#i had to cut some parts down because i get sidelined so hard

[mikuchan]

What about love confessions? Between our ladies - Minthara and Alfira - of course 😉 How; When; Who is the first one? What's the response? 😇💙💜

okay okay okay

This isn't exactly a love confession, but here's what I've got

733 words below the cut!

The bard, it seems to Minthara, is full of errant love. 

It’s I love you as Astarion stitches fallen jingle-bells back onto her blouse, as Karlach slings an arm around her, as Wyll presents her with a tin of colored pencils purchased from the Last Light’s quartermaster. I love you to the dog and the owlbear, to the urchin children as they giggle and scoff in return. She says it laughingly, applaudingly, dreamily. 

(She does not say it, Minthara notes, to the other tiefling girl – the one who sits by the hearth and moons after the bard. She does say it to Gale later, when they’re on the road: “Gods, I love her. I really do,” and Minthara rolls her eyes.)

It’s saccharine. It’s infuriating. It’s downright dangerous. The world above is different than the one Minthara grew up in, it’s true – but it’s also not so unsimilar. Not in the ways that matter. Open affection in times of war is never a good idea. But it’s not Minthara’s job to remedy this, so she simply ignores these outbursts and carries on. If the bard wants to act the fool, so be it.

Then they fight together, and camp together. She spends hours on the shadow-mucked road with Alfira chattering besides her. They sleep together – once, twice, thrice.

 Somewhere along that line, Minthara realizes she cares about the bard. She worries about Alfira’s comfort, and more than that, about her safety. 

At the same time, Alfira starts saying it to her, too.

“Ugh, Minthara, I love you,” sighed as the drow brings her a glass of water or wine.

“My hero! I love you!” exclaimed after Minthara seizes her by the arm, saving her from a faceful of mud. 

“I love you, you know,” and this is the worst one yet, delivered with a loving gaze and a gentle hand placed over Minthara’s own,  “and the others do too. You don’t need to be so stoic all the time.” 

As if Alfira gets to say that. As if anyone in this damn camp gets to tell Minthara Baenre what to do. Besides, it’s not just stoicism, it’s pragmatism. She knows better than any the dangers of open love. She’s doing her damndest to keep Alfira alive and in one piece, and the least the girl can do is not undermine her with these constant displays of silliness. 

“It would do you good, Alfira,” she finally says, “to be a little more stoic.”

“Probably.” Alfira’s smile is sad and lopsided, and Minthara turns away.  

In the depths of night, when she’s half-lulled in a trance state and Alfira is curled up on the bedroll beside her, she is terrified. She watches the tiefling’s chest as it rises and falls, and she feels herself standing upon a knife’s edge of fear and affection. 

Alfira’s not a calm sleeper. She moves and mutters, and expressions flicker across her face, all little frowns and winces. Her tail curls, or lashes in agitation. It does so now, violently enough to bump Minthara. She catches it with one hand to run her thumb across the smooth skin there, the funny blunt-barbed end. It helps for a moment. Alfira calms – then she jerks with a gasp, eyes flying open. Minthara moves her hand to the woman’s chest, rubbing small circles as Alfira orients herself. 

She doesn’t ask what the nightmare was about. Not a night goes by without one of them going through similar: Shadowheart whimpering and twitching, a shout from Gale, clenched-teeth sobs from…well, any of them. Nobody mentions any of it in the morning. Minthara does not sleep (and she certainly doesn’t cry aloud like a child), but her own reveries are not always peaceful either. She rolls closer to Alfira, wrapping her free arm around her, and the bard curls into her chest. Her breath is warm against Minthara’s skin.

“Oh, Minthara, I’m glad you’re here. I love you,” Alfira murmurs. 

She can’t quite bring the word to leave her own lips. It tastes like poison on her tongue. It feels like a blade sliced cleanly through Alfira’s ribs, her own grip firm on the handle. It sounds like birdsong, like bard song, and also like downfall.

But she can’t bring herself to turn away, either. Not entirely. 

“...as I do you,” Minthara finally says, and she feels Alfira smile against her. 

[meazalykov]

getting what she wants

lena oberdorf x reader

part four of five

summary: you wonder if she will take this as seriously as you will, since the unfortunate event will turn her life around

warnings: angst, acl injury

the atmosphere in washington, d.c. was buzzing, the crowd already filling up the stadium for the final friendly before the olympics. 

the last tune-up match. the send off. you should’ve been excited, but your mind wasn’t entirely focused on the game ahead.

your family was here, your non-soccer playing friends have called off from their jobs just to celebrate your achievements.

however, you couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, though you hadn’t put your finger on it yet.

emma had decided to rest you for the first half, opting to try out some new formations and lineups before the olympics. 

you were okay with it, knowing that your performance in new york had already solidified your spot in the starting lineup for the tournament. still, sitting on the bench with your legs jittering from the adrenaline that always hit just before a match wasn’t easy.

you sat between tierna and hal, the latter relatively new to the national team setup. hal’s wide eyes scanned the field, soaking it all in as she sat nervously beside you.

"y/n," she said, her voice soft, like she wasn’t sure if she should even speak to you. 

you turn your head to look at her, with a light smile letting her know that she can speak to you anytime. 

"i know you’re going through a hard time, according to the team. and i feel like you should hear this since we haven’t talked much but i’ve just... i’ve always admired you. as a midfielder, i mean. your control, your playmaking, it’s... i don’t know, you’re so goated."

you turned to her, surprised by the compliment. you hadn’t interacted with hal much since this was only her third call-up to the senior team. she was still finding her spot, but her genuine words made you smile, if only a little.

"thank you, you don’t understand how much that means to me right now" you replied, offering her a nod of acknowledgment. 

"you’ve been doing great too. i can’t wait to play with you more often."

hal gave a nervous smile, then added, "i know there’s been... a lot of drama lately. with carmine and everything. but i want you to know that i’d like to be your friend, no matter what. i don’t care about the rumors that might make you look bad or any of that stuff."

her words took you off guard, and you felt a wave of gratitude wash over you. 

it wasn’t easy to open up to new people, especially after your ex ruined your trust for a temporary period, but hal’s sincerity was a breath of fresh air.

"i’d like that," you said, meaning it. 

"friends sound good."

the game started, and for the first half, you sat watching intently, analyzing the way emma was testing out the new players. 

mexico was tough, just as they had been in the gold cup back in february, but you knew that your team had enough firepower to break them down eventually.

at halftime, it was still 0-0, and you were itching to get on the field. 

emma must’ve sensed it, because in the 63rd minute, she called your name.

"y/n, you’re going in. i want you to play in your normal position, just like last game, prioritize the opportunity. stay in the line– i trust you."

you nodded, already mentally preparing yourself as you stripped off your warm-up gear and jogged to the sideline. 

when the whistle blew, you stepped onto the pitch replacing rose lavelle, ready to make an impact.

within minutes, you found your rhythm, linking up with mallory, lynn, and sophia effortlessly. you could feel the game starting to open up, and you knew it was only a matter of time before the breakthrough came.

and then, in the 78th minute, it did.

lynn made a run down the left wing, drawing two defenders toward her. you saw the space open up in the middle and called for the ball. 

she cut it back to you, and without hesitation, you took a touch, then drilled it into the bottom corner of the net.

the goalkeeper dives too late to save it.

the crowd erupted as you run to the corner to celebrate. you see your family and personal friends and give them a heart with your hands, happy to see them here.

your teammates swarming you. it wasn’t a hat trick like the last game, but it was your fourth goal in two games, and it felt good—really good.

after the final whistle, with a 1-0 victory secured, you headed back to the locker room. 

the energy was high, the team buzzing with excitement, but there was a heavy pit forming in your stomach. 

something didn't feel right before the game, and you couldn’t shake it.

as you sat on the bench, wiping the sweat and grass dirt from your face, lindsey walked over, her expression serious. she motioned for you to follow her, pulling you into one of the private areas of the locker room.

"hi?" you asked, sensing something was wrong.

is she confronting you about the drama? you weren’t sure. lindsey reassured you many times that everyone still loves you, so you hope there were no new problems now.

lindsey hesitated for a moment, her eyes searching yours before she spoke. 

"i didn’t want to tell you before the game, but... lena got injured in germany’s friendly against austria. it’s her knee. popp thinks it’s her acl."

your heart dropped into your stomach, the words hitting you like a freight train. 

"what?" your voice cracked, panic already rising in your chest.

"she’s in the hospital back in germany right now," lindsey continued softly. 

"i’m sorry, y/n."

you didn’t think twice. without another word, you grabbed your phone and hurried outside to find a quieter space. 

it was 11:30 p.m. in dc, which meant it was 5:30 am in germany. 

lena would still be awake, especially if she was in the hospital.

with shaky hands, you dialed her number. the phone rang twice before she picked up, her voice groggy but filled with pain.

"hey," lena murmured. 

"i was hoping you’d call. nice goal by the way, i saw it on tv."

"lena, i just found out," you said, your voice tight as you tried to hold back the wave of emotions crashing over you. 

"your acl? are you okay? i—i should’ve called sooner but i had that game—"

"i’m... i don’t know," lena admitted, her voice breaking slightly. 

"it hurts like hell, and i couldn’t sleep. i was supposed to start my first game with you at bayern after the summer, but now... now i don’t even know when i’ll be back."

your heart ached hearing the defeat in her voice. 

lena was one of the toughest people you knew, but this was breaking her.

"i’m so sorry," you whispered, your throat tight. 

"i’ll be there for you, okay? after the olympics, i’ll help you with your recovery. i’ll make time, i promise."

"you don’t have to do that," lena said quietly, though you could hear the gratitude in her tone. 

"i don’t want to be a burden on you. you have so much going on—" she switches to german. 

"lena," you cut her off, your voice firm. 

"you’re not a burden. you’re a priority. i want to help you. i’ll be there for you, whatever you need. i promise."

there was a long pause on the other end before lena spoke again. 

"thank you," she whispered. "i... i don’t know what i’d do without you right now."

you sat there, the weight of her words sinking in. the truth was, you didn’t know what you’d do without her either. 

shes been in contact with you everyday since that night. unless there were training or games, there wasn’t a single long-period where you weren’t texting about something– or anything.

despite everything—despite the complicated mess you’d been through with your ex, and the uncertainty that had surrounded your relationship with lena—you realized just how deep your feelings for her ran.

you weren’t official with lena. not yet. but the way your heart was breaking for her right now told you everything you needed to know.

after a long pause, lena spoke again, her voice softer now. 

"i’ll still make time for you, even with everything going on."

"no," you said firmly. "i’m going to be there for you, okay? i’ll help you recover. you won’t have to go through this alone."

