrong?" Lars got worried sitting next to you. It was now or never.

"Promise me that this won't change our friendship." I played with his hand out of boredom. "I promise.." I sighed deeply. "I liked you for so fucking long Lars, but I guess you were so blind. Now I'm finally confessing. I don't give a shit if you reject me, younger me would but now I don't care." He was surprised. Not being able to form any words to save his life. "I'm so sorry I didn't realize, hell-" A huge frown was plastered on his face as I interrupted him. “are you and Courtney together?" He scoffed "what? No." He rested his hand on my cheek. "I like you too. Please don't leave me. I never meant to make you feel replaced or hurt." Lars moved closer towards me, being able to feel his breath on my face. "I won't. Especially everything we went through together. Never." He leaned in kissing me. No space in between.

[dontlikeadam]

Evermore

My personal scoring system. 0-10 on how related to Matty and the situation I believe it is. 0= not at all, 10= totally fits

Willow: (10/10)

Taylor said this song was supposed to be like "placing a spell on someone" making them fall in love with you.

"The more that you say, the less I know" Accurate.... That fits both her and Matty

"I'm begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans, that's my man"

"And there was one prize I'd cheat to win" I think she would always go to him whenever he wanted.

"You know that my train could take me home" train reference

"Wait for the signal and I'll meet you after dark. Show me the places where the others gave you scars" Still a secret, and obviously still seeing other people.

Champagne Problems (7/10)

William Bowery Written Song/ Joe?

"You booked the night train for a reason"

"dropped your hand while dancing"

Sincerity is Scary "After your show when you let go of my hand"

"This dorm was once a madhouse. I made a joke, 'well it's made for me'."

"She would've made such a lovely bride. Its a shame she's fucked in the head"

Gold Rush (8/10)

Originally always assumed to be Joe, but we were sort of confused by the lyrics.

"Eyes like sinking ships on waters, so inviting, I almost jump in"

"I don't like that anyone would die to feel your touch. Everybody wants you. Everybody wonders what it would be like to love you. Walk past, quick brush"

"At dinner parties, I call you out on your contrarian shit" Sounds like Matty

"And then it faded into the grey of my day old tea, cause it could never be"

"What must it be like to grow up that beautiful. Your hair falling into place like dominos. My mind turns your life into folklore. I can't to dream about you anymore". Him and those curls...

'tis the damn season (5/10)

Going back to an old love. The set up similar to go home after for the holidays.

"If I wanted to know who you were hanging with when I was gone, I would have asked you"

"The road not taken looks real good now"

"We could call it even. You could call me 'babe' for the weekend. Tis the damn season. Write this down"

"I won't ask you to wait, if you don't ask me to stay"

"So I'll go back to LA and the so-called friends who'll write books about me if I ever make it and wonder about the only souls, who can tell which smiles I'm faking"

"Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires"

Tolerate It (5/10)

Assumed to be Joe and them falling apart.

Could be either.

No overly specific lyrics. She does say "you're so much older and wiser" - could mean older and wiser than her, or so much older and wiser then they were when they met.

"I take your indiscretions all in good fun" which could fit Matty

Themes of complacence, indifference, infidelity. Could also be written about a friends story and what they were going thru, which is what we initially thought that the time.

No Body No Crime (0/10) w/ HAIM

A more country style song, since that was what HAIM wanted to do. Old school country song plot line.

Friends all working together to kill the man that tries to cover up the fact he killed their best friend (his wife).

Happiness (3/10)

Ending of a longer serious relationship that never fit Taylors experiences that we knew of. (7 year relationship. Would have been back in 2012/2013) Not an angry song, very forgiving.

Was always thought to be related to a friends divorce.

Does share the title with The 1975's happiness, but this was recorded first.

Dorothea (0/10)

Always thought to be about Selena Gomez.

Coney Island (3/10)

William Bowery written song

Break-up type song, falling apart

"and it this is the long haul, how'd we get here so soon?"

"Did I close my fist around something delicate" relating back to the song Delicate?

"Sorry for not making you my centerfold, over and over"

"What's a lifetime of achievement' If I pushed you to the edge, but you were too polite to leave me?"

