#i am usually DEAD to the world by 9:30

[uwooyoungs]

//

[imaginesfordifferentfandoms]

Prompt List

Hey! I am so sorry for not uploading for like five months! I really want to start uploading again but I think doing so many Taylor Swift inspired prompts burnt me out - if you sent a request or do send one I will get to it just give me time.

Here is a prompt list I'll be using from now on, like always if you have your own idea(s), send them in!

These's prompts include: "dialogue", 'anything in quotations is what the whole fic will be based around', 5 times plus 1, AU's and more!

Send in just one or merge some ideas together!

Click here to add yourself to my tag list! 🤍

_______________________________________________

1 - “You’re in love with her, you know that right?”

2 - “I didn’t know where else to go.”

3 - “I’m replaceable, you’re not.”

4 - “You kept it?”

5 - Leaning their head on their shoulder

6 - “Because that’s what you and I do, we protect each other.”

7 - “I swear on us.” “Why us?” “Because there is nothing I have ever believed in more.”

8 - Person A getting hurt protect Person B

9 - “Hey, calm down. They can’t hurt you anymore.”

10 - “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

11 - “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”

12 - 5 times Person A and B correct people about their relationship status and the 1 time they just accept it

13 - Everything is black and white until you meet your soulmate. The world goes back to black and white when they die.

14 - “For what it’s worth, I never gave up on you.”

15 - Accidental love confession

16 - “You’re staring at him/her again.”

17 - “Give me one good reason why I should trust you?” “Because no matter how much you hate me, you know I have never lied to you.”

18 - “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.”

19 - “If there was ever anybody meant for me, it’s you.”

20 - “You had your chance with her. You had your chance and you blew it, and this is my chance and I am not going to blow it because we are made for each other.”

21 - ‘I still hope there is more to our story. Maybe we just had to fall apart to find each other again one day.’

22 - “You weren’t there…why weren’t you there? I needed you! I needed you and you weren’t there!”

23 - “It’s my job to keep you safe, yes, but you could work with me a little to make it easier.”

24 - “Because I haven’t stopped thinking about you and you haven’t stopped thinking about me.”

25 - ‘I am usually an optimist but I have never hoped for a sad ending like I do for you and her.’

26 - “I can’t say if the day I met you was the best or worst day of my life.”

27 - “Don’t look at me like that.”

28 - ‘Do you think the universe fights for souls to be together? Some things are too strange and strong to be coincidences.’

29 - “She’s my best friend, that’s never changed.” “Yeah, the only thing that changed was your feelings for her.”

30 - “How many fingers am I holding up?”

31 - “You’d die for her?”

32 - ‘He had that awkward tenderness of someone who had never been in love and was forced to improvise.’

33 - “I did it for you, you idiot.”

34 - “If I never see you again just know that I love you so, so much.”

35 - ‘He kissed her. Without warning, without permission. Without even deciding to do it, but simply because he couldn’t have done anything else.’

36 - “I thought you were dead!”

37 - Squeezing their hand reassuringly

38 - “Whatever you do, do not make a sound.”

39 - “I had a nightmare about you and I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

40 - “I can’t do this without you. I won’t do this without you.”

41 - “See? I told ya they’d get together.”

42 - ‘There is some good left in this world and it is worth fighting for.’

43 - Born with your soulmates first name tattooed on your body

44 - ‘There are some people that you meet and you just know from the get go that they are important, that you have to do anything to keep them in your life. He was that person.’

45 - “You came to me, begging me for help!”

46 - “Tell me about your life before all of this.”

47 - ‘S/he would always be my biggest what if.’

48 - “It turns out I’m absolutely terrible at staying away from you.”

49 - One being forced to hurt the other but refusing, getting themselves hurt instead

50 - “Why is it always the people you can’t trust saying “trust me”?”

51 - ‘If you were going to die, I was going to die with you.’

52 - “You can’t sleep yet kid, I need you to stay awake.”

53 - ‘We met at the wrong time. That’s what I keep telling myself anyway. Maybe one day, years from now, we’ll meet in a coffee shop, in a faraway city somewhere and we could give it another shot.’

54 - Five times they wanted to say ‘I love you’ and the 1 time they finally did

55 - “I always thought you were the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

56 - “I’ve never had a family before.”

57 - “I’m not leaving without her.”

58 - ‘Sometimes we do everything right and it’s still not enough.'

59 - “Hey, you’re bleeding.”

60 - ‘We’re in love, we just want to be together. What’s wrong with that?’

61 - “Take me instead. Leave her/him and take me.”

62 - Sitting together on a rooftop

63 - “I think…I’m in love with (Name.)” “Congrats on being the last one to find out.”

64 - Needing somebody else to point out the fact you have feelings for character

65 - “I know we’re not…friends or anything, but…I’m here for you, if you need someone to talk to.”

66 - Drunken kiss

67 - “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

68 - ‘Home is not where you are from. It’s where you belong. Some of us travel the whole world to find it. Others find it in a person.’

69 - “If I had it my way, we’d never leave this bed.” 

70 - ‘Everything that needs saying, truly saying, begins with a lump in the throat.’

71 - When mysterious injuries appear on your body, it’s because your soulmate got them.

72 - ‘For old times sake.’

73 - “I’m never gonna be good enough for you, am I?”

74 - “Don’t hurt him! Just stop hurting him, please!”

75 - ‘Sometimes there are no words that can help. Sometimes you just need to sit together in silence and try to come to terms with how the world works.’

76 - “When I let a day go by without talking to you, that’s just not a good day.”

77 – “Do you have a plan?” “I have a gun.”

78 - “How long did you think you could hide that?”

79 - “Leave with me.”

80 - ‘She was good and he needed a little good in his life because without it there was an awful lot of darkness.’

81 - 5 places Person A and B have kissed plus the 1 place where they did more than that

82 - “Honestly I wasn’t listening but I always disagree with whatever you say.”

83 - “There’s no way I’m sharing a bed with you.” “You’re more than welcome to sleep on the floor.”

84 - Person B is frowning all the time but Person A can always see when they are happy (Grumpy x Sunshine)

85 - ‘I want you to always remember me. Will you remember that I existed and that I stood next to you here like this?”

86 - “I’ll do it, but only because you asked me to.”

87 - 5 times Person A treated Person B’s injuries, plus 1 time Person B treated Person A’s injury.

88 - ‘Maybe one day we’ll meet again and I’ll be right for you and you’ll be right for me.’

89 - "Dying in the middle of nowhere doesn't seem so bad if you're here."

90 - “Oh no, you’re a morning person.”

91 - “I hate you.” “I love you too.”

92 - “No, don't stop, keep talking. I like hearing you talk.”

93 - “Are you cold?”

94 - “What do you want from me?”

95 - “Look, I know you hate me but I don’t know what to do and I really need some help.”

96 - “I’m not leaving you. Not this time.”

97 - “I wish things had been different.”

98 - “I can’t leave you alone for a second without you getting into trouble, can I?”

99 - “You’re not sleeping?” “Nope.” “Why not?” “Don’t want you to stab me the second I close my eyes.” “I won’t.”

100 - “This isn’t just an (object), it’s a promise.”

[mejomonster]

Just watched till the end of the moon ep 9:

I'm so down bad for these 2

I cannot stress enough that skipping them to marriage so no stupid "innocence" or naivety stuff as is the usual situation is here

I cannot stress enough how much I LOVE that li susu seems adult, mature, seasoned in battle love etc, and just generally like a late 20s early 30s adult trying to save the world instead of a young adult Hero and how nice it is. Just for me, I'm happy for the variety

I LOVE tantai jin. He's a fucked up guy. He's the wet skinny pathetic man fangirls always say they want. He's genuinely a pretty cold bitch AND he gets to be lead (in a cdrama!). He is monstrous cause bitches have treated him monstrous so like susu said! He responded to a cruel world with cruelty back. It's not a lead I'm used to but I AM loving it. I also love how for him a kind gesture really is worth it's weight in gold like? For him. As awful as ye xiwu was in marriage pre susu, as much as susu literally said she wants to kill him more than anyone else in the world... she keeps saving him. Giving him food. Risking HER life for his. And for him those specific actions are worth more than anything anyone's ever given him. Maybe even more than what Lan gave him, since at least ye xiwu is upfront about wanting to imprison him and being mad at him so like she probably isn't going to "secretly" betray him since she's fairly honest (now). I love that he is JUST a fucked up guy with a fucked up destiny meant to be devil God, who the universe was probably intentionally shitty to cause its hoping (on like a cosmic scale) he will Suffer and Die and become devil God in revenge. I love that its not trying to make the bitch noble. He is who he is. For whatever that means, it's just a story about 2 people who'd never have met. But susu has changed the trajectory just by being herself around him and it's COMPELLING.

The transformative power of love (or simply being kind to another person) and all that. How the cursed jade said she's mostly just SO SURPRISED someone would help another person. I feel like that's probably the Theme of the show right there. Even susu is probably surprised by herself helping him. And in the jade transfer moment, I think she's surprised she genuinely does NOT think he only is comprised of bad traits. For all the cold bitch that he is, betraying her that he's done, cruel view he has of the world... actions speak louder than words to susu too. And for all the bad he's done... he has also done some good things. And she finds herself seeing him in shades of grey instead of a monster like she expected to.

