#however.... when it comes to what i assume is the rest of their vocal line i'm still trying to... kind of sort them out

[daonedaonlyskh]

Sk vengeance saga thoughts

SK HAS A THOUGHT (well, multiple) OCUR FOR ONCE

my thoughts on the vengeance saga broken down by song!

be warned that this is long as hell and please don’t get mad at me if you disagree these are just my opinions <3

tw for I’m not sorry for loving you I briefly touch on rape/sa and suicide

I’m not sorry for loving you - Honestly this song is a masterwork. The music, the vocals (wangui i love you), everything. I think it portrays calypso in a very interesting light. I don’t think it makes the listener sympathetic towards her —or it doesn’t for me— but it makes you almost pity her. I know Jorge doesn’t go into detail about what happened in the seven years on the island like it does in the original odyssey (ahem calypso raping and sa’ing him), but I feel like we can assume from what we saw in “love in paradise” that ody ain’t doin so hot. I personally think this had to have something to do with Calypso’s behavior at least somewhat, and I say this because of how in the entire rest of the musical, ody has had so much hope for getting back home to the point where he will not allow himself to give up hope because of how desperately he wants/needs to be home. However, in the end of “love in paradise” we can see that Ody has basically given up all hope, and is literally about to jump off the cliff. Coming back to “I’m not sorry for loving you” now, this song to me definitely comes off as very manipulative. Calypso doesn’t really apologize for her actions towards ody, and just kinda names a few vague ideas and says that she admits that it was wrong, before basically saying that it’s his fault because of the line “then I am sorry that my love is too much for you” practically putting the blame of ody’s despair on ody, that the reason he’s upset his only his own fault, which to me is like saying “why are you so depressed? Just be happy.” On the flip I understand why calypso might have done this, she hasn’t had anyone in her life in so long, and that she feels like this is her only opportunity, so she must cling on to it. On the slip side, Ody has way more self control than me, “but not in the way that you want me to” dude I would not be that calm lmao. In conclusion though, I strongly dislike calypso but that doesn’t mean I don’t think that’s she’s a very complex character that deserves the opportunity to be studied under a microscope.

Dangerous - This song starts out sad af. The way there’s a pause after “cause I had one goal in mind” where the crew used to be singing? I’m sobbing. As we continue on, it gets better (Hermes my beloved). I feel like in this song though, Hermes’s laugh sounds way more forced than it did in “wouldn’t you like.” From this alone we can tell that Hermes knows how much tension there is in this situation, and how much is riding on this. And then he proceeds to sing one of the most catchy choruses & verses ever. His voice sounds a lot less lighthearted in this song though —not that it’s not lighthearted and kinda silly, but just in comparison to “wouldn’t you like” I feel like it sounds a lot more serious. Hermes singing Aeolus’s melody when giving him the wind bag is a really worthwhile touch in my opinion. I also noticed in ody’s little verse he rhymes “dangerous my friend” with “danger is my friend.” And ody saying he’s going to use ruthlessness? Subtle foreshadowing (wink wink). And then Hermes hinting at “god games” to end it off? Chef’s kiss.

Charybdis - I feel stupid for saying this, but the song reminds me of “Storm” from the Ocean saga. I think I draw similarities in the melody and the way the word “Storm”the phrase “Oh o bring it on!” And the last “Ohohohohoh!” In the song. And maybe in the bass and drums a bit too. I haven’t seen anyone else mention this though, but my irl winion friends agreed with me so I’m not sure. I like ody explaining his thoughts is still very melodic. And the end of this song, I like how much softer Ody’s voice gets when seeing the coast of Ithaca and thinking about how close he is to Penelope and Telemachus, only for him to get brutally interrupted by Poseidon. I really like this song, and I honestly wish it was a little longer. Also, my dad has been a music professor for the past 20 years and he has a song he composed named Charybdis so I’m automatically attached to this song.

Get in the Water - STEVEN RODRIGUEZ WELCOME BACK TO THE STAGE! This song was so anticipated by me, and it did not disappoint. The musical entrance of this song feels very powerful to me, especially with how it stops when Poseidon first starts to speak, before starting up again. I really like how the first “get in the water” (after the “now get in the water” but before the “or I’ll raise the tide so high-“) is sung, it hits my brain just the right way were I can so clearly envision Poseidon smugly gesturing for Ody to get in the water. The chorus of voices kicking in in the second chorus just keeps the tensions rising. The little verse about Ody asking Poseidon to leave him alone and just go home and then telling him he could learn to forgive was extremely unexpected to me for some reason, but I think it sets up six hundred strike really well because Ody did try to talk it out first and then moved to ruthlessness after that didnt work. TYEN POSEIDON’S SHATTER THE OCEAN MOVE OR WHATEVER JAY CALLED IT?!? WHAT. I - I CANT EVEN DESCRIBE HOW INCREDIBLE. WORDS SIMPLY CANNOT DESCRIBE. and then when ody’s underwater? polites is haunting the narrative again? and eury? and his mom? aND THEN THE WHOLE CREW? AND THEN THEY ALL SING THE “WAITING”??? MY HEART. MY HEART CANNOT TAKE IT. ITS SO BEAUTIFUL YET SO HEARTBREAKING.

Six Hundred Strike - The idea of having Ody use the wind bag as a jetpack is so fucking goofy in my opinion —don’t get me wrong, I love it, it’s just silly as hell. The whole speech to Poseidon about how he will get back to his son and he will get back to his wife? Mhm yes, good soup. However, i don’t really know how a lot of other people took this, but what I thought is that after that speech the spirits of the fallen men were doing most of the work to kick Poseidon’s ass, especially after Ody says “six hundred strike!!!!!” but maybe I’m stupid. Although, I think it works better that way, since I honestly don’t really like the idea of Ody being able to so single-handily defeat Poseidon. Which brings me to the stabbing. I was audibly gasping when this first happened during the stream ngl, and my eyes probably looked like they were about to roll out of my head. I saw someone in the comments after the stream ended saying that they headcanoned that the reason why Poseidon’s shouts of pain sounded so melodic is because they were music to Ody’s ears, and now I’m stealing that. But when Poseidon called him a monster? If it wasn’t for the fact that everyone else in my house was asleep during the stream I would have been SCREAMING. Also the line “next to my wife” left me in absolute disrepair. However, I disagree with the idea of Ody being able to defeat Poseidon so easily. I since have decided to subscribe to the theory of Ares helping Ody out, since Athena could not. I like this idea because 1, I feel like it makes more sense as to why ody was able to defeat Poseidon (divine intervention wink wink) and 2, idk I just like the idea that Ares was helping his sister out for once, but not to her knowledge (bc he still wants to be kinda a dick to her). And yes, I know that this heavily, heavily, HEAVILY diverges from the odyssey, and a lot of people were hoping for something a little more by the book in this s saga, but honestly? There are lots of other things already in epic’s entirety that differ from the Odyssey, so I personally don’t really see the problem there, nor do I agree with the people I’ve seen saying that Jorge needs to “actually read the classics” because it’s pretty damn obvious (at least to me) that he has. On a completely different note, I love how many motifs and callbacks there are in this song. I especially like the “different beast” motif playing right before Ody gets more violent, foreshadowing right before the moment that he is no longer in danger; he is the danger.

anyways yeah those are my thoughts! Feel free to disagree with me though and lmk what you think :)

[exoexid]

just realized something and even tho it's something very silly i feel so bad about it 😭

[lockheed-martin-unofficial]

Cybertronian purring headcanons!

What exactly is purring? For cybertronians it is a continuous rumbling sound which sounds similar to a powerful, idling engine. Bigger cybertronians will generally have a deeper and lower pitched purr, but not necessarily a louder one. It’s many things: a response to happiness and other positive feelings, stress relief, a way to soothe oneself or others (especially when injured), a way to show one’s affection and trust. Although it can be done both voluntarily and involuntarily, purring is an emotional response. Meaning you cannot ‘fake’ a purr. It’s always genuine.

Where does it come from? Good question! In cats it comes from the vocal cords, in cybertronians however, it’s probably the engine. (Do they have engines? I still don’t know, but I would guess they do have something equivalent to an engine and that it’s a different than a spark. Maybe they’re connected organs.) This means cybertronians who do not speak, like Soundwave, can still purr. Must be embarrassing, accidentally breaking your vow of silence by making kitty cat noises.

Some cybertronians will purr they’re recharging given they’re in a secure place. If they don’t feel safe during a power-down, they won’t purr or vent excess heat. It’s a countermeasure brought on by the war, nobody wants to sleep in the middle of a battlefield and get attacked because your enemies locked onto your heat signature. (I think that’d be a genuine fear for some, especially those who have been on the front lines of the fighting. After the war, I imagine some cybertronians having trouble recharging because their bodies refuse to fully relax & do the heat venting thing, still paranoid.)

Recharge-purring is comparable to a snoring partner or relaxing train ambience while you’re trying to sleep, take your pick and there is nothing in between. A human would either fall asleep immediately or stay awake all night, depending on the day.

Meanwhile, I think it’d probably help other cybertronians rest better if someone in the room was purring. Cat purring can help a person heal and recover, it’s safe to assume the same would go for cybertronians.

I will post my specific purring headcanons about some decepticons later, and although I’m not that good at characterizing the Autobots I will do it if I get enough ideas.

This is a little less based in canon than my usual headcanons, but I think the idea of robots purring is Very Cute and I am going to talk about it. Perhaps I am cringe but I am free

[staytinyville]

OUTLAW (7)

ATEEZ ot8 X Reader

Cowboy AU / Wild West

Series Masterlist

Warnings: None

A/N Double update for the day because I didn't get to it yesterday. Chapter 8 will be posted later today (for me). I didn't get to writing a chapter and it bothers me when I don't have one ready on time. I like to have a few chapters written for just in case.

It was rather quick that your parents seemed to have hired the boys. They didn’t really question much of where they came from or why they were looking for work in your establishment. The only person they did question was you. 

Why didn’t you say anything? How did you meet them? How long have you known them? Do they have someone waiting for them at home? That was from your mother. 

You worked with Soenghwa for the most part. Yeosang was too busy in the backroom going over inventory and the money the hotel makes during the day. He also kept tabs of the guests list and their payments. Seonghwa worked at the bar in the saloon, occasionally making food the guests ordered. However with it being Friday, the bar was packed with people laughing and de-stressing from the week. 

“Thank you, (Y/N).” Seonghwa’s fingers grazed your hand as you handed him some empty glasses that needed to be washed. 

“You're welcome, Seonghwa.” You smiled. “Table three wants more whiskey.”

“Coming right up.” His dazzling grin made you blush, if only for the fact that he was a good looking man. He would make any woman flustered. 

“You've been such a great help, boy!” Your father patted him on the back. “Weekends are usually packed with travelers or the townsfolk who claim we have the best drinks. You're really making us stand out!”

“You got yourself one hell of a looker!” A man at the bar praised Seonghwa. “All the women would be lining up to take a glimpse at your new hire, (F/N)!”

“Thank you.” Seonghwa bashfully told him. 

The room went quiet for just a moment, some of the patrons had stopped talking to look towards the entrance of the bar. Yunho and Jongho both walked in, casually making their way over to the seats open at the bar. 

“Officers.” The man who was complimenting Seonghwa greeted, tipping his glass. 

The two men greeted the other back, moving to look over the available drinks. It was the first time they had ever gone down to the bar to sit and have a drink. You would assume it was because it was Seonghwa’s first day working there. Maybe they felt a bit more at ease with someone they knew. 

“Say, do you guys know how long you're going to be here?” The man continued. “All the people are wondering why officers from the big city are snooping in our area.”

You paused your washing of cups, but quickly went back so as to not seem like you were eavesdropping. However, looking around the bar it seemed you weren’t the only one who was interested in the conversation. 

Jongho and Yunho took a moment to look at each other before moving to take the glasses that Seonghwa had put in front of them. You realized that they didn’t even vocalize their preference of alcohol but no one else did. Seonghwa probably didn’t even realize he had given them something to drink subconsciously. 

“There have been sightings of outlaws nearby.” You took a glance at Seonghwa. “We've been sent to investigate.”

Yunho answered the man. “With that being said, should you come across any wanted man. Please be sure to tell us. We have orders from the higher ups to catch them ourselves.” He turned to the rest of the bar, calling out to those who were watching him. 

“What if we want the reward!?” Someone slurred from the crowd. 

“You can have a try but just know you will be considered a criminal as well for obstructing the law.” Jongho shrugged, looking over the area.

No one dared to make another statement after that. However there was a lot of talk about the outlaws. People would whisper about how they needed to buy more ammunition for their weapons just in case these outlaws were to come into town. How they needed to keep their wives and daughters from going out so late in the night to prevent something terrible. 

As the night progressed, the bar slowly grew to be less packed. However you would conclude that it was rather late at night when the bar dwindled down to cleaning up. The men were sure worried about their wives and daughters but they didn’t seem to mind if they left drunk at 3 in the morning. You would work around the two men who had passed out on their tables, knowing that your father would be the one to deal with them in the end. 

Yeosang had come in earlier in the night to tell Seonghwa that he was leaving. You wanted to question where it was they were staying but you knew better. Curiosity kills the cat, you know the saying. In your case, you knew it would most definitely kill you. 

The only people left in the bar, aside from the two men passed out drunk, were Seonghwa, Jongho, Yunho and you. Your father had gone to take the empty bottles out back, leaving you alone with the three men. 

“You keep staring at the piano.” You told Seonghwa as you placed the last of the glasses where they went. “Do you play?”

“Not since I was a teen. It's been a while.” The man told you.

You moved things to the side, looking over at Seonghwa for a moment. “Could you play something?” You asked him, giving him a small smile. “I'd like to hear.”

You heard a snort come from Yunho and when you glanced at the two officers, you could see the large grins they were sporting. They looked at Seonghwa expectantly, just the tad bit tipsy from nursing their drinks for so long. 

“Sure.” Seonghwa moved around the bar, making his way to the upright piano.

You and the boys moved to stand behind the man, watching as he seemed to look over the keys for a moment before touching the instrument. You had been so used to listening to your grandfather play such uptempo songs that it felt like something had been lifted off your shoulders the moment Seonghwa started playing. 