"thank you," lena whispered again, her voice filled with emotion. 

you sat there, the phone still pressed to your ear, your mind racing. this wasn’t how you’d imagined things would go. 

lena was supposed to start fresh at bayern after the summer, and now... now everything had changed.

when you returned to the locker room, the news had already spread. the atmosphere was a mix of excitement from the win and the heaviness of what had just happened to lena. 

your teammates, especially the ones who knew her well like tierna, gave you sympathetic looks, but no one said much.

as the team prepared to leave for d.c., the weight of everything that had happened in the past few weeks hit you all at once. 

from the messy breakup with sloan to lena’s injury, it felt like everything was spinning out of control. 

and yet, despite it all, one thing became clear to you as you boarded the plane for the olympics: 

you wanted to be with lena. not just as a friend, not just as someone helping her recover, but you wanted to be hers. and her to be yours. 

the thing is– you weren’t sure how it would all work out with lena, but you knew one thing for sure: you were in too deep to turn back now. 

when all of this was over, you and lena could figure it out together. 

the olympics came and went in a blur, the pressure mounting as you advanced through the tournament. 

the uswnt played like machines under emma hayes, and before you knew it, you found yourself in the final against brazil, the stakes higher than ever.

the atmosphere at the olympic final against brazil was electric. you were in the 2020 olympics with the team, but winning bronze doesn’t compare to this.

you stood shoulder to shoulder with lindsey and sam, eyes fixed on the opponents you’ve had faced so many times before. 

brazil was known for their speed and creativeness, but you knew alyssa naeher was more than prepared to keep them at bay. 

today wasn’t just another game — it was the olympic final. and you were more determined than ever to bring home gold. just to prove to yourself that nothing could stop your game, not your cheating ex— nobody.

but as the national anthem played, you couldn’t help but think of lena. 

you hadn’t spoken to her much over the last few days, mostly because she was in the thick of her recovery then traveling to meet up with her national team. 

though, lena was in the audience. you knew that. lena visited her german teammates as they won the bronze medal match against spain. to say that you were happy for them would've been an understatement. 

now the germans were here before the ceremony, ready to watch you put on an outstanding performance for gold.

your heart ached when you thought of her, the injury that had thrown both of your worlds off course. 

she was supposed to be thriving, ready to become a star at bayern, and now she was sidelined for months.

but right now, you had a job to do.

the whistle blew, and the final kicked off.

brazil came out swinging, full of energy, and the first twenty minutes were a back-and-forth battle in the midfield. 

every time adriana or marta touched the ball, your heart skipped a beat, but you knew alyssa was solid in the back. 

the triple espresso were pushing the attack, but brazil’s defense was holding strong.

at around the 30-minute mark, you found yourself in space, sam coffey threading a pass your way. 

your first touch was sharp, pushing the ball ahead of you as you glanced up to see the keeper off her line. the triple espresso was blocked by defenders, so without a second thought, you wound up and took the shot from just outside the box, sending the ball curling toward the top corner.

the sound of the net rippling sent a surge of adrenaline through your veins, and the stadium exploded in celebration. 1-0. 

you threw your arms up, letting the emotion wash over you as your teammates rushed to engulf you in a hug.

something inside of you wanted to cry in joy– but you held it in. there was still work to be done, and brazil wasn’t going to back down easily.

the rest of the first half was intense. 

brazil pressed hard, but the u.s. defense, led by alyssa, naomi, emily, crystal, and tierna, stood strong. 

when brazil did manage to get a shot off, alyssa was there, calm and collected, making crucial saves to maintain the lead.

at halftime, the locker room was a mixture of adrenaline and focus. 

the 1-0 lead felt good, but you knew it wasn’t enough. brazil was dangerous, and if you let up for even a second, they’d capitalize.

emma gathered the team for a quick pep talk, her voice steady but full of fire. you listened, making sure that you put on the best performance of your career in this second half.

as the second half kicked off, you could feel the tension. 

brazil came out with renewed energy, and for the first 15 minutes, they pinned you back, testing alyssa with shots from distance. 

she held firm, pulling off save after save, keeping the clean sheet intact.

you cheered, externally or internally, everytime. 

in the 65th minute, emma made a tactical switch, bringing in fresh legs to maintain the pace. fortunately, you weren’t subbed out. 

the game shifted again, and you found yourself back in the attack. mallory broke down the wing, flying past her defender, and whipped in a cross toward the penalty spot.

you were already there, timing your run perfectly. the ball floated in, and without hesitating, you leapt into the air, connecting with the header. 

it wasn’t the hardest shot you’d ever taken, but it was placed perfectly, tucking into the bottom corner past brazil’s keeper.

2-0.

the stadium erupted, louder this time, the roar deafening as you run around the pitch with your arms up high. your  teammates chased then mobbed you once again. most teammates from the bench even jumping up to hug you in celebration. 

a two-goal lead in the olympic final. you could taste the gold now.

with brazil rattled, the game started to open up. there were more chances on both sides, but your defense was unbreakable. 

alyssa, naomi, and emily were locked in, keeping brazil at bay with every attack they mounted. it felt like nothing could get past them, and you could see the frustration building in the brazilian players.

as the clock ticked down, the final whistle was nearing, but you kept your foot on the gas. 

brazil was desperate, throwing numbers forward, and that left them exposed at the back.

in the 88th minute, you found yourself in possession again, just outside the box. 

sophia made a darting run to pull the defenders away, giving you just enough space to take a shot. you faked to your right, cutting back inside, and then unleashed a low, driven strike toward the far post.

the ball hit the bar, but trinity recovered it and tapped it behind the net. 

3-0. the gold was yours.

the crowd exploded in celebration as you dropped to your knees, overwhelmed with emotion. 

trinity laid on top of you, crying with you. 

your teammates swarmed you, hugging you, lifting you up, the joy infectious. you had done it. olympic champions.

as the final whistle blew, the team celebrated like there was no tomorrow, hugging, crying, laughing. 

you had your gold medal moment, standing on top of the world. 

your hands were on your face as your sobs came out uncontrollably. if you told yourself a month ago that you’d be this happy and relieved, you wouldn’t believe it. 

lindsey and tierna comforted you as you stood up to go to the locker room, getting ready to shower before the ceremony. 

as you had a moment to settle down, your thoughts drifted back to lena.

you hadn’t realized how deep your feelings for her had grown.

the fact that she was there, the fact that she was hundreds of feet away in the stadium, recovering from an injury that could derail her season instead of celebrating bronze with her team, weighed heavily on your heart.

later that night, after all the celebrations, after the medals had been handed out and the photos had been taken, you found a quiet moment to yourself. 

the weight of the gold medal around your neck was a reminder of everything you’d worked for, but the ache in your chest was for something, someone else.

you pulled out your phone, glancing at the time. 

lena was probably asleep by now after partying with her national team, but you couldn’t help it. you needed to talk to her.

you dialed her number, your heart pounding as the phone rang. after a few rings, she picked up, her voice groggy.

"hey," she mumbled. 

"you did it!" she cheered through her tired voice. 

"yeah," you whispered, your throat tight. 

"we won."

there was a long pause on the other end, and you could hear lena shift slightly, probably trying to get comfortable in her bed. 

you know that she is someone who sleeps on her stomach, so the brace might make it hard for her. 

"i’m so proud of you," she said softly.

"i wish you were here with me," you admitted, the words slipping out before you could stop them. 

"this doesn’t feel right without you, even if you do have a different nationality than me." you giggled.

"i wish i was there too," she replied, her voice filled with longing. 

"but... i’ll be here when you get back. we’ll figure everything out then. until then, please enjoy your win."

you smiled, tears stinging your eyes. "i’m coming home to you. as soon as all of this is done."

"i’ll be waiting," lena whispered.

as you hung up after the goodnights, the weight of everything hit you all at once. 

the olympics, the gold, lena’s injury, your breakup with sloan, the confusion about what you and lena really were—it was all so much. 

one thing was clear in your mind as you stared down at the gold medal around your neck: it didn’t matter what obstacles lay ahead now. 

you moved on from whatever was in the past and you were in this with lena now, for the long run.

part five, the final part, here

[bri-cheeses]

| Rosekiller microfic | Word count: 875 | @thingthatoncewastruee this is dedicated to you because of this old post of mine | Oh also this is a ✨part one✨ |

-

The light from the crackling fireplace spilled out into the common room, casting a warm glow to the dark wood and green furniture that made up the Slytherin common room. Save for two figures sprawled out on the couch and one curled up in an armchair with a book, the room was empty of life, the pop and hiss of logs the only sound present.

Except, of course, the turning of pages coming from Regulus Black, and the soft breaths of Evan Rosier as he lay upon Barty Crouch Jr.

Barty should be doing something. Regulus was reading some book that was undoubtedly full of hopelessly confusing metaphors, and Evan was sleeping. But Barty was simply watching Evan as he rested, observing Evan’s chest rise and fall with each deep breath.

Barty noted the way the fire lit up strands of Evan’s blond hair and danced across one side of his face, playing tricks as it highlighted his friend’s cheekbones. Evan’s mouth was parted slightly, and warm puffs of breath ghosted across Barty’s sternum each time he breathed out. There was something enchanting about it, about the way Evan’s arms wrapped around his torso, his body fitting perfectly against Barty’s own as they lay there, entwined with one another.

Barty should be doing something other than creepily staring at his best friend, but Regulus wasn’t paying attention, and Barty was having a hard time pulling his gaze away from the boy sprawled across him.

He had a hard time looking away even as the door to the common room opened, causing a flood of light to come spilling in.

“Crap,” he heard a girl mutter under her breath as the sound of falling books resonated throughout the room. There was a sigh, then the sound of books being stacked upon each other once more.

Footsteps echoed on the wood floor as the girl moved about the room, coming closer towards the fireplace. Finally, Barty was able to see who the intruder was: Adriata Fawley, a sixth-year Slytherin who Barty was on friendly enough terms with.

A sudden thought struck him as she made her way to the right of the fireplace, where the staircase to the girls’ dorms was. Really, this was a conversation he should probably be sitting up for, but he couldn’t bring himself to disturb Evan.

“Adriata,” he called out quietly, trying hard not to wake Evan.

He stirred but did not wake as Adriata turned around, books still in hand, and said, “What is it?”

Almost immediately after finishing her question, she yawned widely, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. A sense of guilt washed over Barty—after all, it was late, and she probably just wanted to go to bed. But she was the perfect solution to his current dilemma, and Barty had already stopped her on her way up, so all he could do was finish his request.

“You know the Yule Ball, right?”

She nodded slowly, and Barty continued even as Regulus finally looked up from his book. He tried not to let his friend’s curious gaze get to him as he explained, “Well, I still need someone to go with, and I thought it’d be fun to go with you, if you wanted.”

The corners of Adriata’s mouth turned down, and Barty rushed to continue.

“Just as friends,” he added, desperately hoping she wouldn’t get the wrong impression and get scared off.

“Well,” Adriata said slowly, “I’d love to, but—” her eyes flicked over Evan’s sleeping form— “is Evan not available for some reason?”