I just love their bickering lets be real. Susu just SAYS shit on the top of her mind (to be fair tantai jin is a bitch and deserves to be bitched at). But she's like "from now on let's have NO CONNECTION" to 6 hours later being like "your life is in my hands and I say when you can die I'm imprisoning you forever ill see you nonstop bitch." And it's like... susu honey, that was LITERALLY tantai jins plan to do to you like 6 hours ago. Yall have the same plan. Just who's the prisoner is switched lmao. No wonder he's oddly attracted to you. You see him being a big manipulative bitch and like you're not stealthy, but you ARE like "WELL FINE ill say some SHIT and BREAK YOUR HEART then. Cry me a river! Oh you thought I was dead? You cried? GOOD. Now anyway fight is over as long as I'm winning!"

Their emotional fights are both ridiculously huge (like rumor of the Kingdoms wild) but also so shallow cause these bitches will be like "I DECIDE when you DIE" then you find them clutching each other in the woods BOTH unwilling to abandon the other and BOTH taking life threatening damage trying to protect the other and BOTH trying to then heal said damage of each others! Like. That's just so fucking funny??!! And fun. Xiao Lin is going to be like "what in the world??" But move on

Anyway speaking of Xiao Lin: I love how he genuinely seems to care for tantai jin! Probably only person in the world who does! I hope one day tantai jin finds out its genuine heartfelt care for him. Buy knowing tantai jins life... he's going to do some awful shit to Xiao lin that ruins his life or kills his wife or kills thousands of innocents in front of him, THEN Xiao lin will be breaking down crying how he never thought tantai jin would do this and he thought tantai jin was a good person who wanted to avoid seeing the ppl in harm and he always wished tantai jin could have a better life. And then tantai jin, probably newly learning compassion from enough bullshit attempts with susu, that his own heart will be breaking BECAUSE of the consequences of his own actions. So. Thrilled to cry later I guess

Speaking of susu and tantai jin. tantai jin LAYING ON HER SHOULDER THINKING ABOUT WHAT SHE BULLSHITTINGLY SAID LOVE WAS AND HOW HE THINKS SHE LOVES HIM AND HOW HE THINKS HE MIGHT LOVE HER AND CUDDLING

that is what watchers want!! (At least me!!) Men lying heads on their lovers shoulders and thinking dreamy about them

Bai Lu gives off such bisexual lead energy tho even without a woman to flirt with I'm sure thats part of the appeal for me. Bottom line is I like in my b/g romances on occasion (who am I kidding more of the time than not) to have a dominant kind of woman. And bai lu delivers. Her man leans on HER shoulder. Is carried around her shoulder with HER arms.

Speaking of, people who cast this were 1. Fulfilling so many wishes letting Luo yunxi just play PURE FUCKED UP and I love it. 2. By casting him as this suffering Weak physically nearly always dying willfully little skinny twink of a man, who's also God tier powerful especially with rage, who's costume entails constant bloody whump, collars, choking and ropes, like. There's a HELLA SPECIFIC NICHE Luo yunxis character resides inside this show and it sure is feeding That Demographic. I'm up for it. It's like if mo ran and chu wanning had a fucked up mashup

I'm fearing the jade maker witch was somehow susu in a past life and now I'm wondering if time travel is gonna be in this bitch

If there IS time travel? I really like the idea of tantai jin specifically time traveling the 2nd time around, once he and susu fell in love, once he knows what susu knew from the beginning. I think that could open a lot of new avenues that he is not currently able to go into given his current personality and knowledge

It's still funny as hell to me tantai jin is kind of angling for death cause he KNOWS he gets super-powered once he dies. But his wife keeps being like NO BITCH YOU GOTTA LIVE WELL. And I'm hoping eventually he's like: maybe she's right... maybe the revenge means more if I'm alive for it and not dissassociated. Maybe I SHOULD try to become a God tier monster without dying. Which would still lead to oh no devil tantai jin lol, but a version of it that is fully Himself which I would like

You know I'm liking a show when I'm contemplating binging beyond what's on youtube rn

[angelasscribbles]

Unexpected Chapter 9: Uncertainty

Series: Unexpected

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Riley x Maxwell, Riley x Liam

Rating: MA

Warnings: None for this chapter

Word Count: 2,581

My other stuff: Master List.

Riley’s conversation with the queen had quickly taken a turn into the rigors of ruling.

“I know it looks glamorous, but make no mistake. Being queen is hard work. It’s brutal and demanding. You will work from the moment you wake up in the morning until the moment you go to bed at night, all day, every day. Look at Liam, all three meals he’s taken today have been business-related. Even this one. It may seem like a relaxing dinner to you, but to him, it’s just one more engagement he’s required to attend after a day of grueling duties.

Riley shot a glance at Liam. He did seem tired and completely disinterested in his current conversation. She cocked her head to the side as she studied him. The smile on his face was fake, at least it was until he glanced up and caught her watching him. When their gazes connected, the smile on his face broadened and reached his eyes. She gave him a scintillating smile of her own before returning her attention to the queen and her glass of champagne.

Regina continued, “Let me tell you what a typical day looks like for me. I rise at 4:30—”

“In the morning?!?” Riley choked on her drink.

“Yes, dear. In the morning. You will be collaborating with people from all over the world, and time zones can be tricky when scheduling meetings. I’ve usually worked for two to three hours before breakfast, which is more often than not a working meal, even when taken with my husband.”

“You work when you’re with your husband?”

“Of course, dear. We are comparing notes, devising strategies, ensuring that we are on the same page about matters of state and diplomacy. Not to mention the running of things here at home.”

“But….surely you get some downtime on the weekends…”

“Weekends are usually devoted to things like ribbon cuttings, putting in appearances for the sake of PR, things like that.”

Riley felt sick to her stomach. “Vacations?”

“Rarely; and even those are often about making or cementing alliances. We skied for a week with the ambassador from Auvernall and her husband last year to ensure continued good relations between our two countries. I had to pretend to enjoy their company for the entire time, so it wasn’t as relaxing as one might expect.”

“It can’t be all be work, all the time…”

“No, but a love would have to be extraordinary to survive the pressures. Why do you think royal marriages are political and monarchs are not just allowed, but encouraged, to take lovers?”

“That’s not very romantic….”

“No, it’s not. It’s very pragmatic. Think of queen as a job title, not a relationship status.”

“A job title you have to get married to receive.”

“Again, royal marriages should be political. Take my niece Madeleine, for example. She was born and raised for this. That remarkable young woman has spent her entire life preparing for this role. And unlike you, she wants it.”

“I—”

Regina leaned closer. “I don’t doubt you love my son, Riley. And I am sure that he’s in love with you. A blind man can see the way he looks at you. But that in no way means you’re prepared for this role. You haven’t had the upbringing or the training for it.”

“So, what? You think I should step aside and he’ll just forget about me and choose your niece?”

“Madeleine has offered to fulfill the duties of queen while looking the other way so you and Liam can be together in every other way.”

“So I’ll be his mistress?”

“More than that. She’s prepared to allow you to live at the palace, in the royal family wing, even.”

The thought of the snotty and mercurial Madeleine allowing her to do anything rankled.

“And Liam is aware of this offer?”

“Yes, dear, he is. But he is dead set against it. I think if the suggestion came from you, he’d see reason.”

“Tell me more about how it would work.”

“It’s simple, really. You would stay in Cordonia, at the palace, so you can see each other often. He marries Madeleine. She takes on all the onerous aspects of ruling while your relationship with him remains unsullied by the day-to-day stress and demands of the crown.”

“What about heirs?”

The queen blinked. “What about them?”

“Liam told me he was required to produce them. I’m assuming part of his marriage duties would be getting his wife pregnant.”

“Of course, but—”

“So the marriage won’t be in name only, will it?”

“Lady Riley. You are an astute young woman. Surely you understand that Cordonia must have an heir. If you truly love him, you will find a way to accept that.”

“Hmmm.” Riley’s eyes roamed the room until they landed on the countess. She wasn’t at all sure she would be okay with watching Madeleine carry Liam’s children. What kind of mother would the ice princess make, anyway? “What assurances would I have that she would honor such an agreement? I mean, they could get married and she could then simply renege on everything.”

“Liam can have everything put in their marriage contract.”

Riley’s mind whirled, trying to process all the information. A marriage contract would allow Liam to do as he pleased. It still made no guarantees for her future. What if Liam tired of her after a year or two?

Her eyes slid over to find Max watching her intently from the Beaumont table. Max would marry her tomorrow if she told him to. But Max had no money or resources of his own and Bertrand had been clear that any relationship between the two of them that severed her chances with Liam would result in Max being disinherited.

She wasn’t at all sure she was ready for the responsibilities of the crown, yet she wasn’t prepared to live life under Madeleine’s thumb.

Marriage to Liam offered stability and a rise out of the poverty she had thus far lived in.

Life as Liam’s mistress theoretically offered the same benefits without the responsibility, but unlike a royal marriage with an ironclad contract, being his mistress offered no protection against being discarded at some future date.

At a signal from her personal assistant, Regina sighed. “It appears our time together is up. Please take what I said under advisement.”

“I will,” Riley assured her as she rose from the table and made her way back to her own assigned seat.

Hana was waiting for her. “Well. How did it go?”

“It was…interesting.”

“What do you think your chances of being approved by the royal council are?”

“Not as good as yours,” Riley answered honestly.

Hana flushed. “That can’t be true.”

“It is true,” Riley assured her. “You have the breeding, the background and the social skills they’re looking for. Not to mention your grandparents are members of the Cordonian nobility in good standing with the court.”

Hana stared down at the napkin she was twisting in her hands. “Maybe I’m no longer sure I want to marry a prince.”

Riley gave her a sharp look. “What do you mean?”

Hana turned a deep crimson as she shook her head and reached shakily for her water glass. “Nothing. Never mind.”