It was some classical song, one that didn’t fit the theme of the bar. It soothed others to sleep and brought a light headed feeling. It made you smile, taking a seat to listen more carefully to the man playing. You felt the song wasn’t long enough when Seonghwa played the last of the notes. 

“It's been a while since I've heard you play.” Yunho told his friend.

“It's been a while since we've heard any kind of music.” Jongho explained, taking the last sip of the beer he was holding. 

“Wish the others were here.” Seonghwa smiled sadly.

It had been a while since you had seen the others all together, but it seemed to you like they were starting to let their guards down. At least, enough to relax and enjoy where they are. Yunho and Jongho didn’t seem to be as stiff as when they came in. The example of them coming down to the bar for the first time came to mind. While Yeosang and Seonghwa were already the calm two of the group, they too looked like they weren’t struggling as much as when you met them a week ago. 

“Do you all enjoy music?” You asked, scooting in closer to the piano.

“It’s what brought us together.” Soenghwa answered. “Captain was the one who started everything.”

“We weren’t always a group of criminals.” Seonghwa sighed, fingers drifting over the keys.

Your eyes drifted over the three, watching as Yunho and Jongho seemed to be laughing to themselves, the alcohol getting to them. Well to Yunho because it seemed as though Jongho had a great handle on himself. If you didn’t know about their occupation you would assume they were like all the other men your age who came and went through the hotel. 

They looked like they were stress free as though they weren’t going around causing trouble for a lot of people. You didn’t know their stories, but hearing from Seonghwa that they weren’t who everyone claimed to be, you wanted to know all about them. 

“I couldn’t imagine.” You calmly told him.

“Us not being criminals?” Yunho called out.

“Being criminals. None of you look like you want to be.” You confessed.

 “Because we aren’t. Not when we help the less fortunate.” Jongho crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair.

Your mind began to wander around his words. You remembered the story about the robbery that took place in the town over with Harthorne. Everyone knew he wasn’t the kindest of people and was really stingy with his money. He hoarded it, not daring to spend more than he needed to. Everyone knew he was a spoiled man who didn’t lift a finger to help those who needed it. 

You figured it was them who had taken the money from Harthorne. The men at the bar didn’t tell you more about what the gang did with the money but if they claim to not be criminals you wouldn’t be off put to know where it must have gone. There was a story about a man who knew how to use a bow and arrow. He would take from the rich and give to the poor. You wondered if they had read it as well.

“You take from the rich-”

“And give to the poor.” Seonghwa ended.

“That changes things, doesn’t it?” You grinned.

“You scared?” Seonghwa teased.

He gave you a grin, which made you flush again. Yunho had leaned closer to you while Jongho waited for you to speak. There was a time when you would glare back at men who made you so flustered. You would often retort with something stupid that would cause them offense for how unladylike you spoke. However you weren’t there to make them like you. They weren’t people you needed to impress.

“Of the Park Seonghwa?” You chuckled. “Not anymore. Not after that beautiful display you just put on.”

“You should hear Yeosang play the violin. He is a master.” Seonghwa praised his friend.

They cared deeply for each other, that much was noticeable. Maybe looking at them from afar they did look like hoodlums who would shiv you because you looked at them wrong. Or in most of their cases would seduce you into their beds and leave you the next day. 

But within themselves they held each other in high regards. You saw it in the way they spoke about their captain. How they cared about each other when two of them were injured. You knew they were all they had, with being in a gang. Not many people would open their arms for them. They were a family. And it brought a smile to your face to know they weren’t the criminals people claimed they were. 

You smiled brightly. “I’ll hold him to that.”

Series Masterlist

@thefrog3223 , @iarayara , @0rangemilk , @explorewithd , @loveforred , @bangtanxberm , @a1i33a ,

[comikadraws]

what does hashirama think of the uchiha?

Hashirama's Opinion of the Uchiha

It is somewhat difficult to assess Hashirama's relationship with and opinion of the Uchiha clan. Unlike Tobirama, Hashirama doesn't state his opinions out in the open. He doesn't make blanket statements like "the Uchihas are" or "the Uchihas do" and the flashbacks he has with members of the clan are limited to Madara only.

What we do see, however, are his characterizations of individual Uchihas and his reactions toward Tobirama's opinions regarding the Uchiha clan.

<Analysis under the cut>

Note: Red links are posts written by me and added for context. I recommend reading them to understand my thought process.

Belief in Tobirama's Theory

Starting off, Hashirama (like his brother), as far as I can tell, believes in the "Curse of Hatred" (or rather, whatever the fandom has come to describe as the "Curse of Hatred"). But since that term is not entirely correct (further explanation in my analysis of the Curse of Hatred), I'll instead refer to it as "Tobirama's Theory".

But of course, everything is a little more complicated than that.

Generally speaking, Hashirama is a very peace-loving person. This is one of Hashirama's core character traits, showing itself as early on as during his introduction. He consistently condemns conflict and violence and advocates for peace.

This character trait also manifests itself in how he deals with Tobirama's Theory. He takes the side of the Uchiha (possibly out of empathy or a wish for de-escalation). But while Hashirama does defend the Uchiha against negative remarks, he does not necessarily contradict them.

It is always "stop saying such things" and "don't slight them" (because they are in the room to judge us or they are too innocent to know) but never "you are wrong" or "you have no evidence for that". The focus is not on Tobirama's opinions regarding the Uchiha clan but on the fact that he is vocalizing those opinions.

Instead of protesting, we just see him standing there when Tobirama explains his theory to Sasuke. Yes, his expression looks sullen, or perhaps frustrated, but his lack of objection can be interpreted as an expression of tolerance if not approval. Though, I admit, this interpretation is entirely debatable.

But keep in mind he has no problem interrupting his younger brother or reprimanding (or threatening) him when he is out of line. Hashirama states that he would kill his brother if he were to endanger the village (which, for Hashirama, means the protection of children). That's how far his resolve goes. A resolve he does not demonstrate when it comes to rejecting Tobirama's Theory. Not that he should kill Tobirama for being prejudiced. But he could easily silence him if he so wished.

We can assume, however, that Hashirama indeed forbade Tobirama from spreading his ideas - hence we see no other characters ever mentioning the Uchiha clan's supposed amplified feelings of love and hate. Sasuke, who is an Uchiha himself, appears entirely clueless about the concept and not even Orochimaru or Obito pick up the theory as evidence of discrimination despite it being such an easy opportunity to win Sasuke's loyalty by convincing him that the village and its leaders were corrupt.

This tells us that, while Hashirama did agree with Tobirama's Theory, he did not agree with its publication for the sake of either peace and/or to protect the Uchiha from being judged unfairly because he empathizes with them.

Clan of Love

Despite most likely believing in his brother's theory, Hashirama does not draw the same conclusion from his findings. Where Tobirama makes the Uchiha clan look like a clan of hatred, Hashirama emphasizes their love. The worst he ever does is criticize Madara on an individual level rather than applying his experiences to the rest of the clan.

One reason for this difference in judgement, of course, is that Hashirama is considered a generally naive character. In contrast to Madara, he fully believes that showing his vulnerabilities to a former enemy is possible and that peace can be achieved. Unlike Madara, he is trusting and is more likely to have positive opinions regarding the people he meets. Hence, when it is revealed that Madara is an Uchiha and Hashirama a Senju, Madara believes that any friendship between them is impossible.

The other reason is Hashirama's empathy. When dealing with Sasuke, he refers to him as a "child" and quite often prioritizes or at least emphasizes his feelings. This contrasts with Tobirama's violent, defensive rage at the idea that Sasuke wishes to destroy the village.

This empathy, alongside Hashirama's nativity, is supported by the Fourth Databook.

This results in Hashirama having a much more positive opinion of the Uchiha clan. He trusts that they have good motives and humanizes them whenever he gets the change. He recognizes their love first and their hatred second. With Tobirama, this is the other way around.

Conclusion. For better or for worse, I actually believe that Hashirama's and Tobirama's views on the Uchiha clan align for the most part. The difference between the two is mostly just their inherent attitude.

[northoco]

sonadow songs

a thing i’ve been thinking about recently is sonic songs that specifically resemble sonadow

now bare with me because i swear i have a point

the songs i think fit most are both adventure 2 songs, one of which is obvious and the other not at all as it’s a pretty underrated song!!

the obvious one is live and learn! the lyrics just scream sonic, and specifically him being the pov singing to shadow

sonic beats shadow around twice in the game, same for shadow beating sonic depending on if you play hero story or dark story — that second line to me is practically just sonic saying that. life is complicated, ‘tangling you up inside’. one moment the guys on the floor and the next hes towering above him, it goes both ways. right after that we have:

knowing roughly about the pain he’s dealt with and all he’s paid for, even if undeserved. however by following that grief and negative expectation from others he’s practically pulling himself further down, ‘putting him right back where he came’

then it hits with the live and learn which is obviously just the. you know. final kick. however the bridge sort of just beats you when you’re down because johnny what the fuck is this

this is just painful (in a sweet way). to me it’s sonic giving shadow that final hope. the entire rest of the song is pretty aggressive, kind of just yelling to live and learn and get over things but the bridge is such a gentle reminder of why he should do it in the first place. ‘hold on to what if’ aka the what if that shadow will move on from the ark and learn to live. that place sonic is referring to the line before is peace and home.

and then live and learn and shadow fucking dies lmao

but i mentioned two songs!! and that’s because the other song is shadows perspective which is somehow more miserable

this song is none other than supporting me for the biolizard, one of my probably top five sonic songs if not number one. i love it so much it’s so perfect

this song is pretty over looked. you hear it in the biolizard fight but you don’t really listen to the vocals. hell when i first played i didn’t even hear the vocals because i was too busy trying not to fall down the streams and slam my laptop in

the song, unlike live and learn, starts out gentle and soft, and only after the guitar picks up does the first line drop:

after all, it’s what shadow assumes is the final fight. it’s what he thinks is the last thing he needs to do to destroy the threat, hence the desperation.

the verse eventually comes, which could not start harder somehow

now, important. this song could be viewed as a song about maria and his final words to her before he moves on (which you’ll understand when i bring up the next lyrics) and that’s a perfectly good interpretation of it, and probably the intended one.

HOWEVER, it can still be interpreted as a song to sonic, and there will be more on that soon.

anyway, these lyrics are just so good and well sung. the line “i believe in my future, farewell to the shadow” is him accepting the idea of moving on once defeating the biolizard, and believing in what’s next to come via abandoning his past with the destruction of the ark.

‘it was my place to live, but now i need your hand’ the sibling/maria interpretation would be the fact maria died in what shadow thought was his place, and now he needs her support in?? i can’t exactly figure out the last line and it’s tie to maria— WHICH IS WHERE THE JOINT SONADOW INTERPRETATION COMES IN! it was his place to live, it’s his realisation and moving on of his grudges and self + outward hatred. he needs sonics help, and the thing that makes this more fucking painful is the fact it’s a FORESHADOWING OF THE SUPER TRANSFORMATION WHERE THEY REACH THEIR HANDS OUT TO THE SKY TOGETHER.

SHADOW TAKES HIS HAND METAPHORICALLY AT THE FIRST BIOLIZARD FIGHT AND LITERALLY AT THE SUPER TRANSFORMATION.

‘lead me out with your light’ and the line below it to me is what slowly underlines the tie to sonic. he spoke to amy shortly before this fight, and then went straight to sonic, being led out by his guidance to help save the world, the light that he was trying to destroy.

and then the fucking HOLY SHIT THIS PART

this is a straight follow up from the last line before. everything currently IS like an illusion to him, so much is changing and he can barely comprehend its reality.

‘i’ll be losing you before long’ WHICH PLAYS RIGHT AFTER THE LIVE AND LEARN RIFF???? it’s a strong foreshadowing of his death, and the person he’ll be losing is sonic!!! before long!!! it can also be mixed with maria. he’s losing both him and maria by destroying his home and what’s remnant of its present.

the last lines here are what really made me believe this was more towards sonic lmao. ‘i know you are supporting me’ as sonic is currently doing his part in the fight whilst shadow is facing the biolizard. he knows he’s supporting his decision to join his side, and to realise what the right path is.

anyway that’s about it uh shadria and other weirdos dni also go listen to supporting me

[just-4pple-pi3]

UN Village and City Lights by Baekhyun

MV and album discussion

UN Village by Baekhyun

The title song and mv is well comprised because it shows Baekhyun's vocal color and his power in exo (light). To me, it felt like Baekhyun has been hiding from too much light, aka from showing too much of his power (you will know what I mean if you look up for exo's theory and Baekhyun's role in that concept in Tumblr: @adoringdo). The R&B song itself however talks about spending a special time with the beloved in Hannamdong UN Village hill. He wishes that the beloved speaks their true love to him and enjoys the particular lovely moment with each other. The composition of the background score features unique heavy sounds arranged in a way that it becomes subtly emphasized. The sound makes us get into the song, makes us question that let me see how this song continues to sound like, and then comes Baekhyun's first line "Navigation 독서당어린이공원으로 누르고 엑셀을 밟아" (Navigation to Deokseodang Children's Park press start and step on the gas). The line is something one would not expect to be uttered in an R&B song in the very first line. Nevertheless, Baekhyun's accentuation made the line sound so subtle and natural that it felt easy-going. I personally found verse 2 (1:34) to be compelling because Baekhyun's voice sounds like it is heard from a radio (if you know how to explain this more accurately please let me know).

Moreover, the flow is different there than the rest of the song, it gives a lo-fi feeling. The background sound also sounds different than the rest in this part. The scenes from (1:34) to (1:56) went perfectly with verse 2. The high notes and long notes in this song seem to function with the tone of emphasis upon the lover's wish and longing for love.

The overall aesthetic the mv seems to be going for is the same, subtle but special. It emphasizes the flowing whispering love the singer sings about. The mv also has a light seductive side to it, which could be seen through the noir vibes (walking through darkness, black and white, serious looks, buildings, roads), play on different colored lightings (blue, red, white, yellow, green), close up shots of Baekhyun. The flow of different scenes were really good. I just found some of the black and white shots to be unnecessary(again, if I could know the Director's reasoning behind it that would've been cool). For example (0:31), (2:58, 2:53), (2:20)- because I would have liked to see scenes with actual city lights.