Barty furrowed his brow. What was that supposed to mean? Did Adriata think that Evan was somehow going to interfere with the ball? Unless…

A low sinking feeling started to form in Barty’s gut. Had Evan asked Adriata to go to the Yule Ball with him? Was Evan going to go to the ball with Adriata?

Barty couldn’t stop himself from imaging Evan in a perfectly-cut suit with Adriata on his arm. Them laughing together. Getting food together. Dancing together. All while Barty watched from the sidelines.

He didn’t know why he cared this much. He was friendly with Adriata, sure, but that didn’t mean he had a crush on her or anything. But the thought of her going to the ball with Evan caused a sour taste to fill his mouth nonetheless.

Barty glanced back down at Evan’s sleeping face, and his voice tightened into a bitter tone as he responded, “No, why? Did he ask you to—to go with him, or something?”

“Huh? No,” Adriata shook her head, looking beyond confused. “No, nothing like that. I had just assumed that, well… you two would be going together, that’s all. Considering the fact that you’re, uh, you know. Dating.”

“What?” Barty squawked. Evan shifted slightly at the loud noise, and Barty immediately berated himself. He was only vaguely aware of a snort of laughter from Regulus’s direction as his mind scrambled to untangle Adriata’s words.

Dating? Him and Evan?

His gaze roved over Evan’s form once more, the way Evan’s head was tucked against Barty’s chest and their legs were twined together.

Dating, Barty thought incredulously as Evan nestled further into Barty’s torso, where had she even gotten that idea?

-

(Part two)

[gatitties]

Not in my world

─ Strawhats, Heart Pirates & Kid Pirates x isekaed!student!reader

─ Summary: you find yourself in a totally different world and trying to adjust

─ Warnings: none

Part two / Part three (Kid Pirates)

─ Then, you were comfortably asleep in your bed, completely passed out from studying so much for the exam you had tomorrow, however, surprise! out of nowhere you were on a boat with a rubber guy, a thief, a guy with moss on his head, a lovesick cook, a reindeer, an archaeologist, a liar, a cyborg and a living skeleton.

─ Screams and screams, confused on your part, scared on the part of Nami, Chopper, Ussop and Luffy… he just joined in the screams because they were all screaming and he wanted to too.

─ It took you a good week to assimilate that you weren't in your world, but you got over it thinking about the end of exams, the stress and the panic of losing your scholarship, you were literally like "I'd rather be a pirate than do my homework on integrals and derivatives."

─ Although it was hard to get used to all that stuff about pirates, marines… there was a lot of history behind it that you didn't understand but just keep going, you've still been lucky to have the best team on your side.

─ Luffy would ask a lot of stupid things about your world, God bless you because the boy was completely taking patience away from you, "Yes Luffy, for the tenth time, we poop just like you, stop asking the same question."

─ Zoro stood on the sidelines, just looking at you as if you were going to stab them in the back, while you looked at him and said "sir, calm down a bit, I can barely walk without tripping over my own feet."

─ Nami would be glad to have another bath partner, the only bad thing for her is that you had no money to go into debt with, so for now you were on her good side.

─ Ussop began to be your faithful friend, like Nami and Chopper on some occasions, you added to his ranks as one more scared, although you certainly had good reasons to be more scared than them.

─ Chopper got very worried when he noticed your irregular hours of sleep, you explained to him that it was all part of your school schedule and that it would take you time to change it.

─ Just like you had shitty sleep schedules, your eating schedules went hand in hand, Sanji thought you were worse than Luffy, not because of the amount you ate, but because of the hours you ate, he always scolded you when in the middle of the night he found you in the kitchen, as if you had never been fed in your life.

─ You were closer to Robin, there was something in her that screamed 'motherhood', something that reminded you of your mother and made you see her as one, so every time she spoke to you or explained things of this world, your mind simply writhed thinking, you would end up crying later that night.

─ The one you looked at the most carefully was Franky because what the hell is going on with his hair? You spend hours looking at his hair, wondering what physical laws apply to stay like this or how much damn hairspray he spends in a day.

─ Well, your first impression with Brook was that you had taken drugs or something (same with Chopper tbh). Skeletons aren't supposed to talk in your world, but anyway, over time and after a few punches for his insinuations towards your underwear, you ended up liking his music a lot, you end up asking him to play songs from your world, trying to make them similar.

─ You were running down the street because you were going to be late for your psychology class, not paying attention to the 'cut off for construction' signs so you ended up falling down a sewer and the fall was too long, long enough to give you time to assimilate that you were no longer in your world.

─ Your theories were confirmed when you landed on top of a poor bear, but hey, at least the fall was less painful.

─ Bepo and you shared silent glances until you both spoke at the same time, "Sorry!" "Wait why are you apologizing? One second HOW CAN YOU TALK?" "I'M SORRY!" "DON'T APOLOGIZE FOR THAT!" No, you definitely have to have been high to understand the class you were going to and having a bad experience.

─ Unfortunately no, it was worse than taking drugs, you were in another world, one full of dangers and pirates, no, no, you weren't going through that, you were too tired to assimilate it.

─ The first time you see Law he almost cuts you in half if it weren't for Bepo, you already adored this bear. You had to stay inside the Polar Tang because unfortunately they were on a route in the middle of nowhere.

─ "So now there are two depressive whores in a submarine" you muttered giving the captain of the ship a last look while he left you in a room to talk to the others.

─ The good part, no boring classes, the bad part, what are you supposed to do locked up here? Law didn't trust you so most of the time you had someone on top of you watching you.

─ Your saviors were Penguin and Sachi, they had that energy of idiots who share half a neuron that made you amused, oh, you would cause Law so many headaches for doing so many nonsense with these two men. "Who the hell put bread in my food?!"

─ You didn't have anything fun to do and now… you can assemble your body like it's a puzzle for annoying the captain.

─ Ikkaku and you didn't take long to connect, being the only two women in the cold submarine, you found in her someone to turn to if the change of environment overloaded you at times, because yes, you liked to collapse thinking about your old life when you were alone.

─ Definitely the reason why Law didn't throw you in the middle of the sea or abandon you on some random island was because Ikkaku liked you and he also felt a little sorry for you, so a little more help in the Polar Tang never hurts.

─ Just when you were going over a bridge you decided to take a look, the water moved calmly many meters below you, your intrusive thoughts "jump in and finish all the shit from the studies" while your reasonable part "no, not yet you are young, this is just a small stone in your way."

─ You got rid of all thoughts but oops… someone careless who was riding a bike pushed you enough for your body to fall into the void, well, it seemed that someone had chosen for you.

─ You expected to die at least, hey, you didn't have to go through all the stress, but you definitely didn't think of ending up in another world, falling directly into a ship, strangely you didn't cause any injuries but…

─ "Who the hell are you!?" A deranged redhead grabbed you by the collar of your shirt looking at you as if he was going to bite your throat out. You were scared to death "Is this hell? I knew I shouldn't have cheated on tests."

─ Killer prevented Kid from killing you at that precise moment by indirectly calling him a demon.

─ "I'll throw you overboard you damn brat" In fact, that sounded pretty good after discovering simple things about this world and its brutalities, "bro, I'll throw myself overboard" someone had already pushed you off a bridge, you were ready to die so you didn't care much.

─ "What the hell are you two doing?" Killer just watches as you prepare to jump into the sea while his friend laughs at your stupid bravery. Yes, the blond prevented your possibly second death that day.

─ You find yourself spending more time with Killer because he seems like a mother and you miss yours, he was the most 'understanding' with your situation.

─ Kid just used you to do all the shit work that nobody wanted to do, since you were on his ship you weren't going to sit idly by. But he ended up making you overexert yourself with some things.

─ This caused Heat to see your first stress attack in this world, oh lord, he didn't know what to do when he saw you shaking and crying while pulling some of your hair strands too hard. He just gave you an awkward hug hoping you would stop crying.

─ They found out the hard way that you weren't good at dealing with situations under pressure, you stuck a fork in Wire's hand because they were pestering you at dinner with so many questions and teasing about your world.

─ Kid began to worry when he saw you trying to blow your brains out with one of his guns, at first he thought you were a stupid reckless, but the truth is that you were just a depressed student.

─ He decided that you could stay with them as long as you were not a 'nuisance', the thing is that they ended up becoming fond of you, especially Killer, now you were like his child and he was taking care of you whether you wanted it or not since you will never know when you will return to your old life.

[pink-sparkly-witch]

The Widow - Chapter One

Chapter One

Summary: Sam and Y/N are happily married, but everything changes after a fatal car accident leaves her a widow. The Winchester motto: “Family Don’t End with Blood,” takes on a whole new meaning for Y/N as she navigates her new normal with the help of her brother-in-law, Dean. But what no one can tell her is what happens when she falls in love again.

Pairing: Sam Winchester x F!Reader | Dean Winchester x F!Reader (eventual)

Warnings: Major character death, angst, description of injuries, grief, catatonic state

Words: 2,147

A/N: Well, here we go! This is the first part of this story that started as a tiny seedling months ago and just kept growing and growing until I just had to get it out of my head and onto the page. I hope you enjoy this emotional rollercoaster! 

My Masterlist     AO3    Ko-Fi

“Hey baby,” Sam greeted when you answered the phone. You could hear the grin in his voice, and it made you smile. “How’s your day been?”

“Well, hello there, my sexy husband!” You grinned as you heard Sam quietly chuckle down the phone. It was the kind of chuckle that always came out when he was embarrassed, and you smiled wider knowing you could have such an effect on him. “My day was good. You know that project that I wanted to be lead on?” you asked him.

“Yeah?” Sam responded patiently. You knew that he knew you’d got it, but you had to build the suspense just a little bit.

“Well… I got it!”

“Baby, that’s fantastic! I knew you could do it. There was never a doubt in my mind it’d go to anyone else!” Sam was always your biggest champion. He was always there cheering you on from the sidelines and always had your back, no matter what. “I’m so proud of you, Y/N.”

“If I do good, I’ll be promoted to Senior Project Manager. I’d be running my own team, Sam! Free reign to pick my own projects to run with! Can you imagine?”

“Yeah actually, I can,” he announced matter-of-factly. “You have always worked hard for what you want, and always get it. I have no doubt you’ll nail this project, get your promotion, and be running the company before long!”

“Aw, Sammy, thank you for always encouraging me to chase my dreams. It’s one of the many, many reasons I love you!”

“Oh, so there are many, many reasons you love me, huh?” His voice was low and teasing, and you smirked as you waited for him to continue. “And would another of those many, many reasons be because of the sounds I made you make last night and again this morning?”

“Samuel William Winchester! You are at work! Behave yourself!” You tried to keep your voice firm, but the man was right, and you laughed despite yourself.

“Speaking of work…” Sam sighed.

“I know, Sam. And it’s okay. You need to prepare for the most important case of your career. The case that’ll make you partner, and…”

“If I win.”

“You will win. Then you’ll be the youngest partner the firm has ever seen. I get it, babe. Go! Work. And bring home partner, alright?” You smiled at your husband’s quiet chuckle.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” Sam praised.