Riley covered the other woman’s free hand with her own. “Hana. You know you can tell me anything, right?”

“Yes, but…” Hana glanced nervously around the room, “Not here.”

Riley gave her a reassuring smile as she squeezed her hand. “Come to my room tomorrow morning before I leave for Ramsford, and we’ll talk.”

***

Liam skillfully evaded Madeleine after dinner ended, feigning urgent business with the minister of treasury. He already knew what she wanted, and he wasn’t ready to give her an answer yet.

He knew that if he couldn’t marry Riley, he still had to marry someone, but everything in him rebelled against putting a ring on the finger of his brother’s ex-fiancée.

Madeleine’s past with Leo was the least of his reservations, though. Bastien had uncovered, and thankfully stopped, a plot to set Riley up and blackmail Olivia. He couldn’t prove anything yet, but his gut told him Madeleine was involved in it up to her eyeballs.

Tonight, however, he was less concerned about Madeleine and more concerned about whatever Drake had asked to see him about.

Slipping out of the dinner undetected after pointing Neville VanCouer in Madeleine’s direction, Liam met Drake in his office. “You said you found more information about Riley’s past?”

“I did.” Drake sat behind his desk, chair leaned back, feet propped on the desktop. He tossed a manilla folder across the surface. “It’s about her mother.”

Liam quickly scanned the contents of the folder. “Catherine Brooks died from breast cancer.” He flipped through the pages. “It says here that she received top tier medical care from the best hospitals in the country.”

“Right. But she had no money, and she lost her medical insurance months after diagnosis when she was cut loose from her job. Fired for absences.”

Liam gasped incredulously. “They fired her for missing work to get treatment?”

“Unfortunately, that’s America.”

“But…that’s…that’s… it’s awful! It’s criminal!”

“Don’t let it color your opinion. Just because—”

“But it does color my opinion, Drake! And it should color yours as well. It’s right here in black and white. All of her medical bills were paid in full by her daughter. Riley used every penny of the stolen money on her mother’s medical care.”

“Sure, but—”

“It explains why she was working as a waitress and living in a crappy apartment. She didn’t keep a cent for herself!”

“It doesn’t appear so. Still—”

“And there have been no complaints or accusations in the two years since her mother’s death.”

“No,” Drake rubbed his eyes, “I’m not disputing that the scamming seemed to be for a good cause, but it was still illegal, immoral and an optical nightmare if it gets out.”

“I don’t know, Drake. I think the Cordonian public would understand the extenuating circumstances and the fact that she turned her life around after her mother’s death.”

“Even if that’s true, the royal council will never approve her. Not once they see all this and they will see it, Li. Don’t kid yourself. She may have passed the initial background check, but if you choose her, they are going to do a deep dive just like I did, and it’s all going to come out.”

“Maybe—”

“And even if it doesn’t, sooner or later some intrepid reporter is going to dig it up or one of those jilted lovers is going to see her on the news and come forward with their side of the story and paint her as a gold digging con artist which is going to undermine your credibility no matter what her reasons were and if you’ll stop and think about this logically for one damn minute, you’ll see that.”

Liam was silent for so long that Drake thought he wasn’t going to answer when he finally sighed and slumped dejectedly in his chair. “I hate it when you’re right.”

“If you really want to be with her, without torpedoing your reputation and tarnishing your public image, just take Madeleine up on her offer.”

“Would that have been good enough for you?”

“What?”

“Leo could have just married her and kept up his relationship with you on the side. Would you have been satisfied with that?”

“I would have dealt with it. I told him not to abdicate for me, but your pigheaded brother didn’t listen. I’ve always thought you have more sense than he does, though. Besides, Constantine is out of heirs.”

“What if it’s not enough for her?”

“I don’t know how to soften this question, so I’m just going to be blunt.”

Liam barked out a short laugh, “When are you ever not blunt?”

“Are you sure she wants you at all? Are you just going to ignore whatever the fuck is going on with her and Beaumont?”

“We don’t know that there’s anything going on between them.”

“Oh, there’s something going on between them, all right!” Drake recounted the conversation he had overhead in the hallway to Liam.

“That doesn’t point to anything other than Max overstepping boundaries, which he is well known for.”

Drake sighed as he brought a tumbler of scotch to his lips. He had no proof other than his gut feeling, but he was sure the two of them were entangled. “But what if they are?”

Liam weighed the question before responding. “If she has genuine feelings for both of us, arrangements can be made.”

“Liam…”

“What? It’s nothing I haven’t done before.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of the situation you found yourself in with Liv and Carson. The difference is, Carson was your boyfriend, not Liv’s. But no matter how polyamorous you are, the public will never accept a queen that’s perceived to be unfaithful to her king. Do you think she’s willing to give him up?”

“I don’t know.”

“So to recap…. The council will never approve her and even if they did, she’s a scandal waiting to happen, and that’s not even counting a potential affair going on with one of her sponsors.”

“Jesus, Drake. You’re starting to sound like my father.”

“That’s the meanest thing you’ve ever said to me. I’m just trying to look out for your best interests and I’m not sure your best interests are served by a marriage to Riley Brooks. And that’s not a judgement on her as a person. I am in no position to judge anyone. It’s just the damn politics. There’s a reason I hate them so much. This shit right here is why.” Liam should be able to just be with whoever he wanted. But the world didn’t work that way.

“I know, and I appreciate it, even when you tell me shit I don’t want to hear.”

“Good, because I looked further into Bertrand, as well. He was awful twitchy when I asked him what he knew about her past.”

“And?”

“He hired a private investigator the day after Max introduced them. That can’t be a coincidence. I think he’s very well aware of her background in fleecing wealthy men.”

“And he thought she could put that skill-set to use securing the crown for House Beaumont?” Liam surmised.

“Highly likely.”

“All right.” Liam pushed away from the desk and stood up. “Thank you for all of this.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

Liam heaved a sigh as his head tipped up to stare at the ceiling. “I have to pick a bride in less than a week. I am in love with a woman whose past, and possibly present, is problematic for me from a diplomatic standpoint. I’m being pressured by my parents and the Duke of Karlington to marry someone I know in my very marrow would be a terrible queen and who I can’t personally stand. What would you do?”

Drake threw back the rest of his drink before answering. “Probably take a page out of your brother’s book.”

“Not helpful. As you so eloquently pointed out, there is no one else. Cordonian needs me.”

“Right. So, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know yet. But I do know where to go to get some answers.” He wasn’t waiting for their scheduled rendezvous. He turned and headed straight for Riley’s room.

[zaddyazula]

gimme yakuza propaganda so i can see if i wanna peep it

🫡🫡🫡

well there are currently 9/11 main line games (i shall explain) and all of them are available on modern consoles (a lot of them came out on ps3 or ps4 originally).

there are two remakes, one for yakuza 1 (a ps2 game) and one for yakuza 2 (another ps2 game), called yakuza kiwami and yakuza kiwami 2. they are actually pretty good remakes from what i’ve seen, but i haven’t played the original two. this is why i said 9/11 main line games.

the total order goes (chronologically):

yakuza 0

yakuza (kiwami) 1

yakuza (kiwami) 2

yakuza 3

yakuza 4

yakuza 5

yakuza 6

yakuza 7/like a dragon

yakuza lad gaiden (the one that just came out)

they are all classic fighting games until 7, which is turn-based, i am still raging about that. gaiden isn’t though. also as you asked me about a while ago now, the guy with the spiky hair is the protagonist of 7 and he will be for 8, which is coming out january next year.

the main protagonist (table slam guy) is the or one of the protagonists in every other game (0 has two, 4 has 4, and 5 has 5).

women are written decently well, a lot, lot better than mgs, though there is about two main characters who are women per game 😭😭😭😭😭😭 not one of its strongest points but they all have clothes on!! the bare minimum we love to see it. (i will just say there is actually a fat woman who is a main-ish side character in 4, who is done pretty well!!! so hurrah!!!!)

characters are extremely well written and the writing is good for the most part, there are a couple of moments in earlier games (more 3,4 and 5) where you’re sort of shocked by how ridiculous it is, but it works decently well. i prefer the first couple of games, and then the 6+. there are a few spin-offs available in the west, being dead souls (zombie game), which is ps3 only, and lad:ishin, which is set in the 1860s (and a couple more others but i can’t think). the table slam man (kiryu) has actually started to remind me a lot of snake, and the series’ stories are actually quite similar.

talking about kiryu, he respects women!!! to the point where he refuses to ever hurt a woman, and has on many occasions beat someone up for hurting a woman. not to say he doesn’t have weird-ish female relationships, but they’re overall quite sweet and last for the game, and are then never touched upon again. they’re nowhere near a meryl-snake level catastrophe.

the games themselves aren’t too long for the most part, the longest i found being 5 (30 hours) and 7 (39 hours), but that’s including all the time fucking around doing karaoke or other things. 0 took me about 28 hours; kiwami 1 took about 22 hours (i think); kiwami 2 took me about 26 hours; 3 took 16 hours; 4 took 23 hours; 6 took 21 hours, and gaiden took 11 (it’s a lot shorter).

going back to karaoke - the amount of optional shit you can do is crazy. substories are probably the biggest thing with this, some of them being decently long and others being pretty short. they are usually quite fun and can give you a break from the story (which can at times be miserable). karaoke is probably my favourite mini-game in the series. you basically just press buttons with the right timing and it is ridiculously fun and silly. other mini-games are available, such as pool, bowling (in the earlier games), fishing, claw-machines, arcade games, DISCO (in 0 but it’s class), darts and probably some others but i can’t remember. the story can get a bit depressing, but it’s balanced out by the silliness the games also have, and surprisingly it works? in mgs, it sort of half works, you’ve got a monkey who smokes cigarettes and drinks coke and then the world is falling apart. war had changed. snake is old and dying and he cannot escape the world yet. and then johnny shits himself. comedy 👍 but with yakuza, the two different sides work together really well, especially in 0, and it ends up making sense eventually.

i think that’s it you have been yakuzer-propagandad!!!!