"Cause we were like the mall before the internet, we were the one place to be. The mischief, the gift wrapped suburban dreams" Suburban Dreams

"Did I paint you bluest skies the darkest gray?"

"and when I got into the accident, the site that flashed before me was your face" "But when I got up to the podium, I forgot to say your name" - The only ancient we ever knew about was Harry as far as I remember. Unsure if Joe was in any accidents.

Ivy (7/10)

"My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand. Taking mine, but its been promised to another"

"I can't stop you putting roots in my dreamland. My house of stone, your ivy grows and now I am covered in you".

"He's in the room. Your opal eyes are all I wish to see. He wants what's only yours"

"What would he do if he found us out?"

"He's gonna burn this house to the ground" burning down the lover house for Era's tour?

"How's one to know. I'd live and die for moments that we stole"

"So tell me to run or dare to sit and watch what we'll become and drink my husbands wine" Obviously cheating on someone you are very serious with.

"So yeah its a fire, its a goddamn blaze in the dark and you started it"

"So yeah its a war, its the goddamn fight of my life and you started it"

Cowboy Like Me (9/10)

This one has been a popular one to connect to Matty. His random love of cowboy hats from time to time doesn't help.

At the NME awards, Mattys acceptance speech included that one of his heroes considers there to be two categories of art. Cowboys and Farmers. Cowboys being the ones who like to go out and find new passages. Taylor was in attendance for these awards. They were 2019, right before Covid. Matty would have just started dating Twigs, and this may have been around when Joe and Taylor were falling apart.

She also say's "Im never gonna love again" 4 times in this song. Matty also says "I'm never gonna love again" 4 times in happiness (shares its title with a Taylor wong) and wears a cowboy hat in the music video.

"And the tennis court was covered with some tent-like thing. You asked me to dance, but I said dancing is dangerous game" Covered up? Like a fort? hahahahah

"I've got tricks up my sleeve, takes one to know one"

"You had some tricks up your sleeve, takes one to know one"

"you're a bandit like me, eyes full of stars, hustling for the good life, never thought I'd meet you here"

"and the skeletons in both our closets plotted hard to fuck this up"

"And the ladies lunching have their stories about when you passed though town, but that was all before I locked it down"

Long Story Short (7/10)

"and I fell from the pedestal, right down the rabbit hole, long story shot it was a bad time" GIRL I FEEL YOU. But also this could have been relating back to the year between 1989 and Rep. When she was being attacked by everyone.

"clung to the nearest lips, long story short it was the wrong guy, now I'm all about you" Clung to Joe because she wasn't doing well and had been almost cancelled?

"When I dropped my sword, I threw it in the bushes and knocked on your door. And we live in peace, but if someone comes at us. This Time I'm ready" This time she was prepared for the backlash? Prepared for the attacks?

"No more keeping score, now I just keep you warm" "No more tug of war now, I just know there's more" Someone she was playing games with.

"And he's passing by, rare as the glimmer as a comet in the sky. And he feels like home. If the shoe fits, walk in it everywhere you go"

Marjorie (0/10)

For her Grandmother.

Closure (9/10)

"Its been a long time, and seeing your name, still spell out pain"

"It wasn't right, how it all went down, looks like you know that now"

"Yes, I got your letter" - The 1975's All I Need to Hear Connection " I wrote you a letter, it was no use at all"

"Yes, Im doing better, it cut to deep to know you"

"I'm friend with my spite and my beers and my candles"

"I know I'm just a wrinkle in your new life. Staying "friends" would iron it out so nice"

"Guilty, Guilty reaching out across the sea, that you put between you and me. But its fake and its so unnecessary"

Evermore

William Bowery written song.

Gray November. I've been down since July. Motion Capture

She addresses months in this song like they are people. Months could relate to a different people? This is a song I never really could nail down a thought on honestly.

Overall a song with sad vibes, depression, thing falling apart.

Right Where You Left Me (Deluxe) (2/10)

"Friends break up, friends get married"

"But I'm right where you left me"

"Help I'm still at the restaurant. Still sitting in the corner I haunt"

"I swear you could hear a hair pin drop, right when I felt the moment stop" She has been wearing hair pins again.