“So I’ve heard,” you teased.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I love you. And once I make partner…”

“I know,” you cut him off before he beat himself up even more about the late nights and weekends at the office. “It’s okay. Now go! The sooner you get back to work, the sooner you can come home and get some rest.”

“Alright, baby. It’ll be after midnight when I’m done, so don’t wait up. I love you, Y/N/N.”

“I love you too, Sammy.”

The weather was perfect. Not too hot for this time of year, but warm enough that you could wear a sundress on the picnic date Sam insisted he takes you on once the trial was over and he’d made partner. Everything he’d worked so hard for was now a reality, and, as he kept insisting, it was your time now.

He really didn’t need to. You knew he loved you and would do anything for you, even give up on his dreams if you’d asked him to, but for some reason that you couldn’t fathom (and wouldn’t complain about), he insisted you needed to be treated like a princess and reminded of how much he loved you.

“Sam, this is beautiful,” you gasped in awe as he unpacked the basket full of fresh and vibrant fruits, miniature cakes and pastries, and sandwiches that wouldn’t look out of place in the afternoon teas of the Ritz-Carlton in New York City. “You did all this for me?”

“I may have had some help from Jody,” he chuckled, “but I am fully responsible for this…” he smirked over at you as he pulled a bottle of champagne from the hamper. “It’s the same one you picked out for our wedding,” he added, and you smiled at the blush that crept up his neck and across his cheeks. He cleared his throat in that adorable nervous habit of his as he looked at you with lowered eyes and waited for your reaction. God, those puppy eyes were gonna be the death of you one day.

“Sam…” you cleared your throat trying to rid yourself of the overwhelming love you had for this man, the love that continued to grow with each day that passed. “It’s perfect. You didn’t need to do any of this.”

“I know,” Sam stated, gazing so intently into your eyes it felt like he was looking into the deepest parts of your soul. “But I wanted to. I have missed too many home-cooked meals and weekends with you, and I can never get that time back. This…” he gestured to the spread in front of him, “is the least I can do.”

Ding.

The clock from the town hall began to chime the new hour. “Sam,” you smiled, fighting back happy tears, “I love you, and I know everything you’ve done is for us and for our future. You should never apologise for that, ever.”

Ding.

“Baby, I know you don’t need grand gestures and over-the-top declarations of my love. It’s one of the many, many reasons I love you,” Sam smirked. “I want to take my wife on surprise, and hopefully, romantic dates. I want to spoil you as much as I can. Please, let me?”

Ding.

“Sam, I…” 

Knock knock.

You jerk awake, suddenly aware that you aren’t in the park having a romantic picnic with your husband. Instead, you’re having a very vivid dream and the town hall clock isn't chiming the new hour; someone is knocking on your door. Confused, your sleep-heavy eyes seek out the alarm clock on the bedside table and panic as you take in the time.

2:14am

You scramble from the bed, your foot trapped in the duvet, causing you to trip and lose your balance, managing to catch yourself just before you fall. Cursing softly and grabbing the robe that lies at the bottom of the bed, you quickly put it on and run down the stairs.

Opening the door, your stomach drops as your eyes scan over the sombre faces of two uniformed officers. “Mrs Winchester?” The taller of the two asks with a tone you’ve only heard from police officers in TV shows and movies.

“Yes?” You answered, the heavy feeling of dread settling deep in your stomach.

“I’m Sergeant Graham and this is my colleague, Officer Diaz. May we come in?”

“Uh, sure,” you take a step back and open the door further, inviting the officers in.

“Please take a seat, Mrs Winchester,” the sergeant requests, using a soft but firm voice, and you find yourself obeying quickly. “Your husband, Sam Winchester, was in a car accident.” He continues calmly, and your heart begins to hammer against your rib cage. “He was travelling down East 15th at its junction with Park, and he had the green light, but he was struck by a drunk driver who ran the red.”

Tears begin to pool in your eyes, and you will yourself not to think the worst, but you know it’s pointless. Two officers don’t come to your door in the middle of the night to tell you that your husband was in an accident and has been lucky enough to only sustain minor cuts and bruises.

“The truck hit the driver’s side of your husband’s car at high speed, and I’m sorry to tell you he was killed on impact…” Whatever else the sergeant says is drowned out by a deafening ringing in your ears. Your chest tightens and you can feel nausea rising in your gut.

A noise much louder than the ringing starts to make itself known. It’s the sound of a wounded animal. An anguished howl that will forever be ingrained in your memories, and the thing that will startle you awake from the nightmares you’ll surely have.

It’s only when the fog begins to clear, and the ringing stops completely, do you finally realise the howling is coming from you.

You had sat in the waiting room exhausted emotionally and physically. Once you’d calmed down enough for the officers to talk to you again, you changed from your sleep shirt and shorts into yoga pants and one of Sam’s t-shirts, before they drove you to the hospital. You’ve been here for hours now. The countless forms you’d filled out and endless sheets of paper that now contained your signature, however, were nothing compared to seeing your husband.

Someone had cleaned him up and sutured various cuts – the deepest on his forehead – but the other injuries he’d suffered were still all too obvious. All the skin you could see had turned purple with bruising. There were scrapes and grazes all over his chest and arms, and you knew from the doctor’s report that he had multiple broken bones and severe internal bleeding.

Time seemed to have stopped as you sat in that cold, sterile room with him, running your hand through his hair and sobbing quietly. You were grateful the nurse let you take your time with him and no one was rushing to get you out of there.

When you return to the reception desk an hour later, you’re handed another form, this one – you’re assured – is the last. The one that releases the belongings he had on his person at the time of the accident to you. His wedding ring, the watch you’d given him for Christmas, his wallet, cell phone, – which was surprisingly undamaged – and his battered briefcase.

His cell comes to life when you lift it from the plastic tray, showing you he has an unread message from Dean.

Dean 2:26am

You really need to stop working so late, dude. Drive safe and get home to that girl of yours!

Knowing that Sam had likely responded to a text Dean had sent much earlier in the day just before he set off on that fatal car journey hits you like a freight train. And knowing Dean’s reply, telling his brother to come home to you had come through when the police were telling you he’d died, was gut-wrenching. Fighting back more tears, you unlock your own cell phone and call the number you’d been dreading for hours now.

“Y/N, darlin’? It’s early… is everything alright?” The gravelly voice on the other end of the phone sounds tired, scared and confused. You figure getting a call at 6am will do that to a person.

“John–” You’d fought hard to keep your voice steady and strong, but what came out was shaky and meek. “It’s Sam…”

“Y/N?” Dean’s voice startles you out of your daze and you blink up at him from the uncomfortable plastic chair in the waiting room. Unsteadily, you rise to your feet and make your way over to him, throwing yourself into his outstretched arms.

“Dean,” you cry as more tears fall from your sore and swollen eyes. Dean is on you in an instant, wrapping you in his arms and holding on tight.

“C’mere. You shoulda called us, sweetheart. We’d have been here with you,” Dean’s voice is strong, but it still cracks with emotion. “You didn’t need to do this alone.” You sob into his chest until your legs give way, and he lowers you both to the ground, keeping his arms around you the whole time and settling you onto the floor.

You cling to him with every ounce of strength you have, knuckles going white, afraid that another person you love might leave you. But Dean holds you tighter, shushing you and stroking your back in a desperate bid to calm you down. The sobs only ease and your body stops trembling when he begins to rock you and hum Nothing Else Matters by Metallica in your ear.

John looks on from the doorway, seeming utterly devastated. Not only has he lost his youngest child today, but it's like he knows he’s also lost a part of his daughter-in-law that might not ever come back.

“Come on, darlin’. Let’s get you out of here, huh?” His soft voice floats from somewhere in the distance, but your vision is too blurry from tears and swollen from puffiness to see exactly where. 

Dean places a gentle kiss on your temple and helps you stand on shaky legs.

“Come on, Y/N. Let’s get you home. There’s nothing more we can do here.”

You nod at Dean and let him guide you to his car. 

Next Chapter>>

@deans-spinster-witch @muchamusedaboutnothing @kazsrm67 @twinkleinadiamondsky @waters-2567 @leigh70 @waynes-multiverse @jesllianaquilesrolonsworld

[holocene-sims]

next // previous

august 17, 2021 3:00 p.m. yonsei university

[grant] did your dad apologize for being a dick, though?

[henry] of course. he was a good person and realized he was being a bit weird. he just hated noise. i think he'd have been happy to be born with a set of noise-canceling headphones attached to him.

[grant] except maybe he liked your mom’s noise from that day forward!

[henry] he did, but even if he hated it, he was probably glad to have hers back after a while. almost half the time they dated, they didn’t even live in the same country.

[henry] my mom worked at an art shop somewhere in seoul, and my dad had this sweet gig working at a museum in paris while getting a doctorate and doing some traveling, visiting art museums on every continent. he got the doctorate, but gave up the job to come back and marry my mom.

[henry] and she won out, to be honest. him teaching here was a prestigious position, and his family are pretty well off because they're in banking and all, so she got to quit her job after marriage, have me, and just sculpt for fun.

[grant] that’s the dream, right?

[henry] i think so.

[grant] it’s nice to be genuinely in love but also to support each other’s passions, too, whether that's helping them pursue a job or a hobby. i mean, that’s everything. that's the deepest form of connection. oh yeah, definitely the dream.

[henry] for sure. there wasn’t much for my mom to help with because she was never wealthy and her parents weren’t either, but she was a huge moral support. she was my dad’s biggest fan. sometimes getting a doctorate sucked, and he wanted to quit, but it was hard to quit with her on the sidelines cheering.

[henry] that’s like me and soobin. not much i can do on the money front because i'm not rich and i won't take money from my parents, and i couldn’t help with her medical school because i'm a certifiably terrible student, but i can be and am her cheerleader.

[henry] and i may not have been a photographer without her. being an artist is the worst career choice unless someone else has money to throw at the bills. and i make an okay salary! i have solid clientele booking all year long, but i don't charge what i "should" because i feel wrong asking too much money to do wedding photos and all. that shit's expensive - i'll take a small cut off the going rate so they get all they want for the big day.

[henry] besides, the one thing in life that makes me nervous is clients being unhappy. everything else about a wedding goes away except the photos. if they're unhappy, i'd rather the pricing not be an extra issue, you know? at least let it be a cheap mistake.

[grant] but you would have still pursued this, right? i can’t imagine you not at least trying it out. you have always been set on some kind of photography as a career. even when you were having a crisis around college graduation about whether you should pursue high-brow art or something very human and realistic like you do now, you never questioned if photography was your truth.

[henry] i would have. i've always known it was my goal. i just think the financial stress may have worn me down eventually if she wasn’t willing to shoulder an extra share of the burden. like i said, charging people themselves is a strange thing, and you just never know what can happen. sure, i did end up with a good brand through putting myself out there on social media, but that was no guarantee.