[eisa-core]

Episode 3 - Your smile is the most brilliant thing in the world

So busy hanging out in the forest!

SEVENTEEN is born for the forest life

The first night had passed quietly, indeed Daisy could not quite remember the time she went to sleep. 4 o'clock? No, at 4 o'clock she was still singing Seventeen songs at karaoke together with Mingyu and Coups. Maybe an hour later, she remembered that she was dead tired and maybe she was already daydreaming when, on her way to her room, she saw Jeonghan soaked to the torso, with his tracksuit in his hand. Yes it must have been a dream.

9:30 am

«Good morning little flower» - Daisy walked into the kitchen with her hair still wet from the shower she took a few minutes earlier . «Good morning to you Junhui, have you eaten?» - She asked him seeing some dishes on the table. «No, not yet. Would you like to join me? I'll make some ramen with coconut curry» - «Ramen with coconut?» - She raised an eyebrow in confusion. «Yes! believe me, we eat it a lot in China, it's very good!». Daisy felt her stomach rumbling so without much thought she confirmed Jun's choice.

«Good morning, are you cooking?» - Dino and Seungkwan entered 10 minutes later, while Jun was already ready to serve his breakfast. «Chan-ie, are you okay? I see you're shaken...?» - Daisy giggled seeing Dino's condition.

The night before there were those who had drunk a little too much, and among them, there was the maknae. «Come on now - sit down and eat with us, there's enough for everyone!» - «No it's OK, I can cook canned ramen» - Chan replied rubbing his eyes. «Canned ramen? We're on holiday, they brought us lots of delicious food and you want the simple ramen we also have at the Hybe canteen?» - Seungkwan replied having a ready answer to everything. «Okay Okay, I'll sit down. Thank you for the food.».

«Okay who does the dishes now?» - Seungkwan came out the question once he had sent down the last mouthful. «I cooked, I deserve the exemption» - «You're right, you can go» Seungkwan told Junhui giving him a round of applause for the excellent dish he cooked. «Okay then let's play Cham-Cham-Cham, the loser will wash the dishes» - Dino proposed and one could see the fear in Daisy's eyes, she always lost when it's the turn of such a game. It was strange not having a schedule and timetable to follow. She had to get used to even the simple fact that she didn't skip the first meal of the day, which was usually the case.

«Cham-Cham-Cham! You lost!!!» - After five rounds it was finally someone's turn to do penance, and that someone was Seungkwan himself. «Come on Kwanie, better luck next time!» - Dino taunted him laughing as Seungkwan hurriedly got up taking the dishes in hand heading towards the sink. «Daisy what are you doing now? I'm waiting for Mingyu to go to the gym» - She took a sip of water and thought about it for a moment.

It was strange not having a schedule and timetable to follow. She had to get used to even the simple fact that she didn't skip the first meal of the day, which was usually the case. «Hmm I don't know? Where's Minghao?» - «Minghao? I saw him drinking tea with Jeonghan and DK, but I didn't understand where.» - And the moment these three members came out of nowhere. «Speak of the devil» - Chan added seeing the three already wide awake, and Minghao refrained from giving Daisy a good morning kiss, knowing that the cameras were everywhere they went. «I was looking for you» - Daisy greeted him however with a hug she didn't want to break away from. That's what else seemed strange to her, being with Minghao for reasons outside of work. «Oh yeah? I wanted to fly a kite, shall we do it together?» - Daisy couldn't hide her smile and happily agreed.

10:15 am

«Hao! You have to run!» - Seokmin, Joshua, Mingyu and Daisy watched Minghao having difficulty flying the kite. He ran left and right but the kite stayed down. «There's no wind!» - complained the latter «I give up it won't go» - He continued letting the kite touch the grass, a pout painting his face. «Okay Minghao, that was good, I'm going on the ATV, want to join?» - Mingyu put his helmet on, trying to make Minghao smile from his misfortune. «Nono, go with someone else» - He lay down on the ground with the kite strings twisted all over the place, and Mingyu too excited to ride the ATV, waved him off soon after.

Daisy, on the other hand, didn't want to leave her boyfriend alone, so she lay down with him, looking up at the sunny blue sky. «There's no wind for playing with a kite but at least there's a nice sun, look how bright it shines!» - Daisy wanted to make him smile somehow, stretching one hand towards the sky while with the other she covered her eyes so as not to blind herself . «I know. But...» - «But?» - «Your smile is the most brilliant thing in the world.»

ー☆

taglist: @cinnamon-falls ; @allthings-fandoms ; @taestrwbrry ; @illusionocnet ; @kimhyejin3108 ; @enhacolor

in the soop mlist

-> masterlist.

[bookishnewt]

I am absorbing Hazbin Hotel content through osmosis and am having character ideas. Had old ideas in passing to the point I did incorrect quotes but the lady in my head is slapping me in the face.

Thoughts about her so far:

In Life

In life she was known as Katherine Lane, her stage name was Jolene.

Born in the 1910s. Died in her 30s-40s (1940s-50s).

Lost both parents over the course of the first world war. Being a young child at the time Katherine did not fully understand why her parents died and took what happened as them abandoning her.

From then one she worked hard to ensure her own survival. From thievery as a child/early teen, being a rum runner during the Prohibition era, to a performer in clubs.

As Jolene, Katherine attracted some admirers one of whom became her husband. The marriage did not last as Katherine kills her husband in the spur of the moment. She covered up the crime as an drunken fall down the stairs. She does not regret it as he was more of a bastard than she first thought.

Her Death

Through her later years in life Katherine began adding murder to her list of crimes committed. After the whole mess with her first husband she began poisoning the men who would harass her coworkers. She was always careful to make them look like accidents.

One coworker was aware of her actions and sought out Katherine for help. Her sob story of an abusive husband hit home with Katherine. So she agreed to help.

The coworker arranged it so Katherine could meet the man. Over the course of her talk with him something felt off to her. Unlike her usual victims he did appear abusive. Despite her doubts she keeps her promise and kills him.

Days later she learns the truth, her coworker lied. There never was any abuse, she had Katherine kill her husband so she could inherit his small fortune.

Angered by the deception Katherine confronted the woman and wound up having a similar death as her late husband's.

In Afterlife

Is 9’ 6” (290 cm). Demon form is based on a orb-weaver spider.

Viewing Katherine as dead and gone she assumes a new name to suit her new life: Arachne.

Still reeling from the final days of her life Arachne decided to hide herself away from Hell and any potential enemies from her old life.

Voice Claim: Samantha Pauly (All You Wanna Do - SIX)

[jodithann827]

Pretty Woman 6/11

Rating: Explicit /posted on AO3 / tagging @today-in-fic

Waldorf Astoria

Penthouse

Sunday

9:05 am

She hears him moving around the room, his feet clomping around, though she can tell that he’s at least attempting to be quiet. She can smell his cologne as he moves closer to where she lay on the bed. Settled face down, the soft sheets tickle her bare and sensitive skin, having not bothered putting pajamas back on after their third round the previous evening, or rather early this morning. Her sex has never been this sore, and she has had a lot of sex, so that’s saying something. She feels the bed dip, her eyes still closed, holding onto the last bit of sleep she can. She feels Mulder’s soft hand against her cheek.

“Good morning,” she whispers, arching to stretch her sore muscles. Mulder bends down and kisses her shoulder. “Good morning,” he replies. She opens her eyes to see him grinning down at her.

“Either I was dead to the world and didn’t feel you move, or you stayed in bed all night,” she observes, sitting up and pulling the sheet around her bare breasts. She knows she shouldn’t be self-conscious, especially after the things he did to her body the previous evening, but at the moment she feels like the bedding is her armor.

“I haven’t slept that well in years,” he admits. She smiles, secretly proud that she was able to help him, at least for one night.

“Time to get up,” he informs her. “It’s time to go shopping.” He hands her his credit card. “I’m surprised you didn’t get more things yesterday.” Scully’s heart drops some, along with her affect. Seeing the change, Mulder raises an eyebrow, as if to ask her what’s wrong.

“It wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be,” she tells him honestly, shrugging her shoulders. He waits for more of an explanation. “They were mean to me.” Her voice and demeanor are slightly childlike.

“Mean to you?” he repeats, softly. She nods. He shakes his head, unable to understand how anyone could be mean to this magnificent creature. He stands and goes to the bedside table, picks up the phone, dials, and waits.

“Diana,” he says after a pause. “I wanted to let you know that I’ll be in a bit later this morning. If I need anything, I’ll call you.” He hangs up abruptly before giving the person on the other end a chance to respond.

He goes back to the bed, takes Scully’s hands, and tells her, “Come on. Shower and get dressed. We’re going shopping.”

Beverly Hills

10:30 am

Mulder reaches for Scully’s hand as they cross the street. She feels confident and safe, knowing Mulder is with her this time. She’s known him for such a short amount of time, but she somehow intuits that he would not let anything happen to her. She’s wearing her same miniskirt, but this time she also has one of Mulder’s crisp white button-down shirts, tied at the end for a better fit on her tiny frame as she walks confidently next to him.