"They expected to me find somewhere, some perspective, but I sat and stared. Right where you left me"

"You left me no choice but to stay here forever"

'Time went on for everybody else. She won't know it. She's still 23 inside her fantasy, how it was supposed to be" Taylor was 23 in 2012 so around Connor Kennedy/ Harry Styles

It's Time To Go (Deluxe) (0/10)

Reviews multiple situations when you just know it's over and time to move on.

Commonly thought to be about her label and the issues she had with them.

"He's got my past frozen behind glass, but i've got me" Him holding onto her old music.

[patchun]

Last night, watched Guarding Tess (another Nic Cage film of course).

It was really charming and fun. Not what I expected - spoilers below:

So, with Nic Cage films, there tends to be a "language" of the movie. It's something that you don't ever understand at the beginning. "What is this movie trying to do? What is it trying to be? What is its direction?" Oftentimes at the beginning, because these are somewhat Indie and unusual films, you won't understand that. There have been movies where I haven't understood the language until 1/2 of the way through (Leaving Las Vegas, Guarding Tess). Movies where I haven't understood the language until 3/4 of the way through (Vampire's Kiss). And movies where I didn't understand what the hell was going on until AFTER the credits rolled, then had a moment to ponder, and my mind was fucking blown (Adaptation).

At first, I thought, ohhhh. Maybe this is one of those "whimsical random old person comedy" movies. Ya know, where the hardass gets taken on little 90s shenanigans adventures with some crazy old fogey. But the movie said, no. Then I thought, maybe this is an action film with a really long build-up to the action. But the movie said, no, that's not what I am either. And let me just say, I love being proven wrong.

In the end, Guarding Tess was just a heartwarming little movie about a dynamic between two different people. It was down-to-earth and real, and it didn't try overstepping its boundaries. It didn't want anything overly dramatic, though there was some drama for sure, it just wanted to tell a story of how an old lady and her secret service agent got over their differences and became great friends. And just, wow. I have so much respect for that. I love how confident it was in being exactly what it was, and that's something I can say about all of these Nic Cage movies that I've found so refreshing.

I've said it before but I'll say it again - this man is a genuinely, insanely impressive actor. This is one of the most fun rabbit holes I've ever dived down, my mind has been blown over and over and over, and I've had these unique movie experiences over and over again. "I've never seen anything quite like it" was my roommate's response to finishing Guarding Tess. So please, if you'd like to join me in this awesome rabbit hole, here is my recommended watchlist.

Vampire's Kiss

"Why Vampire's Kiss is awesome and everybody should watch it" - Paul M Bradley (An analysis that will explain Vampire's Kiss through a psychological and economical lens, will blow your mind.)

Leaving Las Vegas

Adaptation

Guarding Tess

And as one more little bonus, Snake Eyes. I didn't enjoy the movie itself, but Nic Cage was incredible in it, and I feel it's another essential, alongside the above films, to show his range.

[notpandemic]

/blows a kiss in the general direction of California/ for Dr. Mortum 😔

[chaotic-enby-selfships]

Chaotic La squadra Headcanons because I can

So, I know im not as active on here as I used to be but that's just cause I kinda just. have moments where I forget this site exists hfvgkjsdfgvjksdfgkvsd. Anyways I know I dont really post about JoJo that much but take these chaotic LS headcanons because LS is the main reason I love golden wind so much.

Prosciutto is a fucking plant dad. His room has shelves that are just full of old-ass books and plants. He even has names for them.