I assume the director added these scenes either to not make the mv too much noir or to match the lyrics, or to make the mv more nostalgic and melancholic (could be anything idk). Also, please let me know what you understand from the last scene where Baekhyun is lying on a table and a woman passes by, I have no idea.

My most favorite shots have been

1. Blue hues with blueish Baekhyun (1:46) (1:50) (2:35)

2. The projection on the surface of the building (3:42). The cut to the projection from actual video (2:44-2:50)

3. 0:49 going through that corridor (black and white with play on lighting)

4. The play of red and white lighting, Baekhyun's cool fit (2:22- 2:27) (2:38) (3:07- says turn the light off (lighteul kkeo) and the white light turns off)

5. Every black and white scenes shot in/with that building, especially on (0:56) (1:00) (3:16)

The other songs in the album:

Diamond: The layering with Baekhyun's voice sounds really catchy in the chorus. The song goes well after UN village as it has almost the same theme. It sings about wishing to be more close and intimate together, desiring to explore more of the beloved. To his eyes, the beloved shines like a diamond when they stand next to the lover.

Betcha: The girl does not care or pay enough attention yet. However, the lover is determined to win her over. The guy is confident enough about that. The song has a playful and confident tone into it. Betcha also has a playful dance with it which you'll find in SMP Floor, Baekhyun and Haechan also did challenges with it.

Ice Queen: The transition from Betcha to Ice Queen is smooth, as if Ice Queen is the next part of Betcha. The lyrics here are more descriptive than Betcha. The lover invites the ice queen girl to feel his warm heart with her cold hands. The lover has the warmth and passion of love reminiscent of fire, which is the opposite of the ice queen. The lover wishes to evaporate and get lost into the reaction of their love. Other EXO-L's said that the beginning of Baekhyun's Ice Queen has the same sample as JB's Sunrise, so that's something to note. I love the ending, where he shouts "On my way!"

Stay Up: Well, ahem this one's gonna be a bit racy. It delves into doing amorous activities together. Almost towards the end of City Lights, the lovers are about to take off into next level. This city night resembles the beloved since the beloved is lonely and puzzled, and extravagant, the same as the city streets. Beenzino's parts were natural and embedded with the song well. The sing was produced by well-known producer Cha Cha Malone. Many aeries were shocked to have matured lyrics sung by Baekhyun, which I can relate because he has such a cute face which deludes us into thinking that he is not 27 already by then XD. The lover wishes to go for the third base as the lyrics says "Baby we can stay up, Throw you at me, to the deepest point fall in love...Get in there, reachable lips...I'll fill your empty heart full of me. No sleep tonight. We makin' love. Until the sun shines down on us...Baby lay back. Close your eyes. I'd like to get drunk on you sweet. I'll go easy on you. We can go on and on tonight."(say what?!) Baekhyun makes smut sound like poem, he has such an affectionate yet seductive voice. [*slaps myself for simping over his voice] The ending was nice with "On and on..." but I feel this line should've been longer, the gentle vocal in this part was impeccable. Actually, the lyrics were not overtly explicit, it describes the intimation gently without making it obvious, which is why I commend it.

Psycho: EXO always have had two sides to their love. In one love, the lover becomes a monster or Jekyll, in another, the lover falls into a deep obsession. In this album, the love that started as being playful where the girl did not pay attention at first (in betcha), ended up being psychotic. I would recommend y'all check out Bebe's cover of this song in Street Woman Fighter 2, it's too good, and I'm glad she covered it, she accurately choreographed according to the lyrics and feelings if this song. Baekhyun said on his City Lights showcase that Psycho is about a toxic relationship. While reading the comments, I came across some theories by aeries, which I appreciate. Some linked it to DID, some compared the light exol- healthy relationship and dark exol(or not)- toxic. There is a push and pull going on in the lyrics. On one hand, the lover wishes for the beloved to stay because he needs her, on the other he hopes she goes away because of his dual personality.

The name of the album City Lights is apt. The loneliness, dark and light theme, a romantic night in the city are all featured in the songs using different metaphors and meanings. However, I loved the album cover so much where Baekhyun is on top of a car in an evening over the road where the city lights are shining. So, I would've loved it more if the concept teaser, teaser photos and/or the mv featured more of that image.

Now that it's 2024, we know that we saw some nice mv's that features such nighttime imagery. For example, Baekhyun's Bambi and Minho's Heartbreak.

City lights imagery in Baekhyun's Bambi:

City Lights imagery in Minho's Heartbreak MV:

Give a listen to Baekhyun's City Light, Bambi, and Shinee Minho's Heartbreak!

~Just Apple Pie

[bumblewarden]

I've been vocal that Crime Wave is my favorite quest/line in all of Dragon Age, so naturally, i have some thoughts about the Dark Wolf situation of my canon worldstate. Expect to see canon and headcanon mixed without distinction

In Awakening, you can meet someone else claiming to be the Dark Wolf. The problem there is that that Wolf is a fake. The Hero of Ferelden, Novhen Tabris, is the actual Dark Wolf

>What we see in Awakening

After Origins and Novhen's assignment to Amaranthine, the Denerim undergound has noticed his DW activity come to an end. They assume he was captured and/or killed. In the wake of this, a wave of imitators have cropped up, and it's not going to end any time soon. There are going to be a lot of copycats showing up over the next few years, possibly permutating decades or centuries into the future and becoming a figure of legend

The human pretender in Awakening is a Champion which is one of—if not the—most attention-drawing specialization in the game in stark contrast to Novhen being a Shadow, the most stealth-based specialization. This is just extra insult to the injury of the [This is the guy stealing my cred?]

Also, the phony's messenger refers to him as "Ser Wolf of Rivain" for his not-quite-a-codename. This definitely piques Novhen's interest because he, the actual Dark Wolf, has dark enough skin that a stranger spotting him is likely to assume he's of Rivaini descent

This concerns him since [Does that mean someone had seen him and remembered enough of his appearance to call him Rivaini, or did they just get lucky picking their alias?] If someone caught even a little bit of his identity, that increases the risk of people finding out the rest of his identity and then bringing harm to his family and the alienage

>What is known of the original Dark Wolf

It is however not totally inaccurate to the character of the Dark Wolf for the impostor to offer services to the Grey Wardens. Novhen's crimes as the Dark Wolf in canon obviously have a strong pro-Warden stance, particularly the crime that earns him the moniker: stealing Loghain's crown. This correlation is doubly true if the Dark Wolf also takes credit for the Trial of Crows missions

Slim says he doesn't like blood, and Novhen plays along in that he somehow doesn't kill a single soul while working on a tip from him. Even in The Private Collection, he found a way around it. For obvious reasons, Ignacio has no such reservations with his missions

I also like the headcanon where Wardens sometimes get the pale silver eyes that make them look like those infected with Blight sickness except they retain their pupils. It probably affects around a tenth of Grey Wardens, and Warden lore would have it that the affected Wardens are better at sensing darkspawn

And what if there's a [famous in the future but disregarded in contemporary Thedas] witness (oops) who is one of the few people to ever see the Dark Wolf in action, and reports him having elven stature and those blightsick eyes. It would certainly explain the pro-Warden fervor

Consider the state of the Order in 9:30 in Ferelden. There are so few Grey Wardens in the country that you can count them on one hand, and you will likely go your whole life without ever seeing one up close. Meanwhile, Blight sickness has spread far from the south, and the alienage is quarantined because of it

It's much more reasonable to assume the Dark Wolf is sick with the Blight than to assume he's a Grey Warden, and in future Thedas, the most popular theory is that the original Dark Wolf had died quietly to the Blight sickness (or less quietly to the darkspawn when they hit Denerim) instead of being captured. Because if the real Dark Wolf were at any point captured, why are there no records of it? Why would the powers that be not make a spectacle of his execution? It only makes sense that he was never caught

>Other wolves

Another "fake" Dark Wolf that pops up around this time is the Dark Wolf of Amaranthine. This DW is the spymaster of the Fereldan Wardens. That is to say, it's Novhen, the original Wolf. While historians will eventually get it right that this DW is Novhen, it will never become the prevailing theory that he is also the orginal

Further in the vein of future perspectives, in media produce by future Thedas, it becomes a popular trend to make the original Dark Wolf not just an elf but an Agent of Fen'Harel. They're both troublemaking wolves, aren't they? This is primarily for edgy points, but there's also the matter of the Agents are going to be much less unknown pre- and post-Trespasser

Now let's tie Tathas into this. Tathas being the elven figure Novhen makes up when telling the children a story during the City Elf Origin

Those children would have held on tight to that story. Elven heroes are a scarcity even after their old neighbor is declared savior of the realm.

They would keep the story in circulation long enough that she becomes a local myth.

Future historians may be able to trace the earliest whispers of the legend of Tathas to the Dragon Age, and as she and the Dark Wolf are both famous thieves from Denerim in the first half of the Dragon Age who simply disappeared one day, it becomes a popular theory that they were in fact the same person.

Anybody in this thread play Dynasty Warriors? Anyway, it'd be fun if there were a Warriors-style game in future Thedas and if there were at least one map both Novhen and Tathas appeared on.

>AU: Companion Novhen

And to wrap up a few notes on how this applies to Companion Novhen:

He only becomes Dark Wolf if the HoF does not. He wouldn't want to step on their toes. Otherwise, the phony from canon takes his usual place

He also has to be alive and have not left the Warden's camp by the end of Origins

A Dark Wolf Novhen will join the battle at Vigil's Keep if you chose to return there for the climax instead of staying in the city

If you do remain in the city and his approval was Neutral or higher in the basegame, while he does not as directly join you in the battle, he will be present in the Chantry with you after. If you talk to him, he'll imply he was also rescuing the civilians from darkspawn. He still considers you an ally and will not leave you to fight alone when he is able to help

He still will not be following you to find the Mother in either case though

[nacricissa]

What if...

The world froze. It didn't, for me, get appreciably cooler. It felt like a chill wind, the kind that always sweeps through the leaves this time of year, and so I didn't pay it any mind, until something in my subconscious started screaming.

Even with the wind, the leaves on the ground were not moving. The roar of traffic in the distance was not perceptible, instead of it's usual blurred out bass under the rest of the sounds. When my next footstep landed, taking me the rest of the way off the road and onto the sidewalk, the gentle but cleanly audible tak of heel on concrete let me know that the traffic wasn't the only sound that was missing.

They all were.

I turned around to see the car that had been waiting for me to finish crossing still idle, edged eagerly over the stop line for an event that had already occurred. The driver was looking across the intersection, hands crossed on the wheel as if the car was already making the left turn their signal had been indicating they planned until moments ago. Now the light on their bumper, like everything else, was still.

My mind did not immediately jump to what was in fact the right conclusion, because such a conclusion would be absurd. Instead, I simply assumed the car would resume its journey once I had gotten further from the intersection, and resumed my walk to work before the stillness was enough to cause me to lose my nerve. If I walked faster along the sidewalk and then onto the path that traced a shortcut right into the back parking lot of my workplace, I told myself it was only to avoid my hesitation at the intersection making me any later than I already was.

When I pushed open the door to the convenience store, the bell did not ring. When I reached up and checked it, however, it swung with its traditional cheery dings. I expected the my coworker Anish would complain at my tardiness, as usual, but heard nothing.

"Anish?" I called, my voice pitched low as if I hadn't spent the past three years in vocal training after HRT had left is strange and gravelly.

I flinched small, a usual overreaction to the small slip, but my movement caught that there was a customer in the store. Already embarrassed, I moved towards Ms. Majarov to apologize. She was a regular customer, and her age left her with certain strong feelings about how service employees should behave, including that we ought to keep our voices down.

Her basket was on the ground, something that only happened when she needed to get something from the bottom shelf, or her back was bothering her more than she was willing to let on. Given she was still standing, I assumed it was the latter, and moved to pick up her basket for her. Even as I got closer, she did not acknowledge me, or my rudeness from earlier.

"Ms. Majarov? Are you all right?" I reached out a hand in case she had somehow not heard me, despite her constant pride in the fact that she alone among her numerous siblings still had perfect unassisted hearing.

When I touched her hand, still outstretched from setting down her basket, she startled violently. I was worried that such an abrupt movement would make whatever had pained her enough to set down her basket worse, but instead her hand just moved smoothly to cover her heart dramatically as she spoke: "Ms. Linsey! How did I not hear you come in? And on time, too!"

[mistwraiths]

3 stars

Overall, I think Blood Scion was done pretty well to showcase the horror of child soldiers, anticolonialism, the eradication of a people and culture, and more. For me, this book was hard to get through.

I would have really loved learning more about the Yoruba culture and religion, and I assume there will be more in the next book. I would have really liked seeing Sloane train with her magic but unfortunately it is really just glossed over. I found the aspect of each Orisha having a music really cool and that shower scene was very good. As for the rest of the worldbuilding, I struggle a bit to understand everything. We also get thrown more names of organizations like Blades, Shadow Rebels, Black Wolf without really learning much about them.

Again, there is so much that this book covers with children being forcibly conscripted into the war and forced to fight their own people. On top of that, there's so many assaults and near assaults, on top of killings and horrific acts. Sometimes they feel like their constantly happening so much that we don't get time to actually sit with the emotional and devastating impact. However, in situations such as these, odds are they do not have any choice but to continue on. This book absolutely doesn't shy away from the brutality and horror. We watch Sloane continue to grapple with her guilt and horror.

The pacing felt really slow to me too and the timeline in the book really didn't fit well to me with all the things happening. I don't understand why they'd only train them for a month. And Sloane was whipped over 30 times at least so I don't understand how she was still able to train. It briefly mentions she reopens her scars but then how can it even heal if you're constantly reopening them. She's being starved, healing from her wounds, fighting with her magic, planning to steal and break into the Archives, and constantly training and fighting for her life. It's a LOT for barely a month. The reveals are pretty easy to spot too and it's a shame that they make the book a bit predictable.