“Stores aren’t nice to people,” he explains to her, “they’re nice to credit cards.” He pauses outside of a well-to-do-looking shop, much bigger than the small boutique from the previous day. “Stop fidgeting,” he instructs. A nervous habit dies hard. As confident as she feels, she can’t shake the jumpiness that usually overcomes her.

Upon walking into the store, Mulder immediately asks for the manager. A man approaches, somewhere in his early forties, with thinning hair and short stature.

“Good morning,” Mulder extends a hand. “You’re the manager of this shop?” he asks, getting down to business.

“Melvin Frohike,” the small man replies.

“I’m Fox Mulder-” Mulder begins.

“Yes sir, of course, sir, I thought that was you,” Frohike interrupts.

“See my friend over there?” Mulder asks, pointing towards the door, where Scully is still standing awkwardly, picking the cuticles on her nails. Frohike looks in the direction Mulder is gesturing and nods. “She’s hot,” he lets slip, then, turning beet-red, he profusely apologizes.

Mulder gives him some version of the stink-eye but glosses over the comment, secretly proud to have such a beautiful woman on his arm, so to speak.

“Well, Mr. Frohike. I would like you to know that we will be spending an obscene amount of money in your store and will require a lot of assistance.” Beside him, Scully grins like the Cheshire cat.

“Yes sir, of course, sir,” he responds to Mulder. He snaps his fingers and two assistants, both women, saunter over with catalogs. Scully is escorted to a chair, a woman flanking her on each side, showing her pages in the catalogs.

Mulder watches Scully with adoration as salesperson after salesperson brings her clothes. Solids. Patterns. Pieces of cotton. Silks. He can tell she is slightly overwhelmed, although she hides it well. At one point a saleswoman plops an oversized hat on Scully’s head, which evokes a giant belly laugh from her.

Sometime later, while Scully continues to be fawned over by multiple individuals, Frohike approaches Mulder, who is leaning against a display counter.

“How are things going Mr. Mulder?” he asks, curiously. Without lifting his eyes from the paper he’s engrossed in, Mulder replies, “I think we’re going to need a lot more sucking up.” Without missing a beat Frohike replies, “I knew from the moment you walked in here you are not only a handsome man but a powerful one…” Mulder’s eyes leave the paper and travel up to Frohike. With a quizzical look on his face, he tells him, “Not me. Her.” Frohike nods, blushing, and makes his way back over to Scully.

Placing the paper to the side, Mulder reaches into his pocket and withdraws his cell phone. Punching in a familiar number, he waits.

“Diana, I wanted to check in and see how it’s going.”

“Fox, where are you? When you called and said you would be late I didn’t think you meant this late,” a disgruntled Diana spits out. Mulder smiles, secretly enjoying getting a rise out of her.

“Don’t worry, Diana, I’ll be there soon. I had something to take care of this morning. How are things over there?”

“Well I spoke to Mr. Spender this morning and he is starting to get impatient. He would like an answer to his question. What happened last night?”

“He made me an offer I need to decide if I want to refuse,” Mulder replied, vaguely. When he was met with silence from the other end, he added, “I’ll explain when I get there. I’m leaving now.

He ends the call and places the phone back in his pocket, then walks over to Scully. She gazes up from her chair, a radiating smile on her face.

“I have to go to work,” he announces to everyone. “You look wonderful,” he tells her, as she is currently wearing a pin-striped suit jacket with a matching skirt. He bends to kiss her cheek. Standing, he looks at Frohike and tells him, “She has my credit card.” Then he bids them adieu and makes for the door.

Scully continues to try on various outfits over the next few hours. She is showered with scarves, hats, dresses, blazers; any type of clothing she could want. At one point a salesman is helping her into a pair of shoes while Mr. Frohike looks on.

“That’s a fantastic tie,” Scully tells the man. “I think Mulder would love that tie. He would look amazing in it,” she continues. Frohike snaps his fingers at the man.

“Take off the tie,” he instructs him. The salesman, dumbfounded, puts the shoes down and begins removing his tie. Handing it to Scully, she thanks him, explaining, “I think Mulder would love this tie.”

**********

Three hours later, she leaves the shop with several employees trailing behind her, per Frohike’s request, carrying several different-sized bags filled to the brim with clothes and shoes. She struts down Rodeo Drive, much more poised in her step than when she was there last time, her head held high in a wide-brimmed black hat and white gloves that reach midway up her arm, a distinguished aura surrounding her. Her dress is cream-colored and held closed by six vertical black and white buttons, and her red hair is pulled into a low but sophisticated ponytail.

Suddenly, realizing where she is, she makes a sharp right turn, entering yet another shop. Inside, several customers look at her in awe, admiration on their faces, no doubt envious of her attire.

“Excuse me,” Scully announces, confidence exuding from her. The sales lady looks up.

“Can I help you?” she asks, appropriately and respectfully.

“Do you remember me?” Scully asks. The second sales lady approaches.

“I’m sorry I don’t,” she responds, her eyes looking over Scully, trying to place her.

“I was in here yesterday,” Scully informs her. “You wouldn’t help me. You work on commission, right?” she asks. The woman nods, the knowledge of the previous day sinking in. Scully holds up her many shopping bags, looks the woman in the eye, and informs her, “Big mistake! Huge. I have to go shopping now.” Scully turns on her heel and walks out the door. She feels light, and dare she think it, happy.

Scully makes her way back to the hotel, courtesy of Langly, Mulder’s limo driver. She strides confidently through the lobby, hotel employees following her with her many bags. Walter Skinner, talking to a colleague, notices her and smiles, shaking his head and chuckling to himself.

In the penthouse, she pulls money out of her clutch purse and tips the bellboys. Once they retreat, she flops on the chair and takes her hat off, smiling because she is amazed and proud of herself at the moment.

The Grill on the Alley

Beverly Hills

2:00 pm

Mulder and Diana sit opposite each other. The restaurant is busy, filled with the hustle and bustle of customers and staff. They chose a small secluded table in the corner, though most likely for different reasons.

“I don’t know that much about him,” Diana tells him, digging into the salad she’d ordered. “I have heard that he is ruthless and does what he needs to get what he wants.”

Mulder gives her a slight raise of his brow, knowing the lengths Diana would go to accomplish the same thing. “I’m mulling some things over,” he finally says with a neural, don’t worry about it, tone.

“Well, whatever it is he wants from you, give it to him so we can close this deal and be done with it,” she insists.

“Trying to get rid of me?” he asks.

“Oh Fox, please, you know you can’t stay away from California too long. You’ll go back to New York for a bit, but it will only be a matter of time before I see you again. You always come back.”

“It seems like it’s getting harder and harder to leave,” he admits, resigned.

“You could stay, you know,” she replies, her voice filled with elation and hope.

“Maybe…”

Diana looks to where Mulder is gazing, at nothing in particular. “Fox, what is wrong with you? You are acting… I don’t know, but you’re not acting like yourself; you’re acting bizarre,” she confronts him.

“I have a lot to think about, Diana. I’ll have an answer for Spender soon.”

“The money,” she tries to argue, one last time.

“It’s not always about money,” he replies, flatly, which shocks an almost unflappable Diana.

“You’ve never felt this way before,” she states.

“People change,” is his only retort.

Waldorf Astoria

Penthouse

4:00 pm

Scully sits on one of the dining room chairs, one leg crossed over the other. She is stark naked, save for the tie she got for Mulder. She hears his key in the door and braces herself, knowing this will either be a hit or a miss. She’s starting to know Mulder and not just in the physical sense. She understands him, she thinks.

“Hello, dearest,” she says in a deep and sultry voice as Mulder rounds the corner and comes into view. He’s looking down at the stack of papers in his hand, but at the sound of her voice, he looks up, drops them, and develops a shit-eating grin on his face. Scully smiles, knowing she made the right choice.

He’s on her in an instant, wanting to touch her everywhere. After being with him for just two days, she can’t believe how much she has learned about him, physically. She’s amazed at how much of a tactile person he is, touching her even outside of sex. His mouth descends on her breasts, sucking and tugging a nipple between his teeth. Scully thinks about their encounters the previous evening and how she was a bystander for much of the night, letting Mulder assault her in the best of ways. She knows she doesn’t want to sit idly by this time. She moves her hands to his shirt, gripping it with all her strength, and pulls it open, buttons flying everywhere. Mulder lets go of her breast, moving his hands to undo his pants. He is already hard, straining against his suit pants. In that instant, she knows this is going to be quick.

Master Bathroom

4:45 pm

The welcoming sounds of soft music flood the heated bathroom. The lights are dim, some natural light peeking through the large window. Scully takes a washcloth and moves it gently side to side over Mulder’s masculine arms, arms that are wrapped around her small frame. They are soaking in the tub, completely sated after their coupling. He places tender kisses down the side of her porcelain neck. Mulder is pondering what to say to her. Tell me about your family, she had said minutes before. She’s waiting patiently for him to start talking.

“There’s not a lot to tell,” Mulder confides in her. “My family was never the same after Samantha’s diagnosis and eventual passing. My mother was a music teacher; piano,” he tells her proudly.

“Mmm,” Scully responds, encouraging him to continue.

“Following Sam’s death she tried to keep teaching, but being around all those kids was too painful. After she left teaching she tried giving piano lessons, but again, after a while, it made her too sad.” Mulder pauses thoughtfully. “She didn’t have that spark anymore.”

“Well,” Scully starts, shifting to face Mulder. She dips the washcloth in the warm water and brings it to his chest. “She must have excelled at one point because she taught you.” Mulder blushes slightly, red hues creeping up his neck. “What about your father?” she asks cautiously, remembering Mulder mentioning that he hasn’t seen him in over a decade.