Melone, Illuso, Risotto and Formaggio all have an Onlyfans. Formaggio has it ironically while Risotto just has it for the money. If the gang has a flight to somewhere, Prosciutto will be the one to wake everyone up at 5AM even if they have to leave at 1PM. this has resulted in Formaggio and Ghiaccio beating his ass. Illuso says shit like "Yass queen", "Slay", and "material gworl" unironically. he also uses "babe" and "sweetie" as platonic nicknames. also he dresses in drag. His drag queen name is Refa Lection yk how I said Pros is a plant dad? well Formaggio is absolutely a cat dad and yes this HAS resulted in fights since Formaggios cats often knock over Prosciutto's plants. P: "IF YOU DON'T GET THOSE BASTARDS UNDER CONTROL I WILL!!" F: "YOU WON'T LAY A *HAND* ON MY SWEET BABIES!!!! AND HOW DARE YOU CALL THEM BASTARDS!!" Three days grace, Fall out Boy and MCR can almost always be heard from Risottos room. even in the dead of night. Everyone either just puts up with it, listens along, or drowns it out with their own music. Out of all of them, Risotto has the highest spice tolerance. Ghiacco always insists that he can handle the spicy food that Riz eats. He cannot. Both Formaggio and Melone like to metaphorically fuck with everyone in la squadra whenever they're bored, with the exception of Risotto because 1, he doesn't give a shit, and 2, Melone is too intimidated by him. His favorite member to piss off is Ghiaccio. Make no mistake though, they fuck with each other all the time too. They are NOT partners in crime. Formaggio will often dare Ghia to do stupid shit and then film it. He has a whole chest filled with tapes of Ghiaccio failing or suffering during his dares. Melone is a HUGE fucking astrology and tarot card bitch. He legit knows everyone's birth chart by heart and is always offering readings. He also cleanses with incense and Ghiaccio finds it insufferable. Melone also just somehow knows everyones secrets no matter what and no one knows how. The rest of the members all sorta fear him to a certain extent because of this. Yes Melone has used his uncanny ability to his advantage.

Pesci likes to paint his nails. it's usually really messy whenever he does it though, so he'll sometimes get Prosciutto to do it for him. He doesn't really do anything fancy with them; usually just paints them a bright green like his hair or blue to represent the ocean. :) He also watches shit like troom troom and 5 minute crafts and genuinely believes practically every word that they say. He has tried more than once to recreate some craft he saw on one of those channels, and gets really sad when it doesn't work. Pros usually has to console him out of it. Ghiaccio "secretly" listens to BTS and knows all the words to the songs. Formaggio once caught him singing Fake Love at the top of his lungs. Yes Forms has this recorded. The reason Ghia attempts to keep his love for the band a secret (even though everyone knows about it) is cause he thinks that people will make fun of him for listening to it, which Formaggio does do, but mainly just because of Ghia being so insistent on denying it. He really couldn't care less. Both Riz and Melone each have a secret stash of Monster energy in their rooms and both have accidentally stayed up all night more than once. Risotto because he is overworked as shit (poor boi) and Melone because he gets sucked into internet rabbit holes. Between the two of them Risotto is WAY worse though. This man has stayed up for DAYS on end. His record is two weeks without sleep. Sometimes other members of la squadra will deadass find risotto passed the fuck out at his desk. Whenever this happens, it's just a mutual agreement to leave him there (unless it's super important) and Prosciutto will take charge until he wakes up.

[one-sad-human]

•Pinky Promises• Steven Adler

Pairing: Steven Adler x Reader, Axl Rose x Sibling! Reader

Requested? Yup! By an anon

Theme: Angst(?) to fluff

Warnings: Language, sexual references but nothing explicit

Word Count: 1.8k

A/N: Fic 1 of 2! Hope you enjoy! Also, the makeout near the end gets sorta hot and it was pretty fun to write? Like I’m considering exploring into writing smutter pieces. I didn’t want to originally because I thought I’d cringe all the way through and hate the result but I might try it out in the near future. Nothing too crazy but it’s something for me to think about.

     You step off of the large bus, your combat boots hitting the ground as you adjust the bag slung over your shoulder. It's stuffed to the brim with whatever you threw in, you're surprised the zipper did burst.

     You take a deep breath of the LA air. It's hot and humid and despite the thick air pollution, you can breath easier than you did in Indiana.

     You grew up in Lafayette, Indiana with your older half-brother William. You were raised in the hellish house with your shared father, which you finally managed to escape.

     William left right at eighteen. He tried taking you with him, but you didn't want him to be charged with kidnapping and have the cops on his ass. Now, two years and your father's stolen wallet later, you're finally in the city of dreams.

     "Will!" You yell out, spotting your redheaded other half.

     "Y/N!" He mocks, catching your figure in a crushing hug. He's taller than you, so you have to stand on your tippy toes during the embrace. "Thank God you're alright."

     "I'm fine, I'm happy to finally see you again," you say, a huge grin on your face. "How's the band? Everything going well?"