I didn't find Sloane all that likable, and that's okay. I don't think we really got to really know her as character as much as see her try to survive a horrific time. A character doesn't have to be likable and honestly I don't think she had a chance to really shine except slightly in the beginning. I do think however she was a bit irritating in her constant assumptions that no one could possibly be like her, a Scion, and everyone is quickly following in line during the training by verbally saying the creed or doing things they have to. It feels like she doesn't consider that other people are just trying to survive too? They have no power so they just have no choice. That maybe not everyone wants to kill their own people or allies. Sloane is constantly shocked when she comes across situations where people are doing what they can or actually think the same way as she but they're not vocal about it, or other Scions like her. Or the spies, she's furious that one of the spies allows terrible things to happen. And its like yeah they have to, how else are they going to spy??? Honestly, my biggest gripe was that Sloane acted out too much in the Fort when it's stated like little dissents gets you killed so it kind of was jarring.

The romance happened super out of the blue to me and I didn't understand why nor did I like it. The whole male character paying too much attention to the female character making him the romance option, despite not being all that personable or good never made much sense to me. I really could have gone without it.

I kind of did like the ending. I think a lot of people didn't. I do think it dragged on in two different parts. Like sorry, a declaration of how they are terrible isn't needed. Just burn them down. I liked that things didn't work out. The book kind of just ENDS, I don't remember them really fleeing or saying we're going to go here. I assume since it's hinted at they're going to the Shadow Rebels and maybe meet her aunt.

Again, this was a good book full of dark themes and brutality.

[theminecraftbee]

Ok so I know nobody cares about empires musical anymore but I was re-watching it and here’s all the lore I could find in your old friend xornoth:

* He seems convinced that when he succeeds in world domination, the world will be his. Either this means that exor is little more than an idea and xornoth is the one truly in power here, or it’s a Darth Vader-palpatine type situation where he thinks he’s doing it for himself but it’s all going to go to exor in the end

* He refers to himself as “big daddy xorxor… or for short xorny” which is hilarious I’ll admit, but he also uses the line “that’s what they call me”. That’s what who calls you? There are two possibilities. The first is that he’s referring to the people in his life before he became the demon. However, this is unlikely because he uses call in present tense, implying that he still has contact with these people. The other option has to do with “demon high school and demon college”, which I’ll touch on later

* Here we have the lines “pour me out some ichor/fill it to the brim/blood’s getting thicker/sippin’ as I sin”. I don’t believe this has much to do with the actual lore, but it is really funny to me because it sounds like a thirteen year old who just got back from hot topic and decided that they are the most tortured soul in the universe. Does demon college have demon hot topic? A question I never thought I’d have to ask myself

* Here we also have some fun lines, “you’ll learn, I’ll never return/to the boredom I was born of” which I find funny bc it makes me imagine that the former king and queen of Rivendell got bored one day, fucked, and xornoth came out

* Ok this might be my favorite part. In Lizzies pinned comment, she says “backing vocals by Maddie”. I am going to assume that the voice we here next is this Maddie. Maddie might be the best thing ever come out of music, in my opinion. For anyone who doesn’t want to look up the lyrics or doesn’t have them memorized already, she says “Scotts in the library getting kinda wise/says he’s got a plan for xorxor’s demise/xorny doesn’t care though/says he isn’t scared so/read a book, try your luck, xorny doesn’t really give a - “.

* Now, this is far from the first time we’ve heard Maddie‘s voice in the musical. She has a very high voice and has done backing vocals throughout practically all of the songs. It almost sounds childish, making her parts exceptionally funny.

* It is worth noting that your old friend xornoth is the only time that she actually speaks any words. What makes her especially interesting is that it seems that Xornoth, unlike the rest of the cast, can hear her. Once she says her bit about the library, Xornoth seemingly replies to her with “for your information I’ve got an education/Scott never showed up to my graduation/first demon high school then demon college/where’d you think I got all of this demon knowledge/demon University top of every class/you think you can catch me in a little bit of glass”. He goes on, but after this he’s not addressing Maddie so I’m gonna ignore it for now.

* I kind of wanna mention that he says the phrase embellishing my lore here, implying that he knows that he’s part of a story, but that kind of tears down absolutely everything else I know about this universe so I’m just gonna assume it’s an Easter egg and ignore it

* Also that in the lyrics he does the thing where you use an apostrophe to put two words together I don’t know what it’s fucking called but it almost sounds like he has a southern accent and that’s kind of funny to me

* Anyways back to Maddie. Xornoth does the chorus of the song again and then Maddie fucking giggles and says “look what they’re doing now writin’ out a spell/The demon from the east is goin’ back to hell/got a list of things that’ll make xor cower/they’ve got the smarts and they’ve got more power”.

* Maddie does the almost southern apostrophe thingy

* In reply, xornoth says (while approaching the empire characters, might I add) “if you want power well Xornoth’s got some/I pack more punch than a sawn-off shotgun/i’ve got more action than die hard 2/and your little faction’s a try hard crew”. I almost want to believe that this means the in-game empire‘s characters can hear Maddie too. However, they don’t seem to react to her at all. Therefore, I think that this is just her almost telling him what to do or giving him ideas for his speech. The more I say this the more it seems that the mysterious disembodied Maddie and Xornoth are friends.

* Also I’m not sure what to do with the modern day references. Maybe the way we have fairytales about like elves and knights and shit they have fairytales about our world?

* As xornoth continues on with his chorus, Maddie starts adding in her own comments between his lines. Her words go as followed: “trap him in a cell and keep him off the streets/listen to him yell, they’re tamin’ the beast/charmed like halliwell, never be released/yeah! Headin’ back to Rivendell, cookin’ up a feast”

* It is at this point that I actually googled the lyrics and realized that Maddie does not, in fact, do Xornoth’s apostrophe thing. I am ignoring this for the sake of my own interpretation. You’ve heard of the world is your oyster? Get ready for canon is your oyster.

* I looked up halliwell here. Apparently she’s a singer from Spice Girls and under people Also ask, it said Who is the most powerful charmed one so I’m assuming this is just another modern reference

* I have never heard a Spice Girls song in my life but I think it’d be funny if they still existed in the universe except they were like from one of the kingdoms or some shit. Maybe Spice Girls is like a famous Rivendell band I don’t know. I’m just making shit up at this point btw

* Let’s get back to Maddie. I feel like saying she’s just Xornoth’s friend is a bit misleading at this point. I would almost label her as a younger sister. Due to my general lack of knowledge about her abilities, the mysteriousness around her, and the childishness of both her voice and the things that she does I almost feel the need to compare her with the collector from owl house. I wish I could fit her simply into the lore by saying that she’s xornoth‘s friend from demon high school and/or demon college, but since he has to explicitly tell her that he went there I don’t think that’s the case. She spends most of the story hanging around Lizzie, as evidenced by her appearance in the vocals of other songs. However Lizzie never mentions her, so I have to assume that Lizzie cannot hear her. Whether or not Lizzie knows that she’s in a musical is not some thing I’m willing to tackle at this point.

* I feel the need to draw comparison also to oli. He doesn’t show up in this song, but he’s present in some others. In prismarine, he almost seems like he’s asking Lizzie about this experience, or she’s telling the story to him. He also voices the prophecies. It seems odd to me that Lizzie would be able to hear him when she couldn’t hear Maddie, but perhaps there is some kind of difference between them, or they can choose who can hear them. Though I find the second point unlikely because there’s no real reason Maddie would choose to not have the other characters hear her. Perhaps they’re some kind of minor gods? We know that Lizzie is often called a goddess so it’s not unreasonable to think there might be others. I’m not entirely sure about this, but it does tickle my brain in a fun way

* Now it’s time to talk about demon college. Oh this is a fun one. I know that everybody and their mother has made jokes about this but I feel like it raises some really interesting questions. Xornoth is clearly upset that Scott didn’t show up to his graduation, but explicitly states that it’s Demon high school and demon college. As far as we know, Scott is very specifically the champion of aeor. There is no reason for him to be here. I feel like there are two possible answers here. The first is that Scott truly was set to be on the same path as his brother, but broke free. However, this doesn’t really add up with the rest of his lore.

* The second one, and the one that I like better, it’s a bit more complicated. It says that exor wanted to train his champion in a way that wasn’t too different from what he was used to as to not make the change to sudden. This could also be just to help him with his people skills so that he would be able to give dramatic villainous monologues instead of stumbling when he first sees a human being again. Therefore, I propose that exor took the existing, Rivendell, elven High school and college and made an illusion of it that instead taught things that a demon would need to know. It would assumingly we have all the same people as the real one. Therefore, our old friend xornoth could mean that the illusion Scott didn’t come to his graduation bc the real one wouldn’t to make it more realistic.

* This also implies that at some point both Scott and xornoth were college kids. Do with that what you will.

* This also brings the line of “Big daddy xorxor/that’s what they call me/or for short xorny” into question. He might be referring to Maddie and/or oli. However, it might also be a college nickname. I like these both because they’re equally funny

* Actually now I’m thinking about the top of every class line. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe actually Exor just takes a shit ton of kids every year and puts them into a school program and then the one that ends up being the best is chosen as his champion and the rest of them make like I don’t know a town of evilness. Now I wish the empires crew just randomly stumbled upon that and they were like what the fuck is going on here

* The fact that Scott didn’t show up to his graduation implies that they’re not twins btw I just realize that

* Still not sure how Maddie fits into any of this but I love her anyways

* In conclusion: holy shit I need to do this more often this was really fun

Anyway I just thought I’d share this it’s not very coherent but I like it

holy shit anon you have done. SO MUCH analysis here.

[spencer-reid-in-a-pool]

It Was You All Along (Part 7)

Author’s note: So that wasn’t much of a break, but I couldn’t resist! Here is the next installment of the series, featuring a meme I made myself to reflect the vibes of the first half of this part! And yes, it is supposed to be that pixely. It adds spice. Also, I tried to be as vague as possible describing reader’s outfit towards the end so that you could imagine it the way you wanted! As always, feedback is appreciated, and I hope you all enjoy! Link to my ask box! 

Tags: @ayyyyitswednesdaymydoods @blackjay04 @weaselbee04​ @bravelittlesunflower​ @mxsmwndr​ 

A voice called for me, but I didn’t quite process it. I was too busy trying to fix this gigantic, gaping hole in Geralt’s trousers. Melitele knows if I don’t do it, he would just walk around with it decorating his attire. 

The voice called for me again, but this time I ignored it on purpose. If I lost concentration, I would prick myself with the needle...again. And I didn’t really want to turn my fingers into more of a bloody mess than they already were. 

I heard footsteps beside me, but I didn’t realize how close they were until a rush of coldness surrounded my body. Not only coldness, but wetness. A bucket of ice cold water had been dumped on me, causing me to scream and drop what I was doing as I stood up in shock. 

“Julian!” 

His real name still felt unfamiliar on my lips. I had taken to calling him that every so often, usually when I was angry with him, or when I was messing with him. It was for that reason, I think, that he froze so suddenly when I spoke. He wasn’t used to it either, even though he was the one that suggested I start using it more. 

The bucket made a small thump sound as it hit the ground beneath us, and Jaskier raised his hands up in an apology. But he also backed away like a scared animal. I almost felt bad for him. Almost, but not quite. 

“Now, (Y/N)...I was just trying to get your attention is all. It’s quite important, you see.”

I gathered my skirts in my hands and stomped towards him, scowling and shivering the whole way. 

“What could possibly be so important that you couldn’t wait until I was finished? And what made you think dumping cold water on me was a good idea?”

I didn’t give him a chance to respond before I starting running towards him, my clothes making a sloshing noise against my skin. A string of curse words left his mouth as he took off trying to get away from me. He could be quite fast when he wanted to be. But no way was I going to let him get away from me that easily. 

As soon as he picked up speed, so did I. He wove through the trees surrounding our campsite, going in between them like a maze. Eventually we made it back to where we started. My spot was near a tree and the pants I had been working on were visibly in a bunch on the ground. But behind that was the river that I’m assuming the idiot got the water in the first place. I wonder if I could lead him back there... and “accidentally” knock him in.

As luck would have it, I didn’t even have to put that thought into action. He had made his way to the edge of the river, and turned quickly on his heel trying to run away from me again. But he slipped on the muddy bank, and fell right into the water himself. 

Coming to a stop, a sharp laugh came from my chest suddenly. And I laughed even harder when he bobbed above the surface, hair sticking to his forehead and his fancy doublet soaked. 

“That’s what you get!” I yelled to him between bouts of laughter. 

While Jaskier pulled himself out of the water unceremoniously, I heard more footsteps behind me followed by a thud. Geralt must be back. Only one man I know could walk and sit down that heavily. 

I turned towards the sound, and sure enough, Geralt was sitting down on the log he had claimed as his earlier. He took one look at me and one look at Jaskier who was now standing on the bank of the river, shivering like his life depended on it. 

“I don’t even want to know,” said Geralt with a twitch of his eyebrow and a roll of his eyes. 

~

Night had fallen now. I couldn’t help but reflect on the past few months since that attack at our camp. Things had been pretty boring since then honestly. But I guess I couldn’t complain. Being bored was better than being in danger. 

Geralt was asleep and snoring at an unholy volume. This of course caused a glance between Jaskier and I, and sent us into a fit of silent laughter together. The kind of laughter that had your stomach hurting and your mouth open with no sound. The kind that had you grabbing onto your friend for dear life. Which is precisely what the two of us were doing right now. I had such a grip on Jaskier’s arm, I thought he surely must be in pain. But if he was, he made no mention of it and kept laughing with me. 

However much time had passed, it seemed to only be a few minutes. And I still had my hand on his arm, although my grip definitely lessened. He didn’t notice this either, and simply looked into the dying flames with dried tears from his laughter on his cheeks. My gaze lingered a moment too long on his cheeks, and I began to think about how gentle his eyelashes looked against his skin as he blinked. 

Heat rose in my cheeks and I silently withdrew my hand from his arm. This seemed to catch his attention though. 

“Composed yourself now? Don’t need to steady yourself from anymore laughter?”

There was a glint in his eye as he asked me the questions. I had to keep from smiling. 

“That depends. Got any jokes?”

He stood suddenly and rested a hand on his chin, making it seem like he was deep in thought. 

“You look as if you are composing a new song, Julian.”

“I’m a musician, my dear, I am always composing.” 