“My father was always wealthy. Grew up in it and then made his own. He met my mother and fell in lust, I guess you could say. I know they were fond of each other, but I don’t know if they were ever in love. He uh, I guess he tried to be a good father and husband, at least he attempted to do what he thought he needed to. He provided for his family, but there wasn’t a lot of warmth.” He stops for another second to gather his thoughts. “The most outward display of love was when Sam was diagnosed. He was home more, and attentive, not just to Sam but to me, too. But then she got worse and so did his behavior; his drinking. Not long after Sam died, he left my mother for another woman and he took his money with him. They divorced when I was fourteen and my mother passed away when I was sixteen. I had to spend two years with that man before I could leave and go to college. It was nice to finally get away; I felt freer then than I had in a long time. I still think about them, Sam and my mom, often, but their memories don’t hold me hostage as they once did.”

Scully goes back to running her gentle hands over Mulder’s arms. Content, she thinks, warmth in her heart. However, deep down she worries, ever so slightly, that she’s possibly becoming too attached.

[crmsnmth-journal]

2/25/2024 9:31 PM

And Winter Carnival is officially over. We somehow managed to survive yet another year. By the skin of our teeth, but that does count right? Either way, I am tired and sore, and I am working open to close until my much-needed Thursday off. I need it badly. This weekend burns me out, every year we have to do it. At least the pool teams were fast tonight, and I wasn't stuck there until one or two in the morning. And I was home by 8:30. I'm not going to complain.

Went out with my grandmother today before work. It'd been a while since we made our usual run out to MF, so it was nice to catch up. She's anxious to start planting her garden because of this crazy February weather. She gave me this rad old Army jacket. Has some patches on it that I need to take off, but I looked up what the mean and apparently, I now have a Corporal of the Sixth Army's old coat. I'm curious if it saw battle or not. Kind of interesting to think about, the history of an object like that. What has it seen? Where has it been?

I think I need to see a doctor again. I've been having strange chest pains the past couple days and it makes me nervous. My body's not the healthiest thing in the world. I'm an addict and alcoholic, and my body paid a big price because of that. I would not reccommend the altered diet. Either way, I'll call them tomorrow at some point and make the appointment. Can't really mess around too long with something like this. I'm sure it's nothing, but I'd rather be safe than dead.

Now that I've had time to think about it, the Shameless finale kind of leaves me disappointed. It just felt like the writers wanted to do so much more that whole season. I will say thought that Frank's letter was the perfect way to end the show. I'm irritated though that so many storylines don't seem to finish. And I was really annoyed that Covid is what killed Frank. What was the point of the dementia then? It just made me frustrated, and I don't think that was supposed to be the end of the series. It needed one or two episodes to show Mickey and Ian's stuff, and Lip's stuff. All in all, it was an ok end to a really great show. Wish I wouldn't have waited so long to see it. Now it's time to start searching for the next show I can indulge in random binge sessions over the next month or so.

[notladylikes]

9:30 pm.

‘this job’ll be easy for you, sugar,’

that’s what her daddy told her before she set off for the night. wearing nothing but a slinky black dress and a pair of high heels, knife strapped to her thigh, the brunette set out to meet charlie, one of her dad’s ‘top operatives’ - as he used to be called. now he’s trading secrets with a member outside the family, and papa can’t have that.

she sits in her car, waiting for him to exit the apartment building - hoping to ‘run into him’ on her night out tonight, slip a little something into his drink and poof, none’ll be the wiser. but that’s not how this went down. in fact, it couldn’t go more wrong.

12:00 am.

“i had it completely under control!” she says, her voice raising an octave above it’s usual volume, hands on her hips as she screams in the face of a man she would soon know to be her rival - even if they would eventually become friends. “he was eating out of the palm of my hand til you showed up with your ‘guns blazing’ attitude.” 

she says, taking a puff of a cigarette and blowing the smoke directly into gabriel’s face.

now they’ve got a dead body laying on the floor of charlie’s apartment, and it’s only a few hours until the sun is set to rise over the city. violet starts pacing back and forth, unsure of what she’s going to do about this situation. her father is going to be so disappointed in her.

“he was goin’ to kill you, what was i supposed to do, let ‘em?”

gabriel’s voice holds a tenor of disdain and annoyance laced within his tone, enough so that she was certain he wouldn’t have spit on her if she was on fire. he’s pacing back and forth himself, running his fingers through his hair.

“well, what’re we gonna do? we can’t just leave ‘em here.”

she asks, gesturing to the laid out corpse of one, charlie kiriakis, dead and starting to grow cold.

gabriel’s much more tactile than she is - normally she’s dealing with deaths from poison or overdose, something that’s a little bit easier for her to handle. and she doesn’t usually stick around to see the dead bodies in the aftermath. her stomach is already starting to turn a little.

“grab his ankles.” gabriel says, and violet’s glancing over at him as if he’d grown a second head on his shoulders, absolutely disregarding the statement altogether.

“you want me to what now?” she asks, stubbing her cigarette out in the ashtray and sticking it inside the clutch purse she brought with her - no evidence left behind, that much she knew.

“we’re gonna toss his body in the river. make it look like an accident. like he fell in or somethin’. gashed open his head an’ all. the marine life will take care of the evidence and whatnot.”

she’s still standing there, running a hand through darkened curls, not moving.

“i’m sorry…..you want me to….touch the dead body? you’re out of your fuckin’ mind.” 

“well, sweetheart, it’s either that or you’re gonna help me chop ‘em up into tiny little pieces.”

the thought alone causes her to gag, almost feeling the bile mixed with her dinner threatening to come back up the way it went down. she grimaces, but grabs onto his ankles and helps to roll him up in the rug they’d use to transport his body down to the docks.

now, years later, they’re still at each other’s throats - but they’re more or less more friendly about it. violet has gained a new lease on life, and she’s become a lot more lethal, too. the next time they handle a job it goes by swimmingly, without any sort of hiccups. she wonders if gabriel really appreciates the work she’s put into herself to turn out this way, rather than a blithering idiot she was when they first started to ‘work’ together.

if she had to have a rival in this world, she’s glad it was him. 

[eristic-kaleidoscope]

Q || Byrne || Trial 4-1 || RE: END, Jae-min, Kenshin

How he was still alive and sitting at his podium was frankly a mystery to Byrne. He had so many chances to die over so many years of his life, and so many chances to die since he'd been here, and yet. Somehow, he was still standing. Or... sitting if you wanted to be literal about it. The feeling of being alive, the feeling of having air in your lungs at the cost of another's... Another one... Another nine... Another 46, another... 55. Soon to be 56. So much blood had been spilled for this one man to live.

And as his memories had flooded back into his body, and into his consciousness, he asked himself... What had he been doing these past three days? Feeling like he was in a haze of depression worse than his average, living as if he was already dead. As if he had nothing to lose, nothing to gain.

The 55th. The 55th death in the name of Erika L. He squeezed his hands opened and shut, confirming that his muscles still responded to his mind, that his mind still instructed his body. That blood was flowing through him and his heart was beating.

Byrne was alive.

And that fact would continue to hurt, no matter how much he struggled to hold onto that air, that blood, that motion. Living was a path of suffering he'd promised himself he'd continue to take.

... Ok.

Now to address the rest of the world. They were waiting, weren't they? Not just for him, but for the entire group. He opened his mouth.

"This morning, I--"

BANG. END's leg slammed into her podium.

Byrne flinched, temporarily frozen in place. He choked out a cough. Just a loud noise. It was just a loud noise. Nothing he needed to concern himself over, but... He swallowed, temporarily staring off into space in a cold sweat. It took him a minute to peel his eyes away from the middle distance and towards the source of the sound, END's broken podium. AND tablet.

... He didn't want to address that right now. He'd been an asshole enough already as of late.

"... Guess I'll start with something else. To uh. Everyone I've been a complete asshole to, I'd like to apologize. I was uh... not... in my right mind and took it out on... everyone else. And myself. So... sorry. There's a couple of you who could use a more personal apology later, so... I'll do that when we get time in private."

If. If they did, of course. Who knew who was going to die from this at present, anyway?

"Thanks for the update on the favours, by the way. And the info about the key. Lemme just..."

Inhale. Exhale.

"Woke up a bit before six this morning like usual. Kenshin was still dead asleep, dunno if he even woke up when I got up. After changing I got to the eatery and saw Erisu in there, and uh.... we kinda minded our own business for better or worse. She left around 6:30. Once she was gone and couldn't stop me-- once again I fuckin' apologize for this shit-- I grabbed a six-pack of beer and went into the hidden room at 6:43 AM. I did see Erik A on the way, looking like he came from one of the offices. I didn't see which though." "Once I made it to the mattress room I bingedrank for a bit. The cans in there were mine, but those colorful sheets from the mattress room were already gone by the time I got there. Didn't see Erik A carryin' 'em so I doubt it was him, but they had to have been yoinked sometime before 6:45, I guess."

Byrne shook his head lightly with a sigh, half-expecting someone to accuse him of misremembering things in his drunken haze. It was impossible to hide that he'd been toasted, thanks to Adrik, so.

"Moved to Office G at 9:30, and Adrik and Erik A snagged me for discovery around then. Not much else to say."

He wasn't sure if any of that would be helpful to much of anyone, though.

Mmmm... though Kenshin was actually dropping some information and theories here, as were the others. On the other hand, Byrne felt like he didn't have much to offer. He squinted for a moment.