[henry] if that hadn't worked out, i'd have been in trouble. and when you don't have a lot of clients or reach, you have to be conservative and sometimes that hurts you on growth. blah blah blah. point is, i owe soobin a lot, both for financial support and her total faith in me.

[grant] well, teamwork makes the dream work and all that!

[henry] hey, you're part of the team, too. there's no one else i'd rather call at 3AM asking to check the red balance on my pictures because everything looks green to me. and as it turns out, having a friend with a massive family who host many events requiring photography is excellent for clientele building.

[r0-boat]

I'm not the same anon who requested for Larry pining after the Treasure Eatery waitress but can I ask for a continuation? Like she purposely is trying to get his attention by wearing makeup & being playful. Since he didn't do anything, she decides to ask him out on a date! She's obviously nervous because he didn't answer. He was shocked that she asked him out but asked if she was sure. She's confused but said yes. Only if he wants to! He accepted which she brightens up! Both of them are giddy about the date! They go on a date after their work is done!

This is extremely cute hold on-

Larry x Treasure Eatery waitress! Reader.

Sfw

Fem!reader

Cw: age gap (older men x younger women)

(Larry date hcs? Or a part 3 of this? Let me know!)

Waitress reader asks Larry out on a date

Never in Larry's life, he would expect this....

Despite your best to make him look your way, your playful advances, and your hard work to make yourself look appealing to him, you still weren't quite sure. Sure, your eyes did meet him for a few moments every now and then when you glanced at his table, but the businessman that you fawned over hadn't made a move.

Your shift was almost over your heart quickened, spending the next minute gathering your courage. You just so happened to catch him as he was leaving the Eatery. With butterflies fluttering in your stomach, you after him. As your coworkers watch from the sidelines, smiles on their faces, silently rooting for you.

Your fingers grazed at the back of his shoulder as you stuttered "U-um, excuse me."

When those deep and dark onyx eyes met yours, you nearly forgot your words. You moved your eyes away from him on impulse. Your lip grew thin, sweat rolling down your forehead as you felt anxiety under his gaze. For a moment, it took everything you had to say it. Hoping and praying that the pain of rejection will be brief.

"I-i've seen you around before and I was wondering... If-um. Would you like to go out some time?"

You mentally kicked yourself for your awkwardness you struggle to meet his eyes Larry's eyes widen yet he doesn't say anything.

He was clenching his teeth. His lungs filled with air. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He never thought that you would come to him. Was this even real? And the way you fidget with your fingers struggling to confess your feelings, made his heart melt.

Your heart sank as he stood there silently. Desperate to save any sort of dignity you have you try to quickly respond, only for his words to cut you off.

"I suppose I'm free right now. Is there any place you would like to go?"

A blunt and Bland reaction but it made your heart swell nonetheless. You would love to take him somewhere right now but you are still on your last break.

" actually can it wait till after work I wouldn't want to take you out in my uniform, haha." You laughed nervously.

Larry personally did not mind the idea of you wearing your cute little uniform a little longer. Though he respects that you would want to go home and perhaps shower and get ready. "alright."

When he gave you a small smile, you felt your cheeks heat up your eyes, avoiding his gaze once again to save yourself from dying of cardiac arrest. "I-i'll meet you here then in about two hours?"

"ok," Larry responds. " two hours. I'll be here." He says while giving you a nod before leaving Treasure Eatery.

You are practically screaming on the inside.You are going to go out on a date with Larry of the Elite Four!!

What should you wear? Where would he want to go? Did he like the way you looked?! Many questions flow through your mind as you carry out the rest of your shift in a daze, wondering if you should go all out and wear something very nice for him.

Despite the chili air, his face felt warm. His eyes grew soft, remembering the shade of your lipstick and those plump lips underneath and that perfume that made his head spin. All he wanted to do was hold you closer. It had been a long time since he dated, and he couldn't help but wonder if young women your age still like to go on walks or visit gardens on dates. Maybe he could even take you to dinner? Larry knows that he has just eaten but wouldn't mind spoiling you at a nice restaurant.

Maybe he should finally wear that nice semi-formal suit that he stashed away for business events.

[apoptoses]

i gotta know, what order do you rank the VCs

oh man I cannot number order them, to do that would be like picking a favorite cat and they change depending on my mood so like I gotta go with the tier system.

ALSO I never promised anyone here that I had taste, these are my own personal feelings etc etc Mostly I have ranked them based on how much I skim when (or if) I re-read lol

The Vampire Armand- Anne put her whole entire vampirussy into this one like this is the book that has everything!!! There's angst, there's smut, there's cults and kidnapping, there's the beauty and high drama of the Venetian renaissance, what more could you want!! And honestly I think her Armand voice is one of her strongest, right up there with Lestat. You could take an Armand quote out of context and know he's the one speaking. Even my least favorite parts of TVA are still more enjoyable than the best parts of the VC books I don't love.

The Devil's Minion Chapter of QotD specifically - absolute insanity, just banger after banger, not a single word wasted. I could have read an entire novel of this, and again, a unique voice and style! I think this part of the book slaps so hard because it's the first truly modern part of the VC, told from a modern perspective and like. It's so good because every VC reader has probably thought 'wow how exciting would it be to be a vampire's companion/lover' and then Anne actually went and wrote what that would be like. Incredible!

The Vampire Lestat - Getting the back story of the characters introduced in interview is incredible and I feel like Anne finally cut loose and let herself start to be a weirdo with all the world building and entangled relationships. Also just worth the re-read for Armand drop kicking Lestat out of Notre Dame and Marius's insane house of taxidermy and baboons.

Interview with the Vampire- a classic, no other details needed.

Tale of the Body Thief- a polarizing choice I know, but it's such a wild diversion from the typical VC books. Lestat described himself as the James Bond of Vampires and this is the one book that's truly like a tightly written action movie. And Lestat is just so monstrous in it, and in a really complex way- like he's partly reacting to the trauma he went through with Akasha, he's at a low point with self esteem, but then also some of this behavior begs the question of whether being a vampire made him the way he is or whether it's just inherent in him. An underrated VC book tbh.

Blood and Gold- I just love that Anne took on the challenge of writing the life story of a vampire that is thousands of years old. Reading it gives me the same feeling of growing up and realizing that the people you considered 'adults' are just as lost and mentally immature and messed up as you, and never really had any idea what they were doing when child-you thought they had it all together. Also I just love anything that gives me more of the events of Armand's life from another pov.

Queen of the Damned- a great story but I get bogged down by the number of characters and plot lines introduced every time I re-read it, and I end up skimming some of the POVs (or skipping them entirely like baby jenks) I know Anne finally put her foot down and told her editors to fuck off with this one but I wish she'd listened to them just a tiiiiny bit and cut some stuff/expanded other more interesting stuff.

Pandora - Such tight writing!! I wish Pandora hadn't been sidelined in the other books because Anne built such a strong character with her, she deserved better tbh!!

Prince Lestat - it's okay, I just like the sections with my favorite characters and seeing some secondary characters return like Bianca and Allessandra and Antoine. Getting some resolution on what happened with them and where they are closer to the modern day was nice. Also the stuff with Fareed giving Lestat hormones so he could fuck and then get Maury Povich'd eighteen years later was hilarious nonsense, 10/10 Anne insanity. This book just feels like fun trashy vampire stuff (affectionate) in the same way watching True Blood feels like fun trashy vampire stuff, so even if it's not Anne's best work it's still alright imo.

Memnoch the Devil - I simply do not care about God or the Devil or Dora or Rembrandt enough to care about this book, and it only gets ranked below Prince Lestat because I think it drags where PL has a faster pace that allows my brain to skim over the least tasty parts. Really it only makes it to D because of Armand in his dusty jean jacket and Lestat using Dora's uterus as his personal capri sun. Overall though just a slog to get through.

Blood Communion - I just personally do not care for the whole vampire court concept and wish Anne had dropped it after the replimoids. Like I tolerate it in Prince Lestat but ending the series on 'united vampire community' feels off to me when the whole concept of vampires is that they're outsiders struggling with immortality. Also, another kidnapping plot? Anne pls you're better than this.

Merrick - I have erased everything but the Louis bits of this book from my mind. We simply did not need Claudia's vengeful spirit or Louis getting force upgraded and the humanity of him erased by Lestat's ultra-powerful blood but we got it anyways I guess. Very atmospheric though, I do like the return to New Orleans as a setting.

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis - Cruel of Anne to put Atlantis in the title and give us aliens instead of mermaids. The most cracked out VC book in existence, would only re-read if paid to. I have no words for how much I do not care for this book, especially after reading Anne's notes at Tulane and knowing what could have existed instead.

The Vampire Vittorio - such a flop of a vampire he never even gets mentioned in the other VC books. I do not know this man. This book does not exist to me.

[agrazza]

On Darkness Outtake from ch 50

I posted this in the discord already, but I wanted to share here too for those not in it. It is an extra scene from Astarion's POV of Tav's seizure in ch. 50. I wrote it on request of a lovely reader and wanted to share so that anybody not in the discord could also read it, but didn't think it fit the flow of the published work on Ao3, so I'll just keep it here. enjoy! (Scene below the cut)

Astarion was a vampire.

Obviously.

That meant that most of his organs were largely unnecessary. Good for a little fun, some of them, depending on the particular body part, and made his life more pleasant, the more blood he’d had to drink, but largely irrelevant to survival.

However, it certainly didn’t feel like his heart was irrelevant, when Tav suddenly went blank-faced in the middle of his spar with Nyloth, limbs trembling before he crumpled to the ground.

Nyloth was a quick fighter, luckily, and managed not to clip Astarion’s bard on the way down with that dreadfully sharp rapier Tav had given him, skewing it harmlessly away as he finished his thrust against a half-elf who was no longer holding his swords. Astarion wasn’t even fully aware of his own movement, but between one blink and the next, he went from the sidelines of the match to kneeling at Tav’s side, cradling his head.

“Tav! Tavran, are you alright?” But there was no response to his bard, whose features had gone slack and blank, almost frightening on his usually-responsive face. “What’s wrong with him?” Astarion demanded, hearing his voice go odd-sounding with panic.

“He didn’t hit it,” Nyloth was telling him, and Astarion didn’t understand what on Toril the man was trying to tell him, the fingers of his other hand frantically feeling for Tav’s pulse. Fortunately, he was an expert at locating that. It was elevated, but that was all Astarion could tell, and the bard was still breathing.

“What,” he asked Nyloth blankly, panic making him stupid. 

“He didn’t hit his head,” Nyloth rasped, and the drow seemed outrageously calm for having his sparring partner collapse on him.

“Oh.” Astarion was still cupping Tav’s head, he realized, desperate to keep it off the hard stone of the Marble Court, as though it wasn’t entirely too late for that to be of any use. He realized he was also saying the bard’s name, on repeat, like an idiot.