He paced around the fire, which was even lower than before. The way he took everything so seriously was something that entertained me, and I couldn’t help but smile to myself because of it. 

Suddenly, he opened his mouth in a silent “Aha!”

“(Y/N), why must you never use a broken pen?”

I paused for a moment and scrunched my face in thought, trying to come up with an answer. But before I could, he delivered the punch line. 

“It’s pointless, darling.”

I snorted at the same time Geralt groaned. The fucker was awake. 

Jaskier almost jumped out of his boots at the sudden noise, which only caused me to laugh again. The pain in my stomach from earlier was back, but I couldn’t keep from laughing. 

“Have you been awake this whole time, Geralt?” Jaskier yelled in surprise. 

“Long enough. Don’t you have anything better to do? Like sleep?”

Jaskier open and closed his mouth a few times before settling on a simple, “Right,” in response. He then took his spot a few feet away from Geralt and laid down for the night. 

“Goodnight, Geralt.” Jaskier said with a stifled yawn.

Geralt simply grunted in return, rolling over so his back was facing Jaskier. 

“Goodnight, (Y/N),” Jaskier called in my direction. 

“Goodnight, Jaskier. And goodnight Geralt!” 

“Hmph,” was all I got in response. 

There was a silence over our camp now. But it was too quiet. The kind of quiet that felt like it would be broken at any moment now. Jaskier’s voice was what broke it, of course.

“Goodnight, Roach.”

“Oh, yeah! Goodnight, Roach and Lily!” I called out excitedly. 

“How could I forget Lily? Goodnight, Lily!” Jaskier parroted. 

“Oh, for the love of-” Geralt groaned loudly, sitting up and gathering his things. He promptly moved farther and farther away from us, settling on a spot under the cover of darkness in the trees. 

I snickered to myself as I got my things ready to lay down. Annoying Geralt had become one of our favorite things to do together over the past few months. 

It became silent again, and I could hear Jaskier’s even breathing now, signalling that he was asleep. I had the feeling I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Call it instinct, I guess. 

I laid down on my back and stared up at the sky. Jaskier and I were closer than ever, and it was so nice. But I needed more. I craved more. They say time heals all wounds, but my heart was still shattered after all these months had gone by. I was still so in love with my best friend that it hurt. Even more than it did before. 

Jaskier had been acting differently lately though. He called me more nicknames, and he was even more of a flamboyant disaster than when I first met him. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen him with any random women in bars or taverns anymore. Could he-? No. No way. I must be out of my mind. 

My fingers instinctively went to the dagger Geralt had given me a while ago. Sometimes I would run my hands along the inscription, trying to remind myself to be brave like it said. I could almost laugh at myself right now. I was being anything but brave when it came to Jaskier. 

“Could you please calm your nerves down? I can feel them from over here,” a gruff voice said in the distance. Geralt. Of course.

“Sorry to disturb you. Maybe you should move to another new spot, even farther away. Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask. How is Yennefer?”

I didn’t have to have Witcher senses to feel how that comment landed. 

~

Morning came much more quickly than I was hoping it would. It meant today was the day we had to get moving, which meant we would be moving closer to the situation I had been trying to avoid thinking about. The ball. 

I seemed to be the last one awake, and I could feel the energy as soon as I had rubbed the sleepiness from my reluctant eyes. Geralt sad brooding in the corner of our camp, and Jaskier was flitting about getting everyone’s things together. It was easy to see who was excited and who was not. 

“Today is the day, you sad sack of...sadness,” Jaskier vocalized in regards to Geralt. 

“I know. Don’t remind me.”

I almost laughed as I sat up from my spot on the ground. Geralt wasn’t looking forward to this, and truth be told, I wasn’t either. At least part of me wasn’t. The other part couldn’t help being excited in a childlike way. I had never been in a castle before, let alone a ballroom. Although I couldn’t help but feel like I would be out of place, and painfully so. 

“Don’t look so excited, Geralt.” 

“You weren’t there. You don’t know what happened at the last one.”

I winced and realized that he was right. Although Jaskier had told me some of what happened, I was almost certain that he watered down the events of Pavetta’s betrothal ball in doing so. 

The man in question turned to look at me, apparently just now realizing I was awake. 

“There you are! Come on, we are losing daylight!”

“Jaskier, do I even really need to come? Geralt is only going to be your body guard, so I don’t really have a purpose.”

“Don’t be silly. You must come! We couldn’t just leave you by yourself for hours at a time. These things do tend to take a while.”

I rolled my eyes and stood, stretching as I did so. 

“I am a grown up, you know. I can take care of myself. Afraid I might get kidnapped?” 

Jaskier scoffed and continued packing, mostly ignoring my comment. But it was true, I could take care of myself. Geralt had taught me some things with the dagger over the past few weeks, and I felt confident in my abilities. 

“Well if I must go, at least be careful with my dress and things. I’m sure Yennefer paid good money for them.” 

“The witch probably stole them, more like.”

I watched as Jaskier carefully started packing my things, and tried not to cackle when Geralt made a comment about shoving his foot somewhere it didn’t belong in reference to Jaskier. 

Today was going to be quite...something. 

~

Since we had done most of the travelling yesterday, what was left for today didn’t take long. We made it to the castle in no time it seemed. 

Lily and Roach were tied up in the stables, in the same stall actually. I was quite happy that the stable master was willing to do that. They always seemed to enjoy each other’s company. 

I sat in my borrowed room getting ready, and I was assuming that Geralt and Jaskier were in their own rooms doing the same thing. But that thought was at the back of my mind now as I looked at myself in the mirror. Or at least, what I think was myself. I didn’t really recognize the woman staring back at me. 

Yennefer had picked out the most beautiful, elegant, and intricate floor-length ballgown I could ever imagine. It was sleeved as well, with lace adorning them to match the bodice. The skirt was made of layers on layers, it seemed, and with every move I made it swished gently to follow. It was even in my favorite color. I wonder how she knew? I don’t remember telling her...

She had also gotten me some jewelry to match, and the metals and gems complimented my skin tone perfectly. How did she know all this? I had only met her once, and it was very briefly. I would have to thank her for all this later. 

Not long after I had finished getting dressed, jeweled, and made up, a knock sounded at my door. 

“Come in,” I called. 

Jaskier entered in his outfit for the night. It was a dark, silky purple with golden accents along the doublet’s center, and my breath hitched in my throat when I saw him in the reflection of the mirror I sat in front of. 

“You look breathtaking, darling,” he said in a whisper as he approached me. 

Hopefully he didn’t notice the blush creeping up the sides of my neck. I don’t think I would ever get used to his names for me. 

“You don’t look too bad yourself. Compare that to when you fell into the water yesterday and looked like a dying animal, you basically are a different person.”

Jaskier feigned anger, but I could tell he was amused. 

“Do you like your clothes? I made sure to tell Yennefer all your favorite colors and shiny things.”

My heart skipped a beat. He had told her all of that? I didn’t even know that he knew those things about me.

I stood before really thinking about what I was doing, and turned to face him, the shock evident on my face.

“You told her all that? I didn’t know that you knew such trivial facts about me...Thank you.”

He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. 

“Of course I know. And it was no problem. I had to make sure she didn’t dress you in an unflattering way.”

I tilted my head in thought, almost as a reflex, and it caught his attention. 

“What are you thinking about, (Y/N)?” Jaskier asked me quietly with a crooked smile. 

“I seem to be thinking about everything and nothing at once...but I am mostly wondering how you convinced the people hosting this ball to let me in. Geralt is your security, of course, I get that. But how did you get me in? I’m no one special.”

He was silent for a moment and stared at a spot past me, for almost so long I didn’t think he would reply. But then he did, with an odd look on his face that showed happiness and some other emotion I didn’t recognize. 

“I told them you were my muse. A musician cannot perform without their muse.”

My mouth twitched as if to fall open in shock. but I didn’t let it. I didn’t want him to see how this affected me.

“I’m your what?”

“My muse. You know, inspiration?”

I shook my head furiously, matching the speed at which my heart was beating.

“I know what it means. But why did you tell them that? You couldn’t have come up with a better excuse to get me in here? You didn’t have to lie to them.” 

You couldn’t have come up with a better excuse in order to keep me from getting my hopes up?

He looked at me with a smile. But it was a pained smile. Then for a second, it looked like he might speak. Until Geralt passed by the open door way and told Jaskier it was time to go. The crowd was waiting on him. 

I stood frozen in the same spot I had been in, and I watched them leave. First Geralt, then Jaskier following behind him. At the last second before leaving the doorway, he stopped, placing a hand on the frame. 

Finally he turned to me, and looking over his shoulder, he simply said:

“I didn’t lie.” 

[return-of-a-space-cowboy]

Yandere halloween ask yandere mad scientist! Bruno uses mind control chip to get darling to be the perfect spouse?

This ask right here made my mouth froth, I love Stepford wives so this ask just rolled along perfectly. Anyway enjoy!

This love

(Yandere mad scientist Bruno X female reader)

You had always thought so highly of Dr Buccirati, you were his apprentice after all but there were times that you thought he just went a little too far with his work and this was one of them.

As he explained to you about how he made a chip that could modify an animal's behaviour. How the chip was planted in the rat's brain that you were holding.

"See (Y/n), look at how tame she is now" he said as he petted the poor creature's head.

"What do you intend to do with what you have learnt?" You asked with anger in your words.

"I intend to have the chip used to help with the conservation of the many animals that are close to being extinct. The animals will have the procedure and be put into captivity, they'll have no more issues with stress or aggressive behaviours which allows for them to be safely cared for and less risk during the reproduction cycle" he explained.

"So what you are saying is that you're going to be suppressing their natural survival instincts so they become domesticated?" You asked with a bitter taste on your tongue.

"That's exactly it, they'll have a safe place to repopulate and have nothing to worry about" he answered as he expressed his delight but it only made you grit your teeth in anger.

"I'm disgusted by what you are doing! You're essentially performing a lobotomy on these poor animals! You're playing god and taking away the emotions of a living creature!" You yelled at him.

"I've helped you work on some crazy things before… but I cross the line here!" You continued as you put the rat down in her cage before folding your arms at Bruno.

"Come on (y/n), you're overreacting… what I'm, no what we are working on is going to change history. So many species will be saved from becoming extinct. we will be two of the greatest scientific minds the world has ever know" he held your shoulder and lightly massaged it as he tried to convince you that there was no wrong in it.

"I don't know why you insist that this is a joint effort but I don't want anything to do with it, if people figure out how it works then it won't be long before this is used on humans… how many corrupt governments do you think would love to have this kind of technology used on their own people?" You rebuttal.

you glared at Bruno as you could see his usually calm demeanor wearing thin. He had his hands gripping his short black locks.

"(Y/n) the truth is that I love you, more than I could love anyone else. I want you to be by my side and I want you to be my equal…" he as his grip on you grew tighter.

"You are so intelligent and so beautiful… I just want you to do your best" he continued.

You pulled away the male with a shocked expression plastered on your face.

"Bruno… I didn't know you felt that way about me but I'm afraid I don't share the same feelings, I just don't think the chemistry is there between us" you told him before you headed to your bedroom.

🧪🧪🧪

You had decided you needed to cut ties from Bruno and finally begin your own work. You don't think anything could keep you working with him now. You began to pack your clothes back into your suitcase.

"(Y/n) are you planning on leaving now?" He asked as he rested himself against the door frame, he seemed to have recollected himself but to you something was off about his almost carefree tone.

"I intend to leave tomorrow" you said as you sat on your bed and folded your clothing.

"Don't you think you're blowing this out of proportion, can't we put the breaks on just talk about this over some tea..." he said as he slowly drew closer to you.

"I understand that you're upset and I didn't make things much better" he continued calmly before violently grabbing your hand causing you to fall back onto the bed before you heard a metallic click. You screamed as you tried to pull your hand back to find it was handcuffed to the head of the bed.

"What the hell?!" You screamed at Bruno who was now on top of you.

"I'm sorry that it had to come to this but I can't let you leave" he said.

"I love you too much to let you go… you're too good for this world" he continued.

You felt your stomach twist horribly and your vocal cords seize up. Your eyes were wide with horror.

"I dealt with my unrequited love for so long, I tried to just to put my feelings aside for you but I feel like if I keep it up any longer I'll explode" he rambled you tried to push him with your free hand but he was quick to hold it down.

🧪🧪🧪

It had been a month since he'd locked you up. You were curled up with your knees to your chest, you could see every little mark he'd ever left on your body, you still felt the sting that each love bite left on your skin. Today was cold and the chain and cuff around your ankle made it worse as you shivered in a silk nightgown.

You flinched as you heard the front door open. You had hoped that maybe that was anyone but Bruno, someone that could free you from this place. You heard a pair of footsteps draw closer, your hope dying as the same pattern tore into your brain… you knew he was home.

"(Y/n) I'm home" his voice was cheerful as he opened the door.

"I'm sorry I was later than usual… I found so many things I thought you'd like" he explained as he walked in with a large bag in his hand before placing it on the bed. You were hesitant to look but his sapphire eyes stared at you in anticipation, making your skin crawl.

You grabbed the bag and the first thing you pulled out was a 50s style white and black polka dotted dress. You looked at Bruno with a forced smile on your face.

"Bruno this is really nice but I've never really been a fan of dresses" you told him. He didn't respond. You pulled out another similar dress before picking out various boxes with golden jewelry till there was one more box inside, however it was rectangular in shape unlike the others. You pulled it out only to gasp in horror as you gazed upon the packaging of a pregnancy test. You looked back at him.

At this point you knew something was wrong, your stomach was telling you.

"What's going on?" You asked him with shakey words.

"I just need you to take it" he responded.

"Why?" 

"I need to know whether or not you're pregnant, it's urgent"

"Urgent, what's urgent?!" You yelled at him.

"You're being extremely vague, it's scaring me" you replied, unsure of what was so urgant. You really hoped you weren't, having to live knowing your child was of his blood.

"Just take it please, wouldn't you like to know as well?" He begged.

You had a bad feeling about this but if you knew now then you could try to do something about it if it did come back positive. You let out a defeated sigh as you unboxed the test.