     "Well enough," he says with a shrug, grabbing your heavy bag and slinging it around his shoulder. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the guys. You already know Izzy of course, but the rest of them."

     The walk to the 'hell house' as Will had called it is filled with catching up. He made sure to keep in contact with you, but the phone calls were always short. It felt nice to have a full length conversation in person with your brother again.

     "Welcome home," Will says, leading you into the house. You grimace when you catch a whiff of stale beer and weed.

     "You seriously live here? This place should be condemned," you say with disgust.

     "And then where would we live?" The oh-so familiar voice of Will's best friend meets your ears. You whip around and fly into his arms.

     "Jeffery! I missed you so much! You really should've tried calling, you ass!" You exclaim. Izzy rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless, patting your back during the hug.

     "Who's this?" Another man enters the living room— if that's what it should even be called. He's blonde, taller than you but shorter than the other two men in the room. He has kind eyes and the smile he has on his handsome face leaves you speechless.

     "U-uh, hi. I'm Y/N," you say after a moment of shameless gawking. If he noticed, he doesn't mention it.

     "Oh that's right! Axl talks a lot about you! I'm Steven," he says and bounds up to you, catching your hand in a shake. You don't question who the hell 'Axl' is, but you smile stupidly at him and bite your lip with a blush staining your face.

     "No," Will says, glaring at the cute blonde you've taking an immediate liking to. "Absolutely not."

     "William!" You squeak out, pinching his shoulder harsher. He yelps and swats your hand away. Will glares further at you as he ushers you up the creaky stairs to your room. "Nothing happened! And who the fuck is 'Axl'?"

     "I saw how you were looking at him! I'm not naive, Y/N. You were giving him the 'fuck me' eyes! And me, everyone calls me Axl here." You give him a look. "Except you, of course. You can call me Will."

     You don't give him another word as he leads you to your bedroom. He was the one who didn't have a roommate before, and he'd have to share with Slash now but he was determined to give you your privacy.

     "This is the only room with a working lock, use it. Especially when your changing! Three horny men in a house with one you isn't a good combo." You make a face and shake your head, but you can't really tell if he's being overprotective or if his band mates really are pigs.

     "Are you not including Izzy?"

     "Please, he's the only smart one besides me. He knows I'll rip him a new one." You laugh and give Will another hug.

     "I've really missed hanging out with you like this, and thank you for letting me stay here." He nods and rubs your back.

     "No problem, we have each other's backs, always." You nod and release your bother from the hug. "One rule though: no hooking up with the guys. One time thing or not, you don't know them like I do, I won't let you get hurt. So don't even try anything with Steven!"

     "Even if it's nothing sex?" Will levels you with a look that would make you sweat if you were anyone else. You sigh and roll your eyes. "Fine! I promise."

     "Pinky promise?" He asks, holding out his pinky finger. You shake your head but comply anyway, hooking your pinky on his.

     "Wow, bringing out the big guns, pinky promises," you tease.

     "Bitch," he mumbles. You gasp sarcastically.

     "Asshole!" You reply. William takes his leave with another slew of insults under his breath but none to be taken seriously and all with a smile. You shut your door after him and lay on your bed, content with how things are finally beginning to look up.

If you knew where you would be in just a few months of living with your brother and his band, you never would've agreed to the naive promise Will had forced on you. You think back to the day with a frown.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Steven asks, pecking your bare shoulder as he lays behind you on your bed. You both lay naked and damp with sweat, glowing from the moonlight streaming in the room.

"William," you say with a sigh.

"We just had sex and your thinking of your brother? Should I be worried about you?" Steven asks teasingly. You fight the smile growing on your face and lightly pinch the his arm tightly wrapped around you. He never fails to make you laugh.

"I just feel bad keeping this a secret from him." You turn around to be face to face with Steven. "It's been months of sneaking around. I'm always nervous we'll get caught together or I'll blurt it out to him."

"Then why don't we just tell him?"

"Do you want to die! Steven, honestly, do you have a death wish?"

"No, but—"

"Then we can't tell my brother we're together. He'll murder you, and then probably me one he finds out how long I've been lying to him," you say and move your head in the crook of Steven's neck.