He carefully locked his jaw shut and looked Tav over instead. The bard’s gaze was half-open, but unfocused and unseeing. His limbs were jerking a bit, and he was unsettlingly quiet.

“Istorvir,” he heard Nyloth say.

“Got it,” the other drow answered, already moving away.

“Turn him onto his left side,” Nyloth said, and Astarion figured that was probably better than staring, wide-eyed and useless, so he helped Nyloth turn the bard slightly onto his left. “You can keep your hand under his head, if you want, it will help him not strain his neck,” Nyloth said. “Can you reach his knee, or may I move it?” he asked, and Astarion met his gaze.

Something about Nyloth’s unreasonably calm expression made Astarion able to unhinge his jaw enough to speak again.

“I’ll do it,” he said, and managed to follow Nyloth’s simple instructions to bend Tav’s right knee slightly. “What is all this for?” he asked, hating that he didn’t know, but figuring he’d better learn, in case it happened again.

“It keeps the airways clear, especially if he gets sick,” Nyloth explained. “Normally for if someone’s unconscious, but because he’s not responding…”

Astarion nodded once, sharply, and went back to watching his bard. He pressed his free hand to Tav’s brow, then the back of his neck, trying to discern if he had a fever or anything that would make him delirious. “I didn’t see anything happen,” he managed, and he’d been watching. Tav had been completely fine, trading barbs with Istorvir who’d been heckling both of them from the sidelines and holding his own against Nyloth, and then he suddenly… hadn’t been.

Astarion’s chest ached, though he didn’t know why. It wasn’t as though he needed to breathe.

He wasn’t exactly sure how long he sat there, watching over Tav like that would somehow help his bard come out of his odd swoon faster, before Amalica arrived, slightly out of breath. She spoke with Nyloth briefly, but Istorvir must have caught her up, because she knelt next to Astarion almost immediately.

“Has this even happened before?” she asked Astarion. He had to swallow a few times before he could answer.

“Only after a bad injury,” he said finally, remembering the horrifying evening that had been the wake of the Iron Throne job, or the episode after he’d hit his head in a rock fall. “But he hasn’t gotten hurt lately.” He touched Tav’s hair again, unable to help himself, and hating the way it didn’t immediately cause Tav’s expression to soften with pleasure like it normally did.

Tav stirred, trying to sit up, before Amalica could answer. “It’s alright, let him, he’s probably confused,” Amalica murmured, and Astarion helped the bard into a sitting position. His brow furrowed faintly, more alertness coming into his gaze, but when Astarion spoke to him, cupping his jaw, Tav didn’t response other then to blink blearily.

“I’m going to cast some minor healing magic,” Amalica said. “Just to try to calm any potential swelling.”

“Do it,” Astarion agreed; Tav was in no place to consent, but Astarion would take the blame later, if he must. He gently uncrooked Tav’s knee, now that he was sitting upright, and Amalica grasped her holy symbol and cast.

The magic made Astarion’s skin prickle uncomofortably, but he didn’t care, refusing to put any space between himself and his bard. Tavran didn’t do much more than blink, dazedly staring at them all, eyes flickering around, but when Amalica lifted her symbol to cast again, he put a shaky hand up. “Woah, hold up,” Tav said, like an idiot, and Astarion felt like it might be his turn to hit the ground at the surge of dizzying relief he felt at the return of Tav’s voice.

His chest eased up on the pressure that had caught him in a vise grip, and his dead, useless pulse thrummed slowly once more.

[nocompromise-noregrets]

1, 5, 10, 19, and 20 for the fanfic writer asks please! 💜

wheeee, thank you! <3333333

1. Have you pulled inspiration from media sources other than the property your fic is related to (a plot point from a TV show that has nothing to do with the characters/setting of the fic, a line from a book, etc.)? If so, for which story? Why did you find that media source compelling? I...don't think so? I can't think of anything. I tend to write between the lines of canon, so any references etc generally tend to be to the canon, whatever it happens to be. Although I suppose All I Want Is You-'verse was originally inspired by Christmas movies? I dunno...has anyone spotted anything/can anyone remember anything?

5. Is there a tiny detail in one of your fics that you feel goes tragically unnoticed? I think there probably are, but I can't remember any specific ones (I have over 1.5million words and over 400 fics on AO3 these days which HOW); I do tend to put little details and references in, and they don't often get picked up on in comments, but then I'm not the kind of author who gets lots of comments and asks about all the different aspects of their writing so...I dunno *shrugs* Quite a few, I guess! I kind of feel like it's unfair of me to expect people to have ploughed through all my fics to recognise the little bits and bobs that I'm basically putting in for my own satisfaction.

10. If you could banish a single trope to live at the bottom of the ocean, never to be seen again by any human eyes (or at least your own), which trope would that be? Omegaverse. Absolutely. Gives me the absolute creeps. Also that thing with the insane possessiveness, I can't remember the name of it, but it's just...it makes me feel deeply, deeply uncomfortable. I saw a piece of art for one of my OTPs with that theme once where one character had cut the sinews of the other's heels so he couldn't leave, and I felt unsettled and upset by it for days afterwards. I mean, I tend to feel like most tropes are a bit pointless, I'd much rather write (or indeed read) a story without the hackneyed obligatory set-pieces, but those two are the ones that I really don't like.

19. What was the very first fanwork you ever created? (I’m talking like maybe you made a little book out of construction paper and staples with your favorite Disney characters drawn in it when you were five years old or you drew a comic about a movie you saw when you were a preteen. That sort of thing.) I think it was probably the story I attempted to write inspired by the movie Memphis Belle when I was 15; I grew up in the part of the country where the movie was set, so my utter obsession with it was just that bit deeper, and if internet fandom had been a thing in 1990/1991 I would have been up to my neck in it. (it's also the original source of my deep and abiding soft spot for Sean Astin) I was trying to write a kind of ghost story set in the 1940s and the 1990s, and it was just so far beyond me I couldn't capture it. I was far too young. Maybe I ought to try it again sometime...I am still utterly intrigued by the Eighth Army Air Force, after all. (I couldn't get on with Masters of the Air, I am sorry to say, despite it being full of my beloved B-17 Flying Fortresses...I tried very hard but didn't get beyond about episode three)

20. Is there anything about any one of your fics that you have been dying to discuss but haven’t had the chance to? I am DYING to talk about my TRSB piece! Eight days to go! It features someone with a very strong personality who has been confined to the sidelines of my stories so far (plus some of my very favourite characters to write) and is finally stepping into the spotlight, and once they started talking they just did. not. stop. I had to put my foot down and wrap it up despite, in my own opinion, not having actually really got to the point of the story, or really been able to tackle the plot points that had come up, because I ran out of time. So there will be a sequel that will hopefully pick all of that up, just as soon as I've recovered from the experience (and from Writers' Month, which has been siphoning off a lot of my time and energy from TRSB, although if I hadn't been doing Writers' Month and had been able to finish this fic, it would probably have been pushing 80-100k, which is RIDICULOUS. When this particular character decides to talk, OH BOY do they talk.)

Thank you for asking! <3333333 anyone else fancy asking me some fic writer questions?

[max-will-one-day-be-okay]

As someone who grew up very gay in a DEEPLY religious family, Good Omens 2 got everything right, from beginning to end.

Spoilers under the cut

So as I've watched the show, I feel like I've found some pretty good parallels to the life of two older queers with religious trauma coming together.

From where I'm sitting (a borderline homeless queer who had to leave my family because of RAMPANT and DANGEROUS homophobia)

Crowly was disowned by his family for being gay (and probably also for that gender stuff), and has grown up on his own. He knows who he is. He's happy with who he is. You couldn't pay him to go back to his life before he came out because he was miserable. Every bit of joy he had was taken away or ridiculed until he was told God didn't love him anymore. We see snippets where he misses home, but it is clear from the BEGINNING that that's not where he belongs.

Aziraphale, on the other hand, has just been sidelined for his sexuality. As long as he doesn't make too much of a fuss or "make it his whole personality", he'll still be a part of the family. God still loves him. So even if they don't seem to understand him, Aziraphale wholeheartedly believes that his family and god want what's best for him. That God is always right. He loves Crowly, but he's not willing to turn his back on god or his family. No matter how wrong it feels or how much it hurts, Aziraphale, as we saw in the show, will always do what he believes is right.

Crowly probably remembers how it felt to be in Aziraphale's situation, so it makes sense that he'd be willing to wait for so long. What he doesn't understand is Aziraphale's utter devotion to his family and God.

Aziraphale knows that having to go out on his own was hard on Crowly. He's starting to see the cracks in the system and asking the right/wrong questions. What he doesn't understand is why Crowly wouldn't want to go back. Why he wouldn't want to be welcomed back into his family's arms and seen as pure again in the eyes of god.

THAT is why they weren't ready to be together. Crowly saw that a relationship like theirs can exist without anything terrible happening and wants to finally be together, but Aziraphale wants to go back to the place that said that neither of them would ever be good enough. Aziraphale saw the person who had always taken charge in demeaning him step down from power and was offered to make the world a better place with the being he loves by his side. They were both offered their dreams, but neither of them wants what the other does.

Not getting a happy ending sucks. Not getting a happy ending when the strikes aren't ending, so a continuation is not guaranteed, SUCKS. But also, they aren't ready to be together yet. Aziraphale needs to grow to love himself and Crowly needs to learn to care about other people.

@neil-gaiman made a masterpiece with this season.

[toumoromoro]

Towelket 6 thoughts/rant/review?

I think towelket 6 is the only tk game so far that has become worse by playing it again. I had somewhat "fond" memories of this game since it's the reason I discovered towelket, but I think I had a pretty disorted view of it because of nostalgia.

It's hard to take this game seriously when in the first 3 minutes Warawau kills and then masturbates over the dead body of a dog out of nowhere. It's so over the top, ok Kanao I get it she's evil. Then in the next 5 minutes Minpou's mom and sister die without any fanfare. Oh and Warawau assaults Minpou. Everything happens so fast that you don't get a chance to grow attached to any of the characters. Remember how in TK2, Kanao gives you about 40 minutes to get to know the whole village and its people before the more serious stuff starts happening? Well, in TK6, you get at most 5 minutes before people start dying, and we're supposed to care about them. Also, any interesting dynamics or relationships that could have been explored are immediately cut short by Kanao. Seriously, you have this interesting dynamic with the three main girls, and then Kanao decides to sideline Nyanyamo until the end of the game. Also just when we might explore Minpou’s feelings about having to care for her mother, Kanao kills her off. Ironically, all of this might be the most interesting part of TK6 because once you leave the village, the most boring part of the game begins: the middle game.