"See you didn't need to make such a big deal about it dear" he said in a light hearted tone as he walked towards the bed and unlocked the shackle on your leg and allowed you to go to the bathroom.

You felt the relief wash over you as you saw the results. It was negative, perhaps you were getting yourself all worked up.

"(Y/n) dearest, what's the results?" Bruno asked from outside the bathroom door. You opened it and showed him, his eyes lit up with joy as he hugged you which was very odd indeed, you assumed he'd had baby fever… if that was the case shouldn't he be disappointed.

You recoiled as you felt a sharp jab on the inner side of your elbow. You saw the now empty syringe in his hand.

"What are you doing?!" You screamed as you stumbled back from his grasp. He looked at the syringe and let out a content hum before his eyes returned to you.

He contemplated on whether he should tell you or not but at this point you couldn't do anything to stop him so there was no point in hiding it.

"I remember back on the night you tried to leave fondly, in hindsight you gave me the most brilliant idea" he explained.

"That whole talk on how my chip could work on humans was really inspiring, so I'm going to do just that… if you won't love me like this, then I can just make you love me" he continued as a smile grew on his lips.

The shock hit you as he explained it all, it horrified you to imagine it. It shook you to the very core. Everything else seemed like a luxury in comparison to losing everything.

"Bruno, please don't do this! I love you so much!" You screamed as you draped your body over him.

"My dear I love you so much… I'll stay with you forever… I'll give you as many children as you want, please oh please don't do this!" You were practically sobbing as you tried to pull on his strings.

"I'll do anything for you, anything at all!" You continued as you felt everything becoming numb, he had you in his hands and he could do anything he wanted to you.

"Please Bruno, we can put this all behind us and start over… you never imprisoned me, you never did those things to me… we can be the happiest couple!" You pleaded to him as your eyelids grow heavy.

"Please… please… I won't be the same person you feel in love with if you do this…" your screams turned into a mutter and as you tried to fight off the deep abyss of unconsciousness you swore you could see a glimpse of your whole life with every slow blink.

🧪🧪🧪

"What you've made is amazing Bruno, you should be proud of your work" the man in front of Bruno complimented his work.

"Thank you sir, to be honest I wouldn't be here showing you this if it wasn't for my wonderful wife" he said as he beamed with joy.

"Oh, your wife must be an amazing woman to help you" the man replied.

"Yes she is. She always gave me the right idea when I was unsure, she'd be here with us right now if it weren't for the upcoming baby. She's just been so ecstatic about it since we found out" he stated as he had his head in his hand. He was over the moon with joy, he couldn't talk to someone without bringing up the fact that he was going to be a father soon.

"Oh congratulations, how long till it's due?" The male congratulated him.

"Oh it's close, we're expecting around October… It's hard to imagine that I'll be a father in two months"

"And how's the lucky lady feeling about this? My wife was pretty worried before our first" he asked.

"Oh she's been great, she's been taking it all in stride. I haven't seen her sick or having any mood swings like what most of us tend to expect" Bruno chuckled as he slumped back into his chair.

"We should probably get back on topic… I should probably explain how these chips work in detail"

[tobiosmilktea]

hello there. my bday is around the corner and i was wondering how would random haikyuu boys celebrate it with u 💓

how the haikyuu boys will celebrate your birthday with you

a/n: my birthday is just around the corner too so this was really fun to write 🥺 i decided to do it by team bc i couldn’t pick who boys to do lmao

— karasuno

i think they’ll definitely pull some intricate plan that will go wrong one way or another

like a surprise party maybe

it was fs nishinoya and tanaka’s idea to set one up after school in the gym where they tell everyone to pretend to forget your birthday just to add that special element of surprise

but then again, guys like tsukishima and kageyama don’t need to pretend they didn’t know your birthday because they truly didn’t until hinata brought it up to them (don’t take it too personally tho lmao)

speaking of which, hinata almost spoiled the surprise for you if yachi wasn’t there to distract you 💀

despite being the second year’s idea to throw this surprise party for you, it’s primarily the third years doing all the work since tanaka and nishinoya don’t know how to organize a party for shit

poor kiyoko is actually doing all the work while daichi and asahi are putting up decorations with the help of the first years (tsukishima had to be forced tho smh)

yamaguchi and yachi seem like the types to overthink what to get you for a birthday present, probably going all out while kageyama would just buy you your favorite drink and snack from the vending machine near the gym literally five minutes before the surprise

it’s the thought that counts ig

sugawara made your cake as well with the usual message, ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY Y/N !!’

and since the surprise party was being held in the gym after practice, everyone had to hurry and clean up before setting out all the decorations. and can i just say, it’s chaotic™️

yachi had to distract you for a good ten minutes by asking you to walk all the way towards the other end of campus to ‘get something’ that didn’t exist in the first place

meanwhile in the gym, the second years were in charge of taking down the volleyball net to replace it with a badly homemade painting with tanaka’s messy ass handwriting wishing you a happy birthday

the third years and first years as mentioned before were setting up decorations, hanging up streamers, setting out balloons, and handing out party poppers

with kiyoko, takeda-sensei, and ukai set out a table for sugawara to place the cake he made for you (which it almost fell cause ennoshita bumped into him)

hinata was also on the lookout if you and yachi were nearby

and when you were, he shout so loudly that even you heard down the hall

finishing up any last minute details, the team sets out their presents for you with their party poppers in hand before shouting, “SURPRISE!!”

it’s all fun and games until nishinoya accidentally released confetti at your face by accident

he made up for it with his present though lmao

— aoba johsai

saying that seijoh probably won’t do anything as big as a surprise party is a complete lie

knowing oikawa and the moment he found out it was going to be your birthday soon, he’ll plan something more extravagant than some lame surprise party (albeit, badly planned without the help of iwa)

he’d probably rent out a party bus to drive around the city before stopping by at some random karaoke place downtown

he’ll only invite the third years and your close friends so it isn’t too big of a celebration that it doesn’t feel like it’s your own party

the best part of the night was mattsun absolutely outshining oikawa in literally everything

there was even a stripper pole in the party bus and he just started fucking around with you to pretending to make it rain on him,, it was hilarious

you love rewatching the videos you took of that night

your favorite (besides stripper matsukawa) was iwa singing a ballad for you and when i say that man has vocals i mean it

at the end of the night, all your friends got up to sing happy birthday to you on the karaoke machine

the second years would probably feel bad celebrating your birthday with you, so instead they take you out to get udon after school and just vibe

you were honestly just surprised that it was kyotani’s idea to take you out like this, not to mention the cute gift he gave you that he put a lot of thought into

meanwhile i think the first years are just too intimidated by you minus kunimi

like kindaichi knew of your birthday but he was just too scared to go up to you and wish you a happy birthday before handing you your favorite convenient store snack as a little gift

— nekoma

unlike karasuno and seijoh, the way the nekoma boys celebrate with you is definitely on the more laidback side, yet they still put effort in wishing you a happy birthday

kenma, kuroo, and yaku would definitely stay up with you the night before your birthday playing video games just to be the first ones to wish you a happy birthday the moment the clock strikes midnight

they’ll even set up a minecraft server that kenma spent hours setting up and building everything that you like with a gigantic banner made out of your favorite colors of wool saying ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY!’

the rest of the night staying up playing party games on hypixel despite having school the next day

in the morning, you’d find kenma and kuroo waiting outside your house so they can walk the birthday celebrant to school, plus they had bags in their hands to which you assume were presents for you

it was then did you realize that you were going to get more throughout the day after kuroo mentioned how he told the team that it was your birthday

there was something embarrassing and a bit cringey being showered with attention for your birthday, especially at school, but you still appreciated the team’s efforts

throughout the day, people would notice the gifts in your hands and would wish you a happy birthday, definitely causing a stir in the school when yaku, lev, and yamamoto burst into your classroom to shout happy birthday

while yamamoto is literally showering you with birthday wishes and presents, lev would give you a cute plushie of your favorite animal along with a little cake

he’d probably ask to eat it with you during lunch lmao

by the end of the day, kuroo and kenma would help you carry all the presents you received as you guys end the day off getting ramen

— fukurodani

i don’t think they’ll make a big deal out of it knowing you don’t like making a big deal out of your birthday either

the only reason why they even found out that your birthday was around the corner is because bokuto couldn’t keep his mouth shut

it played out somewhere along the lines like this: akaashi would ask you if you were free this weekend so you two could study for the upcoming math exam

bokuto was there as well when you had to ask for a raincheck on studying as your parents were forcing you to go out on a celebratory birthday dinner (as by their words, “it’s the least you could do.”)

to which bokuto literally gasps and shouts, “IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY THIS WEEKEND?” his words echoing throughout the gym and definitely catching the attention of the rest of the volleyball team

if that’s his reaction to finding out it’s your birthday soon, just imagine how shocked he would be when you tell him that you don’t really like celebrating it

akaashi would definitely understand and opted to buy you a little something for his appreciation and give it to you the following day, but bokuto wants to full on throw a party for you

“come on! it’ll just be a little get-together at the park!” he would beg

“thank you, bo, but i’m honestly fine just going out to dinner with my family.”

he would huff, planning to throw one as a surprise party instead, but akaashi immediately shoots down his idea out of respect for you

instead, bokuto would channel all that energy to giving “the best birthday gift of your life!” (end quote)

even konoha would challenge him on that just to tease him, but would still give you a well thought out gift

and yeah, it’s honestly kind of embarrassing seeing him walk into school with a box full of things you’re into including a giant owl plushie (school spirit ig??)

poor bo was outshined by yukie and kaori when they made a birthday cake for you

— shiratorizawa

lowkey i feel like shiratorizawa is definitely one of those private schools that would announce when their student’s birthdays are when they come close

like no one of the vb team would’ve found out your birthday was in a couple days if it wasn’t for that overhead announcement made by the vice principal

however, i wouldn’t think they’d make a huge deal out of it besides tendou maybe

the moment you would walk into the gymnasium, he’ll immediately wish you a happy birthday loudly before nudging ushijima to do the same

instead of one big party, you celebrated with them almost individually

tendou and ushijima both took you to the aquarium and bought you a gift that you specifically chose out cause they’d probably wouldn’t be bothered to do so without you

and then you’d go out with semi and reon to which you three just get sushi after school

lowkey i feel like they would buy literally anything you show even the tiniest amount of interest in and they’ll buy it within a snap

you literally had to stop semi from buying you anything else as he’ll end up spending all his pocket change when the sushi was enough

and unlike their upperclassman, shirabu and goshiki would probably just celebrate with you by just hanging out at your house--watching netflix, playing video games, maybe ordering some pizza

it’s pretty simple, but they’ll be there all day cause the time spent together is just really nice

— inarizaki

the twins literally cannot keep their mouths shut

the team was already pretty aware of your birthday, but they have been keeping the surprise party for you on the downlow ever since the twins proposed their idea of doing a little picnic for you

but go figure that it would be atsumu and osamu exposing their entire plan in front of you after nagging their team not to say jackshit in front of you

they’d still follow through with their plans, however, despite not being a surprise anymore

the little celebration would be held at the park, suna being in charge of the picnic blanket, kita being in charge of bringing drinks, osamu being in charge of bringing the food, and atsumu being in charge of... well,, bringing you ig

aran would arrive late only because he had to get his bday gift for you (which btw was the best one fs) as well as picking up your birthday cake with the words ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY BITCH <3′ 

it’s so obvious that suna was the one who ordered the cake, but it’s literally the best you have every received

overall, it’s pretty chill but you couldn’t ask for anything more knowing their efforts and how you’ve been laughing your ass off the entire time

you guys would even watch the sunset as yall sat atop a hill, taking photos to put on your stories and to post on social media

out of the hundreds of photos taken of you with your cake or aran force feeding suna food, the group photo taken exactly at golden hour was your absolute favorite

[nugnthopkns]

dance me to the end of love (v)

word count: 4.6k

warnings: fem!oc, cursing, alcohol consumption, mentions of poor parenting and damaged familial relationships

series masterpost: here

a/n: and just like that we're halfway through!!! it's crazy to think about it. however, lots happens in this chapter so buckle up peeps

Soon Magdalene’s feelings are going to get the better of her.

She knows she’s heading down a dangerous path but she can’t help it. Ryan is like a drug she can’t get enough of even though she knows it will hurt her in the long run. Living with him has opened her up to the laid back, intelligent, incredibly funny man he is and Magdalene doesn’t know how she’s ever going to function in her own space ever again. They complement each other like two peas in a pod, and everyone else is starting to catch on to the shift in their relationship.

“When are you going to fess up to Ryan about your feelings?” Bette asks as the two of them sit on the lawn across from the university library. It’s mid October, but the weather is still warm enough that Magdalene eats her lunch outside. Her best friend decided to join her today, no doubt knowing that she’s feeling a little lonely. The Avalanche are in the middle of their season opening road trip and have been gone for nearly five days. Ryan’s condo feels empty without him in it, and Magdalene misses him an unfathomable amount.

“Never, if I can help it,” she replies casually, taking a bite of the turkey wrap that Bette brought her from Barn Owl.

The blonde scoffs. “Fuck off. You have to. What are you going to do when he gets back from Florida and you tackle him as soon as he steps through the door.”

“Caligula will get there first,” Magdalene shrugs. “Those two are thick as thieves.”

Truthfully, Magdalene wasn’t sure what she was going to do. This is the longest they’ve been separated since she moved in and it’s proving to be a harder adjustment than she thought. Magdalene feels a little silly missing him so much – she went nearly twenty-six years without knowing Ryan but now he’s imprinted on her soul for the rest of eternity. Living without him seems impossible.

Bette drops the conversation then, almost as if she knows Magdalene is in her own world thinking about what to do. She mentions the upcoming home opener and her plans to attend with a couple of the other wives and girlfriends. “We’re going out beforehand and you should join us! I really think you’d like most of them.”

The bell in the clock tower rings, signalling the start of another hour, and Magdalene promises she’ll consider the offer as they pack up the picnic and say goodbye. It’s a short walk back to the building she works in, seeing as they were only across the street, but it takes a while for the elevator to come around. Magdalene could have taken the stairs down to the basement but they scare her a lot more than she’d like to admit. Hopefully June won’t mind her being a few minutes late.