"I guess... 'crafty' is one way to describe it. Probably smart, too, since the diagram was pretty detailed. I'm not too sure what all of that meant even if I got the concept. Pull the rope and let go so it fell and gravity did the rest, yeah? So it was a uh.... trap you'd need to have the activator person present for at the right moment. Which I guess was AION."

Byrne thought for another moment. What else to say....?

"I also noticed that from the door, you could see the aisle Erika L died in directly, but you didn't have a view of the aisle to the left of it really. Or at least... not as far down as what the wheel was over, if that's worth anything."

[the-apocrypha]

Attn: People With Cervixes!

When was your last Pap smear?

Because I am tired of seeing young people (think 40 year olds!) die horribly of an almost completely preventable disease, and I haven't seen the obligatory Tumblr PSA about it, so I'm making my own.

1. CERVICAL CANCER IS REALLY BAD

Cancers that have a good prognosis are usually cancers that can be caught early--like skin cancer, which is easily seen, and therefore usually treated very early. Cervical cancer does not give you symptoms until you have very advanced disease, which means unless someone is regularly testing your cervix, you will likely not be diagnosed early. More than half of people diagnosed with cervical cancer present with advanced disease. 75% of them will be dead within 5 years. For comparison, when caught in the earliest stage, there is a 90% 5 year survival rate. Treatment for those diagnosed is chemo and radiation, and believe me, those are not fun. If you do happen to be in the lucky 25% of survivors, if your cancer comes back, you have an 85% chance of dying within a year. Also! We think of cancer as something that happens to old people, but the average age of diagnosis for cervical cancer is 50.

2. WHO GETS CERVICAL CANCER?

Cervical cancer used to be the most common cause of cancer-related death in women in America, but at this point it's basically a disease of People Without Pap Smears--developing countries, immigrants, low socioeconomic status, BIPOC, rural communities, LGBTQ, etc.

3. HOW DO PAP SMEARS SAVE YOUR LIFE?

A Pap smear is a screening test for two things: HPV, and your cervical cells. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the world. Literally half of the people in America have some strain of HPV on their body. Most HPV infections go away on their own (in people with healthy immune systems), but some strains are Very Bad, and some people are just Very Unlucky, and the HPV starts causing your cervical cells to turn cancerous. 91% of all cervical cancers are caused by HPV. So a Pap smear looks to see if your have HPV, and if so, is it one of the bad ones? And also, do you have any cancerous cells hanging about in your cervix? And! It takes 10-30 years for HPV to turn those cells into cancer, which means you have a really really long time to catch it before it becomes cancer and cut those pre-cancer cells out!

4. WHAT ABOUT THAT VACCINE?

The thing my dad said I shouldn't get because it might make me a slut. Yes! There is an HPV vaccine! You should get it! It protects you against the nine most common cancer-causing types of HPV. It's recommended starting at age 11, and you can get it up to age 45 now! (It used to be 26, but as of 2020, it's now extended.)You can get it from most primary care doctors, or from Planned Parenthood, CVS, Walgreens, etc. If you get the vaccine you still need Pap smears.

5. I HEARD YOU CAN ONLY GET THE VACCINE IF YOU'RE A VIRGIN

Fake news. While the vaccine does not treat old infections of HPV, it does prevent new ones, so while the benefits are theoretically decreased in those who have already been sexually active, it does not mean you will not benefit from having it!

6. WHO GETS PAP SMEARS?

Everyone with a cervix starting at age 21, until you lose your cervix or until you're 65. You should get them every 3-5 years (depending on your exact age and what test your doctor does).

7. BUT I GOT THE VACCINE

Nice! You still need Pap smears.

8. I HAD ONE AND IT WAS HORRIBLE/I'M SCARED OF THE EXAM

Talk to your doctor about this in advance! Good gynecologists (and other providers) will work with you to minimize discomfort as much as possible. They can use a small speculum and lots of gel, prescribe anti-anxiety medications to take in advance, and some people will even use numbing creams and/or laughing gas.

9. BUT I DON'T HAVE/CAN'T SEE A GYN

Most primary care physicians can do them! So do a lot of urgent care centers!

10. BUT I'M A LESBIAN

HPV can be transmitted through oral/genital contact, hand/genital, and even hand-to-hand-then-genital, so you still need Pap smears.

11. BUT I'M A VIRGIN/ASEXUAL

You still need Pap smears. HPV can be transmitted not just through penetrative sex, but also through oral/genital, hand/genital, and hand-to-hand-then-genital, and also 9% of cervical cancers are not caused by HPV.

12. BUT I'M A TRANSGENDER MAN

If your cervix was removed, then congrats! You do not need Pap smears. Otherwise, unfortunately, you are still at risk for cervical cancer and need to be screened.

13. BUT I'M A TRANSGENDER WOMAN

Neovaginas do not need Pap smears! Congrats! Consider getting the vaccine, though, to prevent spreading HPV to others.

14. BUT I'M A CIS-GENDERED MAN

Congrats! You do not need Pap smears! You should still consider the vaccine though, not only to prevent the spread of HPV to others, but also because HPV causes 50% of all penile cancers as well.

In summary: please please please go get your pap smear. Go get vaccinated. The spread of HPV can be prevented, and cervical cancer can be caught and treated before it even becomes cancer.

DON'T FEAR THE SMEAR

[dear-ao3]

the saga of saphs terrible, horrible internet

so my friends and fellow romans, as some of you may know, i am currently at home while i wait to go galavant off to the other side of the globe for my study abroad. being at home presents a great many challenges that i will not get into at this time, but the top one is the internet connection.

now i am the proud owner of a 2017 macbook and an iphone se. the macbook was bought refurbished 3.5 years ago and the phone was bought new last august when my iphone 6s finally crapped out 2 weeks into junior year of college. i take....decent care of my electronics. and, this is an important detail here, the phone has an unlimited data plan.

i have never had a problem with this phone. it works great, occasionally it buffers in certain spots on campus that are kind of dead zones due to the buildings being massive blocks of concrete, but it always works, even despite the shitty school wifi i have because i can turn the wifi off and use data. the computer hates the wifi a little more, but i can still usually get it to work with minimal issues.

until now *cue dramatic music*

i have to be at home (my parents house) for a grand total of 18 days. which is not very long. and while at home i had some stuff to do, all of which required me to have an internet connection (fighting the financial aid office, talking to brad, researching grad school, purchasing textbooks, buying the last couple things i need for my trip, etc). i have also had to be in quarantine (long story) so essentially i have been confined to my room.

the internet has always been a little bit meh in my room, with certain spots not working the best (due to the fact that i am furthest from the router) but this is the same room that i took zoom classes from for 2.5 semesters, plus a summer class and a j term class with 0 issues, so i was confident i could make it work.

well. i was wrong.

the first two days went fairly normally. but then, a steady and rapid decrease in internet quality began.

and yes, i am aware that me complaining about internet quality is a very first world problem, but i am stuck in a house with my parents and it is miserable and i just want to facetime brad.

on day three i became unable to send a text message unless i was connected to wifi.

on day 4 i could only connect to wifi if i was standing in one specific spot in my bedroom and even then it didnt always work and would usually drop off by the time i walked back across the room

on day 5 facetime stopped working

on day 6 even standing directly next to the router didnt do anything and plugging into our sole ethernet cable only provided me with mediocre internet

on day 7 i had a mental breakdown and watched youtube all day at 144p complete with buffering that added a good 10-20 minutes to any video.

on day 8 i told my dad that in my deeply unprofessional opinion something is deeply wrong with our router and he said well its just cause your room is far away from it

on day 9 (today) i walked downstairs to get my up of tea in my big christmas tree mug and my dad said "our internet is being very slow, i am going to have to look into it"

oh

wait

you mean

to tell me

that the internet

isnt working?

golly goodness gosh

i didnt know

its not like it took 3 minutes for the blank post im writing right now to load and 30 minutes for a 10 minute youtube video to load and that i get kicked off the wifi if i so much as tilt my phone slightly to the left

its a miracle i havent gone insane yet i swear

[maggyoutthere]

This "Everywhere At The End Of Time" thing has been showing up on my recommendations list on youtube. What even is this thing-

I mean it sounds neat. I'm like half an hour in and I like it :/ it's so nostalgic with the static and record scratches. I'm a sucker for ambient music and these sound neat

Edit:

Reached Stage 2

What is happening why is this triggering something in me. Like I can clearly tell something's wrong. You can still hear the music but the static and record scratches are louder.

I'm kinda scared though. As much as I love listening to music I can tell when something is just more than your typical summer hit or even mental health PSA. What is this-

Edit 2

K so apparently this is an album representing various stages of dementia. That's a tricky thing to do but I have faith in music. It's a great way to express stuff so I'm very curious to what this is gonna turn out like.

Edit 3

Idk if I like where this is going.

"I still feel as though I am me" broke me a little for some reason. Idk why but it just stood out differently to me. I am very very hesitant to jump some tracks to get to hear the other stages still today. Most of these tracks transmit the same idea but I didn't want to leave out anything.

Also no I hate rb stuff to make those threads. Have the consecutive edits of this thing.

Edit 4

STAGE 3 YOU CAN'T JUST CUT OFF LIKE THAT WHAT THE HELL-

Little heart attack I just had aside, I'm liking it so far. It's starting to get very uneasy but I think that's the point of it. Goodness gracious Stage 3 scared the absolute crap out of me. It cut just like that. So abruptly and caught me off guard. Not even a fade out, damn.

Edit 5

I had to skip some tracks from the second half of Stage 3 and

oh no

Edit 6

Reached Stage 4

I am having some very visceral reactions to this. It is incredibly unnerving but I want to keep listening to it so much. I love how it’s not even music anymore, it’s just... noise. Lots of different noises all crumbled up together, unified by some vely loud static.