I'm not exaggerating when I say this part is one of the worst in any Towelket game. Nothing happens for an entire hour. Kanao forces you to go through these huge, empty maps and calls it content. It's jarring, the village had a nice U-shape where you knew where everything was supposed to be, only to be thrown into the same 100 forest maps where no one has anything important to say. It's almost funny how Kanao went out of their way to make all 7 characters repeat the same thing. But it's not funny, it makes me want to jump from a building. This game desperately needed to trim down the main cast. Also the humor was meh, which made the middle game even worse. It's here that Minpou and Warawau lose their main character status, and it’s given to Agochu and Pucchi. This wouldn't have bothered me if they were interesting, but Kanao decided they needed to do the whole 'Pucchi, you are a moron' routine over and over again. Then suddenly, an hour into this, Kanao remembers this game has to have some sort of plot, so we get the 'collect three things to save the world' plot. This part is a bit better than the last one, but still suffers from some of the same problems, mostly that no one has anything interesting to say. However, I will admit that I did like some parts in isolation, like Nekoashi-Konbu's flashback, the scenes with Mary/Minpou and Oruchumahe, which was pretty unique. The flashback, in particular, kept me interested throughout the entire sequence (I love you Zucche). Of course, none of this actually makes the game worthwhile. This part had a very funny unintentional moment where PPU just forgets to tell Minpou who murdered her.

After this, we enter the late game where Kanao finally remembers that Warawau was supposed to be an important and evil character. Too bad we only have 15 minutes of game left! This part is, uh, not good. For some reason, Kanao decided to insert a chunk of Towelket 1 into this game like a tumor. This part is basically just filler, and all it does is remind me that I should have replayed that game instead. Nekojita's story was nice though. The ending is kind of funny, actually. Warawau suddenly loses her brain and confesses to having killed Nyanyamo and Minpou's mom, expecting Minpou to be happy about it and praise her. This makes no sense; at the beginning of the game, she knew people wouldn't want to be told this, which is why she always acted when no one could see her. But now? She's just crazy™, speaks in all caps, and laughs over and over again, because she's just so crazy, guys!

So yeah that was Nyanyamo's arc, she was kidnapped, was missing for most of the game and then was killed offscreen. Amazing Kanao.

Finally, Kanao the Pons are bad antagonists and it will never work.

This game was shit, but I'm grateful that it inspired so many people to write better versions of it to try to fix it.

[jamiscrazy4krerdly]

Awesome swag new pfp = not being terrified of social media for a day yay. Everyday I suffer from the looming fear of not doing the Demigirl Catti with Ghoul Neos community justice when I am the only member of the Demigirl Catti with Ghoul Neos community </3. Can guarantee ghoul will play a humongous ginormous gargantuan part in both of my AUs that I’m working soooooo hard on!!! “I thought this was a Krerdly blog??” Sorry not sorry, get Catti namedrop jumpscared. BOO!! (Dw, the gamers still get to be the main characters or whatevsss.)

(Tysm @solasaich for the amazingest Kris ever!! I experience a little more gender envy towards them every passing day.)

Pogress (pog progress) report: shitting my pants. Favorite written down thought: “is this foreshadowing or foreshitting?” (I had a crisis about something inconsequential the day I’m writing this except I’m writing this at midnight so it was technically yesterday!!!) I will be very lucky if even one of my stuffs gets done before the end of the year. But Gamers… I am totally writing Demiromantic Kris so good it is insane; the Krerdly nation is LOSING for one of my AUs lets fucking gooo. (I’ll make dedicated posts about them EVENTUALLY!! Pinky promise. Cutting off my pinky.)

Alsooo, I learned how I like to write Ralsei so I can’t wait to put him in the spotlight for one of my fics!! Aaand then pretend he doesn’t exist for the other, sorry. My ability to sideline characters is unparalleled!! (RIP Asriel LMAO)

ALSO also I’m making a Deltarune Personality quiz on UQuiz maybe. 7 Results, 10 (?) Really Dumb Questions (so far). I color coded the assigned points for individual answers to individual questions and it made me happy. (Susie is ourple)

Ok ok ok I need to write this somewhere so now is a good time as ever: I am so MAD at myself for not putting my silly little tags in my latest ao3 fic >:( idc if it was improper or whatever the hell I should’ve been able to put #successfully-injected-20-ounces-of-silliness-into-Kris WITHOUT FEELING BAD!! I even decided NOT to mention how I think Kris (and all non-binary people for that matter) should totally one-bajillion-percent be allowed to have boobs without being ridiculed for it. The many shapes of our little flesh vessels are obviously not inherently indicative of our gender identity at all and I had the perfect opportunity to state that fact in the notes section but I DIDNT because Kris wearing a binder is part of their character and story that I’ve crafted for them and I wanted to address it properly in another future fic but it’s such a MINOR THING and won’t be this super dramatic factor that’s the center point of an entire fic like I made it out to be like WHY was I so lame and didn’t take a stance on that when I had the chanceee?? UGH!!!

Speaking of fics!! So far I’ve posted one for Christmas and Valentines, right? Well besides my draft for New Years it recently dawned on me that I still need to make one for Halloween and I’ve never written horror before (besides some stupid spontaneous one-off paragraph comment for a yaoi on wattpad IDK what 12 year old me was thinking) so YEAH idk I guess I’ll try my best, I have a couple good ideas?? If push comes to shove I can always revert to “ice cream cake full of fluff with an acidic slice of plot on the cutting knife” or some bullcrap.

Ok enough thinking, I’ve already had to do soooo much that while trying to think of a new nickname for Kris every single fic. I’ve brainstormed some real bologna, but I AM proud of the one I came up for my Deltadungeon AU! Title pending…

THIS bullet point is is dumb but… does anyone play Roblox? Yes? Ok, follow-up question: do you know what Doodle World is? It’s like the bestest pocket monster game on the site. Basically I’m forming a Deltarune theme team consisting of Kris Berdly Susie Noelle Catti and Jockington and if I record some good battles with my trashy theme team I might post them somewhere somehow idk lol but it’d be funny. I cannot WAIT for nothing to come of this.

I saw someone say they HATE Kriselle (on pintrest of all places) and since I’m a multi-shipper AND a certified hater I’m dedicating this paragraph to be a meanie to that person specifically. They are THE childhood friends to lovers!! Noelle watches in abject horror as Kris puts every shape in the square hole. Kris shows off their blades and Noelle tells them blades are for skatin’ and calls them a dingus. Noelle chases after the knight and Kris screams “GIRLFRIEND, STOP, GET BACK IN THE CARRGRHG” while she goes “youuuu come back here” and tackles the knight to the ground, knocking the helmet off and revealing Berdly underneath. Just thought I’d let you all know!!

Ok but honestly I’ve been sooo obsessed with Catti and Ralsei interactions. I have a vivid image in my head of Kris setting ghoul up on a date with an alleged “Prince of the Dark” and then Catti sees this sweet fidgety guy in bright colors and flowy clothing and ghoul’s like “figures” and it PROBABLY doesn’t work out if we’re being realistic but I’m holding out hope!! Rise up, Catsei (Ralti?) shippers!!

Ok gamers as a treat for putting up with me this far I present to you with a scenario: Kris and Berdly on a cloud-watching picnic date with a basket and flowers laying on a blanket except NEITHER of them are actually cloud-watching get epicly pranked!! Berdly’s on his 3DS playing Mii Plaza while Kris is letting bugs crawl on them and thriving. That’s so cool I almost can’t believe that it’s real. Everybody look forward to my upcoming fic based entirely around this idea titled “Kicking Back (A Green Shell)!” /j

Anyway for Halloween Krerdly is Waluaisy while Suselle is Bowigi you’re all WELCOME!!

[ordinaryschmuck]

Quick Thoughts on Ant-Man and the  Wasp: Quantumania

...Really?

This one?

THIS was the worst Marvel movie yet?

The one that was so insultingly bad that it caused people to throw fits on Twitter and scream off the top of their lungs about how Marvel is dead?

...Well, maybe I just have bad tastes, because I had fun.

Now, that does NOT mean I think this movie is the best Marvel has or that I don’t understand why people might not get into it.

The pacing is NOT that great. We spend, like, fifteen minutes on Earth before it’s RIGHT into the Quantum Realm. This is the problem that most MCU movies and shows have nowadays where there’s never enough time to really DIVE DEEP into the lives of the characters and what they’ve been up to before getting right into the action. Now, I don’t usually mind it sometimes, like with Spider-Man: No Way Home, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, or Moon Knight, but I WOULD love some time to slow down. Especially in this case because once the adventure starts, we have to fly by so much because there’s, oddly enough, not enough time to get through it all. Things like Janet’s life, Scott and Cassie’s relationship, and even Kang’s history has to be sped along to reach that two hour mark. It’s weird, a common complaint fans have is that the MCU shows have too much fluff amongst the interesting stuff where it feels like their movies don’t have enough.

As for the characters...they could have been handled better. Specifically Cassie who has very little character to her. They tried, building up how she’s this super smart person who wants to help a lot of people, but her performance and direction is NOT that great. It really hurts a lot of what COULD have been a good character if she just...did a better job? Or the director did a better job? I don’t know who’s at fault her, but it’s definitely SOMEONE.

And then there’s the Pyms, who get sidelined HARD in this. Janet at least has a few stuff to do and Hank at least comes back with a pretty cool “turn your brain off” moment, but despite this movie having Ant-Man AND THE WASP in the title, Wasp does so little in this. Granted, it means there’s less Evangeline Lily, but it’s still weird how little of a part she plays in this one. You can...kind of write her out and little would change, which is...crazy to me.

Then there’s the usual stuff people are getting sick of. The jokes...aren’t the best. I laughed at a few of them, but this is a movie that’s trying to be an epic superhero movie with Ant-Man’s level of humor and absurdity. It causes this sort of battle between two tones, fighting for dominance of what kind of movie this should be, and it hurts the film considerably.

As for the CGI...it’s a mixed bag. On the one hand, you have these pretty interesting looking characters and a world that leaves your mouth agape as you’re seeing it all...and then you have MODOK...Who looks so bad that whenever we see his face, I had to restrain myself from laughing in theaters. But honest to goodness, it’s just MODOK and a handful of scenes that don’t look that great. There’s honestly a few pretty amazing usage of special effects that really looked cool to see more times than not for me.

And since we’re getting into the good stuff, let’s talk about what actually works in this movie.

Because the Quantum Realm look amazing. Not perfect ALL the time, but there’s still some pretty cool stuff.

Kang, The Conqueror makes this worth watching. Jonathon Majors does a FANTASTIC performance, even if this wasn’t the best villain out there. He’s still threatening a lot of the time and there are great scenes that got my heart pumping due to how intense he makes them. Even if it does hurt a bit that he was having trouble fighting ANT-MAN of all people, the movie also makes it clear that he’s a bit of a reject, so I guess it makes a little sense. And, not to give away spoilers, but it’s clear that Jonathon Majors is going to have a lot of work cut out for him in the future.

As for Ant-Man...I still love him. He’s one of my favorite characters in the MCU because of how much of a normal guy he is, and that’s more or less the same here. The funniest jokes involve him in some way, and I’m giving credit to Paul Rudd for that. The dude can be pretty funny.