Her boss doesn’t look too pleased when Magdalene strolls through the door almost seven minutes later then she should have, but as soon as she tosses the cookie Bette brought her in June’s direction all is forgiven. They work in near silence all afternoon, background noise provided by the small stereo in the corner and their respective grunts of frustration when an image doesn’t digitize properly. The university has finally decided to undertake the massive project of making all their school records available to the public online, and Magdalene and June are in charge of getting all the files ready before sending them to IT for installation into the website. It’s a huge task and is going to take them the better part of a month and a half to finish. Magdalene spends the rest of her work day finishing up a box of graduation records from the 1870s and leaves smelling of very old paper.

On the drive home she considers the invitation Bette extended to her. Magdalene knows she’ll be attending the game, having promised Ryan before he left that she’d be there, but she doesn’t know how to feel about going out for dinner and drink beforehand – especially with people so involved with the team. She isn’t like them, in nearly every sense of the phrase, and doesn’t want people to get the wrong idea. It wouldn’t be fair to Ryan for people to assume they’re together in case he ever does want to bring someone around, but Magdalene can’t help thinking that the speculation wouldn’t hurt. Perhaps it would be the clue that shows him how she feels.

The invite stays in the back of her brain while she heats up leftovers and eats quickly, knowing that Ryan will call soon. He’s like clockwork with his precise game day routine, and he always calls shortly after four o’clock when out east. Magdalene’s phone buzzes from the spot beside her on the couch and she quickly scoops it up and accepts the call.

“Hey,” she says, a little breathless because she’s so excited to talk to him.

“Hey yourself. How was work?” Magdalene can tell Ryan’s got a smile on his face even though she can’t see him. She indulges the question, telling him all about the stuff she digitized and what’s next. Though she always tries to get out of talking about work, fearing it will bore the daylights out of him, Ryan insists on hearing every detail Magdalene wants to share. He finds it all fascinating and tells her so every chance he gets. During her monologue Caligula wanders over and becomes extremely invested after he hears Ryan laugh at something Magdalene said. The small white cat jumps onto Magdalene’s lap and tries to paw the phone away from her ear.

“Hold on, I’m putting you on speaker. Little boots would like to talk.”

At the sound of Ryan’s greeting, Caligula starts meowing up a storm. It’s as though he’s actually holding a conversation with the man, waiting for Ryan to say something before he continues to make noise. Magdalene laughs through what could barely classify as a conversation until the cat gives her space to talk again.

“So,” she says, drawing out the word in an attempt to make Ryan laugh. “Bette asked me to join her and some of the other girls for drinks before Friday’s game.”

Ryan’s responding before Magdalene has finished uttering the last words. “That’s great! I think you should go.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he says sheepishly, “It would be nice for you to know someone other than Bette.”

Magdalene is surprised at the response, but tries her hardest to keep her tone light and teasing. “Why, you plan on keeping me around Mr. Graves?” She can tell Ryan is struggling to come up with an answer because there’s a fair amount of sputtering on the other end of the line.

“I’d be stupid to let you go.”

All the breath in Magdalene’s lungs escapes her. She didn’t expect him to say something like that, and it sends her mind reeling. What does he mean? Unable to process the comment, Magdalene makes up an excuse and hangs up as quickly as possible. She spends the rest of the night wondering if Ryan was trying to make a move and deciding how she should handle his homecoming in a few days.

☼☼☼☼

When Ryan gets home Thursday morning Magdalene is at work. Caligula is happy to see him, practically pouncing on him and purring so loud Ryan’s sure the neighbours heard the cat. For an animal so small, Caligula can make a lot of noise if he wants.

“Hi boy,” Ryan coos, adjusting his grip on the cat so he doesn’t get dropped while the two of them move around the house. “Did your mom talk about me while I was gone? Been thinking about her a lot lately.”

The cat doesn’t respond, of course, but Ryan finds comfort in vocalizing his emotions. Multiple times on the road trip Tyson made fun of him for the silent pining he’s found himself participating in since Magdalene moved in, and hinted that she might have said something to Bette. Neither of them are great at keeping secrets, but Ryan also knows they want him and Magdalene to get together and aren’t above manipulation to achieve their goals. He doesn’t know how Magdalene actually feels, but Ryan isn’t willing to risk losing their friendship. Just a couple of months ago she sat on the deck of the lake house and told him she wasn’t looking for a relationship – he has to assume that’s still her position because if he doesn’t Ryan isn’t quite sure what he’ll unleash. Though the two of them are close, closer than most friends, Magdalene stills keeps a lot of things to herself and Ryan doesn’t want to pry. When, and if, she’s ready he knows she’ll come to him.

Exhausted from the countless hours of travel he’s endured over the past few days and the pains that come along with being a professional athlete, Ryan falls back onto the couch cushions. He hurts in places he didn’t know existed and wants to do nothing but sleep. Caligula settles into his stomach, purring contently, and though he knows he should unpack his gear, Ryan can’t find the energy to move himself or the cat. Everything will still be there when he wakes up, and hopefully Magdalene will be on her way home. She texted Ryan earlier in the morning, no doubt just before she headed out the door, to say that she was taking some holidays to have a long weekend and would be home around noon. Sleep comes easy with Caligula nestled against his body, and Ryan dreams of Magdalene as he frequently does.

☼☼☼☼

Despite Bette telling her countless times she shouldn’t be, Magdalene is nervous. The significant others of the Colorado Avalanche are a tight knit group and are very particular with who they let in. Magdalene is a nothing, has no true connections to the team besides being Tyson’s girlfriend’s best friend, and she’s worried she won’t make the cut. If it wasn’t for Bette picking her up in the morning Magdalene would have found a way to get out of drinks, but the blonde made sure she couldn’t make a run for it.

Sitting in the elevated booth, she not-so-casually sips her glass of wine while Bette tries to calm her down. “They’re going to hate me,” she groans, lowering her head to rest it on the table.

“Shut the fuck up,” Bette counters. “You literally know most of them, and Livy will be here if you get too uncomfortable, but most of them were at EJ’s back in May.”

Magdalene can’t argue with the truth, so she rolls her eyes and finishes her drink. By the time she flags down the waiter for a refill the other girls have arrived. They take turns hugging Bette and shuffling into their seats. Magdalene feels awkward with no one acknowledging her, but she does her best to buck up and deal with it. It means a lot to Bette, and Ryan, that she’s here trying to make friends so she’ll at least make an effort.

A blonde who looks a little older than the rest addresses her first. “I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m Mel. I think we met last season at a game.”

It takes Magdalene a second to recall the face, but then she recognizes Mel as the person who alerted her to the fight Ryan got into to defend Tyson. “Oh yeah,” she chuckles, though it’s still got a nervous quality, “You’re the one who was yelling about Ryan’s fight.”

Everyone looks at her like Magdalene had confessed to seeing a ghost. “What’s the matter?”

“No one ever calls him that,” a petite girl with tight curls explains. “We all just call him Gravy.”

“Oh.”

Magdalene isn’t sure what the comment is supposed to mean, or if it even meant anything at all, but she does her best to push it aside because Livy is trying to catch up with her. The rest of the outing goes well – Magdalene keeps quiet until someone gives an inaccurate analogy about Rome and she has to correct them. It may make her seem stuck up, but she really hates when people spread misinformation. Everyone laughs, and after that it’s hard for Magdalene to stay silent. She talks about work and college, but when someone asks about home she shuts down. Bette notices the shift in her behaviour before Magdalene’s face has even dropped, and shifts the conversation in another direction. Soon it’s a respectable time to head to the arena and they all pay their tabs, Magdalene going first and then ducking out of the bar that became crowded while they were sitting down.

The fresh air feels good against her skin, and she takes the time alone to regulate her thoughts. There’s still several hours until she can return home and cry in the shower over the mention of her family so it’s important to present a calm facade. Bette comes out slightly ahead of the other girls and checks in with her friend, but Magdalene assures her she’s okay. It was a bit of a spook, but the other girls have no idea about how fucked up her familial situation is so Magdalene can’t hold it against them. The arena is a few blocks over, so the group walks towards it at a brisk pace. Magdalene’s mind is still churning from the bar when they step inside, so she peels off from the rest of the group. Warm ups are about to start and she knows that seeing Ryan will help to calm her down, at least until they can go home and she can sequester herself away from the rest of the world.

She finds a space against the glass and strains her eyes for her new favourite number. Ryan hasn’t made it out on the ice yet, but Tyson gives her a big wave when he skates past. It takes a few seconds, though it feels like years, but Ryan eventually steps out, all long limbs and hair and dazzling smile as his teammates give him big hi-fives. Magdalene doesn’t want to intrude but she needs to spend a few moments with him to feel completely present. When he skates by she waves shyly, and Ryan doubles back once he realizes who it is.

“There’s my favourite girl!” he shouts over the crowd, making sure Magdalene can hear.

The phrase brings a smile to her face, which in turn makes Ryan light up more. “Hi Ry,” she yells back. “I just wanted to come and say hi.”

Ryan’s heart warms at her words, but he knows that’s not the only reason. He’s lived with her long enough to know that something is bothering her but he isn’t going to push. There isn’t much time to have a conversation, so Ryan takes the time to make plans for after the game. “You riding home with me?”

Magdalene nods. “Yeah. Bette picked me up this morning so I didn’t drive.”

The loud sound of sticks clapping against the ice startles them both, and it’s Ryan’s teammate’s way of getting him to refocus. Magdalene says goodbye and before Ryan heads back to the bench he flips a puck over the glass for her. She smiles brightly, and watches him skate away. On her way up the stairs she hands it to a little girl wearing a much too big Graves jersey. It makes her night, and Magdalene returns to the private box she’s watching the game from feeling much lighter than when she entered the arena.

☼☼☼☼

Later, much later, after all of Ryan’s post game media and sitting through the traffic of downtown, Magdalene opens up about what was bothering her at the arena. The two of them are curled up in Ryan’s bed buried under a mass of blankets with several pillows strewn about. It’s become a frequent place for them to spend time, and every time they lay down Magdalene rests her head on Ryan’s chest and he keeps her in place with his arms wrapped tightly around her. Magdalene’s clutching his hoodie tighter than usual, her voice small as she speaks into the darkness of the room.

“I didn’t just want to say hi earlier.”

Ryan isn’t surprised by her confession, but wants to know what caused the surprise visit. “No? What was it?”

Magdalene lift head and shifts to face him, propping herself up with an open palm. “It’s kind of stupid,” she mumbles, feeling dumb for even bringing it up. Ryan doesn’t want to know the sob story that is her past life. “But it’s mostly okay now.”

“You don’t have to tell me, and I don’t want to push, but I think getting it off your chest will help,” he whispers, feeling like talking in a normal voice could startle the girl in front of him.

He’s right – Magdalene knows it. Telling someone the truth, as much of the truth as she can share, other than Bette would do her some good. Her therapist once said Magdalene needed to work on letting people in, and she figures there’s no one better than Ryan. “One of the girls asked me about home when we were getting drinks, and it’s just a really sore subject for me. I shut down and just needed to see you to ground myself.” Ryan goes to talk, but Magdalene continues. “No one really knows, but I left for Denver as soon as I graduated high school. My parents weren’t the greatest, and I suffered a lot emotionally at home. When I told them I was leaving, they told me never to come back and we haven’t spoken since. So yeah, that’s pretty much it. And I just needed to see you to remind myself that I’m okay without my family. You’re part of my family now, the one that really matters.”

Ryan is speechless. “Oh bug,” he sighs, heart hurting for all the pain Magdalene has experienced in her life. “I’m so sorry.” He wants to scream for her, maybe even break something, but all his anger dissipates when he looks down and sees her crying. Silently, Ryan wipes away the tears with the pad of his thumb and holds Magdalene until she stops trembling. They lay in silence for a while, sitting with the weight of the confession she just made. At some point Caligula shuffles in and finds a spot at Ryan’s side that isn’t occupied by Magdalene. The three of them feel like a little family, and it’s too good for Magdalene not to do something about.

“Can I kiss you?”

She’s never been so confident while asking a question. Magdalene knows he wants to kiss Ryan, has known for a while, and after baring her soul to him it seems like an appropriate time to take the plunge. They’ve never truly been just friends and everyone around them, including themselves, knows it.

“Mags,” Ryan says in a gentle yet stern voice, “I’m not gonna kiss you. You’ve just been very vulnerable with me, which I appreciate, and though I really really want to fucking kiss you I’m going to take advantage of you like that.”

If it were possible, Magdalene’s heart would expand so much it would be close to bursting. “I promise this is what I want and that I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. So please shut the fuck up and let me kiss you.”

She leans forward to connect their lips, and it feels like a fire has been ignited in her veins. Ryan is soft and gentle with the right amount of grit to make Magdalene weak in the knees. They move in tandem, giving and taking where necessary, and by the time they pull apart for air Magdalene thinks she’ll never be able to kiss anyone other than Ryan. When he looks at her, eyes kind and glimmering with light, Magdalene is certain kissing other people is off the table.

Neither of them make an effort to talk about what just happened or what it means. Instead, Magdalene kisses him again, and again, and keeps going until she’s completely out of breath. There’s no protest from Ryan, and he looks as blissful as Magdalene feels. She rests her head on his chest again and he cards his fingers through her hair as they sit in the comfortable silence that surrounds them.

☼☼☼☼

Magdalene keeps kissing Ryan, and he keeps kissing her. It’s always in the safety of his apartment, oftentimes with Caligula in the way, but wholesome and loving and warm. They haven’t defined their relationship, and truthfully Magdalene is glad. She likes being friends with Ryan and doesn’t know how the added pressures of dating would affect them – though she might like kissing him more than just being friends.

It becomes routine for either of them to reach for a kiss before heading to the door. Magdalene gets one every time she leaves for work, and if she’s there before Ryan has to leave for games he’s pulled into her lips by his tie. It’s fun and it’s new and Magdalene never wants it to end. She keeps the secret for a couple weeks, but eventually it becomes too much to hold in and she tells Bette one Saturday when they meet for brunch at Barn Owl because the boys are away.

“I kissed Ryan.” It’s out of her mouth like a bullet, cutting through the air and ringing out. Bette is shocked, jaw dropping, only to open further when Magdalene corrects herself. “Been kissing Ryan, actually.”