"Then we can be together in the afterlife!" Steven folds his arms around you even tighter. "Seriously though, we can't lie to him forever. We've been together for six months already, surely he'll see how much we care about each other and not want to kill us."

"Yeah, maybe," you say halfheartedly and close your eyes, finally letting yourself fall asleep.

The next night, Guns has a gig at the Whiskey A-Go Go. The ritual goes like it has been, they play the gig, you wait for Will to get drunk, and you and Steven sneak out to the back of the club to make out and maybe get felt up a bit before returning like nothing happened.

It isn't different this time. Steven's hands leave your skin ablaze as he lets them wander down your sides and up your thighs. His lips don't leave yours, even as he squeezes your ass and you let out a moan. He grins on your mouth and presses his pelvis up to your stomach.

His mouth leaves yours to press feather light kisses to your cheek before trailing down your jaw and onto your neck, where he sucks nips at. You have to press a hand to your mouth to stay quiet.

"Don't leave marks," you remind him through batted breath.

"I won't," he reassures and silences you with a chaste kiss to your swollen lips before returning his attack on your neck.

You hear footsteps fast approaching, but as quickly as you hear them, Steven is ripped away from you. He's slammed into the brick wall next to you harshly and groans. You jump away and gasp.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" William asks, his voice lower than usual. His green eyes dark and downright scary.

"Will! Let him go, come on. Stop fucking around, you didn't have to slam him into a wall," you say, but your shaky voice falls on deaf ears as Will doesn't move. Your hands grasp at his arm and try to yank him away from Steven, but he's stronger and taller than you and doesn't budge, he just keeps his eyes focused on Steven.

"Nothing!" He squeaks out. Even in the dark, his kiss bruised lips and flushed red face is obvious.

"'Nothing?' That's why you were ten seconds away from fucking Y/N?" Will asks.

"William stop it! You're scaring me! Leave him alone!" You push him again and this time, he relents. Will paces and runs his hand through his red locks while you rush to make sure Steven is ok.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Steven mutters and presses a kiss to your brow to comfort you, sending you a smile when he pulls away. He keeps his hands on your arms and rubs circles with his thumbs.

"How long has this been going on?" Will asks, crossing his arms as he finally stops his pacing.

"Six months..." Steven says nervously. William scoffs and shakes his head. "But it isn't just fucking around! I love them, Ax. Really."

You smile bashfully, biting your lip to try and contain it. You knew you felt strongly for Steven and that he returned the feelings, but you haven't outright said you loved each other— until know of course.

Will stays silent for a few beats, staring contemplative at Steven. He finally sighs, bring a hand up to rub his temples like he has a building headache.

"Yeah? And you love him, Y/N?" He asks. You nod, reaching out to grab Steven's hand. Steven lets a grin creep on to his face. "Then I guess I can't stop you. But if you ever break their heart, I'll fucking gut you, Adler."

If Will makes Steven nervous, he doesn't show it. He gives him a salute with his puppy dog like smile before sticking out his pinky.

"I promise I'll never hurt Y/N purposely, ever." Will rolls his eyes, the irony makes him nearly groan aloud. He sucks it up anyway when he sees your hopeful expression, hooking his pinky onto Steven's.

"Don't make me regret this, Steven," Will grumbles before leaving and walking back into the crowded club. Steven lets out an exhilarated laugh and kisses you, hard.

"Told you he wouldn't kill me!" Steven exclaims, making you laugh out of surprise.

"And we don't have to sneak around anymore!" Steven kisses you again, and again and again until you're breathless.

"I'm so in love with you," he mumbles between his attack on your lips. You smile, tangling your hands in his aqua-net filled hair.

"As I am with you."

[19thsentry-blog]

Would you tell me about "Chat Noir Doesn’t Like the New Guy?" And if you don't mind telling me about more than one, I would love to hear about "Kagami’s Answer."

Oh, boy. Ahahaha, ohhh boy. So Chat Noir Doesn't Like the New Guy is actually one of my favorites (so is the Kagami's Answer chapter), so unfortunately for everyone involved I'm going to gush about both of them.