With that said, this is the movie that tries its best to make Ant-Man serious and...they certainly try. Now, in some cases it works, but there’s scenes, specifically in the climax, where all he does is say corny and cliche dialogue all in the attempt to make himself sound badass. I want to get into it, but Ant-Man really does work best when he’s just...a dude. Still, I’m grateful for the effort.

Finally, there’s MODOK...Who--And I’m not pulling any legs here--is my favorite character in the movie. He looks dumb as SHIT, but I adore how deranged and detached from reality he acts, especially near the end. He cracks me up so much that it reminds me that it reminds me that, “Yeah, this movie’s fun.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is not that great of a film. I can easily see people not getting into it, but for me, it’s a fun watch. And it’s nowhere NEAR the worst Marvel movie. Have you seen Morbius, Fant4stic, or Howard the Duck? I haven’t. They looks so awful that I REFUSE to see it.

Hell, this isn’t even the worst thing in the MCU. Have you seen Inhumans? Because I have. It’s so awful that I don’t EVER want to see it again. But with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania...I just might.

Consider this one a guilty pleasure for me because while it’s not that great, it’s nowhere near as bad either.

Watch more movies if you disagree.

[greenblackandgold]

I am experiencing so many thoughts about society lately it's hard for me to wrap my brain around it. How having an online presence has turned into genuine marketing and people expect you to act like you've had the kind of media training only famous people can afford.

In starting a youtube channel I have fears now that I would never have dreamed of 10 years ago when I wanted to. I have dreams about getting cancelled and I delete even the most mundane jokes from my videos out of fear they'll be misinterpreted.

I fear I'm starting to sound like a boomer when I say that people really can't just come online and have fun anymore, or peruse quietly from the sidelines. There's a demand to do everything 'right' and to be the one to interpret things 'correctly.'

It kinda makes me think that the current internet culture was cultivated and warped by young people. I mean this is the least accusatory and most morally neutral way possible. When you're in middle school and high school there's this feeling of a set of rules following you around. There are things you can do and things that will get you ridiculed. There's so much morality associated with every action because the right wrong step will get you bullied and condemned to be alone.

I feel like once social media and the internet became more accessible to children is when the environment really changed. Once kids realized the could not only lie about their age but be online quickly and discreetly from their smartphones, that's when online started to become like high school.

I mean honestly, who has the most free time out of any demographic? Old people and children in school. We all know boomers aren't spending a disproportionate amount of time online because they grew up with different priorities. So that leaves students, who spend 30% of their waking hours locked in a school with nothing better to do than tear each other down and pick apart every single flaw.

Kids I feel are most susceptible to black and white thinking just because they lack experience outside of the classroom, and also because of the way parenting is evolving in suburban conditions.

I feel like this concoction of circumstances really leads to some of the more intense discourse that goes on in online spaces. People associate morality with having viewpoints, and they think in black and white which prevents them from considering other circumstances and beliefs.

I think part of the answer is to have kids in school for less time out of the day. Once I left high school my social media time got cut in half, it just didn't affect me anymore and I started spending more time as a casual enjoyer of content than actively participating in it.

IDK these are incomplete and scattered thoughts but I felt compelled to put them somewhere and my brain was moving too fast to write it in a notebook.

[thatboxylady]

oh, so you're a thruststorm fan? name a list of hcs u got

AW HELL YEAH I got you covered, friend.

More under the cut because this girl is looong.

• Jetstorm and Thrust were mostly indifferent to each other after coming online, but Jetstorm's snide comment about "these two lugnuts [coming along]" and throwing him off after Fires of the Past genuinely pissed Thrust off. It set a lot of shit into motion, including that initial tiff of theirs during Mercenary Pursuits... and honestly? That "fight" they had was the best thing that could have happened to them. It immediately put them on equal footing in terms of knowing what the other was capable of, which led to them being able to coordinate so well when confronting Tankor a little later. By the end of the episode you even had Jetstorm lowering himself to Thrust's height to be at his literal level. Enemies-to-tolerant-coworkers speedrun.

• Jetstorm having robot-grade ADHD/BPD and Thrust being very very very autistic works out great for them. Thrust is more laid-back, so he keeps Jetstorm grounded in reality (and is able to talk him down from the edge as needed) by not feeding into any of his outbursts. Jetstorm is also an easy read because he's so obvious about what he's feeling, so Thrust never misses social cues with him. Jetstorm has a good read on Thrust because he is so calm, too-- he can tell almost right away if his ground pounder buddy dealing with sensory overload. [Speaking from experience of being in a relationship with someone who is autistic, while I have ADHD, we manage to make one whole functioning person.]

• Thrust and Jetstorm started interfacing/screwing around while Thrust was actively doing the same with Blackarachnia. Oops!

• Jetstorm was actually fully aware of what was going on with Thrust and Blackarachnia on the sidelines pre-Silverbolt reveal, but he kept his vocoder (mostly) muted about it. Taking a few extra potshots at the spider came with the territory of being genuinely jealous of all the extra attention Thrust was giving her.

• As annoyed as Jetstorm was about finding out he was the one truly toting around Silverbolt, he was glad to get the witch spider out of the way.

• Jetstorm is pansexual but mostly identifies as gay after Blackarachnia starts going after him, just to piss her off as a special treat. He’s also genderfluid. Thrust is bisexual— and also polyamorous. Although, Thrust is perfectly happy being exclusive with Jetstorm. He didn’t even realize he was poly until finding some old datatracks and reading about it.   

• Jetstorm prefers to bottom mostly out of necessity, because he genuinely feels safer and doesn't have to support himself on “top” without knees to balance on. All that weight has to go into his servos to keep himself upright, which also leaves him open to… potential attacks. He does not like being defenseless. Thrust tends to dom/top because he has zero chill in the sack and goes from 0 to 100 as soon as you so much as indicate that you want an interface. Neither one of them are really “switches” as a bog standard, but Jetstorm knows he can get Thrust docile with some heavy petting and plug-n-play shenanigans.

• Interfacing and fooling around came first. The relationship itself came second. They’re not quite sure exactly where the transition was. It just sort of happened?

• Jetstorm was actually the one who instigated the purely sexual parts, but somewhere along the lines he started to get… uh. Feelings. Which is very scary. He’ll deny it if you ask.

• Jetstorm has a very, very, very hard time with “I love you.” It’s heavy and terrifying. Thrust gets it. He’s not about pushing Jetstorm into anything he doesn’t want to do… but Jetstorm has a feeling that maybe Thrust is bothered by it. So, they ended up inventing a system where they occasionally give each other three taps if they’re trying to show affection without using actual PDA (which neither one of them is into anyways, unless Jetstorm is doing it for a bit).

• Thrust is a cuddler and chronic snorer. Jetstorm not so much, but he is a certified little spoon whenever the opportunity arises. He’s also  quick to adapt to sleeping through all of Thrust's snoozing RPM… but he will fuss and wake up if Thrust leaves to go pace in the dead middle of the night. Jetstorm will have to fetch him if Thrust falls asleep standing up in the middle of it—

• Their preferred sleeping position is Jetstorm on his back and Thrust tucked into his side, between his chassis and his arm. Thrust hates sleeping on his back but is perfectly fine with swiveling his helmet around to lay it flat on Jetstorm’s chest. • They're definitely not built for kissing, but they do it anyways. It's kinda clumsy, tbh.

•  Jetstorm's nicknames for Thrust include biker boy, roller boy, roller wonder, Johnny, etc. Thrust uses Storm casually, and Stormy tends to only come out in private.

• Thrust’s primary love languages are words of affirmation (receiving) and acts of service (giving). Jetstorm’s are quality time (receiving) and words of affirmation (giving).

• The words of affirmation bit is extremely useful when you consider that Thrust has a praise kink that Jetstorm wholly abuses lmfao. Jetstorm is normal about giving Thrust compliments and there are never ulterior motives haha.

• They're protective of each other in different ways.

• Jetstorm knows that Thrust is 100% capable of handling himself in a physical fight, so he doesn't worry about the smaller mech going toe-to-tread with the tougher Maximals. He does worry about Thrust running into Blackarachnia, though. Even after biker boy and the spider disengage from each other for obvious reasons (see: Waspinator), Jetstorm is extremely emotionally cognizant of the ramifications after the fact. He knows there's no way that Thrust wasn't upset about being tossed aside. Even if he's not outwardly invested in the spider anymore, Jetstorm knows that Thrust's personal opinion of himself after the fact isn't… great. Getting built up so high and then dropped so low is a recipe for disaster, so Jetstorm tries his hardest to distract him if he seems to be acting low.

• Alternatively, Thrust is extremely protective of Jetstorm when Blackarachnia starts to go after him… he might still hesitate opening fire if she's by herself, but if she's aiming for Jetstorm, he lets loose.

• Jetstorm's version of date night is going out and causing mayhem and vandalism. Thrust tends to be a little more subdued (he likes exploring the city and is also perfectly content with just lazing around “home”). They usually meet in the middle. Exploring the financial district and setting off one of the banks’ security systems so they can do a pseudo-robbery for giggles is, in fact, extremely fun.

• Thrust can sing (see: his actual VA Jim Byrnes lol). Jetstorm thinks he’s pretty good and lowkey keeps pushing him to do it more. Biker boy is nice to listen to, okay? Blues isn’t half bad.

• They make up staggeringly quick after fights, when they even happen at all. Thrust has the patience of a saint, and Jetstorm is quick to forgive (or reflect long enough to recognize if he was being an ass) and make up.

• Thrust is handy when it comes to rigging equipment in their hideout, but Jetstorm’s better with hands-on-repairs and more delicate hands-on work. Which is very funny considering the size of Jetstorm’s servos but Thrust is thankful for it. His arms/hands are way less mobile than Jetstorm’s.

• They don’t prepare their own meals since uhhhh they’re just two guys on an empty planet. It’s easier to go scavenging for cubes on their own time. Jetstorm usually waits for Thrust to pass him something as opposed to getting it himself. He likes “the service.”

• Jetstorm is cleaner. Thrust gets very filthy from road rash very fast. Jetstorm has taken a pressure hose to him more times than he thinks should ever be necessary.

• Thrust has a lot of quiet anxiety surrounding the dark and deep water. He couldn’t swim even if he tried, and he had a sight-fault in his vision suite when he first came online— hence why he’s almost always using his headlamp. Jetstorm has never once made fun of him for it. Thrust is thankful.

• Right up until he gets thrown off the side of the hydroplant into the water below by Silverbolt, swept away, and maimed in a dark turbine house at the end of the flow.

• Thrust wishes he said “I love you” more, even if Jetstorm couldn’t.

• Thrust has come to find out that he can't sleep for very long in an empty berth.

• Thrust becomes a very, very angry person after Jetstorm is gone. Mouthing off to Megatron is just half of it.

• The last thing that Jetstorm ever thought was to wonder where Thrust was.

ANYWAYS THIS RAN LONG SORRY I will stop myself here before I die.