Might have to skip some bits here because all Stage 4 songs are 30 min long each.

Edit 7

MOMS COME PICK ME UP OH FUCK OH GOD NO NO NO NO

I HATE IT HERE BUT I LOVE IT BUT AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

It’s so hard to put down what this is doing. I’m not even sorry for rambling just take this post for what it is idfk if people are even reading this but holy fuck.

The 30 minute ones are killing me from the inside out. I’m very sensitive to audio and sounds (probably because of autism) and this is just pulling all the levers in my brain. It’s so- i have no idea what to call it. Sensory triggering?? I guess???

Edit 8

Stage 5.

Oh... god. 

Edit 9

Reached Stage 6

This has no description, both in the video and in my head. The sheer nothingness something so loud can transmit; the void where something should be but you can't remember what. Blessed were the minutes when I was still listening to the first track; there was music at least. Now there's just this emptiness, this absolutely deafening silence.

The worst is that you know exactly what's going on.

Edit 10

Listening to the last track: Stage 6 - Place in the World fades away

Everywhere At The End Of Time is a series exploring dementia, its advancement and its totality.

I cannot put to words what an absolute masterpiece this is. To tackle such a serious mental illness like this one is already an incredibly hard thing to do; to make art out of it is risky, to make it work is nothing short of a miracle.

The Caretaker (pseudonym of the composer) is an absolute master of his craft. To use something so carefully constructed as music and sound to make sense of something that makes someone not make sense is a challenge to say the least. How do you even go about it? In music there are bound to be rhythms and leitmotifs and patterns: there is bound to be organization.

This is where EATEOT absolutely excels in. I don't know if this could be called of music but I'll surely call it of art; the genius of these tracks are in their editing rather than in their composition. The first 2 stages are pretty much just songs with static noises and record scratches layered on top. It gets the message across: there is still memory, it's just blurry, washed out. It's there but it's hard to see.

From then on out, everything changes. Stage 3 keeps the background noise going, now repeating certain parts of the songs or even reverberating them. The memories themselves are starting to change, not just getting difficult to access. Stage 4 sees the absolute fear and horror of realizing such thing is happening. The grasping at anything in pure terror of forgetting everything. There is no such thing as music now. It's unnerving, it's uneasing, and rightfully so. This does not sugarcoat things and I personally like that.

Stage 5 hits us with a certain calmness after the storm. Things aren't better of course, they're just quieter. Memories are starting to dissapear completely and now there is mostly only the background noises.

Then comes Stage 6. It's desolated, it's deserted, it's nothing. It's gut wrenching. I'd like to touch on the last song because I particularly liked this one. "Place in the World fades away" is, in my opinion, divided into 2 parts. In the 1st half you have static and noise. There is nothing in there. The occasional crescendo almost scares you because of how hollow the mind seems to be at this point, but it leads nowhere. Then there's the 2nd half. You start to hear music. Actual music this time. A choir of voices, still echoing from somewhere else remind you of how it first started: with the music. It puts things into perspective and signals you towards the first of this 6-part series, how far we've come. Then, as if telling what must be told, the music fades away, leaving you with a whole minute of absolute silence. No static, no record scratches, literally a whole minute of dead silence.

I found myself continuously going back to this tumblr post and to the comment section of the video; I didn't want to feel like I was experiencing this alone, and I was glad to see people in the comment section helping eachother out, talking and venting, so that was heartwarming.

I know I'm not usually very serious about things but I wanted to try and do it for this absolute magnum opus. I like to critique stuff as much as the next guy, but to be able to analyze something like this is unique. If you want something to challenge you emotionally, something to make you think and reflect on things, this is an absolute must.

Tl;dr: Everywhere At The End Of Time is a haunting representation of dementia, both in its advancement and in its totality. It's really profound and definitely worth a try if you have some free hours.

[lucysweatslove]

Where I’ve Been, Pt 3:

Sorry for dropping off the face of the earth for the last month. I’ve been overwhelmed with everything and reorganized priorities.

Still working on the whole med school thing. I have several more secondaries too complete but I needed a break because the essays were intense. I had like 10 to do for University of Minnesota and many that involved discussing racism. I know I’m not the most affected in any means but I get so mad about it that it does emotionally impact me when I have to write essays, so I needed some time to calm down from that too.

Also the board certifying my residency wants me to obtain records of my tuition from 2009-2011, like 9 years before I even claimed MT residency. I have no freakin clue why or how I even get the records. I emailed the school but who knows what will happens with that.

I was supposed to see In This Moment on 09/30 but it was rained out so I saw them last Sunday instead and it was incredible BUT I ended up disconnected from my best friend and that sucked.

My husband and best friend told me individually that they think I am autistic. Idk how I feel about this because it’s NOT a real diagnosis but they don’t really like each other so when they both come to a conclusion individually there’s usually some truth to it. I don’t want to push the matter with my doctor because workup is $$ and intense and it probably won’t actually help me anyway. As in, it’s not like it would change anything in my treatment plan. It doesn’t change how my friends and husband treat me, either. It would explain some parts of my world, but I don’t want to self-diagnose or label myself without a diagnosis because I don’t want to ever take away from autistic voices. So I just don’t know what to do with my two closest loved ones thinking this about me.

Median home prices around here are bordering $1mil.

I saw my PCP this week and even though I’m a couple pounds heavier than our last meeting, she told me I was “doing really well.” Last year my cholesterol was low (high enough HDL) but my triglycerides were kinda high. I thought this was from a steady diet of HiChews a few weeks before I got my labs drawn. This year my triglycerides were down and my cholesterol was up a bit but still normal. She was thrilled and actually told me that my cholesterol was low enough last year that it was giving dietary restriction vs this year it seems more consistent with like, actually eating enough. I’ve never told her my FULL ED history but I marked it in my history report so she knows but has never made it into a Big Deal which I appreciate.

I got both my flu shot and COVID booster on Tuesday and it killed me. Not really but I felt awful for a couple days.

I might get discharged from PT soon!! Deadlifts have historically triggered the spasms the most so we have been trying to get back into it. We don’t have real barbells in the PT office, but on Monday, I did 96# on this machine that isn’t perfect but we simulated wide leg deadlifts and it wasn’t too heavy. I’m going to try real deads in the gym hopefully today and if all goes well without any pain/spasm, I get to go back to the gym and lift heavier weights again although I’m weak AF now.

I got super into skincare again and re-organize what I call my skin care-ousel (carousel but it’s skin care) with cute 10ml droppers and airless pumps and stuff. It looks really cute.

I posted selfies but I dyed my hair and I love it. I feel so much more like when my hair is black.

[dumpingprompts]

50 more prompts from my wip that will never be finished

I am back for my monthly upload! Woo!! As usual, feel free to use these prompts; no credit needed!

Part 1

1. “Are you really gonna deprive a child of her new best friend?”

2. “I mean, sure, I had a dad but knowing that the person who helped create me left, just makes me feel shitty. As if it’s my fault, y’know?”

3. “I don’t hate you. I’m happy that you’re happy.”

4. “I know, sweetie; I know.”

5. “Well, as you can see, clearly they weren’t. They went on a field trip, alone.”

6. “Sure thing, sweetheart. Give it a decade or two and your wings will grow.”

7. “I’d hate to imagine a world where two of you exist.”

8. “Are you… sure? Like certain certain, y’know?

9. “Don’t you have better things to do than argue about ducks to a three-year-old?”

10. “Well, that won't do, now will it?”

11. “—I don't believe I gave you permission to sleep.”

12. “Hey—hey it's me. It's [Name].”

13. “Can... can you please—please—”

14. “Hey—no—wait! You're still on bedrest!”

15. “[Name], my man, you're being awfully quiet.”

16. “I’m haunting your ass when I’m dead.”

17. "Jus' takin' a break... Sit with me?"

18. “You truly wound my heart.”

19. “That's the seventh time you've said this in an hour."

20. “No wonder they’re an ex. I’d rather be caught dead than being seen with them.”

21. “Yours, dear, are a work of art—remind me to thank your parents the next time we see ‘em.”

22. “As if! They love me more than you!”

23. “You are notoriously bad at opening doors.”

24. “Thank god you’re okay, you… I tried to… but — but, I lost you. I lost you!”

25. “Are you dumb? They pissed me off!”

26. “Ugh. Feelings.”

27. “I, wait, I – fuck.”

28. “We need to talk.”

29. “Just... talk to me, please. ”

30. “It's okay. I'll sleep on the couch tonight.”

31. “—[Name], we're done. I don't want to speak about it. Leave me alone.”

32. “What...? We're fine. I've just been busy lately.”

33. “I will only accept if it's a date.

34. “I, just—I need a moment...”

35. “Wait! I'm trying to piss, jeez. Give me a second!”

36. “Chill! Jesus Christ.”

37. “You're the type to say 'make me' in bed.”

38. “Oh, shit – oh fuck. I – um, almost fell, oops...”

39. “Listen, man, I can't help you; I can barely help myself right now.”

40. “Communication is key, my friends.”

41. “I may be listening, but it doesn't mean I'm listening.”

42. “I am actually going to cry.”

43. “I swear I'm not doing this on purpose!”

44. “Right... I forgot…”

45. “Whomst?”

46. “I dunno, man. People can do whatever the fuck they want.”

47. “No. No means no, man.”

48. “Food. I want food.”

49. “C'mon, don't make me kill you...”

50. “Wait, what was I saying again?”