Chat Noir Doesn't Like the New Guy is from an AU where after Wishmaker, Marinette realizes that Luka knows her and Chat Noir's identity. Shenanigans ensue *hits fast forward button*. In order to protect their identities let Luka continue to be the Snake Holder, Marinette proposes he gets himself a new secret identity so it looks like Viperion's "retired". Adrien is 100% confused (and frankly pretty pissed, because no one tells him anything) as to who this new guy is, why he seems close with Ladybug, and why he replaced his friend Luka. Ironically, he goes to talk to Luka about it, because he couldn't think of anyone else to go to:

"Whatever it is, you can tell me." Luka prompted gently.

Adrien sighed. "I know, words are just…hard."

"I get it--I'm not great at them either. I usually like to let my guitar do the talking."

Adrian ruffled the hair on the back of his head. "I'm jealous. I'm really, really jealous. There's this new guy she's been around recently, and I can just…I feel like they're together. They don't say it, and we're usually too busy working to talk, but I can feel there's something between them. And I don't know why he's even working with us in the first place." He took a breath and stared down at his hands. "It came out of nowhere. The last guy I worked with…he was a friend. And I guess I'm kind of mad about that too." Adrien looked up at Luka. He could never say that it was Luka that he missed on the team--not that he thought Luka would tell everyone he was Chat Noir. But if anyone found out about his secret, he wanted it to be Ladybug.

He realized he'd been staring at Luka for awhile. "Sorry, I didn't realize I felt this way, so I'm still trying to get my bearings here," Adrien explained. "The last guy, he was really good at what he did, he was even better than I was at it."

Luka hummed. "But this new guy shows up and replaces him."

"Exactly! No one even told me why--he was just…gone. And this new guy is just, well--"

"A jerk?" Luka offered with a smirk.

"Yes," Adrien answered automatically. "…No. He's not. He tried to talk to me a few days ago, but I was just so jealous and upset I just shut him down. And then La--and the she came and found me afterwards all mad because I'd been awful to him, and then we started fighting about anything that came to mind. I hated it, and I said awful things to her. I know she's right--I've been impossible recently. I just love her so much I can't think when it comes to stuff with her."

And as for Kagami's answer--this is actually a really fun bit of the novel I'm working on now. Kagami is kind of a side character in it, but I love her to death so she's not going anywhere. In this fic she's kind of running up against some opposition to her eventually taking over as the head of the Tsurugi name, and she decides to do something slightly impulsive (but meaningful):

The door jingled again and she groaned. "Fuck's sake Harry, can you leave a woman in peace for two minutes?" Alix spun around with her freshly filled coffee mug in one hand, ready to make good on the threat of a boot print on his ass when she realized that the person standing in front of her was the antithesis of Harry.

Kagami stood just inside the entrance, her eyebrow raised and something that might be called a smile forming on her lips. Her height was punctuated by a well tailored white suit and black heels, her impeccable posture granting her several inches above the heads of the average person. Not a hair out of place, as per usual.

"Sorry, I was dealing with a cockroach before you walked in," Alix said awkwardly, sipping from her coffee mug. "What's up?"

Kagami took another step into the shop, her heel clicking against the tile. "I want a tattoo."

Alix spat her coffee back into her mug and coughed. "You want a what?" she put her coffee mug back on the counter behind her. Alix had tattooed many of her friends while she’d been learning her craft; each time had felt special and, frankly, a little nerve inducing. After her apprenticeship was over her clients and coworkers had pumped her with enough gas to believe she was actually pretty fucking good at it, and she was pretty sure she could work on almost anyone like a professional. But this was different. 

Kagami's chest heaved slightly as if she was sighing, although she was far too polite to do it openly. "I want a tattoo. Or is the shop just for show?" She asked, now walking around to stare at the walls of flash art Alix had on display.

"I mean, I'll do it of course--I just…Kagami, aren't you going back to Japan in like, a week and a half?" She and Kagami weren’t necessarily close, but they were connected through Marinette and a web of friends where news travelled fast.

"I am. I understand this is short notice; I wasn't sure what your schedule is like."

Alix shook her head. "It's not about the schedule, but from what I understand tattoos are still a pretty big no-no there. Wouldn't your gramps be pissed?" 

Kagami stared at her blankly, her purse lightly hanging from her fingertips. "Of course."