“You’re fucking joking,” Bette laughs, still not one hundred percent sure Magdalene is being serious. When the brunette nods her head, she squeals in what can only be presumed as delight. “Shut up! Tell me everything!”

Magdalene indulges her friend, and spills every detail she’s willing to share. Part of her wants to keep a bit of her life with Ryan a secret so she does, but Bette is more than willing to work with the information given. She listens carefully while Magdalene talks and waits until there’s nothing more to say before diving into a long list of reasons why kissing Ryan is the best thing that’s ever happened to her friend. Magdalene isn’t sure that it’s great because Bette will always have someone to go to games with, but she is in agreement that it is one of the best choices she’s ever made. They spend the rest of the morning giggling like school girls over potential love and Magdalene heads back to Ryan’s place feeling light and airy.

☼☼☼☼

The first thing Ryan does when he comes home is kisses Magdalene. She’s sitting on the couch with Caligula on her lap reading a book, and he doesn’t even bother to drop his bags on the floor before leaning over the worn leather and connecting their lips. It feels heavenly after the days-long absence and Magdalene chases his lips when Ryan pulls away.

“I missed you.”

They’re three words that shouldn’t mean much, but coming from him they send Magdalene spiralling. He missed her? The girl who spends her days geeking out over old documents and talks to her cat? Regardless of how true the statement is she appreciates it, because Magdalene missed Ryan more than she could ever explain.

“How was the flight home?” she asks, twirling a lock of his hair around her index finger and pulling him down for another kiss. Ryan happily obliges, and kisses her until Caligula begins to meow for attention. The cat practically launches himself into Ryan’s arms as he rounds the corner to sit down next to Magdalene, and purrs loudly at being reunited with the tall man.

Ryan laughs at the animal’s antics before wrapping his spare arm around Magdalene and pulling her close. “It was fine. We hit a bit of turbulence that made it hard to sleep but I managed,” he replies, and reaches for the television remote. Magdalene hums in response, resting her head on Ryan’s shoulder and returning her attention to the book in her hands. It’s silent except for the low buzz of the television as Ryan reviews tape, but neither of them mind. Co-existing is enough for both of them, and it’s peaceful and easy. The occasional conversation occurs but they mostly do their own thing, enjoying the feeling of being together again. More than a few kisses are shared, and Magdalene eventually pries herself away from Ryan long enough to make dinner.

They stayed glued to each other until Magdalene falls asleep. Ryan doesn’t even notice when it happens, but eventually he tries to leave the couch to get a glass of water and finds dead weight on top of him in the shape of the girl he just might love. Magdalene’s snoring softly, and he’s positive there is nothing more adorable in the entire world. A glance at the clock on the wall alerts Ryan to the fact that he should go to bed too, and he begins to brainstorm how to get Magdalene into bed without waking her. She’s been exhausted lately, working extended hours, and he knows she needs all the rest she can get.

It takes a few moments to coordinate, but Ryan gets himself upright without Magdalene realizing she’s no longer using him as a pillow. Gently he scoops her into his arms and pads down the hallway, careful not to hit her ankles on the walls or door frames. Once inside her room, Ryan tucks Magdalene into bed and makes sure her phone is on the nightstand just where she likes it. She looks so content in sleep that he can’t help but lean down and press a shirt kiss to her forehead.

“Night Mags,” he whispers into the dark, wondering if she’ll wake and hear all the adoration his voice holds.

Magdalene stirs at the noise, and opens her eyes to see Ryan’s retreating figure. “Night Ry.”

It’s late, approaching two in the morning, when Magdalene’s phone starts ringing off the hook. Though Ryan has told her multiple times that she doesn’t need to turn her sound on before she goes to bed, she can never find it in her to heed his words. What if there’s an emergency somewhere and some hospital has to get a hold of her? Magdalene would never be able to forgive herself if she was too late because she slept through the incoming calls.

Despite her underlying fears of missing something important, Magdalene considers letting it go to voicemail. She’s exhausted, between the high maintenance projects at work and trying her hardest to go to every Avalanche home game she can, and if it’s urgent she’s sure the person will call again if they need her. It rings three more times before Magdalene decides to pick it up – if only to stop the incessant noise.

Not bothering to even see who’s calling at such an ungodly hour, Magdalene speaks in a sleep-laden voice that betrays what she was doing not even a minute prior. “Hello?”

Bette answers her, offering a quick but sincere apology for the time but explaining that it couldn’t wait. Magdalene groans in contempt, thinking that it most certainly could have waited a few more hours. She doesn’t voice her opinion however, instead waiting for her friend to spill whatever news was making her bounce up and down on the other side of the line.

She’s about to hang up when Bette utters a sentence Magdalene’s been waiting for but never thought she’d hear at one fifty-seven am. “I’m getting married!”

☼☼☼☼

taglist: @scrunchmakar @marcoscandellas @toplinetommy @samsteel @lovethepreds @cutiesara23 @hockeyallthetime @stlouisbluesbrat21 @denis-scorianov @danglesnipecelly @c-tangerine @stormingroses @spine-buster @rapidfever @bb-nhlqueen7 (add yourself to the taglist!)

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans Are Space Orcs, “The hypothetical

I decided to go back to and play around with my older style of writing today. Taking a bi of a break from the main plot line for a little bit :) 

As a doctor, I often wonder about hypotheticals. What would happen if my patient was injured in this way, what would I do. Working with humans I find each scenario has to be more outlandish than the next assuming the human is going to do something stupid.

However, in all my time with humans there is one hypothetical that I find most interesting: what would happen if early human/nonhuman communication never happened, and like animals in documentaries, or at zoos we learned about the humans purely through observation.

Humor me for a moment as I write this as I think it could be an interesting thought-experiment for the scientific community. 

I imagine we would see them as a series of logs made by the zookeeper as the humans were captured and placed into their enclosures, not knowing that the humans were sentient.

I see it going something like this.

Day 1 - we encountered the strange creature on a distant planet. We have never seen anything like them before. They tall, though that is only by way of the walking bipedally. Their arms are very long, and their eyes face forward. We were forced to capture them through tranquilization as they were uncooperative. We have a group of them, about six that we released into the enclosure. They are very agitated, and we must do what we can to calm them or otherwise worry about causing them significant stress. I can see them now lying on the ground resting their heads, they do not look well from the drugs, but we hope that the side effects will not last long.

Day 2 - We have yet to determine the genders of the creatures or even if they have any. It is difficult to tell, though there are subtle anatomical differences that we assume might have some bearing on the subject. Luckily for us they ate within the first day, and continue to eat well. As far as we understand their diets, these creatures can eat a large range of food, more than any animal or alien we have ever seen, and this including meat, plants, and plant byproducts.

Day - 4 They have a very large range of vocalizations, in a very complex structure that almost seems as if they are speaking to one another. They grunt hiss click hum, and so much more. As far as we can tell, they seem very social and tend to congregate in a small circle to commune with each other. When they sleep, they tend to sleep in a large group, or within the same general vicinity of each other. It sees they have a strong pack mentality.

Day- 3 we were forced to move them to a new enclosure as, last night one of the zookeepers ran across the creatures scaling the wall of their enclosure using the digits on their hands and feet to hold to the rough surface and pull themselves upward. I and the other scientists are a bit put out as we should have known this based on the anatomy of their flexible toes, and the sockets of their shoulders. These creatures are very good at climbing. For this reason the new enclosure is much larger, it has a pool of water and many tall branches to climb though there is a field around it to keep the creatures form climbing out.

Day 4 - The pool was a good idea as the creatures seem to enjoy submerging themselves in water. We know now that their strangely colored skin is not actually skin but some kind of artificial covering. They take off this artificial skin if they enter the water and put it back on after they leave. We also know the difference between the males and the females now as the males have more defined muscular structures and the females are more rounded with softer angles. As far as we can determine there is no behavioral difference between the two species.

Day 5 - We think they know they are being watched, as they have a habit of obscuring themselves in the furthest end of the enclosure where it is difficult for them to be seen. They have even taken some of the fallen branches and erected a bit of a screen to hide away prying eyes, or at least that is how it seems. Some of our experts assume it was actually in order to build a proper nest though we cannot be entirely sure about that.  

Day 30 - We are worried about one of the females. Her body structure has begun to change over these past few weeks, and her belly is becoming distended. We are worried about some sort of blockage or bloating caused by the misuse of food. The other creatures seem to be worried about her as well. We  might go in and tranquilize her and bring her out to examine her at some point tomorrow.

Day 31 - we had to sedate every creature in the enclosure in order to pull the female out and separate er form her pack. We tried to separate her naturally from them, pulling her to one side of the enclosure, but it seemed as if they knew what we were doing and the other large males and the one aggressive female would not allow her to go. We had to dart all five of the others to capture her, though when we pulled her out we were delighted to find the reason for her distended belly has nothing to do with the food. It seems as if we had inadvertently picked up a pregnant alien creature., which is likely why the others were so protective over her. We worry though because upon examining the internal structures we are concerned that the head of the offspring will not be large enough to fit through the pelvis. We are not sure if this is what the natural progression of their child bearing is supposed to look  like.

Day - 50 we have been doing some tests on our  creatures and have found a few interesting things. Their senses are far superior to our own.  We once thought that their eyes would be adapted to hunting and racking movement, and while that is true in low light situations, they actually have very sharp sense of binocular vision, and are very competent at guessing distances. They seem to be a primary visual creature, and we assume that their vision is even better than ours. There is some evidence that they can even see somewhat in the dark, though based on our examination of their behavior they are primarily a daytime animal.

Day - 61 We think that they can hear us talking outside the enclosure. In fact, we think they have a very sensitive set of hearing organs. They often behave in ways that make us think they might be able to hear us. They always seem to know when we are coming into the enclosure to feed them. They tend to stand very close and watch us very carefully. We are worried that they might attack, but so far they have not. The most disconcerting is the large male and the smaller female. The way they watch some of our handlers unnerves them, and I am going to have to hire new hands to help with this project 

Day 70 - They can use tools! It is an exciting and amazing discovery. But just the other day we say them begin to make things using strips of their own not-skin and some branches. They have tied rocks together and are even using them to smash up bits of food. Their hands seem very capable of doing such things as they are actually quite  delicate in their movements. Each diget can be controlled to the finest degree and the rotational movement of their wrist implies  extreme dexterity. Many of us think that this leaves them on a path towards sentience. Our scientists estimate that they have the intellectual capabilities of a five-year-old child.

Day 90 - great progress has been made! The creatures extreme vocalizations has added to their advantage, in that we have taught them how to speak! The sentences are very rudimentary of course, like a child, but they can ask for food, help, and express their displeasure. However, the problem is, they seem to have discovered greater words of displeasure from the people observing them and have taken to yelling rude slurs at the attraction goers. We think they like getting a reaction. They are very aggressive, and are becoming more so as the days go by. We worry about their health.

Day 100 - two of the large males got into a fight yesterday. We assume it was over mating rites with the remaining female, though that is only a theory. The way the creatures fight is very strange, they ball their hands into fists and then hit each other like using a club. Sometimes they use the hard bony ends of their elbows, or the tips of their knees. A few times they even used their legs to strike at the other. The feat of balance was quite amazing and the power generated from blows like that was scary. Visitors were urged away from the enclosure when wounds started appearing. Both males were covered in blood. We had gone to sedate them but by the time we came back the fight was over and the two males were sitting with each other at the edge of the pool washing their wounds. We think they find the water soothing, though we worry about sickness or infection.

Day 140 - We cannot get to them, overnight and out of sight of our keepers they have constructed a sort of den or nest surrounded by thick leaves and tree bark. There is no way to see in, and there is no way to dart one of these creatures while on the inside. We have been   to get them while they are out in the open, but they always hear when the enclosure or the windows open and have taken to carrying around large shields made of leaves and branches. None of our darts have made it through sticking uselessly into branches. We worry greatly considering the female is coming closer and closer to her delivery day.

Day 170 - We have a plan for sedation, though it will require an enforcement team armed with the tranquilizer guns to preform it. We are worried about the female and the offspring, which we intend to rear by hand. We have no idea how the other larger humans are going to react when the smaller human is brought into the enclosure. They could kill it. We do not want this happening, and besides, we think this creature could be very docile if hand raised by us. 

Day 181 - The mother went into labor last night, and we were called in by one of the zookeepers. We have to act very fast  and are assembling a team. We are worried she might die as the sounds coming from the enclosure has caused us to close down the entire zoo. She seems to be in great pain as we have never heard a creature make that sound before. All of the creatures seem agitated as well, those who are not in the enclosure with them are pacing around outside. They seem very nervous.

The team has been assembled and it has been quiet for some minute except for a distant squalling. The large ales and other creatures are encircling the little habitat as if curious. We are worried the large males will find this as a sign ofweakness and attack.

Day 182 -  please help us. We went into the enclosure as we had assumed with hour weapons ready to take the little offspring away to safer area for cleaning, however as soon as we got close to the den, the creatures attacked. We did not see them camouflaged in the leaves, and they seemed to erupt out of nowhere. Our leader was violently bludgeoned with a rock, and another was strangled manually by the small female. Each one of them was violently killed.

Two of our team managed to make it to the door of the den but as they did, the still blood covered female leaped outward and attacked screaming. She was the most violent out of all of them and practically ripped the limbs off two of our men before killing them. Protecting her young.

The large male carried the sleeping creature fin his arms as the female searched around for any more survivors. There were none and the door had been left open. One of our valiant men tried to go and close it, but he was murdered   as the door was flung open crushing him against the back wall. The child was handed back to the mother and now they are hunting about the zoo in a pack. I have locked myself in this  room hoping they will not find me, but even now I can hear a rattling outside the door.

Day of freedom - Hello you slimy bastards. Didn’t think you could talk did you. Either way you better hope we get back to our home planet, otherwise we will take this one for ourselves and make you suffer till your bones bleach dry under and unforgiving sun.

A little bit melodramatic there at the end I know, but I have spent far to long with humans, and I understand that they would probably be just as dramatic as I am making it sound. Also, I just realized that I technically just wrote some fiction, which means the humans are definitely rubbing off on me